A strange hobby for a girl

Manstein's revenge

You mugs act like you 'aint never seen a girl...don't make me come up with a new award...

No kiddin'.. Next thing you know, they'll be lettin' females on board ships,  fly fighters, and fly attack helicopters...

Ain't hardly worth goin' ta war no more..

to the Forums Elizabeth. Lots of luck with the truck.  Like many of the guys said, "If you need help, just ask".

Jim

Welcome Elizabeth,,, glad to have you involved with the hobby - - -  All the best. Especially with the endeavor you've chosen,,   WOW,,  that sounds like some job.

I won't get into any lengthy details suffice to say if  you need help, there are plenty of talented blokes about.

Again,,  all the best and good luck with the restoration....  will enjoy seeing the results..   Cheers!

PS - - where abouts in England? I have family in Sheffield.

Bill

You mugs act like you 'aint never seen a girl...don't make me come up with a new award...

wow.... not to stereotype, but they type a lot too!  

LOL... Welcome aboard!

Manny has the awards to give and he's shaking in anticipation to hand them out.

Manstein's revenge

 

Elizabeth Jane:

 

phoneguy: My sense of humour won't be a problem and I guess you know that your wife is always right?

 

Here we go!

But Manny, he DOES know, he's got the badge to prove it!

Elizabeth Jane

phoneguy: My sense of humour won't be a problem and I guess you know that your wife is always right?

Here we go!

Elizabeth-Jane.. <--pretend its Tea..

Cant wait for the pics !

Recommendation:

If you think that you might like to build a wooden battleship (ships of the line) some day, I strongly recommend that you acquire a Heller "Victory" for your stash.

Your approach to your current projects tells me you are entirely equal to it when you can no longer resist the temptation should the box be in your possession. There is information on the build on the internet and oodles of research material near at hand for you (relative to my locale...that's why I will be building a "Constitution" first) and books galore.

In the meantime, get thee lots of 400 grit wet/dry sandpaper, Mr. Surfacer 500 (bottle) and build.

Best of luck and welcome to the asylum.

Wally.

Thank you for all your replies guys (and gals). I didn't really know what to expect but you all seem very supportive.

In order of replies:

SuppressionFire: Daunting task. You're not kidding! At times I would get so frustrated trying to fix someone else's mistake that I had to walk away for a while. The worst was trying to make new door hinges that kept snapping. I ended up melting a hot sewing needle through the plastic so the doors now have metal hinges. If I had known about scratch building when I started I could have bought two wheels but I found one wheel in my brothers old Lego sets the same size so that's what I used (have a look at my photos). I already have a new kit. Santa brought me a Revell Dumper Trailer that I've just started building to go with the truck.

ACESES5: Thanks for the tip. I actually sat on my bed one night and picked the chassis apart with a sharp knife. Three hours and two sticky plasters later I started to realise how much work was involved in model making.

Robtmelvin: I found when building the truck that I allocated a little bit of the day to myself and I really enjoyed my own company. I'm not sure what models I prefer yet. I've got a trailer to build and I would love to build a Concorde. The old wooden battle ships look fantastic with the sails and rigging but I think I'm too clumsy for anything like that.

Division 6: I never even thought about getting a few tips from YouTube. It might come in handy as I am struggling with a couple of things, especially with my painting.

CallSignOWL: Nice to meet you. I get the impression model making is second nature to you. I've only just started so I have a lot of catching up to do.

Sparrowhyperion: Thanks for your instructions. I already have a Flickr account so I tried to use that but managed to mess it up. I tried Photobucket a while ago but found it too confusing and give up. As Flickr didn't work I have spent a few days learning Photobucket. It takes me so long because I don't use my computer very often and I don't have anyone to ask when I get stuck.

tankerbuilder: I think I am a long way off going to model shows or contests. I wouldn't even know where to begin but I think I would be like a child in Toys R Us at Christmas time. I agree with your cousin about making something for pure enjoyment and not just to beat the competition but I guess if you are good enough, then you have got to give it a go at least once. It's probably one of the hardest things to try but I really like the idea of scratch building as I can't seem to find what I am looking for. I found some fantastic photos online of a blue and white truck towing a huge low trailer with the same colours and with a Case Excavator sitting on the back all mounted on a wooden base. It must all be scratch build as I found very little online in 1:25 scale except for a few metal tractors that are out of my price range and would be too heavy. Bruder and First Gear I think they were called. I also came across a Michigan loader from KFS (I know because I saved the pictures) and I thought that's perfect until I found out it is £200 and then it wasn't so perfect anymore but I fell in love with the truck so it is now my goal to be able to build something just half as good as that one day.

phoneguy: My sense of humour won't be a problem and I guess you know that your wife is always right? As for the threads, I haven't even begun to scratch the surface. That will take some time.

agentg: Airbrushing, never tried it, but I know my dad has a cheep one that connects to a car tyre. I'm sure that would do to have a go but I have no idea where to buy the paint to pour in. All in good time though.

tigerman: No, I'm still here. I'm just a little slow as finding each letter on my keyboard is a mini adventure in itself and it's amazing how many letters are needed once I start grouping them together to form words and sentences but I get there in the end.

