01 Experienced Modeler

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chapter
O N E
T h e E x p e r i e n c e d M o d e l e r
1-1 An Italeri Tiger I superdetailed with new Academy tracks with spare links, On the Mark etched brass
grilles, skirt hangers and smoke discharger supports. The 712 decals are from Tamiya.
M
AKING
H
ISTORY
Model building is essentially re c re a t i n g
realistic history you can hold in your hand.
The miniature in your hands is there because
t h e re was a real or imagined prototype (the
real thing). When you are successful as a
m o d e l e r, it takes virtually no imagination to
see that model as the real thing. A re a l i s t i c
model can be defined, t h e n , as a model where
t h e re is nothing about that model that makes
it look like a model.
B e f o re the introduction of plastic kits, i t
took the talents of a sculptor to shape blocks
of balsa into the shape of an aircraft or an
a r m o red fighting vehicle (“armor” for short).
Thanks to plastics and re s i n , the shapes are
g e n e rally perfect. S u re , you’ll discover as yo u
re s e a rch the prototype for your model that
the airc raft or armor you want to duplicate is
really a variation on the kit and yours may
need a new wing shape or cockpit or turre t ,
in addition to some minor details, p a i n t ,d e c a l s
and weathering. T h e re are ,h o w ev e r, e n o u g h
limited-run re s i n ,p l a s t i c , and conversion kits
that you can likely buy the shapes you need.
A
RE
Y
OU AN
A
RTIST
?
In spite of the large availability of kits for
the basic shapes of a model, it still re q u i re s
the skill of a trained artist to match the colors
and hand-paint the markings of the proto -
t y p e . The hobby manufacturers have gone a
step further in the last decade or so to make
it possible for just about anyone to match
the specific colors and markings of airc ra f t
and armor. The perfection of the airbrush
and reliable and quiet sources of “ a i r ”a re
now available to anyo n e , not just the pro f e s-
sional artists who were the first customers
for airbrushes.
 1-2 A MIG-29 and the twin-seat MIG-29UB “in flight.” Both are Testor models built by Terry Tuytscheavers.
The airbrush has also made it far simpler
to apply weathering to airc raft and armor
models because you can mix the colors with
thinner and apply them as “virtual dust”
in a p rocess very much like the exposure to
t h e conditions of the re a l - world colors of
the pro t o t y p e .
who have been willing to share their tech-
niques over the past half-century, the tech-
niques are available to you and they are sim-
ple enough and well-proven so you definitely
can learn them. The ultimate re a l i s m ,n o t
being able to spot a flaw that wo u l d make the
model different from the prototype in any-
thing but size, is available to yo u .
Some modelers refer to the place where
t h ey build their models as their “ wo r k s h o p.”
I prefer to call it a studio as in“ a r t i s t ’s studio.”
Traditional advice is to recommend a perfectly
clean and well-illuminated room dedicated to
the building of models. The re a l i t y, h o w ev e r,
is that some of the best modelers work at a
desk in their den and the area looks like a
bomb armed with paint and pieces of plastic
has just exploded. No one but your immediate
family is going to judge how neat or ord e r l y
your area must be.
B
RING
R
EALISM WITHIN
Y
OUR
R
EACH
The basic tools and materials are now
ava i l a b l e , but they are not going to be useful
to you without
t h ree other elements
:
1 ) technique
– to use those tools and
materials and
2) the practice
it takes to
d evelop the skills to apply those techniques.
We can help you find the materials and all
the techniques you need,including many
a l t e r n a t i v e s , on these pages. T h et h i rd
element is what you must supply,
3) t h e
p a t i e n c e
to try these techniques and, i f
yo u ’re not satisfied with the re s u l t s , to try
them again and again until you master them.
E v e ryo n e , even the professional artist, has to
learn by pra c t i c e . Thanks to the modelers
1-3 This Priest M7 self-propelled artillery vehicle is an Italeri kit. The interior is superdetailed with over
50 shells and ammo boxes from Verlinden. Doug DeCounter used fine mesh screen and brass wire to build
the gun basket. The markings are Verlinden dry transfers.
