How terrible a modeller where you when you first started?

You are not alone! When I first starting building models , way back , I built the old Aurora , 1/48 scale tanks , they were built in an evening , and hand brushed. Today , I take my time , and do some research. But yet , I can be too critical , on my efforts. When I see an award winning model , I think , " How did he do that " and take it from there. When it comes to judging , my completed models , I am , my worst enemy. I try to complete each kit , and try and improve , my next model. I actually , make notes , on the good , and bad points , of each kit , I complete. And this site , has a wealth of knowledge , of " How to". So model on , and don't be too critical , of your efforts!
Happy Modelling!
Frank
" PERSEVERANCE"

Yeap, thank goodness for dinosaur models...anyways i dont use airbrushes or handpaint (cept for fine detail) anymore! im HOOKED on spray cans, especially tamiya...try some of that and some sneaky masking and you can get some good lookin p-jobs...then go out and buy a cheap set of pastels and water colors and get some techniques with those and you can have some really good lookin stuff, just keep workin on em and you can always keep those three as testing material.

A.F.D. Great input! I experiment on dinosaur models. Then , I give them to my friend's daughter. It gives me a chance to try dry brushing , using pastels , and improving my airbrush skills. As for zimmerit , on German AFV's , well , I got a long way to go yet.
Frank
" PERSEVERANCE"

I have been doing this for a long long time. I still consider myself an amature at this hobby when I compare my work to those around me in this forum. I think the big key is to simply have some fun, kill a few hours and feel relaxed from it. Your modeling skill will improve, you will try new things and you will see growth. Most importantly, keep having fun.

My first experience with the hobby was painting airfix figures... My earliest recollection is the Russian infantry set which I painted with red/brown tops and royal blue trousers, all glossy.. Then I turned my attention to kits and my painting skills did not improve much for a long time. In fact, until I joined a club and saw what others were doing, I was chosing kits according to the color of the plastic, so that I had as little painting to do as possible...

I was quite lucky being an artist prior to getting into the hobby so more or less I have some painting skills already. However, I don't consider my first model a good one. Evidently like in most other things, one need to learn through time and kits to be able to come up with really good ones.

mine was a bAe hawk with sticky tape. the next attempt was using elmers. then i discovered testors orange tube glue. ah. sweet innocence

I think we all more or less start out the same way. It's the practice and the tips learned from others that get us on the road to better building. Reading FSM is a fantastic way to pick up the basics such as weathering or painting. Osprey produces many fine model building books. Finally, the lessons learned from so many experienced modelers here in the forums is down right invaluable. Good luck to you.

Well, my first tank was a Tiger I, which was not even painted. I left it the natural gray of the plastic. I also remember a 1/72 A-10 hand painted (poorly and over multiple glue finger prints) and a F-16 demo plane, also poorly painted. Although I am very critical of my own work, there is a definite inprovement over that!!

Don't Ask! I started when I was about 9 years old, and I used to put them ( mostly Aurora's figures and 1/720 ships) together in about 20 minutes. Then I discovered armour modeling, about 1970, when I saw the first Tamiya kits. I could only afford a few, with my favourite at that time the Pz II. I used to have war games with my kits, over a buddy's house, and these would last hours! Did some cars, ships, etc. These are the kits that I wish I had to do over again. I then went to Art School (Beal Art) and then College (Professional Photographer) and of course like most of us, I left the hobby for a few years.
I restarted about 9 years ago, and of course now I can afford most kits, though I think our hobby is in trouble if oil prices keep increasing.

Oh well, what else is new?

Rob Savage

Oh boy, first model was Tamiya's US infantry set, the one with the flamethrower. No paint and tube glue all over. Must've been 8 or 9 at the time.

It's a vicious cycle. In the begining, you build a model in a day and handbrush everything. You don't do any homework/research on your subject and it looks like crap (to you, but everyone says it looks good). Then you start taking a little more time on them, but they still look like crap. Then you get to the point where you take a lot of time on the kit, and everything goes great during construction, but your still handpainting it. Then you upgrade to an airbrush, but either you can't get it to work right or it doesn't come out right. Then you build many models and learn how to use/ care for your Airbrush and your models don't turn out half bad. Then you start to pay attention to historical accuracy and you look up pictures, buy squadron books, and look online for pictures of your subject. Then you go to different sites (cough, cough FSM FORUM) and you try to learn and perfect techniques like using washes, stencils, and other nifty tricks of the trade. Then you apply your skill with building the model, and your learned talent with the airbrush, along with some perfected tricks you learned and you finally start making professional models. It's a cycle every model goes through in order to get where they are today. About 3-5 years and $500+ later your actually finishing models to your liking. It's just time learing and money spent on cheap kits to practice your skills on.