Gigatron: Being a girl sometimes isn't the best thing that happened to me as I found out earlier. In a forum full of men it's probably best to be a man.



Right, my plan was to get my photos sorted out and on here tonight but things happened so it will be tomorrow at the earliest. I have 18 I think with lots of reading to go with them but if that is too many I will just post whatever I am allowed. If someone could let me know if there is a limit. I will post them in the 'Modelling Subjects - Autos' forum as I don't think the general discussion forum is the right place for them.
Just to give you all an idea of how my brain works I have included the following text that really belongs at the start of my photos. Hope it's not too much for you all to read.


Gratitude Where It's Due.
My dad deserves a huge thank you for his help and guidance without which this model would not have been built. Although the only 'hands on' work he did was to build a twisted chassis 20 year ago, he has held my hand doing everything from buying paint and wet-n-dry to showing me how to drill wheel pins out and spray paint with my hair drier. 
He also made me include the following words so people can understand what I'm talking about in my photos -  shock absorbers, drive shaft, axle, track control arm, track rod ends, cooler, air stacks, bulkhead, radiator crown, compressor units, fifth wheel. (Thanks dad) 

To build this truck I first had to take the chassis apart. Even after 20 years every location pin had a good hold so I decided to cut through them instead of ripping them apart. The drive shaft and one rear axle almost fell off but the levers on top of the axles and the shock absorbers all snapped. I snapped the frame that strengthens the chassis around the rear wheels but I was careful taking the front steering off in one piece. I noticed something wasn't right as the track control arm was rubbing against the front shock absorbers. I looked at the instructions and found two parts needed for the steering had been put on the wrong sides and everything else had been built around them so the steering also had to come apart and I snapped both steering arms (the parts that were wrong). By now I was fed up, I very nearly binned the lot but I kept calm, put it all back in the box and put it in the cupboard never to see daylight again. I was furious at the condition it was in, even if it was nearly as old as me and I had never wanted to build anything since I outgrew Lego. For three days I tried to forget about it until I decided that I'm not a quitter and I will not be beating by a box of broken plastic. It then became personal and I was determined it would end up looking like a truck (at least from a distance). So, job number one ..... make a cup of tea for myself and my folks (I am British you know) and to start at the beginning ..... "Dad, is there a shop where I can buy things to build and paint your old model truck?" "Yes Liz, it's called The Model Shop" (chuckle, chuckle, chuckle) "Ah, OK! So what do I need them?" .....

Welcome.  Girls are not as rare in this hobby as you might think.  I have seen girls as young as 10 at shows showing off their builds to adults doing some very nice miniature work.  The thing is you see alot more Females working on miniatures, anime kits, and figure kits, then you do cars, planes, and armor.  Anyhow, welcome and show pics

Next time I join a forum, I'm doing so as a girl.  I think I got all of 3 messages, when I joined - let alone 3 pages, LOL.

-Fred

Gigatron

Next time I join a forum, I'm doing so as a girl.  I think I got all of 3 messages, when I joined - let alone 3 pages, LOL.

-Fred

oops. Welcome Fred!!

Next time I join a forum, I'm doing so as a girl.  I think I got all of 3 messages, when I joined - let alone 3 pages, LOL.

-Fred

she popped into the Falklands GB thread for a moment...

Has she left the building?

Manstein's revenge

Feel free to comment on the 229 thread in here...

Don't go scaring her away Manny... Welcome aboard!

Welcome Aboard!! 

My wife tried her hand at it and got frustrated when I tried to give her pointers.  So I just shut my mouth and let her go.  I give you a BIG HIGH 5 for taking over an already partially built model.  Like others have said, I dont think I would try that one either. 

There is one I will work on tho.  My son and I worked on a 3 ft destroyer that we made radio controlled.  I gotta fix that one up again and surprise some people at the summer cottage again.

You will find some very helpful threads on the site as well as some off the wall also.  Feel free to comment and hopefully you have a good sense of humor.  Take what Manny says with a fine grain of salt.  (JK, Manny!) 

Send pics when you can!!!  I know we all would like to see before and after!

