Help and advice required

[Bill1974]

Hiya all,

 

I'm a relatively new modeller, I started building in October last year with no previous experience.

 

I'm autistic and either need a push / need more information to make a decision / over think or under think and then spend ages making it right and I'm a perfectionist who wants to excel at what I do. 🤓

 

I've had a look around and I couldn't find an answer on britmodeller, so here goes:

 

How do the experienced tank builder find information on tanks?

 

How to build something that's authentic to original and not necessarily what the instructions say? Both in terms of tank details alterations in the field, colour and such.

 

I'm going to order my next batch of tanks;

 

Hobbyboss 1:35 Scale German Panzer Kpfw38 t AusfE

 

Zvezda 1:35 Tank IV Ausf.E (Sd.Kfz.161)

 

Tamiya British Churchill VII

 

Hobbyboss 1:35 Scale German Panzer Kpfw.38(t) Ausf.G

 

I'd like to start to be more accurate and add more real detail rather than just following the instructions and looking at the few photos I can find and be able to say ‘this ones a xth army, xth core etc specific tank with name and following real life tank and all that, for example I've seen a few post when I've been searching around about folks building very specific tanks and copying an old photo and following the story and history of a specific tank etc.  

 

There is some much more I can do to my tanks and add a little extra to my builds.

 

I have found the following websites that I use, along with searching google for pictures and ideas what to scratch build by looking at the customisation kits for sale and others' efforts.
 

https://www.inchcalculator.com/scale-calculator/

 

https://www.scalemates.com/search.php?q=*

 

http://www.army-guide.com/eng/product1055.htm

l

http://fighting-vehicles.com/

 

http://www.primeportal.net/the_battlefield_armor.htm

 

Is there something significant I am missing?

 

Thanks in advance for your help!

 

Matt 🤓

[Stef N.]

A few things that will help.

Starting a WIP on here and asking for advice on the specific kit, failings, missing parts etc. Some really good knowledge on here.

Building a library. (Nuts and Bolts, Top Drawings etc.) Books are still very useful although they can be expensive. Second hand bookshops, car boot sales etc are good to check.

This forum has its own walkaround section too if you've missed it. https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/forum/83-walkarounds/

[Bullbasket]

There are some very useful sites on the web that are full of "walkaround" photos. Two that I use a lot are;

https://www.svsmgallery.com/Top-level/Walkarounds/Armored-Vehicles

http://www.toadmanstankpictures.com/

Another site worth mentioning is the Australian site, Perth Military Modelling. The owner, Terry, seems to know his stuff, and has done some useful reviews on many kits. Have a look here;

https://www.perthmilitarymodelling.com/reviews/vehicles/revafv.htm

And of course, there are many on here with a lot of knowledge. Just ask in the AFV section.

 

John.

[Bill1974]

On 22/09/2022 at 13:54, Bullbasket said:

And of course, there are many on here with a lot of knowledge. Just ask in the AFV section.

 

Does anyone else have some more internet resource information - photographic, history and detailing and such?

 

Thanks

[Kingsman]

I find that I actually find out a lot by looking for the subject, not the source.  Not all sources are fully reliable and many simply re-quote others.  You will find Wikipedia content repeated elsewhere: circular sourcing.  Look how long it took to discover that we've all been calling the Churchill AVRE Petard Mortar the wrong calibre: 78 years!  It's 230mm, not 290mm.  Came from a typo back in WW2 and no-one ever deployed a ruler..........

 

So rather than looking for sites I will often use Mr Google to search for the subject and see what comes up.  Sometimes you need to think about the search terms - both too specific and too generic can work against you - and sometimes you will need to do several searches with slightly different terms.  Unfortunately there are many "experts" online with some very personal opinionated views, especially on YouTube, and looking at alternative sources is always a good idea.

 

To some extent you do need to have an idea of the answer when you ask the question.  Online images are frequently wrongly captioned, even sometimes from reputable sources.  You look at an image that says it is X and quickly realise it isn't.  Worse, incorrectly-captioned images are sometimes used to "prove" that non-existent things did exist.

 

Once you've done this for a while you will come to trust certain "go-to" sites.  If you want to know about Shermans as physical objects, for example, then the Sherman Minutia site is always top of the list.  But it won't help you if you want to know whether a particular unit used them and which type(s) they had.

 

Using sites like Britmodeller is always good.  Ask questions.  The only dumb question is the one you don't ask when you really should.  I find the community here to be generous.  Missing-Lynx is good too, but perhaps tends to be a bit more highbrow.  Both sites have search functions and your questions have probably come up before in some form.

 

And like most people who've been doing this for a while (toooo many decades.....) I have a groaning bookshelf.  I'm considering Acrow props in my dining room because of the weight of books in the bedroom above..........  But a decent library takes time and costs money to collect.  Used books from Amazon, Ebay or someone like Abe Books can be a better bargain.

[Bullbasket]

As an aside, if you wanted to do a search on here for something specific, be aware, that like a lot of sites, the search engine isn't wonderful. When you do a search it throws up a lot of things unconnected to what you're looking for. The best way to find something on BM, is to do a Google search, and be specific, and at the end, type the word Britmodeller. I've found that that works everytime.

 

John.

[Bozothenutter]

Hi Bill 

Fellow auti (and ADHD) here, and boy is scale modelling good (and bad) for us.

I tend to get hung up on details known, or worse unknown  which will stop me progressing.

A classic case of 'he's started, but will he finish.....)

With a few models under your belt, you seem to be ready to progres.

The missing lynx forum is a major forum source, with extreme experts.

 

https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/missinglynx/index.php

 

With the kits you already have, start with google, enter the type and search for pics.

Once you find one you like, start asking around.

With the unit, you can google that and find something like a unit history or timeline.

From there you keep drilling down until you find a story that speaks to you.

Don't be discouraged if nothing can be found, there is more we dont know, than we know.

Most importantly   don't be like me, don't get lost in the details.

[Bozothenutter]

3 hours ago, Bullbasket said:

As an aside, if you wanted to do a search on here for something specific, be aware, that like a lot of sites, the search engine isn't wonderful. When you do a search it throws up a lot of things unconnected to what you're looking for. The best way to find something on BM, is to do a Google search, and be specific, and at the end, type the word Britmodeller. I've found that that works everytime.

 

John.

Even better:

'searchterm' site:britmodeller.com 

This tells Google to only search britmodeller.com 

[Bill1974]

Does anyone have any more suggestions in the 'useful websites' that you use?

 

 

[StuartH]

15 hours ago, Bill1974 said:

Does anyone have any more suggestions in the 'useful websites' that you use?

 

 

 

I find https://tanks-encyclopedia.com/ to be very useful