SPA Modeler

The Yahu panels look great! Question... what do you guys think of aftermarket sets that require no assembly, painting, decal placement, etc? No judgement here... just conversation while Kenny is in wait mode on this build.

jkim wrote:The Yahu panels look great! Question... what do you guys think of aftermarket sets that require no assembly, painting, decal placement, etc? No judgement here... just conversation while Kenny is in wait mode on this build.

I can’t picture many such items beyond something like a Yahu IP. Nearly every AM item, even the pre painted stuff, requires some effort: surgery, gluing, installation, etc. But as a concept I have mixed feelings. For collecting purposes, sure why not. For competition purposes, I say no. Somebody else is doing the work.

I’m not competing, so for me it’s a no-brainer- they look nice and my model will be all the better for it.

Competing ruined my powerlifting, the idea of competing ruined my Jiu Jitsu practice, it’s never worked for me. I like a nice, clean IP that I don’t have to mess with, that looks nice in the aircraft I build. I’m sure there’s other modelers out there who think I ain’t real for doing that, and I don’t care. I can work a 60 hour week and then wake up with a hangover at 4AM on a Saturday, make breakfast for my kids, then hit the gym and deadlift 315 for reps and then run a 10K. I’m hardcore enough without having to mess with painting and dry brushing IP’s.

A simple IP upgrade is not a big deal. But as interpreted John’s question, imagine a whole drop in pre fitted, pre painted, pre weathered cockpit. One that was meant for that kit. And let’s say there was a similar engine for that kit. Now of course the modeler still has to do all the basic remaining construction and finishing work. But those two pre made add ones increase the wow factor of a build.
Some kits of mine are built for me, some for club group builds, and occasionally for certain competitions. As long as one does not obsess over competition, and let it consume you, it does help us improve.

I can’t really speak to that, as I love painting cockpits and detailing them, but that’s just me and I can’t allow myself to be solipsistic and think that everybody does. Maybe some people think dealing with cockpits sucks like I think dealing with IP’s sucks. THAT SAID, if you didn’t build it yourself and paintnit yourself, it doesn’t belong in competition. And THAT SAID, I don’t compete and I love PE IP’s and won’t use anything else. And again, I don’t compete. And I don’t care that my skill is “lacking” in the eyes of some because I ise pre-fab IP’s. I’ve paid my dues and done my time with painting IP’s and I dislike them, and don’t use them. And that’s fine.

I hear you and agree. In all honesty, it is a rare modeler who can make a kit IP look anywhere as near as good as any upgraded or replaced IPs. That is just how it is. I’ve done a few PE IPs, used lots of AM instrument decals to improve kit IPs, and look forward to trying a Yahu IP one day.

On one hand, I am like a kid in a candy store when confronted with all of the aftermarket stuff that is available today. But when I saw the Yahu panels, I kinda went Hmmm... no work involved? And that gave me pause. I guess it is splitting hairs because unless we're building completely from scratch, all of us are utilizing things that are molded, sculpted or painted by others. Is there any difference between the relatively elementary assembly of a three-part, pre-painted Eduard photoetch instrument panel and the Yahu panel?

I personally like working on instrument panels. If available, I like resin sets with molded instrument panels and blank, smooth dial faces which accept individual instrument panel decals. My second choice would be an unpainted photoetch set with the instrument faces printed on a piece of clear acetate. The funny thing is 99% of my builds will be with canopy closed and that makes the instrument panel is very hard to see. So why would I spend all that time punching individual instrument dials when I'm not going to be able to see my work through the plastic canopy? When I think about this question, I realize that, for me, model building is more about the process and less about the actual result.

Sorry for hijacking your build thread, Kenny! I just thought it was an interesting topic and I wanted to hear people's opinion on it.

No problem John, it is an interesting subject.

The engine, post burnt umber wash:

Nice!