It's all about the finish

This week's Sprue Cutters Union topic: What makes an outstanding model?

A timely topic for me, as just this past weekend I was talking with a friend on the phone, whining about how long it's taking me to build my Trumpeter M1117 Guardian. I'm enjoying the project, mostly, but there's so much damn photoetch thanks to the ET Models set I have that it's taking me a very...long...time. And if I haven't mentioned this yet on Scale Model Soup, I'm a very...slow...modeler by nature.

So I said to my friend, "You know, Zebulon," (that's not really his name, I just want to use it), "I wonder if I could get as much satisfaction out of my armor if I didn't use any photoetch on them. I could probably build two or three models for every one that I superdetail."

1/35 AMD Laffly 80AM from the 2013 IPMS National Convention.

Here's the thing. When it comes to building aircraft, I really enjoy the detailing process, so I don't think I could forgo photoetch or scratchbuilt detail. It starts with the detailing and ends with a realistic finish. I feel a connection to the aircraft I choose to model, and I want them to be "complete." Not so with armor. I like the look of certain tanks and APCs, but aside from seeing them in museums, I don't have any first-hand experience with them. So when it comes to armor as a modeling subject, the part of the process I enjoy most is painting and weathering.

I share this experience because it reflects my priority in building models, whether aircraft or armor, the finish. My friend and I agreed that a model that is perfectly constructed but poorly finished isn't as successful as one that might have some construction flaws but has a fantastic finish.

1/48 F-51D from the 2013 IPMS National Convention.

When I reflect back on the many contests I've attended and the thousands of models I've seen, the models that linger in my poor memory are those that looked good. When I ask myself which models I'd like to own and have in my display case, invariably they're the models that "pop," not those that are perfectly constructed.

As I look at the many armor kits in my stash (ignoring for a moment the many more aircraft kits), if I have any hope of building even half of them I may need to ignore the fiddly aftermarket and go out-of-the-box. If I don't ol' Zebulon may inherit what I can't complete when I pass on to the big workshop in the sky.

The five P's

When I was in the Air Force I frequently heard the mantra of the Five P's: Prior Planning Prevents Poor Performance. But does it apply to scale modeling as well?

I'm in my mid-forties, and I have to admit that my brain may not be as sharp as it once was. If I don't think through the process of assembling a model there's a strong chance I'll forget something. Like installing the control column in an F-15 (done that) or adding weight to an F-117 to avoid tail sitting (almost done that). The best modelers I know have the keen ability to "see" the assembly of a model before they actually bring the pieces together, so for me to even begin to approach that level of competence I have to spend a good bit of time preparing.

But I'm getting ahead of myself.

Fixin' to build a model (as my friends down South would say) begins with research. Once I select a model, I look through my library for books on the subject, and I surf the interwebz for reviews, online builds, and reference photos. To gather the latter, I create a folder on my laptop's desktop and drop photos or copy the URLs of helpful web sites. For larger, more complex projects, I've been known to create subfolders to better organize photos, such as Wings, Fuselage, Landing Gear, etc. Or for armor: Hull, Turret, Running Gear. Yes, I can be anal retentive.

Next I'll study those online builds and photographs and make notes on the instruction sheet, usually with a red pen. I'll highlight any kit parts that will be enhanced or replaced by photoetch pieces, and I'll note any areas that I think may require special attention.

Finally, as I build the model, I'll informally check off the parts and pieces as I assemble them. That's not really part of the preparation phase per se, but each step essentially prepares you for the next.

There you have it. I failed to mention the ongoing prayers to any god willing to listen, but I assume y'all do the same thing. Prior preparation doesn't necessarily ensure exceptional performance, but it gets me a step closer.

Did you enjoy this article? Just a little bit? Check out the thoughts from my blogging colleagues of The Sprue Cutter's Union.