S
EEING
I
S
B
ELIEVING
The one essential ingredient for yo u r
s t u d i o ,h o w ev e r, is good light from at least
t h ree sources so you are never working under
a shadow. You can choose a couple of fluore sc e n t
lights placed directly above and to the side
of the work area plus an incandescent “ s p o t ”
light from a third dire c t i o n . Or you can choose
t h ree fluore s c e n t s ,t h ree incandescents or
a ny combination. If you opt for fluore s c e n t s ,
I would suggest using one of the “ Warm W h i t e ”
or “Soft W h i t e ” bulbs that have an ora n g e
tint rather than the cold blue of “Cool W h i t e ”
and similar shades. The warmer colors are
more typical of outside light and you are more
l i k e l y to get a better match for pro t o t y p e
colors under those lights. Incandescent or
halogen lights all produce a warm enough
light to be similar to natural lighting.
Modelers pride themselves on their
excellent close vision. M aybe your eyes are
powerful but, too often, i t ’s a case of ego
interfering with re a l i t y. It is impossible to get
really parallel lines or correctly aligned parts
or even correctly aligned decals if your close-
up vision is poor. A free-standing magnifying
g l a s s , a headband with magnifying lenses or
just a really good pair of magnifying glasses
a re helpful modeling tools. Some modelers
take close-up photos of their work to help
them catch any flaws in the models. T h a t ’s a
bit cumbersome when you can see the flaw s
just as clearly with the help of some on-the-
spot magnification as you are building and
finishing the model.
T
HE
C
OMMITMENT
,
Y
OU AND
Y
OUR
K
IT
If you want to get the most from each
model you finish, you will want to find a kit
that suits your skills and your willingness
to get involved with the model and the
re s e a rch process: in very loose terms, a
c o m m i t m e n t . Find a kit that’s a match and
you’ll have pleasure and delight. Find a kit
t h a t ’s not a match and yo u ’re doomed to, a t
b e s t ,f r u s t ration and, at wo r s t , pitching the
model into the tra s h .
Plastic model kits have evolved to the
point where they are available in a wide
range of complexity to challenge all skill lev e l s .
Some of the very simple kits are marked
as beginner kits. I t ’s the other kits that can
prove frustrating.Generally speaking,the
l a rger the model, the more complex and the
g reater the number of pieces. Some of the
1/72-scale aircraft,however , have as many
pieces and details as the larg e r-scale models
a n d ,p e r h a p s , photo-etched parts (explained
later) as well. Some of the resin kits re q u i re
e x t ra skill. The assembly of the va c u u m -
formed kits (made from sheets of flat plastic
formed over molds by vacuum) re q u i re new
s k i l l s . Do not, t h e n , assume that just because
the kit is plastic it will be easy to build.
D evelop your modeling skills in obtaining a
perfect fit and finish with simple kits, t h e n
p ro g ress to the more complex kits once yo u
h ave mastered the advanced skills of making
that simple kit into a realistic re p l i c a .
The finish you want on the model can
also make it more complex a project than
you might imagine. It takes some real experi-
ence,for example,to learn how to apply a
realistic bare aluminum finish. If this is yo u r
first model to be finished in bare aluminum,
yo u ’d be happier with a 1/72-scale P-51 than
a 1/48-scale 747. S i m i l a r l y, some of the more
complex camouflage paint schemes are best
avoided until you have first mastered the art
of airbrushing on a model with just a simple
t wo-color solid paint scheme. If you decide
you want a well-weathere d a i rc raft or armor
m o d e l , learn that art on one of the simpler
kits before tackling it with a complex 1/48-
scale bomber or a 1/35-scale A r m o re d
Personnel Carrier.
