Very off topic-Your job

Hi all, it's facinating to read about all the different careers and backgrounds!

I am retired from the USAF after 24 years. Started out as a driver, retrained to aircraft electrical systems, cross trained to enviormental systems and became a glorified crew chief. Played around as a financial manager for 4 years and ended up in Quality Assurance. Worked for Lear-Seigler for about a year then made the BIG mistake of moving to Singapore (where I am currently stuck) to manager a student hostile.

Now I am permanently retired and work full time as a Mr. Mom!

My interests are aircarft and ships. I was building a 700 scale navy until I started going blind. I am current building CVN-65 (the 350 scale variety).

 

I took early retirement after 30 years on Wall St. We're living in Guadalajara Mexico where I manage my investments and pursue my life-long interest in history.  Several months ago I decided to get back into modelling,which I had given up many moons ago. I just completed the Confederate locomotive "The General" and am now working on the 1/96 Kearsarge.

  My wife and I went to woodcarving class at an arts & crafts school in the Smoky Mountains last fall; I'll be going to wooden kit boatbuilding school at the Maritime Museum in St. Joseph Md later this year to learn a bit about wood kits.

I'm a college professor teaching CAD in the architectural department of a local technical college.

I've been building for about 35 years now; mostly ships and aircraft, but also some sci-fi and the occasional car. My most recent purchase was the new Trumpeter LaFrance fire truck (beautiful kit, by the way - wanted something different!)

My current project is the Trumpeter 1/350 Lexington, which I'm backdating to 1937.

 

 

I have been retired for 12 years after a 33 year career in law enforcement. Prior to that I spent time as a draftsman and Army combat engineer. I have been building ship models for thirty-five or so years and now occasionally do a commission. I have been associated with a marine artist for the past six years and have built a few models to "pose" for his paintings.

Al Blevins

sirdrake wrote:

I'm new to the forum but I thought I could as well use this topic to say hello to everybody. I'm an evolutionary Biologist working at Duke University, and although a native from Germany, currently living in Durham, NC. "Master and Commander" fueld my old interest in sailing ships, and I started modeling again after about 20 years (building a lot of aircraft as a kid...). Currently I build the old Revell 'Golden Hind', a kit that's older than me: In the box was an ad for a membership of a modeling club of some sort. If you joined, you were promised a kit for a model of the 'new Apollo spacecraft that soon will allow man to land on the moon'.

 

The old Revell "Master Modelers' Club!" I remember that! When you joined, you got a magazine, the latest Revell catalogue, an iron-on patch for a T-shirt and a set of "tools" that were attached model-parts-like, to a sprue. I think the tools quickly wound up in the trash; the clamps especially were utterly useless and the other tools weren't much better.

I work in the plant nursery business, first in Hawaii for a couple of years, then in California, and now in Arizona. Back in 1992, my roommate at the time (who was from Tainan), a couple of his friends and I went to Taiwan to visit his family. One of the best vacations I ever had!

Well, I would if they would let me.   I mean, don't get me wrong, they're beautiful and I've gotten compliments on my resin figures.  But, I don't think that JJ Models nudes would go over well on the forum, especially for kids that might get here.......

As for oil painting, I admit it.  I'm a Bob Ross nut.  There's nothing like doing a landscape in 30 minutes....well, a couple of hours for me.   I'll see what I can do though.   I'll also see if I can make some politically correct pictures of my resins.  I don't consider myself the best in the world and I don't do a lot of modifying or "kitbashing" as it were.   I just really enjoy painting.   It is so relaxing...

say Grymm

you got to post some of your figures if you can

and maybe a painting too

i love landscapes, and still lifes

 

please

Wow.  How to answer this one.   Okay, I'm a partially disabled veteran and have recently returned to college to finish my business degree and then my masters.   I work part time (very part time) for a GM dealership working with the Internet Manager.   So this leaves me with a fair bit of free time, so I came back to the hobby I loved for so many years.  I've done resin figure painting for the last few years and have gotten into oil painting (landscapes) recently.  

 

Current builds:

USS Constitution

Soon to start:

Heller Soleil Royal

I work as a letter carrier (mail man) in Mason City, IA  Been at it for 13 years now.  Spent time in the USAF in the mid to late 70s.  Started building models in 2nd grade, (1962) and do planes, ships and an armor subject from time to time.    Interesting thread, makes my job seem boring by comparrison.  Happy modeling all,  Mike

I'm new to the forum but I thought I could as well use this topic to say hello to everybody. I'm an evolutionary Biologist working at Duke University, and although a native from Germany, currently living in Durham, NC.
"Master and Commander" fueld my old interest in sailing ships, and I started modeling again after about 20 years (building a lot of aircraft as a kid...). Currently I build the old Revell 'Golden Hind', a kit that's older than me: In the box was an ad for a membership of a modeling club of some sort. If you joined, you were promised a kit for a model of the 'new Apollo spacecraft that soon will allow man to land on the moon'.

