Confession Of A Perfectionist Modeller

[John Howling Mouse]

Well, I went to the LHS and bought the Airfix 70th Anniversary Spitfire Collection kit with five variants of the old gal in 1:72.  I know they're no "Tamigawa" kits for quality but I figure at least one of them should provide a "fun" build without need for filler, etc.

Believe the first airplane model I ever built was a 1:72 Spitfire so the circle is coming fully complete.

While I putty/sand/repeat several of my more "serious" projects, I'll be building at least one Spitfire (wheels up) that I can (and will) fly around the house in a day or two.

Thanks, guys!

[Radish]

On Sunday I was "flying" my P-38J diecast around and when I put my proper models away, they always "fly"....WITH NOISES, of course, into their box.  

[Martin H]

On Sunday I was "flying" my P-38J diecast around and when I put my proper models away, they always "fly"....WITH NOISES, of course, into their box.

as i saw for myself yesterday.....

[AirJim]

I've been fighting this as well.  (For years honestly.)  The problem is my best still isn't that great, but I expect everything I build to be a perfect model.  I see all these beautiful models, and then I see the crap I build and then everything goes down the drain, I get depressed with my work, and I finish nothing.

So I decided last week to abandon all hope and just freaking build something.  So I found an old Frog Hunter on the shelf.  Built it in a few days.  Sanded the seams but used no filler other than to fill some sink marks on the sabrinas.  Last night I hit the under surfaces with a Tamiya silver spray can.  Today I BRUSH PAINTED the top Dark Sea Grey.  Hopefully I can add a second coat today and then BRUSH PAINT the Dark Green, decal it and it be done.  This project was to see if I could build a kit in a week.  I think it will take a little more than a week, but it will be only the second kit I've finished this year.  It will look like crap, but it will be done.

All was going well, till I decided to mask off the demarcation line.  Some paint creeped under the maskin.  In the spirit of the project I should just ignore it...but it is killing me right now...

Jim

[A6MJon]

Airjim & all,

God bless all who can do these stress free, carefree, bang-em-out builds. I think it's great how you guys do this. I for one can't do it! For me a fun "low maintenance" build is taking a simpler kit like an Airfix or Matchbox and just do it out of the box. I may brush paint the interior but I'll lay down and airbrush a nice finish on the outside and leave no seams showing. If there's a small little blemish on the bottom or slight evidence of a seam then I can live with that but certainly nothing glaring on top. Maybe I'll use some aftermarket decals or ones from the spares box if the kit ones are shot but that's about as far as I go for modifications on an older inaccurate kit. I have no problems or could care less if my Matchbox Zero isn't very accurate but to me that's the fun part, building up these old ghosts that alot of the so called "experten" would not touch with a ten foot pole. Hope I don't sound anal but that's how I do em' and am not a perfectionist either.

A6MJon

[datguy]

This problem - the combination of OCD, AMS, and psychic paralysis - is exactly what I use what-if modeling for.  It's a break from my "perfection list."  I find that some simple whiffing "unsticks" me, and allows me to put due diligence into the kits that I want to be as perfect as my skills and standards will allow.    I think I am comfortable with the whole what-if thing because of a parallel interest in model railroading, which has a solid tradition of open acceptance of what-if approaches. Probably half the cover shots on 'Model Railroader' represent imaginary railroads.

Now, Baz, since your perfection list and your whif list overlap, I can see a problem.  

I think the Airfix Spit is a great idea.   It was the Frog P-47 Razorback that broke me from a long phase of near paralysis, when I unknowingly chose it as the subject for a local group build.  It had nothing: no wheel wells, no interior at all - not even a pilot with a proctology peg; but, I committed to build it for the group display.  Then I had a blast with it; it was as close to being a kid again as I can remember.  Because it couldn't be perfect, it didn't have to be perfect, and I was having fun. Imagine that, FUN building a model.  I've been a more productive and happier modeler since that kit.  

So, as to what to do about your paralysis?  I'd recommend following one of the standard member descriptions:  Paint the kit differently.  No mods, just filler as needed and a good paint job of something way different.  Put a Spitfire in postwar Uruguayan colors or those of Royal Norwegian Navy Air Service in 1940 with a splinter pattern of white distemper over extra dark sea grey and dark slate grey.   Most people won't know, and you can probably talk most of those who DO know into thinking that they didn't know about the brief and obscure history of the Spit in Uruguay or the desperate defense of the naval base at Horten in 1940.


Good luck and have fun,
- DG  

[John Howling Mouse]

Pilot, gunsight and quasi-interior have been painted/assembled and the fuselage is all closed up.

The entire airframe, in fact, is assembled and just waiting to dry.

It turned out to be a warp-free, nicely fitting for the most part.  The wing-to-fuselage joint on one side needs a sliver of styrene strip to stop its gap from wiggling.  Because there are five subjects in the box, I was a little confused over which instructions pertained to my chosen version.  It would appear they've mixed and matched an old-mold, raised panel line fuselage that needs to be modified for the Mark V variant (?) with a newer mold wing set that looks Italeri-esque and has nicely engraved details.  I used the old style wingset so it would all blend together nicely.  Airfix/Spitfire experts will be better able to explain Airfix's intent.

I'm really looking forward to hand-painting it.  I've always appreciated RAF's various, traditional WWII paint schemes so I'll likely do a grey-green top over RAF "sky" undersides.

But, to be a What If, the final decals might be of the leafy roundel variety...

I do believe the next time you boys decide to have a one-week-build, I might actually be able to pull it off!!!

[Brian da Basher]

It made me smile to hear you've found a cure ofr your builder's block, Mr Howling Mouse. This was the first piece of good news I've heard all day. Huzzah!

Brian da Basher

[Tophe]

Be careful, Barry.
My experience of the 1990s was: nothing was perfect enough, ever, and after years not finishing a model, I was disliking modelism, it was not pleasant anymore, not good enough... I stopped.  Don't go that far, dear, we need you, we love your models...
Then going out of the hospital I went to a new appartment and most of the built kits were broken, thrown away. The unfinished ones as well. My new hobby was computer drawing. But I met the what-if modellers' community, giving me new ideas for drawings, and I did not care at all about the perfection of details. What-ifism is pleasant by itself, and the amount of perfection (according to the old criterions of the leading Realist modellers) was not required at all to appreciate.
When Nev and others pushed me into trying modellism again, I tried, and the key for me has been to always focus on the optimum ratio pain/pleasure: if something is rather bad, requiring about 20 hours of work, I wonder "is it worth such a hard work, is it that bad?". Often, my answer is: "it is acceptable, I am free from the old Realist perfection trap".
For Realist modellers, it would be harder than for us: they try that their model look like Real, so everything that does not is a fault, needing cure. We are simply different, we are inventing, in a mix artist/childish way - if at the same time it looks like Real (like Real fantasy film), it may be an additional satisfaction, but this one is not mandatory I think.
Each one of us has to find a balance, having different standards. But stopping modelism as too boring is the highest danger of all, far above un-perfection. No?
Barry, you may have built your F-16T in 10 times less hours still receiving cheers and providing (most of) us with much happiness. Maybe try this rule: allways wonder "is it worth 'improving' again?"