R
ECREATING
H
ISTORY
You can buy a model to duplicate just
about any airc raft or armored fighting vehicle
f rom any period. If the kit is not available now,
it likely has been made and can be located
at swap meets or through classified ads in
the modeling magazines. If you don’t find it
t h e re , you may find a conversion kit to cre a t e
i t , by modifying some existing kit. If you still
c a n ’t find it, be patient, t h e re ’s a good chance
some manufacturer is tooling up to pro d u c e
it in the near future . Go on to
something else while you wa i t .
When you know that there ’s a kit ava i l a b l e
for just about any pro t o t y p e , you can take
a slightly different approach to the hobby.
Rather than starting with the kit, start with
re s e a rch on the real thing. Most of us hav e
specific airc raft or armor that we’ve alway s
wanted to model. The pro l i f e ration of kits is
only exceeded, p e r h a p s , by the pro l i f e ra t i o n
of books. Public libraries often have major
sections on airc raft and armor. The libra r i e s ’
book selections, h o w ev e r, tend to be ra t h e r
b road with books that show a lot of photos
about a lot of airplanes. What you may pre f e r
a re some of the smaller books and booklets
that deal with specific airc raft or armor and
the close variations,with aircraft or armor
f rom smaller countries, or from very specific
time periods in limited theaters of opera t i o n s .
The best source for those books is yo u r
h o b by shop. T h e re are probably a hundre d
publishers of books on airc raft and armor.
M a ny of the publishers are based in A m e r i c a
or England, but some of the more intere s t i n g
 titles come from other countries in Euro p e
and from Ja p a n .You do not, n e c e s s a r i l y,
need text in English since the identification
designations are a universal language once
you know something about the prototype
a i rc raft or armor. L a rger hobby shops should
be able to get catalogs from publishers
that include A e ro Publishers, A e ro f a x ,A i r
R e s e a rc h ,A i rc raft Photo Pa c k s , Ian A l a n ,
A rc o ,A rg u s ,A r i e s , Av e ry, Aviation Heritage,
Aviation International, James Bender, B e r l i n ,
C h a l l e n g e , Bill Dean, J. J. F e d o ro w i c z ,F l y i n g
Machine Pre s s ,G h o s t s ,G i n t e r, Grubb Stre e t ,
H i p p o c re n e , Historic Av i a t i o n ,H o w e l l ,
Ja n e ’s ,K a l m b a c h , Merriam Pre s s ,M o n o g ra m
Av i a t i o n , Motorbooks International, O s p rey,
Pacific A e ro ,P residio Pre s s ,P h a l a n x ,P re n t i c e
H a l l , Putnam A e ronautical Books, R Z M
I m p o r t s ,S h i f f e r, Specialty Pre s s ,S q u a d ro n -
Signal Publications, Sterling Publishing, TA B
B o o k s ,Valor Publishing, Wi n d row and Gre e n ,
Uni Pub Books, and others. H o b by shops
usually have buye r ’s guides for the hobby
i n d u s t ry that list the names and addre s s e s
of publishers or you can ask a book store to
look them up in
Books In Print
.
1-4 Italeri’s M4A3 Sherman tank with Calliope
rocket launching battery is featured in most books
dedicated to Sherman tank variations.
H
OW TO
T
ELL
I
F
Y
OU
’
RE AN
E
XPERIENCED
M
ODELER
The one skill that separates an experienced
modeler from a newcomer to the hobby is
that the experienced builder nev e r, ev e r,
starts a model without at least one published
p h o t o g raph of the prototype he or she is
going to re c reate on the wo r k b e n c h .You can
d evelop your modeling skills by duplicating
the box art, but there ’s an ever greater satis-
faction in finding a variation on the box art
m o d e l , even if it’s just an I.D. n u m b e r.
The drawback to working from the box
art is that you are re m oving yourself fro m
the prototype by one giant step: you are not
modeling the real thing, you are modeling an
a r t i s t ’s or modeler’s interpretation of the re a l
t h i n g . That same statement is true if yo u
1-5 The Accurate Miniatures A-36 Apache was a
variation on the P-51 Mustang.
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