Keeping the fun

[DEL]

Just lately there has been a surge in activity around the subject of products and techniques.
From glues, matting agents to varnishes, from wet on dry oil painting to using multi shade acrylic paint sets.
Add to this the massive increase in weathering and groundwork products and I wonder if a lot of the fun in the hobby is at risk.
It doesn't seem that long ago we, for example, were making our own rust from actual rust and kitchen spices. Groundwork, you'd go outside and see what you could find in gutters and gardens. Now we can get pre prepared every kind of rust imaginable as well as complete terrain mats incorporating rocks, branches and leaf fall.
Now I have loads of these but to my mind I regard them as the starting point rather than the finishing line.
With a little planning, prep and imagination these products can be massively enhanced. So those of you who are pushing forward with the new stuff don't miss out on the pleasure of scratching around and coming up with your unique style.

 

[Babelfish]

100% agree Del, and I reckon much of it is symptomatic of the demand for instant gratification ("Ooooh Matron!") that seems to be everywhere these days. Instant fixes and all that. Or maybe just good old-fashioned laziness.

I also dabble in AFVs and it's the same in that branch of the hobby if not worse. Everyone and his dog releasing paint sets that claim to be the last word in "colour accuracy" and supposedly eliminate the need for mixing. And don't get me started on all those "weathering products". Admittedly when they first started appearing I did buy a few to try them out, but having quickly discovered that exactly the same result can be had by mixing a blob or two of oils with some thinner, rather than shelling out a fiver for a small plastic bottle of "Eastern Front Faded Earth Streaking Wash" (or whatever), I soon came to realise that it's a mug's game.

From time to time I really enjoy having a rummage around in the garden undergrowth to see what I can come up with in terms of potentially useful stuff for figure base groundwork (bits of root, stones etc.). There's nothing more satisfying. Well actually there is, but as this is a family forum I won't go there ("Sid James" laugh).

- Steve

 

[Nap]

SPOT ON DEL

Let's keep the hobby FUN ...no matter what things you use to get the result you want

Like Steve and no doubt others I have bought the " latest" ..most are sitting in the back of the cupboard !

Nap

 

[megroot]

Finally the end results count.
I also old school, but with the modern products it is easyer to become to a great result. Not drying ground out of the garden, not messy stuff like paper mache.
But yes, making a tree from iron wire is the only way to came to a scale product..

Marc

 

[DEL]

Finally the end results count.
Marc

You're absolutely right Marc and everyone should try to achieve their best possible end result.
For me though I get every bit as much enjoyment from the process particularly when it involves taking unusual and raw materials and creating something a bit different.
Also the story is vitally important, I've always got a tale in my mind when I start.
This piece from a few years back includes a child's toy dragon, a bit of an old dinosaur kit, real moss and twigs, baking soda, whole black pepper corns and probably a whole lot of other stuff.

 

[valiant]

I am also in agreement! There is nothing more satisfying than discovering your own techniques, experimenting with bits and bobs and scratchbuilding parts and equipment. It does seem that there is a group out there (esp aircraft/armour modellers) who are unable to complete anything without spending huge amounts on weathering products, photoetch, colour sets, etc!

 

[Tubby-Nuts2]

I’ll remind you of this, the next time I’m burbling in a corner like some Gollum type creature, suffering from sheer frustration.

Mark.

 

[Wayneb]

Creativity Rules...………...

 

[theBaron]

I prefer DIY, too, but I appreciate the intent and appeal of today's products, like Mig's various paint and detailing products. Along with resin aftermarket detail kits for scale models, they provide today's modeler, especially someone just starting out, with something that lets him get consistent results, skipping past the trial-and-error stage that many of us went through. That was an observation that came to me, when I got back into modeling after the usual college hiatus, back around '99 or so. For example, when I learned of resin cockpit sets, I thought to myself, "Gee, we used to scratchbuild things like that." But I realized that younger people starting out used these things, or, like I said, people looking for consistent results without having to try and fail at it.

Of course, the advent of plastic for model kits did the same thing. Before injection-molded styrene technology was improved to the point that made it viable in the late Forties, if you wanted a model of something, you carved it out of wood. And those modelers at the time sniffed a little dismissively at the new product back then. "Plastic?! These kids will never learn how satisfying it is to build a ship, plank by plank, out of wood!"

For me, I get more satisfaction, too, out of not paying someone for something I can make myself, like a wash, or a weathering powder. NFW am I paying Mig or any other company, when I have paints and thinners, and chalks. And I still cannibalize appliances and such for raw materials for scratchbuilding. But I have used the odd resin cockpit or two, and ready-made diorama pieces-furniture and the like-from Phoenix and similar makers, or Armand Bayardi.

As the Prussians used to say, "Suum quique".

