Interesting stories behind your choice for particular builds?

I used to work as a mechanic at a GM dealership here in northern Colorado. I had 17 years or so in it, and then decided to leave to pursue a career in writing. Before I left, I decided to build a 1/25 scale replica of the service bay I worked out of. I found a couple of 1/25 scale two-post lifts from a die-cast place, and used the Revell '99 Chevy 1500 and the old AMT International Scout II as vehicles. The rest, including toolboxes, emissions test station, workbenches and cabinets, was scratchbuilt. Took me two solid years to get it together. I finished it in 2006 or so. Still one of the builds I'm most proud of. That's about  my most personal connection to the hobby, so far. I have pics of it I'll have to post up again sometime.

I served nearly 30 years in the US Army (4 years in the National Guard and 24+ years in the Regular Army). I often built models of vehicles I crewed on including the M48A5, M113A2, M3, M1, M1A1, M1A2 and several different HMMWVs using self made markings of my actual vehicle.

One of the HMMWVs produced by Revell (a two door with canvas cargo cover) was issued in the markings based off of a photo taken of the HMMWV I used while I was an umpire (O/C) during REFORGER 1990 Certain Challenge. I bought two of them, one to build and one to keep.

my stash tends to reflect my interests at a particular time, things i am reading about or maybe playing wargames. i have a shlef of idf armor and a shelf of arab (aka soviet) armor, all the 1/350 predreadnoughts (russo-japanese war, sino-japanese war), LUSITANIA, CHINESE TREASURE SHIP, all 3 VARYAGS (04, SLAVA, CARRIER) switched to doing warwheels and have 26 various 4x4, 6x6, 8x8, and all 4 tank transporters.and some modern armor to put on them, luft '46 stuff, float planes , china clippers.

whatever i am engrossed in at the moment. and starting one takes me back to that time.

Hi riffraff .

Yes , now that you bring this up .Because I always lived around a large body of water(LAKE ERIE looks huge when you,re ten) and the oceans moreso .So I build what I know , SHIPS , YACHTS , workboats etc.

I have every iteration of the venerable TITANIC because I have done All the sisters . and a FEW what-ifs based on damaged hulls . Ships leave so much to the imagination AND there,s not many that get ignored at local shows whether I place or not .

My philosophy , "build what you know ".I break off and do a piece of armor or a car if they catch my interest ,if you get my drift . That,s about it .        tankerbuilder

Interesting thread, thanks for the thoughtful post, Riffraff.

While I don't really have any stories behind the models I build, I do appreciate the stories behind someone else's model.  

I've got a co-worker who does classic drag cars and golden era NASCAR stockers and he frequently runs down the original owners/drivers of a car to get his facts right and has often come across someone who has a historical gasser in their garage or under restoration.  

Yes indeed, I find the direct and indirect personal ties to things quite interesting . I love to see the passion people have and this shows the actual build is only part of the whole equation.

dirkpit77 I'd love to see pics sometime if possible. I too am a Journeyman Auto Technician and would for sure find your Service Bay appealing.

Just to go back to my Arnie The Farmer Beswick Catalina build for a minute. I was catching up on some reading yesterday and found a picture of Arnie from this past summer at a drag strip near Chicago with his 64 GTO race car. It stated he ripped down the track at over 170MPH (no that's not a typo) but get this, he is 82 years young! How incredible is that?

I can only hope I have the opportunity to putt aroud the block in my old muscle cars if I make it to that age. LOL    

I built the Sopwith Camell and the Lancaster because my grandfather-in-law was flying them in WW1 and 2. Everything else is armor. The choices come down to:

1.Price...it has to be cheap, about $30, $35 or so if I really want and like it

2.It has to be interesting to me for whatever reason (unusual shape, maybe I saw it somewhere, somebody I met sometime worked on it, maybe it is a famous vehicle (t-34 or Jeep comes to mind).

I was in North Africa so some of my models are from that part of the WW2.

I met a guy who flew Halifax bombers so I may build that one.

