The best thing.....

[Deleted]

The best thing since sliced bread...

I remember my Grandmother saying that only a million times. Not long ago, I was sitting with a group of fellow modelers talking about the one thing we remember that made us go from being a "casual" modeler to the "weirdos" we are today. Some said putty that filled the cracks and seems. Other said it was discovering decal setting solution. What was yours?

I have two. Myfirst..now mind you that I started off building WW2 Aircraft...it was "discovering" flat black paint! ;D Now I could do machine gun barrels and dash boards and tires....If I could have painted a entire aircraft flat black...I would have. The second was an exacto knife. No more straight razor blades! Remember them?

Well...what was yours?

Best to you all

Russ

[Deleted]

The aftermarket. Discovering that I could build something completely different than what was depicted on the box by using different decals or resin or metal parts.

G

[pylonguy2003]

For me it was the first issue I ever saw of Scale Modeller. I was in awe of the work that was depicted on those pages back in 1968. I had been building models for about 7 or 8 years at that point pretty much in isolation from the world. (I was only about 12 or 13 at that time). To see that people used an airbrush to paint models and make their own decals etc just blew me away which leads into my second thing and that was the first airbrush I got which was a Binks Wren Model B. I still remember the first spray job which was a Revell 1/32 Stuka in desert camoflauge with the snake on the side.

Tim

[stonecold44]

Great idea for a thread. Unfortunately I can't think of just one thing, so I'll do a short list.

1) Aftermarket decals. All my admiration for whoever thought of it. Special thanks to Fred Cady.

2) Tamiya paints. After growing up buying & using Testors, I think this line is IT.

3) AMT Kits. Period. Even the bad ones have meaning.

4) This forum and you guys that post here. I feel smarter every time I visit.

[rickh]

For me it was when I was a kid in 1967 or so and figured out that I could add a few drops of flat black paint to some silver paint and get a "special formula" aluminum or magnesium-looking color, and keep it in a special bottle to use any time. After a while I made a few different mixes - one light and one dark.

And a few years later, Pactra bottled my idea and called it Aluminum color, and I no longer had a one-of-a-kind trick. If it even was in the first place. Well, it was fun while it lasted. And I never saw anybody mention that trick in Car Model or Model Car Science magazines.

Rick

[racerbrown]

for me it was the internet. i had gotten back to building after so many years but had no club in the area and felt kind of on my own. the internet opens up the whole world to everyone so i was able to see what incredible work everyone else was doing and learning from this as well.
duane

[herk56]

I've always tried to build a better model each time, but had kind of stagnated for a while until:

1) The aftermarket came along, decals, details and more!;

2) I discovered liquid cement, hardly ever need filler!;

3) I subscribed to Scale Auto (no longer subscribe);

4) I discovered scalpels, much better than X-Acto.

All of the above have improved my modeling in more ways than one. Forums are fun but all of the above things came along before I even heard of the internet. Great thread, Russ!

Brian

[Deleted]

TIM...

I remember the first time I saw that "magazine" at the local library and thought, they're are others that do this besides Michale Pfefferly!?! (A local guy that was really good!!!) I have a few years of the old magazine left in a bin in the garage...It has become an "Ad Rag" now...more ads than information. Then came Scale Auto and Motor Racing Replica News, which was ahead of it's time and was a great source of information, even if I wrote for it, the other guys were great! I still turn to that magazine.

Best to you

Russ

[Deleted]

Gregg...

I could agree with you more!!! Thanks to Fred Cady!!! I was building nothing but 1/48 scale WW2 aircraft and there was nothing new coming out at the time...Many thought the "BIG" Model Kit Manufactures were leaving us WW@ Heads behind...One day at the Model Works in Pasadena, I saw the old AMT 3-1 Kit with the Lotus, Watson and McLaren and I commented I'd buy the kit, but the the kit decals blew dead bears...and a friend said, "I build police cars and there is a guy named Fred Cady who does decals for those old race cars...."

Thank you Tom Hampton!!!!!!!!! I bought the 3 in 1 kit for the $10.00 the guy had on it...and over the next few years...I kept Fred in business or at least in beer buying everything he had! Soon, I was searching hi and low for anyone offering Indy Car kits...(And had my infamous dealings, or lack there of with Ken Glen) and I have been building Indy Cars since. Then I met Bill Gebhard, Bill Jorgensen and of course...BOB CLIDINST (Choir Music Cue)..and I haven't looked back. Say what you will about the old AMT kits, for better or worse, they have got us all started one way or another.

The "late" Chris Etzel turned me onto scaples....and I cut the bejesus out of my hand the first time I used one too.


Best to you

Russ

[indy]

Aftermarket is way up there but eBay has really helped me get kits, decals, and stuff at great prices. Paid $50 for an IndyCar kit about 10 years ago at a LHS and now on eBay I can usually pick one up for $10.

Jordan

[Deleted]

Nov 12, 2008 0:17:26 GMT -5 stonecold44 said:

4) This forum and you guys that post here. I feel smarter every time I visit.

Ahhhhhhhhhhhh.

This is a great topic with some great responses. I would like to add the internet which goes hand in hand with my previous post of the aftermarket and my airbrush which has become an indespensible tool for me.

G

[mrindy77]

I would have to say the ALPS printer, it has allowed me to make many one off custom models and has paid for itself in spades.

[2lapsdown]

1. The aftermarket
2. The internet
3. You guys

[sandysixtysfan]

Great thread! Overall for me it would be,
1. The Aftermarket Guys. With resin kits, parts and decals we have more options than we can afford!
2. The Internet. Meeting guys like ya'll and a endless source of info.
On the workbench level it would be the modern generation of glues like solvent type (Tenax) and super glues, especially the 'thick' and gels along with accelerator to dry it Right Now. Plus the general high quality and choice of paints.
Sandy

[Deleted]

Nov 12, 2008 9:33:40 GMT -5 @oldcalhoun said:

Gregg...(snip)
The "late" Chris Etzel turned me onto scaples....and I cut the bejesus out of my hand the first time I used one too.


Best to you

Russ

Hi Russ,

I have been using scalpels for many years, also. I seldom use an x-acto on my plastic models anymore.

For me, it was a long gone, obscure (I cannot remember the name!) model magazine back in about 1964 which had a cutaway 1963 NASCAR Ford Galaxie build in it. The front fender was cut away, and everything seemed to be wired, plumbed, etc. I looked at that for a LONG time! Then i started doing some of the things that had been done in the magazine and developing other things to do. It has sure been fun!

Mongo

[macsparty]

I'm going to have to go with the general consensus here and say the aftermarket, both the resin kits and the decals. I can remember seeing ads in the magazines for all these great Indy car models, but always doing a hiccup at the price. That's what happens when you're in a dead end job. Now that I can (more or less) afford them, my only regret is that I missed out on some great opportunities, but I am thankful for the guys that are churning out great material that I can pick up as budgets allow. (Now if they would just stop making them faster than I can build them... )

[illeagle10]

is going to my basement where my workshop is, or as the rest of my family calls it, "the dungeon!" Nobody bothers me there until dinner time. Poppin' in an old Indy car video with a cold drink. Looking through my references and getting to work on the twenty or so kits I have started. I imagine them next to the ones I have built. Nothing like the smell of plastic, paint and resin. Now that's the best stress relief!!!!