For most of my life I was an OOB guy, and then made the mistake of doing a resin Dejah Thoris for a friend. The OCD kicked in, and now I can't build a kit without detailed the living hell out of it. I'm gonna have to force myself to go and build a cheap kit quick and dirty and just leave it that way, to get it out of my system.

GAF

I tend to not be satisfied until I have the radio working and the landing lights on.

 

I must admit that detailing is an interesting form of punishment.  

While I'm happy to see a nicely detailed aircraft, a model's outward appearance is more important to me than some part inside the cockpit that will never be seen by human eyes again.  Sometimes you just have to say, "Is this really worth it?"  Wouldn't that time be more valuably spent working on another model?

I will never be accused of being a great modeler.  I'm too middle of the road in my detailing for that.

Gary

 

 

^ This. 

Brian Miller

I was just curious how many people are strictly OOB or do you detail the heck out of the model? I was a strictly a OOB 700 scale modeler until a few months ago. I decided to take my time and put some details into it. Some aftermarket AA guns and half of the PE fret later and it was the best model I've ever made. Instead of build  model just to finish it and put it on the shelf. I took my time and im looking forward to the next IPMS contest to see what it will do. Maybe nothing but I'm proud of my build and that's what matters. So if you haven't tried to detail a model, just try it and you may be surprised what you come up with. 

Hard to imagine the model ship scene without aftermarket superdetailing... I definitely couldn't get this look without it:

(1/200 Nelson with Pontos detail set)

Still, I think crazy superdetail sets and the resulting internet eye-candy have probably led to lots of burnout, unfinished megaprojects and today's relatively quiet modeling forums as modelers (being mostly men answering the call of manly nature) inevitably compete with each other to try to put out the most awesome looking stuff online and/or feel "unworthy" because their build didn't involve twice the cost and 3-4 times the work as a "normal" OOTB build.

Maybe forums should divide like IPMS into "out of the box" and "superdetailed" build logs?

OOB

I know my modeling would be so much easier and I can get more kits built if I were to just build OOB but some kits just cry out for that extra detailing like aircraft cockpits and ejection seats. Or adding all those PE railings on a 1/700 or 1/350 scale ship which really does improves the overall appearance of a model ship.

Gee ,GAF ;

 I thought I was the only one with that problem !   T.B.

Just started my first foray into PE with the Trumpeter 1/350 Dreadnought. Challange is an understatement. I guess it eludes me to try and manipulate metal pieces smaller than the glue used on them into the correct placement and orientation, never mind removal and deburring. I figure that the kits today for the most part should be pretty accurate interpretations of the subject without 1/32nd pieces. That being said there are burnishings like railings and anchors ( for e.g.) that certainly enhance the finished product. Ergo, I will be choosey about what details are added depending on the subject and what I can successfully manipulate with out mangling and or losing. Lesson learned for the future, will continue on with this build until I AM SATISFIED. I guess I have scratch building to look foward to at some point, but I'll never be a rivet counter. Improvise ,adapt overcome. 

i will add pe that comes in the armor kits most of the time. the tie downs that are smaller than the glue to hold it not so much. i usually don't buy AM for armor unless i have a specific picture/diorama i am doing and need open storage boxes or interiors. 

i wiill add cargo, netting, tarps, etc sometimes homemade spometimes resin. afgain it depends. i have won a number of awards in local and regional with 1/35 and 1/72 armor/wheels. all were OOB with more emphasis on painting, color modulation, washes, and weathering which i really enjoy than on AM stuff.

I'm an extremely slow builder and after spending many years building one detailed model (a tornado chase vehicle), I've tried to do my next couple of builds more or less out of the box. Unfortunately, the kits I'm trying to do OOTB builds with have some parts that are so unsatisfactory that I have to scratchbuild replacement parts. Or, as in the case of the F-104 that I'm building, there was no instrument panel--not even a decal. I had to make a panel because I didn't want to have just a blank "face" where the dials should be. The panel's not super-detailed; just some of the basic dials and the radar screen.

