While waiting for stuff to dry, I had one of those pointless yet interesting questions, and I was wondering what you guys thought about this. Who exactly coined the term “museum quality” -- what exactly does it mean? I ask this, because occasionally I have seen people claim that their model is museum quality. And quite frankly, I have seen models in museums range from absolutely phenomenal to really terrible. Anyway, I guess what I am getting at, is this – does labeling something as “museum quality” really have any merit? Or is it just another meaningless term people use? Like I said one of “those” questions…….

I don't think labeling something Museum quality gives the object any merit. I have a lot of my models on display at a Museum. It does not make the quality any better or worse because it is on display. The quality is in the end product. Besides items in a museum are not there because they are perfect. They are there to show an example of the item in whatever condition it may be in. The individuals that label their models "Museum" quality are just trying to to get more money for it (example e-bay). Besides "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder". Of course this is only my humble opinion and I hope that I do not offend anyone by making this statement.

I always thought Museum quality was a perfectly built, detailed and painted/weathered ship, A/C or tank etc.

This is a good question for disscussion!

"Museum quality" is like the phrase "Professionally built". Just because you're a "pro" doesn't mean you're great. We've all dealt withthe contractor/plumber/electrician/mechanic who was frighteningly inept.
There are no "museum quality" standards board passing judgement. Even saying someting is an awrd winner doesn't mean much unless you see the competition.

You said it better then I could or did

The term "museums quality" is absolutely meaningless to me too...
Ciao

"Museum Quality", and "Professionally Built" carry about as much weight with me when I see them on EBay as "Built by an IPMS Winner." I have seen real gems and real dogs (no offense dog lovers) labeled all three ways...
Like Fabio so aptly put it, meaningless.

Shaun

Like everybody else has said it's one of those little phrases, like professional, people throw out to get you to spend more money. Remember a prostitute is a "professional", that doesn't mean she's any better than a willing amateur.

The one thing I notice about models that are in museum is they are normally mint condition, like brand new from the factory, and show no weatering at all. I would say that a well made, and well weathered, model is much more realistic than any "museum quality" model I've seen.

I have to say that I agree with the above statements but I use the term "Museum Quality" a s;ightly different way.

To me personally it depicts a model that is well made and as close to the original 1/1 scale vehicle as possible, remembering of course that it is a scale model and not a real vehicle shrunk down to size. For instance the chev conversion I recently finished I would depict as museum Quality.

as I do not sell models or for that matter deal on ebay I cannot comment on other peoples interpretation of what it means other then to say like you I get P***** off to see these people both trades people and professionals giving others in the same work a bad name.

just my 2 cents worth

Museum quality is just at term meaning as accurate as possible,and can be judged by other members in the same field,no more no less,as for the term being throwaway some of the comments on this thread can go in the same bin.
Arthur

So "museum quality" has nothing to do with a respectable museum, lets say the Smithsonian, commissioning a model from a well-known individual or company?

Would Francois Verlinden be considered a museum quality builder?

Does anyone know whether the phrase originated with wooden sailing ship replicas?

I balk at the phrase as well but....

Museum quality to me is having a museum curator (or equivalent) like what you have and wanting to display it in his museum.

I have not yet seen the perfect model, nor will I ever, and I will certainly never build one, but if it is close enough to the real thing and is done nicely enough to be convincing to the curator and to the general public or to those "generally" in the know, ie: non-rivet counter, and it is worthy of display in 'his' museum, then it is of museum quality.

From the Smithsonian all the way down to your local privately owned and funded museum.

I very much congratulate Dave Willet for displaying his Guntrucks in a military museum for all to see. That has got to be one hell of an honor!

