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What does modelling do for you?


mozart

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50 minutes ago, MikeC said:

As do I, Max, having lived down that way for 13 years.

It's been something I do for most of my life, can't imagine being without it.

Of course you do Mike, I'd forgotten that!  And yes, what would we do without our "fix" of plastic, thinners, glue or whatever turns you on!! :P:coolio:

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Modelling to me means a total escape from everyday life. Hours seem to pass in minutes and I totally switch off from the stresses of work, etc. 

 

It also means delving deeper into my love of aviation in particular - the research that goes into most of my builds is as fascinating and informative as the build itself. 
 

And even when you get one of those frustrating days at the bench, looking back I’ve still learned something (usually what not to do!) and can then take this forward into future builds. 
 

Above all else, it’s great fun and a passion!

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I've always liked the aspect of having a little replica of something really hard to find in person. 

 

My dad built kits and had some when I was a kid, and I wanted to build kits, too. He rarely had the time to work on them with me or at all, so I did it on my own with his help and/or advice when needed. When I was a kid, it was about building my own toys, really, and in the 80s, you could get all kinds of cheap plastic models that were very toy-like. I had just about the whole line of Monogram airplanes with working landing gear, folding wings, etc. The Tamiya Lee was the first tank and really the first model I painted. I got an airbrush and was really into models.

 

That was how it went until I got into cars and got my hands on my first adult model kit, a barely running 68 GTO.  Modeling kind of got forgotten since, from that point on, everything I made at my slightly better-than-minimum wage part-time job at Crown Books went to trying to keep the car running or paying the outrageous (I hit a school bus) $271 a month for minimum liability! This was the very early 90s. Girls got mixed in here at some point, too. 

 

In 99 when my old man bought the farm, and I lost my place to store the latest GTO, and all the parts, I was out of the GTOs, and into 4X4s, and looking at getting married. When that didn't work out, I decided to pick up a Tamiya 1/16th RC M26 Pershing when it came out. Now I'm way older, married, and have the space again, and Andy came out will all the cool 1/16th kits, and I just need the distraction from the worries of day-to-day life. Nothing makes the world go away better than trying to get two little bits of plastic to stick together right when hands are way less steady and eyes are less clear than they were in the 80s! It's much better than watching the garbage they call TV today or most modern entertainment. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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1 hour ago, dutik said:

Modelling keeps me away from spending my money for drinks and harlots. :beer4:

The best wife of all appreciates this a lot. Win-win :whistle:

 

Regards

- dutik

 

Having a wife who is okay with the stuff creeping into the living room is very helpful! I even got mine to help clean up all the track parts for the two 1/16th Shermans! 

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No one else but me in my extended family builds models.  Nor do any of the others have even a hint of an artistic bone in their bodies.  I, on the other hand, was born able to draw and paint with some alacrity.  Modeling provides me with the means to take my 2D drawings and add a third dimension.  It also can be said that my drawings are just models in 2D because I approach a drawing the same as I do a kit.  Whilst in college, my drawing prof often would slap my board when he didn’t like something I’d done and would announce to any and all, “Jeezus, YBG (Young Bald Guy back then), that looks like s#!+.  You look but you don’t see.”  Models help me see.  All the philosophy and justifications aside, other than the “seeing” part, I have no idea why I continue to buy kits in my dotage or why I still enjoy the tribulations of a good build.  Perhaps it is because when I dive into a kit I still get the buzz in the pit of my stomach that I first felt 65 years ago when someone handed me a Comet F3D Skyknight and a tube of Testors glue.

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Like everyone else, I can block out everyday life and use to, work. I’m now retired so not as much as a mental release now. I also look at it as an art form.  
Grew up an Air Force brat.  My brother and all the other kids in base housing were building models back in the late ‘60’s so I caught the bug too. Not to mention getting hooked on aviation being around military bases all my life. My brother also builds, but we are estranged now due to some family issues he pulled about 9-10 years back. It’s a real shame he destroyed the family like he did.  

Each kit I build I strive to do better than I did on my last build and I pick a variety of genres to spice it up mentally.  I’m always learning something new with my builds.  Whether it be a building technique or painting techniques.  
 

I’m also a “collector”, or hoarder as my wife would put it. She’s a minimalist.   She doesn’t understand the concept of a stash of kits. And I’m tired of explaining it to her! LOL!  
I collect kits that I have full intention on turning into a display collection.  

 

What I am not is a “rivet counter” that the last minute detail must be accurate 100%.  Some minor shape issues don’t bother me.  I will say though that the Trumpeter A-7 kits would have never been on my build list as bad as the intake and canopy are.  I actually bought the Zacto Models correction kits before I bought the D and E kits. 
I don’t know all the details between all the blocks of F-16’s.  I’m slowly picking up the minute details between all the Phantoms.  I’m more critical of myself on things like accurate colors and finishes.  
I also don’t build for competitions either.   But I love looking at builds like this.  My ADHD just wouldn’t let me dig that deep into a build. 

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