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What are your least and most favorite parts in the process?

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dmk
  • Member since
    September 2008
  • From: North Carolina, USA
What are your least and most favorite parts in the process?
Posted by dmk on Saturday, July 14, 2012 9:56 AM
I was listening to the Mike Belcher interview on Hawkeye's Plastic Scale Modeling Hour, and Mike was talking about how he enjoyed the design phase of building, but often lost interest after the primer went on. It made me think about how I'm the opposite. I slog through the assembly, putty, cleaning up the seams and my interest actually picks up when the primer goes on. I despise fitting, puttying, fixing the seams and kit defects. My favorite part is the finishing. I love airbrushing paint schemes, decaling and weathering.

I thought wouldn't it be neat for a club to collaborate on a kit and build it assembly line style. Each guy would only work on the parts he was best at and enjoyed the most. You'd have a guy that did all the scratch building, another would rescribe, another guy would do the cockpit details, another would fit all the pieces together, another would paint the camo, another would decal and finally you get the weathering guy in to finish it up. Perhaps a big kit like a Visible B-17 would be perfect for this. Of course, you'd have to donate the kit to a museum or VFW or something when it was done.

So what are your least and most favorite parts in the process?
  • Member since
    December 2006
  • From: Phoenix, AZ
Posted by Fly-n-hi on Saturday, July 14, 2012 10:30 AM

I can tell you that one of my favorite parts is peeling the masking off the canopy and windscreen...especially if there are no flaws when I do.  I like the decaling phase, too.

I really hate masking....like masking the wheel wells or camo paint jobs.  I also hate intakes.  Making them seamless takes alot of effort.

  • Member since
    March 2003
  • From: Western North Carolina
Posted by Tojo72 on Saturday, July 14, 2012 10:45 AM

On planes and jets,I really love decaling,it brings everything to life

Armor,Its the weatheing,whether its light or heavy it takes away that toy like appearance.

Armor:I hate roadwheels or assembling indies and fruils,not that they are hard,just a drag

  • Member since
    June 2009
  • From: Metepec, Mexico
Posted by Electric Blues on Saturday, July 14, 2012 11:15 AM

I love painting.

I HATE painting.

Dre
  • Member since
    June 2007
  • From: here, not over there
Posted by Dre on Saturday, July 14, 2012 11:29 AM

I like most aspects of kit building, but I hate, abhor and loathe seams and gaps.   I love it when I can make a fuselage seam disappear, but I hate the time that it takes to do so.

I absolutely love opening a new box when I have too many things going already.

  • Member since
    February 2010
Posted by ozzman on Saturday, July 14, 2012 11:46 AM

I build mostly armor and my least favorite part is probably the road wheels, followed closely by assembling the tracks

  • Member since
    October 2007
  • From: Scotland
Posted by Milairjunkie on Saturday, July 14, 2012 3:08 PM

Least:- Seams

Most:- Painting

  • Member since
    November 2003
  • From: State of Mississippi. State motto: Virtute et armis (By valor and arms)
Posted by mississippivol on Saturday, July 14, 2012 3:40 PM

Love cockpit detailing, and scratching up stuff. Don't care for seams. Love masking, if it's for making a specific marking on the model. I'm not a big fan of chrome foil. Hate airbrush cleaning.

Glenn

  • Member since
    January 2009
  • From: hamburg michigan
Posted by fermis on Saturday, July 14, 2012 10:58 PM

Favorite parts....cockpit and finish.

Least favorite....everything else...in no particular order...............but I do love all of it!

  • Member since
    June 2012
Posted by Elroy on Saturday, July 14, 2012 11:03 PM

I don't like seams and visible joins, but I love the challenge of making them invisible. I love the detailing and emphasising of all the doo-dads. I spend inordinate amounts of time on all the detail and love every single second. I have NEVER become frustrated with a build, once started.

I use powerful jeweller's binoculars for all my detail. I cannot think of any particular part of a build that even comes close to testing my patience...ever.

So I'm weird, but I am truly passionate about modeling.  It is a love affair that will never end.

  • Member since
    March 2007
  • From: Carmel, CA
Posted by bondoman on Sunday, July 15, 2012 2:52 AM

I like research ahead of time best, followed by the last stage where the decals go on, the finish gets tweaked and the model gets displayed. Everything in between, meh not so much.

The kind of builds you describe are disasters. i've hosted three, and in every case there will be one individual who punts off their responsibility and stymies the whole thing.

  • Member since
    September 2006
  • From: Australia
Posted by Blitzwing on Sunday, July 15, 2012 5:05 AM

I really love researching the subject and then trying to replicate it with paint.

What really gets to me is the almost endless amount of date stencils especially on modern aircraft. Just so frustrating.

URL=http://picasion.com/]

  • Member since
    January 2012
  • From: Hatfield
Posted by Misty on Sunday, July 15, 2012 6:27 AM
Hate all the time wasted removing ejector pin marks sprue gates and MOULD LINES GRRRRRRRRRRR¡!!!!!!!!
Love the first time I open the box get out the instructions and drool over the sprues ispecting all the bits, same for any resin and pe. Like opening a big box of choccies.
  • Member since
    February 2011
  • From: Bent River, IA
Posted by Reasoned on Sunday, July 15, 2012 7:09 AM

Elroy

I have NEVER become frustrated with a build, once started.

Oh yeah, try the Monogram B-36. Wink

 

Least - Masking complicated canopies, seams.

Fav - Painting, decals

Science is the pursiut of knowledge, faith is the pursuit of wisdom.  Peace be with you.

On the Tarmac: 1/48 Revell P-38

In the Hanger: A bunch of kits

  • Member since
    June 2008
  • From: Iowa
Posted by Hans von Hammer on Sunday, July 15, 2012 2:26 PM

I'm with Fermis.. Ain't really anything I don't like, each phase is it's own reward... I guess if I had to pick, my favorite area is cockpits, least favorite, roadwheels..

  • Member since
    June 2010
  • From: Austin, TX
Posted by DoogsATX on Sunday, July 15, 2012 2:30 PM

My favorite part is everything after the primer goes on. And cockpits, but I tend to get impatient with them sometimes.

Least favorite?

The drag time between finishing the cockpit and being ready to close up the fuselage.

The drag time between finishing main assembly and being able to paint.

Tamiya decals.

On the Bench: 1/32 Trumpeter P-47 | 1/32 Hasegawa Bf 109G | 1/144 Eduard MiG-21MF x2

On Deck:  1/350 HMS Dreadnought

Blog/Completed Builds: doogsmodels.com

 

  • Member since
    December 2002
  • From: Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, England
Posted by Bish on Sunday, July 15, 2012 2:39 PM

My favorite part is decaling. For me this brings the model to life. It gives it some identity, its not just a plan or tank, its a plan or tank with a history.

Least favorite, decaling. If it involves a lot of decals, i find the process long and tedious. I do it in lots of small stages. I do as many decals as i can before my tub of water goes cold, then leave it for a while.

If there are not many decals, then my least favorite would be dealing with the seams. I find that really dificult to get right.

I am a Norfolk man and i glory in being so

 

On the bench: Airfix 1/72nd Harrier GR.3/Fujimi 1/72nd Ju 87D-3

  • Member since
    January 2006
  • From: Earth
Posted by DiscoStu on Sunday, July 15, 2012 7:22 PM

Love: great deals on kits that turn out well with minimal effort

Hate: botching $60+ kits by spilling liquid cement, completely f-ing up the paint job, or gravity testing off the bench.

"Ahh the Luftwaffe. The Washington Generals of the History Channel" -Homer Simpson

  

 

  • Member since
    July 2010
  • From: Tornado Alley
Posted by Echo139er on Sunday, July 15, 2012 8:07 PM

Hate:  Anything and all seam related work.  I am never satisfied with my seam work.  I've abandoned many  builds due to it.  Brush-painting is a close second.

Love:  Everything else,mainly the Airbrushing phase.

