How many same/similar models do you have?

Yes, I like to do different versions of the same base kit, be the differences minor or major. And I also like to get different kit companies versions of the same subject. No two of my builds will be identical in every way.

I have about 7 M1/M1A1/M1A2 kits in 1/35 from various manufacturers. Don't know if I'm going to get through them all.  

I have dozens of "same models", including if you mean "exact same boxing" or "exact same tooling",,,or "same model by different companies.

To show what I mean,,,,,,here is just the Skyhawk section of my unbuilt model stash, over Anne's desk and PC.

It takes quite a few duplicate kits to build "one of each" of things like squadrons or countries, etc.

Rex

Ye, I do have lots of the same type of vehicle and aircraft kits but in different versions. I am pretty specific in the subjects I build and would like to buld as many versions of each as possible. For example, I would like to build one of every version of the Ju 87 and Sd.Kfz 251 halftrack. For the latter, there are 63 possibilities and I currently have 29 251 kits.

I have a small number of kits that I have more than once, such 3 Tamiya P-51's, 3 hase B-24D's and 3 B-24J's and a couple of 251 kits that I have twice.

Bish, I am rooting for you to finish that -251 collection,,,,,,,that would be something to see all of those different halftracks in one place.

Rex

You and me both rex. I just hope I live long enough. I have only built 2 so far, I think I need to build a few more each year. The biggest issue now is getting the kits. Apart from a couple of the Zvezda Ausf's B's, I have just about every 25th kit that's out there. So now I nee to start looking at doin my own conversions, and hope Dragon release there Ausf A.

Rex now I know who has all my beloved Fujimi A-4 kits. John

I have;

3  Tiger I's

3  Jagdpanzer IV's

2  T-34's

2  Panthers

3  Sherman's

2  Panzer III's

2  Stug III's

All diffrent variants

I build one.  There are just too many subjects to do repeats.  But I did build 2 P-51s, and think maybe another Spitfire.  And maybe its time for another F-4 or F-86 (in a different scale of course).  And oh yeah, there are those two '70 Super Bees.

I  generally do not do many similar subjects.  Exceptions are Twin Beeches- I have several in 1:72 and am working on a 1:48.  And, Indy and Midget race cars.

I build aircraft. There are do many camouflage/paint schemes you really could spend your life building the same plane and no build the same one twice.  ie P-51, Bf109, Fw190, F-4, F-16, I'm sure there are more

11 109s, 10 Fw 190s, 5 Yak 1s, 7 Phantoms, 3 F-104s ...all in 1/48. And the list goes on...

14xP-51

12xF-16

9xF-18

8xJu88

6xHs129

5xBf109

4XFw190

4xMe262

I do have a serious question that I have always wanted to ask the "I build one, then move on" folks. I almost get it, but even back when I was building every different thing in sight, I had something happen.

It was this.

What do you do when you run across one of those kits that you build and think it is so much fun, goes together well, is perfectly engineered, and your paint job comes out just right to do it justice?

It is sad to think that you then will never build that kit again, after enjoying it so much.

It seems sort of like "I had a Taco, liked it a lot, but, now that I have had one, it is time to eat a Brat, and then some Escargot", etc.

I have just always wondered about that.

John: can you believe that I am still prowling the shows looking for more of the Fujimi A-4C kits? And that I still buy all the Fujimi and Airfix A-4B kits that I see at a show? It takes a lot of Skyhawks to feed the "Squadron Collection"

Rex

.

3 Phantoms in 1/32 and 4 in 1/48

I have several Tomcats, Phantoms, P-38s, FW-190s,Tiger I and IIs, Hunting Tigers, and a few more. I try to keep the repeats down but as with the Tomcats and Phantoms, way too many colorful eye catching schemes to be made.

Got lots of shermans,no two the same. Lots of variants out there

About 50+ Nascar kits....'bout as similar as you can get!

4 hornets, 2 MLRS, 2Voodoo's, 2 versions of the skyhawk,5 109s, 2 262s, and thats just what i remember packing for my return move, i try not to duplicate and usually choose a new kit because of the WOW factor only to later make the connection that it's basically the same kit. Guess i'm a model junkie. Sometimes though i do want to display multipule camo patterens or build a dio in my head that requires multiple copies of the same vehicle, some day i'll have the space and knowledge to complete it .

