This might sound silly but why do people add grab handles etc to their models. You would think that reputable companies are pretty accurate about molding etc. I can understand if you want to change variants but should a model out of the box be very accurate and not be missing important items such as grab handles exhaust ports etc.

Not sure if this answers your question or not. But most times when grab handles are added it's because the kit parts are too thick for reality. HTH

I think it is because in the real world, especially on the front lines, there are customizations, often seen in photos and files. The Soviets did this a lot, as did the Germans. The US Army also did some but not at much, except for added armor on tanks, etc. Most kit makes use the information from production drawings, etc., so it is up to the modeller to make the vehicle the way it would have been in war.

Also it's easier to bend wire grab handles out of shape to simulate damage.

Some kits, like older Tamiya kits, molded the grab rails onto the surface. So instead of a grab rail, it was a solid piece. These were some of the first areas where modelers started improvements. Shave off the molded piece, bend a small piece of wire, like a paper clip, heat a needle to stick two holes where the ends of the grab handle were and then superglue the handle. Many times, the grab rails aren't even on the kit, like the periscope guards on a Tamiya Sherman. Italeri makes guards, why didn't Tamiya? Those should be added. Sometimes exhaust pipes are misaligned when molded, they need to be replaced with some type of tubing. Other exhaust pipes are molded solid and have to be hollowed out.

Agreed. It's also easier to make your own grab handles, instead of trying to clean the flash and seam lines off the moulded/supplied ones. Funny, the supplied grab handles are too thin to easily clean without breaking, yet too thick to use properly......nice arrangement

Tread.

P.S. Scale is a tough thing sometimes Padrino. Take trying to simulate 1/35th scale 1/4" steel armour plating. Now that's pretty thick stuff in 1:1 scale, but the sheet styrene thickness you have to use to replicate it in 1/35th scale feels 'too' thin. But it's correct none the less.

Can't agree more. I usually end up break the grab handles in half just by cutting it from the spruce. It's much much easier to just bend wires. Besides, it also adds a nice metal touch to the model.... #:-)

There are limits to the injection molding process that keep even the best model companies from getting everything exactly to scale. Also, complicated shapes -- especially those with hollows -- require extremely complicated molds or are impossible to mold.

I think hollowing out tail pipes, drilling gun barrels, thinning parts, filling cracks and holes, replacing parts, fabricating parts, etc., is all part of modeling. If they gave us models that didn't require fixing and detailing, we wouldn't be modeling -- we'd just be assembling.

I, for one, enjoy fiddling around with a model and adding what's missing and/or fixing what's wrong or grossly out of scale.

If I read you statement correctly your talking OOB(out of the box). No OOB a hollowpoint said many handles would be impossible to mold on others( Like those that lay flat) are molded on but have little definition. parts that fishhook wouldn't be able to beremoved from the molds ect. So I guess no is the answer, we can't expect the companies to be that perfect. Taking a 2 meter high 4+ meter long vehicle and producing a scale replica thats 6" high and maybe 12" long Forces one to choose sometimes what get included. Hence the huge Aftermarket market(excuse the pun). Also part of the hobby is the accurising of any kit, allowing for that ever important personal touch. Where I might be satisfied Just putting on a couple of PE pieces, someone else sees the need to count the bolt heads(yeah I get AMS too).so where would you have the manufacturers stop and how much would you pay for the perfect kit. We had a post not long ago about the cost with all the extras added. Some of us had kits that cost $20 land up costing $250 -$300 dollars.So as I said no I don't think we can expect much more than companies like Tamiya are giving us now. Okay Ilet off that hotI guess I'm cool now, sorry for the long windedness.

Josh Weingarten
aKa shiryon :-) :-) :-)

Hollow, you are absolutely right. I was right with you all the way up to the very last point where you say " ...or fixing what's.......grossly out of scale."

Lost me there.......enjoy all the rest, except that 'out of scale' thingie.

Tread.

Tread:

I guess what I'm trying to say is that sometimes kits have parts that are just way out of whack as far as scale goes. Like the earlier reference you made to 1/4-inch plate. On some kits, that 1/4-inch plate may be depicted as six-scale-inches thick. Gotta fix that.

Clear as mud, right?