Messerschmitt Bf 109 E3 ragove Matchbox 1/32

[Papa]

I have been holding on to this kit for at least 25 years and I think It’s about time to start it. I am also busy with the deck structures on the Charles W Morgan, so it will probably be slow going. Now if I can just not lose any parts during construction. 😁

[Old Collingwood]

Welcome to the  "We build anything plastic  and other mediums"   Club,    if it moves  we build  if it dont move we still build it.

 

OC.

[Canute]

"If it moves, salute it. If it doesn't, paint it." Some may recognize that adage. 

[Old Collingwood]

6 minutes ago, Canute said:

"If it moves, salute it. If it doesn't, paint it." Some may recognize that adage. 

Yep  RN.

 

OC.

[Papa]

I’ve been building models for close to 70 years now. I must have been 8 when I started with some wooden airplane kit. Perhaps Strombecker. Not sure when I did my first plastic one. The quality of plastic kits has improved fantastically over the years.  The prices seem relatively higher to me now, than as a kid.  I recall buying kits for maybe 89 cents to a bit over $1. But a 1959 dollar is only worth about$10 today. And many kits are 3 to 4 times that.  Some are even in the hundreds of dollars.  Are there any young people making models or are we all old!

[Edwardkenway]

4 hours ago, ragove said:

Are there any young people making models or are we all old!

My granddaughter was watching me the other day doing some work on my Cutter, after 5 or so minutes walked off saying that she wouldn't have the patience to make a model. 🙄

So I think that unless  it's instant gratification like a video game, they tend not to bother. That said there are younger people modelling. 

[Papa]

I started studying the ME 109 plans and found that the color call-outs are all on a single page showing each part to be painted and the color. I’ve never seen this before. 

[lmagna]

23 hours ago, Canute said:

"If it moves, salute it. If it doesn't, paint it." Some may recognize that adage.

Goes hand in hand with "If the Army wanted you to have a wife, she would be issued to you and painted OD."

 

 

11 hours ago, ragove said:

Are there any young people making models or are we all old!

Few and far between I suspect, at least in the kinds of models we like to see and build. There may be more "younger" modelers in the RC industry especially planes and cars. But then I look a many pictures here on MSW and many of the collections people seem to have in their houses seem to be comprised of models they built when they were young. SO maybe the new generation are doing the same thing and building the collections of tomorrow that they will be able to show off. 

[popeye the sailor]

you get questions like.......what do you do with it when your done?  my two boys........if they can't endlessly manipulate it,  they're not interested    the old days before the internet....and TV........of course saw the biggest influx of modelers.  crafting today is foreign.......why make it when you can buy it already made.   it goes for other things too......like farming,  and things we took for granted,  but were sustaining {I'd give anything to be back on a farm  }   I hope they know what to do when the word goes to snuff   

 

that would be a matchbox thing.........most companies illustrate the painting as the model is built.  here they figure that this would unclutter the process.  little do they realize that it's all the same     I haven't built a Messerschmitt in eons......I'd love to watch  

[Papa]

Weird thing with the paint guide is that not all parts are shown.  Also the instructions are very vague as to where some of the parts go.  Anyway, here is the engine. I think the paint needs a tad touching up.

[Papa]

Pilot waiting for his 109 to get built

[Papa]

The instrument panel came pretty well. Though I need to touch up a few spots. The danger of close-up photos is that you can see all the oopsies. 

[Papa]

It is starting to come together nicely. 

[Papa]

As I began to assemble the fuselage I found that the fit was so poor that it wasn’t worth the effort to continue.  The nicely detailed engine wouldn’t fit it the engine compartment for example without removing a number of details.  Since the engine is covered anyway, I figured what the heck. But the pieces of the fuselage that were to fit over the nose guns left a 1/8” gap. At this point, I decided no further effort was warranted. Into the circular file she went. 
 

Since I was in a Luftwaffe mood, I started an other kit from my stash. A Dornier DO 217K-1. 

[mtaylor]

Sorry to hear that as she was looking so good.  

[Papa]

Many old kits do not have the quality tooling as we have today and they are probably better left to collectors to keep in shrink wrap, or for better qualified builders than I. 

[popeye the sailor]

agreed.........I'm working on one right now.   not so much the fit,  but the subject was all off........very easy to change     but you are right.......there are some kits out there that aren't worth the time.  I've never done a Matchbox kit.

[Canute]

They're a challenge. Plus they had very deep panel lines in some of their aircraft kits.

[GrandpaPhil]

I know a few younger people who build models, but not too many.  
 

A couple of my coworkers are interested in the ships but claim lack of patience to build one.

[mtaylor]

1 hour ago, GrandpaPhil said:

I know a few younger people who build models, but not too many.  
 

A couple of my coworkers are interested in the ships but claim lack of patience to build one.

 

That's a very common excuse, Phil.   But it may be valid as some do have an attention deficit  problem.  Or, maybe it's just fear of messing up badly.

[Egilman]

4 hours ago, GrandpaPhil said:

A couple of my coworkers are interested in the ships but claim lack of patience to build one.

 

2 hours ago, mtaylor said:

That's a very common excuse, Phil. 

Yes it is, When people look at finished builds it's usually the first thing out of their mouths... (or the comment "I always thought they were toys") Kinda as an afterthought they add "Nice job, or beautiful work or the question on "How long did that take?" If you give them a truthful answer then the excuse comes I always wanted to get into model building but I just don't have the time.....

 

What really gets their attention, is when you start telling them about it in the historical context, what it represents how it came about, what it was used for and so on.... That's when you can tell if they are shining you on....

 

Sometimes their reactions are quite funny actually when you realize that they want to get as far away as possible....

[Roger Pellett]

That same guy could probably spend an endless amount of time telling you about his golf game.

[lmagna]

6 hours ago, Roger Pellett said:

That same guy could probably spend an endless amount of time telling you about his golf game.

Or intimate details of every game his favorite team played last year. To him THAT is history!

[Roger Pellett]

When I lived in Southeastern, Ohio a favorite conversation starter was, “How bout them Ears?”   Ears referring to the West Virginia University’s  Mountaineers football team.  A pipe fitting salesman used to call on us who introduced himself as “beef” which I thought was rather strange until I learned that that had been his nickname on the  Mountaineers football team.  This was supposed to get his customers’ attention.

 

Roger