A MODELMAKER’S LIFE: THAT ALL-IMPORTANT SECOND PAIR OF EYES…

Asking another modeller for advice brings in all sorts of biases, their natural instinct to pass on what they would do, muddying the waters in ways I don’t often appreciate no matter how well-intentioned.

10th June 2025

If today has reminded me of one thing, it is that I always need a second pair of eyes when I complete a complex build, especially one that is as important as the façade that I have now finished. 

Those eyes are almost always my wife’s. She can endlessly see issues with models that I build and though she doesn’t have too much interest in aircraft and tanks – as she describes them – when it comes to real-life objects and structures, she really comes into her own.

This weekend as I boxed-up the facade within its glass frame, she noted that the top of the model and the upper row of windows was rather hidden by the not-so-accommodating reveal, and that that area was too dark compared with the rest of the model. I couldn’t help but agree. When she then suggested having the upper panel in clear plastic, rather than black mount board, thus letting more light in from above, the problem was solved in an instant. All I had to do was order some clear plastic and wait for it to arrive…

This afternoon with the new panel in place I could bring everything together, gummed paper tape (the type you would use to frame a picture) sealing the frame in, with its all-important box. From the off I’d imagined keeping it that way, but the way it looked just didn’t seem right, so I asked Liz for a second opinion. Wrinkled nose and the comment “are you going to keep it that way” forced the rethink I knew was needed, followed by an overcoat of flat black acrylic that tied it all together. I knew it didn’t look right, but I still wanted that second opinion. And now it looks perfect; not unfinished. Thought through; not slapped together. It looks…how it should.

Years back, Liz was instrumental in the design of The Workshop diorama that I built. It took an eternity to settle on the shape of the building, my initial design being a shallow ‘L’, which I didn’t really like. Liz suggested adding a new wall to the front of the building, so I mocked it up and bingo! the whole scene suddenly worked. The rest as they say, is history.

Having someone to hand who can assess a model without the baggage of being a modeller, is a gift that I don’t often pass up. Asking another modeller for advice brings in all sorts of biases, their natural instinct to pass on what they would do, muddying the waters in ways I don’t often appreciate no matter how well-intentioned. But having the opinion of someone who is simply offering ideas blind, can really help clear my mind and let me see my work in very different way. The changes are often subtle, the advice minimal, but when it comes to important builds that I know will matter to the clients that have commissioned each one, it all becomes a priceless part of the process.

So the façade is now complete and boxed up ready to travel down to Devon at the weekend. It’s been a truly collaborative effort, with Drewe Manton and Liz all playing a part in its construction which has made it a memorable project even though at times it was one that I would rather forget! I do though love the resulting model and will be sad to see it go. I just hope my client feels the same way about it as I do – I think they will.

See you tomorrow.