Am I a build snob?

DuctTapeandRocketFuel said:

(snip) we all had to start somewhere.

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Agree completely... OL JR

You want to start a horrifying flame war??
Go to a model railroad forum and start throwing around terms such as “True modeler” or “RTR”.
And if you want for that flame war to go nuclear, mention DC vs DCC.
The model railroaders here will know of what I am referring.

As for the skill or craftsmanship level any individual chooses to lavish on any given model rocket; I’m not going to be the one to diss anyone else.
Not when I’ve had one of my impeccably built rockets shred its fins on liftoff and come gunning for me on the flight line. So much for all the skill and craftsmanship I’d put into that kit.

Rockets are supposed to be painted????

Alright, here goes. I feel that the fit and finish of a rocket is a good indicator of the character of the individual building it. My rockets are generally free from spirals, wood grain, nicks cuts and abrasions. I often retouch my rockets after flight to maintain this appearance. I have often stripped a rocket and started over when a painting mishap has occurred. I never leave a repair visible. I don't judge others build quality because I don't have to. I do, however, think that when we see exceptional build quality coupled with exceptional flight performance we should admire it and strive for that end ourselves. Now we have the other side of the argument, just to establish balance.

I guess that makes me a build snob.

I do most of my ooohing and aaahing after a rocket leaves the pad but I have seen some builds here on TRF that are real head turners. I am usually more impressed by the creativity of a build or finish than the technical perfection. Sometimes I think there is a thin line between craftsmanship and OCD.

JPVegh said:

Sometimes I think there is a thin line between craftsmanship and OCD.

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I think the line is often less "fine" than "blurred". That doesn't stop me from appreciating what goes into getting those results, though.

True artists are often "tormented" by their need to achieve perfection.

With that in mind, this place can be a real loony-bin and I am the SANE one! I enjoy watching the madness of perfection in others, sometimes envy it and always appreciate it.

I manage a hobby store where we display customer's work. I have seen horrible finishes and I have seen flawless finishes. I tell people that if they took the time to build it and paint it themselves, then they get 95 out of 100 points right there... Automatic "A" right off the bat. What I can't stand is people who criticize the work of others, yet they show nothing of their own. I go a little overboard on finishing my rockets because I guess I enjoy making em look "pretty" more than anything else. What bothers me here sometimes are folks that do mediocre work at best, but ACT like they know all. The folks that say "you're doing it the wrong way" when your stuff looks better than theirs. The best finish on a model is one that YOU, the builder/owner, are happy with. The best way to achieve the finish you are happy with is the one that you use.

rokitflite said:

The best finish on a model is one that YOU, the builder/owner, are happy with.

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Amen to that!

I like the museum quality builds i see around here. They are IMO works of art in a way. I however lack the patience or time. I use the TLAR principle and then go go fly it. I enjoy both diversity of rockets around and the folks who make them.

I do know one significant difference between the guy who spends 30 minutes on the finish of his rocket vs. the guy who spends 30 hours on it.

The guy spending 30 minutes cries a lot less when his rocket goes Wile E. Coyote or Dorothy Gale.

And why do we always refer to the completion of a project as it being “Finished”?
Why not Swedenished or Norwegianished?. . .But I digress.

Turning your nose up at someone else's work doesn't make you a "build snob", it just means you're a snob. Unless you're judging a competition, there's no reason to be critical of anyone's work.

I think however a person decides to finish his/her rocket is that person's decision and who am I to question it? If they are enjoying the hobby in a safe way then that is good for us all and for our hobby. Personally, I enjoy trying to add extra details and what not, because its enjoyable to me. As stated by JPvegh....there is a fine line between craftsmanship and OCD....couldn't have said it any better than that!

my sons, my daughter and i are learning from all of you. and amazingly we are all getting better with our techniques. with that said the most important thing that i can say is do you remember the days of no video games or computers. when TV consisted of 3 channels. game night at home with family, friends and neighbors. if you do you will understand how rewarding it is as a parent to be able to sit down with the kids and spend time with them and teach and learn from them. our rockets have many flaws, paint runs and bad repairs, but we made them and we did it together.

accpool said:

my sons, my daughter and i are learning from all of you. and amazingly we are all getting better with our techniques. with that said the most important thing that i can say is do you remember the days of no video games or computers. when TV consisted of 3 channels. game night at home with family, friends and neighbors. if you do you will understand how rewarding it is as a parent to be able to sit down with the kids and spend time with them and teach and learn from them. our rockets have many flaws, paint runs and bad repairs, but we made them and we did it together.

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that's it, familly fun first.

rokitflite said:

. . . What I can't stand is people who criticize the work of others, yet they show nothing of their own. I go a little overboard on finishing my rockets because I guess I enjoy making em look "pretty" more than anything else. What bothers me here sometimes are folks that do mediocre work at best, but ACT like they know all. The folks that say "you're doing it the wrong way" when your stuff looks better than theirs. The best finish on a model is one that YOU, the builder/owner, are happy with. The best way to achieve the finish you are happy with is the one that you use.

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Ditto!

accpool said:

my sons, my daughter and i are learning from all of you. and amazingly we are all getting better with our techniques. with that said the most important thing that i can say is do you remember the days of no video games or computers. when TV consisted of 3 channels. game night at home with family, friends and neighbors. if you do you will understand how rewarding it is as a parent to be able to sit down with the kids and spend time with them and teach and learn from them. our rockets have many flaws, paint runs and bad repairs, but we made them and we did it together.

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Oh yeah, I remember a time before video games!

And this is what it's all about Yay for doing this as a family!!

