The pain and the joy

Don’t despair Ferg, this is all a learning curb as with anything. Models nowadays are better detailed and more realistic as compared to the older stuff. I too have been modeling since the early 70s and still learn something new as I go. There are lots of modeling products that help one create awesome results so don’t despair, this is a work in progress learn as you go thing.

That's not only modelling...

Once I heard an older master craftsman say: Human learns all life long and dies dumb... It reallyl is so. There are some people who will tell you they already learned everything they have to know - then you know right away to avoid more complicated topics in conversation with them...

But there's cool stuff to be had, for sure, and the possibilities are so amazing... It's so cool to be modelling these days!

Looking forward to seeing more of your work. Good luck with it and have a nice day

Paweł

Hi Pawel:

     Complicated Topics? Oh, You mean when I am in over my head and just don't know when to shut Up?

Dodgy

What started this rant?? Well I am experimenting with using Tamiya paints. So far, all good. Yesterday I decided to try their gloss clear on an old clunker with the aim of trying some weathering techniques. All good. So I loaded a plastic shot glass with Tamiya gloss clear, suitably stirred with my new battery powered stirrer, thinned it with water, (yeah, yeah, I know now), and sprayed my test subject. lovely. Except when it dried, it was still matt and I realised that I had just sprayed my test subject with water!!!

Hehehe.  I think we've all been there in one way or another, Ferg.  Something I started using that solves the Tamiya paint problem quite well is 99% isopropyl alcohol.  That same alcohol has also become my best friend in the ongoing learning process of different paints and different painting/masking techniques.  As it turns out, it also makes a really safe, effective means of removing completely botched paint jobs.  

Since coming back into this hobby in 2015, after a 25 year hiatus, I have completed just 4 models that all show a seemingly exponential growth of my skills.  Heh...but that's an illusion, because there are probably 3 or 4 times that many that I have worked on in that same period of time that are all now on the back burner, in various stages of construction.  I even have a few of them that were briefly brought out of entombment, that had originally been shelved 25 years ago when I went on that hiatus.  But, none of that work is wasted, because they all represent trying new techniques and refining old ones.  They're also all safely stored away in a semi-organized, dust free way so I'll be able to pick right back up where I left off when I decide to get back to them.  With some of the new stuff coming out lately for those shelf queens though, I'm actually kinda glad I put them on pause.  Quinta Studio is coming out with some really exciting stuff soon, and its all stuff that I have been saying "if only somebody made a...." about for years.  These are pretty cool times to be getting back into this hobby.

As far as trying new techniques and products, I'd offer the advice my father was fond of spouting, long before a certain shoe company turned it into a meme: Just Do It.

A little research and reading up is fine...but hesitancy can turn into endless dithering over something for which there are really very few consequences. If you ruin a kit you're out a few bucks...but (if you're doing it right) there are no lives or limbs lost -- just a little pride -- and for whom among us is that exactly a novel or soul-shattering experience? We learn far more and faster by diving in and enjoying it, even when things go slightly pear-shaped.

We all know the frustration part far too well...we've all been there -- some of us with lifetime VIP guest passes -- but in the end the fun part really does win out. Otherwise we'd all take up something soothing, like knitting.

Plus...we've all got a forum where we can always kvetch with those who feel our pain.

I am of the opinion that we, and all those in very detailed hobbies and occupations, must have a mild masochistic streak. Fortunately, the end usually justifies the means, but we, as hobbyists, still have the option to set things aside before they really go sideways. And as we go, hopefully we learn, well, except for me; I'm insane. I do the same thing, with much time in between, expecting better results .  .  .  but that's my problem. It's the same reason I quit playing golf. I play only once a year and wonder why I don't improve. Gee, ya think!!!

   I tend to overthink the situation which leads to procrastination which leads to nothing learned ever becoming muscle memory. That however has never deterred me from researching techniques and different ways of doing things. Consider yourself lucky Dodgy, you actually make the effort.

Dodgy

Except when it dried, it was still matt and I realised that I had just sprayed my test subject with water!!!

I have been modeling for more years than I can count, and I am still learning. For example, last month I wanted to remove laquer paint from a plastic part. I decided to soak the part in laquer thinner. Guess what happened? The laquer thinner dissolved the plastic part into a puddle of goo. Just another learning experience.

I started building in 1946 (6 years old) and never stopped. I continue to learn something new almost every day thanks to the members of the Forum. 

I just took a break from my daily routine. I stopped working on models for myself and also the cleaning and repairing of models for the local WWII museum. Decided to take a break and opened up a Peanut Scale stick and tissue plane.  Found out that I forgot a lot of things about building them that I used to do automatically. It turned out just OK. It will not fly however but looks decent. If at first you don't succeed, I tried again with a larger SE-5. Hopefully, I corrected the building mistakes but made new ones. It looks great but, again, it does not fly. First trial was a nose dive into the thankfully not yet mowed grass. Second flight never happened, yet. Wound up the motor and the rubber band snapped punching 2 holes in the sides. Should have gotten "NEW" rubber before trying to fly it. Have an order in for a supply of  new rubber. I still have 5 more Stick & Tissue models that will get worked into my schedule. So, until the order gets here, it's back to building plastic models again. 

Jim 

Stay Safe.

PS - They were still a lot of fun to build. Brought back a lot of memories.

