Small Scale Military Headquarters

Guys collecting 1/18th fighter planes is ruining my model building passion!

Let me explain.

Ever since I was a young kid building WW 2 fighter planes was a passion of mine right up until recently that is. I would buy and build Mustangs, Corsairs, Hellcats, Spitfires, Avengers, Dauntleses, you name it I would build them. But now my passion is collecting these huge 1/18th fighters and fixing them up to look more accurate and adding little extras to them. Just recently I picked up a 1/32nd Hellcat kit thinking that I would never see a big 1/18th Hellcat. Now I have no passion to build it because why should I do that when I have a 1/18th Hellcat thats being produced with more detail then I might be able to put into a 1/32nd scale model? I have shelved it in order to keep working on my B-17G kit, which I dont think we will ever see in any scale from BBI or 21st, but who knows? I have been proven wrong many times, the Hellcat in 1/18th scale being the latest. After my B-17 is done I plan on working on my 1/32nd Dauntless kit because I dont think we will see one of those anytime soon either, but again who knows right?

The bottom line for me is why should I spend countless hours working on a kit when I can get one thats already done in super scale? If I want to make any minor changes I can do that without much work to be done. So I have sold alot of my models to make room for my growing air force because lets face it 1/18th planes need alot of room.

So after my B-17 and Dauntless are finished that may be the end of my model building days because lets face it BBI and 21st are saving me the time to build my favorite WW 2 aircraft when they are making them for me.

Does anyone else have this dilema? Should I give model building up?

Whats your veiws guys? I would love to hear it.

I feel your pain . I am an avid scale model builder and I find myself getting diverted to do some repainting, aging and minor mods to my 1/18 scale stuff! It's just too much fun- and for some reason it seems to be a stress reliever. When something doesn't go quite right (I build for IPMS and local contests, so the perfectionist in me can get stressed every now and then ) on my standard scale models, I start tinkering on my 1/18 stuff and it provides a nice change.

I wouldn't give up on the small scale stuff because the way I view it, doing both is gratifying in different ways and balance each other nicely.

Zack

I feel pretty much the same way as you do, but I was more into building the models than detailing them. One would be lucky to see paint or even decals on the vehicles and aircraft I assembled. lol In the end, they'd often end up as targets for my BB gun. There wasn't much incentive to 'prettify' a model when I'd be sinking it in the pool a couple weeks later.


In summary, I thank 21st, BBi, Admiral, etc for providing me with (for the most part) correct paint schemes and markings. It saves me a lot of time and energy. Now if only 21st would retool the Tiger as an Early Production model. Then I could shelve my SpzAbt 501 North Africa Tiger custom. It turns out customs are a bigger pain for me than building a stock kit.

I think with model building at least you have the satisfaction of building the whole model rather than just detailing or customizing it if that's of any importance.

Personally, I am putting just as much time and effort into customizing and detailing my BBI and 21st Century subjects as I did with a model from the box.

Thanks guys for the comments so far. I think I'm going to keep my 1/32nd Hellcat and just build it and detail the hell out of it. It will keep me thinking of the 1/18th Hellcat for the time being and I can use it to get ideas on any mods and so fourth that I may incorperate into the BBI Hellcat. For now though I'm going to concentrate on my B-17 and Dauntless model kits until my DWK Spit arrives. Then I will see if that needs any extra detailing, which I dont think it will but with me being anal about detail I dont know yet.

I've not been able to build a model since I've started collecting 1/18th with the exception of Science Fiction and space subjects. But I don't feel bad about it. I've used my modeling skills to enhance the planes I've collected via weathering, detailing.

I used to be big into armor and aircraft modeling but I developed a problem with my hands shaking and I just can't do the fine work anymore. So XD is the next best thing for me!

Plus XD helped me to stop buying $100-$200 Transformers so thats another plus lol.

Here's what i'd do if i were you MM: Keep building models of planes that you don't think will come out in 1/18 scale, or that you want really badly and don't want to wait for.

If it turns out that it does come out in 1/18, which may happen from time to time, then get the 1/18 version and give the smaller model you built to somebody that would appreciate having it (eg child, vet, museum etc). That way you can have all the variety you want and you don't have to give up either 1/18 scale airplane collecting or model building, and from time to time you're doing something nice for someone.

Well, I think I haven't built a 1-48 scale aircraft in about 3 years. Work space to build one is at a premium. I am, however, thinking of moving my 1-48 kits over to my classroom and working on them there. I have a huge metal cabinet (one of the science teachers got rid of it) hanging out in my room with absolutely nothing in it. That way I could stay and build models and my principal would think I was a very dedicated teacher staying extra late to work on lessons

MightyMustang wrote:Guys collecting 1/18th fighter planes is ruining my model building passion!

Let me explain.

