Engineer, Artist or Both?

Markings and colors interest me the most.

Hello!

I don't think this question you asked is so good. Buildup is a bit like sculpture and then there's painting. So maybe it would be better to rephrase the question like this: are you more a sculptor or more a painter? The engineereing aspect of model building is there, but I'd say not as prominent as the art aspect, because engineereing is all about efficiency - I'm an engineer by trade, so you can take my word for it here!

I for myself am more of a sculptor, although painting is very important, too, but I like building up more.

Good luck with your modelling projects and have a nice day

Paweł

Are you a modeler or are you an assembler?

I gues I try to be a little of all of the above. Once in a while I succeed and the result is pretty good. The rest of the time I slip up in one, or maybe two, of them and the result is a so-so build that still pleases me but could be better.

Jim  

I am both.  I really really enjoy kits with hundreds and hundreds of parts.  The more parts the more fun it is for me.  Add some PE in there and I'm in heaven.  Especially a Big Ed Set!

As for the painting aspect, I love AB, I love detailed brush painting, and the overall painting aspect as a whole.  Another aspect not mentioned is the art of decaling.  

I feel decal placement is a whole aspect in itself.  And of course the final scenario of weathering.  Something you mentioned ManCityfan is tools!  I can never have enough paraphenilia!  LOL!

I wish I had the money but I would like to purchase one to two more air brushes.  An Iwata Eclipse and a Iwata Custom Micron.  The later is very expensive yet I've always wanted to own one.  

Toshi

I guess I have no set preference, but I find myself becoming more of an artist when the complexity of the build gets too high.  If the parts go together fairly easily and the fit is good, it is just as much fun to build the "thing" as it is to paint and weather it.  On the other hand, if I find myself spending hours on sanding seams and filling gaps and laboring to get things to fit together, I just prefer to cut my losses and go right to trying a new color scheme or weathering technique.

So I guess it is probably kit dependent for me.

John

I'm with Tojo and Pilot John, the majority of my builds I give away to kids or friends that have a history with them, few go to aviation museums that display them in cases. Either way they don't have to be super detailed, usually just the "three foot rule applies."

For me the fun is just staying busy at the bench or the spray booth, if I didn't have that I'd be doomed to The Bachelor or Dancing with the stars, cooking shows, etc.

Model on.

Patrick

Hi,i

I'm not really sure how to answer this question myself.  I know that I'm not particularly good at painting, but I also don't particularly like over complex kits or feeling like I need to do alot of work on details (and to be honest I'm kind of intimidated by PE right now). 

What I do enjoy though is sometimes experimenting with a build either trying different techniques or doing conversions etc.  And most of my most recent kits have either ended up being kitbashes, conversions and/or partial scratchbuilds.

In addition though I also have bought several kits out of curiosity just to get a better understanding of what the full scale prototype looked liked.  This includes several WWII dive bombers or torpedo bombers, some early jets, and several modern amphibious vehicles.

In fact one of my current favorite builds is a mock up I once did for work of the USMCs AAV7 where I incorporated some proposed mods into it for demonstration purposes.  (It was that task that got me buying models of other amphibious vehicles to see how they approached different design issues).

So in the end I don't know what I would consider myself other than maybe someone who is curious and likes to use model building to incestigate and explore different ideas.

Pat

Tojo72

I'm just a model builder.

 

That... ^^^^

Engineer? Artist? Nope. A better term is Scale Model Hobbyist.

My professional work  (aerospace R&D) was on the borderline between science and engineering.  However, I consider my modeling work as art.

My local art museum has a beautiful, large model of the USS Constitution. If the art museum considers models as art, who am I to argue :-)  I consider models a branch of scupture.

I have liberal friends who believe no engineer can be an artist.  They believe all technical people are mindless drones with no creativity.  However, my second hobby is photography.  I often enter salons, and have done well.  The judges have no idea what my training or job was, so I think a person can indeed be both an engineer and artist.

Don Stauffer

My professional work  (aerospace R&D) was on the borderline between science and engineering.  However, I consider my modeling work as art.

My local art museum has a beautiful, large model of the USS Constitution. If the art museum considers models as art, who am I to argue :-)  I consider models a branch of scupture.

I have liberal friends who believe no engineer can be an artist.  They believe all technical people are mindless drones with no creativity.  However, my second hobby is photography.  I often enter salons, and have done well.  The judges have no idea what my training or job was, so I think a person can indeed be both an engineer and artist.

 

 

I know what you mean Don,

I'm an engineer by trade (mechanical and industrial design).  I always wanted to be an artist, but when I went to art school, all the teachers said my drawings and composition was too technical.  They draw the line (pun) between "artist" and technical illustrator.

I always admired technical illustrations and rederings, which was why I chose my profession. I got to be technical, yet express my love and talent by drawing out my ideas.  In a way, I miss the days of actually drawing my concepts and then building a model.  Now, I do it all on a computer and let the 3D printer build the model.  

With many of the new kits, I find myself being an engineer in having to find a way around a fit problem, or how to make a specific detail.  I also look at myself as an artist in finding ways to make color enhance a detail or to give the subject emotion. Airbrushing techniques and the uses of pigments and oils have really allowed us to be more creative and expressive in painting and finishing our models.   

I'm a model builder, but love the artistic freedom we have. Camo and weathering is perfect example in armor building.

Here's my Semovente for the Rommel vs Monty GB

scottrc

 

 

Don Stauffer

My professional work  (aerospace R&D) was on the borderline between science and engineering.  However, I consider my modeling work as art.

My local art museum has a beautiful, large model of the USS Constitution. If the art museum considers models as art, who am I to argue :-)  I consider models a branch of scupture.

I have liberal friends who believe no engineer can be an artist.  They believe all technical people are mindless drones with no creativity.  However, my second hobby is photography.  I often enter salons, and have done well.  The judges have no idea what my training or job was, so I think a person can indeed be both an engineer and artist.

 

 

 

   In a way, I miss the days of actually drawing my concepts and then building a model.  Now, I do it all on a computer and let the 3D printer build the model.  

 

I have never given up working with wood.  I do use CAD to draw plans, but for scratch building my favorite material is wood.  My first non-flying model kits were before plastic, and were so-called solid models, carved from wood.  The fuselage was sawn to profile in the kits- the better kits also sawed the planform, but the modeler was left to carve the cross-section.  Wings and tail surfaces were sawn only to planform- you had to carve the airfoil.

When I carve wood, my central nervous system just takes over- I don't even think about what I am doing, my hands just do the work.  This leaves my mind free to just wander.  Very theraputic.  Sometimes my mind wanders creatively, creating the design for a new model, or solving a problem I am having with a current project.