Whats your occupation?

You say this like going underwater is a bad thing....

Castel: only 1 of those is actually under water.

So glad you have a sense of humor.

pyrman64

castelnuovo

I started as a merchant marine navigator. When that went downhill,......

RMS Titanic....Exxon Valdez......or Costa Concordia!?

I said "downhill", not "underwater"

I'm a school teacher at a school for Autistic children in the TB area.

Active duty US Navy for the last ten years. I push submarines around for a living. :)

Lots of great jobs in here that I would love to have! Pilot, teacher, a freeking dinosaur field guide?? I'm jealous.

dpty_dawg_ca- I'm curious to know a little more about your history, since you are right up my line of work...

castelnuovo

I started as a merchant marine navigator. When that went downhill,......

RMS Titanic....Exxon Valdez......or Costa Concordia!?

Police officer.  Starting my 30th year in October.  Will retire in March 2017 at age 55.

I started as a merchant marine navigator. When that went downhill, I worked as a waiter and for the last 12 years as a personal fitness trainer. I am now in school (but still train clients) and will become a physiotherapist.

Cheers...

I started out life working on ranches in Alberta and later on became a Forest Technician and spent my career working in western Alberta for a large forestry company - as a supervisor and mostly as a  planner of logging operations. Our forest management area covered 7,500 square miles and was right up against the Rocky Mtns to the west. Beautiful area - lots of fishing and hunting, photography and hiking.

My job required a lot of time in the bush and I spent a lot of time in a 4X4, on quads, on snowmobiles, walking and also quite a bit of flying in Jet Rangers. Just a great career.

I’m retired … do (sequestration) yourself.

I'm a pilot for US Airways...soon to be American...and formerly America West.  One interview and three airlines.  How'd that happen?

Great thread Joe. I currently work full time at the local Ace Hardware store and part time at the used book store. I really enjoy both my jobs. Prior to that though I was a Wildland Firefighter for the U.S. Forest for 25 yrs. Resigned in 2008 due to personal issues and most of all I was tired of living 3 hrs from my wife and being gone all summer. I now enjoy my modeling now that my life has slowed down although I still don't have a whole lot of bench time available.

Hey Nathan T., One of my duties with the U.S.F.S. was as a SEAT (Single Engine Air Tanker) Manager i.e. retardant toting crop dusters. Absolutely one of my favorite jobs.

I worked as a Land Surveyor for 35 years.  Now I "work" at  a site just outside Denver called Dinosaur Ridge as a guide and Docent at our Exhibit Hall.  Most fun I've ever had.  We have school classes come out and we show them our Bone Quarry (established in 1877) , and our over 300 dinosaur tracks, along with a lot of cool geology.   I finally get to use my college degree!

Of course, I still have to deal with Rattlesnakes now and then.  No biggie.

Doug

This sounds like a good subject for a new thread:   When does a modeler turn pro?

As for "junk"  yeah ...  what some guys pass for quality is a joke.    And I'v seen some stuff thats sold for  TWICE    what I charge for the same thing!   And I agree with you on the motivation.....  sometimes you just want to build what you want.    Sometimes demanding high dollar amounts are a way to get people to leave you alone.    And they STILL throw money at you !

Little Timmy,

I was thinking that "professional modeler" means a primary occupation for pay, like the guys who make those big fancy architectural/industrial models for developers or fabricate prototypes for manufacturers.  But I suppose a hobbyist who builds for commission would also qualify.  That does raise the question of when a hobbyist becomes pro.  Is it money?  Scope/complexity?  The credentials of the client?  Too much to think about before I've had my morning coffee... 

Of course, some of the glue-bomb aberrations you see on FleaBay by supposedly "professional" modelers will stretch the definition.  I'd never try to sell my junk, as I dilly-dally too much to finish anything on time.  And I would really have a hard time switching the motivation on for building a model that I wasn't interested in.

Here is a version of this question that was asked in 2005. Many of the responders are still active members of the forum, others have gone their ways.

http://cs.finescale.com/fsm/modeling_subjects/f/7/t/54465.aspx?sort=ASC&pi240=1

Many responses need updating, like mine on page 6. I am now retired and not doing anything for a living and am pretty dang good at it!

