Fiddlers Green

How many times do you have to build a model before it is display worthy? I have often wondered about this because it normally takes me two to three build before I get it Almost Perfect.

I usually build twice. Once in original size (Except monsters like the B-36 and the Me 323) then one to keep in 1/160, maybe 1/72 if I'm going to hang it. I sometimes get a wild hair and see just how small I CAN get one... as you guys know.
Lep

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"TANSTAAFL !" "There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch!" Lazarus Long AKA Robert A. Heinlein

Currently working on: FG Wippet 1/72
Recently Completed: FG FT-17 Dio 1/38

I think the only model I've had several goes at is the Corsair - I just couldn't get those wings looking quite right. I have it already printed out again to attempt at some point in the future though.

Three models I've started but never finished. I couldn't get the Spitfire right, the Harrier's nose pieces just didn't fit together properly, and I had problems with the nose and wing tips on John Dell's Fokker D.VII. No doubt I'll come back to these again sometime and start afresh. I think part of the problem was that I just wasn't in the right frame of mind at the time.

I've found that being in the right frame of mind (in or out of) has a lot to do with it.
Lep

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"TANSTAAFL !" "There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch!" Lazarus Long AKA Robert A. Heinlein

Currently working on: FG Wippet 1/72
Recently Completed: FG FT-17 Dio 1/38

I never build an entire model over again in a quest for perfection. By the time one of my models is completed, I'm ready for something new (often I'm ready for something new before the current project is finished). If I'm unhappy with my first attempt at a component - a fuselage segment or a wing for example - I'll just reprint the individual part and have another go at it. For me, that's the attraction of downloadable card models versus hard copy models, it's forgiving. For each model part, you only have to be perfect once to produce a model you can be really proud of. With hard copy published models, you have to be perfect every time.

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Regards,
Don

Currently working on: 1/72 FG Wildcat
Recently completed: 1/72 FG Crosby CR-4

Don, I couldn't agree more.

That's why I never ever use the hardcopy originals, I always scan them and build the scanned copies. I suppose in a strict sense I'm violating copyright, but since I don't give or sell the scans away but keep them for my own private use, I'll live with being a criminal.

The other reason, almost as great, that I build from scans is that I don't build stock, I'm always fiddling with the design. That might even ameliorate the copyright issue somewhat because my models are no longer original, but derivative.

But the bottom line is that I always have the originals, pristine, as reference material.

The one disadvantage is for models printed with special ink, which my inkjet cannot reproduce, that looks like real metal. But even the ink jet copies look great when complete, so I don't miss the difference.

I am like Don in that I tend to become disinterested in some projects before I have finished . I have a box full of unfinished models . Some I have rebuilt some I have just messed up. I am now on my 4th attempt of a P-26. Engine parts just don't fit or either I'm half stupid. thank goodness for scanners..Bill

Totally agree. There are models I've nailed the first time I built them and don't want to build another, the F-100 is an example, I built it "perfectly" the first time, I'd like to build another but attaining the same level of quality is extremely difficult, so I'll only ever have one. On the other end of the spectrum are models I've tried 3,4,5 times to build and struggle every time, and then there are those in between, some have a few imperfections but otherwise look good, others not so good and they end up being given away. The coolest thing about this hobby is it's cheapness, currently I have 9 models in various stages of completion but I don't feel bad about it, what's a couple of bucks of card compared to the price of a plastic kit or a hard copy kit?

Niki

Sorry for the essay, I couldn't quite articulate my thoughts into words.

eloquently stated Niki. I have 7 in various stages. Bill

Just as having the right tool can turn an impossible job into a piece of cake, I look at most difficulties encountered during assembly as a design problem, not a modeler problem. Almost always there's some mismatch of adjoining dimension or contour, or the designer didn't allow for post-sub-assembly access, or didn't provide alignment guides, etc. That's why Photoshop is indispensible so I can go in and make the necessary changes. It's my belief that the modeler should never have to struggle. Be patient, yes. Not try to glue up too much all at once, yes. Be proficient with and have certain small tools (tweezers, hemostats, needle-awls, etc.), yes. But not struggle. Struggle means the designer got it wrong - in my view.

that is about what i do!

Rarely do I ever rebuild a model. I simply don't have time. I may build different versions of a model on occasion. But, on the Ju-88 I did, I built 5 cockpit glazing pieces because I kept messing up the framing for the clear canopy.

I almost never build more than one copy of a model; I simply cant sustain enough interest in one particular model to do that. Which makes me a crappy Beta-Test builder

I also rarely give up on a model; no matter how horrible its turning out I tend to bull my way through to the end in hopes that it will look better once all the "bits" are in place. Sometimes it does, and sometimes the kids get a new toy.