plastic and resin models

[bigdaddy]

Since I cannot build amps nor guitars anymore I desperately needed a hobby. At one time playing music and dating were my hobbies since I was not married. Nothing better then playing live music and having a woman sitting at a table waiting for you to finish a set or meeting someone at a gig.

But since I can do neither........for my sanity I needed something, there is nothing on cable TV of interest and it seems the sports I like are going on strike. I always built plastic models as a kid and did a little bit once in a while as an adult when my back was bad to keep busy and do something, anything. Recently I have seen what some builders have done with the models. Taken it to a new level with realism, making realistic dioramas too. I was in the Army and drove armored vehicles so I know what they are all about. I picked Vietnam era armor. I grew up during the Vietnam war and it's very much etched into my memory. Plus my stint in the army was right after the war and we used most of the same equipment.

So I am into building Vietnam era armored vehicles and figures. The skill is very difficult to master. Painting faces on 1:35 scale figures takes a lot of talent, it's something I have yet to master. The other aspects are a matter of trial and error and require a lot of technique and knowledge about not only the subject you are modeling but how to use different glues, how to glue different materials together like plastic, metals and resin and how to paint it. Then it's about making the subject look as real as possible. No little mistakes are allowed here, everything must be close to perfect, it's called museum quality work. Before there was CGI you saw on every Sci-Fi and many other movies and programs models made to look real, model cities or space ships. Some looked amazingly real. I'm getting there but I have a long way to go. Taking a $20 plastic model and making it into a replica that is almost accurately close to being real in 1:35 scale is a true art form.

[Ritchie200]

Hey BD,

A few years ago (hmmm that was about 25 years ago!), the RC Scale Model World Championship was held in St. Louis at an old abandoned airport.  People from every continent were there - I lost track of the countries.  These models HAD to fly as well as be historically correct and visually accurate.  I think the largest wingspan was about 5 feet and you could count the (fake) rivets on these planes.  You could see the sheet metal joints.  Ripples at the wing roots.  Tiny, tiny hinges for the rudder, ailerons, and flaps.  Landing gear was all custom made linkage.  The little pilots were like photographs, they looked so real.  I had my medium format camera and laid down on the runway (to get the right perspective) to take some photos of the planes on the flight line.  I blew up the pics and the pilots I showed them to could not believe they were models.  Incredible workmanship!  I think you have to be part artist, part machinist, and have the patience of Job!  

I was a big fan of Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea when I was a kid.  Of course I bought the episodes on DVD when they came out.  There was some extra footage of divers pushing and pulling the sub model around in the big "sea" tank.  And I used to think that was REAL!  Those model makers are incredibly talented.

That doesn't sound like a hobby, that sounds like WORK!  Make sure you post your art!

Jim

[bigdaddy]

I took some pix but my camera stinks. I have to now learn how to take pictures too!!!!!!! OMG what did I get myself into.

It's really not much different then building an amp. Attention to detail is the key. Sloppy work brings poor results. Much of it is trial and error, mostly error, sound familar...LOL.

Yes painting a face on a 1/35 scale figure is art. Most modelers do not work with figures only the nut jobs like me....ha ha. They ignore the figures and concentrate on the model. To me that's a bit bogus because having been in the military I cannot think about armored vehicles without the guys who manned them, like myself. But for certain types of display no figures should be present really, I'm more into diorama's with figures and vegetation, everything.

I found now that my left hand shakes so I have to use something to hold the figure and hold my right arm with my left hand and use a magnifier.......yes what have I done, going from the frying pan into the fire. But the whole thing is that I don't have to move around speaker cabinets and heads and transformers that weight a lot for me now. I used to bench press 350 pounds now I have trouble with a power transformer...oh well.