@Armor_Buff Hi Wade. At 51 years young, back in my day they did the same thing. It was a heavy sludge wash sloshed around and then wiped up as it dried.
I guess I’ve just changed with the times. I’ve learned to get more out of my finishes by separating those two effects into different steps using more colors then just umber. Not that there’s anything wrong with doing it the old way, I just got bored of it personally.
The word filter was probably first used way back on the original Armorama forums by Mig when he was a regular there, long before he labeled a product with that name.
The term glaze has been in art forever and he probably would have received less friction if he had just used an already familiar term than trying to invent a new one.
Building, no question about it for me. Painting, and decaling - which really “make “ the model - are processes that must be done to complete the model, but are areas that I don’t enjoy as much. A badly built model can be saved with a really good paint job. A well constructed model can be ruined with a poor painting job. I know as I’ve done it.
To the question as to which I enjoy the most, it’s a no brainer. I LOVE the building and ENJOY that way more than painting. Scratch building things which I can see in photos, but for whatever reason are not represented in the kits or aftermarket sets is what I enjoy the most. Solving how to get things to “fit” and to “function” in a scale model through having to figure out what parts I need and how to make them is the challenge I most enjoy.
I don’t HATE painting, but I always find myself anxious during the process, because I don’t want to “screw up” my previous work. I’m almost always satisfied with the end result, but the feeling is closer to relief!
Definitely enjoy building more than painting. Airbrushes and I have a hate-hate relationship. My “shelf of doom”, which is full of 1/2 finished projects, and more a “bookshelf of doom” than “shelf”, is a testament to this. I’m not very good at painting (regardless of how much effort I put into it), so sometimes I’ll just box a project away until I can better master that skill.
I’ll say I’m 40% builder and 60% painter nowadays. I like building, but not an overly involved ridiculously high parts count kit. Too complex and I’ll lose interest in the kit. And I have no problem breaking out the styrene, wire, and whatever else to scratch build corrections and upgrades for an older kit. I actually love doing that. But assembling multiple small PE bits or a multi part assembly that could be done in fewer parts takes the wind out of my building sails. Finding the happy middle for me is a tough one sometimes. Indy link tracks. I hate ‘em. Yeah they look good, but too much reminder of working on the real damned things once upon a time for me.
Painting. More and more that has become my enjoyment. That’s my remaining 60%. The construction is finished, all those issues which I previously mentioned are now in the past, but it doesn’t look right yet. It’s still “only a model”. Adding the basic colors, markings, washes, dry brushed highlights, then weathering, and tying it all together. All the blemishes in the plastic are now covered up. That’s when the build comes to life in my eyes and mind. I like my builds to be a snapshot in time, and the finish is what makes that. An M48 facing off with the Soviets in Berlin at Checkpoint Charlie is going to require different finishing techniques than a M48 leading the counter attack into Hue City during the Tet Offensive.
But yeah, painter first, builder second in my book of enjoyment.
I will admit that while I can usually spit out an armor kit at the rate of one per month, I did just get around to finishing the final paint on two Japanese fighters I started over two years ago.