Kermit's Bench
Martin's Bench Corner
Fill 'n Sand
Sven Harjacek Scale Models
Yet Another Plastic Modeller
Motorsport Modeller
Miniature and Model Painting
Doogs' Models
D. Knights' Weblog

Reinventing the wheel

I had my last car, a Honda Civic, for nearly 12 years. Needless to say, the "technology" in it was quite outdated when I decided to buy a new car. Well, to be fair, the Civic decided for me when the engine gave notice that it intended to retire to a nice scrap mill outside Phoenix in hopes of an afterlife as an iPhone 5 case. One of the cool things about my new car is the reading it provides informing me the air pressure of each tire. Not even Siri can tell me that! At the moment, my right rear tire is 1-2 pounds under pressure. Thank you, Chevrolet, for letting me know.

We modelers are similarly lucky. Our friends in the aftermarket industry are kind enough to let us know when the wheels provided in kits are incorrect. If you're like me, you've amassed a modest stash of resin replacements for all of the junk that the mainstream manufacturers give us.

But wait. Is the situation that dire? Are the wheels in kits really that bad? I know they're inaccurate at times, but it's interesting how far we'll go to create accurate representations of aircraft, armor, ships, and cars. Heck, I'm a sucker for a finely cast wheel, and as you can see above, I have more than a few in my aftermarket treasure chest.

Here's the irony though. In all my years in the hobby -- in the dozens of contests I've attended, in the hundreds of conversations I've had with fellow modelers -- I don't think the subject of wheels has ever come up. I've judged contests with the biggest enthusiasts and nit-pickers you an imagine, and I've never heard one of them point out the inaccurate tread pattern on a PTO P-51. When my friends and I talk about new releases, we tend to obsess over shapes and panel lines, not the overly wide tires on Navy F-4s. And when I look at my own models in my display case, wheel well covers and shadows generally obscure my careful painting and weathering of the wheels, much less any inaccuracies.

So why do we buy aftermarket wheels? I think it's because they're affordable, they're a quick and easy way to improve what the manufacturers provide, and we're suckers for a perfectly cast wheel. A couple of years ago I won an online raffle for the Royale Resin F-4 wheels you see among the other roundy things, and they're tiny works of art! Simply gorgeous. I'm tempted to paint and display them on their own and enter them in the Miscellaneous category at the 2014 IPMS Nats.

Huh. I wonder.... Maybe it's time for a wheel category!

Me like airplanes

This is my first contribution to the Sprue Cutters Union. I've wanted to contribute but just haven't gotten my act together. I blame the distractions of life, but ultimately I just haven't made the time for it. This week Jon B asks us to write about why we like what we like.

I'm a product of the Cold War. I was born in the late 60s, was an impressionable child in the 70s, and spent my teen years through the 80s. Back then the threat of a global war with the Soviet Union was as prominent as the threat of a Miley Cyrus performance is today. Scary, eh? Movies such as The Day After, Red Dawn, and War Games reminded Americans of the real possibility that nuclear war, an invasion of Latin American communists, and World War III could break out at any moment. Of course American pop culture sentiment took the idea to amusing extremes with Stripes (even though I rarely watch the movie beyond the basic training scenes), and in White Nights Mikhail Baryshnikov literally dances his way to the other side of the Iron Curtain. Those were the good ol' days, when we knew who our enemies were.

One of the first models I built as a young pup.

Fast forward 25 years.

It should come as no surprise that my primary area of interest within our hobby is Cold War military aircraft. Those are the subjects that impressed me during my formative years. The F-4 was on its way to Guard and Reserve units, the F-16 was brand new and known as the Fighting Falcon, and "stealth" played a greater role in my sneaking WAFs into my dorm room than in aviation technology.

All that said, the more time I spent in the hobby, the more other subject areas appealed to me. I've built aircraft from World War Two, spent almost 10 years building armor exclusively, and painted my fair share of figures using artist oils. I believe that kind of variety keeps me engaged in the hobby, forces me to learn new techniques, and introduces unfamiliar media to my workbench.

At the end of the day, however, my passion will always be with Cold War USAF aircraft. If some kind of bizarro, geeky, imposing thug told me I could build models from only one genre, I'd be churning out F-4s, F-106s, F-5 aggressors, and Block 15 F-16s for the rest of my life...and be quite happy doing so.

