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Our changing hobby


Sailorman

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I've been building models for the better part of 50 years now and I've seen the model scene change from basic kits through to today's masterpieces of moulding but I feel we have lost something along the way. 

I was brought up reading the early Airfix Magazine which was full of conversions using scale drawings, balsa wood and plastic card.  If a kit of a particular model didn't exist one simply converted or scratch-built a model.

Things have changed dramatically and now the moulds and the detail they produce are out of this world......... however people moan more than ever.  If something isn't supplied in the box there seems to be no will to scratch-build it. 

Effectively I see the model makers morphing into what I would call 3-D artists.  They are like artists working in 3-D rather than 2-D.  Painting skills have developed phenominally  ......far better than anything I can do but the building skills seem to be regressing. 

People now need high quality kits / photoetch / conversion parts / detail sets ......... if something isn't available they moan rather than sit down and build it themselves.  I suppose the next step will be buying a 3-D printer and simply buying some software files and printing out a complete 3-D model.

Some of the older AIrfix kits are pretty basic it is true .... but that allows tremendous scope for you to build something really satisfying and something that is "yours."

This post came about because I saw a reference to the mudguards for the Airfix armoured car.  It's true they are bad .... even I noticed that and I only build tanks and military as a break from my beloved ships .....but they are easy to fix and it's great fun to do that.

 

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Coming at this from a model railway perspective, I see the same. As the quality and level of detail available from the likes of Bachmann and Hornby improved, so did the whining that a certain livery or minor variant isn't available. 

 

When I got serious about model railways, including building and exhibiting models, if I wanted a certain locomotive - chiefly diesels, it has to be said - I had to take what was given and work with that. I wanted a certain type, I had to start from the available model and buy in conversion parts and do it myself. There are still folk who do this with steam outline models, but they are quite rare.

 

I've done my share of kitbashing Airfix vehicles into civvy street for my railways. My favourites were converting the refuelling set into various GPO Telephones vehicles, for example. I rather think the "craft" of making something you want, rather than accepting what you have, is tending to be lost with the passing of time. I'm not sure how it can be countered.

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Scratch-building should be compulsory for all modellers!

 

Even just something simple like an antenna or a set of seatbelts. So many of the resin items available as aftermarket sets or upgrades are often something that the average modeller could make him/herself from plastic and wire. Avionics bays, engines, cockpits and exteriors can all be detailed to a greater or lesser extent with scratch-built items. If you can shape a piece of plastic strut with a file and sanding stick, you can make that bomb or fuel tank or ECM pod that isn't available in a plastic kit but might be available in resin from someone or other. Some resin items are amazing and feature detail that I could never replicate (1/72 scale pilot seats!) but there are plenty of other areas of a model that the modeller should try to detail from scratch. I hope this is an area that Airfix Model World will highlight in the future with at least one model being detailed with scratch-built enhancements in future issues. AMW magazine is a favourite of mine as is Meng's AIR Modeller which features plenty of scratch-detailing from the master builders in 1/72 and 1/48 scale and is always an inspiration. If you have a good stock of plastic card/strut/rod and wire and some of the basic modelling tools (saws, scalpels, mitre box, drills and punch set), you can scratch build. If I can add basic scratch detail to a model, anyone can, because I'm a brutal modeller! People just need to give it a go. Maybe the proliferation of resin detail sets has made us lazy. 3D Modelling won't encourage scratchbuilding either. Hopefully that hardcore group of super-detailers will continue to inspire the rest of us. 

 

500 Fan.    

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 I wonder if the change was influenced with the change from 'locate and cement' style instructions to the modern exploded schematics. When the instructions told you that part 5 was a vacuum cylinder and it was attached to the sole bar (part 6) it was educational and informative. It seems nowadays that only ardent fans and specialist engineers can identify parts on some kits. The aftermarket cottage industries have taken over our education, supplying what we didn't know we needed.

