Toy or model?

 tin can and String here.....

until one day I saw something in a box, and it called to me...................

David

MortarMagnet wrote:

I can't wait for someone to come in here and say that you have to drill the oil and make the plastic to scratchbuild with before you are actually making a model, otherwise you're just assembling.

Gaaah...  Kids these days.  When I was growin' up, we had to make our own toys and models - from rocks!  And we were happy to get those! 

How was that...? 

plus there are tons of Gundam and Zaku action figs out there. ( I know, I have them still in the boxes on my shelf :-) )  Im rather partial to the SD toys, but the Gundam models stay in cases ready for the next contest.

David

On the Sci-Fi subject:

I recall a story called "A Logic Named Joe" written by M. Leinster (AKA Will Jenkins), about a television screen and typewriter that the user could ask questions and get answers. It was considered a silly bit of fluff by non Sci-Fi people when it came out in the mid 40s, but what better describes computers and the internet? Science Fiction is often prophetic in nature, which is sometimes sad, when you consider how much has to do with the planet Earth getting destroyed!

Gundams can be both. If it's in pieces and needs to be assembled, glued, painted and detailed, it's a model. If it comes pre-assembled it's a toy or collector's piece.  

Not to get O/t....the really odd thing about science fiction, in all its forms.is that one day much of it becomes real. Airplanes were fancy in 1901. Heatless cooking was unheard of in 1940.  And the idea that a person could sit at thier desk and communicate with another person across the world, without pen, paper and stamp? Virtual gibberish, on Sept 8 1966....

My avatar is Patlabor Unit # 2 , a Police labor, roughly based on walking construction units that in all regards are very similar to the currently tracked units we have in use all over the world. Honda has worked for several years on an autonomous walking robot of sorts, no real use for it, but who knows, in forty or fifty years.  I gave up scoffing a long time ago, its amazing what I have seen come to reality in the last forty years :-) Now, some of the stuff that the Germans came up with in WWII, thats REALLY out there!

David

To FSM's credit, there have been more SciFi related articles appearing since Matthew Usher taking the Editing Reigns.  I'm sure it's only a matter of time before we see another article or three in FSM's pages - provided someone submits one. 

to my memory, two articles have been submitted.

One was roughly 20002001  ( I will have to look for the issues) on super detailing gundam models using marker pens, scribing, etc, and cleaning up parting lines.  This was the largest of the two articles and used a Sandrock Custom if I remeber correctly in 1/144 scale (HG).

 The previous article was during the late 80s and used Hasegawa kits ( I dont remember, but I blieve they were some of the then-avialable Macross kits) in "foriegn" markings, IIRC Isrieli vs. Soviet.

 I agree that FSM has not had much (compared to tanks/planes/cars) coverage, even with the occassional well-written sci fi article, which to my memory have all focused on space based vehicles or movie related starships.

 While Gundam kits (as well as others by Bandai) may LOOK like toys, and while they may have some play value for younger modelers, I do not consider them toys at all. Thier quality and ingenuity of casting, incredilbe fit and range of expensive upgrades put most Master Grade and Perfect Grade kits out of reach of most youngsters.

Currently on the bench or in paint:

MS-18K KaltWetterKempfer (Kempfer, artcic type) see my posts under MS 18 for in progress photos.

SD GP03D Dendrobium awaiting final assembly.

 (and thats only the Mecha I have going.........)

David

IMNSHO, if you have to assemble it from the basic pieces/parts, it's a model.  If it says "some assembly required" it's a toy.  Pretty simple, I think. 

As to why pics never end up in FSM, I have an idea.  Just like with SciFi modeling in general used to be frowned upon by our other modeling contemporaries, there's prolly some looking down by folks on Gundam/giant robots.  Just a guess and I've got nothing concrete to base it upon.

Elite Razgriz 8492nd wrote:

Is a Gundam Robot a model or a toy? *A question that has been bugging me for a long time... If it is a model, then how come no one posts the pics of them in FSM mag? Im sure it will look great in some diorama set If it is not, then NVM

 "Gundam Robots" are available as both toys and model kits, if that was seriously your first question. Lots of toys, and lots of models, in all sizes, levels of detail, and price ranges.

As to why the models aren't featured in FSM, perhaps none are submitted, or none of sufficient quality anyway. I believe they do appear very ocassionally in the reader's gallery, however.

Check out Hobby Japan, Dengeki Hobby, Model Graphix, and other Japanese hobby magazines. More Gundam than you can possibly imagine. All in Japanese, of course, but don't forget that pictures are worth a thousand words! And those magazines are packed full of spectacular pictures.

Even Armour Modelling has been featuring Gundam-related builds as of late. Check 'em out!