Golden age in modeling

[406 Silverado]

After receiving a package today, and on the weekend, containing paints and weathering products, I realized how lucky we modelers are. The past five or so years have brought many new kits, painting and weathering products and also techniques.
When I think back ten, fifteen years and what was available to the modeler in terms of painting and weathering products, it was only a fraction of what we have now. Back then I thought the newer kits, AM items and paints were fantastic and that the hobby was the best it could be. Boy was I wrong.
Today we have many old and new companies such as Tamiya, Vallejo, Testors MM, AK supplying us modelers with the best and newest products to help make our models look more realistic than the old days. We also have more and more companies adding to the list such as K4, TrueEarth and DOA.
The one smaller company that is really making a name for its self is K4. K4 is based out of Chille and caters to the South American marked in terms of paints and weathering products. Like our friends in Australia and New Zealand the importing of these products can be very expensive. H4 has found a way around that by coming out with it's own line of products to cater to the modelers in S. America.
Back to the topic at hand.... For the modelers like myself who have been at this for many years we have to adjust and learn to use these new products available and have fun with it. For those new to the hobby, or getting back to it after taking a break for x amount of years, it can be over whelming. All I can say is read the forums and get opinions from others to find what works best for you.

What is your take on this golden age of modeling !!

[spud]

i Remeber when i came back to it last year i was amazed when i searhed you tube and saw pigments in use and i got the urge to get back into modeling, And the ammout of stuff you can get for a kit is still jaw droping with all these am kits tracks and what not, Defo is the Golden age of modeling.

and uou have a H4 in your post rob

[406 Silverado]

I hear you Spud, too many nice new kits and AM products...which do you get, too many to choose from.

[406 Silverado]

I agree with you in a way on the first note jackwagon. That is somewhat the reason why I stopped doing so much scratch work. It was no longer fun spending months researching and then scratching something that was not on the market. Then when your nearly done it is released in kit form or AM. But in a good way it is great for people unlike you or I who enjoy the scratch work and our skills to make what we make. This not to say we are the best and everyone else lacks the skills. I meant new comers to the hobby, or those just returning coming back.
Those are the top people that inspired me then, and now still. But of course that was many years ago and we now have people like Mig, Rinaldi and Wilder who inspire us to try new things such as techniques. Granted many of the weathering products make it easy for us to achieve a realistic look to our models...but it does take that skill to make it look right. I have often heard, and was reminded by T at the show, that it's easy to make a model look rusty than to make an intact or shiny model. Well yes and no. Even with the right products it does take a level of skill to make it look like rust. same goes for other aspects of painting and weathering.
Still I think in a way it is the Golden age, abd how will it be in ten years.......we shall see.

[spud]

hey Rob do you have an pic of stuff your scratched in your wee years:) im sure it was far superior to Dickys .

oh as your talking about these guys who inspired us i must say Rob and Ken are two for me only cos ive never seen teh other gusy work but it was robs and kens i first saw and Robs rusting blew me away and kens weathering god smacked me.

So from me 2 tumbs up to both of ye

[406 Silverado]

Well said Boo. I do agree with you and jackwagon. But remember some modelers struggle with some simple techniques that are basic to most others. Like I said before it's just a tool and if you don't know how to use then it won't work. Forgot who I said that too...old age thing me thinks.

Exactly Boo. There are lots of products for to choose from. And this is a good thing. Why, because what works for me may not work the same for you. Or one prefers acrylics over enamels. An old Tammy kit over a 1000 part Dragon kit. All these things are there for us, but we don't have to have everything right. I use what works best for me and buy what I think I need. Well maybe a kit or two I don't really need,.LOL.

Lets not forget location as well. The one reason why K4 has been coming out with products is to supply modelers in S America, especially Chille, who have a hard time getting kits and products from other countries. There is the shipping/post costs that are a killer. Now the modelers down there can still use weathering products like we do, with paying a fortune for them.

I love friendly discussions like this as you get to know fellow modelers and how and what they think about the hobby and where it's going. Bit different than always hearing " coool a new xxxxx kit".

[406 Silverado]

Hey Spud, missed you there bro. Thanks for the kind words buddy, too kind.

Don't know about the scratchy thing spud ...lol.....jackwagon has some crazy sick talent. I may have some of my early stuff in the gallery of my website. Most of my scratch work was done before digi cameras.