when I first started I would have more glue on the moodel then in the tube. You have good days and bad days, if you are having a problem with a model put it aside for a while. Thats what I have done it all works out. I have been modeling for 58 years and still mess up a model, mostly when it comes to the paint job. keep on modeling, have fun enjoy! old one.

well, it depends, do you want the first one or the second one? finished em the same day. the first one, Revell's '78 Firebird, i made sure to be really careful with the paint and glue. i handpainted everything except the body, which i didnt paint at all. the second one, AMT's '67 Mustang, was a literal POS. i handpainted the engine and the body. that was it. luckily, that one has been tucked away in a dresser drawer for a LONG time. unfortunately, the Firebird rolled off my desk recently so its in the middle of a resto project...........
Jon

I have quite a few models that I'm sort of embarrassed to show, as they were my learning models. However, I've learned to love them, as they were my first steps, and have gotten me to where I am now. They had glue spots everywhere, gaps, and nevermind the paintjob. But they did force me to experiment with new techniques and applications thereof, and are directly responsible for my modelling skills, such as they are, now.

The chief thing to remember in all of this of course is to have fun and enjoy what you are doing! Don't be afraid to try out new things, ask questions, read up on different methods (especially since there are LOTS of different ways to approach various effects), and explore and enjoy the journey. No one is perfect and we all are constantly looking for ways to stretch the envelope. Work on different areas one at a time and build your skills up with practice and experimentation and before you know it, you will have developed your own personal style and be well on your way.

I don't like to think of it in terms of terrible vs. great but more of milestones of skill progression. Every model should hold some value for you because you built it!

My first model was a race car that I brush painted with a vicks blue color that had major runs and finger prints in it! My Dad came home from work and looked at it and said it was wonderful, that kept me going for a long time, ha ha! I knew it didn't even compare to the work he did but kept trying to make each one better with practice and slowing down a bit to savor the moment and produce a better finished result! Just hang in there and enjoy the hobby!

Can you say decals directly on the unpainted plastic. How about too much glue syndrom as well.but hey I was 8 years old then.

I was like just about everyone else. put it together in aday or less and when i say out of the box i mean right out of the box! no painting and put on wharever decals i thought looked neat. ah, as we live and learn. just keep at it and you'll get the hang of it. good luck

Yeah, I just slapped decals on unp[ainted and very gluey plastic. And then i started painting the details. Then I upgraded to an airbrush, and my models are turning out much better. But, they still compared to some of the work I've seen here. My first model was the Academy mig-21. A bit too ambitious that... I was only twelve at the time. But I'm only 14 now so...

My first model was a Frog Fw 189 that I built in the third grade (1973). I used so much glue that the fuselage wound up with sink holes!

Regards, Dan

I don't know, glue all over, painted an aircraft carrier with red nail polish. built a auror (?) german panther tank, didn't paint it but had great fun out in the yard with it. built a b-24, stuck a firecracker in it, lit the wing on fire and smashed it into a buddie's house (by mistake) turned out cool though. Had great fun with models as a kid, still do as I enter geezerdom. Now I like to enter contests........
G.L.

Like every one else my firsts were horrible. Finished way too fast, too much glue, fingerprints everywhere, brush painted and I never could wait till the paint was dry before playing war with them thus leaving not only glue fingerprints but prints in the wet paint. I never was able to get an aircraft to sit on its landing gear with out the struts bending over. three biggest things that have helped me grow as a modeler are paitence, super glue and information. how many of spilled paint from testor square bottle on our parents carpets? :)

My first plastic model was a Matchbox 1/72 Harrier.. I still have the model stored in the loft, along
with a few others which I intend to rebuild/repaint some day. It's so heavily encrusted with glue and fingerprints that you can barely see the surface detail!
The first biplane aircraft I built was the Sea Fox, again Matchbox, and I still don't know how I managed to put it together - I built another of these kits last year and found it a nightmare to assemble the wings and floats, how I managed it 15 years ago I don't know :D
I'm not sure which was the first tank I built, but one of my first was the Airfix Japanese Chi-Ha. I remember getting incredibly frustrated with the tiny wheels and the fragile turret aerial, not to mention fitting the rubber-band tracks and getting them to stay in place! Unfortunately I don't have any of my old tank models as I sold them, along with all my old toy soldiers etc, and a number of unbuilt kits, at a car-boot sale a few years ago. Needless to say, this was only a few months before I became interested in plastic modelling again! :(

LOL!! My very first kit was a 1/72 scale Zero that I taped together - I didn't understand why my teacher would give me a bunch of "extra" parts! The next one was a Mono 2 1/2 together with a Revell 1/48 Starfighter on Christmas. I had the truck completed the next day! That was in first grade.

Matchbox P40 Warhawk / Kittyhawk.

it was hideous, truly hideous.