What got you started in the hobby and who/what were your major influences?

I got back into the hobby in 1992, thanks to the June 1992 issue of Scale Auto Enthusiast. It had a bright yellow 66 Ford Fairlane I was smitten with. The rest is history.

 This started back in Wichita Kansas when I was almost 6 (1957) when I saw some model planes a neighbor had, I was hooked. I always specifically remembered that old yellow unpainted Zero he had..... he was about 15 ... and a bit high-minded and reluctant to let me just touch it.

 And living next to the Boeing (B52's) factory (hear the roar?) where my Dad worked and would sometimes bring me a model from the actual factory. I remember a white unpainted B-36 on a stand with the clear propellers and about a 12" wingspan. That was also part of what put me into this hobby.

 And also around that same time, Mom/Dad and I went to the drive in and I remember a scene in the movie where a guy parked his classic MG roadster. By magically waving his hand near it he then put the miniaturized result in his pocket and went on about his business.

Neat way to park?

That also did a lot to get me into miniatures.

I never saw that movie since and have no idea of the title.

These kind of "snapshot event" memories I still see in my mind and it has constantly kept me in this creative pastime.

How I miss the way things were.....

Back in 1982 or so there was an article in the paper about a local guy who built models.  I was really taken by the article and saved it.  The guy was a member of IPMS, which I had heard of, but never attempted to join the local chapter.  I was only a kid and didn’t want to nag my dad to drive me all the way to Pearl City.

A little over 10 years later I was working and had a car, and remembering the article, I decided to drop in on the monthly local IPMS meeting.

Lo and behold, the guy in the article was president of the club!  It was like seeing a celebrity for me!  So anyway I did join the club and got to know a bunch of great guys.

One of the best things to come out of this was that we organized two trips to Japan to see the All Japan Hobby Show.  Several guys had never been to Japan, so it was really fun watching them experience culture shock!

This made me realize that model shows were within reach no matter their location, so I started going to the IPMS National Conventions on the mainland.  A friend and I even made it out to England for Scale Modelworld at Telford.

I had no idea that newspaper article would have had such a profound influence on my hobby.

BTW, I saved the entire section of the newspaper, which had a treasure trove of details of life in the 1980s - Only 5 TV channels (3 network stations, PBS, and the Japanese station), adult movies playing in theaters, and new cars for under $10K!

My dad was a USAAF air traffic controller in Puerto Rico during WW II, and it was his stories of the airplanes he had seen plus some Strombecker and Comet wood kits he built that got me interested. As a kid I built Revell, Monogram, and Hawk plastic kits until discovering Airfix and Frog kits in the pages of a copy of RAF Flying Review that my dad brought home with him one day while we were living on the Texas Gulf coast in the late 1950s. I've been a dedicated 1/72 airplane fan ever since bit dabble in other subjects and scales.

If I had to pick the one major influence it would have to be my older brother, he was mainly a car guy. I would sit and watch him build models for hours on end. The other significant thing to influence me was my fathers tenure in the Army and Air Force. I was born an Air Force brat in 1959. So being around aircraft, radar, and military ground vehicles from birth then later watching my older brother build them definately pointed me in the right direction.

I went into modeling feet first (all in) around 1967 starting with the old Airfix 1/72 armor kits. Within 4 years I was building aircraft, ships, cars, etc. There was a small stint during basic and AIT (around 18 months) where I did not have the opportunity to build. But I started again on my first duty assignment. I remember one time while stationed in West Germany (Cold War) that I built the Revell Constitution and the 1/32 F-14 for a Captain friend of mine. I also built many 1/72 ground force vehicles for our S-2 Intel Officer that he used in military vehicle recognition classes.

An influence within the modeling community would no doubt be Shepard Payne. His soft books on shading, perspective, diorama layouts and construction, and scratch building opened a whole new world for me in the early 80's. Later I got hook on the techniques of Bill Horan and his figure painting dioramas. Here are a few more things that influenced my modeling:

- Autoworld Model Magazine

- Tamiya Model Catalogs with the showcase models

- Fine Scale Modeler Magazine (first editions)

- Verlinden and his color model (resin) magazines

- Early Airfix modeling magazines

- The strong surge of IPMS Clubs in the 80's and through 2015

- A local hobby store chain in Columbus Ohio (Hobby Land)

I know I'm missing several, but I have always been involved and influenced by modelers since the mid 60's. Heck, I believe I could say that I may have been influenced by some of you at various model shows, contests, on-line, etc. 

v/r,

Ben

My dad used to build those thin balsa wood rubberband powered planes for me to play with.  As time went by, I got a gift from his friend of a Revell Funny Car.  He assembled it and of course I destroyed it.  Little by little I would ask my dad to purchase a kit here and a kit there.  Mostly Monogram WWII fighter planes, especially the Corsair!  

