Friday 22 November 2013

My Inspirations

Spruecutters topic this week is where does the inspiration come from when I choose my next model.

I suppose that I will start this post from the beginnings of my "rebirth" into the hobby. My inspirations to build at that time in the way distant past was completely dependant on two things: Box art and affordability of the kit. I would buy the kit, get it home, build it and then on to the next one. Over the years my inspiration for my models has changed drastically in some respects. I will always consider the cost side of things as I cannot justify to myself spending an extreme amount of money on one kit no matter how good it may look when complete. The main change in my inspiration now depends on the scene that I can place the kit into and the feelings I can impart with the scene and kit combined. I never make a 1/35 project without some sort of scene setting to compliment it. In fact I always ensure that the scene conveys some sort of theme and will normally spend more time thinking about that than the actual model.

I will still buy a kit off a shelf without much thought if it takes my fancy and/or the price is very reasonable, however in all honesty it will sit quite happily in my stash until some sort of "divine inspiration" strikes for a theme or setting. I have mentioned in a previous spruecutters post that I retain 4 little A5 size note books. One for figure sculpt ideas, one for 1/35 diorama ideas, one for notes that I make from completed projects that I can refer to in the future and finally one to record any "how to's" that I may come across. The books that are pertinent for this post are the ideas note books that I keep. The common them for the 1/35 ideas book is either an idea that I have for a model that I already have in the "stash" or an idea or inspiration that I have had/seen/decided to copy.


OK now that I have laid the "foundations" for my inspiration I suppose that I had better explain how the inspiration for my next model goes from the idea to that modelling table: As the end approaches for my current project I begin to think about what I would like to do next, 120 mm figure or 1/35 figure. Once that decision is made, I then pull out the note book and start looking over my ideas or inspiration book. I can normally whittle down my ideas to one or three possibilities.

Nowadays I tend to look at what I have in the stash to ensure that I can start as soon as I'm ready because I hate waiting for a model to arrive. I will then typically consult the oracle (the wife) to make the final decision on what I am about to make next. A strange thing to do? not really; you see my wife is very supportive of my hobby and loves to look at the finished articles (don't believe me? read the article that my wife wrote for the spruecutters about my hobby HERE ) She is a very good judge of what will look good and what won't look good or appear boring. I think its almost as important to have someone else's opinion on what you are about to build as what people think once its done. She has on a number of occasions looked at an idea that I have had and then offered suggestions on the same theme that has in my opinion improved the finished piece vastly.

I would also say that I once stepped outside my usual thought process for inspiration and gone a completely different direction. In this instance I asked on Twitter if anyone had an idea for a figure sculpt. A friend of mine (my daughters classmate who is a fan of my work) suggested that I try a sculpt of Ezio from Assassins Creed. I must admit that I was a little apprehensive at first, however it did prove to be an enjoyable sculpt and one that I hope to finish in the very near future.

I suppose that what I am trying to say is that for me inspiration can come from any source but has to be tempered by budget, time available for the project and my abilities to complete my "vision" just the way that I want it.

If you enjoyed reading this then why not pop over to the spruecutters headquarters on the combat workshops blog and see what everyone else thinks about this subject by clicking this LINK and scrolling to the bottom of the page for other members pages

1 comment:

  1. That was a good read Chris, brave man calling your wife the Oracle.....lol I agree on what is in the stash and being able to start, i also like your reference books, i use display folders with the clear sleeves and insert pictures i have printed etc...
    Nice work.

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