Why choosing a certain scale?
By Mario Covalski
For the last 20 years, I’ve read countless articles, editorials…etc about the scales, Which is the best one?, which is the best for us?; etc; most of the notes I read were technical ones, explaining how and the reason of each scale, pros and cons; etc.
Speaking among friends, in private, I would remark that the great pressure on detailing and the lot of aftermarket, have grown to excess, and in many cases, the aim of the hobby tends to disappear. Nowadays, the scratch nearly doesn’t exist, what for?, if everything is provided in PE, resin…etc
This race is affecting our judgment at the time of choosing a scale for our hobby.
Over and above all technical consideration, 20 years ago the modeler chose the scale following simple factors, and here I list some:
-Is the most common scale for its type, without taking any other consideration into account.
-There are more subjects to choose between.
-I don’t have space so, I need smaller models.
-I have a tight budget, and buy the cheapest models, no matter their scales.
-I look for higher level of details
-My vision is poor and smaller kits are complex for me to build.
-I’m a novice, not so skillful, and look for the most straightforward scale to build.
I could list more, but this is just to give you an idea what I’m speaking about. In the past, when you chose a 1/72 aircraft, was because we were short of money, scarce space or because there were more subjects available. This example was valid in other respects, If you liked a highly detailed Mustang P-51, naturally, you would choose a 1/32 Monogram..
Today, all this logic seems to be distorted, a 1/72 kit which costs 15 (USD) “needs” 100 (USD) in aftermarket to make the modeler happy, according to current modeling parameters, and the funny thing about this is that a 1/32 superb model might be built out of the box, cause “it needs no more detailing”.
Apparently, there’s a conceptual distortion, not among old modelers minds or very experienced masters, but imagine, a newcomer to the activity…he’s confused before starting, and believes that building scale models means to collect bags and bags with PEs, resin wheel wells…etc, inside the kit box…prior to the enjoyment of coming into contact with the plastic.
Who would be so fool to make some plastic or brass parts from scratch, if somebody else has made that work for us? There are a lot of things to say about, but an editorial must be short to keep its essence.
Many years ago, I read in a forum about a discussion, some said that in modeling are assemblers (who just glue parts), and real modelers (who scratchbuild or make large modifications)…I didn’t agree then, nevertheless, considering this discussion retrospectively, I think that modelers create our models on the basis of an illusion, magic, or call it the way you like, and we’re becoming a group of assemblers….following the instructions to the letter… therefore other people dreams.
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