How Many Builders Are Left?
whew... I've been out of it for 16 years and o lordy I hardly recognize things now.
I owned a hobby shop from 83 to 94, dirt track and rc plane building areas in the back. Right behind the counter I had my personal building station. When I wasn't at the counter or in front I was building something.
I had allowed anyone to use anything, saws, sanders, etc.
We where busy as all heck with builders coming in and out to work on their stuff.
Building was popular but I think I might have had something to do with that. now a days you can't hardly hold a conversation with a LHS guy about "nitro" planes or engines without a dear in the headlight stare.
I did notice a change towards the end of my reign and even assembled a few ARF's myself. I prefer to build though.
When I sold the shop I took every single kit on the shelf with me knowing someday I'd get back to it.
my kids are finally old enough but alas they are the instant gratification types and are ARF RTF prone - grrrr
I still build. It's getting harder to find kits at a decent price so I am hoarding. I've got around 15 or so at the moment. Thankfully, plans are readily available to scratch build nearly anything and I've done a few that way. I like scratch building since I can modify the design easier to suit me.
Bill, Waco Brother #1
(ACTUALLY, I think we're BOTH right, you jus' take the idea to its extreme.)
RD
Sometimes, if the scratch built project is well received, the designer makes available plans for others so that others can also construct the project. That is a "plan" build.
Sometimes a kit is manufactured, using the plans and selected wood and cut wood parts to facilitate a faster, easier build. That is "kit" build.
Bill, Waco Brother #1
Evan, WB #12.
If you bake a cake from a recipe, you can say you baked it "from scratch", meaning you didn't use a mix (kit).
So you can say the same about modeling. If you built from plans (a recipe), you've built "from scratch".
Historically, doing something "from scratch" means that you didn't have the materials provided for you. You had to assemble them to make whatever you wanted to make...you didn't buy the materials all prepackaged.
Again, it's all in how you presonally want to refine/define the idea. Some people want to have the definition more rigorous, and make a distinction between "scratch" building and "plans" building. OK...I can live with how they say it. I've built kits, I've built from plans, and I've built from drawings I created myself...some were even original (heh, heh).
....and we can argue on and on about this. However, if you are a builder, you will find a way to build, either by locating and buying a kit, by finding plans, or by drawing your own. In the end, you'll have a model nobody else on the planet will have, because it was made by YOU!
It's all an argument about semantics and how you personally want to define your hobby.
If you bake a cake from a recipe, you can say you baked it ''from scratch'', meaning you didn't use a mix (kit).
So you can say the same about modeling. If you built from plans (a recipe), you've built ''from scratch''.
Historically, doing something ''from scratch'' means that you didn't have the materials provided for you. You had to assemble them to make whatever you wanted to make...you didn't buy the materials all prepackaged.
Again, it's all in how you presonally want to refine/define the idea. Some people want to have the definition more rigorous, and make a distinction between ''scratch'' building and ''plans'' building. OK...I can live with how they say it. I've built kits, I've built from plans, and I've built from drawings I created myself...some were even original (heh, heh).
....and we can argue on and on about this. However, if you are a builder, you will find a way to build, either by locating and buying a kit, by finding plans, or by drawing your own. In the end, you'll have a model nobody else on the planet will have, because it was made by YOU!
Bill, Waco Brother #1
Then along came some self-appointed expert in the AMA magazine who evidently thought that the term "scratch build" was too exalted to be applied to mere building and suddenly you didn't scratch build a plane unless you also designed it. Some people started using the term "plans built". HUH? I never heard that term until that magazine issue came out. Some people latched onto it because it made them feel like they knew more than other people, I guess.
If you designed something yourself, you would say so and be proud of it. You wouldn't say you "scratch built" it. That's because the verb "to build" and the verb "to design" are two different verbs, and they have been consistently used that way in the English language.
Jim
Modeling? Since I was 6 or 7. I'm now 64 and still "SCRATCH BUILDING."
From my plans or plans provided by others. It's still SCRATCH BUILDING.
Other terms? Designed to make others feel better and take away from individual SCRATCH BUILDING efforts.
Here's an interesting thing. Are modelers who don't SCRATCH BUILD jealous of modelers who do?
You bet your sweet bippy they are, and there's always jealously, in this hobby, in all kinds of areas. Thing is, it's not talked about.
No one talkes about subjects that are uncomfortable. Wanna talk about modeler's egos?
I didn't think so.
Charles
Bill, Waco Brother #1
Top Gun Scale Outline Judge.
Jim
What is Top Gun?
Bill, Waco Brother #1
The word “scratch” comes from a horse racing term, where they would mark the dirt and start some at a “slight disadvantage” from the others. They were all using the same track and in the same race, some just had a slight disadvantage, starting from scratch.<o></o>
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No where does it say that “scratch” is another word for designing something, designing is designing. All models are “plans built”, except ARF’s.<o></o>
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If you design a plane and draw the plans but have a kit cut by a laser cutter and build it that would be designed by you but built from a kit. You could not say this was a scratch build.<o></o>
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If you design a plane and draw the plan and cut the parts yourself, then you could say you designed the plan and built it from scratch.<o></o>
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You could say designing from scratch, but you would sound ridiculous! You either designed it or you didn't. No where does “scratch build” imply designing. It is referring to the original meaning of the word, starting at a slight disadvantage to someone who had a kit cut and having to cut your own parts. I'm offended when someone tries to take away some of my glory when lets say I enlarge a plan, make my own fiberglass cowl to fit, make the mold for a proper size canopy, make structural modifications as necessary and try and tell me it's not a scratch build. <o></o>
But to stay true to this thread and it’s original intent, I’m glad I got into the hobby when I did, there is not really much to enjoy about watching another persons plane fly. <o></o>