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is it more art than modeling

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  • Member since
    July 2013
is it more art than modeling
Posted by DURR on Friday, July 29, 2005 9:48 PM
figures and busts to me is not modeling
it is an art
to get those faces the shades
i build models but i dont have the talent to do figures
it is an art that not all modelers have

lets have some views on thisConfused [%-)]
  • Member since
    November 2005
Posted by Anonymous on Friday, July 29, 2005 10:00 PM
IMO, yes and no.

Most of the skills from modeling still apply to large scale figure kits and vice versa.

The one thing that differs is that the larger the scale you have to be more true to nature/real thing.
Example:
Fabric/material patterns and their light reflection/surface texture matter little in smaller scales but become more important in the larger figures.

IME, the larger scale you go the less you can rely on pre-mixed colours and need to start to mix your own.

An amazing figure modeler is David Fisher and his Model Mania series of tapes, IMO, is a must for most large scale figure modelers as he covers a LOT.
Granted I don't agree with him on all of his views and think some should be modified. Wink [;)]

Final words for me the most important thing about large scale figures is the "feel" that I get of it not so much the skill level of the builder.

HTH.
  • Member since
    November 2005
Posted by Anonymous on Friday, July 29, 2005 11:19 PM
I'm tempted to say yes, but when i think about figure modeling, modeling in general and what most people think of as "art" I have to lean towards no. I think model making in general is art, but not neccessarily in the traditional sense. I'm not sure I'm prepaired to elevate one genre over the rest, though I will aknowledge that figure modelers are often a jock-of-all-trades within the modeling world.

But I think it's not so much that any one type of modeling is more art than another as it is that one can rise to the level of artist in any style. Are you an artist? Is it what you model or how you model that makes you an artist?

I happen to believe that anyone who perfects any kind of model making is certainly an artist within the craft. Laying and then polishing a perfect clear coat to a mirror finish on a car model is art. The only easy thing about it is burning through the clear coat and into the color coat with your polishing process. Super detailing a tank interior is art. So is taking chuncks of wood and wooden rod stock, different gauges of string and thread, wire and tiny nails, and carving, cutting and milling it all into a perfect replica of the USS Constitution, complete with rigging and partial interiors, visible through the windows of the captain's quarters. Industrial Design/ Prototype modeling is an art.

However, I have noticed that most figure modelers are at least as skilled in one or two other types of modeling areas, while many other model makers typically aren't as good at figure modeling. I don't know why that is, but I do know that most of us came into model making through either armor, aircraft or cars, graduated to dioramas and came into figure modeling out of neccessity. For us, the figure painting/modifying/sculpting just took on a life of it's own.

I try to avoid the word elite, or other such euphemisms because there are people who can do things with a car model that I could never do in my wildest dreams and I am ever humbled by their work, as they are with mine. They are no less worthy of elite status than I.

Now, lets talk about "art".

I use many techniques and materials that fine artists use. My fine artist friends aknowledge my skills and are always amazed with my work, but I would never presume to count myself among them as a "fine artist", nor my work as 'art' in the same sense of the word as it relates to their work. I have always felt uncomfortable when talking to them and referencing myself as an "aritst". They're usually generous enough to accord me the title, but I am always in awe of their skills and would not, could not presume to stand beside them as a peer of equal merit.

Most of them went to school for several years to learn to sculpt and/or paint and have spent their entire adult lives perfecting their craft. While I've spent as much time with my hobby, and while I draw from much of the same skill sets and techniques that fine artists poses and use, I'm still, in that sense, just a model maker. Their work may someday be seen in a museum as part of an exhibit. Mine might too, but only as an annonymous diorama, built under contract for part of the Tutankhamen exhibit when it comes to town. While I consider figure modeling to be a 3 dimentional painting, it's just not quite in the same league as Monet, Homer or Picasso.
  • Member since
    December 2002
  • From: Massachusetts
Posted by ajlafleche on Friday, July 29, 2005 11:46 PM
Here are just a handful of picture fromWorld Expo in Boston. I challenge anyone to say these works, whether commercial pieces or scratchbuilt, are not works of art.
http://photos.kitmaker.net/data/14902/Petit_8.JPG
http://photos.kitmaker.net/data/14902/Petit_6.JPG
http://photos.kitmaker.net/data/14902/Petit_4.JPG
http://photos.kitmaker.net/data/14902/Petit_2.JPG
http://photos.kitmaker.net/data/14902/Moby_3.JPG
http://photos.kitmaker.net/data/14902/Jose_Caballero_Delso.JPG
http://photos.kitmaker.net/data/14902/DSC00242.JPG
http://photos.kitmaker.net/data/14902/DSC00244.JPG
http://photos.kitmaker.net/data/14902/DSC00211.JPG
http://photos.kitmaker.net/data/14902/DSC00181.JPG
http://photos.kitmaker.net/data/14902/DSC00127.JPG
http://photos.kitmaker.net/data/14902/DSC00114.JPG
http://photos.kitmaker.net/data/14902/DSC00087.JPG

Remember, if the women don't find you handsome, they should at least find you handy.

