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Are modelers getting a lot better?; Your thoughts welcome
Topic Started: Aug 14 2017, 02:28 PM (1,123 Views)
dknights
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The court of LAST RESORT!
[ * ]
Having just returned from my 21st IPMS/USA Nationals, I wanted to bring up something I noticed that really struck me this time and get y'alls input on it.

What I noticed in Omaha is that the quality of the entries, from top to bottom has gone up considerably. I know this wasn't due to a fewer number of entries as the number of entries was well above the last Omaha nationals.

I think we, as modelers, as a group are getting better. I think a fair amount of that is attributable to the internet. When I first got into modeling, (when dinosaurs still roamed the earth), the only way to learn a new technique was if someone in your club showed you, or you attended a seminar at a contest or you read it in a magazine and were able to reproduce it. (In those days magazines had many fewer photos and even fewer still were in color.)

Now, with forums like this one, YouTube videos, email, etc, a modelers ability to improve their skills is greatly enhanced.

Thoughts?

David M. Knights
Fortes fortuna adiuvat

14 Finished: Special Armor V-2, Airfix P-51
15 Finished: SBS Gladiator engine
16 Finished: Brengun C2 Wasserfall, Merit SS-N-2 Styx, World's smallest diorama, Airfix Hurricane.
17 Finished: Japanese Carrier Deck, Belcher SS-4, Italeri AB41, PLAN Type 039A (not 72nd scale)
18 Finished: NONE
The bench:Platz T-33, Trump. T-34/85, Meng F-106, Airfix P-51 #2, Airfix P-40
Revell MiG-21F-13, Ace Citroen V-11
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Flyboy72nd
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Hero
[ * ]
Plus the older we get, the sneakier we get!!?!!
I remember an old saying I heard often in the Air Force - "Old age & treachery will overcome youth & exuberance any day!!!" B)
Posted Image

Building something Canadian, Eh! Graham; to avoid confusion M., from Canada's Capital!!
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dknights
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The court of LAST RESORT!
[ * ]
Flyboy72nd,Aug 14 2017
11:13 AM
Plus the older we get, the sneakier we get!!?!!
I remember an old saying I heard often in the Air Force - "Old age & treachery will overcome youth & exuberance any day!!!" B)

I never discount old age and treachery, but as we get older, aren't modelers skills supposed to degrade due to eyesight, etc? As a group we are getting older, though in our club over the past few years we've had a new influx of modelers in their 30s and 40s. Gives me hope the club will outlast me.
David M. Knights
Fortes fortuna adiuvat

14 Finished: Special Armor V-2, Airfix P-51
15 Finished: SBS Gladiator engine
16 Finished: Brengun C2 Wasserfall, Merit SS-N-2 Styx, World's smallest diorama, Airfix Hurricane.
17 Finished: Japanese Carrier Deck, Belcher SS-4, Italeri AB41, PLAN Type 039A (not 72nd scale)
18 Finished: NONE
The bench:Platz T-33, Trump. T-34/85, Meng F-106, Airfix P-51 #2, Airfix P-40
Revell MiG-21F-13, Ace Citroen V-11
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Flyboy72nd
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Hero
[ * ]
Ahhh, that's what the 'Borg Transplants' are for!!! That's what I think when I put that ocular enhancing head band on!?!?!?? I'm just waiting for the one with the laser?? :wacko:

We (our club) do a model building session once a month at the Air Museum, you should see all the headbands & magnifying lights on the tables!!??
Posted Image

Building something Canadian, Eh! Graham; to avoid confusion M., from Canada's Capital!!
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Chuck1945
Hero
[ * ]
No clue regarding getting better, the good modelers in my club are still good, the mediocre ones don't appear to get any better.

Regarding age, I tried one of those head band magnifiers many years ago, still have it but only used it a couple of times. I had issues with depth of field wearing it, the drugstore 1.75x magnifying reading glasses my wife got me last year have had some use, but depth of field is still an issue with them. The Ott Lite I added to my paint my paint bench last week however has made a tremendous improvement.
Chuck
Eastern WA, USA
Finished 2018:
Eduard Spitfire IXc, VIII, Monogram/Starfighter BFC-2
On the active bench:
Eduard Bf 110C, Hasegawa B-24D, SH P-40E
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Aaron_w
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Toady
[ * ]
I think it is, I know the internet has made me a better modeler.

