I have newfound respect for you scratchbuilders

TheIrishAvenger · Post by **TheIrishAvenger** » Mon Dec 21, 2009 12:06 pm

I tell you what, if you got skills, you got 'em, cuz I sure don't. I have been just struggling with a scratchbuild project I took on as part of a diorama I'm building. It's a classic flying saucer style UFO, and I wanted to light it. So I fabbed up some styrene lightboxes, had some acrylic domed disks made (couldn't find a suitable cheap alternative), and went to town. I didn't realize how in-depth my engineering would have to be. And sourcing materials to suit a particular task in the project--yeesh! And I gotta have it done by Feb. 20 for Commiesfest. Presssure's on! And I need a beer. But I gotta tell ya, I don't know how you guys do it. Makes building kits look easy!

Chris

Dr. Yo · Post by **Dr. Yo** » Mon Dec 21, 2009 1:50 pm

Building kits is easy! Finishing them, thats work!

Building a disc-form is a tough place to start, though-good luck,
and remember your comrades are here for you.

Johnnycrash · Post by **Johnnycrash** » Mon Dec 21, 2009 2:18 pm

Finish a kit?? I don't know WHAT you are talking about Dr. Yo. Sometimes you are so funny!!

The key is practice. And then more practice. And then... You get the idea. You WILL make a lot of mistakes. But as long as you learn (something) from them, it's all good. Call it, research, yeah, that's it!!

I have bins full of scrap plastic, much of it the remnants of failed ideas and projects. But, you figure out where you went wrong, devise a solution, and try again. Repeat as needed. I also have bins full of kits that have met similar fates.

Buy yourself some of those cheap, clearance kits, subject doesn't matter. And then just TRY something. Turn that tank into a station wagon version. The plane into a truck. Sure, it might be a horrible build, but dangit, if you don't learn something. Even if it's what NOT to do.

As for the engineering... Yeah, that get's the best of us at times. I don't know how many times I've had to add a little strip of 0.020" here or there. I measured wrong, I cut wrong, I designed wrong...

Now you know why many of us buy more than one of everything. One is the experiment to see if we can do it. The second one is to try and do it right. The third is to do it right, and better. The fourth is to do it right, better, and maybe light it. The fifth...

Kylwell · Post by **Kylwell** » Mon Dec 21, 2009 2:31 pm

Practice makes perfect and Aves fixes a world of poor practice.

ashrond · Post by **ashrond** » Mon Dec 21, 2009 3:08 pm

I try to look at scratch building as less of an art, and more of an amalgamation of frustration induced panic attacks (creative bursts).

You do learn to start looking at things differently though, for instance the other night I looked at a button on an old remote control and it just screamed “deflector dish!” which is lucky because I had been looking for one for a while.

tetsujin · Post by **tetsujin** » Mon Dec 21, 2009 3:09 pm

Kylwell wrote:Practice makes perfect and Aves fixes a world of poor practice.

I must be doing something wrong. In my experience, if I don't get something right the first time, Aves is a terrible way to correct it... If I apply Aves to something, let it cure, and sand it, the Aves has a way of coming off in chunks anyplace the stuff was applied thin... I think poly putty is still king at my place.

Kylwell · Post by **Kylwell** » Mon Dec 21, 2009 3:11 pm

tetsujin wrote:
Kylwell wrote:Practice makes perfect and Aves fixes a world of poor practice.
I must be doing something wrong. In my experience, if I don't get something right the first time, Aves is a terrible way to correct it... If I apply Aves to something, let it cure, and sand it, the Aves has a way of coming off in chunks anyplace the stuff was applied thin... I think poly putty is still king at my place.

You may need to mix it more thoroughly or you got some contamination @ the adhesion site. Mashed & smoothed into place I've been able to feather it in and even scribe from styrene to Aves w/o an issue.

modelnutz · Post by **modelnutz** » Mon Dec 21, 2009 7:33 pm

I just call the mistakes "design features"

Sluis Van Shipyards · Post by **Sluis Van Shipyards** » Mon Dec 21, 2009 8:09 pm

modelnutz wrote:I just call the mistakes "design features"

Or "battle damage".

Treadhead · Post by **Treadhead** » Wed Dec 23, 2009 3:03 pm

Can you post pics of what you have? I'd like to see.

Mr. Badwrench · Post by **Mr. Badwrench** » Sun Dec 27, 2009 6:27 am

I'm looking forward to seeing this at CoMMiESFest. You've still got a couple months!

Treadhead · Post by **Treadhead** » Fri Feb 05, 2010 1:29 pm

Nobody starts off scratchbuilding feeling great. Trust me, I know. But the thing to remember is that with every project, you learn something new. It's a process.

Another thing to remember is that you don't give up just because you run into difficulty. Difficulty is an important part of the learning process.

If I can do it, it is a sure bet that just about anyone can do it. And one last thing. There is no such thing as perfect -- only better than before.

ajmadison · Post by **ajmadison** » Mon Feb 08, 2010 12:04 pm

Treadhead wrote:Nobody starts off scratchbuilding feeling great. Trust me, I know. But the thing to remember is that with every project, you learn something new. It's a process.

Another thing to remember is that you don't give up just because you run into difficulty. Difficulty is an important part of the learning process.

If I can do it, it is a sure bet that just about anyone can do it. And one last thing. There is no such thing as perfect -- only better than before.

I routinely run into difficulty. And my problem is not knowing when to choose the short cut and continue with building. For me, the hardest part is knowing when to give up on actually recreating a particular detail and either skipping it, or choosing not to superdetail the assembly.

The two hardest problems I've had to solve could easily have been solved with huge chunks of money, namely a tabletop laser CNC machine, which are on the verge of being affordable to the pro-sumer hobbiest. OTOH, I know how to make my own custom punch & die, and that some complicated sub-assembly may have to be prototyped in balsa wood, before you try and cut styrene to fit.

My greatest respect goes out to those modelers who know when to give up on detail that either should be left to commercial manufacturing or implemented in a simpler, time & cost effective manner.

Mark Yungblut · Post by **Mark Yungblut** » Fri Feb 12, 2010 2:01 pm

Kylwell wrote:Practice makes perfect and Aves fixes a world of poor practice.

Amen brother Kywell!

Look at it this way folks you gotta start somewhere! remember many of the "accomplished" builders you see here have been building for years...

When you dive into scratch building for the first time remember the K.I.S.S. principle...

Mark

Butters · Post by **Butters** » Fri Feb 12, 2010 10:27 pm

Mark Yungblut wrote: When you dive into scratch building for the first time remember the K.I.S.S. principle...

Mark

Keep It Stupid, Simple.

No....wait.

AbsoluteSciFi · Post by **AbsoluteSciFi** » Wed Mar 17, 2010 7:36 pm

I got started on scratchbuilding because of the special effects in Star Wars, seeing all the wonderful models growing up, wanting to make my own... finally getting to- HA! Most of my stuff has been less than epic in its quality, but the journey is what counts!

Scratchbuilding is something that I respect above all other forms of modeling for one simple reason: scratch builders pull from several skill sets when they model. There is the craft of putting together things, there is the creative aspect- conception, and then the process of gathering and building whatever it is; dimensionally working it out.

No matter what your building- if you make it from scratch, its harder to do.