Used to build models as a kid/teenager, and like so many of us, returned to the hobby as a middle-aged man. I got back into it January '25 after watching “Masters of the Air”.
In 2025 I wound up doing 12 full builds, slowly building up my skill level. An old friend gave me his airbrush compressor, and I finally learned how to use it, unlocking a whole new dimension to this hobby. Interest is mostly 1/48 scale aircraft from WWII to the modern era, and i typically scour used book sales (wife is a reader/book collector) for reference material to inspire my next builds.
I can see how Masters of the Air inspired you to return to the hobby. That was a good series and an even better book. I’m sure we’d all love to see photos of your already completed builds.
Books are a great resource, but don’t forget about the internet. I use both sources whenever I’m building a kit, which tends to be WWII aircraft.
I wound up buying 2 B-17F kits from a local hobby shop; an open box Revel Memphis Belle, and the limited edition Eduard Bloody Hundredth kit. It took me almost 10 months of slowly building to finally be done with the Belle, done up as “Alice From Dallas” using decals from the Eduard kit.
And yes, the internet is absolutely a treasure trove, and I just discovered InchHighGuy’s blog, which helped me out immensely on the P-40B build I’m just finishing up right now.
Thanks for being so welcoming everybody! Just finished this Revell P-40B tonight. As everyone knows, it’s an old kit, and not very accurate, but my younger brother bought it for me at Christmas remembering that I built one of these kits when we were kids. I corrected the gunsights to be offset to the right, paintjob is the RAF dark green and dark earth (because the AVG planes were Lend-Lease airframes diverted from the Brits), corrected the markings to show #47, with a red stripe for the 3rd Pursuit Squadron of the American Volunteer Group.
Welcome back to the hobby, and welcome to the forum!
Where are you in SE PA? I’m in Harleysville, Montgomery County, and if you’ve never heard of it, there is a club based in Philly, the Delaware Valley Scale Modelers. It’s an IPMS chapter, and we meet on the first Friday of the month, at All Saints Episcopal Church on Frankford Avenue in the Northeast. I invite you to come to a meeting and see what you think. We have all subjects covered, so it’s not all “car guys” or “airplane guys”, etc.
There are smaller, unaffiliated groups in the area, too, on both sides of the Delaware. There’s a group meeting near Doylestown or Hatboro, run by the owner of a model railroad shop over that way.
And then up in Allentown, there is the Lehigh Valley Scale Modelers club, also IPMS. They meet every other Wednesday in the Catasauqua Borough Hall. If you’re interested, it’s worth visiting LVSM, too.
i’m down in Lower Bucks, so on the other side of Philly from you. I’ll keep those in mind; i think the Doylestown/Hatboro is going to be the closest for me.
Actually, I’m probably more to your north. Harleysville is about 4 or 5 miles from the Bux-Mont county line. I went to Souderton HS. I asked a buddy who visits those meetups for the details, and I’ll post them back here for you.
