Spencer Pollard contemplates ‘practice’ of modeling technique, and admits he hasn’t done much of it, and just kind of learned—and continues to learn— ‘on the job’ of building models.
That’s certainly been my experience. Thinking back to my earliest modeling experiences, every kit was precious and strategically acquired. The habit of thinking of every model as its own ultimate project embedded itself early, and has never really gone away. I may have started and even completed a model or two with the expectation that some aspect—complicated masking, camouflage, or decals come to mind—might not work out well. But never just ‘practiced’.
Here’s Spencer on the topic of practice…
Sprue Pie With Frets 
Interesting point.
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I read Spencer’s post (and yours) and have to say I do much the same. My training/testing/practicing all has come on each build. Regardless of the subject. Now, I’ve had a few test mules with regards to painting and making sure what technique I am attempting is coming out alright but I’ve never dedicated a build to pure practice.
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