  • Member since
    March 2006
  • From: Right Side of a Left State
Posted by Shellback on Monday, July 16, 2012 1:05 AM

I get really irritated when them little parts zing off into oblivion .Super Angry

All is happy when they finally return from their trip to oblivion .Big Smile

  • Member since
    September 2004
  • From: Utereg
Posted by Borg R3-MC0 on Monday, July 16, 2012 5:06 AM
I like most phases: research, cockpits (love that one), painting.

I do not filling seams. And i often run into problems with decals.

cml
  • Member since
    March 2007
  • From: Brisbane, Australia
Posted by cml on Monday, July 16, 2012 6:48 AM

Least favourite is filling and sanding (largely because scribing is my weakest area, and I inevitably need to rescribe after sanding...which only causes more areas to sand...)

My favourite area is painting - especially airbrushing, but i also love painting a detailed cockpit, when you start to see all the little nuances pop out with dry brushing and washes.

Chris

  • Member since
    February 2003
  • From: Green Bay, WI USA
Posted by echolmberg on Monday, July 16, 2012 7:56 AM

I think my favorite part is putting the wings on the plane.  To me, that's when it finally looks like a cool airplane!

My least favorite part, all the fiddly parts at the end like all the antennas, the bombs, the yellow propeller tips, the waist guns that had to be left off to keep them from breaking, etc...

Eric

  • Member since
    March 2010
  • From: Democratic Peoples Republic of Illinois
Posted by Hercmech on Monday, July 16, 2012 9:12 AM

Least...masking and sanding

Favorite: Painting (when the paint cooperates) and peeling off the cockpit mask.


13151015

  • Member since
    June 2012
Posted by Elroy on Saturday, July 28, 2012 3:32 AM

Oh yeah, try the Monogram B-36.

Hi reasoned. Don't know that one, but then I research and read all the reviews I can find before I buy a kit.

Actually, there was a kit I bought years ago that just wouldn't fit together which became mish-mash combined with some bits left over from some kit that was crap and became a one-off of something that has faded into history, where it shall remain.

I don't really remember being frustrated with it though. I don't even remember what the stupid thing was now.

mgh
  • Member since
    May 2011
  • From: Utah County, Utah
Posted by mgh on Saturday, July 28, 2012 8:52 AM

I dislike masking, I detest clear parts.

I love assembly and gluing.

  • Member since
    February 2007
Posted by mitsdude on Sunday, July 29, 2012 12:31 AM

Even though I dont do aircraft or armor, spaceships and scifi vehicles are pretty close to the same thing.

Another vote for a seam hater.

Assembly is my favorite. Which probably explains why 90% of my unfinished kits are at the post assembly pre seam/painting stagess.

  • Member since
    July 2008
  • From: Vancouver, the "wet coast"
Posted by castelnuovo on Wednesday, August 1, 2012 11:26 PM

Love-hate relationship with road wheels.

On one hand, there are so many of them, they are all the same (boring), my hands are a bit trembling so they are a bit of a not so wellcomed challenge.

On the other hand, this is just a hobby, I am not in any rush to finish the model, few hours to kill in the evening so the more road wheels the longer it keeps me occupied.

Cheers...

  • Member since
    May 2012
  • From: Milford, Ohio
Posted by Old Ordie on Thursday, August 2, 2012 1:25 PM

Least:  masking canopies.  Best:  when everything is falling together in final assembly, and then ... I get to look at the finished product.

Flight deck:  Hasegawa 1:48 P-40E; Tamiya 1:48 A6M2 N Type 2 ('Rufe')

Elevators:  Airfix 1:72 Grumman Duck; AM 1:72 F-4J

  • Member since
    February 2003
  • From: Cameron, Texas
Posted by Texgunner on Thursday, August 2, 2012 1:27 PM

Old Ordie

Least:  masking canopies.  Best:  when everything is falling together in final assembly, and then ... I get to look at the finished product.

^There^

what he said!!


"All you mugs need to get busy building, and post pics!"

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