If I really have an interest in the subject or it's somewhat unusual, I'll probably do some level of detail work.  RIght now I'm doing a Gannett trainer and have included most of the P.E.  There are a couple spots where nobody will see anything so I left them out. 

I'm also working on a H.B. M-706 that I'm converting into one of the A.F. Security Police Air Base Defense vehicles that I drove during Vietnam.

Because of the massive amount of work involved, no turret, parrapit armor with blast doors, almost completely empty interior that needs to be built ( I won't go into the extensive work involved unless requested), I have a large amount of spare parts left over because this kit has parts for most of the various other versions that ours didn't have.  By the time this thing gets to the next contest the only original parts left will be the hull and the suspension system.  Over half of the vehicle will be scratch built, even the automatic grenade launcher.

Like others, I believe it depends on the subject matter.

I believe it is hard to justify super detailing an a/c cockpit that nobody can see when the model is finished.  I case my models, so that sometimes adds to the issue of seeing details since cases tend to increase some viewing limitations.  I've used AM resin cockpits and update parts when the occasion requires it, still keeping within the case viewing limitation.

I'll study photos of the actual subject.  If there's a detail viewable in photos and is not represented in the kit, I'll try to add it either scratch building, or going with AM parts.

While I enjoy looking at models of a/c with super-detailed open gun bays, engine compartments, etc., my own taste prefers keeping the clean lines of the subject intact.  Outside of an occasional raised canopy, my models tend to stay all buttoned up. However, I normally build WW 2 a/c with canopies in the slide back open position if they flew that way. 

Always keep it fun.

I think the new molding technologies that allow better rendition of detail will tend to eliminate a lot of resin detail.  It is not good enough yet to replace PE, and the parts might not be strong enough even if it could, but the detailing on recent kits I have built is as good as any resin detail I have seen.

An example is on Revell's KK midget race cars.  Although the cars did not sell well, the V8-60 had beautiful engine detail (remember, the 60 was a smaller engine physically than the 85).  The kit featured Edelbrock heads, with exquisite cooling fins and the Edelbrock logo molded in.

So with those newer kits from major mfgs, I have no interest in resin detailing aftermarket, but still buy PE sets.

I usually go banannas with aftermarket stuff and whine about the "good old days" when a nice OOTB build could still wow everyone.

I definitely have a love/hate relationship with the aftermarket but when all is said and done, they've been getting my money.

I try to build newer releases and they are usually detailed enough for me.

But I did recently get the Tamiya's M8 Greyhound from 1998 and I did by an Eduard PE set for that.

The Migrant

 

 

Hokey

I have now accumulated a stash of 30+ kits and 1/2 have aftermarket already in the stash just waiting to be built.

 

 

After 40+ years of modelling I've realised that (for me), the more I spend on aftermarket for a project, the less likely I am to actually build it. Perhaps it's a subconscious fear of spoiling the model having spent so much on it, but I find I gravitate more to a straight-from-the-box build when choosing a new project from the stash.

 

I tend to the same problem, though it's partly the longer and more involved the project the more likely I'm to lose interest in it and want to move to something else. 

So I'll add some simple detail like Eduard's ZOOM sets to aircraft cockpits and storage to AFVs but mostly just do the 'straight outta de box' thing. Plus I find my interest is more in painting and decaling and less in the building part. 

modelcrazy

 

 

 

But I can hardly call myself a modeller because my stash under 5.  I build them as soon as I buy them, then buy the next one.

 

 

 

 

yup youre the smart one. I was like you once, but my eyes are bigger than my building speed

roony

But I can hardly call myself a modeller because my stash under 5.  I build them as soon as I buy them, then buy the next one.

