I love miniatures. From the time I had my first toys, I loved the idea of a smaller version of the world. It’s probably some psychological need to have more control over others, or something… Anyway, for the first decade of my life, I grew up in the 70’s in the south west rural part of London. My first models were undoubtedly an Airfix Spitfire Airplane, and a Junkers JU87 Sutka. I re-enacted the dog-fighting over London. I imagined it was the Stuka with it’s screaming wing flaps doing a dive bombing run and dropping the bomb which had blown my grandmother through 2 brick walls of her house almost killing her. In my version of the dogfight the Spitfire always shot it out of the sky before it could do any damage. I had pretty much figured everything out by the time I was 10 and then we move to Texas.
When we first got to the US we lived in an apartment I had a bedroom I shared with my brother. I had I a cheap fold up desk and a short twin bed. We had not brought much over from England, and what we did ship, was on a slow boat and didn’t catch up till we had a house. Even now, every time I smell model glue it takes me back in my mind to sitting at that little desk listening to the FM radio building models. Catfish on KITY was still spinning disco tracks. I had some awesome models back then. I sat at that little desk for hours fiddling with little parts glueing, painting and imagining how it would be to operate a full size version of whatever model I was building. Very fond memories of a small cramped apartment that we lived in while my parents looked for our new home. I managed to make a few friends there but it was temporary.
Once we had moved out into the suburbs, I was an outsider again. So I spent a lot of time in my room, making models, including some of the biggest I have ever made. I had the V8 moving engine. The massive orange 70’s corvette and the space shuttle which wasn’t much smaller. I spent many hours perfecting how much glue to use to get things to stick together without dripping, dribbling or even melting. Turns out too much glue is never a good thing. As I got older I sept less time in my room and more outside riding BMX and hanging out with the neighborhood kids. I do remember starting a modeling club and having one or two meetings but we ended up going our separate ways because some guys wanted everything to be a contest. Sadly, where there are winners there have to be losers so it became less fun and sharing and more competitive and secretive. I decided if I was going to do all the building by myself there was no reason to attend meetings for my peers to look for faults in my work so their work would look more favorable.
I didn’t buy another model from the age of 14 till about the age of 23. I was looking for something to do at home that was creative and challenging, my wife was upset that I was always out and not spending enough time with her. Turns out I could sit at the kitchen table and make models while she became a zombie in front of the TV and she was happy. I made a very detailed convertible 90’s mustang painted to match the one we had bought her the year before.
I still have the model, we got divorced and I went to college, no time for models again till a many years after getting two different degrees and teaching for a few years and getting my career going. I had become part of management after working my way up through the technical ranks of IT. Time cost and quality constraints and stress out the wazoo! I was advised to get a hobby that would allow me to take my mind off work. I ended up picking up a 70’s corvette by Revel, I barely remember painting it with a spray can back then and thinking I would put it together after it had a chance to dry. Stress rose, jobs changed and children became my highest priority.
My two girls have always been creative and artistic but never got interested in plastic models. Except for So in the boxes they stayed. I got the Vette out many years later and couldn’t remember where any of my Testors model paints were. So I attempted to paint the interior with acrylics that the girls and I had painted some canvases with. It failed miserably. So back in the box and closet it went.
Fast forward to 2021 and I get interested in doing models again. I need something to take my mind off work for long enough that I can relax. I already work on vehicles but that is not relaxing it is exhausting. I start looking at what I already have and what I see online. The finished model I have from back in the day is a mustang and is cool but it looks much cooler when it is set up as a display. Online I can see people putting their models in dioramas. That looks awesome, I need some of that! So the corvette is going to be the first car to be worked on in the model shop.
I immediately have 200 different ideas and how I can do them going on at once in my head. I start ordering stuff online. I start getting confused on what I have and have not ordered, when it is being shipped and did I get a decent deal on it. I need to know if they ever made a model of a specific year make and model of a vehicle I used to own or always want to own. How do I find it? Which is the best paint to use now since the ones I used to use (enamel) are apparently no longer “in vogue”. When I find out all this info how can I remember it, how can I share it? Ok now I need a website to get organized and keep my ideas from overwhelming me. And this was supposed to be relaxing. Ok maybe it is a labor of love, but I need to do it for my sanity. I also offer it up as a place for me to share the information which I have hunted up in my quest to answer all the questions a 10 year old could have had answered by hanging out in the local hobby shop. (Yes, I probably was an annoying little kid).
If you are getting into plastic model kits I hope this site has useful information for you. I certainly hope you enjoy the hobby as much as I am.