Like this article? Check out these related posts from other members of the Union.

The Combat Workshop
Martin's Bench Corner
Yet Another Scale Modeller
Fill 'n Sand
Migrant's Wanderings
The Eternal Wargamer
Mattblackgod's World
A Scale Canadian
Kermit's Bench
Jay's Scale Model Adventures

Models and money

Last week the Sprue Cutters Union's topic had to do with our spending habits. I'm coming into the conversation a little late, but reading others' thoughts on the subject got me thinking about how I spend my money. Of course this kind of self-reflection, especially when it comes to money, can be painful, but looking over the responses by the Union's participants gives me hope that most of us are fairly careful.

I can haz a Su-24?

One of the recurring themes when it comes to money is our working with a limited budget. In that respect, I'm lucky. I'm not wealthy, mind you; I don't drive the Aston Martin Vanquish that I'd love to have, nor can I afford to pave my short, gravel driveway, but being single and having a decent job allows me the privilege of being able to afford most of the plastic thingees that catch my eye. My modeling budget is constrained only by the other necessities of any home budget, such as building and maintaining an emergency fund, paying for heating costs, the rising price of gas, etc.

I know, it's a good problem to have, right? But when I sit amid my stash of a few hundred unbuilt models (it could be 150,000, I've lost count) and realize that I'm in my mid-forties, I'm forced to acknowledge that when I die most of these models will still be unbuilt. That makes me very sad; not that I'll die (well, that kinda sucks, too), but that so many projects -- and I have a vision for each model that I own, as I'm sure you do as well -- will not come to fruition. There's a chance I may never build that Kinetic F-16D in MiG killer markings of the 56th FW! What will my friends say? "That Steve. He never fulfilled his destiny. How sad." And then they'll fight over the model and the related aftermarket.

These days I find myself being very selective in what I buy. It's tempting to buy every cool new release, but just how high is my enthusiasm for that new Wolfpack 1/48 T-38? Sure, I'd like to build it, but there are so many more models in the pipeline that I'm much more excited about. Maybe that's the trick in managing our money. Before you buy a model, ask yourself, does this model get me more excited than the "top 20" models already in my stash? If the answer is no, you can probably skip it.
Here's what I've learned about buying models these last few years.

1. If you don't buy a model when it's first released, odds are good that you'll be able to find it on eBay or from another modeler 5, 10, 15 years from now. True, the price may be higher, but that will determine just how much you want the model.

Real life example: When Hasegawa released their 1/72 series of F-111s I was spending my time building armor. Fast-forward ten years and I'm back to aircraft, but alas, I ain't got an F-111 in my stash! It took a few years, but I've since acquired one each from the series, which makes me one step closer to what Maslow referred to as "self-actualization." Or something like that.

2. To point #1, even if you never buy that one rare model you've been looking for, aren't there at least ten others that you own that will provide just as much satisfaction?

Real life example: I'd like to have the old Otaki C-5 Galaxy. I'm not sure it's rare, but it generally sells for around $120. I will probably never get one, but I'm pretty sure a few dozen of the other kits in my stash will keep me very happy over the next 40 years of my life.

3. If there's an expensive kit you want, wait for it. There's a good chance you'll find it at a good price in the future. It may not be this year or even next year, but eventually you'll find it on sale via Squadron, Sprue Brothers, or at a contest.

Real life example: I've wanted the Trumpeter 1/48 Su-24 since I saw it at a contest several years ago, but the $130 price tag put me off. I just couldn't justify that much money for a model. But then Squadron had it on sale for about half that, and I took the bait. Add in a couple of other models for friends and I got their free shipping deal as well.

I've ranted long enough. Time to log off of SMS and go check the classified on ARC and Hyperscale.

A visit to Penncon 2013

I had the pleasure today of attending a local IPMS contest that I've never been to before, Penncon in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, sponsored by Central Pennsylvania IPMS. By "local" I mean, a local contest, as opposed to a regional contest. It wasn't local in terms of my three-hour drive. I'm not complaining; I love me a good road trip every now and then. Making it more enticing was its being held at The United States Army Heritage & Education Center. (More on that later.) And even more enticing when a friend agreed to meet me there.

