The key to making
good models is simple. TAKE YOUR TIME. BE PATIENT with yourself and let your talents grow. Rome was not built in
a day, and neither is talent. HASTE MAKES WASTE was never more true than when applied to building models.
Typically,
I try to be as thorough as possible in my research and assembly. Research is usually about 4 to 5 hours for each model.
The
average tank takes me about 40 hours from start to finish. Larger tanks can take 60 hours.
Each figure averages
about 10 hours, especially if laden with equipment. A face can take
forever, and I often do them over 4 or 5 times. As a result, some faces take 1- 3 hours.
Aircraft
can take from 60 to over 100 hours. Sometimes, I make dreadful mistakes
and I have to buy another kit to get parts I have destroyed or blemished
beyond repair. My record is 4 kits used to build the Monogram F-14A shown on this site. Extensive
modifications to the stock model were the cause of many bloopers on this F-14!
Accidents
DO HAPPEN, so never give up. In building the Dauntless SBD, I spent
many many hours doing the interior, and set the fuselage halves on my work desk to dry. One of my cats, Audie
Murphy, took a stroll across the desk that night. I had neglected to tightly
cap my Testors liquid glue and he knocked it over, turning half the
fuselage into a mass of liquified plastic. This SBD was an old Matchbox kit long out of production,
but miraculously, I looked on EBay and someone had JUST POSTED the same model for sale.
I bid an absurd amount to get it, and the result can be seen in the
photo album. Fortune favors the deliberate.
The
good pictures in this site were taken by my sister, Rica (Rickie) Asaban. The lousy ones
were taken by me. As the site progresses, I will add better photos!
