Return to Index  

Realism?

July 3 2009 at 1:47 PM
  (Login magnetass)
HyperScale Forums
from IP address 76.31.247.48
That's a loaded word, if ever there was one.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Realism

That's just Wiki.....

What does "realism" mean to you in terms of your hobby of creating miniature replicas of things?

When you throw around a word like "realistic", your understanding of that word is meaningless to somebody else because they bring their own set of reality, likes, dislikes, prejudices and their whole life experience to bear.

I ran a bunch of rookies thru a flashover simulator last spring. It simulates when a room is suddenly engulfed in flames top to bottom. It gets REALLY hot, and unless you've experienced it before, its very unnerving. When we were done, one of the guys said "wow, that was realistic!".....which I thought was funny since he'd never done it before. His sense of "realism" was based on what he'd been told, and what he'd seen in movies.

I've been in a couple of flashovers for real (which is something we try to avoid) and hundreds of times in the sim. The sim....to me....is not "realistic" other than its freakin' hot. It lacks the emotional dimension, the adrenaline and 10,000 other little nuances, plus I know its a controlled situation.

What the rookie will discover...hopefully not very often, is that the flashover sim is the furthest thing from "realistic" he will find...when he gets more experience.

This encompasses "accuracy" and other words we use to try to define parameters in our own minds....to quantify things....which humans need to do in order to maintain context.

Point being, no 2 people....anywhere, about any subject, are going to agree on the parameters of words like "realism" and "accuracy". They are solely the property of single individuals. Those words have as many definitions as there are people....and especially when referring to things as subjective as model airplanes.

This is the crux of the "rivet counter" "it looks like a XXXX to me" argument, and all the various schools of finishing and detailing.

Ones definition of "realism" and "accuracy" changes like underwear (hopefully) and is as fluid as a river. You might me really anal about shapes and colors on 1 subject, and not care a whit on another. You get to pick.

You can't get too bogged down in what other people think is "realistic"....you have to make those choices yourself, for you. Its wonderful to discuss the things that you think are realistic with others because it broadens your own perspective, but in the end its still just you and what you like.

Just some random thoughts...


    
This message has been edited by magnetass from IP address 76.31.247.48 on Jul 3, 2009 1:50 PM


 
 Respond to this message   
Responses

Posting or replying to messages on Plane Talking requires visitors to register:

  1. First you will need to register with Network 54, the Forum provider. Click here to register with Network 54. (If you already have a Network 54 Login you can go straight to the next step)

  2. Then, while signed in to Network 54, you can sign up for HyperScale's forums. Click here to sign up for HyperScale's forums.

Your user name and password will give you full posting privileges to all of HyperScale Forums.

Please note the following conditions of posting:

All contributions are welcome but please refrain from political or abusive comments, racially or religiously offensive remarks, swearing (including the thin disguising of swear words with asterisks and other characters), and crude metaphors. Please do not use Plane Talking as a public platform to complain about retailers or manufacturers (about issues such as broken or missing parts) before you have followed all normal channels to resolve any greivance. Plane Talking is not the place to conduct personal feuds or for posting personal attacks. Please do not post in capital letters only, as this is considered to be shouting and therefore impolite. Also, please do not post in 'texting message' word format. Any posts breaching these guidelines will promptly be removed from the server and the offender may be excluded from further posting to the HyperScale Forums. Off-topic posts may also be removed from the server.

In addition, Plane Talking is not a forum for the public criticism of the models that appear as Galleries or Articles. Please make any suggestions for improvements or criticism direct to the author via the email link at the bottom of the Article.

Finally, please note that this Discussion Group is privately operated and that I reserve the right to delete any post or cancel any registration for any reason whatsoever.