You are creating quite a text book to follow here, Des. I have yet to get through even half the other build logs you've so kindly shared with the membership.
If I may weigh in on the Spanish School subject....I believe a lot of what has developed in styrene model building and, particularly, finishing, in the past few years in Spain and which is pretty much now spread across the Continent, is a result, at least in part, of what was happening in the figure painting world. And, in figures, the stylistic differences are pretty notable when worlds collide at an event such as the annual MFCA show in Valley Forge, PA.
To my eye, it has now gone a tad too far. There have been some influential figure painters and model builders who come from a fine arts background and this can be great. However, builders who don't really understand the techniques they're using have taken them to the extreme and tried to become so "artistic" in their weathering, and in figure painting, that a lot of builds look like wonderfully rendered objects but not at all like a well used airplane or piece of armor. It has gotten to where people are building models of other people's models instead of building models of the real thing. I believe WnW's choice of including period photos in the plans, as well as those on their website, is a huge step towards helping achieve realism, if indeed that is what the individual builder is after. The really wonderful thing, and what I find refreshing about the membership of this site in particular, is that there seems to be room for many interpretations as well as opinions.
OK...that's my sermon for the day....must get back to my flock.
Cheers from NYC,
Michael
