Plastic Models - It's Not About Sniffing Glue

[brian]

I have many hobbies, too many if you ask my wife, but the one hobby that I have stuck with the longest overall is building plastic models. Actually, it is now referred to as building a military miniature or painting a scale figure but regardless, it's still plastic models. **NOTE: there are a bunch of photos at the end of this post if you want to skip the following dribble ;)

I got started at around 6 years old, with snap-together (no glue) dinosaurs and somewhere around 8 years old, built my first glue kit, King Kong. What a mess.....I remember quite clearly the globs of glue oozing out from everywhere, fingerprints left on every square inch of plastic thanks to my fingers being covered in glue but I was hooked (not on the glue.....but building).

I progressed through different types of models: cars, boats, tanks, more monsters, and eventually settled primarily on airplanes. I love building everything and anything but seem to do more planes than anything else. Sometime in my early teens I discovered white metal figures thanks to playing very early versions of Dungeons and Dragons. I had more fun painting the figures than playing the games. I was not very good at painting or building at this point but was always trying to find ways to improve. There was very little information available at the time (very early 1980's) and practically no one I knew was building models. Sometime around the age of 16 -17, dating, working part time and hanging with friends replaced the time I spent model building and it slowly tapered off to nothing.

Over the years there were a few brief moments when I thought I might get back into it but that never amounted to much until about 7 or 8 years ago. I was working with computers (still at that same job now) and the internet was really taking off so I was online virtually 24/7. Somehow I stumbled across a site that was dedicated to model building and it reignited an interest that had been dormant for a very long time.

The hobby had changed a lot, as if it had grown up and was no longer a kids hobby. I used to only need a tube of glue, a hobby knife and a few bottles of paint. Now people were using airbrushes, photo etched brass, resin, specialty tools, it had evolved beyond anything I could have imagined. I was hooked again and things just haven't been the same since......

So, fast forward to the present.....I now have a workshop in my basement, including a paint booth for airbrushing, specialty tools from virtually all over the world (thank you internet!!), a reference library of books and magazines that puts any local library to shame and a stock pile of unbuilt kits that will last for a couple lifetimes.

I love this hobby!! I not only love the artistic outlet it provides but it also helps me with problem solving, finding solutions to issues I hadn't anticipated, sticking with something until finished no matter how frustrated I become and discovering that there are times when I surpass even my own expectations and all of those things have benefited me in my home and work environment as well.

Ok, enough with the chatter....here are some pics:

This is my workshop just recently renovated and reorganized:

These are a sampling of my finished models:

This is one of the white metal figures I've had since about 1985, only last year did I finally paint it!! This is what it looks like when I start out:

And here it is painted:

I then glued it to a base and made a little scene for it:

And this photo give you an idea of the true size:

This is the latest figure I finished painting:

And here I am hiding out in my workshop (prior to the reorganizing):

Thanks for taking the time to read this posting :)

brian

[William Wallace]

Great job! I wish my studio looked a quater as organized. Do you use polymer clay when constructing the scenes?

[brian]

Thanks William. I use a form of paper-mache called Cellu-Clay. I only recently bought some polymer clay to try my hand at sculpting, hadn't even thought of trying it out as a ground material....that's not a bad idea :)

thx,
brian

[DANA]

VERY IMPRESSIVE, Brian! The photo of your workshop looks so clean and organized! I imagine that it must take much time, energy, effort and discipline to maintain such an organized workshop? High fives for doing such a great job!

I am not very artistic in the same sense as you are, but I understand how rewarding it is to have an enjoyable hobby. From the time that I was only 11 years old, I have been writing articles, short stories and poems. When I was growing up, I did not feel that I was good at most things in school, especially any sports related activities. I consider myself a "girly girl" so sports was not an area of interest for me. However, when my fifth grade teacher started praising me for my short stories and encouraging me to continue writing, I became very motivated to continue writing.

What began as a hobby has now become a passion for writing! It is amazing how I loved to write and put so much time into it, but eventually discontinued writing once I was married and started having kids. The main reason I put writing on the "back burner" for close to 16 years is because I felt so distracted with my family and responsibilities.

Then one Sunday, I was sitting in church listening to the pastor speak about finding our passions in life. The pastor told the congregation to close our eyes and picture something that we loved to do as a child. He said that usually something that we are passionate about began when we were kids. So I closed my eyes and immediately thought back to my elementary school years when I loved writing. I thought about how much I had a passion for writing and that I truly missed it.

The church was absolutely quiet and I was totally caught up in my happy memories of my love for writing, when unbelievably, the pastor said, "Someone in this church should be writing. Our church needs to have a newsletter that can spread the news about all of the activities and church functions. I would like members of our church who are talented in writing to start up a newsletter."

This was one of those moments in life when there was no realistic explanation for what just occurred! Yet, I knew in my heart that this was a HUGE sign that I should start writing again. I silently said a little prayer that if I am meant to be writing then I would need a computer. The coolest thing is that within six months, my family received a computer as a Christmas gift from my in-laws!!!!

Once I had the computer, I connected with my church about helping out with a church newsletter. I began writing articles for the newsletter and this is how I literally got back into writing after all these years. In April, 2008, I felt inspired to write articles, blogs and short stories on a consistent basis. I began submitting some of my articles to different magazines with the hope of having my work published.