I've got a few FW190s, bf109s and F/A-18 Hornets on my wish list. So many neat variants and markings on these aircrafts I want to do.

castelnuovo

I like to build models that are very different. I have 3 panzer IVs but they are very different: whirbelwind, hummel and ausf c. I also have four 38(t): marder, gepard, ausf S (I think) and hetzer. Again, they are the same chassis but the rest is very different. 

Do you build the same tank just because it served in different areas so you can paint them differently? Would you buy the same tank just because one has short and the other long barrel?

Cheers...

CastleNuovo,

          I tend to build cars, but I don’t have a problem with building multiple copies.  I might or I might not paint/detail them differently.  I guess that one could say that surprisingly for a Vet, I’m really not too much into building military models.  Not that I have anything against them or anything, nor is it because I have PTSD and they might be a trigger or anything.

          It’s just that they never really appealed to me, but I have started to collect military kits.  Such as I was able to pick up at the local HHV “craft center” a Trumpeter LAV-A2 Armoured vehicle.  I don’t know when I’ll get around to building it, but I have it and it came with some PE.  I also have amassed a collection of planes.

          And again, I do not know when I’ll get around to building them as well.  For some of them (that includes ALL of my stash) I would like to see what is out there in the way of aftermarket parts to improve them.

TarnShip

I have dozens of "same models", including if you mean "exact same boxing" or "exact same tooling",,,or "same model by different companies.

To show what I mean,,,,,,here is just the Skyhawk section of my unbuilt model stash, over Anne's desk and PC.

It takes quite a few duplicate kits to build "one of each" of things like squadrons or countries, etc.

Rex

For Rex and everyone else who likes to try and do a wing, squadron, division, company, battalion, and I guess battle group (is that the correct Navy term) country build.  For like the planes how do you deal with the fact that decal sheets usually only come with one or two generic markings?

          Say you wanted to do a build of Corsairs using Major Greg “Pappy” Boynton’s “Black Sheep” squadron as your inspiration.  And you wanted to do one plane for each member, where would one find decals for everyone?  I’m guessing that it should be easy to find Boynton’s markings, but what about the others?

          And I am guessing that for the lesser known units that one would really have to do their research and get the right names, tail numbers, colors, etc.

          I also think that doing say one Jeep/tank/truck/etc. for each conflict/war/country might be fun.

          And speaking of research, just how much research do most of you do on your subject?  Again, using “Pappy” and his squadron as an example.  Would you do a report on each member, just “Pappy,” or just the 214?

          Also would you do a diorama and if so (again using “Pappy’s Black Sheep” as an example how much of the island would you show?  The ammo dump, the fuel dump, the tents/cabins, the landing strip, how much research would you do?

          Then of course comes the question of display/storage.  What do most of you do?  Do you rotate your models out keeping the bulk in storage and a small amount on display?  Or do you donate completed kits to the VFW/American Legion Post for them to display/store for you?

A side note regarding Boyington's plane - there are 2 or 3 Corsairs Boyington flew and one of them bears no kill marks. Reason being he doesn't like to have it plain site. The other two is bit of a grey area of the name of his aircraft; "LuBelle" or "Lucybelle". I've read two different stories of which one he actually used.

TarnShip

I do have a serious question that I have always wanted to ask the "I build one, then move on" folks. I almost get it, but even back when I was building every different thing in sight, I had something happen.

It was this.

What do you do when you run across one of those kits that you build and think it is so much fun, goes together well, is perfectly engineered, and your paint job comes out just right to do it justice?

It is sad to think that you then will never build that kit again, after enjoying it so much.