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It's true that there's a lot of moaning and whining about lots of things in the hobby, but you need to learn to filter out the signal from the noise. I regard it as an inevitable result of forums and Facebook groups where people have a ready platform to sound off. Whenever I see a post along the lines of such and such a manufacturer missing a rivet here, or a panel line there and the kit is therefore unbuildable, I just ignore it. Yes, modellers want to be spoon fed these days and are loath to fix things for themselves. I can ignore that as well. As far as I'm concerned I like the sort of kits that I can buy these days. and as for all the aftermarket - PE, resin decals, you name it - bring it on.

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I have a dissenting opinion (not that unusual, I know...). While I agree that it was my desire to add missing details to an Airfix Tiger1 that got me started with scratch building many years ago, I still only do it because I have to. There was a survey on another forum (that I couldn't find again, perhaps Ratch remembers) asking which aspect of modeling do members enjoy most, and the choices were something like assembly, scratch building, painting, weathering and viewing the model after it is finished. Members were asked to rank these. The answers were very different, modeler to modeler. As they should be.

Personally, I think we live in a golden age for modeling. Compared to when I started years ago, I can now buy any military vehicle I can imagine (even in 1/76) and the accuracy and detail of the newer injection molded kits, as well as the resin and white-metal ones, is wonderful. The add-ons and finishing tools and techniques are just amazing, so that I can now achieve results I could only dream of, years ago. Not to mention having the ultimate research tool at my fingertips...

My only problem is that where I used to have the time, but no money, now I have money but no time!

In answer to the original lament here, I also wonder if there has been a shift in modeler demigraphics, such that more modelers are adults rather than children. In which case, they too may be more demanding while having less time!

Just my opinion, FWLIW

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I think we should still build what can't be bought , personaly as my eyesight is bordering on nil i'm not in a potition to rivet count not that i did when i was younger & could see a bit better, if something wasn't available i made it ... example lancaster BII converted from lanc BIII and two beaufighters sacrificed thier engines for general parts reshaped nacelles  and then scratch built what was missing ....this was in 1:72 in the 80s i plan on trying it again in 1:48!! 

We seem to have lost our way with the over engineerd modern kits 

I still enjoy older kits as well as the modern , but for different reasons 

I have multiple versions of the same kit by different makes just to have them to compare

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 Yes Neil, I remember that thread. Different people enjoy different aspects of modelling. That's what makes this hobby so diverse.

And yes Patrick, this is the New Golden Age with Airfix's new tooling programme driving the way. Of course not everyone can be pleased all of the time. Non-aircraft builders have had a pretty thin time lately, but we can hope that by making money on the new aircraft other genres will reap the rewards in the future.

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I'd like to put in a view from the 'assemblers'. I have in the past - on here as well as elsewhere - been accused (I can't think of a fairer term) of being an 'assembler' rather than a 'modeller'. Whilst it's a fair comment, it's an unfair criticism let alone comparison.

 

I am happy being an 'assembler' as are doubtless hundreds if not thousands of others. I have no wish to battle poor fitting parts (or add others) to get an accurate representation. I am quite happy to buy a well-tooled, accurate kit that goes together easily and with no drama, trials or tribulations, in fact, I search such kits out. Even if a subject I really, really want to do is only available from a crummy mould, whatever its age, I will avoid it.

 

I have no interest in spending hour after shaving parts, using filler, rescribing raised lines, reshaping tail fins. That said, I've used some after market bits, but they have been to enhance the kit rather than correct it. Thus, it is fair to say that such kits are the ones that attracted me back in to modelling because I simply did not want to have to put all that extra effort in to achieving an even half decent finish.

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Hi David,

I know lots of people who like you go for highly tooled models and as I said in an earlier post most of them achieve finishes I can only dream of!  What irks me is when people complain about some small "defect" which can easily be corrected.   Still it's interesting to see how many different aspects there are to the hobby.

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I'd like to put in a view from the 'assemblers'. I have in the past - on here as well as elsewhere - been accused (I can't think of a fairer term) of being an 'assembler' rather than a 'modeller'. Whilst it's a fair comment, it's an unfair criticism let alone comparison.

The only people with a problem are those who look down on people who enjoy the hobby with nicely detailed and good fitting kits. I do think however, that nowadays minor imperfections of either accuracy or fit get blown out of all proportion.

 

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My rule in this respect is "can I see it?"

