Hi Guys

My August Squadron flyer came in the mail today. This is normally a sign that its going to be a pretty good day. As I was thumbing through the flyer I started to notice that more and more stuff is listed as "Ready to Display" or "Fully assembled and painted ready to display" . My question is whats the point. Are we model builders or are we replica collectors ? Maybe its just me, but the challenge and satisfaction of the hobby was in taking pieces, sometimes from a number of sources, and creating a piece of art, or history or even just a piece of ourselves.
Whats the point of buying something already done. Y ou may as well pick up a die-cast toy from Wal-mart.
Harry

Harry - my take is that although there may be a degree of "crossover" with some folk, the ready-built stuff is largely aimed at a different market.

In other words you've got your modellers AND you've got your replica collectors.

Although (with a few exceptions) your average ready-made & finished piece of hardware (tank, plane or whatever) is going to be inferior and less realistic alongside a nicely built & painted model, I think we have to try and avoid snobbishness (for want of a better word) here and remember that not everyone has the time, space or desire to build their own.

And so for them, ready-built suits their needs just fine. Horses for courses, and all that.

- Steve

I think it does just boil down to marketing. These items have existed since I was a kit (quite some time), but they were never marketed to modelers. I think these companies have seen that there are sub-markets or niches of people who do 'collect' as well as build. If I look hard at myself I could almost fit when it comes to the Avenger. Don't know why I need a TBM in 1/72, 1/48, and 1/32..... If one 'ready made' item is well done I probably could see myself buying it. I haven't yet because I agree with Steve, they are lower in quality and I still see myself as a builder 1st.

I think it's just marketing and Squadron knows the subject matter so it's a natural extention of product lines.

I have to admit to owning a small collection of the 1/72 Dragon Armour vehicles, mainly because I like the paint scheme or it belonged to a particular unit that at some point I intend to build a 1/35 version of, I agree that they are not as well detailed but they can provide inspiration.

I believe there are definitely two different markets these days. There are builders and collectors. Some peoples lives are so busy that they don't have time to build but they still have an interest in collecting the subject matter.

The convenience of the ready built/painted kits enables them to still enjoy the items and "collect" them without the time investment that goes along with building them.

Well, I build 1/35th British tanks and artillery but if I saw a "built" item that Iisn't in kit form then I would buy it.

I "build" and "buy" for my "collection". I'm not really bothered how I get it.

I think there are LOTS of people who want to collect/display tanks that do not have the time and/or talent to build them, and also don't have the money to afford $500 commission pieces.
A big danger here (from a show standpoint) is that the Dragon pieces are so good. They are washed and drybrushed. We had a guy enter a dio populated with pre-mades that he tried to pass off as his own builds. It took more than one look to make sure they were not kits.

Hi guys

Ok, I take back my Lazy comment, and beg forgivness.
Mathew, indefense to that guy who entered some prebuilt figures in a contest. There was a diorama "how to" in FSM some time back where the author used prebuilt figures "as a way to save time" I forget the exact issue off hand but the author made it sound like there was nothing wrong with useing these prebuilt figures in a otherwise self built dio.
For all those who showed me the error of my earlier comments , I can see why the prebuilt stuff is out there, and am sorry if I came across as snobbish or if I insulted anyone. Anyone who knows me would tell you that would never be my intent on any topic.
Harry

I don't think anybody saw you as being snobbish. Folks just letting you know their point of view. I personally prefer to build my models, but I am an absolute Ferrari and MR2 nut, so I pick up diecasts of any of them I don't have. I build the model kits, and in the case of Ferrari I get the Lego kits too. I know it isn't armor, but it counts (I think).

Speaking of Ferrari, my girlfriend picked up the Hot Wheels 2 car pack of the '62 250 GTO and '03 Enzo for my birthday. She loves me!!! Although I think she only did it in response to my joking about her getting me a Ferrari every gift giving occasion for the past 3 years. Who cares, more Ferraris in my collection.

Harry,

I didn't take your initial post as snobbish at all. I totally understood where you were coming from. No harm, no foul.

Yeah Harry, you asked a totally legitimate question that got some perfectly reasonable answers. You didn't offend anybody! Just one of those things that made you go "Hmmm...", so you brought it up and it turned into a nice and interesting thread. It's cool. (as an aside, I look at the Battle Barbies and think, "who the hell buys these things, and why?", but they're just not my thing. No offense to anybody that it IS thier thing.)
About the pre-builts on the dio: they were not just figures, but vehicles too. It's a scary thing when some unscrupulous fink can buy a pre-built, glue it to a base, and enter it in a contest, where even some experienced judges have to get a consult to determine if it came out of a box finished.

Harry:

You hit the nail on the head. There are folks out there who want the neat model tanks, planes and ships to put on their desk / mantlepiece but don't have the time or skills to do it or do it right. Take a look on ebay...there are always mediocre built models for sale and bidding gets right up there. Squadron is just tapping into this large market. I met with a guy today who wanted me to build a ship for him. Then he saw some dioramas and wanted to know if they wre for sale. I didn't feel I could do justice to this ship as it was a resin civil war and had rigging and a lot of other stuff I really didn't want to get involved with. What I did do was encourage him to get back into the hobby...and that had a positivie effect.

Sometimes I just wanna buy one of these kits, and weather them (They are surprisingly good. Even in Walmart you can see those big-scale AFVs and airplanes that are very accurate. Who knows? Maybe I'll try it once...)