I have been reading an interesting series of Books(Three to be exact) that remind me of Indiana Jones and Lara Croft. Now this is going to be somewhat off the wall. No train Modeler, LEGO builder or ordinary modeler has ever built or tried to build a dio or model of the very first ideas for a Subway.
Leastwise as far as I know. Now this also coincides with the Victorian era. No NOT Steampunk. Between World war two and everything leading up to it, there were some Ideas and mechanical wonders created and proposed. No modeler, Train, LEGO or otherwise has tried to build “Der Glocke” from Science fiction. Was it fiction? Or was it a failed experiment in either Atomic science or Electro-Gravitic Levitation!
There have been scientists that have been working on these things for decades. Most in Secret labs sponsored by Governments. Some by the Military of course. Some things have resulted in Abject Failures and some have resulted in Billions of Dollars, Rubles, Pounds, and Drachmas as well as Schekels, on items that are best imagined at this time. But, models of these things can be cool. Oh Sure, they are not going to levitate or run continously with some kind of mechanical support.
I have often wondered why modelers have Not embraced the tech for objects that levitate because of Magnetism. There are many little Adult toys that embrace this tech. Why not a model? Just think , if you will of your Soviet or British VTOL aircraft displayed. Wouldn’t a apparently stable model of say an A-V-8-B floating above a piece of carrier deck look cool? I would think so. Or a Built “Hanaubu” floating above a restraining chain with a stone henge like structure below, That would support it on landing or powering down?
Think about this and realize this This could be the way to really express your skills.This would work even for Luke Skywalkers Skimmer! Think about the crazy little saucer with a mirrored interior surface inside into which a little frog figurine sits in the center. But he appears to be three dimensional and sitting on top of it when you get close. Wouldn’t that be neat, say for just a model of a cockpit! Try it! I am going to.
Absolutely! This is the reason my stash is so big. Whenever I read a book or magazine article, or watch TV or movie, about some vehicle or group of vehicles, I want to build a model of it. I look up to see if a kit is available, and I buy then and there! Who knows if it will be available when I decide I want to build it. Example, in the aircraft forum now someone is building a P-61. A discussion came up about Project Thunderbird, a project to fly a squadron of P-61s through thunderstorms in Ohio, a research project. Now, that discussion has caused me to move the kit I bought then up in the queue.
This is the reason I chose to state the question that way. I have read, for instance the Star Wars Books and the Harry Potter Books. The books are way better than the movies, in my opinion. When for instance I wanted to build a really good model of the Four Stack Destroyer from the book about the Ship that rammed the Drydock in St Nazaire, I read the book and then built the ship from the U.S.S. Buchanon Model.
I used the Revell model, because remember the ship had been modified to resemble a German Torpedo Boote(As they called them) so there!
Most definitely, reading books gives me motivation to build certain model kits, much like watching certain movies and playing certain video games.
Around 1999-2001, I played an online flight simulator game called Fighter Ace by Microsoft. You could chose to fly as a US, UK, German, Russian or Japanese pilot. There were several planes to chose from.
I usually flew a Spitfire XIIe and had to cobble together a pair of Academy kits to get the proper markings and wing types.
G’day Baron. I have just finished reading “Leviathan Falls”. Great read, but I won’t spoil it for you. I enjoyed the video series and tried very hard not to compare. I thought they did the characters very well, but I agree with you, it greatly diverged from the books. I much prefer the books. That was the same for the Hobbit, Lord of the Rings and The last Kingdom.
One difference between the novels and the series is in the character of Bobbi. The actress they cast is way too small. Bobbi is a big girl-not manly, but big, athletic. After all, she’s a gunnery sergeant in the Mars Republican Space Marines.
On the other hand, casting Shoreh Aghdashloo as Avrasavala was a great choice, even though the character in the book is about a hundred years older, wizened, and about half as tall. Like she fell off a charm bracelet.
Holder and his crew are all well-cast, too, and really play their parts well. As did Thomas Jane as Miller in the first season.
Once the series went to streaming, though, I haven’t seen it. I only got to see the first two seasons.
I’ve been inspired to build kits based off of books that I’ve read. Most of the time they remain only inspirations due to not being able to get the correct kit, accessories, or markings for the subject in mind.
I did once build a Mig-21 as I envisioned what was described in Jack Broughton’s book “Thud Ridge”. I’d love to build his F-105 someday, but don’t know of any markings available for his bird in 1/48, only 1/32. I want to build the P-61 “Hard to Ger” described in Hampton Sides’ book “Ghost Soldiers”. I have online photos of the actual aircraft, but so far no luck at trying to find the appropriate Vargas Girl nose art. I also have planned to build a Soryu Zero flown by Lt Fujita who I read about in Osprey’s “Aces of the IJNAF” book. He flew CAP at Midway and engaged P-36s over Wheeler Field on December 7th.
All in good time for those “inspiration” builds.
Baron I totally agree about the Bobbie Draper character. Not only was she too light in build, but her voice lost me. The actress just could not project a ‘command’ voice. Sounded more like a petulant child.
That’s a lot like the book and movie ‘Flight of the Intruder’. The character ‘Callie’ in the book is a strong, intelligent woman, whereas in the movie, Rosanna Arquette comes across as a shallow minded putz.
To the OP’s topic, yes, books inspire me in building. It started when I was a kid, reading as many books about WWII as I could. And listening to my uncles’ stories about serving in WWII. And as I got older, and got interested in other periods and subjects, that drove choices about what I read. So there’s a synergy between reading and my modeling choices, to use a fashionably modern word to describe it.
That’s exactly the word to use, “Synergy” sums it up beautifully. There is that link between a book and a modelers desire to create or build a miniature. It would have to be there, or the world would be a whole lot duller, for creativity!
Some TV and movies, too. For example, I watched “Star Trek” in its first round of syndication (not quite old enough to have watched it when it originally aired). And when I saw AMT’s kits from the show, I just had to build 'em. And watching war movies, and monster movies.
This is what I tell people today, who complain that kids don’t take up the hobby. You can try sitting a kid down and putting a model in front of him, but it goes beyond that. If you have books, movies, or online content about a subject, if you have airshows, museums, re-enactments near you, if you have model shows and even clubs-in short, any content in any format, that can spark the interest and help it grow, then you should expose your kid to it. And remember, that as most of us did, he can pick it up and be active, right up to that June when he turns 18, and heads off to start a career, enlist, go to college, etc, and probably leave the hobby for a while. But most of us came back. So don’t be discouraged, just share it, and chances are, it’ll have some good effect.
Frequently, that is why the only thing larger than my kit stash is my library of books.
Read a book about sailing ships? buy a ship. Read an alternate history post WW2 book about the war against the Soviets? Buy some late war Russian/German/American armor.
At least I have gotten better at resisting the urges over the years, both in buying books and kits.
Sometimes. it depends on the subject. Like Tojo said, “Spearhead” inspired me to get a Pershing, “Shattered Sword” inspired me to complete the Akagi, “Devotion” makes me want to get a Korean Corsair, “A Higher Call” urges me to make a B-17. A Star Trek book however does not make me want to run out and get a kit.