  • Member since
    November 2005
Posted by Anonymous on Saturday, July 30, 2005 1:19 AM
QUOTE: Originally posted by ajlafleche

Here are just a handful of picture fromWorld Expo in Boston. I challenge anyone to say these works, whether commercial pieces or scratchbuilt, are not works of art.


Personally, I fully agree. But there are many people that will dispute the point.
Art and beauty is in the eye of the beholder after all.

Take an example:
While I admire David Fisher and Antonio Mestas for their skills I would not put money down to buy one of their finished kits.
Why, because the way that they finish and paint their kits does not appeal to me too much. Wink [;)]

Same way some figure kits I will leave on the shelfs as they don't appeal to me, while as others are a "must have" for me.

Check Swanny's thread neither of the kits there appeal to me nor would I build them but at the same time they are nicely finished and done.
  • Member since
    December 2002
  • From: Massachusetts
Posted by ajlafleche on Saturday, July 30, 2005 9:13 AM
QUOTE: Originally posted by InModelershaven

QUOTE: Originally posted by ajlafleche

Here are just a handful of picture fromWorld Expo in Boston. I challenge anyone to say these works, whether commercial pieces or scratchbuilt, are not works of art.


Personally, I fully agree. But there are many people that will dispute the point.
Art and beauty is in the eye of the beholder after all.

Take an example:
While I admire David Fisher and Antonio Mestas for their skills I would not put money down to buy one of their finished kits.
Why, because the way that they finish and paint their kits does not appeal to me too much. Wink [;)]

Same way some figure kits I will leave on the shelfs as they don't appeal to me, while as others are a "must have" for me.

Check Swanny's thread neither of the kits there appeal to me nor would I build them but at the same time they are nicely finished and done.


That applies to everything from pants to Picasso.

Remember, if the women don't find you handsome, they should at least find you handy.

  • Member since
    November 2005
Posted by Anonymous on Saturday, July 30, 2005 9:41 AM
An artisan produces his, or her, 'art' whether it be a watch, motorcar or painting. 'Art' is a word too often invoked and should be dumped from the lexicon. BTW-I'm a commercial 'artist'. ;-)

PS-AJ-that Moby dio blows me away!
  • Member since
    February 2003
  • From: A Spartan in the Wolverine State
Posted by rjkplasticmod on Saturday, July 30, 2005 9:45 AM
Those who sculpt the figures are the artists. Those of us who paint them have artistic talent, but are not really creating art by most definitions. I can do a decent job painting a figure, but give me a blank canvass or a lump of clay to create something from nothing & I would fail. But I really don't care about titles or semantics, I just enjoy the hobby.

Regards, Rick
RICK At My Age, I've Seen It All, Done It All, But I Don't Remember It All...
  • Member since
    July 2013
Posted by DURR on Saturday, July 30, 2005 11:06 AM
to me those pictures ali prove my point those faces
those people are the elite artists
i am a modeler for almost 40 yrs and i cannot approach most of them
  • Member since
    June 2004
  • From: Western Canada
Posted by ghamilt1 on Saturday, July 30, 2005 4:35 PM
Like many others, I do model airplanes as well as figures, and while many of the skills and tools and even materials are common, I have found I use alot more of my "art" training when I do figures. By that, I refer to basic colour, composition and design theory, which I feel are essential when producing a figure I would be proud of. I find the airplane builds to be far more straight forward. I mean, it's not like I need to capture the mood and personality of a Spitfire, I just need to make sure it looks like the real thing, and 9 times out of 10, most people can do that by following the kit instructions. In contrast, one can follow the instructions of a good figure kit, and still need to bring something extra to the project in order to bring that figure to life. Perhaps that's the main difference. Figure modelers are trying to portray a living breathing person as opposed to a piece of machinery, and that's where the art comes in. I don't even want to get into what the sculptors go through. The folks that produce the masters that I paint are artists, hands down, no arguement, period. Many of them are classically trained, and it shows.
  • Member since
    November 2005
Posted by Anonymous on Friday, August 5, 2005 5:30 AM
I think painting, dios, scratchbuilding are art and everything else is just skills or a trade.
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