For example, the only cockpit piece I felt the Airfix Vulcan to be lacking was a rear cockpit floor, because that's the only piece of the rear interior you can actually see isn't there after adding the canopy even with the boarding door open and the viewports drilled out and glazed.

Similarly, build the JP5/Strikemaster crewed up (2 pilots in kit) and the only parts that seem lacking are the control columns. Having said that, single crewed or vacant it would also need the centre console and cockpit walls detailed.

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 I wonder if the change was influenced with the change from 'locate and cement' style instructions to the modern exploded schematics. When the instructions told you that part 5 was a vacuum cylinder and it was attached to the sole bar (part 6) it was educational and informative. It seems nowadays that only ardent fans and specialist engineers can identify parts on some kits. The aftermarket cottage industries have taken over our education, supplying what we didn't know we needed.

Airfix changed the descriptive 'locate and cement' and exploded diagram instructions in the early 1970's, so I don't think really think that's the reason. Apart from a few 'red stripe' boxings all the Airfix kits in my stash have the assembly instructions broken down into sections. All the non-Airfix kits of similar vintage (mid 70's onwards) I've got are the same.

 

Modellers do conversions use after market parts to build something unique. I think there are a few reasons, other than all the Airfix Modelworld articles, for the perception that nowdays modellers are more interested in super-detailing rather than scratchbuilding and converting.

1. There are vastly more kits available now, you can pretty much buy any type or variant without having to convert an existing kit.

2. Resin and photoetch aftermarket parts are relatively recent. Conversion sets existed in the 1970's but were vacuformed and relatively expensive in comparison to the cost of a kit. Not that photoetch is cheap 😀. If they had been available in the 1970's then I'm sure they would have been snapped up.

3. Tools and accessories were expensive relative to the cost of a kit. A modelling knife or razor saw, even filler or decal solution cost more than a Series 1 or 2 kit. A basic airbrush was 3 times the price of the 1/24 Harrier. Paint was a choice of Airfix or Humbrol enamel. Younger modellers, like me, spent their pocket money on new kits and made do for tools. Without the tools, the finish that could be achieved wouldn't have warranted expenditure on aftermarket parts.

 Since I returned to modelmaking about 6 years ago just over a quarter of the kits I've built have been conversions. I'm currently converting an Academy F-18 Hornet into a YF-17 Cobra and a Multipose Japanese infantry officer into a Dark Elf Necromancer. No photoetch or resin involved.

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Funnily enough, I'm kind of with David JC here- It is pleasant to get a kit, such as the Airfix Bedford QL and put it together, knowing that with a modicum of care you'll get a good looking model.

 

On the other hand I do enjoy producing some unusual models, and will happily scratchbuild to get what I want (on the ATF, for example, you'll see a PST ZiS 6 turned into a Crossley IGL Crash Tender, and a PST Ford G8TA turned into a Marmon Herrington/ Snogo snowblower). 

 

And I do regret the passing of the old Airfix Magazine, which always had conversion and super-detailing articles, as well as research articles- Both article types that are sadly missing from current magazines, and the build articles tend to focus on what after-market parts need to be added. The worst one I read recently, was one where the whole article was, effectively, an advert for a particular brand's range of glues, adhesives & paints, with the author mentioning them at every opportunity.

 

The danger for our hobby, I think will be a increasing intolerance of beginners or those who want a simpler experience. Takes all sorts to make our hobby. I also think some of us are beginning to have unrealistic expectations- and indeed, there are some award-winning models that look totally unrealistic too (over-emphasised panel lines on aeroplanes, and exaggerated chipping on tanks, are two things that come to mind). We're losing the art for the sake of the technical skills.

 

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The danger for our hobby, I think will be a increasing intolerance of beginners or those who want a simpler experience. Takes all sorts to make our hobby. I also think some of us are beginning to have unrealistic expectations- and indeed, there are some award-winning models that look totally unrealistic too (over-emphasised panel lines on aeroplanes, and exaggerated chipping on tanks, are two things that come to mind). We're losing the art for the sake of the technical skills.

