Yes, people will generalize, but I have seen far, far, more negative generalizations about detailers than I have about OOB builders.
KL
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FWIW I also find khoulis comment a little offensive, and unnecessarily derogatory. And yet so far 8 people have liked it. Go figure.
Kurt,
I would probably agree with you on that statement for the most part, most of the time, but just because it is skewed more one way than the other, doesnât make it either better or right, it is just someone different opinion, and for me as much as I might like peoples views / thoughts / opinions on what I may or may not do to a kit, I still build it how I want to for my enjoyment / historical accuracy & at the end of the day, as long as I like & it enjoyed it, thatâs what counts!!
Much like yourself & others I assume to me doing the research is as much fun as building a kit, I wonât pull out a pair of calliperâs to measure 1/100th of an inch, but will try to build as accurately & historically correct to a period photo as I can, like I said that is just me & my preference also. 
Mike
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KL Iâve seen it on numerous forums. Not just here. (And Iâm not talking modelling forums). Often folks just need to go back and reread some posts. More often than not those who are offended the most are those who are guilty of misinterpreting a post. Not me. Iâve got a very thick skin. But I do wish folks would chill out and remember that itâs a god dam hobby.
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Reads to me like Khouliâs saying a lot of modelers take themselves far too seriously and are pompous. His comments are actually quite funny read with Thomas Swiftâs A Modest Proposal in mind. In anycase, his post is an excellent reminder not to get excessively wrapped up and make the hobby unfun for yourself or other modelers.
Bet his post got a lot of likes because folks stopped and thought to themselves, yes I know exactly what thatâs like.
Full disclosure, I build Out of Box half the time and super detail half the time. Itâs possible to get too serious about anything. Thatâs where the problems start.
Picture time and back to the coal mine.
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Well I for one would totally ignore that comment, as you said âLegosâ.
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Ha, Legoâs. My daughter knows I am a model builder so for my birthday she gave me aâŚ1800 piece Yoda Lego Model. I havenât built it yet and keep looking at the box sorta like what do I do with that? I am defiantly going to do an OOB build and maybe to add to the out of the comfort zone thing, write a build review. 
Any heads up with Lego kits?
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TopSmith. Youâve got to pay attention closely to the thickness and the length of the pieces. Trust me, I watched my daughter have a melt down on a Harry Potter castle set a several years ago, it took both her and I a 1/2 hour or better to discover 1 piece was supposed to be 5 pips (or whatever you call them) long and attached at spot X she had a 6 pip one just off at Y, at a glance and for several steps it didnât cause an issue⌠One other was an arch but they were different depths slightly but the same length, once again subtle difference that didnât show up immediately. Theyâve come along ways from when I was a kid in the 70âs and 80âs. They are a challenge on their own right and much like Dragon directions you can get yourself in a corner and have to backtrack, luckily no glue is involved, so work methodical stop and really look close at the illustrations.
I do like that they teach her patience, she has to work on the current step and be thinking ahead a step or two. Attention to detail and some fine motor skills/dexterity are bonuses. It may take her several sessions but once she starts one sheâll stick with it with laser like focus.
When she was younger we built them together but now that sheâs more nimble and older sheâs too cool and competent for dad to help and Iâm good with that, it means what I did teach stuck with her.
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Excellent points on the, as Iâm learning, rivet counter vs OTB builder debate is tricky. Iâm going to tackle a DIY zimmerit project soon, itâll be my first. If I should post it and ask for feedback on my first attempt I donât think the productive feedback is âwell that cupola is all wrongâ or âyou applied to an early production, they never did thatâ. I think stating that itâs a first attempt that any reasonable forum goer would focus on the results not the kit because frankly who would use as the first test bed a $75-100 Ryefield kit when they could use a Tamiya or Italeri kit a 1/3 of the cost. I think we are all mature enough to draw that inference without the poster explicitly saying so.
Now if I started my post w âhey this was my first deep dive into stepping up the accuracy and super detailingâ then the comments would be appropriate.
