Kasparov Posted February 25, 2017 Share Posted February 25, 2017 (edited) Lesson 1; Buying behaviour One shiny morrow the fields lost their green glare compelling me to take my legs out towards the local shopkeep. The kind man has a nice selection but one little old Tamiya kit got my fancy, especially because funding was low after Christmas and I needed a quick little build. This was the choice: An old kit originally from Italeri, I discovered later. I was happy with it before that, it was simple but elegant and felt like a nice little project, but two things changed my mind. Firstly, I'm not a fan of Italeri, I find their kits sloppy without exception and I never understood the cooperation they had with Tamiya in the last century. Tamiya being a lot, but definitely not sloppy. Secondly, I discovered that Tamiya made a kit that was leagues better in the same scale of the same subject. Needless to say, this kit became second choice in seconds. So back to the shop it was, this time leaving with this pearl (costing more than thrice the price); Lesson 2; Building behaviour The plan was to build both in as much as possible the same way, and in the end compare the differences. No filler, OOB and no going over board with details. Being human after all (or still at least), this didn't really work. You automatically spend more attention on something expensive while the cheaper option allows for more personal leeway when completing. So halfway through the build of the first simple kit I couldn't resist ordering a Edouard PE detail set, metal pitot tubes and a set of masks for the second one. Even the original plan to use exactly the same paints on both went out of the window. The simple one got a coat of some spare Humbrol cans I had lying around, the second one got a fine misted set of coats from the new Revell spraycans which surprised me how good they were. Even when finishing the differences became apparent, choosing a quick satin coat for the first, and a proper Mr Hobby matt coat for the last after some surface prep. I wanted to use the airbrush on the second one but I generally find airbrushing a hassle so I reserve it for builds where it's really needed. Both being mostly grey wasn't enough of a motivation for me, not even with my new Harder and Steenbeck brush. Even though I tried doing both the same, the psychology of both kits almost naturally made them differ in approach and level of attention for me. That having been said, I'm a simple man, simple thing saffect me. Ah well, eventually both were finished and these are the results. The Simon Simple build; The proper build; Lesson 3; finishing behaviour Normally I'm not keen on taking photos. Generally I take a few quick snaps when it's sunny outside and that's it. Again with this project I couldn't resist and improvised a real studio, especially for the second one because it's really hard to get a grey bird like this well on a photo. My girlfriend thought it was hilarious seeing me collect all lamps in the house and make a white backdrop with a roll of old paper while cursing at the camera for not doing what I needed it to do. Even in giving the kits away the difference in quality is evident, the cheap one was given to the son of a colleague who will put it in his 12-year-old gaming corner, the good one was given to a friend who works for the Airforce designing their landscapes seeing the real thing in the flesh daily. Closing thoughts on the kits. I can be simple about this. Without a doubt the new kit is leagues better, the both are not even comparable. The new kit is one of the best 1/72s I've ever built, fit, finish and engineering are stellar, the old one reminds me of my youth when no flash already meant a kit was good. I do have to say I like the engineering of the cheap one, it is nice and simple, if it fitted well I would have really liked it for what it is; a 20 years old kit. Lessons learned: Choose first, buy later Go broke on a good kit not a cheap one There is no such thing as a quick build Detail is heroin Aftermarket goes towards the place that needs it least Making a good photo of a grey plane is impossible The F16 is one of the coolest looking planes ever, 12-year olds and old military men agree Thanks for watching! Comments and suggestions are always welcome. Cheers, Kas. Edited February 25, 2017 by Kasparov 18 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kasparov Posted February 25, 2017 Author Share Posted February 25, 2017 (edited) BTW can anyone tell me if any of the other Tamiya warbird series models they made in the nineties with Italeri are worth a buy? I'm eyeing the Gripen, but it has to be good enough to be worth it. Edited February 25, 2017 by Kasparov Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F-32 Posted February 25, 2017 Share Posted February 25, 2017 Cracking work, really nicely done 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phantome Posted February 25, 2017 Share Posted February 25, 2017 7 hours ago, Kasparov said: BTW can anyone tell me if any of the other Tamiya warbird series models they made in the nineties with Italeri are worth a buy? I'm eyeing the Gripen, but it has to be good enough to be worth it. The new Revell is a much better Gripen although not among their best efforts. I would say any kit from an OOP Italeri kit that has no decent rival is a good bet. I would put the A-10 up there, as well as the Mirage 2000C. The Jaguar is decent too. I think they rebox the A-6 as well which is quite a good kit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
celt Posted February 25, 2017 Share Posted February 25, 2017 Well tidy pair of builds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
exdraken Posted February 25, 2017 Share Posted February 25, 2017 Cracking read! Nice entertaining stiry with lots of truth! Some additional comments for the lessons to be learnd section: • do some research on what you are going to build ( makes the redult much more convincing and satisfying) • try to be as close as possible with regards to model mark, color scheme and operator • do not take the above too serious and kepp on building great models! Cheers, Werner 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HansReggelsen Posted February 26, 2017 Share Posted February 26, 2017 I'm not a 12-year old or a military man, but I like both your F-16! They are cool! Cheers Hans J 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonf45 Posted February 26, 2017 Share Posted February 26, 2017 Both look great to me! Nice story, gave me a giggle Am just about to start the tamiya tornado f3, it's also the old italeri one so we'll see how it goes, mouldings look OK, decals look a little ropey! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kasparov Posted February 26, 2017 Author Share Posted February 26, 2017 Thanks for the feedback guys! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kasparov Posted February 26, 2017 Author Share Posted February 26, 2017 3 hours ago, jonf45 said: Am just about to start the tamiya tornado f3, it's also the old italeri one so we'll see how it goes, mouldings look OK, decals look a little ropey! Can't wait to see the results. Good luck with the little basterd Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonf45 Posted February 26, 2017 Share Posted February 26, 2017 2 minutes ago, Kasparov said: Can't wait to see the results. Good luck with the little basterd Just got it out the box and see that there's no RAF tail flash in the decals!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kasparov Posted February 26, 2017 Author Share Posted February 26, 2017 6 minutes ago, jonf45 said: Just got it out the box and see that there's no RAF tail flash in the decals!!! A Sunday without tail flash is definitely not a day of the lord! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonf45 Posted February 26, 2017 Share Posted February 26, 2017 4 minutes ago, Kasparov said: A Sunday without tail flash is definitely not a day of the lord! Nope, it's a day scouring boxes trying to find some spares, giving up and ordering some more 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dazey Posted February 27, 2017 Share Posted February 27, 2017 both builds look nice! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kasparov Posted March 3, 2017 Author Share Posted March 3, 2017 On 26-2-2017 at 00:35, exdraken said: Cracking read! Nice entertaining stiry with lots of truth! Some additional comments for the lessons to be learnd section: • do some research on what you are going to build ( makes the redult much more convincing and satisfying) • try to be as close as possible with regards to model mark, color scheme and operator • do not take the above too serious and kepp on building great models! Cheers, Werner Not taking things to serious is definitely a good one! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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