[WWI] "Scale Effect"

[Andy Bannister]

For what it's worth, this is why I think "scale effect" is complete and utter nonsense. I'm sure many on here will be sick of reading my thoughts on it, but it is a particular pet peeve of mine, especially when decal manufacturers adopt it as a gimmick to sell their product which means I then have to "correct" the decals to make them usable...!

I've heard the argument about comparing paint chips to the real thing up close and far away many times. This, to me, is a very different thing to the world of scale modelling. I'm not debating that perceived colour changes the further you get away from an object, that's a reality. What I am saying is that trying to replicate this on a model is folly. Perhaps I lack imagination, but when I make a model I have no intention of trying to make it look like the real thing parked x number of feet away. It is a miniature representation of the real thing that will sit on a shelf with all the other miniature representations. I can't fool my brain into thinking it's the real thing parked on the other side of the hardstand, nor do I particularly want to. Therefore, when I look at a scale model I want it to replicate the colours it's *supposed* to be as closely as I can; ie, if it's supposed to be black it should look black, not dark grey. My current project is Jacobs' Dr.I and it would just look wrong to me in dark grey with off-white crosses. Models I've seen painted with scale effect just don't look like the real thing parked 72 feet away, they look like faded & weathered models. Not necessarily a bad thing, just not what the modeller was intending. If someone has to actually tell me it's scale effect and not weathering then what's the bloody point?!

Artists use the scale effect as one of several methods to create the illusion of 3 dimensions in a 2 dimesional medium. However, I believe it is inappropriate & unnecessary to use this same method on a 3 dimensional model. Perhaps on a large scale airfield diorama where the viewing angle is strictly controlled then, yes, it would look effective to have the aircraft parked further away painted in lighter shades than the aircraft up close. But that same diorama viewed from the other end would look like a bunch of well used aircraft parked up close and some new ones parked further away; an inappropriate "reverse scale effect" if you will.

Now to get back to the original question, to actually draw up a chart as Ian Huntley did telling us the *correct* amounts of white to add to model paint is ludicrous. It would be like handing Pablo Picasso a scientific formula that he must adhere to in order to replicate his own painting style! And why add white paint to everything willy nilly when there's no guarantee the paint is anywhere near correct to begin with? As many have said, paint it so it looks right to you, not how some chart tells you how it should look. If you want to incorporate some kind of scale effect and you're happy with how it looks then go for it. Personally, I like the way my models look even though they're obviously far too dark to be sitting 72 feet away! ;-)

As for AG decals being printed in scale colours - how would anyone know? What benchmark could you compare them to to say with any certainty? You would need a pristine original piece of fabric and then look at it from x number of feet away in various lighting & weather conditions, then compare it to your decals to decide if any scale effect was used. Chances of those conditions being met are slim to none, so why bother? 

All of the above is of course my own opinion and what makes me happy with my models. And that, above all else, is really the whole point of modelling to me. Paint them the way you like, not how Mr. Huntley likes them. 

Now don't even get me started on pre-shading and overdone panel lines...! ;-)

Andy
Flying off in a pink Fokker Dr.I...


--
Andy

Choreographer, writer, producer, teaboy
www.warpedplastic.co.uk