At least for me modeling was largely a solitary hobby. Since I discovered internet modeling forums I have discovered all kinds of new techniques to improve my abilities.

I don't think I would be nearly so quick to try new things like scratchbuilding or resin casting parts, rigging biplanes etc without the encouragement I've received over the years from the various model forums.

Perhaps model clubs perform a similar function, but I've never had that opportunity.
Aaron Woods
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Moggy
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Advanced Member
[ *  *  * ]
Hi chaps,

Standards here in Sweden have soared incredibly over time. I have won a few prizes now and again including a few firsts. I've judged model contests (the big ones including the Swedish Nationals) for the last 27 years. The consensus (and my personal experience) is that the models we see on the tables today are superior to those twenty years ago. My personal winning models are still very good, yet they would never win today because the competing models would be of an even higher standard! This goes for the vast mayority of the other winning models too.

It gets more and more difficult to grade the models from year to year! It often ends up with having to use (tiny) defects to separate the top models in the class. Almost any of those would have won its class 20 years ago :0

BTW we only judge the technical side of modelling since it would be impossible to have fair judging of historical accuracy. You'd have to have judges expert on EVERYTHING which is obviously ridiculous.

There are no shoddy models on the tables - the range is from very good to unbelivable. The models at the bottom of the class are there mostly by comparison to the winning

We have a system that is based on objective judging with a paper trail. All judges are apprenticed and trained.. We take our modelling very seriously at contests ;) We still have a lot of fun though! The judging model we use has paradoxically created a more relaxed atmosphere.
We are obviously not allowed to judge the classes we take part of; the models are rendered anonymous at the tables. Collusion is dealt with harshly - three cases in 27 years; the people involved were booted out of judging permanently and pretty much ostracised for years after that.

Every year I marvel at what's on the contest tables!

Cheers, Moggy
Cheers, Moggy

WIP: HAS F-86D RDAF, HAS Lockheed P2V-7 Neptune ANA, ITA G.222 AE-260 Argentina, SH Meteor Mk.4, AX Bristol Freighter Mk.1 FAA
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RJ Tucker
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Ack, Oop, THPPFFT Baby
[ * ]
I'm not sure "modelers" as a group or demographic are much different now than ever. Seems to me because of available information technology and virtual collaboration (example: this forum) us serious modelers are learning & improving by dedicating TIME to our hobby. We're taking the time to learn then do.

Look at the "masters'" models we all (rightfully) ooh & aaw at. Ask yourself, "what skills do they have that I don't?" I think you'll find they really don't do anything you're not capable of doing. Oh, they may have expensive bench tools and machines, but what of their skills are beyond you? In most cases, not much.

The difference, I think, is patience and time. Do you want to invest 3,000 hours in a model? Can you stay focused on a project for a year or two?

I think the answer to those questions are the difference in the quality, appeal or craftsmanship of a model. I think that is the great leap in modeling. Me? I don't want to invest that kind of time or effort in a single subjct. You have to decide.

RJ
Phantoms phorever!


Flag Plot: My virtual model display shelf
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Pyran
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Advanced Member
[ *  *  * ]
i think the vast improvements in kit engineering and detail might also account for a large share of the improvement. Even if we controlled for that, I think the availability of new tools and materials has also helped. For example, I used to do canopy masking using scotch tape until kabuki tape came along. Vast improvement. However, I'm sure the internet also played a large role in spreading awareness of using kabuki tape and creating a market for it so that its now readily available in hobby shops.
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Greenshirt
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Tim Holland, Southern MD - USA
[ * ]
Agree, it's a combination of wider dissemination of easy and great techniques, better engineering of kits to start, and experience.

