Reverse Running commentar
I
recently read a
modeler’s blog
where he was
lamenting that there
were just too many
copycats in the hobby
and few original thinkers
left. Gone are the days
of the hobby original thinkers like Frank Ellison and John Allen.
The implication of this copycat line of thinking is that being “orig-
inal” in your modeling is a higher ideal than being a “copycat”.
Well, hold on a second.
Isn’t the hobby of model railroading about copying a full-sized
original in miniature? Even the proto-freelancers generally
take a full-sized original and just alter it slightly with a different
paint scheme or a few minor detail differences.
What if a modeler really took this lament to heart and tried
to be totally original? What would we end up with? Fantasy
model railroading, that’s what.
Trains on Mars, or Trains on Middle Earth – now that’s certainly
less of a copycat! But I don’t see that being any higher of a
modeling ideal than prototype or proto-freelance modeling.
So what about the other extreme – modelers like Tom Hokel?
Tom, if you may recall, is among a handful of modelers who
model other modeler’s layouts, in this case a very convincing
Reverse Running: Stepping outside the box with a contrary view
by Joe Fugate
Copycats
MRH-Mar 2013
