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Modeling in General
General discussions about modeling topics.
Does armor modeling lend itself to...
AKADave
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Alaska, United States
Member Since: October 20, 2005
entire network: 52 Posts
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Posted: Wednesday, December 30, 2009 - 07:16 PM UTC
aircraft modeling? I have always wanted to do the Trumpeter 1/32 SBD Dauntless...but I have always thought that planes took a bit more precision and patience than armor...which is my first love...dont want to start the flames...lol!
35th-scale
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Kildare, Ireland
Member Since: November 21, 2007
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Posted: Wednesday, December 30, 2009 - 10:23 PM UTC

Quoted Text

aircraft modeling? I have always wanted to do the Trumpeter 1/32 SBD Dauntless...but I have always thought that planes took a bit more precision and patience than armor...which is my first love...dont want to start the flames...lol!



Go for it....the skills used are the same. I do modern armor, jets & helos, some WW11 boats and even sci-fi. It's still just plastic, glue and paint. Remember though, on planes the dirt streaks tend to be horizontal while they're vertical on armor ;-)

Good Luck,
Sean
Damraska
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California, United States
Member Since: October 06, 2006
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Posted: Wednesday, December 30, 2009 - 11:00 PM UTC
Modeling skills translate regardless of the subject. However, each class of model stresses a particular set of skills, so if you stick to armor, unnecessary skills will atrophy or never develop. When building planes, skills like filling seams, scribing panel lines, and painting bare metal come in very handy. How often does an armor modeler do those things? On the other hand, how often does a plane modeler need to replicate realistic mud, rust, damaged metal, dirty paint, realistic tracks, and so on. Planes generally require a bit more planning because of the interior and ordnance. In my experience, armor models take longer at the tail end because of all the weathering.

Which requires more precision and patience? Depends on what you are building and how. An 800 piece set of individual track links requires a heck of a lot of patience. But then, so does filling seams and scribing a big bomb load An armor modeler can sometimes hide sloppy work with "weathering". Of course, how many planes have closed canopies for the same reason? A clean build requires great precision regardless of the subject.

If you want to build planes, get in there and build planes! Mastering a different set of skills will make you a better modeler.

-Doug
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