G'day Plasticjunkie. Thanks for your response, but don't worry, despair is not on my agenda, I'm starting to feel like I'm back in the groove. And you are absolutely right, it's a work in progress and I'm enjoying the journey.

Cheers

Ferg

Pawel

That's not only modelling...

Once I heard an older master craftsman say: Human learns all life long and dies dumb... It reallyl is so. There are some people who will tell you they already learned everything they have to know - then you know right away to avoid more complicated topics in conversation with them...

But there's cool stuff to be had, for sure, and the possibilities are so amazing... It's so cool to be modelling these days!

Looking forward to seeing more of your work. Good luck with it and have a nice day

Paweł

 

You know Pawel, you are absolutely right, every day I realize how little I know and how much there is to learn, and not just about modeling. As for the folks who think they have learnt it all, there's a bloke like that down the pub. We call him Google and he thinks it's a compliment.

Hi Eaglecash867, I'm glad it gave you a laugh, because it certainly gave me one and when I confessed my master modelling skills to my wife, she had a good giggle too. Thanks to the FSM website I have just discovered Isopropyl Alcohol and am planning to use it in the next few days to strip a model I stuffed up a few months ago, but that's another story...... PS. thanks for the tip about using it to dilute Tamiya paint, I will give that a go. You also have me intrigued abot Quinta Studio. Will have to google them, and you are so right about it being a cool time to be back in the hobby, so many sweets out there, but what do I buy, what do I buy......

gregbale

As far as trying new techniques and products, I'd offer the advice my father was fond of spouting, long before a certain shoe company turned it into a meme: Just Do It.

A little research and reading up is fine...but hesitancy can turn into endless dithering over something for which there are really very few consequences. If you ruin a kit you're out a few bucks...but (if you're doing it right) there are no lives or limbs lost -- just a little pride -- and for whom among us is that exactly a novel or soul-shattering experience? We learn far more and faster by diving in and enjoying it, even when things go slightly pear-shaped.

We all know the frustration part far too well...we've all been there -- some of us with lifetime VIP guest passes -- but in the end the fun part really does win out. Otherwise we'd all take up something soothing, like knitting.

Plus...we've all got a forum where we can always kvetch with those who feel our pain.

 

Greg, you are right on the money! Worrying about stuffing it up can be a disease that leaves your motivation crippled.

Ah, me old mate Hoo Ya. I play golf occaisonally. Why? well I'm slow and everyonce in a while I hit a really good ball. These two things drive other golfers nuts! Ah, but life is good......

armornut

   I tend to overthink the situation which leads to procrastination which leads to nothing learned ever becoming muscle memory. That however has never deterred me from researching techniques and different ways of doing things. Consider yourself lucky Dodgy, you actually make the effort.

 

Armornut, as I said to Greg, overthinking is a disease. Just go for it.

GMorrison

 

 

Dodgy

Except when it dried, it was still matt and I realised that I had just sprayed my test subject with water!!!

 

 

Amateur!- wait until you do that on a good model with laquer thinner...

 

 

Love it Bill! And it's probably just around the corner.

JohnnyK

I have been modeling for more years than I can count, and I am still learning. For example, last month I wanted to remove laquer paint from a plastic part. I decided to soak the part in laquer thinner. Guess what happened? The laquer thinner dissolved the plastic part into a puddle of goo. Just another learning experience.

 

So many aren't there Johnny. And just when you think you're getting the hang of the thing.

I'm hearing you Jim. I think I was getting a bit too hooked on the nostalgia and needed to move on, but everyonce in a while it's good to look back and revisit simpler things and times.

I have been building since I was about 5.  That would make it roughly 1956.  I remember the old wooden planes with decals for windows, plastic props and a weight that had to be sealed into the forwand fuselage. As I got older that was the main thing I did because I was sort of a outcast in school until I graduated high school.  That came as a bit of a surprise to me and many others.  Not that I was building, but that I actually graduated.  School was not something I looked forward to and sometimes I would try to find ways not to go.

Anyway, I have been building all this time with the exception of my two times during Vietnam.  I have been lliving here since the late 80s and have managed to even take 3rd place in my catagory during one of the nationals we had here.  

A few days ago I went to the local hobby shop and was trying ot help a new modeler find a few things when I realized that there were now many new products on the shelf that I had no idea what they were for, what to do with them, or how to use them.  So the learning process goes on, and on, and on.....

As Dr. Smith would say, "Oh the pain, the pain."

I too left plastic modeling for the RC hobby years ago and finally came back to it after probably 30 years,  all my so called skills were gone and I was back to square one.   But the thing is I really enjoy building and learning this stuff all over agian the tech and the models have gotten so good it just amazes me I have struggled through Photo etch,  vallejo paint, Primers etc... and loved every min of it all

Hee hee, I hear ya!  Once I was getting frustrated that parts I was gluing using Mr Cement were inexplicably not bonding.  I tried over and over again, wondering what the problem was.

It turned out I was using their decal setting solution!  

Real G

Hee hee, I hear ya!  Once I was getting frustrated that parts I was gluing using Mr Cement were inexplicably not bonding.  I tried over and over again, wondering what the problem was.

It turned out I was using their decal setting solution!  

 

Well, at least you didn't go the other way.  How awful would that be to have a beatifully built model, with a beautiful paintjob, and then accidentally use cement to get a decal to snuggle down?  

Ahh, it's all sad and funny at the same time. I wonder how much is re-learning skills and how much is old age - don't answer that, I don't want to know...