Hi Tojo72, thank you for your comment, but I did not post these just out of nostalgia but rather to remember those who had contributed so much in making our hobby what it is today.
Their models might not have been as sophisticated as those we easily find these days, but in the hands of a young kid in those bygone days they must have ignited something no other object could.
Imagine, building your own first model all by yourself, or with the help of either dad or mom. What pride it was. No matter whether you had glue all over your hands, no matter if the thick enamel paint left traceable signs of leaking or your paint brush did leave clear marks of its passage on the surface, yours was always your private masterpiece.
Indeed, the industry has progressed quite a bit and although we might still find a few remaining vintage models, horrendously expensive by now, the choice is still there, more ample and varied than ever before.
Sometimes a bit too much in my humble opinion, and what to say to all those microscopic bits you barely can see or handle? Sometimes I have the impression to have become more a scientist modeler than just a common modeler just having fun.
Some models come so much crammed with details that it is sometimes quite ridiculous, since many of those pieces then just disappear to the naked eye.
The positive side is that today we finally have all the right tools readily at our disposal and the glues come in various viscosities, if not squarely in liquid form.
Moreover, the paints have improved quite a lot and one only has the torture of which brand or brands to choose from. Also of much help is that today they are less poisonous or harmful, if at all than those we used in the day and what’s more, many can now be immediately used in an airbrush as they are.
Ah yes, airbrushes. At one time extremely expensive and not affordable at all and now instead being the appropriate paint tool for many uses. One only needs to choose wisely and know how to handle them.
Yes, today the brands may have changed and indeed you may still find some of the old good models in someone else’s name who has acquired those models and manages to reproduce them under his own new logo, sometimes even with improved parts.
Brands such as Italeri, Tamiya and Hasegawa have been known to still issue some classic models of their own or have acquired some from either Zvezda, Kopro or other now discontinued companies. Academy for one, did sometimes “borrow” the old Tamiya models and release them as their own.
It’s a fascinating world we are living in. The only downside still being the constant increasing prices. Not so much because models have actually become more expensive but rather due to the loss in money value throughout the years.
I remember when I could still buy a brand new Dragon model at around 30 to 40 dollars and now one has to dish up around 70 if not more of them to get more or less the very same model.
I am only glad to have collected my models as they came out and have them still all neatly stacked away for my future builds. Some more accurate than others, but nevertheless excellent ones.
Today I only buy one if it was never available before. I usually build Tanks and military vehicles of WWII, together with figures that may match them, although I also build fighters and bombers of both WWII and modern ones, as well as Star Trek models and other stuff, and indeed today one finds things on the market that were not readily available in the far beyond world of modeling when I started.
But that’s only for those very special ones that might enhance a scene in a diorama, The rest I leave to others to deal with.
I already have enough large boxes to unload to last me a lifetime and therefore, besides some glues and paints I may still need, I don’t need anything more at all, except if something really rare still pops up.
My very best to you and I hope to see more of your work displayed around here.