 

How true Dave. I can live with the inaccuracies I don't know about, but I do like a finished model to look a bit realistic - whether its Factory Fresh or Worn & Weathered. Kids really do need encouraging and have techniques explained so that they enjoy their modelling more, though it really is down to the individual child. When my grandsons wanted to try spraying they had a supervised session with my airbrush. The colours they chose for their dinosaurs was a bit weird, but it was their choice (silver, red and sky blue) but they had great fun doing it.

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@Braile Dave @Ratch

I think I sort of agree your points; witness for example the "rusted heat shield" in the resin kit in the last AMW, which looks good, but is a separate part not attached to the silencer, so getting to the "as modelled state" would have required decades of neglect or active abuse that would only have happened if it was a step.

As to the colours of the dinosaurs, not only was it their choice, but the nearest living analogues to dinosaurs are birds and reptiles (oh and a few fish like coelacanths and sharks), some of which are very brightly coloured so I'd say "prove them wrong"!!

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I love scratching and sometimes I just think that some kits are just too detailed.

So, for example take a 1904 Mecedes and you can just add things like: better drip feed tubes, more radiater detail,

better chains and tyre tread. that is my kind of modeling.

 

Now, we just have super kits that are compled in almost every detail to the extent that you jus can't add any more of it even the fit better. They also contain so much food for the carpet monster!

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Yes, the old kits can still be had very easily. Ideal for super-detailers and the scratch-builders amongst you. Again though I must say that new-tool kits (and pretty much anything Japanse over the past 20 years or so, we know who I mean) are my kind of modelling, even if some will look at me with disdain and call me an 'assembler' not a modeller. It's those new-tool, or easy to assemble with great result, kits that got me back into modelling again.I wouldn't have retunred to modelling with a choice of inaccurate, poorly fitting kits of any manufacturer. That said, I've even learned from the new-tool accurate kits and whilst I will still actively avoid a poor kit from any manufacturer, I might now have learned enough even from the good kits to be able to build a poor one.

 

At the risk of re-igniting an old argument (that was started by me if memory serves me right) my feeling is that a new or returning modeller will be more inspired by a new-tool, easy to build kit (minor fit and seam line issues aside) thereby getting a great result, than buying a cheap kit from a clapped-out mould and being faced with poor fit and an inaccurate result. I used an analogy and will again. Imagine father and son having loved Goldfinger and buying what they think is a 'New' (yes, 'New') Aston Martin, only to get it home to find it a knackered, 60 year old kit that doesn't build well at all and looks horrendous anyway.  Casual builders perhaps, but are they going to ever buy another kit? Or, after having watched Battle of Britain and then built the new-tool Airfix Spitfire/Hurricane, which went together easily, looked good and accurate, will they have enjoyed that and gone on to buld more?

 

If I had to be honest it's perhaps too easy to look at modelling in some sort of isolation and being nostalgic for 50 year old kits. That's fair enough because even I yearn for those days; in any event that's how kits were, all of them. That's all that was available, it was all that could be done, it was what we expected, it was what we got. But from my perspective it doesn't get away from the fact modelling can't be an isolationist, almost closed-shop approach. To encourage new modellers, these days the technology is there to get a good kit and purchasers have to know they are going to get a good kit and decent result at the end and not have to spend days battling warped parts, ill-fitting wings, gappy fuselages.

 

Yes to the super-detailers and scratch builders: I fully appreciate and boy do I admire the work that goes into them, particulalry the 50 year old kits that need days of work on them, but please, don't look down on the 'assemblers' who actually enjoy an easier kind of modelling and are, in fact, also keeping the hobby going when they select new, accurate, easy to build kits.

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Hi Dave,

I hope my original post didn't come across wrongly.  I was just remarking how the hobby has changed over the years with so much emphasis now being given to the paint job rather than to the construction.  I've seen some pretty awe inspiring paint jobs which I would love to be able to emulate.  It's almost like 3-D art!

This is of course a result of the kits being so much more detailed and tus needing less effort in the construction phase.  What I was objecting to was that this has now gone to an extreme where many expect to find everything in the kit. When they find the slightest bit which ....... in their opinion ..... is missing / not done to their satisfaction they moan rather than just sit down and work on it themselves.

Hope this clarifies things.

Patrick

 

 

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