The Little World

If you want to drown in Official-Speak, go to Google and start looking up ” valid decision “. I often go and see what poking the bear will do before I write these things. In this case I have been preceded by academia, politics, and the sort of management that can close down a successful company in a week.

Now valid decisions in scale model building are a lot different from the ones in full-sized life. In most cases they don’t even have to be good ideas to be valid.

a. I met a person who models frequently and deals with quite complex kits, but apparently does not paint them.

I was surprised at this, and am going to make enquiries to see if I have been practised upon, but if it proves to be true it will the first instance I have seen of an adult modeller adopting this tactic. Plenty of junior modellers and kids are in that position – I built many a kit in my childhood that was devoid of paint. But once my fingers touched a brush and the first pot of paint was spilled over the kitchen table, I never looked back.

I’ve been turning the idea over to find validity in it. The best I can do so far is to imagine that the models will serve as general recognition aids like they did in WW2 and need not be painted. Though even here a uniform black or grey would tie a collection together visually and make it unique.

b. The OOTB build vs the EAMPTTM build.

I favour a modified version of the former. The latter – Every Aftermarket Accessory Part That They Make is a valid decision, but only if the original kit can justify the extra costs. Hanging $ 200 worth of resin and brass on a FROG kit from the 1950’s would seem to be gilding the skunk cabbage.

If you want to be different, the price of a new set of decals is easy to justify. If you do have an old dog of a kit, the historic decals may be toast anyway, so you might as well choose a new set that you like.

c. The working feature.

Working features were a sales design ploy of the 50’s and 60’s and it worked. I bought kits with them in preference to kits without them regularly. And I waggled the ailerons, rudders, and elevators religiously. I lowered and raised undercarriages until they broke. I never judged the makers badly for the crudity of the hinge points or fit of the parts. They worked, and that was closer to reality in my mind – though the non-working kits were closer to accurate.

That was valid then – I was a little kid. Now it isn’t – I am a big kid.

d. The spectacular show paint scheme.

Like the repeated re-box, the spectacular show scheme is a sales ploy to re-sell a kit without re-moulding it or making a new type. Air forces, racing car stables, and other organisations that have a spray gun and spare time have all created things that are meant to attract the eye. You can also attract eye with a three-gang fish hook, so be careful what you wish for…

In a way, it is good to see modern air forces painting up their aircraft in festive colours with spectacular tails and fancy graphics all along the sides. This is for peacetime show. When they intend to use them they paint them in grey mud tones and leave off the unit markings.