Hi Ya'll:
Just wanted to let you know that, as you all know I think out loud sometimes. This ends up sounding like I don't like a certain type of modeling. NOT So! I admire anyone who even entertains the idea a model of anything. Why? For a new Modeler this can be a daunting task. My gosh, just look at the plethora of tools we have now!
Think About it! When we started it was ( from our parents) "What? Why do you need that knife? What's wrong with your ( Cub or Boy) scout knife)?" a ruler and some sandpaper. Yup, models were NOT to be had in any great numbers in plastic till afterW.W.11. Even then, Korea slowed that down some too. All production, well, most all dedicated to the War efforts.
Just think, after six or so months or more you had a reasonably good looking(to You) fascimile of the ship or plane you particularly liked. Tanks, Not so much or Cars either! Oh, yeah, there was Gowland and Gowland " Highway Pioneers" Pioneers indeed! They were ALL Plastic! I think the first Tank in plastic was with a Marx Toy soldier set! And you weren't sure which country it represented. Oh, sure there were thousands of Die-cast versions of W.W. 1 tanks, but not to much of the Second war till the fifties. And the choice was limited!
So, getting back to me. I went through with a healthy respect for ships. Why? Well, Need I say I was born on one? Yup, Coming here to the Greatest Country I have known( Yes, I have traveled by ship a lot too). The chance was that Buffalo N.Y. is where this person started his modeling life! Lakes freighters and the Speed boats of the Lakes in New York.
That said, My intro to models was not at home! There was a Summer Camp! Yeah, Mom and Dad were invited by My Aunt terry( Of Buffalo Wing Fame) to Lake George N.Y. Dad and Mom to work, me to camp. Yes, Boys it was Camp Hiawatha! REALLY !! The boys got to build models and stuff, during quiet time, the Girls made those woven plastic key rings and stuff! Well, those first models were Comet or Guillows Wooden solids!
Time passed and one Christmas, I think I was seven or eight, I got a VICTORY at SEA set from Santa! WOW! I never did realize till years later that instead of the Battleship, Cruiser, Aircraft Carrier and Destroyer I go TWO Cruisers, Go Figure? My uncles always had a neat Battleship on their mantelpieces though.
Then For a Birthday I got Revell's Set that had the Tug, Liner, Freighter and Car(1/32 on the car) I thought I had gone to heaven. Grandmama, got me a Bell helo like the "M.A.S.H." one(I forget the Model designation) That was a Pre-Aurora model. They were actually built near where we lived.When I went to Grandmama's for the weekend I could see them being wrapped for shipment to our forces!
Trade Technical High School and then Five and a Half years at one College, Two at another and I was done learning! Yay! Then an Impromptu marriage! (That happened BEFORE College.) The marriage lasted 43 years, And they were great ones too! Wifey loved to sit and watch me build, so she got a wee bit miffed when I actually set up space separate from the Kitchen Table. That's what you do whan you have little, touch this and that, Children running loose in your house, Right?
Well, too much about me. Back to these things called models. In my working years I have had the priviledge of working Heavy Industry( Steel) and the Maritime Industry(Design) then back to my first love Building things(Houses and Small Stores) then Yikes! Hospitals. I had a shared studio in Atlanta where I built models for Attorneys and Advert companies.
High standards here indeed. You had to be on the mark with the "Legal Models" Because they were considered and had to be accepted as "Evidence" in a Product Liability or Accident Case." If the other side could damage them by handling" they would be disqualified from presentation to a Jury!
Sorry, I was thankful when Computer graphics took this away. Then private Clients and Myself next. This is where my thinking comes from. BUT! I get extremely irritated at a show, (I have Judged a few Classes, too!) when a (Rivet Counter) rips a newbie or other modeler about some silly thing that maybe the modeler didn't know about! Not everyone researches their subject. They just build it because they like it and that's that!
My comments,(a lot) come from, to me from my engineering training and simply Subject awareness. Build in scale sure. But, Don't use a part unless you can make it fit size and scale wise. It is taking me longer to ease up on that thinking. Now, I will be the first to say if a model of any kind catches my eye, that builder will get my whole attention and respect. So with this background I ask, Please don't get upset with what I say, remember what Kind of Mental(O.C.D.?) and Visual background it derives from and if I suggest from memory, a step (it's because I have seen it work) Been There, Done That) so I will be critical of somethings .Not the modeler, but the source of the part. All in the pursuit of our Hard won Hobby Dollars!