I can make a competitive model from an Eduard profipack, but my Frog "sow's ear" still looks like what I started from. Not that Frog kits are poor, but they aren't modern Eduard.

Tim
Tim Holland

I'm a "green shirt" because I work on the carrier's flight deck and maintain US Navy aircraft. Safe sorties are my life so we can be anywhere, anytime -- from the Sea.

http://greenshirt-modeler.blogspot.com/
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dknights
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The court of LAST RESORT!
[ * ]
I had not thought about the improved tools and kits, but I agree that both of those things have played a part.

Kits have improved so much that I find it very hard to justify investing the time in a kit that wasn't made in the last 15 years.

David M. Knights
Fortes fortuna adiuvat

14 Finished: Special Armor V-2, Airfix P-51
15 Finished: SBS Gladiator engine
16 Finished: Brengun C2 Wasserfall, Merit SS-N-2 Styx, World's smallest diorama, Airfix Hurricane.
17 Finished: Japanese Carrier Deck, Belcher SS-4, Italeri AB41, PLAN Type 039A (not 72nd scale)
18 Finished: NONE
The bench:Platz T-33, Trump. T-34/85, Meng F-106, Airfix P-51 #2, Airfix P-40
Revell MiG-21F-13, Ace Citroen V-11
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Mark Schynert
Member Avatar
Yeast
[ * ]
The best kits are better, the tools are better, the choice of paints has improved, information is better, decals *can be* better, and exchange of techniques and opinions is far richer than it was even five years ago.

As for deterioration, I don't know. In my own case, I've still got great vision, relying only on bifocals and good lighting, my lighter airbrush has made me more effective when painting, my hands are more steady than they were ten years ago (okay, that's due to a beta blocker I have to take, but still), and I have more time and a better workspace. I still turn out clangers, but I've also built some of the best models I've ever managed in the last couple of years. Just turned 65, and absent something unexpected, I can probably stay at this level for at least another five years. I have no reason to believe my experience is out of the ordinary, and I'm also a few years (or more) older than most of the other modelers at the clubs i go to.
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Tommy
Beast
[ * ]
Agree with all of the above. For me the ability to look at different things, methods, reviews ect, all the encouragement (this forum is a really good example of 'helpful' forums) makes modelling a lot more fun and gives me better results than the old days.
The internet helps to beat the isolation of a lone modeller in a big country!
Cheers Chris
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MDriskill
Hero
[ * ]
Very interesting comments from everyone!

I've built models since the 60's, been an IPMS member since '76, and have attended a dozen or so Nationals. I certainly agree that the basic model on the table has gotten a lot better. Improved kits and the wide availability of great reference material, aftermarket stuff, and building information via IPMS, magazines, the net and all the rest are to me the main factors.

That being said, a part of me kinda misses the old days when kits generally took more accurization and hand-done detailing to attain a good appearance. Finished models are better these days (and easier for blind ham-handed oldsters like me to attain) and yet--for better or worse--some traditional modeling skills are seen less and less.

On the subject of old eyes, I've been using drug-store magnifying reading glasses for years, but recently had my optometrist write me a prescription for magnifying readers that correct for my particular eye problems. The improvement it made is astonishing! Kicking myself for not doing it years ago. There are so many discount eyeglass places around these days that it's not a big investment, either--I ended up with 2 pairs for less than $70.
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Sky Keg
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Hero
[ * ]
Mr Knights and all………

My view is not only has the overall skill level increased in our hobby, but the techniques, tools, supplies, materials and the kits themselves used have greatly aided what is the final result. I remember when I first started building models in the mid-70`s ( Egads!!!! ), I built to replicate and dream of flying them and not to display. When I returned to the hobby in the early 90`s, I could not help but notice that the quality of kits had improved along with everything associated with it. Couple that with meeting new people with similar interests and the internet for forums such as this has only made the process of buying, building, assembling, painting, and detailing a static plastic model kit all the better and most enjoyable.

Respectfully submitted,
Mike….."Sky Keg"
Sky Keg

Mr Dorfman……..Fat, drunk, and stupid is no way to go through life.
-Dean Wormer
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