Howdy…
I was going through the pictures from the family archives a few days ago, and found a few from a mid-1970's Christmas. My brother and I would open up the gifts, look at everything, then pile up the loot in a neat stack. Well, in one of those stacks I spied a Revell 1/72 Mirage III kit, and can still recall building it. Back then, it took maybe two hours from beginning to end. I do remember that the kit had a complete engine, as I found that engine sometime later when we moved out of the house we grew up in sometime in 1989.
Back then, it was pretty easy to figure out what models I wanted–any and all of them, regardless of scale or subject matter. I was a few years removed from deciding that I wanted a collection of World War the Second airplanes in 1/48 scale, so for the time being my motto was "if its plastic, I'll build it". I recall the same year, I received a Revell 1/72 He-219 as well. I think I built them on consecutive nights, which was not the norm when I was fortunate enough to have multiple kits at hand–and certainly isn't the norm now, with my collection of over 1,800 unbuilt kits upstairs!
I have a few copies of that Revell Mirage. I may have to dig one out for old times' sake.
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At our monthly AMPS meeting, we decided to have several intra-club contests over the course of the new year. The first theme we chose was "Anything American". In order to get out of an armor rut (yes, the StuG is still in work!), I picked up the Tamiya 1/48 scale M8 Greyhound and M20 armored cars. I figure I can knock one of them together in a month or so and break my modeler's block vis a vis armor kits, sort of like the Gnat project did for my airplane modeler's block. It will also afford me the opportunity to try out the Vallejo "Green Model" weathering kit I bought for a song at the local Hobby Lobby (40% off coupons do come in handy!). Stay tuned…
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One of the subjects that's come up often on the online chat rooms also came up at the meeting–the subject is that of Rapid Prototyping, better known as 3D printing. There have been a lot of discussions (along with a lot of hair pulled, teeth gnashed, etc.) overt his online. The proponents of this say that in a few years, rather than buying a kit from Tamiya, you'll simply pay them a fee to download and print the model. I see a few flaws to the logic. First, 3D printing can be awfully expensive, more expensive than a lot of the high end kits. Do you really want to pay upwards of $100 US for the right to "print" a kit? I doubt it. Second, I don't think that scenario will come to pass simply because the manufacturer will lose any and all control over the quality of the kit. Different printers will print, well, differently. If you don't have things set up correctly, you will run the risk of printing oversize, or undersize, or with soft details because you didn't choose the correct resolution. No, I don't see the printing of an entire kit as being something feasible for 3D printers, although perhaps it will work for limited run subjects–you know, subjects with a limited appeal. F-RSIN got started by using 3D printed masters for some of their all-resin kits, so it might be a strong possibility that 3D printed limited run kits will take their place alongside resin and vacuum-formed kits in the "Limited Run" end of the catalog.
What I do see as being within the realm of possibility is detail parts. I see this being the next frontier in modeling–in fact, there are a few concerns already making 3D printed detail parts, the best known being Click2Detail. It will be interesting to see how this shakes out.
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It is hard to believe that the year is almost over. In the States, Thanksgiving will soon have come and gone, with Christmas approaching in the windscreen. I do hope each and every one of you has a chance to take a break and spend some time with your family at some point during the holidays. If you haven't made the time to do so, you might want to re-think that. You only have one family, for good, bad, or other. Try to spend some time together, won't you? Enjoy the holidays and be safe. Be good to one another, and be good to those not as fortunate as you. And, as always, I bid you Peace.