Global Scale Modeller

Morning All

Having been a prolific modeller in the 80s and 90s, I drifted away from the hobby, only sporadically building, until early last year. Since coming back to the bench (Thank you Airfix 1/24 Typhoon), I have been amazed at all the new (to me at least) processes and tools and how the hobby has moved on. Now before anyone gets exercised and says stuff has been around for years, for me the hobby was pretty static as a young man, same processes, same manufacturers etc. Only now with the Internet have I been able to discover what feels like a whole new hobby.

I would ask my learned friends, if they had to put their finger on it, what is the greatest innovation relevant to the hobby they have seen?

I'll start the ball rolling - I don't know how long it has been around but for me Tamiya Extra Thin cement, or TET, has totally changed how I build and what I am willing to build. For example I have just finished a set of Kaizen workable tracks for my Tiger 1 and each link required 2 specific glue applications to complete. Without TET I would be knee deep in glue by now with half the links stuck to my fingers, the other half stuck to the desk.

So, for me its TET. What do other people think?

PS - I would also say the internet, because the dissemination of information (what's available and how to do stuff) is right up there too.

I was going to say TET, but as you've stolen that, for me personally it's my airbrush. I know these have been around for years, but as a kid I never knew they existed, much less afford one!

For me, the internet. It creates discussion and the voice of fans now reach the manufacturers more quickly and efficiently than ever before.

Well, for me personally, it was discovering a copy of FineScale Modeler at the grocery store by my house when i was about 23. I had been building models for several years prior (mostly Revell-Monogram), and i kept thinking to myself, "How can I make mine look as good as the ones on the box? How the heck do they paint clear parts so neatly? I wonder if they make special parts for rails, ladders, etc., for models that would make them more realistic..."

I don't remember the exact issue, but it had an F9F Panther on the cover. Anyways, it opened up a whole new world to me; photo-etch, masking methods, airbrushing (something i NEVER thought i would, let alone COULD do!), and kits made by companies from all over the world; Tamiya, Academy,Trumpeter, Revell AG (they have Revell in Germany??!!), and some offering kits in scales that I didn't even know existed; 1/144, 1/32, 1/72, 1/35. I thought every aircraft kit ever made came in 1/48! Seriously!

The issue also featured some of Bob Letterman's super-huge, absolutely lifelike dioramas, and it showed me that this wasn't just some "kid's hobby" that a few geeks(such as yours truly )never grew out of; modelling could be made into a viable form of art.

Over the years i bought each new issue when it came out, but I read that very first issue over and over till it was thoroughly thrashed and probably ended up in the recycling bin.

So that's my story. Not really what i would call an innovation; maybe more of an inspiration.

Sergiotron wrote:For me, the internet. It creates discussion and the voice of fans now reach the manufacturers more quickly and efficiently than ever before.

I remember building in the 80s and 90s, it was a lonely affair with only magazines to help. And being a kid/teenager I couldn't just throw money at magazines every month when there's kits to buy/girls to date.

In addition to what Sergiotron said, the amount of information at your fingertips now is astounding, from reviews to techniques to videos...truly amazing.

I will dog-pile on there and say internet as well...opens whole new worlds in many ways

Slide molding.

I am hoping in a few years we will all be saying 3D Printing, otherwise CAD and the increase in parts detail.

SteelScooter wrote:I am hoping in a few years we will all be saying 3D Printing

Could that go either way though as 3D printing could take away the building aspect by printing more of the parts? Unlikely I know, and obviously the potential for improved and more detailed kits is massive but it could also change the hobby completely

Fascinating topic by the way

3D building still has a long way to go in my opinion. Extremely expensive, weird material surface textures, need to be technical computer nerd savvy and everyone wants to make nudes instead of scale model parts...cruised Shapeways website at all??? ridiculous

I can't imagine 3D printing taking over the hobby. For added detail parts maybe, when it improves and becomes cheaper. But who'd want to buy a complete printed subject? That's no different to buying a die cast model now and just painting it. Nothing wrong with that, but for me, the build is where the real fun is!

chief5437 wrote:I can't imagine 3D printing taking over the hobby. For added detail parts maybe, when it improves and becomes cheaper. But who'd want to buy a complete printed subject? That's no different to buying a die cast model now and just painting it. Nothing wrong with that, but for me, the build is where the real fun is!

