"Wow!!" factor...

Hands down the workmanship. A model would be nothing more than pieces on sprues unless assembled. I'm floored by so much awesome work here, that frankly it intimidates me from posting my own work. I won't name builders, for fear of omitting anyone, but I like to think I learn from everyone.

As for kit themselves, the Dragon Tiger I late is simply in another league for armor.

i agree with eric.  it has to be the workmanship.  a well built kit is a work of art. 

joe 

fightnjoe wrote:

i agree with eric.  it has to be the workmanship.  a well built kit is a work of art.  joe

   Worksmanship as a lot to do with it. In fact, it is almost all there is to it. It doesn't matter what subject it is.

Hmm, interesting question, Mike.

I think one of the biggest problems is that we have so many people who do such incredible work.  For instance, I have seen so many BF-109s that look like miniturized versions of the real thing, that I'm almost getting bored (for lack of a better term) of seeing them.  Yes, the craftsmanship is outstanding, but I'd rather see something different.

I'd rather see a rare model subject built straight OOB, than another highly detailed popular subject.  Don't get me wrong, I love seeing what people can do with the 109s, 190s, 51s, 40s and 47s, etc.,  but seeing the same kits with the same AM kits is getting a little repetitive.

Maybe if we had more people with my particularly sad skills, things would be more interesting.  You know, then we could have threads "what did this model used to be - plane, car, boat or armor?"

-Fred

Very good question.  Good work gets my attention (and sometimes a modicum of envy).  A good subject will also get my attention - it goes without saying that it depends on the subject, or more properly on how the thread description is written.  The more off the beaten track the better - I'll check out a thread on a Blohm & Voss floatplane before I'll click on another P-40 topic (no offense - it's just an example of a popular subject) .  I might not say much more about a really good build other than than 'wow' - but only if it's a subject that I'm not really interested in in general, or if any questions I might have had about the work have already been asked.  There have been some builds on these boards that I would have bet good money were actually photos of the real deal, and not of a model.  Regarding those builds, I can only hope that I am able to do enough building on my own to be able to develop the skillset required to do work at that level.

I sort of agree with Gigatron, though - all we tend to see on the boards here are the 'good builds'.  This goes hand-in-hand with the request for the no-holds-barred criticism board, but I'd really like to see some downright crappy work - if for no other reason than to know I'm not the only one who is at that level of ability right now.  (Don't worry - as soon as I get my act together and start a kit I will post pictures, no matter what the kit looks like.  I'll show you people some crappy work!)  With the quality of the work we always see, it is kind of intimidating for some, I imagine - like asking Steven Spielberg to critique your home movies.  (that's the best analogy I could come up with)  I'm not so sure I would want to display anything I've done alongside dragonfly's 1/32 Stuka, for example.  How could I be confident in my skills when I can see what others  can accomplish - especially when all I see is the very best quality work?  This might have gone off at a tangent from the original question, and I didn't intend that - but quite frankly some members might be put off by constantly seeing work that is beyond what they can currently accomplish quality-wise.

I say show it off, no matter what you think of your build if you want to improve. This forum has to be one of the 'nicest' modelling forum around, most critism is given very softly and people really want to give you advise so you'll improve. I've posted stuff and got critism, and hey, most of them the time they were right!  If I disagree with certain comments, as some parts of this hobby is very subjective, no harm done.

Now back to the original question, I go for workmanship. I don't build cars, or sci-fi, but I still admire the perfect glossy coat or the optic fiber lighted spaceship.

This is going to come off probably sounding wishy-washy, but I guess that's OK....

It's a mix of those two factors, plus the "fun" factor. Workmanship is always impressive, certainly. Yet I do like to see some subjects- that gets points too. Maybe it's a rare kit, or a kit done in neat markings, or a kit with some historical significance, or just a favorite kit. (Spitfires and P-40s always get high marks from me... ) 

So if someone does a kit that maybe was the plane flown by a grand-father or something, my view of it tends to lean more towards the significance of subject rather than the workmanship. Now if it's got great workmanship- bonus! But I still like to see "This was my grandfather's Mustang" even if the workmanship is not the highest.

The fun factor, though, is what I really like to see. I've seen more than a few builds where you could just tell the builder had great fun doing it- and that weighs more heavily in my mind than either the workmanship or the subject. The workmanship and the subject may be of varying standards, but fun is always king.

So far, and you'll have to bear in mind I'm still figuring out which side of the paint jar is up, the stuff that grabs me are the very realistic models because I don't know how to pull that off yet. While I prefer aircraft, the armor guys have the weathering and mud down. Boatbuilders know how to do rust. And the guys that squeeze twenty five colors into a 54mm figure . . . their eyes are something mine arent.

I haven't yet been bored by a mess of Messerschmitts or a phalanx of phantoms. I love seeing techniques and the tidbits of "how I did it" that work their way into posts.

I made a post about a fulcrum a week ago and someone linked to some site where the guy had a step by step photoblog of building a flanker and to look at that . . . shazam. My first response was ok, you're not married. My second was how do I learn some of this.