Scratchbuilding Books?

Tab publishers did a series of books on scratchbuilt models, on book on planes, another on cars.  That was decades ago- don't know if they are even still in business.  There were lots of books on scratch ship modeling- probably the most common genre to find scratch modeling.

I haven't seen any new books in quite awhile on scratch building. It has gone out of favor as plastic kits have become quite good.  In some circles, scratch building is even frowned on as "not the way you play the game."

I'd try some of the online used book places.  Amazon now handles used books.  Most of these places have good search engines, or you can do a google search and when you have appropriate titles, then go to the online bookstores.  Interlibrary loan works pretty well these days too.

Well that is a bummer, most scratch building techniques I am familiar with, I am most interested in techniques for creating scale plans from photos

Here's a good link on scratchbuilding aircraft.

web.archive.org/.../woodman.html

John Alcorn has two good books on scratch building aircraft.  They are similar to the link above, but are a little more up-to-date.  Lots of pictures in color and b&w, and tips from several modelers.

"Model Design and Blueprinting Handbook" by Charles Adams covers converting photographs into blueprints.

Be sure to post progress pictures of your builds. :)

Good luck!

m@

BlakeyB

Well that is a bummer, most scratch building techniques I am familiar with, I am most interested in techniques for creating scale plans from photos

I had once prepared an article for a model ship magazine on doing ship lines.  The editors felt it had too much math.  They felt no one wanted to do math any more.  Doing scale drawings from most photos involves even more math than what I had shown. You have to be pretty good in 3D analytic geometry.  Are these your own photos, or just published photos by someone else? If you are taking the photos, you can do tricks to make the math much easier.

That book is exactly what I am looking for thank you!

Thanks don I appreciate the info! As for the sources most would be from published photos. I always understood the basics since I understand the math and what not behind scale modeling.  So I knew the basic premise is find a reference object within the photo to derive scale from that

But we all know that simple premise is very complex! So I was looking for a refrence guide that would describe a good analytic process. This book looks like it may be it!

The big complication with published photos is that to do the job correctly, you need to know the distance from the camera to the subject, and if possible the camera focal length and format.  If the shot is shot from square on (perpendicular to one of the object's axes) these are not as important as for quartering shots, especially if the object does not have much depth along the camera's principal axis.  

One of the big problems with doing drawings from photos is that it is hard, whether with your own camera OR printed photos, to get good photos from square above.

Also, when I take my own photos, I have a stick of wood with inch markings painted on it, and include this in photo. Otherwise, you can look up major dimensions for most vehicles.

Thanks don, my goal is to use the material to work more of a combination of photos and measurements from manufacturers.  I love static modeling but I also love scale remote control vehicles.  Body types are limited as well as kits in 1:10 scale.  So there are some subjects I will need to create my own drawings from. Manufactures for modern vehicles include many specs publicly but measurements required to acurrately recreate a scale plastic models are of course not included and will have to be extrapolated. Hopefully from what this book lists in its content it will show me the most reliable method to do this.  Though I value self taught knowledge which is what most of us have in this hobby, I certainly appreciate a shortened period of trial an error through a good reference :-) or of course speaking to the many experts here.

Don I justed wanted to post back and say thank you for that book recommendation. It was exactly what I needed and it took my scale projects up to the next level. Everything I need step by step was in there.

Besides the books, I suggest looking for materials. Part of the scratch bulding fun is to be creative with the materials you have. I traditionally used the clear plastic that came with the packaging for dress shirts for windows. I have saved filings of brass and other metals for a coating I apply with white glue on wood or plastic glue on plastic. I just put some fish tank gravel in a cup and shook it with a little black paint to make coal for a large model of an Army barracks. Sandpaper makes great roofing. I just painted some green and being cheap, I thinned the paint. That accidentally gave it a nice weathered look. If you know someone who smokes cigars, convince them to buy cigars in the aluminum tubes lined with the sheet of thin wood. That wood is very useful.