Born in 1952, I joined the army and served 1973 to 1974. In 2011 I retired after 30 years as a police officer. My first kit was a Revell Bf 109E in 1/72 scale when I was 10 years old or so. I switched to 1/48 when Monogram started releasing those great kits in that scale in the 1960's. I built a Tamiya Leopard Tank in German in 1973 which proved to be my last build for awhile. I just recently got back into the hobby and am working on skills that have become important during my absence (using photo-etch, airbrushing, resin, etc.). During my "break" I continued to follow the hobby through Finescale Modeler issues (I have every one).