“I’ve lost my mojo…” How many times have you heard this or one of its near-infinite variations? Probably a lot. It’s an annoyingly common complaint in the modeling community. And it fundamentally misunderstands motivation and how it works. On Resistance For a number of years, writing was my hobby. That ended when my career shifted…
Category: Rants
Review: 1/48 Kitty Hawk Su-17M3/M4 Fitter
You know that old saying “you attract more flies with honey”?
It’s false.
If the conversation that’s swirled around this build review is anything to go by, you attract more flies with a steaming pile of garbage.
The Hubris of Hobby Boss
When Hobby Boss let it slip that they would be releasing the Flanker family in 1/48 scale, the news was met with guarded excitement. On the one hand, the Flanker – in its many guises – is a fascinating subject for modern aircraft modelers. It’s big. It’s got perhaps the best lines of any modern…
The Problem with Panel Line Shading – 1 Year Later
One year ago today, I hit publish on a rant against pre-shading – specifically pre-shading panel lines. I also hit some nerves, judging by the storm and fury churned up in the post’s comments, on Facebook, and across various forums. Good. This hobby is about relaxation and decompression, sure, but for many of us it’s…
“It’s the modeler at his bench…”
Topics tend to come back around in the modeling community. And for the past month or so, it seems like the crosshairs have landed on airbrushes. Please allow me to contain my boundless enthusiasm. See…discussions about airbrushes…or any other tool or material (or hell…any kit) will inevitably result in someone wandering in and dropping this gem:…
Slow Down, Speed Racer
Want to step up your modeling game? Here’s an idea – slow the fuck down. What’s brought this about? Over the past few weeks, I’ve seen a spate of builds that have gone by in the blink of an eye. One of them began with the proud purchase of a rather marginal kit this past…
On Conflation
In wrapping up my review of the Fly Hurricane, I touched on the idea of modeling preferences falling on a spectrum (or really, multiple spectrums). There was a reason for this. This hobby, perhaps more than any other I’ve been a part of, is given to rampant conflation. That is to say, taking two separate…
Haters Gonna Hate
When I started this blog as a side project/sandbox/way to give back nearly six years ago (holy shit does time fly!), I could not have guessed that it would reach the heights it has. What started as a place for me to ramble mostly to myself has grown into a blog that racks up around…
America. Not that Great (at Modeling).
***NOTE: I’ve seen a few comments around the interwebs accusing me of being a European troll or something. LOL. Talk about a failure of reading comprehension. But, to set the record straight, I’m an American. And I’m a Texan, which makes me, like, a Super American.*** Recently, Jon over at The Combat Workshop tossed up…
One Shot, and Only One
How long do you have to stick with a product before you can pass judgment on it? To some out there, it’s inappropriate to call a product crap when it completely and totally fails you out of the gate. Screw that. Look. Right now, we’re absolutely spoiled for choice. In the kits we build, the…
Doogs Models 