While I agree about all the notions what rivet counters can be (except insults) I would like to offer three thoughts:
1. Colin (ChaosCossack) put together a first class (rivet-counter)manual how knowledge, help and maybe just doubts about a model on display can be offered without offending the person that asked for a feedback and who is surely proud about his new creation / next commercial release.
On the other side there should be likewise a code of conduct how to deal with somebody who is in your eyes a rivet counter.
"I appreciate your input but my resources show..... and I like(d) the model the way I made it better ... could you please post some pictures of your version so that I can see what is the correct shade?" etc are all options to not offend a person that is stuck in research and believes that he is right about a button, lace whatever. And maybe he is - there is even the option to say "Thank you for the hint - I did not know about it - (next time) I will consider a change".
In the end a well sculpted and painted scene of the 95th Rifles defending La Haye Sainte against the Old Guard might be a nice model in it`s own right and you had tons of fun building it but people commenting about the historical correctness are not necessarily "rivet counters" that need to be insulted and silenced.
(I am exaggerating this example of course because I am just not keen enough to look for the real threads (and threats) that included that anti-rivet-counter-agenda in the past but they are there).
2. Putting your model into a competition means that you compete against others - that refers to the open system as well. Otherwise you just pay your entry fee and pick up an award. As a judge in the annual show of my modellling club I can tell that it is still hard while using the open system to come to a fair result and that you have to take very close looks (Optivisor included) at models to justify your decision. The other side of the medal are the judges that just "like" the theme of the model or (even worse in my eyes) the person that made the model and here goes the award.
I was there when even one major show fell into that trap. While the visitors flocked around a large diorama with scratchbuilt and perfectly painted knights at Agincourt the Best of Show was going to another single figure with closed visor. When I later saw a picture of the model with raised visor the credibility of the judges was lost - not just for me. Too harsh rivet counting as a judge AND good ole boy-system can both kill the reputation of a competition IMHO. Fair judging is a hard task.
Not to mention participants that simply know that they paint so well that nobody else is qualified to give other than positive feedback - .
3. Creating and painting a model is a process that necessarily needs a lot of imagination. We think about the situation this person is into, the surroundings, wear and tear he / she might have been exposed to and the effect on the clothing and equipment. Still we feel the urge to get as close to the reality back then as possible - a reality how we imagine it by reading accounts of eye-witnesses, historical studies and maybe by examining an original piece of equipment (or pieces designed for todays overweight reenactors
).
So in my eyes a good modeller and a nitpicker / rivet counter can be the same person.
Among the great artists of times back there are many examples that could be seen as rivet counters. Being rivet counters by themselves they did not give other rivet counters a chance to find a flaw
. When George Everett Millais painted "Ophelia" he was painting the surroundings at the very spot down at the river he had chosen as inspiration to not miss any detail of the real spot regardless of mosquitos harrassing him and fines he had to pay for unallowed tresspassing. His model for Ophelia had to lie in a bathing tub filled with water and caught a severe cold doing this - all for the sake to get things right / "real" - and still the painting of Ophelia is the fiction of Shakespeare and Millais.
- Maybe here lies an explanation why the size of boobs of lady elves can be worth a discussion
.
So rivet counting is
part of the hobby IMHO to acchieve a good result - it can become a hobby in it`s own but then we miss the chance to build something we like and maybe loose the ability to notice all other fascinating aspects every model has to offer.
Adrian - go for the Tiger Tank you always wanted to do - it`s never too late!
Cheers, Martin
