VERACITY , HONESTY , and MODELING FUN

well, Ms Owl, that should not have happened

no one should come along and slam a finished model,,,,that is just rude

the "expertiveness" should only come into play when answering questions before or during a build,,,and most of the time, I believe, only when asked

I should not come along during Hans work in progress thread, when he shows a cockpit,,,,,and tell him it needs to be darker, brighter or more vivid, when he already has that part painted and has moved on farther along in the build

but, I do feel it would be Wrong (with a capital W) for me to say the wrong color if someone asks before the build, or while researching what they need for a kit, etc

colors, letter codes, BuNo, squadron, ship name, P-51 D or B, what goes under the wings,,,,,,those are all facts,,,,,,it is not helpful to make those up or give false facts,,,,,,,,,,,but,,,,,,once given,,,,,it IS all up to each modeler how they want to use the info,,,,,or if they want to use any of it at all

small example,,,,,we all have to draw the line somewhere,,,,,,,I don't use RBF tags on my models,,,,or arming wires on my ordnance,,,,,,,,I could, the info is out there, the tags are available, even in my scale,,,,,,,but, I drew the line a while back on just how far in I will dig,,,,,and rigging every bomb for nose and tail fuse wires with drilled out holes for RBF flag pins,,,,,,,,nope,,,,,not going to happen here

my audience doesn't know a Light Gull Gray from a Dark Gull Gray, from a Gull Gray,,,,,,,they don't even know the difference between Gloss, SG and Flat,,,,,,,,but,,,,,,I do,,,,,so, that is how I build

and that is how everyone should build,,,,,to their own eye,,,only exception would be the archival builders for a museum,,,,,,,,and I have seen some of the shortcuts made in 1/1 scale, lol (I know where there is an absolutely beautiful F-8 Crusader,,,,,,,,with Gloss Light Gull Gray for the top surfaces)

Yeah man ,  I know I did , TARNSHIP but I was ,how shall we say this ^&&^%^&$^%&^ and then some .I enjoy modeling to the max and as a retired engineer and designer as well as a retired ship captain I know there,s NO WAY ,(unless you really work at it ) that you will get absolutely accurate in color and sometimes equipment .Then there,s the fact about long ago built models . How many folks have, after the service transfers and moves for jobs have the models ,or , much less the photos of those models .The self so called "EXPERTS " Some are , in those fields they work in  , expert, seem to think that if it isn,t done their way it,s wrong or incorrect .In the case of a ,shall we say a DE that was shot up in WW2 . were they there ? NO WAY !! But to here them tell it , it is wrong ! . This is the point of the post .Do we have a hobby or do we all find ourselves building to some unachievable museum standard .When someone visits your home (and they know you build models ) do they ask how correct the paint is or do they usually say " NICE MODEL " (cause they don,t build ,they don,t know what they are looking at ! BUT , they don,t want your feelings hurt .) There you have it .I enjoy a lot of what ifs and some ships I built just because I like the looks of it , or in the case of a 1/700 scale model of the KALININ .I have never seen a color photo of a modern SOVIET/RUSSIAN ship .SOOO she,s probably going to be innaccurate as the way I,m building her is OOB .She,s also the ONLY  , SOVIET/RUSSIAN ship in my collection , but , she looks neat.    tankerbuilder

GOOD gosh , ! Where did you get that picture ? or is it an example of your first home com[uter ? HE HE HE .That,s part of what I meant . That was HIGH TECH back then .WOW ....tankerbuilder .

I would have to agree with taking issue with some of the persnickety-ness that pops up. I painted a helo cockpit with the wrong color, but liked how it turned out and decided to keep it "as is". I then got badgered and called irresponsible for not changing it and my thread nearly got nuked. WTF?!

