17 Minutes

Model Grandpa wrote:

I didn't get the email. What is the 17-minute challenge?

 Basically it about picking an old model from your stash, & w/o all the fancy-schmancy stuff that we do & use, build it in 17 minutes. I'll post the meat of it, (the do's & don'ts) when I get home...I can't get into my Yahoo account here at work. ( unless someone else cant get it & post it.

It's about making it fun, and remembering how we got here....getting in touch with your model building roots.

I will probable be doing it to a Smithsonian Edition/Revell F4u, or Wildcat.

I know this hobby is supposed to be fun, but when I see the final results of all you guys & gals, I get a tad discouraged....I know, I know....Crawl, Walk, Run.

I see all of the stuff on here.....resin this, PE that.....doesn't any one do OOB anymore?

I want to see the model as the makers intended.....yes all the AM stuff is great! really, you folks are amazing, & "saintly" for the patience you have. I'm still training myself to deal with the painting of a cockpit so it looks okay.

Anyway....like I said, I'll post the "rules" when I get home.....little after 1800 central.

Cheers, Dave.

Hey! That looks pretty good! I didn't even paint models until after I had been building them for a number of years. An exercise like this would be a lot of fun.

Regards, 

Sorry, got home a bit later thank expected....but here is the part of the e-mail that pertains to this thread...

Dave's
"TEN STEPS IN SEVENTEEN MINUTES" Prescription For Getting Off Your Fat ***
And Getting On With Your Modeling Life
(I'M NOT KIDDING! DO THIS TODAY!)

1. Take your cheapest model kit, the one you're very unlikely to ever actually build, off the storage shelf. Preferably one that's still in its shrink wrap.
   
2. FORGET ABOUT what this model might look like when you finish it.
   
3. FORGET ABOUT any and all judgments you or others might make about its quality.
4. UNPLUG your spray booth and put your airbrush away.
   
5. CLEAR your modeling desk of everything except this model kit box, glue, nippers, scissors, and an X-Acto knife.
   
6. HIDE the reference material. PUT AWAY the aftermarket decals, resin bits, sanding sticks, paint, paintbrushes, rubber bands, tape, and everything else not included in step 4.
   
7. RIP OFF the shrink wrap, WITH YOUR FINGERS. No scissors or knives allowed.
   
8. TEAR OPEN the kit box, smell the styrene, and take a moment to remember the absolute JOY you felt as a kid doing precisely this same thing.
   
9. CUT OUT the box top and prop it up on your workbench so you can easily see it. Throw the rest of the packaging away.
   
10. FINISH THIS MODEL RIGHT NOW.

Here's what you are allowed and not allowed to do:

ALLOWED

You are allowed to use your nippers to remove the parts from the trees and your X-Acto to clean up the nubs
You are allowed to read the kit instructions, but you don't hafta if you don't wanna.
You are allowed to use any type of glue you wish.
You are allowed to giggle uncontrollably, although NOT while you have an X-Acto knife in your hand! After all, there's nobody else around to hear you, and even if there is, they'll just think "Dad's back to making his crazy models" anyway. They might even enjoy the sound of your laughter, just as your Mother did when you were a boy doing the same thing.

NOT ALLOWED

You're not allowed to trim, fit, or sand pieces for better parts fit. They are what they are and you're gonna glue them together just as they are!
You're not allowed to prepaint anything. In fact, you're not allowed to paint anything at all on this model.
You're not allowed to trim the decals before you soak them. You will cut them out of the decal sheet just like you did when you were a kid, and like the fit of the parts, the decals are what they are.

DAVE'S DEMANDS

(Told you I had some demands!)

Yes, I DEMAND you enjoy yourself while you do this.
I DEMAND you finish this model in 17 minutes or less. You can do it; you did it when you were a boy!
In the fairly likely event you find yourself resisting some of the prescriptions above, you are allowed to rationalize to yourself that you're not really doing this because you want to, or even think it's a good idea, but it's because that rat bastard Dave Klaus is MAKING you do it!
Send me an email when you've FINISHED this model. Send it by clicking this link: YES, DAVE, I FINISHED A MODEL AND I HAD A GREAT TIME!

 

Now, I jsut wish I could post pics on here. :)

Dave

holy

thats alot of rules and steps

best be gettin to it

Yeah, but it's to keep it simple....look at all the "steps & rules" we follow during a normal build.

(trim, sand, putty, the preshading, priming, painting, mixing paint, different glues for different parts, tweak this, fill that, scratchbuild the next thing...etc.)

This is just ...."Open the box, build it like you did when you were a kid, and have fun like a kid."

I'm hoping to have the down time this weekend to do this.....I'm leaning towards a revell corsair, probably my most favoritist WWII a/c when I was a kid......Thanks to the T.V. show Baa Baa Black Sheep.

   Yeah, I got that email too.  I have a little AMT 1/24 '33 Willy's Coupe street rod that I got for free from a buddy.  Probably bust it out this weekend while the kid is taking a nap.

    Chris

This 17 minute challenge may be just what I need to get me out of the doldrums.  In coming back to this hobby after many many years, I've enjoyed (or thought I was enjoying) doing it "right" instead of the blitzkrieg approach I used as a kid.  However, lately I'm thinking more and more about what Truman Capote said once when an interviewer commented, "You must really love to write, you do it so well."  Capote replied, "I hate to write--- I love having written, but I hate to write".  Maybe what I need is a little more "having built" to balance things out.

TomB