I’ve just got back in my man cave after a protracted absence, and I have been musing on why there are some projects, that don’t pan out as intended. I always plan to push myself and better my last creation, but on occasion many things can and do conspire against that happening. One such example is a shelf queen resurrection project, already some eight years gathering dust. Although to be fair, it was in fact thankfully sat in a box quite dust free, but the gathering bit sounds more appropriate😊 In February I had just finished a lightning quick build of the same vehicle by a different manufacturer and was lucky enough to get it published. This inspired me to pull this older build off the shelf and make it even better.
The kit in question is the Dragon kit #6562, their 2009 release of the 8 ton Sd.Kfz. 7 Mittlerer Zugkraftwagen. Nothing particularly new or exciting to many, but having just completed the Trumpeter version, which in my opinion is a far more challenging build, this kit is the only other one available in 1/35 scale. There were a few construction issues to remedy but as it was pretty much 99% built, I was happy to concentrate all my efforts on the paint job.
I primed and base coated ignoring the frankly puzzling kit box art (not sure what they were smoking that day!) and I was pleased with progress. I was having fun with the airbrush, hairspray chipping, and all the pleasure that comes with laying down a smooth basecoat and then creating fine chips and in-scale damage to the paintwork. Then I threw myself a curve ball!
My original intention was to copy the plain dark yellow with the addition of some operational scars. This would make for contrast from my recent Trumpeter kits but, whilst looking at reference material I stumbled across two images of an abandoned vehicle towing a Flak gun that stirred my creative juices. At this point I decided I would sack my original ‘tank on a plank’ idea and try and loosely replicate this actual vehicle, give it some context, and place it on a small base.
I figured to keep the project spinning I would also utilise a ready built 3.7cm Flak gun it had been towing. Although it was difficult to determine from the images whether either vehicle had any camo applied, I kept with the idea of plain yellow for the HT but for some interest, I would add an Autumn camo scheme to the Flak gun and trailer. Looking at the timeline of the image this could have been possible, so that was airbrushed down without drama.
In hindsight my next move was a rash one, and it ultimately snowballed into a painful series of events that not only spoiled my fun but threatened to derail the whole project. For some unfathomable reason, although I had already spent a considerable amount of time on both adding camo to the flak, and layering the dirty and faded dark yellow paint finish, chips an all, I decided to give both vehicles a coat of faded winter whitewash!
I had no experience of applying winter whitewash over a dark yellow base, but I am confident using hairspray and it would add another string to my bow. What could possibly go wrong. Overreaching my capabilities and ambition is what!, so it really shouldn't have been a surprise to me when things went pear shaped and results were not to my liking. WTF was I thinking!
I’m a perfectionist and I want every project to be the best it can be. I like praise, who doesn’t, it’s nice for your work to be appreciated and although there are many who say ‘f##k em, I don’t give a hoot what other folks say’, I’m not one of them! Constructive criticism and a perceived improvement are what drives me to become a better modeller. Should I push some boundaries? yes. Are my skills improving? I think so. Am I consistently building better models? I should be! I’ve not been model making for a huge length of time, maybe a decade or so excluding my attempts as a junior, so where should I expect to be by now? Am I on the right road? It certainly doesn’t feel like it sometimes.
This quote I found on another modellers blog page sums up things perfectly for me and offers some great advice.
“Nobody tells this to people who are beginners, I wish someone told me. All of us who do creative work, we get into it because we have good taste. But there is this gap. For the first couple years you make stuff, it’s just not that good. It’s trying to be good, it has potential, but it’s not. But your taste, the thing that got you into the game, is still killer. And your taste is why your work disappoints you. A lot of people never get past this phase, they quit. Most people I know who do interesting, creative work went through years of this. We know our work doesn’t have this special thing that we want it to have. We all go through this. And if you are just starting out or you are still in this phase, you gotta know its normal and the most important thing you can do is do a lot of work. Put yourself on a deadline so that every week you will finish one story. It is only by going through a volume of work that you will close that gap, and your work will be as good as your ambitions. And I took longer to figure out how to do this than anyone I’ve ever met. It’s gonna take awhile. It’s normal to take awhile. You’ve just gotta fight your way through.”
Unfortunately, I do myself no favours in having a narrow selection of subjects that I enjoy building. I should, but I don’t, build aircraft or boats or Sci-Fi and thus, effortlessly switching between subjects has never been a thing for me. I know I should try because I know deep down it would make me a far more profficient modeller, but I simply have no desire to do so! Even amongst land based AFV’s I’ve never built many that you would consider mainstream. I’m interested in a particular period of one conflict and pretty much any vehicle, particularly soft skins, that appeared in it, could get my creative juices flowing, so I’m really not doing myself any favours in expanding my skill set.
So, back to my frustrating Dragon kit project. What have I learned? For one thing creating a plan and sticking to it from the outset is something I need to adopt. Deviating without a plan has not worked in this instance. Maybe a deadline date too like my last build 😊 Another is not to assume the next project will go as well as the one before. I simply don’t complete enough projects and I need to improve on that. It’s all a learning process and consistency can only ever be achieved with practice and this project is just that. Nothing more.
I still have a long way to go.
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