Penncon was a nice contest. It wasn't large -- the contest and vendors were in one room -- but the quality of the contest entries was high, and the people extremely friendly. You can't beat the location, so I can hope the contest grows over the next several years.

Here's a selection of some of my favorite entries in the contest.

Sharp little resin Selbstfahrlette fur 7.5cm Pak40 Auf Somua.

Tasca M4A3E2 Jumbo Sherman. Nice to see armor that's not over-weathered.

Perfectly weathered 1958 Plymouth Belvedere.

My favorite in the contest, a 1/32 Special Hobby X-15-A2.

Check out the crisply executed plumbing on the X-15's external tanks!

A Pit Road 1/144 Vulcan. Cripes, that's a nice kit for the scale!

Stunning Trumpeter 1/32 Me262 B-1/U1.

Perfectly executed conversion of a Czech Model F-80C to a B,
with camouflage typically seen on 56th Fighter Group P-47s.

Beautiful Revell 1/144 Airbus A321 by my friend Joe Volz.

Nicely painted and weathered RSO Radschlepper Ost.

A final thought on the Army Center. If you're ever in the area you should stop by. The focus of the museum is on the American soldier, and you'll find a variety of nice displays explaining the role and life of the soldier from the Civil War through Afghanistan. Each display has a good deal of explanatory placards, so you'll be sure to leave smarter than when you came. There are a few pieces of armor on the grounds if heavy metal is your thing, but the real value will be found inside.

National Geographic Channel's combat shows

With the IPMS Nats two weeks behind us, it's time to look for new ideas and inspiration. I've been wanting to write about the various "reality" shows about soldiers that have been airing this year. Three of the best are on the National Geographic Channel  -- Inside Combat Rescue, Battleground Afghanistan, and Eyewitness War.

Each show embeds you with a combat unit thanks to the portability of digital video recorders such as the GoPro. There's no narrator. There are no scripts. It's just the camera mounted on a soldier's helmet as he goes into battle. You've probably seen these shows; the live action captured by the cameras is explained through a series of integrated interviews with the participants who survived the action.
This is television at its best. Most of us have never experienced combat, so our impressions are based on what we see in movies, and even well researched movies like Saving Private Ryan may fail to capture what it's like. With that in mind, several aspects of the combat shown on these TV shows struck me, and I share them with you.

More often than not, you can't see the enemy you're shooting at. When the bullets start flying, the best you can do is aim in the general direction that you think they're coming from until someone can get a fix on the enemy's specific position. I can only imagine how frustrating that must be.
Most firefights are fought at a great distance from the enemy, often 200-300 meters or more. This makes locating the enemy extremely difficult, much less hitting him. That our soldiers can do so, is incredible to me.

Some of the engagements shown on these shows can be very lengthy, and the possibility of running out of ammunition is a frightening reality. So much ammo is spent just to pin the enemy down that in time you have very little left with the hope of actually taking him out.

The capabilities that UAVs bring to the battlefield has revolutionized the way war our soldiers conduct war. Although the screens are blurred in the show for security reasons, it's clear that battlefield commanders have an incredibly clear image of the enemy's activities thanks to the Predator and similar aircraft. This real-time data allows soldiers to engage the enemy in ways their predecessors could only dream of 60 years ago. Or even 15 years ago!

Air assets end pretty much every firefight. When the troops on the ground can't get a foothold, it's impressive to see how quickly a single machine gun burst from an Apache or LGB from an F-16 can give our troops the upper hand.

As quickly as allied forces can act on a situation, it seems to me that most battles are relatively indecisive. Unlike earlier wars, we're not advancing in a single direction and taking control of land and towns as we go. The entire exercise looks very hit or miss, and our soldiers are making the best of the small victories along the way. I can't help but feel bad for them when "winning" this war is such an unclear goal.

You can find these shows on Amazon Instant Video.