Diorama "Motorcycle Repair"

A long time ago, a professor told me as I was taking education courses, you should open a parent conference by saying something good about the student. Well, in this case, the brick work in the wall is nicely varied.

However...These have some of the worst mold lines ever on on of AI's kits. Look at the MG in the fourth picture or the handlebars. There's a tremendous amount of flash in the spokes on the sidecar's wheel. The motor has a major alignment problem at the back: I don't know if that's a mold issue or construction but it's bad. The seated guy in the tank top has a big seam left on his right shoulder. You can fake that kind of seam on a uniform, but not on bare skin. There's also flesh paint on his shorts and possibly his boots. You can get by with not plumbing a tank or truck, but a motorcycle, especially one from the 40's has a whole bunch of cables that are exposed.

The gate looks like either melted plastic or cheap rubber.

Context of the story: well, there just isn't any. This should be set in some kind of workshop setting, not a random courtyard. Yeah, back in the day, I had to occasionally do field repairs to my Honda 125 and tear down the carb, but much preferred to do my work at home.

The motor is being disassembled on the table and there's not a spot of grease!

This is just really poor quality. Much worse than the norm from AI.

I was looking this over and thinking "Hmm, not too bad!" when this big, dry-brushed seam line on the MG42 in the sidecar just jumped out at me. The overall vignette looks pretty good but get AI to clean up that machine gun, the seam is really obvious, even to a half-blind dork like me. Also, the work table looks like it is brand new, it needs a little roughening up. These guys are pretty clean for mechanics, don't you think? They all have the same hair color, too, are they brothers? I definitely don't think Art Instructor took a lot of time on this one, compared to some of his better work-  I'm sorry...try cracking the whip a little harder.

subfixer wrote:

I...try cracking the whip a little harder.

I think that's just the problem, too much whip cracking to get stuff done in a New York Minute. The builder clearly has no pride in his work and the buyer only wants to fill shelves. If the buyer doesn't care, why should the builder. There was a posting recently showing some work from 2001 or 2002. You could have put it side by side with some current builds and not seen ANY progress. Even with getting older, I think my stuff now has shown some improvement over the last 8 years.

I just picked up a commission form a new customer. I'll be doing some figures, a row boat and a dock for another person to put together in a dio. I'll put in as much effort and pride in these as if they were going on my shelf or to a major show. In fact, the boat was missing the front and rear seats when he gave it to me. The first thing I did was dig up some balsa strip and make these parts so he'll get the boat pretty much as shown without having to deal with Verlin...a manufacturer or supplier.

Yup, more of the same old mistakes and lack of care by both parties.  No change as usual.

...try cracking the whip a little harder.

~ Does he really use whips?    All good observations above, and I am seeing the pattern with these posts, but I think we may be missing some important coded messages in these models.  For instance, that strangely bent gate,    must be someone trying to tell us that ~  something  very warped  is going on.  Also.....It also makes no sense at all  ~ that the crewman is trying to fit the fueltank while the engine is on the bench. He is in fact bringing it very close to the smoking man's pipe, which I believe denotes suicidal tendancies on the part of the builder. Also, that clean , clean worktable(so out of place), may be saying that the dirty business here has been removed from our view, evidence destroyed. Makes me shudder to think of all the hidden coded messages we may have missed in the past......

LMAO!!  HAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Same old, same old.

I agree with all the above - just another case of buy a new kit, quickly throw it together on a base and call it a diorama........

ya need to take me for example.  Im doing a commission for a friend, its extremly hard, ALOT of work, and extremly time consuming, but im putting as much love into this as I would my own stuff, if not more.

I've seen more engines than I can count put on the "platform" and one fact is inescapable:
No matter how long one leaves the drain plug out, the moment the motor hits the table, an oil puddle immediately begins to form. And this is compounded by the fact that the BMW's are shaft driven and final drive lube would have been a factor as well.
Also, their hands are WAY too clean, but I guess that stems from the fact that the motor is also WAY too clean, considering the repair are being done "in the field".
Even when you have a fully equipped shop and pressure washer at your disposal, you never achieve that level of cleanliness.
As much of a stickler as I was that my mechanics make cleanliness a priority in the shop, your boys make mine look like a bunch of pig pens.
Also, where is the toolbox? Or the box to toss the fasteners in? Or the rags to lay the parts out on? And a barrel of mineral spirits at the side of the table for parts washing would be a good idea, as well.
There isn't anything wrong regarding the guy setting the fuel tank back on the frame, that gets done all the time. Also, while smoking around a job in progress isn't the safest thing in the world to do, many a mechanic works away with a cigarette hanging out of their mouths.
The point about the lack of cables and hoses should also be well noted. They would have been routed up out of the way to facilitate easier engine removal and therefore be more visible in the scene.
Sorry to be so critical, but 20+ years in the industry has made me an absolute expert on what a motorcycle maintenance situation looks like close up.
Regards, PWB.

smeagol the vile wrote:

ya need to take me for example.  Im doing a commission for a friend, its extremly hard, ALOT of work, and extremly time consuming, but im putting as much love into this as I would my own stuff, if not more.

...speaking of which, any progress to report on?

Yea, just I like waiting till I have a bunch of pics to upload instead of one here or there.  Im sculpting the hunter, Just finished fraying the bottom of his pants, looks really good, and im still widdling away the buildings, slowly getting close to finishing them, SO MUCH WORK