Just curious to ask, but what does your reference library look like?
Do you have a lot or a little of military, aviation, armor, etc. books and magazines?
Are there only certain subjects you collect and read or do you have a wide range of interests?
Any particular favorites you have that are especially good for reference when building models?
Below are two sample pics of what I have. The second pic is mostly books related to stealth aircraft and technology as I am a big fan of that topic.
Not so much reference books as “history” books. I have a collection of Osprey books on Disc and a few special aircraft books (mostly WWII). The greatest reference is the internet, which is most modeler’s supply of information nowadays. (No pictures as it is too dark now and it would be difficult to read any titles as the “books” are too thin.)
Gary
Unfortunately about 90%+ of my books are boxed up to move. Will come back to this once they are moved and I can unpack them.
Here’s my library. A lifetime of aviation history books. The oldest is “Jet Aircraft of the World” by William Greene, 1955.
@OldRetiredEngineer
Great shelves! Did you construct those or buy them from someplace? I wish I had shelves like that.
The shelves are from Ikea.
I’ve got a great steel shelf unit from a nearby library that was renovated.
Six feet tall, eight feet wide and about 15 inches deep.
Top half is all paper back novels etc, bottom three shelves for my large reference books.
I see some familiar titles in everyone else’s pictures, and some I would like to have in my collection.
As an aside, I think it might be interesting to see what everyone’s “holy grail” book or series is.
These are the two series that were on my want list for a long time. Probably spent too much on them, but that was before kids and I had my own money to spend.
Froz
I don’t have a huge reference library to photograph. Years ago, I was running out of space to store all of my paperbacks and magazines and books and ultimately got rid of most of my library. I was moving around the country a lot, and books are HEAVY - it got expensive to move all my stuff! I regret such a harsh paring of the inventory now, but the ~2’ worth of shelf space I currently use keeps me happy. Also, I have a ton of electronic references, those are easier to move!
Regarding “holy grail,” I’d have to say that my full set of Monogram color reference books was the thing that took the longest to find.
Here is my reference library for warships, accumulated over 50 years. I have much smaller collections for armor and fictional space.
I do have a few books on a shelf (looks like any other shelf of books). However, my main research library is a series of folders on my hard drive. I think it would probably take more bookshelves than my house would hold if it were hard copy.
A row and a half of business, otherwise mixture of Armour, Aircraft, Naval and Auto. Special note is Piston Aero Negines…
This is my reference library now adays.
I don’t have the funds to buy the models and the books lately, so I investagoogle to find the photos I need. If not, I wing it. get it? hahahahahahaha cough cough…
Here is my bookshelf, a gift from my lovely wife. Among the books I have a collection of figures and die cast models. The Plastic models are in display cases along the other walls. Patricio González Arequipa, Peru
I’ll quote a friend of mine, who upon helping move a huge library of books, said:
“I need more illiterate friends.”
Gary
I have a bunch of books on aircraft and armor that I am interested in. Most are to help detail kits I have, but a few are for kits I hope to come out, like the Ginter book on the Martin XB-48.
My oddest title that happens to have been very useful is German Aircraft Landing Gear. It had a surprising amount of information for the modeler. It also provided a critical photo of a Jumo 004 jet engine that I used to figure out the plumbing and electrical wire routing.
I also have a bunch of books on Japanese anime mechs and way too many issues of Model Graphix and Hobby Japan.
I only have a few books on historical stuff, mostly of subjects I knew little about, like WW I tank development and warfare, midget sub operations, etc.