I do a lot of kit bashing and scratch building but every now and then I will build something OOTB just to relax. I will go for the AM when it gives me a complex component that I feel I cannot do justice to by scratching it. I will also go for the AM stuff to get the fine screen wire grills, etc.

If the kit does not come with individual track links I will spring for the better track but always the cheaper plastic sets. (I only ever bought one set of Fulei tracks in my life.)

I will second a lot of the comments made by Robert Nilsson above with the exception of the "Museum" painting - I've seen too much of that in real life.

Sorry about the name foul up Robin - In truth I was focusing on not misspelling your last name. (Which I did in my first writing.) The spelling of your name is new to me as it is the first time I have ever encountered it. Many apologies.

..still dont know if I trust my airbrush not spitting on my build.
Would faint on a high PE build.

Hi everyone. I didn't even search to see if this had been discussed recently, so here goes...

How many of you are building their models Out of the Box? I have found, after returning to the hobby several years ago, that I have felt as though I'm somehow 'cheating' myself out of detail if I don't get the most aftermarket stuff, and in this I mean primarily, photo etch, that I can. It seems I can't be happy unless I do the maximum. However, I have, conversely, found that this pressure I have put on myself to do this heavy detailing has mostly drained a lot of pleasure of the hobby for me. I get to the point, on most of my models (well, let's be honest, ALL of my builds) that I simply stop the build and set it aside when I reach a point where I need to do a lot of photo etch work. Then the model sits, until/unless I get motivated to take on the super detailing.

What this means is that I don't finish models anymore. I have about 8 tanks in various stages of build, and I'm getting frustrated. I know the detail, even on OOTB builds, is pretty good these days. And, in many cases, though photo etch does add a lot of detail, oftentimes, the fact that I am not an expert at PE means that the quality of the work suffers. Yes there may be more detail, but many of those details aren't done very well. I find myself thinking that maybe the model would be even better, because the kit parts are at least not 'messed up', though they may lack detail. Thus, not only am I getting stuck due to the drudgery of photo etch, and not finishing models, I am not getting to the part that I am kind of feeling is one of the most fun, the painting.

Does anyone else feel this way? Am I along in feeling like I'm not doing 'enough' if I don't go crazy with aftermarket items? Is there anyone who build almost all their models OOTB? Are you happy with your models?

I'm also feeling frustrated at my lack of skill with weathering. I know that many of you will say that you need to practice to get better, and I agree with that, but does fear of not doing it well enough stop any of you form completing builds?

I've found that sometimes, when a build is not going all that well for me, even if I have photo etch parts, I will not use them, thinking that I'll eventually get another of that same kit and build it 'better' the next time, and use the super detailing parts later, on the next build.

So, am I alone in feeling this way? Should I just force myself to go OOTB? I know I'll probably be unhappy either way, but maybe just finishing builds so I can get to the point of painting and weathering will do me some good. What are all of your thoughts on the subject? Anyone?

I am so very appreciative to all of you who have posted on this thread. Many, many thanks.

I can give you a sense of where I am at today. I'm back working on a Dragon King Tiger, Henschel turret, with Zimmerit. The photo etch that I really wanted to use were the front and rear fenders (mudflaps), and the side guards (or fenders). I just recently got a microtorch for soldering some of these bigger pieces, and while I have been somewhat successful at this, I've learned that soldering PE is its own little niche technique. I did use it on the ribs for the mudguards, though. So, the fenders were the key components that I really felt were needed, though the kit parts are done really quite well, if you want to portray perfectly intact items. In my case, I plan to have at least one of the side guards shown missing, and for this, the PE is ideal. As I'd mentioned before, I just finished the commander cupola MG holder, which is nice in PE, as it is really way out of scale in plastic (too thick). The parts I always have huge problems with are the latches that hold the tools on the tank, and because I am so dreading that, I guess I'll do without them. I had also intended to use the PE holders for the jack, but I have already decided to go with the plastic version of those. I ended up putting some of the PE doodads on the turret top and the top of the rear of the hull. I have been wondering if I should use PE for the headlight, but I'm thinking that will be too much work. And, I've also, partly as a result of this thread, given up on doing the PE parts for the tow cable ends. Between those cable ends and the tool latches, I would be at this for weeks on end, since I am so very slow at doing these PE parts. And they are the most frustrating.

One of the many tanks that are 'on hold' is the Dragon 6600, Initial Tiger I. I had had great plans for this tank, but I've already messed it up, and it makes me want to just give up on this build. I've screwed up a lot of the build, and I've just gotten started. I was working on PE mudguards for the rear, and since I was just starting out with soldering, I ended up burning the edge away of one of the guards. I've also replaced a plastic piece that comes through the mount of one of the rear mudguards, and it is now cocked at an odd angle, and lastly, the support 'angle iron' to hold the jack consists of two PE pieces, which I've really messed up in putting together. These mistakes are enough to make me want to just scrap this tank, and get another 6600 kit and start over. I know myself well, and know that even if I do finish that tank, I will always look at it and fret over the errors. What is particularly frustrating is that the second tank I ever built (since getting back into the hobby) was a Tiger I, with a lot of PE, that I managed to, perhaps with beginner's luck, complete with very few errors. I find myself being so sad that the more experience I get, the worse I seem to be doing. I'm sure Id be a great psychiatric case...maybe there is more to this than simply modeling issues?

While it may sound as if I have built a large number of tank models, the fact is that I've only actually fully completed 5 models. The Tiger I, a Tamiya Challenger 2, a Tasca Sherman, all of which are sort of on display, a Dragon M1A1 that never really got fully completed, and another Dragon M1A1 that ended up going to Ft. Stewart as part of the Thunder Run exhibit. The latter is probably the best work I've ever done, and I was honored that they even let me contribute, though there was very little PE on that tank, and the work I did was marginal at best, compared to most of the others who built models for that exhibit.

I almost always want to use aftermarket tracks. I am fortunate to be able to afford them, and I most use Fruil metal tracks for tanks where the tracks are mostly seen, like on German WWII tanks. Those are easy, though, and hard to mess up. Kit tracks for tanks without sag in their tracks are fine.

Maybe I can just try hard to live with OOTB. While I know I'd like the detail of PE, I'm sure I would be much happier with a tank that didn't have mistakes, such as if I were to start the Initial Tiger I 6600 over again.

Sorry for the additional rant...

Again, as for the OOTB concerns, here's a link to one of my OOTB builds:

https://armorama.kitmaker.net//features/7343

How does it compare to other kits heavily supplemented with AM parts? The weathering on it is minimal (very slight dusting, mainly streaking).

With every kit, I have a place when I need to call it finished. Stressing and re-doing... Can't do it. Gotta say good enough is good enough.

Have fun!

Gaz