I am a modeller of fairly average abilities. Sometimes my model comes out great, sometimes not so great. One important aspect of the internet is all the help you can get by visiting the modelling websites/news groups. In the past, many times modellers were forced to wing it. We could only dream of being as good as what we saw at shows and in magazines. Now with a little effort and a PC, our modelling skills can improve dramatically. This brings me to an oft discussed subject that at times becomes very heated. It is the Advanced Modelling Disease, or AMS. For the sake of clarity, we shall call them the "Haves" and the "Have Nots". The "have nots" most likely constitute the OOTB modellers. This is the USA experession for "out of the box". The term "have nots" is not discriminatory. It is a simple fact. The greatest number of modellers build what is in the box. They revel in the process. They build according to the best of their ability. They don't obsess that this part is 2mm off. Or the shape is not exactly right. Sometimes people say "If it looks like a Tiger tank, it is a Tiger tank". While at shows, I have never heard anybody say "The loaders hatch is 2mm off". I have heard the say that the model is very well done. With the level of detail and quality coming from the manufacturers it has never been a better time for the OOTB modellers. Now we come to the "haves". I have sometimes seen on news groups where there are 20 message threads on whether something is correct. I have seen complaints about some missing bolts on the inside of an idler... why do people obsess so much? I think it has a lot to do with skill level. Basically, I think most students of AMS have infinitly greater skills.Personally, I think these type of skills are something you are born with. For example, if everybody could paint like Rembrant, his paintings wuldn't be treasures. I think one can improve their skills to a certain level but to expect one day to build like the S Zaloga's of the world isn't going to happen. People with AMS simply have the ability to do all of these corrections. Most of the "have nots" don't. I believe that neither camp is better or correct. The one thing that gets lost in all of this discussion is that modelling is a hobby. It is not life or death. An easy way to remember this is to think/observe the next time you go into your local hobby shop. Observe the little boy with his dad getting that first kit. Maybe it's an Airfix Spitfire.... Look at the excitment in his eyes. He is just like you when you go into a hobby shop. Maybe the expectations have changed but the feeling you get when you open the box is the same. No matter how many you have opened...
Just my two cents...