Fortunately, three months ago, five of my articles were accepted for publication by an editor who is in charge of a women's online magazine. I not only got five articles published, but I actually received pay for this, which was the highlight of my year!!!!

The one thing about hobbies is that most individuals truly feel a sense of accomplishment by doing something that they are passionate about. My spouse and kids do not understand why I put so much time, energy, thought, creativity and passion into writing articles, short stories and blogs. Although they may not understand how important this is to me and they complain that I spend too much time writing, I truly treasure the times that I am inspired to write.

For me, writing is my way to express myself, to be creative, to encourage others through my words of hope, to touch someones life by sharing my similar story of overcoming challenging experiences and to have a positive influence on others. As an ADDer, I have found my love for writing to be a very positive area in my life in which I feel good about myself.

Regardless of what the hobby may be, everyone needs something to feel good about and a positive way to express creativity. Whether someone is making homemade jewelry, model airplanes, designing & building a new website, playing the guitar, learning how to cook gourmet or sewing a beautiful dress, the ability to begin a new project and see it through to completion is a huge accomplishment!

It is these little things in life, such as a rewarding and enjoyable hobby, that make life incredibly fascinating and worth living!

[brian]

Hi Dana,

Thanks for the kind words. It sounds like you've not only found your creative talent but also a way to share it with everyone and that makes it even more special :)

brian

[Adrienne Diamond]

Brian:
Your studio is awesome. Hope you don't mind if I use some of your ideas on setting mine up. I'll be getting the studio I have always wanted, needed and dreamed of thanks to my significant other. He's working hard on helping me set it up.

Art, hobbies, anything creative is so important. It is awesome to express yourself and so self-satisfying to see that you can do something well that pleases yourself (pleasing yourself when you have ADD is so important to one's well-being and self-esteem).

And, as I put it......its therapy.....sometimes better than sitting in a therapist's office.....its so self absorbing, and it does put me in a state where I can actually concentrate on mental thinking that I cannot not focus on in a normal's day hustle and bustle. Not sure what it is....maybe cuz I can put all my defenses down, and just let go in my art work, and then my mind is freed up, and some much needed thinking can occur. Its strange but its good in both the mental and creative aspects. Adrienne

[brian]

Hi Adrienne,

Thanks for responding. Feel free to use or copy my workshop setup, I do the same with other studios and workshops I've seen both in person and online. I'm always finding new ideas that I might implement at some point in the future, so please post pics of your studio once finished ;)

I agree that sitting at my workbench is therapeutic but when I mess something up royally, you would never believe that I was enjoying myself ;)

Best of luck getting the studio setup and if you need any information or more photos of my workshop, please feel free to ask.

brian

[Bob Harrington]

I wish I had a space like that for my studio. By the way, nice work.

[brian]

Thanks for the comments Bob. There were many years that I was either working out of a toolbox on the kitchen table or in a dirty, damp, dark basement before finally being fortunate to have the workshop you see today.

brian

[Kvegit]

Sweet! A Phantom, a 109, and is that a Cobra? A trip down memory lane. I had my thrown together partially painted versions of exactly those when I was a kid. The 109 was a Balsa with paper covered flying model. I would love to see other plane photos if you have them. Maybe a Corsair? A Crusader? ("The Last Gunfighter!")

If I'm not careful you'll re-awaken my old modeling desire. I just feel too busy right now.
BTW have you watched "Dogfights" on The History Channel? Stunning Computer Modeling of actual events.
Super well-done series.

[brian]

Hi Kvegit,

I see you're familiar with the hobby and the aircraft. When I was a kid I had built a Corsair and a Crusader but since getting back into the hobby, I have not yet built another of each.

Yes, I have seen "Dogfights", great stuff! I do not have pics of all my finished kits, but here are a few pics of 2 tanks I finished at the beginning of summer. The first is a German Panther G with a 3-color camo pattern that took me 3 times repainting the whole tank to get the results I was after:

And this is a Sherman M4, the same scale as the Panther and I built both of these tanks at the same time:

This is a size comparison of the two tanks, German vs American:

And this is a comparison of the German Panther tank and the German FW190 plane, both 1:48 scale:

And last, a photo of the German Panther tank next to a F-14 Tomcat that I am almost finished building and it's pretty clear that modern jets are absolute monsters:

Thanks again for your post Kvegit and if you do decide to jump back into the hobby, you can always lay the blame on me ;)

brian

[DANA]

Brian,

As you began this hobby, how did you become interested in building and painting tanks and jets? Does anyone in your family have a military background? Also, do you find the hobby to be relaxing or more of a creative outlet?

[brian]

I began building snap together dinosaurs around 6 years old and I believe when I was about 8, I received a King Kong model that required glue. I still have very distinct memories of putting that together and getting glue EVERYWHERE!! OMG....it was a disaster but I was hooked :)

There is no one in my immediate family that had a military background but I've always been enthralled with airplanes and that eventually led me into trying tanks, race cars, figures, etc.

I find this hobby to be both relaxing and a creative outlet. Of course it is also a large source of frustration but only self imposed, as in trying new techniques that I read about but have not properly executed yet....usually followed by a creative outlet of verbal profanity :) Overall it is definitely a source of relaxation, just not the "laying on the couch watching TV" type.....maybe it's all the paint thinner ....