Thanks for the kudos Kevin. I do feel that it is an honor. The Curator ask me to display some of my work. I also see it as a privilege as well a an honor to be able to contribute to this Museum. After all it is my own legacy as well as the legacy of many of my Brother Truckers who served. I will do anything to keep the deeds that they have done alive. Our own Gunnie has been a great Teacher and Historian who has received Our respect and loyalty over at our Gun Truck Web Site. It makes a lot of us old truckers proud to see the interest that has been generated in the recent months concerning the Trucks and their Crews of the Vietnam era and now with our young soldiers in harms way in Iraq and other hot spots around the world. I mean all the young soldiers of all the Countries not just the US.

What are the standards for a museum quality model ? For me it makes sense that it means that the model is the most similar as possible with the original.
I think it´s a very subjective term. Who determines that a model is museum quality, the builder ? If so, I think that I have some museum quality models in my shelf.

Howdy dsmith,

First, a very good original question. Several of the members here have made good points. Some professional, some personal. If I may?
To begin, the root of the word "professional", simply means, that you are paid for your services. Hence the "prostitute" reference.
The term, or origin of the phrase "Museum Quality", had more noble roots than is being debated here.
A quick personal example. (I'll try to keep it short) My 'Da',or father, used to build unbelievable dioramas when I was a child. He would build them for the New York Metropolitan Museum to name but one. His start in all of this was thru a military miniatures club based in Manhatten out of a little store named the......'something's Chest' (pardon my synapse's).
Anyway. One of the few things he would do with me(we weren't the closest), was take me to his outings that had to do with his model/figure building (i am grateful for this now). Soooo, I got to see up close and personal, the 'goings on' behind the scene's at the Museum, as well as other locations that had piece's that were supposedly 'Museum Quality'. Bottom line is, 'Museum Quality' used to mean something. The work that went on, and the sheer volume of work that was evident by the 'artist's', was unbelievable. These old gentlemen would have these huge old books, borrowed from some source I had no clue of. Stacked up on their desks, 8, 9 levels high. All open to different pages. Their were paintings sitting on chairs of steamboats on the Mississsippi River, there were pieces of material laid over the backs of bookcases, wood timbers from old telegraph poles complete with blue glass insulaters that the wires used to be wrapped around, there were these almost munchkin sized French Grenadier helmets, and animal skin shields......
Sorry. The point is, is that the phrase "Museum Quality" used to be a 'measuring stick' of research, execution, and resulting product. Paid for by the immeasurable experience inherent in the historians/artisans that used to perform this type of 'magic'.
Just like a lot of modern terms based in the 'old world', the parameters of acceptance have changed. Just like the amazing men who built the Empire State Building, who walked the 11.25" wide steel girders over a thousand feet above the sidewalk's of NewYork, and built it with nary an EOE, or a Union complaint, ahead of schedule and under budget....... Things change.

The phrase "Museum Quality" nowadays, is something to aspire to.

JMHO.

Tread.

There are many and most of them well structed answers to this question. Refferin to Museum quality and also proffesional Build, are accurate or no depending on the situations. I meani yesterday bought the last issue from a Greek modellig magazine. The building articles for a Jagdpather late version A FW190 a civiliat track and so one varied so much in quality and building techniques, but all of them presented in the same magazine, build by pro's and also presented i assume as a protoype for others to see and learn. I ahve also met many stuff in museums that seemed very fake to me , or at last compared to what i can build and have build and of course compared to what many guys in here can do . But they were in a museum show case and probably paid to buil them. I mean that these terms we are discussing are much related to the chances that some people have in life and some times in what titles and declarations you state for your work and how relevant the people that look at it are. I think that many peoples work in Armorama are Museum quality ( so high that could be in a showcase for people to see ) . Any way i d also be honoured having some of my works in a museum showcase but i d give it if first i had many good comments from you guys , elsewhere i d hide it in the basement !!!!!

Dave - deep thanks for what you wrote. It is the highest honor anyone could ever hope to acheive. I model to honor, remember, and in respect of the Vietnam Veterans who crewed those vehicles. One day, I hope that Museum will allow me to display my work along with the other Veterans like you who have created that miniature collection. I am also so humbled that no Vietnam Veteran I've encountered in the last five years of displaying my work on the Internet has ever made me feel like an outsider - they treat me like one of their own.