I'm a marine engineer, a graduate of the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy, and have worked in a variety of design, construction and fleet operations jobs over the past 25 years in both commercial and naval shipping.  I'm also a former officer in the Naval Reserve.

I've been building models of all subjects since 9 yrs old, and switched from plastic kits to scratch-building ships (plank-on-frame in 1/96th scale) in the early 80's.  After completing only 2 of 4 projects started, I switched back to plastic in the early 90's, starting with sci-fi kits with my son, then a few cars, then back to ships.  I'm sticking with plastic kits for now, since I can actually complete them in days or weeks instead of years.  My main interest is commercial ships displayed in dioramas at sea or in port.

I also use my hobby to support another interest.  I have a patent for a container handling system and  built two models -- one static in 1/500th scale and one operational in HO scale -- for demo purposes.  They came in real handy getting the thing into development.  As they say, if a picture is worth a thousand words, then a model is worth a thousand pictures.  I've also built some architectural scale models on the side.

I only discovered FSM on the newsstand last year and picked up a subscription, then finally, started browsing this forum for information.  It's been a tremendous help thanks to all of you.

Wow I feel overwhelmed! I'm an elementary music teacher here in Anchorage... Taught high school band and choir for a few years, and anyone who tells you teaching high school is harder than teaching elementary school has never tried both! At least music.

My teaching philosophy is to be sure the student is consistantly engaged in positive, enjoyable music education, while learning musical elements appropriate for the grade level. If I do my job right and instill a love of music into these kiddos now, hopefully they will grow up with a greater understanding of emotion and humanity.

The hard part is writing meaningful lesson plans; once that's done I get to play with kids all day! Best job in the world!

(to me, obviously!)

I am a physical science technician (geiger counter guy) for the US Navy. After four years of active duty as a quartermaster ( ship's navigation, not supply, for you ground pounder types ) I fell out of the frying pan and into the nuclear fire. I've been working for Norfolk Naval Shipyard since 1981.

many of you guys have cool jobs

i'm just a photo jerk  whooops  i'm mean photo clerk

i process pics and film etc for a major chain

U.S. Navy Surface Warfare Officer (CRUDES...CG and DDG's)...on a shore rotation right now.

-Mike

Well I am an interloper from the UK:)  By profession I am a qualified Archivist and Records Manager, I worked for the BBC for 4 years then it got boring and so I got a job as Assistant Museum Archivist at the Imperial War Museum in London, where I also got to spend loads of time on board HMS Belfast as I was responsible for Managing the records of the Ship:) However life got in the way and I had to buy a house which meant a Mortgage and that meant getting a job that paid so I am now a Records Manager in Local Government in London dreaming about the good old days when I could go on Belfast on a whim. Still I do have my own house with a room dedicated to model making now:)

I'm currently working as a computer desktop support puke at a large (too large, really) NYC law firm.  I'm doing it to pay my tuition as I finish up the college degree I started over 12 years ago while I was in the Navy (AEGIS Fire Control, got out after 6 LONG years).  I'm also a writer.  I have my first novel done and making the rounds of the publishing houses, and continue to work on my short stories.  After finishing college this coming December, I want to be able to get out of computers and get a full time writing gig, but those are few and far between, so we'll see.

-Devin

I am a sales architect for a custom home builder. I have a BFA, majored in Industrial Design, minored in Architecture.  Started with plastic kits of all kinds when  a kid in the 50's and early 60's, then developed a bad jones for intricate wooden ship models about 12 years ago, and only recently came back to plastic ( and resin! ). I am working on a limited, specific set of criteria- the best looking airplanes in 1/72, the best 1ooking armor in 1/72, and the best looking cars in 1/24 or 1/25. Also possibly a great looking battleship or battlecruiser. That totals about 15 cars, 2 tanks, and 12 planes. And then I'll be done and it'll be back to wood ships ( although I have this wierd urge to build an accurate architectural model of the Chrysler Building in big scale- say, 3 or 4 feet tall.)

Reading this post is truly breathtaking, It's a supreme delight for me to share a platform with such "cream of the cream" from different nations. I'm 22 years old and I have a humble background; dad has a family that produced  lawyers and religious people and mom comes from a family of rural notables. I'm graduating this june from Istanbul Bilgi University history department and proceed to the master's program from international relations in the fall. After that, I hope to make a doctorate either in Russia or in France. My main areas of interest are history of mediterranean civilisations, Ottoman military history 1718-1839 and history of modern Russia. I'm currently writing a bachelor's thesis about the Venetian blockade of dardanelles between 1654-56 and it's effects on the transformation of Ottoman navy. In master's program, I'll write a thesis about Turco-Italian relations during fascist period and thereafter, I will decide where to focus for a doctorate thesis . Yet, it will surely be about Ottoman military history.