I can understand this hounding as a result of a person going for absolute accuracy, but I never claimed I was doing that on my kit. Heck, it was my first helo! It sure left a bad taste in my mouth, thats for sure...

ahh, I remembered part of my post

If a modeler starts out at Light Ghost Gray to scale effect from, instead of Dark Gull Gray,,,,,,,he is not going to be anywhere near the mark on his finished color on his model

so, if he wants to know the cockpit color of his F-14, he needs to be told the correct FS color,,,,,,,,and then he'll know what to do with that for the scale he builds in (Dark Gull Gray in a Tomcat's cockpit would be far different in a 1/144 or 1/350 model, than in a 1/32)

added: I am willing to be helpful,,,,,,,,but, as a 1/72 modeler, I am NOT willing to figure out the scale effect paint color matches for every scale from 1/700 to 1/32, in Enamel and Acrylic,,,,,,,if you are a "scale effecter",,,,you would have more time in than I do at that part of the game

I had a big long detailed post here,,,,,,and it disappeared before I hit enter,,sooooooo

Yes, Hans,,,,,,,,except,,,,,,I need to tell the guy 37142 Magenta,,,,,not the Purple (staying with my example),,,,,,,,so that if he believes in scale effect, he starts with the 37142, not with Purple

whether a person uses scale effect or not ( I don't),,,,,,,,decals and paints start out as "full sized", leaving the reductions to the modeler,,,,,because even the guys that believe in scale effect don't believe in the same percentages for each scale

I know,,,,,there were scale effect colors available,,,,,,,but, they aren't in business anymore, either

and if you scale effect a 1/700 ship model at the "correct percentage",,,,,,they are all a muddy, muddled gray,,,,,,liners, or warships,,,,,,because of the number of cubic feet of haze between the viewer and the model ("in-scale distance" distortion)

same with paints,,,,,,it costs exactly the same per bottle for a wildly inaccurate paint, a close, but not quite there paint, and the exact FS matching paint,,,,,,,so, I figure I might as well get it as close as the paint company allows me to when answering someone's paint color question

Just to play Devil's Advocate... If you don't "scale" the color, you realize that the exact "FS match" is also incorrect as well, right?  I know the "Paint Gestapo" will vapor-lock at this, but it's true...  Just hold you model at arm's length and then move closer to or farther away from the prototype until they're the same size.  Then check your color match...

COBOL and FORTRAN? Someday the man I used to be, AUTOCODER.

(My 1402 Card Read-Punch had an 5 digital identity panel.)

TB

You have sort of grouped a few different things all into one here. But, the most important, positive thing I can say to you is to not let anyone have that much power over you>

We must be of an age,,,,,,,,I also had to learn Fortran and keypunch, with the dreaded card verifier, in my earliest days around computers, a good long time before the Apples and PCs came around

I also have models that I can talk about, and can no longer verify that I ever owned or built. It is very hard to build for 47 years, change focus a couple of times, with the cleanouts and purges of "old plastic" that is implied there,,,,,,,and still have many of the models from the 60's around,,,,,I have exactly ONE from that time frame,,,,my very first model from the age of 8, in 1965

I have a couple from the 70's time frame,,,,,,,,,everything else here is more modern than that

as for accuracy,,,,,,,we lived in a time period when weapons loaded onto jets were still classified, and not available to put on our models,,,,,now, thanks to accessory sets and resin sets,,,,,,we can hang almost anything we want to,,,,,,,,"accurate loadouts" have become a possible thing,,,,so, some of us do them

same with paints,,,,,,it costs exactly the same per bottle for a wildly inaccurate paint, a close, but not quite there paint, and the exact FS matching paint,,,,,,,so, I figure I might as well get it as close as the paint company allows me to when answering someone's paint color question

what he or she does with the info,,,,,,is and should be, full up to them,,,,,If I say Magenta 37142, and they go and get Purple, grape, brightest possible,,,,,,and paint that on there,,,,,,,,,,,they still hear "hey, good model" from me,,,,,,,if it is in fact a nice build

accuracy in shape, markings, loadout and color is fun,,,,,,,,,if you enjoy it,,,,,,if you don't,,,,,then simply don't do it, and enjoy the hobby your way,,,,,,,,,I won't try to drag you onto the Accuracy Bus, if you won't try to pull me down off of it,,,,,,we can each have fun at this our own way

Just don't let anyone control your hobby,,,,a hobby is something to do to unwind, not to get wound up about

I hope there is at least one good thought in this for you,,,,,,if so, it was worth typing it out

Rex

What?