I'm still OOB (where I come from it's called Straight Outta Box).  But I can hardly call myself a modeller because my stash under 5.  I build them as soon as I buy them, then buy the next one.

falconmod

 

 

Maybe it's obvious but if i do a 1/48 there's a lot more detail work to be done to make it look good,  I guess it's a form of laziness to drop down a scale?

 

I think that with today's information deluge a 1/48 and a 1/72 kit would look equally barren to a superdetailer without such AM or scratch work. You'd literally have more space in a 1/48 but you basically need to do almost the exact same thing in 1/72, at about half the size.

Hokey

I have now accumulated a stash of 30+ kits and 1/2 have aftermarket already in the stash just waiting to be built.

After 40+ years of modelling I've realised that (for me), the more I spend on aftermarket for a project, the less likely I am to actually build it. Perhaps it's a subconscious fear of spoiling the model having spent so much on it, but I find I gravitate more to a straight-from-the-box build when choosing a new project from the stash.

If I can I'll scratch build the details. ..but usually satisfied with the as is built kit ....I too have a stash of aftermarket. ..but reserv them for the special kits.. cheers

I built a few OOB when I first started 2/3 years ago - then learned about all the aftermarket stuff. Since I tend to be (and always have been) a detail freak, I have now accumulated a stash of 30+ kits and 1/2 have aftermarket already in the stash just waiting to be built.

I seriously doubt I'll ever get them all done since it seems to take me sooooo long to build 1 kit to completion. But I'll keep plugging away.

I use to build strictly OOB, but I purchased a PE set for my 350 Indianapolis and I was hooked. Now I don't hardly build anything without some extra detailing. In fact, except for a few builds presently on the bench I will be choosing my builds carefully from now on and will be selling most of my stash. I have gotten to the point where I would rather a few very nice builds I can give to museums and such than a wall full of builds I hurried to complete.
With my health slipping, I don't want to leave my wife with a ton of models that she won't get rid of and our children will (in the round file). I will relieve her of that pain now.
So to answer your question, I add detail, and will be very selective of what I start from now on.

Steve

I generally add detail, but have built OOB for club challenges, or if a bigger area contest is stressing their OOB categories.

I think it is a good idea to build OOB occasionally. I believe it helps us hone those fundamental skills that we sometimes tend to neglect.

It varies according to subject and kit, but these days I mostly limit aftermarket to a resin seat and a new set of decals – stuff that can be seen. I'm also more interested in the finishing aspects of the hobby such as painting, decalling and weathering, so I'm happy to have a neatly finished cockpit and wheel bays without going overboard on detailing. 

I've always been  a detail oriented person.  I'd rather spend months on a single model and try to make it look as real as I can.  I like to challenge myself with newly learned techniques on every model I do. That's just fun for me.  When the process gets to the point where it's becoming too tedious or "job like ", I take a break and do something else for a while, then get back to my modeling.  I always build just one at a time unless I hit a wall with my limited skills and shelf the model until I learn more ,so i won't take the chance of ruining it. ie. Revel 1/48 PBY is in escrow until I can learn to make better rivets, because I wiped a lot of them out during the seam filling process.  I also have a Revel 1/72 walrus Mk 1 half done on the shelf because the top wing alignment gave me fits.

I have built a few OOB because the mfg. detail was superb ; Hsg. 1/48 F-86, and the 1/48 Hsg. P-47D where outstanding right out of the box.

allan

I ended up opening the bays. Why? And I remember telling myself this: because its harder.

I think that's why I do it.  I've shifted to 1/72 form 1/48  and started adding brake lines and seat belts etc etc cuz it's a challenge.  And they take up less space.

Maybe it's obvious but if i do a 1/48 there's a lot more detail work to be done to make it look good,  I guess it's a form of laziness to drop down a scale?

Many good points, made by all. At nearly 75, with shaky hands and eyes not in eagle vision range, I find PE and super detailing out of my league.

Mostly I just make corrections to components noticeably out of scale appearance, putting most efforts into the best finishing and decaling I can manage. Still about as much fun as an old guy can have.

Patrick