A MODELMAKER’S LIFE: WHAT INSPIRES ME TO BUILD MODELS…

3rd November 2025

I may dabble with heightened reality every now and then, but at the end of the day I always return to the start: my love of the machines I admire and my determination to study them, look at pictures of their secrets and then build the results in scales that I can display. I can’t own a real one – I can own a model.

Thought for the day…

(first published on my Facebook page several years ago…)

I was chin-waggin’ with some buddies over the weekend about what drives us to build models. For me, it’s my interest in real objects and a desire to own miniatures of them. 

When I was a kid, I would simply build for the sake of it, the process being more important that what I was replicating, but as my skills and interests developed, I became less and less inspired by other models and more and more inspired by real-life subjects. 

Today, though I love to see great models (as we all do!), I’m never inspired to build a kit simply because I’ve seen someone else do a great job on one. Today, every model that I build is the result of seeing a real-life machine that I like and that I think would look good in scale. The only exception to this rule is the Harrier T.2 that I built last year. This was tackled because I’d seen David Haggas’ model 30 years ago, and so as that fits in with a period during which I was inspired to build after seeing other modeller’s work, I’m prepared to forgive myself! But that is an exception; I can think of no other model I’ve completed in the last couple of decades that was done so as a result of seeing someone else’s build of the same thing.

So that’s my drive: the desire to replicate reality in miniature as closely as I can. I may dabble with heightened reality every now and then, but at the end of the day I always return to the start: my love of the machines I admire and my determination to study them, look at pictures of their secrets and then build the results in scales that I can display. I can’t own a real one – I can own a model.

Today’s work…

In other news, my work has continued apace on the Marauder to a point where the paintwork is now virtually complete, decals are on and the thing is ready for a layer of weathering.

I have to say that choosing a natural material machine in order to cut down on the need for too much masking didn’t really work as I’d hoped it would. In fact, I had way more masking on this model thanks to those dissimilar panels, something that I should have remembered given how many of these schemes I’ve done in the past! Add into that heady little mix my desire to add invasion stripes and in the case of the upper markings, degrade them away, and my simple scheme has been anything but! Still, it’s now getting there so I’m on track to get the thing finished by Wednesday night, all baring any unforeseen cock-ups!

And finally!

The books that I placed on sale last week are now back from the printers ready to be taken to Scale Model World at the weekend or for those not attending, posted out over the next week or so. There will be some left over from this limited reprint, so I’ll post those details after the weekend. Keep your eyes pealed if you are keen to grab a copy!

So that’s it for today – well, almost. I’m writing this just after 5.30 in the evening as a new radiator is being plumbed into my studio. I have to say that after suffering from the cold in my studio last year thanks to the little radiator that’s been in there since I rebuilt it some years ago, having a larger one that should keep it nice and toasty, is something that I’m looking forward to!

Anyway back to the point…

So this is being written early so I can spend a few more hours this evening completing the finish, spraying it with a layer of VMS and then looking foreword to bringing it all to life with oils in the morning. We are almost there…

See you tomorrow.

Today’s Playlist…

Podcasts…

The Rest Is History: Nelson, Glory At Trafalgar

Short History Of… The Vatican

Music…

DarWin: Distorted Mirror

DarWin: Five Steps On The Sun