Or maybe the vehicle just looks plain bad ass such as the A-10 or the Apache.

Cheers...

Excellent thread Riffraff. I do indeed have a number of kits that have meaning to me. They are all aifcraft flown by my father and my brother while they were in the Navy. I have 4 1/48 Monogram PBY Catalinas, 2 1/48 Tamiya F4U Corsairs (1A & 1D), 1 1/48 Eduard F6F Hellcat, 3 1/72 Minicraft PV 1 Venturas, 1 1/48 Revell PV 1 Ventura, and a 1/72 Martin AM-1 Mauler all flown by father at one point or another in his career as a flight instructor at Pensacola NAS. The PBY and the Corsair were particular favorites of my father. Unfortunately I was unable to build any of these prior to his passing away.

My other kit is the 1/48 Academy MH-53 Sikorsky MH-53 Sea Dragon Mine Sweeping Helicopter. This the very one my brother flew while commanding HM-14 squadron. The kit came with his squadron markings which is way cool. That too is unbuilt as i wish to hone my skills a bit more before tackling that beast.

The rest of my vast stash are of subjects that i simply think are really cool and interesting.

                         Joe  

Hi;

   Reflecting on that statement. I wonder if my old ski boat (a SKI NAUTIQUE ) twenty seven years old or my sixty - nine  GTO-JUDGE would even run well enough to drag this old coot around .    Tanker-builder.

If you've seen the  June/July 2011 issue of Finescale Modeler, (still available in back orders) you've seen my "Checkered Past" Impala featured in a story.

This was a real "find" in a wood on the edge of a field which sat between the road and an old quarter-mile dirt track up in the Pocono's, in Pennsylvania, where I used to go as a kid with my Dad to watch modifieds and stocks rip around on Saturday nights.It was called "Moc-a-tek Speedway", for the lake and campground near where it was located. It closed in 2004 because "rain run-off which inundates a neighbor's property and contaminates at least one local body of water". Man, there were some good times there. I went back to see what had remained of it a few years ago, and found it abandoned, weeds and saplings growing up in the track and the buildings and primitive 2x4 "bleachers" starting to split and collapse from the harsh Northeast winters and age...

It was a '63 Impala that someone had modified for racing, with a hood air scoop and racing tires. The engine was gone, of course. The weirdest thing was, someone had put the shell of the car over a '64 Impala interior! It sat about 100 yards off the highway, just inside the wood line, and we stumbled across it by accident. Here's the real car.

When it comes to "modern" armor, I'm in the same boat as Rob.. 29 &1/2 years of Regular Army and Army National Guard service...  I build lots of dioramas, and most all of the stuff I build with the modern armor kits as a focal point are based on things I did and saw during my career, some peacetime Army, some combat...  I tend to be rather dark with the combat scenarios though, so I do more peacetime Army stuff, which basically hows just how Gs live in the field, around, on, and in their vehicles...  Folks that have never served don't see it, that is, just how a crew makes a 32-ton tracked vehicle a "home"... 

 I also do "funny stuff" dioramas, things like the "M151A2 Foxhole Detector"... That dio had it's roots in an FTX in which the Battery Commander's driver drove the 1/4-ton into an old two-man fighting position one night, burying the entire front end in the hole, throwing him and BC outta the Jeep and then ending up on their butts in front of the Jeep.. (It was a night-move, they were driving with black-out markers, and no night-vison,  and going about 3-5 mph, so they weren't hurt)

We couldn't pull it out with the M880 (That's the old Dodge pick-up CUCVs), so we had to radio the Battalion Maintenence section to get the Snoopy up there at first light to pull it out.. ("Snoopy" is the M578 LARV we had, and gets it's nae from the "doghouse" on top of the hull)

"Snoopy"

I tend to do more WW2 armor than anything though, and tell stories with that, too.. I especialy like taking Bill Mauldin's "Willie and Joe" characters and making "3-D" versions of Maudin's cartoons..

Fer instance...

And my version:

You get the idea...