Krusty

I can appreciate anyone who builds a Mercury Redstone or Saturn 1B tower.
It makes no difference if it's not perfect. They took on the challenge and saw it through -

well said Chris....if you make the effort to make one of those towers...you have entered a strange sort of brotherhood....

hcmbanjo said:

I can appreciate anyone who builds a Mercury Redstone or Saturn 1B tower.
It makes no difference if it's not perfect. They took on the challenge and saw it through -

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I admit that my builds don't show a museum finish, but they generally look pretty respectable. I may only put a extra couple of coats of paint around the spirals just to mute them a bit, but I seem to pay much more attention to the inner structure and fin alignment than the outer finish. I would rather put in a extra couple of hours making sure the centering rings are concentric to the motor tube within 0.1mm than putting a mirror finish on a nose cone.

well said...in the end....that is all that counts! and I agree about learning from the builders on this board....there are some superb builders here...just do unbelievable work. I never get tired of looking at their builds.

accpool said:

my sons, my daughter and i are learning from all of you. and amazingly we are all getting better wit
h our techniques. with that said the most important thing that i can say is do you remember the days of no video games or computers. when TV consisted of 3 channels. game night at home with family, friends and neighbors. if you do you will understand how rewarding it is as a parent to be able to sit down with the kids and spend time with them and teach and learn from them. our rockets have many flaws, paint runs and bad repairs, but we made them and we did it together.

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I can do "catalog perfect," but it is a lot of work and I don't always try.

I don't always fill spirals, but I do always do a couple of rounds of filling balsa. It doesn't take that much to make a rocket a bit better than "good enough."

The thing I need to get better at is masking. But I've found some very effective "tricks" for turning a mediocre paint job into something better looking.

Compounding!

I must say that when I pull out my Decim-8 and stick it on the rod, I get a lot of OOHs and AAAHs, and that's cool, as I put my heart into it when building it, as well as most of my other builds, but like above, I meant for it to look great once, after that, battle scars are to be expected. I have seen plenty of rockets in our group that look awful in my opinion, as far as fit and finish, but each and every time, that thought is not more than fleeting, as it is hard to notice a bad fillet, or drippy paint at 200 mph screaming away (hopefully) from you. As long as the fins stay stuck where they were put on, and it flies straight (unless it was not supposed to fly straight), it is a good rocket!

rocketsmith said:

Alright, here goes. I feel that the fit and finish of a rocket is a good indicator of the character of the individual building it.

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I disagree with this statement.

I think the fit and finish of a rocket is a good indicator of the sum total of a person's ability, knowledge and interest in that fit and finish of that particular rocket. I think any other assumptions are premature and fall into the trap of over-generalization. My rockets when complete have all sorts of various finishes on them. Everything from E2X models which have no paint on them other than the pre-colored parts, to full up models that I've spent several days on that are almost too nice to fly.

I think it is distasteful to judge someone's character based on one tiny facet of their life.

FC

FastCargo said:

I disagree with this statement.

I think the fit and finish of a rocket is a good indicator of the sum total of a person's ability, knowledge and interest in that fit and finish of that particular rocket. I think any other assumptions are premature and fall into the trap of over-generalization. My rockets when complete have all sorts of various finishes on them. Everything from E2X models which have no paint on them other than the pre-colored parts, to full up models that I've spent several days on that are almost too nice to fly.

I think it is distasteful to judge someone's character based on one tiny facet of their life.

FC

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I agree with you totally!

As a young boy building rockets, I had neither the skill or know-how to make "nicely finished" rockets. I was lucky if it got any paint at all, but I did enjoy both building and launching. Of course it all got better as I grew up..... As a "Born Again Rocketeer" I think I've gone through the whole gamut of fit & finish. If I paint a rocket, I like my kits to look like the catalog shot. I've tried just about every method of filling spirals and fins. There was a point a few years ago when I would fiberglass the body tubes and fins of all my LPR rockets (took days to build little Estes kits). This was mainly because I was launching out with a club in the desert. It was extremely rough on the fins if the wind picked up after landing and it got dragged 1/4 mile down range! I got tired of making repairs. The upside is that these rocxkets look pretty good and they always get great comments from other rocketeers.

I've been known to fly naked rockets, primer only or just plain "one color wonders" on many occasions. On scratch builds or rockets that may not come home with me, I will often "Make them earn their paint!"

I've built and flown over the years with my nephews. Some of their favorites were the ones they build and colored with markers!

It is all about fun!

Jerome

boomtube said:

I do know one significant difference between the guy who spends 30 minutes on the finish of his rocket vs. the guy who spends 30 hours on it.

The guy spending 30 minutes cries a lot less when his rocket goes Wile E. Coyote or Dorothy Gale.

And why do we always refer to the completion of a project as it being “Finished”?
Why not Swedenished or Norwegianished?. . .But I digress.

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LOL! Yup-I've had a few where I didn't know if they were coming back home with me. They DO have to have primer as it's just too hard to get any kinda finish on a raw bird once it's built. "Grey birds": A) anything over a mile and/or B) anything over Mach. I guess once I do paint them, they'll officially be Scottish!

fyrwrxz said:

guess once I do paint them, they'll officially be Scottish!

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I recommend either the McGregor hunting, or Black Watch tartans

fyrwrxz said:

LOL! Yup-I've had a few where I didn't know if they were coming back home with me. They DO have to have primer as it's just too hard to get any kinda finish on a raw bird once it's built. "Grey birds": A) anything over a mile and/or B) anything over Mach. I guess once I do paint them, they'll officially be Scottish!

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Here's some paint for you



:rofl:

Krusty

LW Bercini said:

I recommend either the McGregor hunting, or Black Watch tartans

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You're gonna have a hard time finding that in a rattle can!
Hey Krusty, can you get me a can of that? Haven't been able to find it here in the states... :wink: