why do you model what you model ?

Not sure really why I build what I build but I think my dad may have had some influence on why I like planes. He used to work for Douglas (McDonnell Douglas) in Tulsa and worked there up until the plant closed. He was lucky to able to pull early retirement, others weren't so lucky.

Anyway, amost every year (sometimes every other year) they would have an open house where family members could come out and see just what went on there. Well, not everything. My dad was in the computer department but he had access to most places and I got to see a lot of neat stuff growing up. They would sometimes have an air show (usually did), and they also brought in some various historic planes, and some current planes too (at the time). Some you could even get inside of, walk through (C-130s, C-5s), and climb all over. Some were strictly off limits. Just depended on the type of plane or who owned it, I think. Can't really remember. It's been so long that I can't remember the particulars, just the neat stuff.

That's probably why I like building planes the most. I've been in and around quite a few growing up. Sometimes when I get a kit of a plane I've actually been in I can say "I've been in one of those. Never flown in one but I've been in it." I've also built ships and some tanks too but that was a very long time ago (Might be building a tank again soon). Not sure why on those but I come from a family with a lot of military background, so maybe that's it.

Well, I agree with everyone here.....while it hasn't even been a year for me yet, I started this hobby to make models of every different type of aircraft I've ever worked on.....which is well over 110 different types.....YIKES!!!!!

However, while searching for the kits I needed, I found some very intriguing kits out there to distract me.....ie the Trumpeter A-10, or the Tamiya Enzo Ferrari!!!! WOW!! Talk about impressive....the only thing I knew of models were basic Revell or Monogram kits. I subscribed to FSM about three months before I even picked up a paintbrush, just to research everything.

Ever since I've been intrigued with the difference in genres, and haven't been able to keep my sights on just one. Working on airplanes all day everyday, gets you a little bit worn out.....sometimes I don't wish to come home and put together an airplane after doing so all day, which leads me to pick-up a car kit. But the rich history of Aircraft, and Armor, and cars is one of the most exciting things about modeling for me......I may never be able to build a perfect model like Swanny, but no one can beat my imagination!!!

The fascination with aircraft for me goes back to when I was 8 or 9 years old. You go to that first airshow and bang you're hooked. I will build almost anything with wings but the era that I have been building lately is WWII. The camoflage for the Germans and Brits and then the gaudy colors and Nose art for the Americans. I might never build ajet again, NAH. Remember every kit we build is a piece of the past or future enjoy it. It is just a hobby not a life sentence ------------Well then again JOHN

I go with Akuma on this, except for the whole afraid to fly thing...

I love painting up aircraft in fanciful colors, because, in honesty, grey on grey gets boring as heck, but I don't like WWII, and thus don't model those planes. However, a Tornado in Southeast Asia camo really excites me!

I got into 1/144th scale SOLELY for the reason of it being the scale my Gundams were in!(now if only they'd make 1/144th scale pilots and cockpits...)
Since then, 1/144th has become my scale of choice because I can build ALOT of aircraft, for a VERY small price, in a short amount of time, and they still make very nice models!

I have a TON of US aircraft on my shelf, waiting for build, but I've gone on a recent Soviet bent. Anyone know why the Mig-31 and A-90 Orljonok are so bloody sexy? I don't know why either, it's just a fact of life!

Oh, yeah, and my dad being a B/N for VA-115; and Top Gun, Star Trek, Star Wars, and Battletech were also very big influences on me!

I love history. So, I have a lot of books about history. History is another hobby too! I particularly like WWII. I was in the Airforce. BTW, I don't like the modern A/C!! I know that's weird, but I've seen them all: The F-15, F-16, F-4, A-10, and more. I've never seen the P-47, the Bf109, or any of Japan's A/C either.

I like to know about all the Aces. The USA and yes, Germany too. The pilots are the knights in the sky. This is probably weird too, but I want to know all the ins and outs for the A/C. I want to know what colors a Bf109, or the George really was, or whatever...That was history. Sorry - I'm rambling.

I live in a place called Gosport. As a kid if I went to the waterfront I would be looking across Portsmouth Harbour at the ships of the Royal Navy. A similar distance in the other direction was the naval air station at Lee on Solent and it was aircraft that really drew my attention. Looking at aircraft carriers and naval aircraft through my childhood it's not surprising that I model Royal Navy aircraft. The idea of catapult launch and arrested landing is just so extreme sports! I took a close look at the Westland Wyvern at the fleet air arm museum and saw that the catapult hook ups were attatched to the engine mounts and realised that catapult launch was just hurling the engine overboard!
If I look out over the harbour today, the ships are nearly all gone, the airfield is derelict. Swansong for a declining power?
(I am really much more cheerful than than this).

Well, I like to take things apart. So, I use modeling to keep everything together!

Actually I have no idea. I like so many subjects so it is hard to pin down. I used to like ships and I built every Battleship I could find. I've built a couple of tanks until I found out about the treads... ;)

Maybe I like building planes and helicopters because Selfridge AFB would would fly a little bit of everything over our area.

like others i model to honor. pearl harbor and the events that surround her are very dear to me. to think a daring, couragous plan was branded cowardly and sneaky because the ambassador could not type. maybe in some small way i can show respect to both sides by building a replica of aircraft, ships, or dioramas. this and a love of history are the reasons i model. ww2 is also a large topic for me my grandfather was wounded on iwo when he switched places with a buddy next to a tank (the buddy was killed) i also had many relatives fighting in europe ( both for the allies and the axis). they have long since past but maybe i can show them honor and respect by building the things which surrounded them.

so much for my soft side.

For me it was also my father. He was a WW 2 vet and a pilot, so I grew up with Dad building models and I just started doing it. I still have a Hurricane that he and I built together when I was probably 8 or so.........
I enjoy the stress relief of sitting down at the model table and building a model of something that I am interested in, whether it is a Catalina Flying Boat or a 757-200 with some aftermarket goodies.
I think that everyone finds their own reason, sanity saver, or fun angle, and that is what makes this hobby so enjoyable.

I build mostly 1/48th WW2 aircraft (primarilay fighters) because:

1. Been a WW2 airplane buff since 7 years old (49 years)
2. WW2 fighter pilots were my boyhood heroes.
3. First models built were 1/48th Aurora "Famous Fighters", of which most were WW2 birds.

Do build other things once in a while. I sometimes dabble in 1960's road racing cars - Cobras, Ford GT-40's, Chaparrals, etc., as I was a big time road-racing fan in the 1960's.

Jim

For me it is:

- Seeing "Twelve o' Clock High" in 1949 and "Victory at Sea" in 1952 (my age shows)

- A love of history

- Doing research on the ships/aircraft design and operations that I model, to get a feel of what it was like to be there

- Learning the craft of model building, a "hands-on" hobby if there ever was one

Chris

I model 1/72nd scale modern jets basically due to economics. but more specifically, I have always been facinated by modern aircraft and advances in new technologies in air combat. I like to believe that I'm helping to prserve an important era of aviation history.

I model what I model for a few reasons. I build helicopters since i used to be an avionics mechanic in the Army. I build tanks since I work on the same base that has one of the best tank collections in the US (Aberdeen Proving Ground's Ordnance Museum). Then most of all I build aircraft since I am a licensed Airframe and Powerplant mechanic and aircraft has always been my passion, especially WW2 german aircraft.

Good question. I really like modeling WWII airplanes, for many of the same reasons everyone else has mentioned. But above all, the men who flew them, on both sides, we still very much in control of things. Not to take away anything from the pilots out there putting thier lives on the line today.....but back then you couldn't kill a plane from miles away. You actually had to get in there and duke it out.

And, anytime I spend a good deal of money on a kit or tool, I remember what a friend told me: some people can spend more than that at a bar in one night! At least we are at home with our families, and don't wake up with a headache. Well, most of the time. Modeling can still give headaches, that's for sure.