Modelling Gripes...What's Your's?

I'm reminded of a conversation I had years ago with a friend who'd scratchbuilt a 1/48-scale model of a steam locomotive. His employer transferred him from Ohio to Florida. I asked him how he was going to move that extremely fragile model. His response was, "It's going to ride on the car seat beside me. I bought my wife a bus ticket."

He splurged on a bus ticket??!! It was only a trip from Ohio to Florida. That's only about a thousand miles. Would've been better to let her hitch hike. Then he could buy another of those outrageously expensive models with the after market parts from that guy in Italy.

I'm with bgrigg on the size of paint jars. For ordinary brushing they're fine. But some airbrush jobs suck up a lot of paint. Especially when you have an airbrush that blows paint like a firehose anyway. Imagine my chagrin when I used metalizer on the exhaust of my RF-4 and shot out the entire bottle on a few square inches.
That and the continued lack of a flat white that covers in less than eighteen coats.

Have you tried Floquil Reefer White? 3 coats max.

I keep hearing that stuff works well, so maybe I will give it a try. A lot of my problem was solved when I stopped brushing on white. Now I just pull anything to be painted white and spray it. That cuts down on the number of coats and gives a better finish to boot.

money,money,money
I'd say that's my biggest gripe. Models nowaday just cost too much for a decent kit, there does not seem to be a middle ground, especially when it comes to armour.
AM, well don't even get me started on that. Ridiculously expensive stuff, especially the figure sets, considering some of the quality of figure sets of mass producers out there.
Geekiness factor...I guess I've been lucky enough to not have any of my gfs consider me a dork for doing what I do.

Gripe: Getting a brand new kit (still shrink wrapped) from an Internet hobby store only to find a sprue missing

Good thing it was only the clear parts...I was going to scratch build them anyway.

Modeling block and the lack of time. Should also add......... can't finish anything!

QUOTE: Originally posted by tigerman Should also add......... can't finish anything!

Same here, that is why I find the price so staggering sometimes.

I love the build too much and not the "peace"

My modeling gripes? Well, they center around online retailers and their "customer service" (or lack thereof).

It really ticks me off when I spend more than $100 on an order and receive broken/damaged kits, and supposedly “new” kits with missing parts.

It also irritates me when I order something, pay promptly, and have to send five e-mails to get confirmation that something has shipped. In some cases, I get no reply at all.

In extreme cases, I get exasperated and am forced to call. In many of these instances I have found the listed phone number is either incorrect, linked to a fax machine, or busy from 9 to 5… some retailers now purposefully hide their phone information, or refuse to provide it altogether.

I’ll be honest; I am getting really fed up with this new “trend” in online sales. It is pervasive on eBay, and now the Internet “Big Boys” seem to have picked up this bad habit.

RM

Most of the above Gripes strike familiar chords. I think my biggest Modeling Gripe of all, though, is: people who try to tell me there's one RIGHT way to build a model.

You mean there isn't???

QUOTE: Originally posted by jtilley Most of the above Gripes strike familiar chords. I think my biggest Modeling Gripe of all, though, is: people who try to tell me there's one RIGHT way to build a model.

Well, that is correct; there IS only one correct way to build a model... and that is to build it to your own standards, and to have fun doing it.

RM

i have a really big gripe
my gripe is i live in the uk(and if thats not bad enough)
i buy FSM every month and i want to know why we cant enter the comp each month if the mag is avalible then why not the comp

I get tired of the accuracy nazis who tell me the product of my hard work is rubbish because I didn't do x, y, or z. We are artists and this is our medium.

Yeah Zaphod, some forum members are very strict with accuracy and very rigid with techniques.

Unfortunately some members get a bit carried away with the criticisms of models.

If ya'll think it is expensive now just wait when they add the price of the oil that has jumped up and up.What gets me is that they will bring out one kit and make a different version of that kit.That version has just a few minor changes in which can be scratch built.Then when they bring this same kit out with its minor changes the price gos up.Digger

QUOTE: Originally posted by mfsob I look at it this way (color me cynical, I know) - for what I spend to build and detail one of my 1/700 ships, that's the price of maybe two dates. How many hours of engagement and entertainment will I get out of that model? Dozens, quite possibly hundreds. How many hours of engagement and entertainment will I get out of those two dates? Four. At the most.

Dude! Sooo true!

I think one of my biggest gripes is cans of spray paint that don't say if they are laquer, acrylic, enamal, or whatever. This always seemed like important information to me, yet so many cans, hobby or otherwise, make no mention of it. Happens with brush paint sometimes, too.