Gestalt, Rivet Counting, and Upcoming Projects

DML MiG-17 out of the box, looks pleasing to me, I enjoyed the build, but there are flaws that knock it out of what many would call the level of excellence. I built this nearly 14 years ago, I still remember the joy of finishing this model.

In my workshop, I try for excellence, but I rarely feel like I have achieved what many would consider excellence. Every now and then I build a model that I am very pleased with, but all my models are enjoyable. That’s what I am after.

The truth is - and if you have looked at my photos up close you can see so - none of my models are really works of utter perfection, and few would win top awards in competitions. That’s because I am not building for competitions. I am building to have a model that is a wonderful object to look at. That means if I have filled and sanded a seam six times and it still shows, I’m going to just go with it and there will be a small seam - in the end I don’t care. The overall effect is what I enjoy, and hope that translates to enjoyable builds that are not bogged down by an outside standard I am trying to build toward. 

In the design world, we called this compositional idea gestalt. Gestalt is a German term that means, in general, that the overall whole composition is perceived by the viewer as more than merely the sum of its parts. It means the whole assembly and unifying finish and the effect of one element upon another causes the model (or painting or user interface or building…) to appear to have more presence and substance than merely its assembled components. It is a unified whole.

This is why a well-built and excellently painted model of a biplane, for example, looks rather ham-fisted compared to a less-skilled build of the same biplane that has been fully rigged with fine line. The whole perception is changed with details or attention to the overall model’s presence as a whole subject.

I can’t really understand rivet counters and those who break out micrometers to measure 2mm slope differentials over the course of 4 centimeters of fuselage. Such scale variances are hardly discernible to the naked eye. I’ve seen people build models and correct for such contours with much labor and gnashing of teeth, using cross section templates and precision tools. If that’s your fun place, well good, we need good detail people in the world to build bridges and pacemakers, but that’s not for me.

I’ve seen people remove an entire line of rivets because it was literally 3 rivets short, and they had to re-make all those rivets to get the spacing right. Now, I respect the scale-mindedness of such modelers, I just can’t see the joy or the end-game in such work. Whatever floats your boat. The model they end up with, however, sitting side by side with an out-of-the box build of even a less-accurate model built by a skilled builder, will look virtually the same to most viewers.

Should we strive for scale accuracy? Of course, we are “scale” modelers and build models of actual stuff rather than just making up fantasy objects as we go. Anyone can do that. But there is a threshold in each modeler’s mind where scale fidelity crosses over into slavish drudgery. I don’t like to go there. I’ll correct obvious flaws, like the rudder tip and wheel wells on my 1/48 MS.406. But I did not bother with the incorrect and rather gross broadness of the fuselage near the rear. That would have made the project an unfinished kit. It still looks like a mighty fine MS.406 to me.

In my workshop, I build because I enjoy the craft, the history, the overall effect of the model at the end. I suspect there are a lot of folks like me out there but who don’t say it because of the perception among modelers that we ought to be persnickety about infinite detail. Don’t build for others, nor the approval of others. Yes, improve, ask for critique, don’t cry when you get it, and learn from mistakes. But don’t live for the approval of the modeling community. You’ll end up depressed and bitter and threatening to stop posting your pictures. 

In the big picture, we build stuff that most people think are just silly toys. If you think about it, our hobby is assembling and painting plastic airplanes and tanks, and when you word it that way, it takes a little of the seriousness away. Most modelers could use a dose of that, I think. Keep our hobby in perspective, enjoy it, but don’t get ruled by it.

1/48 MiG-17 built as a Lim-5/6 (I built it wrong, its a Polish hybrid). Despite the fact that there are seams showing on the bottom and a lack of detail in the cockpit, this project represents many milestones in finishing for me. I used oil paints to vary the surface (they call it filtering today, I still call it "scrubbing oil paints into the surface.") I did chipping before it was cool, and used ground pastels before they sold them for twice the price as "pigments." The model is an overall favorite of mine.

Upcoming Projects

I usually try to finish what I publish here, but there are some gaps. I had a 1/32 MiG-19 that is still on hold and if I went back through al my posts, I’d find more I am sure. But sometimes you have to move on. I am starting Trumpeter’s 1/48 scale MiG-23M and will have a build article when I get enough material together for a first installment. I think it will be one of those enjoyable builds that turns out to be a nice model on the display shelf.

My KV-1 build is mostly out of the box, but I did some basic techniques like stippling the cast turret and adding torch cut irregularities to the plate steel edges.

I’ll be adding more armor to my blog too - I’ll be finishing a Trumpeter 1/35 scale KV-1 tank with some chipping fluid and MRP paints, and documenting the process. I might even document the final weathering of a very old M-107 Self Propelled Gun that I build long ago but just recently weathered. I was greatly aided by help from the Scale Modeler's Critique Group on Facebook, they are good folks.

This is the aircraft I will be finishing, the Fujimi MiG-21PF (late) is actually a rather limuted version. With the broad chord tail combined with the early style canopy, the aircraft represents a MiG-21FL Indian manufactured variant.

I have a 1/72 scale Fujimi MiG-21PF awaiting paint and decals. This build was in-line with what I spoke about above. I know the Fujimi kit is the least accurate of the various MiG-21 kits out there, but its the most enjoyable of them all to actually build. And compared to many drawings, its really not that far off. It looks exceptionally good when finished well, and I still like this kit. I’ll be painting a silver Indian aircraft with a green exercise tail from the 8th Pursuit squadron.

And as always, these are subject to be shelved for interesting projects of fancy. But I sincerely hope the few readers of this blog enjoy it, its nice to see I have some regulars now, and the build articles are being shared frequently on various forums, generating comments and critiques. I appreciate it.