As for models, Dad bought and built my first model when I was 5 years old. I still remember it, Airfix good old HMS Bounty . I started to build my own models when I was 12 years old with aircraft, get my "master's degree" with armor and now trying to build ships, my old passion. I hope to proliferate in the craft by following master modelers here.

First everyone wow the diversity of all the people iread about makes me feel like a fish out of water  I am an 18 year veteran of the US Air Force and will pin on E-7 on the 1st of March  I have been building models on and off since my step dad got me started way back when i was 5 I started with WWII airplanes and moved to modern fighters built armor as a teen ager and while in Korea where i would get Tamiya kits very cheap when i could go to the Army post up near the DMZ and have since fallen in love with 1/350th ships if anyone goes in to the hobbyshop in Albuquerque near Jaum taebo and Osuna (sorry i can not remember the name) i left my NJ and Missourri there when i was sent back to Korea in 2001.  The Missourri was my first attempt at photo etch.  Now i have been stockpiling a fleet of ships and with the tax refund will probably go out and purchase the Soviet flattop.  I hope to pass on to my son the love of our hobby when he gets a little older than 10 months.  have a wonderful day everyone Anthony. 

Jeff i know you mentioned large projects when i first posted my plans and what i wanted to build so as time goes by i will update you as i complete each ship and add it to my harbor so far i have built the 688 and Akula but packed them back in the box in styrofoam to keep them safe i have to figure out how i want to weather them so any ex Sub  sailors out there i would welcome your first hand knowledge

I am a retired civil engineer with 34 years working for the Georgia DOT. I still have the Revell 1/96 USS Kearsague Civil War steamship I built during the summer between high school and college (1966). I am working on a collection of ship models showing the development of the battleship (Victory, Kearsague, Mikasa, Arizona, Missouri, New Jersey, Bismark, KG5, Yamato), and US carrier classes (Lexington, Hornet, Essex, Enterprise and Nimitz; I am looking for a 1/350 kit of  the Midway and Forrestal classes.). A third collection will be of aircraft flown from US carriers during WWII in 1/48 scale. The ships will be 1/350 except for the Victory and Kearsague. I am currently working on the 1/72 7c Uboat including the three CMK inserts, YMW pressure hull insert, WEM torp. loading rig, YMW pe set and the Nautilus wood decking. When not building models, I am a soccer referee and league official. After retiring in October 2004, I was able to work full time on my modeling hobby and military history reading list until I was asked to return to the DOT in June 2005 to work on their legicy fortran software as the DOT management could not find anyone who knew their data sets, could speak fortran and understood their VMS operating system. The salary from the full time work is paying for my older son (20) to attend the Savannah College of Art and Design and will help when my younger son (11) will attend college.

  Well i'm currently a member of uncle sam's yacht club. I work in main propulsion plant of an amphibious assault ship and have so for 2 1/2 years now. it's a good job and has good benefits but i am usually lacking sleep immensly. I am currently planning to make a career out of it but who knows that could change at any time.

MM3 (SW/AW/FPJ) Robert Beard, USN

Bgrigg wrote:

vapochilled wrote:  Bgrigg wrote:  hwells wrote: ...and self proclaimed comedian.... Hey, me too! Pay sucks though, don't it? Don't give up the day job JK before you shout, can't deal with shouting or screaming atm,lol Vapo, shouldn't you be sleeping?

You know it!!

vapochilled wrote:

Bgrigg wrote:  hwells wrote: ...and self proclaimed comedian.... Hey, me too! Pay sucks though, don't it? Don't give up the day job JK before you shout, can't deal with shouting or screaming atm,lol

Funny, but that's the opposite of what my co-workers say. They all encourage me to quit my day job! Vapo, shouldn't you be sleeping?

Bgrigg wrote:

hwells wrote: ...and self proclaimed comedian.... Hey, me too! Pay sucks though, don't it?

Don't give up the day job JK before you shout, can't deal with shouting or screaming atm,lol

hwells wrote:

...and self proclaimed comedian....

Hey, me too! Pay sucks though, don't it?

This one always gets interesting replies.  I pay my bills by making others pay theirs.  I am the Director of Litigation for a collection agency.  I am the last chance to do something before an attorney gets to play with the debt.

I own my own business called H & S Tire Service LLC.  I do roadside tire service for tractor/trailers, and spare changes for passenger vehicles.  My company also has several regular clients that we supply all of their tire needs. 

Before that, I worked in security, retail, roofing, fast food, poop shoveler, and ditch digger.  I'm also a machinist, gunsmith, and self proclaimed comedian.

I started building models in '79 when I was 7.  I had asthma and since I couldn't go out and play, Mom bought me a model to put together.  It's been down hill ever since.

I am a Seismic Data Processing Geophysicist. I work for a major oil field services company and process data for medium to major oil companys for exploration and developement. I process data collected in shallow marine, coastal, and land prospects. Spend some time at sea in the Gulf of Mexico each year.