It wasn’t long before I realised that neither of us were actually taking our time, we were simply not doing anything at all. So I returned to my own pace and started once again to enjoy the hobby for what it was: building models rather than just having a box sat on a shelf, ignored.
26th January 2025
Happy Sunday, everyone!
Well, today was much more like it! Having spent much of last week wondering why my working days were akin to wading through treacle, today appears to have been smoother and my progress, rather more impressive. Gone were the wasted hours, replaced instead with a day of activity and focus. I am, post-Christmas, finally starting to get somewhere at last!
I like the job when it’s like this. There is nothing more frustrating than spending hours with very little to show for it. Over my lifetime as a modelmaker I’ve not really seen huge numbers of hours spent on a model as a positive. I enjoy cracking on with a build and seeing everything coming together in a timely fashion. Yes, I relish the journey, but I hanker after a completed model just as much!
I remember as a child one of my friends spending weeks on an Airfix Sd.Kfz.250 when I had spent only a few hours building something much simpler. For a while I thought that that must be the way to do things, so slowed down, so that I too was ‘taking my time‘. It wasn’t long before I realised that neither of us were actually taking our time, we were simply not doing anything at all. So I returned to my own pace and started once again to enjoy the hobby for what it was: building models rather than just having a box sat on a shelf, ignored.
Over the years I’ve often wondered about some of the projects that I have seen where a modeller has gleefully announced that their latest build has taken X number of hours, weeks, months or even years to complete. If truth be told, I have sometimes fallen prey to the insecurities that these grandiose proclamations can cause and have, shamefully, rather embellished to the time I too have taken. How is that my models aren’t taking so long, am I simply rushing everything? Am I a worse modeller because I’m not spending so long on a build; would my models be better if I did? Do I too need to over egg the pudding with timespans that look rather more impressive that I know to be accurate? Of course I have to work to deadlines, so that doesn’t help, but there is of course a return to that childhood friend and his approach. How many hours is a particular modeller actually spending on their build and at the end of the day, does any of it really matter? Answers on a postcard to…
PLEASE SUBSCRIBE!
If you are enjoying this website, please consider subscribing! It’s free and it will keep you informed each and every time I post something new!
HIDDEN PROJECTS: EXCITING FUTURE PLANS
I promise that I will reveal my new build, shortly. One thing I can say is that it is proving to be more complex that I had first envisioned. Many model kits have many more parts than those of old, this one being a prime example. It’s not over-engineered per se, but there is a lot of detail to deal with, especially within the fuselage. Once that’s brought together, I am sure the model will really start to come together and finally start to look a little more like an aeroplane, rather than an increasingly large pile of disparate parts.
AND FINALLY…
Last weekend, Ian Hartup pointed out that Tamiya LP-48 Sparkling Silver was actually a Chrome finish. Intrigued, after seeing his amazing car model, I’ve tried it out. Here, you can see a very quick application of Tamiya Gloss black with a dust coat of LP-48. Both paints were sprayed in in quick succession, so this really is an of the cup test, but I have to say that the results speak for themselves. That looks a lot like chrome to me!
Tomorrow, work begins on the newly-released Airfix Avro Anson Mk.I for Brett Green. Along with the kit and some additional accessories I am hoping that it will be a fitting tribute to that wonderful wartime aircraft. It will also be the start of a daily update on here where I can at last chart – at least in part – a brand-new build for the first time on here. I hope you enjoy it.
See you tomorrow.
TODAY’S MUSIC CHOICES
Today had been a really disparate day of music, mixing plenty of unashamedly pop albums with a few rather more eclectic electronic dance offerings. My choices are nothing, if not wide ranging!
Innocence: Belief
Levitation: Levitation
Electric 101: Electribal Memories
Robbie Williams: Escapology
Spandau Ballet: Parade
- A MODELMAKER’S LIFE: WHY HAVE I NEVER BUILT A LIGHTNING?
- A MODELMAKER’S LIFE: A TRIP TO BRISTOL…
- A MODELMAKER’S LIFE: A RELAXING DAY…
- A MODELMAKER’S LIFE: HOW MANY MORE KITS DO I HAVE, HALF STARTED?!
- A MODELMAKER’S LIFE: 2025 ALL WRAPPED UP!
Wow! I built a dozen back around 1980. Entered them as a collection at the IPMS USA Nationals. Didn’t win…
Yes, stop procrastinating……build a Lightning🤣
Who knows, you might even consider publishing another bookazine on building the BAC Lightning as well?
I am glad that the man was talked down. It’s definitely hard to see without knowing the outcome, until later.…
sadly(?), I’ve at least 15 models at various stages of completion. 2 I started back in the 80s, iirc I…
SPENCER POLLARD'S KIT BOX 
Ah, that 1/32 SdKfz 250/3 “GREIF”….. That sucker does have a lot of parts – even the suspension arms are all separate. The molding is pretty good too, sharp details for the most part. I did the technical research and drawings for that kit. It has a major howler of an error which is covered up when assembled – the suspension arms are supposed to be leading not trailing as in all other German halftracks. I researched the kit using the SdKfz 10 artillery tractor at Aberdeen Proving Ground, but the warehouse it was in was pitch black, lighted only with a couple of 100 watt bulbs and I missed that. The figure of Rommel is unfortunate – the sculptor that had used for Monty in the Humber Snipe kit was not available, and rather than wait for him they hired another sculptor. The resulting figure looks more like Hermann Goering cosplaying the Frog Prince….. Sadly, they never did the planned third model – General George S. Patton Jr. in a Dodge 3/4 ton Command car. Some where in my house I still have the 1/8 scale plans I did for that kit, never used. The good old days.
Bruce Culver (site won’t let me sign in…..)
LikeLike