Though I really enjoy the weathered subjects that I complete these days, there is beauty in the simplicity of those finishes, that I can’t help but admire. Much like building cars and bikes, there’s something about the challenge of painting a model perfectly, without flaws, that I’m drawn to.
17th June 2025
Today has been one of those get your head down and get on with it kinda days. I had the interior of the F-35 to complete, so I put on a few interesting podcasts, grabbed the acrylics and fine brushes and set to work…
I knew that the detail painting would be a longwinded process and so it proved to be. Having spent an eternity – or so it seemed at the time – painting the weapons and gear bays for my F-35B, I was prepared to spend the same amount of time today, picking out the almost illegal levels of detail that Tamiya had chosen to add inside their model. I was almost lulled into a false sense of security as well. Having already done it once (and frankly decided at that point to never do it again…) I figured I would know some corner-cuts and be able to paint it a little quicker this time around. Yeah, that didn’t work. In fact, I’m sure it took me longer as my desire to create a better bay this time around, hit the perfectionist button inside my head and I started to faff with it, despite knowing that the results I’d achieved thus far, were more than adequate.
It got me thinking through. Taking away the obvious uptick in quality of modern day kits, techniques that we employ take far longer to carry out than back in the day especially when it comes to painting.
When I started out, models would be painted in blocked-out colours and if you were lucky, you might add a wash here and there, but that was by no means mandatory. Looking at my Lightning, the model was to all intents and purposes fully painted last week, that is, if a time shift had taken place and we’d rolled the clock back to 1984. But no, the work that I had already carried out was the easy bit. I’d basecoated the parts, sure, but I’d not applied a wash, picked out the details or applied highlights and shadows, all of which I knew would take infinitely longer to complete. Basecoating the weapons bay took less than a minute; finishing its painting to the point I considered worthy of publication, another six hours!
Looking back on those models and the way they used to be finished for publication, I still can’t help but like them. Though I really enjoy the weathered subjects that I complete these days, there is beauty in the simplicity of those finishes, that I can’t help but admire. Much like building cars and bikes, there’s something about the challenge of painting a model perfectly, without flaws, that I’m drawn to. When you haven’t anything else to lean on like washes and other surface effects that detract the eye, I can see that those modellers still faced challenges that modern day modellers would perhaps not consider as they look upon work that can and often is, seen as old-fashioned.
As it is my interior is now complete so the model can be buttoned up over the next day or so. I like the results, but not sure I’m that happy to have spent so long on something that will be all-but hidden, with weapons in place. Still, I know it’s there, or so I’m told, which I guess is the name of the game. Maybe next time though I’ll build one of these things as they would have 40 years ago, just to see how challenging that would be in this day and age of complex kits and hyperreal paint finishes. Who knows I may just save myself some time along the way.
See you tomorrow.
HERE’S SOME OF MY LATEST POSTS FOR YOU TO ENJOY!
- A MODELMAKER’S LIFE: THREE MORE POINTS AT HOME…
More fun at the football! - A MODELMAKER’S LIFE: CHRISTMAS DAY
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- A MODELMAKER’S LIFE: THE SEVERN VALLEY RAILWAY
A wonderful day spent shopping and then admiring the sights, sounds and smells, of the Severn Valley Railway. - A MODELMAKER’S LIFE: CHRISTMAS BEGINS!
Family, food and building toys!
SPENCER POLLARD'S KIT BOX 
Hello Spencer, your painting of that gorgeous interior is unbelievable! I don’t think I have ever seen many to match it. I do understand the drive to perfection and how much work that entails, but then I think of building that Aurora FW190 and painting with a brush using Testor’s little bottles of enamels (back in late 50s or 60s). I wouldn’t be where I am (not that my work is a world shaker!) without constant attention to craftsmanship, detail. accuracy and perserverance to “get it right”. Kudos!
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Simply stunning work. I’ve found that a second build with details brought out always involves more, I tend to be a perfectionist and seem to always want to add more, and the paint can always be better. The lines we draw in the sand really need to be cut in stone. In all honesty the work of yours that I’ve seen in publications and in these posts is museum quality, faithful reproduction in miniature.
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