No not really, if I enjoyed a particular kit, there must be a different one I will enjoy just as much.
I just can't stop at on thing, like music, I like most types. I don't just listen to "Classic Rock", that drives me nuts. The same thing over and over, can you say RUT.
The world is full of many things to do and see, I've been to all 50 states and 10 countries, and I'm still at awe at the variety.
So far in my life I have been an aircraft mechanic, Private Pilot, piloted a hot air balloon, SCUBA diver, Surfer (in my much younger years), owned 6 businesses (none of which made it, but I still tried), worked as a auto/airplane mechanic, Manager of over 30 people at a large corporation, Electronics technician in the USCG, general contractor, built 3 houses by myself, home inspector, worked on locomotives, long haul truck driver, and now back to electronics technician.
I love variety and the odd builds, which you may have noticed sometimes.
Yes, I do have some of the same types of kits, 5 Zeros and 2 P-51's, 2 Franks, however I acquired those in different ways and only purchased two, the Hasegawa Zero and Frank combo packs.
I have over 70 (I know that's not much for this group) kits, and with the exception of the above mentioned, all are completely different, most plastic, but some wood ships, which I've noticed, by the way, are often looked upon with some disdain by the ship guys for some reason.

You guys want to build 50 or so of the same kit, that fantastic! I will watch each build with interest, and awe in amazement at the care and detail you place in each one. I will then honestly and sincerely complement you on the fantastic job you have done on a subject you obviously dearly love. I will honor your passion.
But that's not for me, there's just too much out there.

Steve

TarnShip

I do have a serious question that I have always wanted to ask the "I build one, then move on" folks. I almost get it, but even back when I was building every different thing in sight, I had something happen.

It was this.

What do you do when you run across one of those kits that you build and think it is so much fun, goes together well, is perfectly engineered, and your paint job comes out just right to do it justice?

It is sad to think that you then will never build that kit again, after enjoying it so much.

It seems sort of like "I had a Taco, liked it a lot, but, now that I have had one, it is time to eat a Brat, and then some Escargot", etc.

I have just always wondered about that.

John: can you believe that I am still prowling the shows looking for more of the Fujimi A-4C kits? And that I still buy all the Fujimi and Airfix A-4B kits that I see at a show? It takes a lot of Skyhawks to feed the "Squadron Collection"

Rex

          That is a very good question, and as a follow up to it.  What about if one started their model building as a child and is now an adult who presumably skills, tools, etc. have improved.  Wouldn’t you want to build a “new” example to showcase how one’s skills have improved over the years?

Ah , I would have to say , about 90 . My landlady always asks , " Why do you have so many cruisers , battleships and destroyers ? " I bought many ships because the GEARING for instance , during the " Cold " war were FRAMMED . this meant many of the same type , that were completely different from each other ! Besides , In WW-2 and after it takes a good number to make a " Battle Group " I don't build these without the support vessels you would find there .     Tanker-Builder

DC, you raise some very good questions in your post about my "one of each" collection.

Some of them have their very own thread, because the answers are as varied as the number of modelers here on the forum, but, mostly because someone asked and started a thread.

I will hit the highlights here, starting with the units. Since I am doing "one of each Squadron" as my largest theme, I will talk about that. Then the choices in the smaller steps along the way will be common sense as to why I choose those steps.

In building one of each Navy Squadron, you run into areas where you will do a lot of research because no one has ever done decals in 1/72 scale for that squadron. (in some cases, no one has ever done decals in ANY scale) There are two solutions to doing something like a VA-16 Skyraider for the "16 slot" in the collection. One would be to bug a known 1/72 decal vendor to do it up on a sheet, and provide him with all the help he needs for references. I do that for some units, but, I also know how to make and print decals at home on my Laser Printer. So, since I like having a unique collection, I do some of those aircraft myself, which lets me have one of a kind models. Another factor is that in order to really do "one of each squadron" a person has to know the history of the many squadrons that disestablished or were renamed as the Navy went through the years. That means when I get the VF-11 F-4 Phantom and/or VF-11 F-8 Crusader built, I still have to build the F2H Banshee for the VF-11 that was disestablished before the "new" VF-11 got the Crusader. And I would still have to build a VF-43 aircraft from before they were redesignated into the "new" VF-11 while working up in their first batch of F-8s.

I wouldn't do one of every aircraft in a squadron, to me that hits right on that spot that people think of when they think of doing almost the same build over and over again.