I wanted to stay away from this thread - and if I ruffle some feathers with what I write - forgive me.

"Museum Quality" used to mean a lot and was an honor at one time. It was a term, an honorific, that craftsmen passed down to their fellow craftsmen. No one ran around calling their work(s) or efforts "Museum Quality". Your peers bestowed that honor upon you in recognition of your skills and acheivements - consistently. In the world of miniatures, this term was applied to those who were masters at the craft of model building. Model building is not "kit assembly" - which is prolific today. These were craftsmen who whittled grand sailing ships and intricate dollhouse miniatures of famous dwellings. They created working locomotives and steam-powered miniatures. They fashioned boats that floated, bridges and trestles that worked, cars that rolled, and incredibly intricate items as simple as "eggs".

These craftsmen were sought out by Museums and Private Collectors to fashion these miniatures on commission. Sometimes for free. Their works are not mass-produced, and the results were noteworthy for their day. "Museum Quality" means so much more than a person's individual notion of what is "great" in scale modeling. These are singular and unique works.

These miniatures are built to different specifications, as requested by the Museum or Private Collector. Some are precision miniatures, static but precise in overall dimensions and external fittings. Some go way beyond the external. Some are markedly less so, and are impressive in size. Fine details might not be the emphasis of this work.

I was asked last year to construct a "Museum Quality" miniature for NBC News Headquarters. This means that they sought me out amongst all the other miniaturists considered on my skill level and experience to create something that does not exist in constant 1:35th scale. They polled my peers and they all recommended me as the miniaturist best able to successfully complete this request. The challenge is that it would be display in concert with another mass-produced 1:35th scale kit that is wonderfully detailed. Mine would have to equal or better this one to balance out the display - and there is no doubt that it will. This model will be displayed in their Headquarters and is one of a kind. This fits the definition of the classical "Museum Quality" miniature.

Anyone can put a model kit together, paint it, and give it to someone else to put on display. That does not make it "Museum Quality". When you are truly producing miniatures someone might label "Museum Quality" - you'll never have to apply that moniker yourself to your own works, or resort to selling them on E-Bay. "IPMS Award Winner" only means as much when compared to the other works considered that day - as was pointed out above. "Pro-Built" is now virtually an insult to skilled miniaturists - as any and everyone claims that simply because somebody layed down a couple of greenbacks for a kit they put together. It means nothing today.

Many people despise David Merriman III for how he comes across in writing about the miniatures he creates - but no one can question his skill and results. He is a model maker - not a kit assembler - and creates singular works that are "Museum Quality". I respect him and am a fan of what he takes on in miniature. When you start taking about "Museum Quality" miniaturists - there aren't a lot of them out there...

My opinions for what they might be worth to you. Instead of thinking you're on a Master's Level, or spending sleepless nights trying to get that elevation from your peer group - I think it is more beneficial and great fun to just model what you like to the best of your abilities.

Gunnie

Way to go Gunnie, bet your digits are sore after typing all that...now, for the next vocabulary word or phrase...


i'll take "long winded" for 100 Matt,

hehe

Really, there's alot of members of this site that fall into the category of "Museum Quality Builders"...we know who you are...nuff said. The trick is whatever your skill level, try to do your best and don't get discouraged when you've finished a build and see something you could have done better. Just remember them and try to incorporate those ideas in your next build.
Keep building...like a shark...if you stop or wait, more ideas come flowing into yer head and before you know it you'll never even begin to figure out what your first step should be because of all the things crowding your thoughts and mental stickynotes you've placed on the inerwalls of your crainium....

man...wow...I probably just need to take a second and a couple deep breaths and grab my knife and glue and get to finishing my Dragon Wagons.

glack out

:-) :-) :-) :-) Thanks for making me smile Gunnie......just another prime example of why you are such a 'Class Act'! :-) :-) :-) :-)

You said what I was essentially saying. Only you said it with 'eloquence'!

You and I could not agree more!

Tread.