AM syndrome.....?

Foster,

You do have to admit, that sometimes, there does appear to be almost a peer-pressure like mentality to use AM parts.  Whether it's the AM build that gets 1000 posts compared to an OOB build that gets 10, or suggestions in an OOB build thread on how an AM upgrade could have really helped bring more realism to the build.

Now granted, I grew up in a time when aftermarket parts were unheard of.  If you wanted something, you figured out how to do it.  Though to an 11 year old, I was happy with what was in the box.  Now, 17 years later, I come back into the hobby and all you hear about is PE and resin upgrades.  I though I died and had gone to modeling heaven.  Upgrades that wouldn't cost me days of my life AND looked 100% better than what I could scratchbuild.

To me, adding AM parts are about the added realism.  I like looking through books and finding elements that I want to add to a kit.  Sometimes it's details in the wheel wells or maybe an open gun port.

For instance, in my HellCat, I really wanted an open ammo bay next to an open gun bay.  Well, there was an aftermarket gun bay kit, but nothing for an ammo bay.  So I built the bay from styrene and rectangular brass tubing.  I made the airframe and cross brackets from square styrene rod.  I got some ammo from a 1/35 Tamiya field artiliery kit.  I'd say it didn't turn out too bad.

Now, in my Zero, I tried to build it OOB.  But I couldn't.  The lack of the simplest detail was making me a bit batty.  So I made some harnesses and pedal straps from lead foil just to have something in there.  Plus, I went kinda nuts on the paintjob, so that's where most of my focus was

I fully believe that AM definitely has a place in the modeling world.  BUT, I also believe that a person should understand the how and the why before just spending 10x the cost of the original kit.

-Fred

Steve,

You raise some interesting points. There can be little doubt, as modelers, that we are living in a golden age of the hobby. There are a huge number of extremely well manufactured kits, more aftermarket accessories and upgrade sets than ever before, and - not to be discounted - a massive amount of readily available information in the form of model magazines, reference books, and the Internet.

My own personal view is that the "learning curve", whether a modeler is just starting out in the hobby or returning after a layoff, has been reduced dramatically. A brand new modeler today has the opportunity to produce the same quality model in weeks that it would have taken a modeler in the 1970's months or perhaps years to produce. However, having the opportunity is not, by itself, a good thing. There are many "Modelling 101" skills that cannot be learned without months of practice or trial and error and no quantity of A/M products can ever change that fact. By simply swapping out kit parts for A/M replacements - right from Day 1 - some modelers have not yet learned the specific skill-sets needed to do things like scratch-build better quality parts, thin oversized parts to scale, and modify the shape or detail of kit parts. IMHO, these are all skills that every modeler should have in their toolbag.

I do have to disagree somewhat with your impression of OOB getting "ho-hum treatment". Perhaps this does happen from time to time, but it's really dependent on the overall quality of the specific build. I've personally seen many OOB models that absolutely blow me away, but then I've always believed (and still do) that the finish on a model is worth at least 50% (perhaps 60%) of the overall quality of a build. This is where I think some modelers today are selling themselves short. By focusing on A/M products some modelers have sacrificed improving - or have not yet learned to improve - the finish on their models and this is huge error. No quantity of A/M products can ever improve the overall quality of a model with a substandard finish.

Thanks for posting this extremely important question, Steve. The appropriate and proper use of A/M products is a subject that should be discussed far more often.

Regards,

I build both OOB and loaded with AM goodies. The level of detail I want to put into the kit depends on the kit itself and the subject I am building. If it is a subject that has very important historical significance to me (and sometimes only to me) I will load up the details to make as accurate a representation as I can. Other times the subject just calls to me, and I want to have one on my shelf anyway. So OOB it is. Trumpeters F9F-2P Panther was just "I want one." so it was built OOB. The Hasagawa Starfighter I built last year, was loaded up with as much as I dared to use. The model I built represented one my old CO (with the same last name as me too) flew in the mid '70's. He was one of the highest time pilots in the Starfighter in Canada.

But then again, that's just me

Aftermarket PE is what gives my 1/700 ship models their "wow" factor, but I agree it is very, very easy to think you need to spend as much, if not more, on AM bits than you did on the original kit.

My current build is Academy's 1/72 Mustang. Before getting started I skimmed through all the AM available for this kit at squadron.com ... and discovered I could easily spend $40 or more on my $12 model. Most if which would go in the cockpit, and would never be seen unless you got within about 2 inches of same. I just couldn't justify spending that kind of money to decorate less than 1 cubic inch of space - and besides, I wanted to try my hand at scratchbuilding a harness. The only AM bit I got was a set of the vacuformed canopies, because 1) Never used one and wanted to try it, and 2) I wanted to pose the canopy open so you could actually see inside.

How all of this will turn out, I have no idea. But I know that I will get a lot more satisfaction out of saying, "I did all that by myself" as opposed to, "I just glued all that in."

I some times use aftermarket, it really depends on how good the kit is, scale, etc etc. There are a lot of factor for me to decide if I am gooing to se an AM product.

I mostly build aircraft and a better seat and harnas can do a lot for the look of the whole cockpit.

i am an oob builder 99.99 % of the time. although have used p/e rails on a couple of ships but that is about it.  i say if it is viewable it is OK.

the thing that is crazy is to use AM parts that will not be seen by anyone. the "i know it is there" argument is senseless waste of money and time

You can add all the AM you want, but if your paint/cammo job and weathering sucks, so does the overall model itself, thus wasting all the money on the upgrades. MHO

I for one don't use much AM, except for grilles and occasionally, Cavalier zimmerit, because I'd rather spend the money on more kits. Tracks of course can be a necessary upgrade from one-piece to indies. I can't understand money on AM barrels. Just seems a waste to me.

It's like anything else, knowing when to use it is as important as knowing how to use it.

Anybody can buy an AM set, not everybody understands the best time to use it.  Sometimes, the kit part is actually better than the AM part, sometimes, not.  If you don't get why you're replacing a part or adding detail, then maybe you shouldn't.

I usually get PE sets to add extra detail, not to replace existing detail.  But I also get resin sets like cockpits and gun bays or wheel bays and those look tons better than any PE kit could add to the OOB set.

But, like I always say, buying a ferrari doesn't make you a better driver.

-Fred