I am curious. Why is it that it seems like the majority of you out there like to build air planes, war replicas, tanks etc? If you look at the subjects in the forum listing there are 913 posts for air crafts, 618 for armor and for (my favorites) 135 for auto. I guess I could easly answer this my self. I absolutly love building cars and racing bikes. I have a huge passion for them. and thats how all of you feel. Im sure a lot of you 913 air crafters love cars and bikes also, you just dont build them. What makes all of you build what you build?
That’s a really good question XC, One which may be hard to answer. I build alot of sci-fi and real space stuff, I guess because I always wanted to go into orbit or beyond and this is as close as I most likely will get, to try to put it all in a nut shell. But it is difficult to really narrow down the real reason I like to build. It is definatley a point to ponder
Back in the 50’s I built cars. I used to go to the local drugstore each Friday when the latest one would be released and buy it for 98 cents. After joining the Air Force in 1962 and being in aircraft maintenance (Crew Chief), I started building aircraft some years later. I still build aircraft and rely a lot on personal knowledge in my building.
Myself, I am a history buff with a large slant to WWII. That is why most of the military stuff that I build is WWII. I am also a big car fan…Jeeps and Mustangs are my favorite, but I like all cars and have many different “subjects” to prove it. I do have models to build of the planes that were assigned to the base where I was stationed while in the USAF. And then there is Star Trek, I was always a fan and just loved the ships…they are just aesthetically pleasing to my eyes[:)]. I also paint miniature figurines for gaming…for some reason all of the above relax me.
I think my choice in subjects can be explained in two ways. I come from a military family and I grew up on a steady diet of military whatevers. I’m a military historian and ex-military myself and I think it’s really cool to build subjects from those eras of interest and have them there as a visual reference while researching for an article.
As a side note, I build sci-fi (remember Star Trek when it wasn’t a re-run) and real space as well. I grew up in the 60s and 70s watched most if not all of the moon shots which I think is a way for me to re-live my childhood (which can be applied to my hobby in general). I think scale cars are great, I’m always amazed by those who can make them not look like a toy, but they just don’t have the same appeal to me as a dirty, greasy,banged up, piece of military hardware. Thus the source of my (perhaps disturbed passion) for military models.
I’m drooling over the the thought Revell’s 1/72 U-Boat release this fall…[:D]
I too got my love for building armour kits from being an amateur historian. Cars were never a big love for me…just a way of getting from point A to B. I used to build a lot of German armour ( much like 80% of all armour builders do) but having been allowed to play with a 1 to 1 scale Sherman rocketed this piece of history to the number 1 position for me. So that’s way I build Shermans, Shermans and more Shermans.
I’m kinda strange…I build a little of everything and don’t stick to just one catagory.
Mostly SCI-FI but I grew up building WWII aircraft and tanks and there will always be a place on my shelf for a P51-D or a TBM but what attracks me to a kit the most besides ‘subject’ is the amount of DETIAL! especially INTEROR! I love anything with a good interior and if it don’t have one…I’ll put one in it!
I build 1/48 scale aircraft almost exclusively. For me I was drawn to military aviation because it looked cool. Macho men jumping in their multimillion dollar jets, going mach 2 and protecting me while I slept. How cool is that!!! Since I was a small boy all I have ever wanted to do is be around airplanes. What child doesn’t want to be a pilot growing up. I have been lucky enough to have realized my dreams of working in aviation. I think building aircraft for me is just an extension of this life long dream. I truly never get sick of them.
People have always been fascinated by flight. As children we subconciously understand that we are governed by certain laws. Gravity being one of them. To see man and machine unite to temporarily overcome them, that is a fascinating prospect. Even after all these years I think it’s amazing that we have achieved flight.
I started back into modelling in 1992. I just got into going steady with my
girlfriend(now wife) and I had to stop smoking. I started with cars, and then
tried my first Stock Car kit. I was hooked. I’ve built about 200 Stock Car kits
and my automotive joy, all of Dale Earnhardt’s cars from '79-98. But I burned out
on them in '98. Then I got into 1/144 jets, but there wasn’t much out there. So I
built 1/72 aircraft from 1935-1955, built about 150 kits, and once again burned out. About 15 months ago I built a 1/48 aircraft of the same year span, and that’s
what I’m doing now. I build about 6 kits at a time, and they usually take me about
5-6 weeks from start to finish. I have about 40 done so far. I work in my den about 15-25 hours a week. It’s kind of like my therapy, it helps me out. It’s not the completed model that I’m proud of, it’s the time I spend in my den that makes me a better person. That’s my joy.