Prost!
Brad

 

[DaddyO]

I agree with what Del is saying about the possible risk of fun.
My local club is what I would term a plastic modelling club - Nothing wrong in that you understand, but there does seem to be a trend, especially at shows, towards having to use the appropriate resin/brass extra's to 'do a proper job'. I'm not sure whether the pleasure gained is actually increased by all these off the shelf items. Thinking back to the time when I built tanks and aircraft, would I have enjoyed them more using the details that can be bought nowadays? Probably not. Learning to use a candle to add smokiness to a tanks engine compartment was a big thrill; discovering that I could use pastels to 'dirty' things or add dust were enlightening in a way that buying the appropriate 'dust effect' never could be. Reading the latest Stan Catchpol ideas in 'Modelling Workshop' articles really got my interest.

Today's modellers are spoilt for choice, but as a consequence modelling can be a less creative experience. Not being able to buy a plaster house meant learning to build it from scratch (As Brad suggests) No 'off the shelf snow' effects meant raiding the pantry for something suitable. Were the models better? Probably not. Did we enjoy them? Certainly, and at the end of the day that is really what it is all about.

My main concern is that new modellers are lead to believe that they need all the extra's to do it well, whereas they should be doing it because it gives them pleasure. It's a hobby, you don't have to produce a world beater to enjoy it (However nice that might be in itself) Enjoy the company of those around you. Take pleasure discussing techniques and ideas. Make up your own mind what you like and what you think looks right. If you don't have the time or ability to make it feel free to buy it, but realise that you may be missing what is the best part of the experience.

I'm not sure I've managed to capture my original train of thought very well, but in essence modelling and painting are creative experiences for the modeller. Displaying models to others is adding pressure to that creative experience which may not be conducive to enjoying modelling more. (So - like wot Del says really)

Happy modelling and painting to all (whether you are an inveterate garden and kitchen rummager or compulsive show shopper)
Have fun
Paul

 

[valiant]

Again, I agree with all of these posts! In terms of modelling products, I think this is a golden era - I, unfortunately, have an odd mindset which totally eschews these products and I get immense pleasure from finding cheap alternatives - but then, maybe that speaks volumes about me!!

 

[Mirofsoft]

But ... about bits and pieces
I had boxes with collected moss from garden, tree trunk, some stones, barks, twigs, broken plaster bits, dryed tea leaves, etc ...
My daughters making some cleaning after the refurbishing of different rooms in my house, found this/those " trash " and threw them directly into the trashbin ...
I think they thought that their old dad had loss, a bit, his mind ...

But also about the ready made, early in the 70ies,I was happy to find that F. Verlinden made doors, walls, chimneys in plaster under the name DCS, that Historex made chairs, forks, shovels, bottle, glass, tankards, barrels and that Andy's made temples, ruins modern and old in plaster .
Verlinden was the very first to make those diorama accessories because his customers visiting him in his small shop asked, begged, insisted ..." Please François ... why don't you make for your customers, copies in plaster of your creations ?... " And so it began; a copy for a friend, then for 2 friends....... then DCS for all

The sets of colours for doing this or that, for rusting, pasting, fot dirt, dust etc ... is a marketing strategy coming first from Game Workshop with colours like White Humaan Skull, White Troll Skull, White Dragon Skull, White House Skull etc targeting peoples who knew nothing about colours or having not enough imagination using them and showing you the result you can reach with those colours with pictures of models painted by good painters ( those painters already able to reach those results even when using a set o 8 water colours by Plaka )
The same selling technique used by street vendors selling you a special knife to dice carrots square ( a guy who spent many hour training to do that ) looks so easy to do, that you buy one and after some improductive trys, you throwed away . The equivalent today is on YouTube demonstrating how to use micropearls made by Schrullmunff to make snow, or how to paint shadows with tge special coulours set for painting shadows, or the set for painting funeral garbs, or simulating dust, or sand, or rust, or ...
It's all the same, a trained guy show how easy it is and goons are attracted .

 

[John Bowery]

You do not have to buy this extra stuff Just saying!!!!
This is all in jest.
The paint manufacturers make a coloured small bottle of paint and sell it for $3.79 now they take this same bottle and water it down 7 times and call it a wash and sell seven more bottles from the same bottle at $3.79? They have to make a profit you understand and a Gallon of paint costs $25.00 and includes primer mixed in at most of the home stores here .

Paint sets... you cannot blame the manufacturers who sell you 7 bottles of paint when you could have done the same with three bottles. They are in the business of selling paint and they are doing it very very well
Verlinden sold books that showed how to make sandbags / kitbags etc from putty and sold putty. Then he decided to cast many sandbags and sell them to you at a fair price and that included a box to show you how to use the product??? .
So you can spend the dough and have more modeling time or make it yourself and paint less stuff????

What do I know.........Wish I had thought of the above, I would be in Monte Carlo living it up
Cheers
John

 

[Ferris]

It’s all about priorities. When I started modelling and painting I had little money and lots of time and spent many hours thinking about how to model this or that cheaply. This was fun.

Later in life I had more money but hardly any time to spend it. Buying pre-fab stuff enabled me to actually finish stuff. I enjoy that as well, even more actually.

Bottom line, it’s a hobby and we should do what we enjoy, which can be different for everyone.

Cheers,
Adrian