Hi Ya’ll!!
Been a while since I bored you so I thought I would try again. My Son ( Adopted) is still after me to write a book about the " Dark Ages" of modeling, up to present day! I still wonder if there would be any takers. I mean, after all who would be interested in someone who built models from Scrap pieces of wood using Casein glue for adhesive. Yes! This was before Ambroid. (Well, for me anyway!)
So Whaddya think, Should I, or Shouldn’t I ??
I used casein glue a couple of times. It came in a little paper package, and had to be mixed with water. It had a bad smell, and took a long time to dry. But I found out the dime store I bought my kits from also carried Testors model airplane glue. It cost 10c a tube, and was well worth it for the fast drying time.
I also remember kits made during the war that had harder woods substituted for balsa.
I think about modeling in the 50’s and 60’s as a lot more social.
Junior high school model railroad club. Afternoons working on a layout in a spare room down at the public pool on the layout that never ended. of course hand spiking made it slower.
Building models with a friend after school and homework.
Gas powered tethered flight at the school basketball courts with a club.
Taking my cars in a shoe box to the slot car track in the back of the LHS to race on Saturday mornings.
Pond sailing with a loose club down at the baylands.
Of course spending hours at the 5 and dime with my paper route money trying to pick a model.
More stuff like that.
Write the book. Whether it gets published or not, the experiences are gone forever with you otherwise.
Bill
When I started my first book, I figured it to be a serious ‘niche’ book, meaning I figured that I would not sell many and those would be strictly to USS Arizona / Pearl Harbor history people and possibly a few modelers. Now five years later, without any substantial marketing done, some serious life issues that take up a lot of my time, and a global pandemic, I’m pleased to say I’ve sold some seven hundred plus books.
The lesson here is “Go do it”. Write the book, get 200 copies printed, sell them and/or give them to friends (I don’t want to tell you just how many I’ve donated to people and libraries, but it’s a bunch!); but none-the-less, do it. Modeling has been a big part of your life; so make it part of your legacy too.
Great idea!A perspective of a long term scale modeler would be of interest to many!
Either write it or put it on tape.
GM is right, once you’re gone, it’s lost forever. Just like so many stories from the vets of various conflicts.
“- Gas powered tethered flight at the school basketball courts with a club.”
Good grief I totally forgot about that! What a flood of memories came back!
Or . . . a rubber band powered, Guillows Fokker D7, off the roof . . .
That first flight went over a hundred and fifty yards, landing in a soft bush.
On the other hand, the second flight was a major crash and burn into a Saguaro cactus!!!
Easier to get it out of one of those than a jumping cholla.[:D]
I have two books on history of model airplanes.
First is Tales of an Ancient Modeler, by Norm Rosenstock. I can find no publisher for it, but I got it from Amazon.
Second one I cannot find on my shelves but it was wonderful. It was by my favorite aviation historian, even if I cannot remember his name. He worked at the Smithsonian. It was more of a true historical treatise starting back in 19th century and covered models used by early flight experimenters up through mid 20th Century. I will keep looking.
C’mon TB, get hot! I know that you know how to type because you’re on this forum.
"Once upon a time, on a dark and stormy night, in a place far, far away, called Texas, there was a man with so many models that he didn’t know what to do. He lived in a well-known two-chamber smoker along with his family and a large herd of Umpa-lumpas. His best friend was a droid named Three point five and a half-pio and rode a mighty steed named Evinrude. "
There I got it started for you.
Your turn.
Peter Jakab by any chance?
Bill
I would have guessed Bob (Robert C.) Mikesh…lots of great modeler-oriented books, though I don’t know if he ever covered historical scale models specifically.
The only big builder / author I’ve ever worked with was Robert (Bob) Sumrall, who was the Curator of Ship Models at the Naval Academy. Great guy, very personable. He helped me in a couple of projects. I wish I had a tenth of his talent.
Write the book TB, I’ll buy one and to hell with the naysayers.
It could be done IF… there is a market and interest for it.
Publishing a book is very hard. You’ll spend most of your time working typing. editting, typing, takingphotos, and editting, re-editting and re-editting some more enough to make your head spin on a swivel. Finding a publisher who is willing to invest time in such a book can also be extremely hard. Do you know how many hopeful authors get rejected for a book these days? Too many to count. It’s not easy.
Just pointing out some hard facts to consider before you invest valuable time in writing a book on the history of model kit building. Good luck.