“Have Model Will Travel”
By Tony Wootson
Friday, February 03, 2006
Delaware Valley Scale Modelers Clinic
(Downloadable WORD Version)
(Web: http://www.scififantmodmadrealm.com)

(A question or three?)
I have several questions to ask. Do you wish you had more time to build models? When is the last time that you actually finished building a model anyway? Are you really satisfied with your model building output?

I suspect that most of you would say "NO!" to that last question. Most of us would probably like to build (and complete) more than a handful of models each year.

You may find building difficult due to family commitments. Also, we all have that four-letter word - ("work") - to deal with, that seems to gobble up ever increasing amounts of our time. What little time that's left is often consumed by little things in life that seem to never go away - things like eating, sleeping, and home chores and repairs.

This is one of the major reasons I suspect why most of us have an ever-increasing stash of unbuilt model kits.

I have a suggestion that may help you increase the number of models that you are currently building.

(The model building dilemma)
There are two basic parts to this problem. The first is that it takes a fair amount of time to finish work on a kit. This may be in the ballpark of 20 - 30 hours.

If you are working on a kit that is difficult to build or that has a lot of parts, this number will probably be higher. When you add to the mix weathering, extra detailing and the addition of aftermarket detail sets, the time it takes to complete your modeling masterpiece can really skyrocket.

The second part to this problem is that in the current, hectic times that we live in, it is hard to find this kind of time to invest into building models…Or is it?

(…and the solution: take your modeling with you)
Ok, enough beating around the bush. This is the first part of the solution. Instead of trying to find large amounts of time to spend on your models, the task becomes much easier and more manageable if broken down into smaller subtasks.

Even though it may take quite a number of hours to finish building a model, it may only take an hour or two to glue together one or two sub-assemblies. It may take only an additional hour to clean up the seams on the sub-assemblies. Doing some fine detail painting to features may add another hour to the mix.

When breaking down a task and applying some consistent time to the individual subtasks, the overall task can quickly be completed.

(Modeling in a box)
The way you can accomplish this is by creating a portable model supply toolbox. A friend of mine named Tim Lingle originally introduced me to this concept a number of years ago. What he ended up doing was purchasing a fishing tackle box and filling it up with different types of model building supplies.

A short time later I decided to give the idea a try. I picked up a Plano fishing tackle box. Its dimensions are 15“ wide, 8“ high and 8“ deep, and it has three shelves that expand out when opened up. There's also a pretty good size compartment found at the bottom of the box that can be used for storing larger supplies, or the parts of a model kit.

I was forced to expand the size of some of the inner shelf compartments (with my trusty, dusty sprue cutter and X-acto knife) in order to accommodate some larger tools, (like the sprue cutter).

Once I did this though, I was good to go. I was able to store just about anything and everything that I needed to assemble and do fine detail painting on my model kits.

The supplies and tools included were several types of liquid cements, a number of bottled paints and some fine paintbrushes, (for both precision applications of the liquid cements, along with the fine detail painting). I also added clothespins, rubber bands, small metal clamps and masking tape, to hold the setting parts together.

Sprue cutters, scissors, an X-acto knife (with extra blades), super glue, toothpicks, small pieces of aluminum foil and a bottle of super glue accelerator were also included.

Additional items were a number of model tube putties, a plastic syringe for precise application of the putty, some metal files, emery boards and small sheets of various grades of sandpaper.

Finishing up the tools inventory were several bottles of decal setting solutions, a small plastic film canister containing water, tweezers, some sheets of paper towels, Q-tips, and a couple of pencils, pens, magic markers and a metal ruler.

The large compartment found at the bottom of the modeling box turned out to be the perfect size to accommodate two small 1:144 scale Gundam robots that I had been working on. It would also fit the boxes of several small 1:35 scale military figure sets, or a small 1:72 scale aircraft model kit.

By subdividing a larger kit's sprue into smaller subsections, they can be made to fit into this lower compartment as well.

(Additional locations where you can work on your models)
At Work - Once you create your portable modeling box and fill it up with your modeling supplies, you are ready. One place you can use it is at work. Even though we all have to work, most of us get some sort of lunch break. Also, it generally does not take up our whole lunchtime to eat lunch. In the allotted half-hour to an hour, you can get a surprising large amount of construction done on a model sub-assembly.
On Business Trips - Does your job require you to take business trips? If so, how much free time do you have once you've finished work for the day and checked into your hotel? I bet quite a bit. Instead of spending (and wasting) hours in front of the boob tube, you could put some time into working on your models.
On Vacation - How about vacations? Recently I took a mini-vacation with my two sons and my folks. During one of the days I took my sons first over to an inside pool, followed by taking them out to swim at a nearby lake. Since I wasn't getting into the water with them, I had what turned out to be three or four hours to kill. I brought my portable model box with me and was able to finish work on most of the assembly of my two Gundam robots. Ironically, I had originally started working on them several weeks earlier during a lunch break at work. The next day while my sons were watching TV I was able to sand smooth some of the seams on a number of the subassemblies.

(Exceptions to the rule)
Even though there is quite a bit of model work that you can do with your portable model box, there nevertheless remain some tasks that you can’t accomplish. These include airbrushing and spray painting. The excessive paint and the smelly fumes make these modeling tasks not good ones to do while away from home. (…Although, when you think of it, nowadays with some of the mini air-compressors currently on the market along with some of the newly formulated acrylic paints available, if you are careful enough and have a dedicated location where you can allow your newly painted assembly to dry, this may also be feasible.)

In general, though when you think about it the airbrushing and spray painting of a model generally takes up only a small part of the total building process. It is usually the rather boring, mundane model construction tasks of part gluing and seam cleaning, along with your decal applications that consume most of the model building time. Once a model is to the point of being ready to be painted, it is very close to being complete.

(The second part of the solution?)
I’ve actually only mentioned one of the two parts to this solution of building models. This second part may actually not be all that much of a problem at all: It is discipline! If you can discipline yourself to consistently apply these small amounts of time into work on your models, (whenever and where ever they are available), then before you know it your model will be just about complete.

The next time you are in a department or sporting goods store, pick up a fishing tackle box, fill it up with your own modeling supplies and take it and a kit along with you when you go to work or on a trip. When you get some free time, open it up and start a little modeling.

You'll be happy with your results.




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