How does this relate to a kit review-well whatâs the intent of the review? Itâs fair to say âhey the road wheel are rubber rimmed. They should have been all steelâ but thatâs an historical accuracy issue not a kit building quality item. If the kit literally falls together, no ejection pin marks visible, on register, zero flash, seam lines that melt away like butter etc does a 1/32 ridge of the edge denoting where a rubber on a wheel would have started/stopped suddenly move that kit to a category of 'garbage, not worth the effortâs? I think not, so some CAD engineer didnât take another dozen hours deep dive into the nuances that on Feb 23, 1943 at 3:00pm at the Ruhr valley assembly that the roadwheels on this type went to all steel and nary a rubber road wheel was ever fitted.
You (in the generic sense) might know this, several others reading it may see the inaccuracy immediately. Another percentage might be. Oh now that you point it out I get it and the remainder (like me) will go âok, but how did the build go and ASIDE from that howâs it look?â
Or would the review be better served by noting those items as a âby the way, for those inclined on historical and technical accuracy, while the kit builds up like a dream then road wheels are incorrect because of Xâ
I wonât guess the intention of some of the above posts but I can say from my view I wonât discount a kit that several say builds up fun w great fit etc but one guy says itâs crap because on the engine deck everyone knows that the screen were held on w 19 bolts not 18. Cause not everyone knows, not everyone cares and only a few will get hung up on it. Pointing it out is worthwhile but it doesnât ruin the kit, itâs not the end of the world.
As you summed it up âThatâs where the problems startâ, there no ANSI standard for reviewsâŚ
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Take the Tamiya Panther and practice the Zimm. Work on a 50 cent size area at a time. You will find you are mastering the process before you finish zimming the Panther. It is a lot more intimidating mentally at first but quickly becomes second nature.
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Kurt come on bud we all know that modelling is a case of different horses for different courses. You aim for high end as is your right where as others are happier with results lower down the chain and have different requirements of a model. The only time I have any issue with those classed as rivet counters is when they rip a model apart for minor discrepancies, I have no issues with these problems being pointed out, but a model should not be ripped apart for it.
What I have said here is not an attack on you or those who aim high with their chosen hobby as I appreciate their work even if that level is both beyond me and is out of reach to my skill base. So please everyone consider your words and how they are perceived as we all have different goals in the same hobby and it is not a case of them and us here.
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One needs to be a pip-counter to be successful with LEGO
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Hi guys,
I just stumbled on this thread while I was surfing around. Itâs a great discussion.
Personally, I find opinions in reviews unreliable. An opinion is of course subjective. What is much more helpful are facts. For example I want to know if the detail is sharp, if there are sink marks, fading panel lines, flash or other considerations that will help me decide if I want to invest my time and money in building the kit. Ideally Iâd love the reviewer to do a quick build of the major parts too, so we can understand how well they fit. And, I know that is asking for a longer lead time and more from our reviewers. As for accuracy, then yes please to subject experts offering us the facts.
We all have our own tastes, budget and levels of tolerance for âproblemsâ. The best reviews help us decide where the balance is for our individual likes and dislikes. By the way, a picture paints a thousand words.
Maybe The Kit Maker Network can lead the way and try and set a standard that reviewers follow?
Happy modelling guys.
Blatantly ignoring the raging debate, I gotta ask - how big is an 1800-brick Yoda when itâs built? Must be getting on for life-size!
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Horrible review, I wish Lego reviews where better.
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Well said!
Even focused research masters occasionally get nuances of detail triva wrong. So how could one reasonably expect a modeler to know all of the trivia for all the vehicles?
As for the super detailers types giving unsolicited nit-picking feedback: I had one insist the weathering & rust on an,M1A1âs exhaust grill was wrong. Showed him a color picture of a real M1A1 and he proceeded to argue the actual tank in the color picture was wrong.
He was definitely one of those guyâs Khouli alluded to that was feeling his own self importance and too serious.
Mildly amusing true story.
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Exactly! Itâs a hobby. Do what makes you happy. And if that includes replicating precisely what you see on the real thing, more power to you. It inspires others. Not everyone plays like Clapton but they still enjoy playing and others donât stop trying.
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Clapton: guitarist, song writer, singer. 
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