Have a question regarding scratchbuilding:

1. How do you convert a (example) 1:1 sherman into 1:35 measurements?

2. Whats your inspiration for wanting to do a scratch build?

hi !

1) To get the measurements of 1:1 sherman in 1 : 35, you have to divide the 1:1 measurements with 35.

2)I scratchbuild things because it's more fun and you can build whatever you want.

Hope this helps

There's no better answer to 1) than the one above. To make it easier, go visit your local Sherman and measure every part. Take pictures of it. Tons of pictures. Make sure you picture every detail. Then try to find plans of a Sherman (or any other vehicle) so you can be sure that your measures are right.
Answer to 2) : scratchbuilding often begins when you decide to add an antenna to the vehicle you just built from a box kit. Then you want to give that jeep a flat tire, so you start fidgetting till you find the most convincing way to make it look like a real flat tire.
Next stage is when you want to build something that's not available as a box kit. So you buy the model or version that most looks like what you wanted to build, and you try to convert it. When that works well, you may decide to build a kit from scratch, because it's not available as a boxed kit on the market. So you make that one unique copy. From scratch.
But you're a REAL scratchbuilder when you decide to build kits from scratch, even when there's a plastic box kit available on the market. Just because you KNOW that yours will be a better scale model than the one you bought in the shop. THe fact that it takes you a year to build it, only adds to the fun. Scratchbuilding is creating something from nothing. What other hobby gives you that almost Godly pleasure ???

to get 1:1 measurements down to 1/35 scale .343 inch = 1 scale foot and 28.57mm = 1 scale metre.

my inspiration comes from the fact that the models I build are not availiable OOB!

1.The easiest way I found to get 1/35 scale is to buy the 1/35 scale rule by C.T.T. Inc. Check with your local Hobby Store and see if they have them. I couldn't get by without mine. It only cost about $2.00.

2. I like to build subjects that the model companies haven't made a kit of. Most of the time it is out of necessity. Also to make improvements of existing models you have to sometimes make the parts. Besides it is just plain fun!!

I use scratchbuilding ( or mostly heavy conversions) because there were so many variations on most vehicles that kit manufacturers can't cover them all. I reckon that I could build a CMP truck every month for the rest of my life and not cover them all!

The conversion part was answered already so I'll forego that. As to scratching while building...I scratch my head all the time!! "Now why did I do that?" "Is that what that is?" Seriously though, Scratchbuilding actually relieves a lot of the daily stress from work, bills, etc. I find it a great way to unwind at the end of the day....AND if there is something that isnt offered in kit form, I know I can build my own if I want to. "Q"

Due to the fact that I model aLOT of 1/160 N-Scale Armor, I pretty much have to scratchbuild everything I want on the layout. Frustrating and fulfilling at the same time.
:-)

You're absolutely right ! Scratchbuilding diorama stuff is very rewarding. It's an excellent way to practice your scracthbuiling skills.
Scratchbuilding vehicles is much more demanding. An 1:35 scale Land Rover must be a 1:35 Land Rover. Nothing more, nothing less. No room for experiment or "wouldn't it look nicer if I..." ideas.
Scratchbuilding a tree, road, bridge or even a building isn't that demanding. The only criteria would be : "does it look real" and "does it look good".

Question #1 has good answer(s) - can't really add anything to that...

Question #2 is kinda simple for me. The ultimate inspiration for wanting to scratchbuild something is because it's "model building". We're all model builders who practice and sharpen skills through kit assembly. Eventually all model builders extend that talent to try and make their own parts and subassemblies - the birth of scratchbuilding. Defining scratchbuilding is really just talking about how far a model builder decides to go in model building. Newer modelers don't even realize that they're going down that path until they stop and think about what they're trying to do in model building.

The ultimate step comes when you decide to go all out in model building and fashion something entirely from scratch, or make a major conversion effort (called kitbashing) by using a bunch of pre-made parts from other dissimiliar kits and materials.

The ultimate goal is to create something that equals or exceeds the quality of a mass-produced "kit" in the end.

The ultimate satisfaction comes when the observer(s) cannot tell whether or not your product was mass-produced at all. Or in the case of kitbashing - where the mass-produced part begins and the scratchbuilding ends. Like Jan said, a 1:35th scale scratchbuilt Land Rover should be a 1:35th scale Land Rover in the end.

Every technique you'll learn in basic model construction, painting, weathering, and finishing comes into play for scratchbuilding. A lot of modelers find inspiration to do it because it is the ultimate test of what you have learned and how you apply it. When you successfully pull off a scratchbuild model, there is no one to "blame" but yourself when your wheels aren't aligned properly, the doors hang unrealistically off their hinges, the plastic or resin is gouged and nicked when the sheet metal on the real prototype was smooth and unblemished, the paint finish uneven and unrealistic in scale, orange-peeled or too grainy for scale, or your decals and finishing is not prototypical for the subject you modeled. I could go on and on, but I think you get it. When it's all you in the miniature you create - there is a degree of excitement that is totally different from simply putting a kit together. It's thrilling in a way...

I love looking at a scratchbuilt model because it speaks of the modeler who built it. It's very personal, a deep personal expression. Some are great. Some are not so great - but show a lot of promise, determination, courage, and dedication. I can "see" the fun and the joy in the most successful works - and I kinda live through what the modeler has shared in the miniature. For me after all these years, that is the true joy of judging a model built for competition - that one chance, one day, that you might get to see a fantastic piece of work and experience a little bit of the "joy" that modeler had in fashioning it.

That's my inspiration...

Gunnie