To me, doing Skyhawks From VA-12, VA-15, VA-22, VA-23, VA-34, VA-36, VSF-1, VSF-3, VA-43, VA-44, VA-45, VA-46, up to VA-216,  is "different enough", because if I choose to hit each different variant of Scooter as I go, and the variations in the Insignia and paint regs as I go, there is enough difference in the markings to have a variety on the shelves. Those gaps in my numbers above are filled by VF units operating Phantoms, Demons, Crusaders, etc. And it would be very hard for anyone that knows the least bit about Navair to confuse a VA-23 Black Knight's "Bar Sinister" markings with the "Supersonic Red Bird" of the VA-94 Mighty Shrikes. Heck, the FSM Navair modelers can spot the difference between VA-23 Black Knights from "my" Black Knights from across the room. (VMFA-314)

So, just from VF-11 to VA-16, there could/should be the following

VF-11 Banshee

VF-11 Crusader or Phantom or both (different VF-11) (or VFA-11 Super Hornet)

VA-12 Skyhawk or Corsair II or both

VF-13 Skyray, Cougar, or Crusader or all three

VF-14 Demon, Phantom, Tomcat, or VFA-14 Super Hornet

VA-15 Skyraider, Skyhawk, or Corsair II, or all three, because all three were really different units

VA-16 Skyraider

As you can see, that shelf would be all different aircraft, or all different markings for whenever you see two of the same aircraft.

So, if you look only at that Skyhawk stash pic I posted, and don't realize that there in an F-4 Phantom section to the right of the Scooters, and then Intruder, Crusaders, Tomcat, Corsair, Skyraider, "Detatchment aircraft", Hornet, etc, and even Kfir and F-5s to the left, it can look like a lot "of the same model".

But, they will be unique,,,,,,,,,and at least 30 or more of those models will be very different than any other on the web, because I will have made my own markings for them using my book collection as the reference. About 200 of the finished models will be models that anyone could have done using off the shelf 1/72 decals.

To get some of the things you need to do more than 2 of any given aircraft type, you have four choices, buy two of some of the decal sheets, know in advance that you are going to only use one scheme from a sheet that includes two sets of overall markings, buy some of the "all Insignia" and "data for F-4" types of sheets, and work in as many kit decals as you have that are high enough quality. Some kit decals are higher quality than aftermarket sheets, or at least the same level.

Now you can see the obvious steps before a complete collection of each squadron would be first to get one of each Wing, then one from each Carrier. And Anne's least favorite part of this, after those steps are done, and I have one of each squadron done, there is always the possibility of filling in each Wing so that I have for example, AA-100, AA-200, AA-300 from the Forrestal. Not to mention that a unit's markings sometimes changed for each cruise, or for each sub type of aircraft they were assigned.

well, that is probably wordy enough for today

Rex

edit for a PS: And I "cut down" to the above collection, because, in my 50 years of modeling, I had already built "one of each of the Revell 1/72 kits", and one of each of the Airfix US kits, Each Monogram, etc, etc and started doing multiples with aftermarket decal sheets of some of those kits. So, I cut down my stash, and my library, paint colors, etc, etc,,,,,,,,,to save money and to focus my research needs to a smaller area,,,,,,,real Mil-Specs and physical TO's and other books are too expensive for me to have stayed as "branched out" in my subject matter as I was.

Rex,

          Again, thank you for the information.  And as I am sure others will agree whether or not a person concentrates on just one unit/wing/division, or one type of craft, or whatever the reason(s) for doing them are as varied as the people doing the builds.

          As I am sure that there are plenty of people out there who want to concentrate on to use my earlier example MAJ Greg “Pappy” Boynton and his men, as there are people whose fathers/brothers/mothers/sisters/uncle/aunt served in this or that unit/wing/division and want to build the equipment that they used.  Maybe even wanting to build the exact plane that their father/brother/uncle flew.  As well as I am sure that there are plenty of people who want to do their builds as historically accurate as possible.

           And then again, I am sure that there are plenty of people out there who really don’t care about the unit (not that there’s anything wrong with that) and just want to concentrate on the history of a particular airplane, helicopter or tank or other piece of equipment.  Building it from the drawing board/prototype stage all the way up to the present day.

          As I’ve said the reason(s) why we build is as varied as the person doing the building.  And they and they alone know the true reason why they are drawn to a particular subject.

             Or the modeler may have flew a particular plane/helicopter or drove a particular tank and wants to do a build to honor those they served with.