"Baa Baa Blacksheep" the TV series was a big influence on me.  We both used to watch Robert Conrad depicting Greg "Pappy" Boyington with great zeal!  Of course I built several Revell "Blacksheep" kits of which the folding wings always didn't work.  Too much glue!  

My biggest surprise was when my grandmother from Japan sent me a Tamiya P-51 Mustang kit to me.  I was elated.  Taking my son out and building everything with him including kits, Legos, Erector sets etc.  It was about this time that Nintendo/Atari/X-box became popular and like the rest of the world, my son was taken in by the digital age, but that was also a great learning curve for him and my daughter.  I now build kits with my grandson Ezra.  He's a character but does well.  I also built the same balsa wood rubberband powered planes with him and he now takes part in collecting stamps.  He has his own mint state commemorative album from Mystic Stamp Company.  

I feel it's very important to pass down the knowledge and information, old school and new school to the generations that follows.

Your friend's, Toshi & Ezra

 

My best friend and I used to build kits together back when we were probably 9 or 10 yrs old. We would hangout at each other’s home and build for hours on end on mostly Monogram or Revell 1/48 aircraft. When we got to high school, time got restricted with studies, band rehearsals, and girls so modeling got pushed aside. Although we live many miles from each other, we still keep in touch and often recall our build sessions. I didn’t build during college or grad school but I tried to keep up with the hobby from time to time through FSM or other model magazines. Like many, I returned to the hobby about 6 yrs now and am enjoying building again. While my main hobby is fishing, it’s great to sneak off to the bench and work on a kit even for just a little while-great stress relief. I’m lucky that I now have space where I can safely keep everythIng out and just work on something when I have the time.

I hear you Toshi. I also think it is very important that we pass on knowledge and skills to the younger generations. Not always easy, but when its something that ticks a box for them they lap it up. 

In Australia we have an organisation called the Returned & Services League, (RSL), a similar organisation to your American Legion. I am a member and have been for something like 40 years. When a veteran passes away, if the family wishes, we conduct a memorial service at the funeral that recognises that persons service to their country. I have conducted many, many, such services over the years, which means that I have attended many funerals. I get emotional every time I hear a grandchild stand up at these times and tell stories about what they were taught by their grandparents.

I am lucky enough to have 5 beautiful grandchildren and I hope that when my time comes, my grandkids will be able to do the same.

Dodgy

I hear you Toshi. I also think it is very important that we pass on knowledge and skills to the younger generations. Not always easy, but when its something that ticks a box for them they lap it up. 

In Australia we have an organisation called the Returned & Services League, (RSL), a similar organisation to your American Legion. I am a member and have been for something like 40 years. When a veteran passes away, if the family wishes, we conduct a memorial service at the funeral that recognises that persons service to their country. I have conducted many, many, such services over the years, which means that I have attended many funerals. I get emotional every time I hear a grandchild stand up at these times and tell stories about what they were taught by their grandparents.

I am lucky enough to have 5 beautiful grandchildren and I hope that when my time comes, my grandkids will be able to do the same.

 

Now there you go!  That's what I'm talking about.  TRADITION and RESPECT!!!!

Your friend's, Toshi & Ezra

Here's Ezra's flying lesson!

I remember long ago going over to my great aunts house for Thankgiving. My second cousin, who was way older than me, built model cars and I was fasinated with how well he built them. Ibuild a couple model cars, try to emulate my second cousins quiality and not being anywhere close. I have always been interested in WW2 and aviation. I credit getting seriously into modeling when the old TV show Black Sheep Squadron was on TV. My best friend and I went out and bought/built the old Revell 1/32 Corsair and Zero. That was when I got my fist airbrush for Chrismas. We slapped those kits together with the best paint jobs in the world (strictly our own opinions). We would have our dog fights in the yard with those two kits. Great memories

I started building in 1979 when i was 9. By then i was already interested in military history thanks to my dad. And though he never served, i kow that that all i wanted to do was join the army. In that year my parents seperate and my dad moved into a flat. The guy who lived in the flat below brought a welcome present for me and my younger brother. I can't recall what he got, but he brought me a 1/72nd Airfix F-86 Sabre. He helped my build it and i remeber that we painted it black for some reason.

I built the kit again a few years ago, and was lucky enough to find a 1970's boxing of it, though this time i did it the proper colours.

After that first kit, i was hooked. And other than my dad getting me interested in all thing military, and the neighbour who got me the kit, the otehr major infulence was Shep Paine. In the mid 80's i was building anything that took my fancy in any scale. I got the Monogram 1/48th B-17G and it included a pamphlet with Shep's crashed B-17 diorama. From that point on i knew i wanted to build dio's.