I agree with you
Not a tech phobe, just the reality of it

Probably see more of a complete sprue being copied.....

Twokidsnosleep wrote:and everyone wants to make nudes instead of scale model parts...cruised Shapeways website at all??? ridiculous

Nudes!! What scale?

Twokidsnosleep wrote:3D building still has a long way to go in my opinion. Extremely expensive, weird material surface textures, need to be technical computer nerd savvy and everyone wants to make nudes instead of scale model parts...cruised Shapeways website at all??? ridiculous

Well nothing like working with the familiar....

Augustus wrote:

Twokidsnosleep wrote:and everyone wants to make nudes instead of scale model parts...cruised Shapeways website at all??? ridiculous

Nudes!! What scale?

Do a search for ANYTHING and you will get nude figures in the results...and not anything like the original item that you want

digger303 wrote:

Twokidsnosleep wrote:3D building still has a long way to go in my opinion. Extremely expensive, weird material surface textures, need to be technical computer nerd savvy and everyone wants to make nudes instead of scale model parts...cruised Shapeways website at all??? ridiculous

Well nothing like working with the familiar....

Somewhat familiar, anyways

Its going down hill here ......I reckon the greatest 'innovation' might be the internet

For me its that simple than PE-bender. Earlier i did PEs just common pliers. I bought RP-toolz PE-bender and new world opens...

Icemannique wrote:For me its that simple than PE-bender. Earlier i did PEs just common pliers. I bought RP-toolz PE-bender and new world opens...

Good call. I've got one of those PE bugs for bending the metal. Its a lovely little thing. I don't work with PE very much but it works brilliantly when I need it

The hobby has developed so much since the 70s and 80s when I bashed together the old FROG, Airfix and Revell kits with their centre-line ventilation fit, raised detail and inaccurate colour schemes.
For me, and to echo previous posts, the addition of affordable, reliable airbrushes has been an increddible boon, linked with the cornucopia of consistent, accurate colours available. Acrylics, as well! I just assumed enamels were what you used on plastic - now I rarely open a tin.
Adhesives - another leaps and bounds area for me. When I came back to modelling, I got a basic tool kit together, including a tube of poly cement and (daring) a bottle of the liquid variety. Two years later, the tube is still almost full, and the bottle is only half-full because I knocked it over one day. Now, it's a mix of Contacta, Kristal Klear, CA, and yes, Tamiya Extra Thin. This last probably takes the crown as biggest contributor to ease of building.
The best thing about the Internet for me is finding out about, and easily getting hold of, stuff which I'd never have heard. Take the Scribe-R, made by Radu Brinzan in Eire. A simple wee tool, which might as well be made in the lad's back kitchen, yet such an improvement over larger companies' products. If you use one, you know what I mean. If not, get one! He also does PE, Resin and the like.
Also Net-related - eBay! Yeah, I know it's just a big shopping mall now, but you can still pick up some outrageous bargains from time to time, and occasionally a kit you'd forgotten about. Also handy for recouping a few quid if you're downsizing the stash...

I must also thank the Internet for
1. Making me aware of "Klear".
2. Making me aware it was no longer available.
3. Making me aware of the prices charged for it on eBay, and most importantly,
4. Making me aware of the alternatives.

The list is endless, but the internet has got to be at the top of my list learning new techniques every time I go on it,like the saying goes ...learn by your mistakes ...better still !earn by someone else's. airbrush is another one,as a teenager they were very rare and well out of my price range.

Good topic by the way