Howdy, all!
There have been several times along the way in my scale modeling adventures where I have learned or discovered something that changed the way I built models. The short list:
- Monogram Models diorama sheets. These diorama sheets were written by a guy named Sheperd Paine. I had never heard of him, but the dioramas he built were stunning. He laid the path that eventually I would attempt to follow. The models were unlike any I had ever seen. It whetted my appetite to know more.
- Challenge Publications’ “Scale Modeler” magazine. Before I saw that March 1978 issue at the local Albertson’s, I had no idea that magazines like this existed! The models I was looking at and reading about were superb. The authors spoke of things I had never known about–liquid cement, filler putty, decal solvents, airbrushes–and I figured if I was going to get better, I needed them. I also saw ads for exotic kits from exotic lands, aftermarket decals to decorate the model differently that the kit manufacturers specified, specialty paints that matched any one of a dozen heretofore unknown to me “standards”, and doo-dads to detail models. Until this time, I had seen their mention in passing in the Paine diorama sheets in the Monogram Models kits.
- Warrick Custom Hobbies, Orange Blossom Hobbies, and Universal Hobbies. It was inside the walls of these establishments where I could actually see the things I had been reading about. As a bonus, I could see completed models that matched or exceeded the work I saw in the magazines. I’ve written about these shops before since I started this blog, so I won’t re-take old ground. Suffice to say that had I not had good hobby shops in the area when I was growing up, my pursuit of the hobby may have been very different, indeed.
- Kalmbach Publications’ “FineScale Modeler” magazine and their modeling books. I discovered FSM at the same time I saw Paine’s “How To Build Dioramas” book and the “Hints and Tips For Plastic Modeling” book right next to it. Between the covers of these pubs, I uncovered even more superb work. I was still a relative neophyte, looking back, and still had a lot to learn. My skills had improved, but I still had a lot to learn.
- Joining the IPMS/Flight 19 Chapter. Joining a club put me in touch with like minded folks who shared my passion for little plastic airplanes, tanks, ships, cars, and the like. That was reinforced when I took a break after moving to South Carolina–after nine years, I dipped my toes back into the club scene when I joined the IPMS/Mid-Carolina Swamp Fox Modelers and the AMPS Central South Carolina Wildcats, and haven’t looked back.
As I have presented “Model Building 101”, I tell the stories of lessons learned. For instance, when I get to the section on using fillers, I relate how a younger me would smear Squadron Green Putty over every glue seam as soon as the cement dried–and not in a thin layer, either. I would squeeze out a blob of putty on my right forefinger and smear putty over every seam to bury them–and spend the next day sanding it all down. I relate how I began using CA as a filler more frequently in my dotage–my previous attempts didn’t quite end in disaster, but they didn’t exactly win any awards. I learned, in time, that it wasn’t what I was using, the problem with the CA (like the Green Putty) was the how much. I was simply relying on gobs of putty or a river of CA when, had I done my prep work better, I would have needed a small smear or a few drops. Yeah, I’m hard-headed, what can I say…
The same thing goes for all the techniques I use today. As I tell the folks who attend the seminar, most of the techniques I use were learned over the years. Some of them I use exactly as I was taught, others are variations on the theme that I developed to work for me. Which brings me to the most important thing I try to teach–model building is as individual as those who pursue it.
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If you want to see “Model Building 101” in person, come to the 2019 IPMS/USA National Convention in Chattanooga. I’ll be presenting it there, tentatively on the schedule for Thursday morning at 9 AM.
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That’s all I have for now. Thanks for reading. Be good to one another, and I bid you Peace.