I used to model whatever caught my eye, whether it was armor, an airplane, or a ship. Then came a long break from this hobby…I’m back now (obviously), but I have 2 toddlers.
While I’m thrilled with their curiousity and interest in what I’m building, they (and every other toddler in the world, I’m sure) are very hands-on, need to touch the subject at hand. Completed aircraft look pretty decent hanging from a ceiling, out of reach of those curious little hands…trying to explain to people why you have an Sherman tank or a battleship dangling from above is a bit more of a challenge!
I build mostly aircraft due to my love of aviation. I build military aircraft because I’ve always wondered how these young men and now women do what they do. I’ve always admired their courage. Sometimes I build subjects because I read about them and develop an interest. But I always return to aviation. I guess I was born with a flying gene.
This seems like a hard question to answer other than to say I just like airplanes. I consider building airplane models nothing more than an extension of my overall lifelong fascination (maybe ‘obsession’ is a better word?) with airplanes. I took up photography for the same reason. I bought better cameras and learned more about how to use them to get better photographs of airplanes. Why I did not get interested in cars, trains, etc I don’t know because it’s been airplanes since I was old enough to comprehend what an airplane was.
Mine is fairly simple, I am in the Canadian army and have been around armourd stuff so much that that I get sick of looking at it some times. Don’t get me wrong I still like building them, I am currently working on a M113 engineer section vehicle, but my true passion is aircraft.
I’m glad I’m getting such a good response to this question! I think its great hearing from my fellow modelers. We all have the same love for the challenge and the detail. I just love seeing a brand new Yamaha YZF R-1 with a custom paint job sitting in front of me. Or a Ford Bennegton F1 on my desk. I know that I will never get to own or even drive any of the things I build. So its as close as i can get. (i think we all have that one thing in common). Everyone knows that if my house catches on fire, Im goin strait for my favorite models. No one could ever appreciate what it took to finish the models that i have done. Does anyone ever look at one of their models and just go into a daze thinking about what it would be like to be in it?
I’d like to echo on what xcmbike was saying up here. As a kid, I mostly build fighter planes I wish one day I’d fly - never happened of course! -. Nowadays, I build a bit of everything, but a lot is about things that make me dream of travel (airliners), dream car (Ferrari), or things I like a lot or means a lot (cartoon caracters). AFVs are another thing, though. I mostly build those for customers, and obviously, the main reason is financial in this case, but I can always say ‘no’. What makes me accept a job is the challenge a particular vehicle brings… and I get a lot of satisfaction in overcoming those challenges.
I’am exclusievely building Airplane,s, Airliners and propliners, X Planes due to the historic value. I’am preaching peace so I can’t afford having fighters and bombers at my home.
Just really getting back into model building took a little hiatus ( approx. 15 yrs. ). I really don’t have a favorite type to build, I am leaning more to restoration and detailing of what I currently have and have gathered during that hiatus. Getting involved in doing a lot more research this time around than before. Will, get on a roll once I get the room completed for this hobby.
I build aircraft, mainly 1/48th. I’ve built a few cars, but it seemed that all of the kits that I built were the same (generic kit design) - even between different manufacturers. You get a chassis/frame, interior tub, engine, and then a one-piece body goes over all of that. Even the NASCAR stuff seems the same way to me. Aircraft are different (at least to me, anyway). Sometimes, the wings are molded with the body (Monogram F-16). The fuselage could be upper and lower halves, or left and right. I’ve seen 4-piece fuselages (Italeri 1/48th C-130). The interiors are almost ALWAYS different. You can put different weapons on them - bombs, rockets, fuel tanks, external guns, etc. Camoflage (I hope I spelled that correctly) is fun to paint. I just believe that it takes more skill to build and paint an aircraft than a car (I know that comment will ruffle a few feathers!!), and this makes building aircraft a lot more fun. Also, the world history aspect of aircraft has a lot to do with it. With an aircraft (just about ANY aircraft), you can study its role in world affairs, such as its contribution in a war, etc. It’s hard to do this with an automobile. Automobiles in general, yes. But it’s rare to do this with a single automobile. With aircraft, you can build multiple versions of a type, representing a type’s progression through its design life (F-4B, F-4C, F-4E, F-4J, etc.). Don’t get me wrong - I think that building car models is a great thing to do. I’ve seen some car models that looked better than the real thing!! It’s just not for me. Hell, I’m even ASE-certified, but I’d rather work on them than replicate them in plastic. Anyway, that’s why I build aircraft models instead of other models.
