When to call it quits

One bit of advice I often give modelers who are struggling with a challenging build is to continue it. Well, that's easy to say when the offending piece of shite is in someone else's hands!

Tonight I struggled with my latest project, a Hobby Boss 1/72 Rafale M. I've intended to take it to the IPMS Nats in August, and although I'm not a trophy hound by any measure, I'd like it to look good, and I generally try to make every model better than the last. But this thing is kicking my butt. Here's the list of things that have gone wrong:

• I used the seat belts from Eduard's photoetch set, but the seat looked terrible after I painted it. I've since decided that I'll make my own seat belts from now on as I think they look much more realistic than PE.
• I carelessly joined the two halves of one of the external fuel tanks, which resulted in a significant step that required more filling and sanding than it should have.
• There's no intake trunking of any sort, but by the time I realized that I'd already assembled the fuselage.
• The intake-to-fuselage join is very bad and required a great deal of finagling to get right. Yet more sanding awaits.
  Speaking of the intakes, I glued them to the fuselage before I added a nose landing gear bay / lower fuselage part, which also will require a lot of filling and sanding. In place, the intakes will obstruct my ability to adequately address that seam.
• I think the main landing gear should be attached to the landing gear bays prior to joining the upper and lower wing assemblies. I didn't do that. I'm sure I can make them fit, but will the result be fragile? Don't know. Maybe.
• I was planning to display the model on a mirror, so detail in the main landing gear bays was important. It would've been easier to do that prior to attaching the bays to the lower wing halves.

Here's my honest self-assessment. What this mess comes down to is poor planning on my part. I need to get better at "seeing" the model coming together, visualizing how the parts join and adjust the detailing and assembly processes accordingly.

Yes, the project can be salvaged, but it won't live up to my expectations, and that saps a great deal of my enthusiasm for it. I'm asking myself if I should continue to struggle with it or set it aside and buy a new Rafale M. I'm leaning toward the latter; time is precious and I tend to think we shouldn't waste it doing something that's not enjoyable.

Stay tuned.

Resolutions and hairspray

I admit it: I used to use hairspray. Back when I was as handsome as Tom Cruise and the ladies would swoon when I'd walk into a room carry the latest Monogram release under my muscular arms. Those were the days!

I have a different relationship with hairspray these days. I don't need it for my hair as much as I do for my models. Unless you've been living under a rock or been overly preoccupied with The Simpsons, you're at least vaguely familiar with the use of hairspray in scale modeling. In case you're not, it's a technique that allows you to create extremely realistic paint wear and chipping. Here's an example, a 1/48 Hs-129 by Bob Windus seen at last year's IPMS Nats.

 The general process looks something like this.

1. Apply color #1.
2. Apply hairspray.
3. Apply color #2.
4. Use a pointed tool or brush to removed color #2, allowing color #1 to show underneath.

Mig Jimenez has a very nice tutorial on his blog, and if you can find your way to Google and can type on a keyboard, a quick search will turn up dozens of other articles and SBS's where the technique is shown. There are even some very helpful videos on YouTube. The ultimate FAQ, in my humble opinion, is found on this thread on the Mig Productions forum.

I'm talking about the hairspray technique because, as you may recall, one of my New Years resolutions for you (and me) was to experiment. I've wanted to try this technique for a long time but have been afraid of failing -- because, you know, if you screw up a model your life has no value, right? So I found an inexpensive Hobby Boss 1/72 MiG-3 (which is quite a gem, by the way), purchased a bottle of AK Interactive's Worn Effects Acrylic Fluid (i.e., hairspray), and said a prayer to every god I could think of, including Tengri, the primary deity of the the Xiongnu, Hunnic, Bulgar, and Xianbei peoples.

I won't go into great detail about the process I used on the MiG, other than to say I used Tamiya paints exclusively, with a typical application of Future before and after applying the decals...and before the application of the chipping fluid and white paint. I'm pleased with the results, but I'll offer the three reactions I had to my efforts.

First, the paint didn't come off as easily as I had expected, even though I started working it within 10 minutes of applying the chipping fluid. Maybe it's my choice of Tamiya, which is a surprisingly durable paint. Next time I'll try Polly-S.

Second, it's very easy to chip or rub through the paint right down to the bare plastic. I did so on one or two areas, though it's not obvious given the color of the airframe. This may be the result of my using Tamiya, but in general I'd suggest proceeding carefully.

Third, the results are somewhat random. I guess this is a good thing, but as an "artist," I like having much more control of the final effects that I have envisioned. Some spots on the MiG are over-worn and others under-worn, at least to my eye.

Overall I'm very happy with the model. I think it turned out quite well for my first attempt at a new technique, and I'm eager to try it again. I hope you're experiementing as we move further into 2014. I'd love to hear what you're doing!

CAD and critics

It’s that time of year again. The New Year and the Nuremberg Toy Fair are giving us a look at the models we’ll see released throughout 2013. I’m very excited about more than a few of them, as well as the prospect of kits not yet announced yet implied, but I won’t bore you with my preferences.

With so many companies relying on computer aided design these days, it’s only natural that they choose to publicize upcoming releases with a few CAD images, and sadly that’s biting them in the butt.

If you regularly visit the popular forums you may have noticed critical remarks about some of these upcoming releases, criticism based solely on these CAD renderings. The Hobby Boss YF-23 has taken a good deal of abuse within the span of just the two days since the announcement of its release. It appears that some modelers are using the CAD renderings as evidence that the resulting kit will be inaccurate. What ensues are some pretty heated discussions…most of them pointless.

In defense of the prognosticators and rivet counters, I believe it’s completely fair of them to do this early analysis based on the available information, as limited as it may be. It’s not unique to our hobby. If you’re an automotive enthusiast you probably saw many of the predictions over the last 12-18 months of what the Seventh Generation Corvette would look like. Oenophiles regularly get early tastes of wines that are years away from retail shelves. There’s nothing inherently wrong with that. What’s the alternative, just sit back and talk about how exciting these kits will be? How boring would that be?

That said, I think the rivet counters should must show more discretion, perhaps prefacing their comments with a disclaimer of some sort, such as, “Based on this early CAD rendering, it would appear that….” They should be open to the possibility that the images might be preliminary and far from representing what we’ll ultimately see in the box six or twelve months from now. Some of these previewers have even gone so far as to damn an entire company’s product line, with statements like, “Based on their history of getting things wrong, I’m sure they’ll screw this one up, too.” Maybe that’s fair – after all, a company’s reputation rises or falls on the quality of its products – but the negativism is a bit tiring, and I’m a fairly patient guy.

Speaking of the rank and file modeler (those of us not consumed with absolute accuracy), we need to be more tolerant of criticism and differing opinions. I, for one, I appreciate the analysis that the rivet counters provide. Look, I’m not an expert in anything, so if someone who’s familiar with the Mirage wants to feel his way all over the new Kitty Hawk kit and point out its two dozen flaws, that’s fine with me. Hell, let him condemn it to the trash bin for all I care. I’m an intelligent and clear-thinking man who can make his own choices based on the information presented to me. All of us should be strong enough to see through and ignore even the harshest criticism and make the best choice for us.

It’s just a hobby. Let people be the big fish in the small pond if that makes them feel good. Don’t let other people control your emotions. Have a nice day.