[spud]

hehe no Worrys rob, Your gone off with a big fat smile now havent ya ;D

[406 Silverado]

;D ;D ;D Spud, just doing my part in the hobby bro. Always willing to share anything with fellow modelers. Means more to me than the models....just plastic you know

[spud]

yea Rob and you are a Great help and its much appreciated

[paulh]

Great thread Rob!

jackwagon, you make an intersting point about Sherp Paine and Francois Verlindin. I recently bought Sheps vehicle modelling volume (as much for completeness as I have owned the other two for many years) and have to say I was somewhat underwhelmed
- particulalry when you look as some (most) of the builds on here!
It seemed to me to be more of a cynical ploy on the part of the publishers to have full house of figure, vehicle and diorama stuff ./ There are some intersting and useful tips, but then its nothing I couldn't have found out by asking you guys!


But that said, it was discoving the work of these pioneers ('cause in my mind that's waht they were ) and realsing with (a lot of) practice, I might asctually be able to produce something worthwhile and for all its datedness (if thats a real word- ) I still make regular visits to, and use of, the diorama volume.

I would agree that the choices are now mind-blowing -but as you say a double edged sword -a £30 kit can quickly become a £60 project if you add even the simplest of AM bits.

But you personally continue to show us all what can be achieved with a lump of plastic, a keen blade (&equally keen eye) and a bit of common sense.

We do live in a golden (modelling) age without a doubt, but its the miodllers themselves and the real sense of community that they exhibit that makes it so- all these extras are exactly that -Extras (good, bad and indifferent) and they only play a supporting role IMH& HO.

P

[406 Silverado]

Well said Paul. And yes I too go back and look through Shep's book...still inspirational....and Verlinden and Pruenau (?) and Letterman. I also have to add Tony Greenland to that list since he changed modeling after the Verlinden way, and really inspired me and many others with his work.

[`Boots`]

Ya not alone Rob....................Tony Greenlands book was my first book in the modelling armoury , this is also another area that has vastly grown.................reference material, pictures, live footage etc has also been made in abundance as well as all the AM and weathering options!!

The wonderful invention of the web has made access to a massive array of literature both affordable and free in lots of cases!!.................also good mouldings and highly detailed kits have become so readily available to us that the choice is endless for most genres!!

I have to agree with your statement of `some modellers struggling with basic techniques`......................i`m one of `em ;D, i just can`t seem to get the desired results with a lot of the AM stuff.....................faaarkin` PE especially ((LOL)).
I think thats what swayed me from building some of the armour and moving onto doing the cars..............i see what you guys seem to be able to achieve naturally and how you just pull it off with stunning results..................doesn`t seem to work for me tho!!........................at least with the cars i can still use the `ol traditional `Artistic licence`

As for the `Golden Age`.....................yip, i think we`re spoilt rotten ((LOL))................what happened to the days of ripping off the lid of a fresh Humbrol tinlet and givin` it a good stir `eh!!

[bullardino]

Well, my take is the shopaholic's one. I have to buy and test everything arises my curiosity. I'm an aftermarket addict, that's why I love eduard profipack kits. But I also love to test unconventional techniques that I come across on the net.

I think that the golden age is mainly related to the internet. The products and the techniques spread through the net like swarms of grasshoppers.

To be completely honest, the only things that prevent me from going broke are the lack of space where to stack the stuff and my wife's control

[noname]

I've actually been weathering my models with chalk pastels, paint and other "found" materials. I like the fact that I have been getting decent results with what you might call old school methods. Lately I have gotten a few Modelmakerz pigments which I have hardly used as the colours are off in my opinion. I am slowly getting a few products however. Such as washes from Vallejo. And I will soon pick up some pigments so I don't have to keep grinding pastels.

I think overall the new products are good for the hobby allowing people to do things easier who may have had troubles previously. I wonder if maybe the hobby is getting too easy. And is the hobby getting too expensive. Imagine what it would cost if one wanted to collect the whole range of AK and Mig products. I always like to point out to people that one does not need all these AM products. I'm afraid some new to the hobby may feel some sort of pressure to buy all the latest products or their builds won't be as good as the more established builders.

All and all, I would say whatever makes the hobby more enjoyable must be a good thing. And Rob is right, it still takes some skill to use these new weathering products effectively. I think one of the most usefull aspects of the hobby is the fact that people like Rob, Ken and many others are more than willing to share their methods with everyone else.

I can't afford to run out and buy all of the AM products but I will start collecting a few myself here and there, slowly but surely. I'm glad that I have been able to get satisfactory results without them, but a person must eventually move on right?

I must say that as I try to stay away from solvent based products, Vallejo has made it possible and easy for one to model without them.