Scratch-Building and Books .
Hi Ya'll !
I know many would like there to be maybe four or five books about scratch- building anything . True , there isn't , That I know of .There are many articles in F.S.M. and Scale Auto and Model Cars , as well as Model Railroader . These are to be treasured very much .That's why I have a 24 box archive of F.S.M. alone.
Referral material is great to have . Now if you don't have the room , well that can be a problem . As to the actual act of scratch building , you may have to learn new skills . I had to re-learn the art of fine soldering to complete my client's needs . No problem , I learned the basics way back in High School and just had to remember some of those basics .
Woodworking ? Well , there's a lot to do here .Choice of wood is the first as well as having some of the tools . If you're a plastic modeler you already have them . Now glues are next .many in regular modeling use a lot of CA .
I try to keep that to a minimum .Why ? well the fact is .It's great stuff alright , but it has one drawback .It's lacking any real shear strength . twist the joined parts hard enough and they will split apart . Also , CA is much more brittle when used in conjunction with Zip-Kicker . Ask me , I am well aware of this important fact !
Now plans to build what you want .You can purchase ship plans by the ton . As to tanks and heavy armaments and such .there's not much around that I am aware of . Remember , I am a ship builder. There probably is info out there . I have never had to look so I am as uninformed as any novice . The rest have their sources such as G.M , FORD and CHRYSLER shop manuals . Body Shop manuals can't be beat for model car building or scratch-Building a rare car .
The same holds true for aircraft .There are plans out there .There has to be . Else , where do all these large scale flying models come from . I've not seen them in stores . I refer to say an F-100 in 1/24 scale with a real JET engine and working control surfaces , landing gear and bomb or camera capability .
They are a wonder to behold in action . Even I have stood there in awe and jaw dropped as an R.C -- F-14 comes in , drops it's pattern of bombs ( smoke grenades in miniature ) and goes about flying away as if nothing happened . A lot of scratch-Building is what I am told !
You have to want to build a certain subject with a passion . Convert that to action . Look for found parts to start with .Then go to Hobby-Town and get the Evergreen Plastics Co. Book on scratch-building in plastic . It will give you more basics .
The bottom line is courage to waste some material .In this costly era that hurts . Minimize your loss with basics . A good tool to have on your bench , believe it or not is the basic instruction page from a paper model kit .
You can use it as a guide for folding , gluing and cutting and shaping the thin plastic sheet you might use .Thicker parts ? Laminate them with a high quality plastic Cement .There are four or five real good brands out there it's the modelers choice . I use TAMIYA thin and TESTORS Liquid as well as the glues for Styrene from Plastruct and the glues for Lexan and Plexi from Home Depot !
Now find that subject and get started , slowly , and you'll find you are better than you think . Also , in closing remember this admonishment , You have a brain , Let it be your guide . and think , think , think .Your model will be a surprise to those around you and a big sense of satisfaction for you . Happy Modeling ! Tanker- Builder