Laser Cut Formers

[tazman3]

I'm a "builder"...I like to build. Nothing else. I despise cutting....of any kind...if they made a kit that had all laser cut parts, I'd buy it...well if I could afford it...lol.

And I think money is a big issue too...with paper models, you can truly try out the hobby with little or no money. And as your skill grows, you can do more. I am confident with my cutting skills...but I still hate it. And the repitition stuff kills me.

I agree completely with what was said before...a nice clean, neat, accurate build with no extras beats an "accessorized" kit any day.

So that is what I'm striving for, and if laser cut formers, and other items helps, I'm all for it.

And besides...if you were truly a "paper" modeler...there would be nothing but paper in that kit...no wood, no wire, etc...so be as pure as you want, and have fun !!! :D Hey, would a "true paper" model have any glue? I guess if it was cellulose based? haha...

[WVA]

I guess I fall into the "old coot" category. I built - well sort of built - my first model airplane about 1945 at the age of 10. Cut out parts with a double edge blade broken in half and to a point. And I cut my fingers plenty of times in the years to come, and still do once in a while. But it is all worth it. Mostly Comet, I think, but many others too, such as Gillow, Ott, Cleveland Model, Monogram, Berkley....at one time, one of those had paper formers! ....oh, those were the days.

So, I have built stick and tissue models, solid models, plastic models, RC models, and a few years ago found paper models to be just right for me now. I can say I have done my share of cutting out formers of all kinds by hand. Fun. Boring. Messy. Satisfying. All of the above. But a laser cut item is no turn off, so I will probably try that one of these days.

Somewhere I have a page from an old Esquire magazine. It is a full page picture of several Cleveland Models stick and tissue airplanes, some without covering, some covered. The headline was "How things were better when they were worse!" It went on to say that a boy could build a modern plastic kit in a day, but he didn't "own" it, unlike one of these stick models. That pretty well sums it up for me. I like to "own" my models, and if it has a few extra parts, or pre cut parts, thats ok, as long as in the end, I own the model!

[leclerc]

I know this will be a good on going discussion. From my personal experiences I never buy any laser cut formers. The main reason is that when I bought them it will take the pleasure from my joy during cutting and trimming one piece of tank track in 8 hours time. Believe me guys this is why I choose paper model than plastic models. It's the enjoyment of building something of your own (hand made) not factory made

But I never judge any people on this hobby that bought Laser Cut formers because it's their rights.

And finally all the money in the world can not buy the 8 hours time when I sit on my workbench and built my single tank tracks

[John Wagenseil]

It seems to come down to a time:money:skill: "what floats your boat" trade off.
The time investment probably may be about the same if you cut the parts yourself or purchase the laser cut parts.
It is just a matter of where you want to put the time : at the cutting board, or at work earning the money needed to buy the parts.
In the pl*st*c model world, the build process has been completely eliminated, you can now buy assembled hand painted models for less than the kit price.