Anyway, that's what I do, that's my story of how and why I pick what I pick... Many times I use the same kits, since many of the stories are about the same guys, or crews... ( I have 9 Tamiya Jeeps in the stash just for "Mauldins")...

There's actually a lot of truth to the above, which I was just reminded of... Mauldin explained in his book, "Up Front" that the MP cartoon takes place at a crossroads near the Anzio beach-head and the Germans, sitting up on the bluffs with an unrestricted view of the entire area would lob shells on a regular basis onto cross-roads...  So even though a guy like Willie, who's been in combat since North Africa wouldn't thnk much of it, the MPs that had to stay on those cross-roads to direct traffic didn't care to be too exposed...

Not to mention that GIs in Combat Arms know that it's always FUN to play with the MPs.. (Can't spell "WIMP" without "M-P" as the joke goes)

Good to see you on the forums again, HvH.

The only really interesting story behind any of my builds is with my Monogram F-100D.  I had bought the seriously awful Lindberg kit at a Michael's close-out sale.  Not long after that, I came across a letter in FSM regarding the Hun.  It was from Don Schmenk, who had been a F-100 pilot in Vietnam.  The letter only had his name and city so I searched for his number in directory assistance and gave him a call.  I had lot's of questions about F-100s and he was so gracious in answering many of them.  He then said that he had more info and took my address, promising to mail it to me later.  Sure enough, in a few weeks, a large package arrived and inside, among several cool tidbits, was the Monogram 1/48 kit of the Hun.  This version had the markings and nose art for the actual aircraft he had flown in Vietnam.   I had the kit for several years before I finally got around to building it and later sent Don pics of the finished model.  I really appreciated his kind words about my build and still feel a somewhat special attachment to that model.

Gary

I mostly build truck models. Everything I build centers around the semi-fictious company, Solomon James Industries, founded after ww2 to rebuild surplus trucks, and continuing until June of 1976 when Mr James died. Trucks, cars, and everything else have a tie to that company or an employee thereof..

Within the story my Father and Uncle work for Mr James..

Interesting stuff everybody, and great pics, very nice work!

I don't know if this qualifies, but one model that has a semi-interesting backstory to it is my B-2 Stealth Bomber. in 1996  got to watch it fly over the Rose Bowl Parade. It was an amazing experience that brought chills up and down my spine. After it disappeared into the distance, I turned to my wife and said, "I'm getting a model of that plane and you are NOT saying 'no'!" My friend grinned, my wife grinned and bit her lip and four months later I got a model of that plane and built it. I got to keep it for several years until it was stolen out of the USC AFROTC display case along with three of my other models and everything else being displayed for the Air Force's 50th anniversary.

I have another one I just need to find and get started on.

Another set of four models that is special to me is a flight of F-15C Eagles all with markings of the 33rd TFW at Eglin Air Force Base. I lived in Fort Walton Beach for fourteen years and watched these planes flying overhead daily. The earliest memories of the 33rde TFW was when they were flying F-4 Phantoms and if I could get 33rd TFW decals for four different Phantoms I'd pick up four more Phantoms and build them for the same unit.

A third model is the old Revell box scale Titanic that I built and had on display before the movie "Titanic" came out. Once that movie was released, you couldn't find another model of the Titanic for months! I loved having it available for people to look at in anticipation of their own kits coming in; one guy even offered my $2500 for my built one, but he never returned.

Those are my stories of some of my models. I probably could dredge up a few more since I have so many built. I'll post them here when I remember them. Meanwhile, I'm enjoying the stories others have posted and I'm looking forward to seeing more.

I was not in Vietnam War but had lots of friends involved at that time and later, so I build for them, including an M60A1, an F4 for a fallen frat brother, and some T28s and a P2V for a cruising buddy. Also, I am stashing away the planes featured in Air and Space Magazine's "Legends of Vietnam". Lots to do and so few decades left!

