[Epapazian]

I was rummaging through an old storage space over the holiday weekend and came across a dusty crate containing many of my early attempts at detailing warbird models, circa 1993-95, mostly. This is when I took up the hobby seriously after a very long hiatus. At that time, I had a bunch of very old WWII ID models, plus some more recent replicas of the same series using modern resin. In general, the models were pretty awful, but that didn't phase me. Referring to various picture-laden books I had accumulated over the years, I bought a lot of paint and decals and started painting. I thought I really knew what I was doing and, incredibly, I thought that my early efforts were terrific. But they weren't.

Fortunately, the rational side of my brain kept telling me that I had to do better, so I kept at it. First, I learned to prep the models by sanding down bumps, removing scratches, inscribing missing panel lines, etc. Then, I thought myself how to attain a smooth finish---even though I brush painted rather than spraying. Getting the decals on properly also was a challenge, but I mastered it by trial and error. Using Future polish in combination with aftercoats of Dullcoat posed it's own set of problems, but I began to catch on, though a number of models went into the scrap bin during this process.

The hardest parts of this evolution were finding how to make the canopies, turrets and windows look reasonably realistic, fashioning missing or broken add-on parts, such as pitot heads, cannons, tailwheels, etc. and, finally, weathering the models. Blotch camouflage schemes were also an issue for a brush painter like myself, but I have developed a dilution technique, coupled with a soft dabbing approach that is not totally perfected, but gets me closer to where I want to be.

My point is this. I can see why fashioning a model out of many fiddly bits from a kit, then painting and detailing it, seems like an imposing task for many collectors. And it is. But repainting already built diecast models----even if one must do so from top to bottom---is not as difficult a task. All one has do do is set about to acquire the required skills and cope with occasional setbacks and frustrations. I 'm really glad that I made such an effort, starting with my plastic ID models , then with far better resin castings and finally with diecast models. I'm not saying that everybody has to agree with me on this and I certainly will not fault those who remain reluctant to try. But even though I still have a lot to learn about model making and detailing, this aspect has greatly enhanced my enjoyment of the hobby.

To demonstrate my own evolution as a detailer the following pages contain pictures of my earliest efforts up to some of my latest creations. I hope they inspire some of you to go down the same path.

[Epapazian]

[Gort]

I’ll say this, Epapazian ... you’ve got the patience of Job coupled with Michelangelo’s talent. I used to love sitting for hours on end building and painting models, growing my skills, doing my dandiest to produce mini masterpieces. But one day I squinted at the model I was working on and decided my heart no longer glowed with enjoyment. I put it down and never returned.

It all funneled into that one defining moment: decades of passion swirled down the drain.

And then ... diecast came along. And my passion for models (albeit diecast) grew by leaps and bounds again.

[Epapazian]

I don't want to imply that I don't like kit-builds. Here are some of mine.

[Cruver Collecter]

Beautiful work you did there. Hope some of these eventually get done in diecast.

[Paladin18]

An inspirational post with wise words and good advice...great pics too by the way! Many thanks for sharing, Epapazian!