Lee

REAL G    What counts as a professional modeler?   A guy whos sole form of income is from modeling...   or a guy who occasionally gets paid for it?     I do from time to time get paid to glue my fingers together but I didnt count it in my Loooooong list of previous employment.     Not trying to be a pain in the a**    just curious.    Maybe I should add it to my resume?    

Wow! What a spread of occupations here! Just interesting to see the skills that everybody has and another opportunity to get to know each other a little better. Good stuff guys!

I have been a letter carrier for the USPS for 17 years.  My current route which I've had for 7 years is a 10.5 mile walk everyday with a lot of streets that end in hill.  Love the neighborhood though.  Before that was in autobody repair for a few years.  Also the resident DIY man in the house.  I'm too cheap to pay someone if I can do it myself.  John

Now retired, I spent 30 years as a nuclear power lpant operator. Also I was a volunteer firefighter for 37 years and retired as  chief.

Thanks

Carl

Howdy...

I work in IT security.  I've done vulnerability assessments for about five years, but I'm moving to a new field, following my passion - Incident Response and Forensics.

i was an armor officer and mortar plt leader in germany in the late '70s, had a combat support companty at carson b efore becoming a MILES instructor on all the new equipment traing teams in the '80s. from there i became a technical illustrator and still do it, albeit right now an independant involuntarily retired one. i am also the house husband and cook.

at this time i build boats, modern and ww1 and earlier, modern warwheels, railroad stuff, and towed artillery

I work in the architectural department of the local supermarket chain.  I didn't think a supermarket would need much in the way of design, but we always have lots of work to do.  I started out as a mechanical engineer, but plumbing and A/C (no heating needed in Hawaii!) didn't really do it for me.  I spent the next 10 years at a food service design consulting outfit, which was more fun because I got to visit all the expensive resorts that I would never be able to stay at.  So here I am doing supermarket layouts for the last 8 years.

My modeling and work rarely cross paths; I did one store layout, one checkout section, and three funky merchandiser spinners, all in Foamcore.  Nothing fancy, just some fast and dirty mock-ups for the executive committee to review.

Great thread subject!  So no professional modelers or guys in kit manufacturing?

Jester- yep, they still do that in August.  

Former auto mechanic, now free lance writer. I write fiction primarily, mostly short stories that I submit to literary magazines. I'll do contract work, supplying non-fiction or technical material for blogs & magazines on occasion too.

Nice Dre!! I haven't been to Bristol in several years but its definitely "the race' too see. Do they still close down main street the week of the race and have the drivers, cars, and sponsors out signing autographs and stuff?

I work as a newspaper photographer, have been doing that for the last 20 years.

This is me 'at work' during the NASCAR race at Bristol (my home town) two weeks ago...  the photo I wanted had already passed by, so that's why I look like I'm doing nothing with the camera in my hands.

I was an electrical engineer, designing custom motor control systems for industrial automation in just about every industry you can think of.  It involved a lot of travelling, and I got to see what goes on in very interesting places, from mines to commercial bakeries, to steel mills, automotive foundries, breweries, etc.  I got in to see the stuff you don't see on tourist tours.  Also got involved with troubleshooting our systems when something went on the fritz, which was always a high pressure situation because of the high costs to the customer when a high volume production line shut down.

I am now retired and build models and try to keep out of trouble with the wife!

Nice idea. I am now working in the building trade as a laberour, i work for my brother. In Oct i came out the British Army after 22 years, not my choice i would have stayed if i could. And i still find it hard to not say i am in the army if people ask. So i may be in the building trade, but i am still a GRUNT at heart.

Well lets see... Just after high school I was a crane operator..... machinest.... janitor... general manager for a chain of movie theateres... (projectionist, conssecion sales, ticket taker, janitor again, also in charge of hiring and firing.) ... construction worker  mostly demolition..... a variety of machine operators including injection molding for a company that actually did a short run of kits  ( I forget for who but it was a civilian aircraft) ...  bus driver... cross country truck driver...  driller helper... forklift operator..... weld shop supervisor..... a variety of day laborer jobs...  and current ly    a school bus driver during the school year and a water tender driver during the fire season   ( no screaming kids and flaming trees... no problem!!  )

                          And somewhere along the way I also worked for a few foundrys    HEAVY METAL !  

I'v packed a lot of living into my 47 years! and have forgotten a bunch of jobs that were to short or to terrible to mention.

P.S.   I did have 3 paper routes when I was 11 so that would have been my first job.