Cheers, Jake

The models I build nowadays reflect personal interests or experiences. My current builds are of aircraft my Father and Father-in-Law flew in or worked on. I have a Monogram 1/24 UH-1B Gunship which came with the markings of an aircraft of the Headquarters Battery, 2/20th Aerial Rocket Artillery. I flew this aircraft when I was in Vietnam, and  will start this after I finish my Father and Father-in-Law's aircraft. I also have other (many) models which I find interesting. Sometimes a book, movie or a trip will inspire me to build a certain model. My wife and I have both developed an interest in the Civil War through genealogy research, and numerous models are available of this era.

Jim

While doing some research on another model I came across some pictures of WW II ace Ralph Hofer. What caught my eye were pictures of him with his German Shepherd since I have three of my own.  I ended up buying a book on this interesting character and built a model of his P-51.

I wasn't privileged to serve in the military, so I don't have any stories like that.  Though my uncle is a Marine who served in 'Nam and I admire him, so subjects when I was a kid tended to be USMC.

The only other kit I built, with any kind of a story behind it, was a P-47D Razorback (Monogram, of course), that my friend Brian Spruyt gave me.  He won a pair of them in our club raffle, but since he didn't build aircraft, he gave it to me.  Next month, he was dead of a heart attack brought on by diabetes.  I built that kit to honor his memory.  The other one is on my bench, because I'm going extra-carefully with it.  Here's to you, Brian, you are sorely missed!

Wow---cool pic of a doog-on-a-plane, and the model with it! Great job on that!

Thanks Doog!  When Hofer was killed by ground fire attacking a airfield his dog went to his parking spot and howled.

Mike

Doog, that Impala is just awesome.  I did read the article.

Mike

Buckeye

Doog, that Impala is just awesome.  I did read the article.

Mike

HI :

I know this is really late , but that's okay , I don't have anything else to do but irritate youse guys . I tend to build anything that floats .the driving force behind this is my love of the water and anything on it .

My favorite builds were both of the "COMMAND SHIPS" owned by " CLEAN BAY " (I now believe it's called (CLEAN SEAS ) . These were one hundred percent scratch-built for the various entities that asked for them .

Do you all remember the  "LINDBERG ' Coast Guard Cutter ? Yup , the one with ALL those oversized weld lines ? Well , I did one in scratch (different scale) . and thought I would re-visit this old wardog of a model .Why do I call it an " Old Wardog ? Shoot , it's been around so long , if you look carefully ,you can see the barnacles arond those oversized weld lines .I love that old kit though .

 I have built probably this side of twenty of them , and I still find interesting conversions based on that old model . The flat truth is , besides being , YUP !, a fairly ACCURATE rendition of that particular vessel , it lends itself readily to anything you want to make of it .

 It has those classic lines of the late fifties than lend themselves to so many iterations .I would have to say , I will keep building models of this till I go out on my " last voyage " .Thing is ,can I hit ninety before that transpires ?That's a lot of Coast  Guard , " CAPE " class patrol boats , isn't it ?   catchya - - Tanker-builder

I love the movie 'Zombieland' and was inspired to build this.

Great stuff guys!

After reading many forums and posts around the net it seems like most modellers seem to always be thinking ahead, some way ahead by collecting a multitude of kits for future builds. LOL

I have started on my Academy Titanic Centary Editon with PE parts, and I am really enjoying it, but it is certainly a challenge. Anyway I got thinking about having a model on deck so to speak for when this one is done, but didn't come up with anything that jumped out at me. However on a recent vacation we were coming in for final approach and landing in Honolulu when I saw the "Mighty Mo" docked in Pearl Harbor and it hit me, thats it! I had done a tour of it several years ago and thought it was quite a ship with a long and interesting history. Plus it's the one and only military ship I have ever been on so it left quite an impression on me.

I picked up the Tamiya 1:350 WWII version. It appears this version is being discontinued and they are replacing it with a modern one like we see it today.  When it's done I will have a reminder of the excellent tour I took of that ship. Also I suppose I could  build the newer version too and display them beside each other as there were several changes made to it over the years. Not sure where I will find room for all this but...