Box it up...I'll take it...or a modeler's rant...
Ok, first the RFM Panther is a great kit. Some disappointments yep, but really wow! Second, I WANT TO THROW IT AT THE WALL! So it's time to take a break, as I really want to do the kit justice, but daayyyyuuuum. So my conundrum? I have this new airbrush, great Badger Renegade Krome, I pictured trying it out painting some late war Panther camo...NO NO NO NO NO NO! Because I will never ever ever finish this ^%$#!@@#! kit because it has 500,000,000 farking parts and I can't seem to make them all fit! Ok ok, breathe breathe... So Ok I will take a break, not the first time and 99% of the time I finish the kit and all is well. THEN THEN! I look at my stash, well Holy smokes! Which one will I build? AHHHHHHHH!?! Ok take a drink, clean the bench, breathe...whooo whooo, it's just a hobby yeah, it's all ok, plastic paint yeah? I spent a %^^$#$$ on that darned kit, maybe no no no...I love Monogram, but oh look pretty shiny...PRECIOUS! AHHHH, Whew...! LOL Sound familiar? The winner is my Academy Phantom the wife bought be for a birthday gift a couple years back. And good golly, I seem to have spent twice the price of the kit on resin and decals! Cheers mates!
Thank god for the beer...it’s the only thing sound in that workbench :-)))
Go for the Phantom Rob, it’s a great subject to build, pretty sure it will be far easier than the Panther 5 million part kit
The Phantom should be fun Rob. Personally I'm doing less after market parts because like you it seemed that all the AF was more expensive than the kit. Today it's a seat and maybe wheels and that's it. Having fun all over again.
I can easily see where after-market doubled the kit price. But hey...isn't that the "fun" part?
Nice! Do what I do when looking over and over at my large stash of unbuilt kits racking my brains on what to build next...I purchase a brand new kit to build!
Rob can I come over and share one of those tasty looking beers. I bet you always have the best tasting beers in your frig!...YUM!
That Sundowners scheme is my favorite Navy Phantom livery - you going to do that, or got something else in mind? I've got a 1/72 version and some decals waiting on me to get to it.
It is calming - isn't it - to take time occasionally to meditate on one's stash and envision all the happy outcomes...
A little Phantom therapy does seem to be in order. I might be starting another one meself soon. Speaking of beer ,was in an old haunt of my past in Virginia beach recently, a place called the Raven, the beer couldn't have been colder., small pleasures.
Have another beer or two. Or three. Or five. Take kit into backyard and open the box. Insert black cat or cherry bomb (I prefer the latter, the pieces fly farther). Light fuse and run. Cheer at the loud noise. Have a few more beers. Problem solved... 🙂
Phantom ok. Skyraider much better.
Rob,
Looks like you will be winning on three fronts. SWMBO will appreciate you building her gift and you will get a break from the purgatory of having to make the perfect Tank model. A break will do you good and the Phantom and it obligatory ,"Must haves" will makes for a good blog here on iModeler. I have a F-86 kit that I bought used it had all of the bells and whistles in resin and PE. Only, the resin and PE where dated, which meant up grades. Perfection, can be a complicated thing.
Thanks guys, I figure we all have been there! The Panther kit honestly is a great kit. It is just like building several kits, then trying to get them all to fit together. I had gotten to the point where I was cutting corners, and I don't want to do that so time for a break. I am leaving it on corner of the bench though, since when I do that I return to the kit sooner rather than later. The Phantom I have been collecting detail parts for on and off for over a year, and will either be VF-51 or VF 111. Though there are some other different schemes on the Furball sheets, you just have to match seats and details to the year the decals represent.
It is always easy to chose the nicest and easiest kit first. But that is also the way to ensure piling up stock you don't want to build.
Take a risk. Be brave. Be a maverick. Start on the least liked and/or difficult kit first, and work your way towards your favourite kit. Modelling can only get better and more enjoyable as you progress.
LOL, well I think that would mean I would get the end kit back out! I think the Phantom will do. It has languished for over a year, and the resin I bought just kept piling on.
I would suggest you take on a kit that would be a casual easy build. The F4 has plenty of parts and even more decals. I hit the 'Wall Of Frustration" recently also. I solved it by building the 1/48 Eduard He-280, box stock. The kit has all it needs including cockpit color PE and good decals. It is one color exterior and not a lot of weathering required. A great looking plane. It was styrene-therapy. Good luck. Now back to completing my 1/32 Revell Ar-196 on the MPH catapult launcher, Cool, Calm and collected.
I was getting really close to the "wall" during the four Fw-190 builds I had going during the Kasserine Pass GB. I knew it was coming so I took a temporary break and chose a kit that I was hoping would be a nice simple one. It was a nice idea since I had been wanting to build up an early 262 for a while now.
I decided that I would build up a Tamiya Me-262 jet. I wanted one in a single monotone color, so I chose to build up my model as an early "S" pre production bird. They were painted in overall RLM 76, so this was perfect.
I'm happy to say that it was exactly what I was looking for. A simple break from the project at hand, and it gave me the recharge I needed. It has to be one of the most enjoyable builds and fastest that I ever did. The only hiccup I ran into was when I fogged the canopy. Luckily it was an easy fix and was done in no time.
The Fw-190's went together like a breeze after this.
What I'm trying to say is I wouldn't go with something too overwhelming and stick with something simple.
But after the Panther, pretty much everything is going to be simple for you.
Follow your gut instinct and go with it.
I am one of those guys that had few issues building the Academy Phantom, a few seams I didn't quite get right, but the previous one I built was a breeze. The resin I bought mostly was less to fix deficiencies, but for areas that were tedious to assemble, bomb half seams, missile seams, areas I scratch built in the cockpit etc. I think it will be a nice balance of "goodies" and simple assembly. Edited to add: I'm a sick-o I love the tons of decals!