3D History

I build for several different reasons. My favorite builds are "nostalgia builds'; usually kits I built when I was younger. I think about the models I built as a kid, all the way through college, and I want to rebuild them, but better. I love the smell of the older models when I open the box, even if they've already been opened. If you don't know what I'm talking about, then open an Aurora kit box some time.

I also am trying to build replicas of every aircraft I've flown, and some that I've flown in. As a child, we travelled a lot, and I remember American, Pan Am and TWA 707's being my home away from home. I am trying to build those, as well as the airliners I saw at the time at the airports: Dc-8's, Dc-9's, 727's, Convair 880's and 990's, etc. I have built C-172's and Piper Cherokee-140's, Beech T-34's, and on and on. The one problem with this is that it is virtually impossible to get decals for your N-number or squadron insignia, and definitely not the serial or BuAirNo, and I am not good at making decals, so I just have to get as close as I can. 

Less frequently, I build to replicate a machine that I'm especially fond of. For example, I always loved the movie " Bridges at Toko Ri". I am currently building three (AMT, Monogram, Aurora) different 1/48 Panther models with the (spurious I think) Golden Dragon markings. 

An interesting question seastallion53. As a child my original motivation was the fascination of having a representation of something in minature. Today that fascination is still strong. As I got older it was also about history and an interest in all things military. Nowdays I want to know as much as I can about the subject and when building and painting I think a great deal about the people related to the subject. I too like to think that I am honouring them in some way and that my completed subjects keep their service and sacrifice alive in some small way.

The slogan of one of the two Oklahoma City IPMS chapters was (and may still be) "Plastic Modeling is Holding History in Your Hands," and I'm inclined to agree.

I started building models as a result of hearing my dad's account of his WW II experience. He was a USAAF air traffic controller who maintained an interest in aviation until his death at age 92, and I "helped" him build wood kits as a small child.

I started building plastic models at age   8 and the more models I built the more interested in aircraft design I became. I started college as an aerospace engineering major but before graduating I realized I was more interested in aviation history so switched my major to history and graduated with a B.A. in that field. 

So for me a model is a miniature representation of history, regardless of subject.

I build 1/48th Aircraft and can't really say I put that much thought into the process. Build it, paint it, put it on a shelf alright I just killed a month of time, now onto the next. Kinda like rinse, lather, repeat. I build OOB other than sometimes veering away from the replica choices on the directions and choosing to do a different paint scheme or a famous ace build. I do consider my shelves full of models to be my own little history museum though.

seastallion53

When i build a model i look at it as miniature 3D history,not as a chunk of plastic that sits on a shelf and collects alot of dust.Anybody else have thoughts? 

Yeah, an interest in history went hand-in-hand with building models, when I was a kid, and today.  Especially WW II history, because I'm old enough that most of the adults in my life, when I was a kid, were all WW II veterans, and I got to hear their stories.  So I built a lot of WW II subjects.  I became interested in other time periods, too, over the years, so in figures, I collect and paint Seven Years War, and the Kaiser's Army, but for models, it's still WW II.  And some science fiction subjects, too.

Well;

      That could be it I guess. For most folks anyway. When I build a ship model ( Modern) I guess I am trying to get inside the mind's of the design team. Why'd they do this and not that? I call it from my engineering days " The Logical Progression of Design." The same can be said for Planes and yes, even some Armor.

      Automotive design has gotten so Vanilla there's no fun looking at cars anymore. Except maybe what I feel are mistakes, like the Four Door All Electric " Mustang "? This is Not what I think a vehicle should be. But what with " Crumple" Zones and Bumpers that "Don't " Bump well, It is what it is.

      Building Models is also a method of re-living History or opening that door to the stories of Lives, Dreams and Total confusion about the world we live in. But the gear and equipment that comes out of conflict. You do realize that some of the most stunning advances have "Sadly" come at the cost of lives and homes in parts of the World? 

I try and create a likeness to the real thing.  I build mostly aircraft.  For me part of that fun is using reference photos and pictures of other modelers successful attempts at the same goal.  There is aLao some artistic license.  If I'm building a variant of a WW2 fighter and another variant has a cooler looking gun sight I won't hesitate to use that one.  My skills aren't at the level to alter a fuselage shape if it's not reasonable to the real thing.  I will purchase PE parts, aftermarket decals, and stencils for a more realistic finish.  At the end of the day they end up collecting dust and looking like a plastic airplane but the journey is fun.  And isn't that the reason we do this anyway?

I often think about the brave pilots that went to battle as I'm building.  I recently finished some Battle of Midway subjects and it got me reading a couple books about that part of history.  In some very small way I hope building models help honor those that served.