Hey ,BOB ,why is building a ship a black art?? It is actually more like a mysterious venture into the unknown. I really do understand why you said that though.There are many modelers out there that DO think what we do is a black art.Just because it MAY come to a point on both ends doesn,t mean it,s strange. RIGHT?? Well after looking at some of the ships over the years maybe it is a black art .Oh well, so be it.     tankerbuilder

WHY?? My daughters built models until they got into the MILITARY. I for one like to see the gentler ones being interested in our hobby. My wife, before health derailed her, was starting to build ships.My cousin who to look at her you wouldn,t think so( very properly feminine) ,is one heck of an armor builder.She likes softskins and if there,s no kit she scratchbuilds them. She does not go to model shows or contests.I asked her why, "CUZ, you know I build to suit me,my work would never even place with all their penchant for accuracy." I guess she has a point. I don,t enter contests anymore because of the all pervasive it aint right if it has no equal in the research! mentality. I build for me ,but , I welcome any and all ladies to our very interesting , rewarding and enlightening hobby.I don,t care what you build ,just build it ladies!!! tankerbuilder

Hello Elizabeth and welcome.

Strange, no but rare to see many women here.

My daughter used to hang around my work bench but never tried a model.

My wife did a snap together VW New Beetle to match her real car a couple of years ago.

Welcome again and have fun!

Welcome to the forum Elizabeth. You will find a wealth of useful information and tips here. PS When my daughter was a young girl she built models alongside her brothers.

Welcome, Elizabeth.    You'll discover a wealth of information on this forum!

Ken

It's not such a strange hobby for a girl.  My 13 year old Daughter started a couple of years ago.  She was watching me build an old Titanic Model, and asked to help and that was it.  After that she helped me with about a dozen kits.  Now she does her own.  For Xmas we got her a 1/32 Bell Xi rocketplane, and a 1/48 combo set of the  U2 and SR71 by Testors.  Plus if any kits I do don't come out perfect, I give them to her so she can practice techniques that I am teaching her.

Oh.  To post an image you need an offsite storage site like Photobucket.  You get an account and upload to Photobucket (It's free), then use the direct link they give you to the image here.  Just click the little icon that looks like a film strip and paste the direct link from photobucket or another hosting service in the space provided.

Hope this helps

Rich

Elizabeth Jane

Hello everyone.

I guess I won't find too many girls here but I started modelling thanks to my dad's lack of interest in the hobby.

20 year ago my dad was given a Revell model truck (Peterbilt Black Widow 1:25) that he started by building the chassis and then it got put away until my brother found it one day and took it for his son. It was too complicated for my nephew so it got returned.

It was in a bad state when I opened the box. The chassis had a terrible twist in it, the wheels had been glued solid and then snapped off, the steering had been built backwards, the doors had been glued on and then snapped off and the glass had been glued in and covered with fingerprints of glue. To make matters worse, two wheels were missing along with a few other parts and it still wasn't painted.

As I don't like being beating so I decided to give it a go anyway. I took over my dad's study room for two month and started repairing the model. I even got my dad to go shopping with me for everything I would need and he showed me how to spray paint.

I am really pleased with how it turned out but it does still have a few faults like the wheels wobble a bit because I had to make new pins for them and the chassis still has a slight twist in it but for my first model I think I did quite well. As soon as I work out how to post pictures on here I will.

Elizabeth.

Miss Owl, I think you're becoming a knd of a celebrity on this forum! Like it's a third or so thread that goes "Any girls on the forum? Err, I think CallSignOWL is a girl, I suppose"  Best greetings!

Paweł

Welcome Elizabeth! It is always nice to see another girl on the forums. Who else will keep these boys in line, eh? 

OWL

Welcome to the forum.

My Mom used to build models and is the one that got me into building when I was young and for a short time one of my step sisters was modeling as well.

I've seen a number of videos on youtube with girls doing tutorials on building kits.

E...

Elizabeth, welcome to the forum! Like they say, this thread is worthless without pics What is going to be your next project? Rebuilding a truck is a lot of work - at the moment I'm on it too - please check out this.

Good luck building and have a nice day

Paweł

Elizabeth, welcome to the forum and to the hobby.  I don't find it at all strange that a "girl" should be interested in the scale modeling hobby.  My grandson, who is 7, has an interest in our hobby and I do wish his sister, who is 9, would develop an interest.  But, growing up to fast, she is now interested in make up, Justin Biber (whoever the heck that is) and "girly" things.  Are you only interested in things with wheels, or do you have an interest in the true black art - ships?  If you think that might be to your taste there are some great things happening right now in ship modeling.

Bob