Ever since I was a young kid building WW 2 fighter planes was a passion of mine right up until recently that is. I would buy and build Mustangs, Corsairs, Hellcats, Spitfires, Avengers, Dauntleses, you name it I would build them. But now my passion is collecting these huge 1/18th fighters and fixing them up to look more accurate and adding little extras to them. Just recently I picked up a 1/32nd Hellcat kit thinking that I would never see a big 1/18th Hellcat. Now I have no passion to build it because why should I do that when I have a 1/18th Hellcat thats being produced with more detail then I might be able to put into a 1/32nd scale model? I have shelved it in order to keep working on my B-17G kit, which I dont think we will ever see in any scale from BBI or 21st, but who knows? I have been proven wrong many times, the Hellcat in 1/18th scale being the latest. After my B-17 is done I plan on working on my 1/32nd Dauntless kit because I dont think we will see one of those anytime soon either, but again who knows right?

The bottom line for me is why should I spend countless hours working on a kit when I can get one thats already done in super scale? If I want to make any minor changes I can do that without much work to be done. So I have sold alot of my models to make room for my growing air force because lets face it 1/18th planes need alot of room.

So after my B-17 and Dauntless are finished that may be the end of my model building days because lets face it BBI and 21st are saving me the time to build my favorite WW 2 aircraft when they are making them for me.

Does anyone else have this dilema? Should I give model building up?

Whats your veiws guys? I would love to hear it.

That hit the nail right on the head for me, too! I just sold off around 75 of my unbuilt 1/48 scale and 1/72 scale plastic airplanes.....after finding 1/18 scale 1.5 years ago, I really have hardly any desire to build when I can, in a flash, have an airplane-in the size that I only dreamed about as a kid.

Since I work for a living with my hands, I am not trading anything off regarding the joy of creating something vs. not fulfilling that need to use my hands.

Fortunately, doing well financially certainly helps in giving me the freedom to make purchases pretty much when I desire.

The enjoyment of modeling, past building and present 1/18 scale airplanes is truly to be treasured!

dV

As a kid, I had 60+ models hanging from my ceiling. However, being in the military wiped any thought of building models out of my mind from day one. Having to move house every couple years with the fact that my models would be damaged or destroyed pretty much did my model building career in, short of the card model ships I have done. So, 1:18 allowed me to "super size" my love for planes without the hardache of breakage after hours of work....

-Ski

Teamski wrote:So, 1:18 allowed me to "super size" my love for planes without the hardache of breakage after hours of work....

Plus if one does break, you can always return it to Wal Mart

I hear you all on the model building. I had 40 some-odd model aircraft hanging from my ceiling, from my very first to the latest. It was kind of cool as one could see how my technique got perfected over the years. However, once I stated college, the rate at which I build models slowed due to lack of time, and incidentlly, the fact that the year I started college was also when the first XD showed up... My models were all at home and when my ceiling was replastered, I had to take them all down and my dad wasn't very happy about patching all the holes. So, the models went into storage and the XD went up.

You know, I actually found it helpful. I haven't had time to really devote alot of effort into building and painting models or vehicles, planes, soldiers, buildings, terrain, accessories etc... now that I have a wife and kids, a real job and responsibilities. I used to have all the time in the world. Now that alot of these things are being made pre built and painted, I have more time to devote to what I really love which is making terrain for my models. As an avid wargamer, most of my stuff is bought with the intention of eventually using it in some sort of wargame. I really think a wargame in miniature really comes together when the terrain looks good. Whether it's 1/285th scale or 1/18th, I think the figures and vehicles can really be made to shine with a nice background, trees, shrubs, landscaping, buildings and stuff. Even if It's just for diarama, I find myself making all kinds of terrain and stuff for it. I even based up and terrained squads of 1/72nd FOV Germans, US and Brits. They look great and are really functional. I have used the 1/32nd stuff for some really cool wargames and the better the vehicles and soldiers come out of the box, I feel it just saves me time so I can get on with the terraining and gaming. There is a mildly funny comic on the web called Larry Leadhead, and it always refers to the wargamer's biggest problem, never enough time to finish everything, we collect hundreds of miniatures and keep collecting even when we still have tons that havent even been painted yet. There was even a strip where one guy actually finished painting his last miniature and the grim reaper was just waiting for him to finish. Most wargamers will never know what it is like to actually finish all our figs. I am so glad for stuff like this that comes already ready to use out of the box I can't tell you. I might actually be able to at least one day look at a particular scale of stuff and say, wow, I'm done.

I hope this makes sense to y'all,

Dennis

I'm investigating a 1/33rd paper JU88A4 model, since I doubt I'll ever see one from any other source in that size.

Best part is that I can likely get Kinko's to copy it up to a larger scale... I could live with a 1/18th JU88.

I have been an avid modeler of 1/48 scale aircraft for a long time and have amassed quite a large collection of both finished and unfinished kits, but I am in the same situation as MightyMustang. My interest in 1/18 XD stuff has really taken over the time I used to spend building 1/48 stuff. When I do get the urge to model, I usually just customized something 1/18. I am probably going to sell off most of my unbuilt 1/48 kits in the near future to make more room for XD. I guess I have just lost interest in building kits.