What about modelling appeals to you?

[Rammit]

Hi there,

Just interested to see what gives my fellow modellers the buzz? For me (a serious plane freak ) it being able to have planes that I find interesting, there whenever I want to see them, or tend to them, not having to trundle over to IWM Duxford or the such to get my fix

How about you guys?

[T3hGuppy]

The buzz for me is finishing a project and sitting back enjoying the completed model.

[ModelingMatt]

The buzz for me is finishing a project and sitting back enjoying the completed model.

As well for me to but I also like the research of a subject and learning some history especially with WW2 subjects.

[greghatt]

Definitely seeing a model come together, and seeing (for me at least) the new techniques i've been practicing turn out great in the end.

[alextheblue]

For me, it's the creative process of building and painting it and turning a bunch of plastic into something that vaguely resembles the real thing (sometimes it's more vague than others!!!). I don't get too hung up on accuracy, its more about enjoying the process.

[Gav0909]

For me its as much finding out about the subject I am modelling, as it is putting the thing together. I tend to get more enjoyment from the building stage, seeing the physical shape of the model take shape. Elements of the painting process are a necessary annoyance for me (masking, constantly changing colours in the airbrush etc.). But I do enjoy seeing the end result, and more often than not I am quite pleased with that.

[Coen]

I like talking with you guys.
I love reading about all the work you're doing, how you're doing it, what your plans are.
I love how you all get so excited about what your buzz is haha.
My buzz about modelling is you fellas.
I like sharing it.

[HobbyModeller]

The history is always great because I can build things about what I'm interested in, also it's a very satisfying hobby

[Radzy]

I can second you all guys.

I like the history that stands behind the kit I build. Finding something fancy about the particular model, something that causes some inner impulse inside me to say "yes I must buy this kit" (like it was with Hellcat I recently bought... it was only because Lt. Alexander Vraciu flew it... and it wasn't because he was some extraordinary pilot flying with prostetic leg or he had to fly close to target because of myopia... it's only because I remember his happy face showing count of victories in one sortie on picture in one of the books I read about Pacific War.
I like it that those models represent some part of our history, nevertheless if it's British, Canadian, German, Russian, Polish or any other nation's but these models make me feel like somehow I'm part of this history - by preserving it and remembrance.

Making kits, especially all this weathering staff buzzes me... Looking like thanks to your skills (nevertheless how advanced they are) make the model to come alive, finding yourself being better and better with every kit you do...

It's something like Coen said - I love chatting with you guys (even if I haven't got much to say), your support, building together, sharing thoughts and finished models (nevertheless how bad they could turn out). All those SiGs & Group Builds ... It's this community that buzzes me like a booze in the chilly winter evening
It's somehow funny, because I went to the HS today to buy some paints and wanted to buy this Bolo Mk.1 to participate in Honour Our Heroes Canadian Build and was somehow mad finding that kit that was available on website was not in the shop, but I had to order it with some 1-2 months waiting time. I was mad because I felt like if I was to dissapoint you guys... So I left the shop with the Early Grizzly from Trumpeter.

And the last buzz is the prize ... but not the prize in meaning the prizes for GBs, SiGs , monthly competitions (but I won't be a hypocrite, this also has some buzz ), but this ultimate prize, which is ... after you finish, you sit down and say... well done lad! The prize you get when someone visits you and you tell everything about the kits you did, techniques you used and you see that this one admires your tough work, time spent and what you achieved.

Ok, ok... enough of this of this mumble ...

Cheers,
Radek

[DC87]

Three things really for me give this hobby the appeal it does.

~ The problem solving -as a little kid I enjoyed building Lego and the challenges it involved to create the model/ toy, therefore scale modelling was a natural and mighty fine progression.

~ The concentration/ immersion element, when at the bench everything else is forgotten about/ blanked out leaving me feel refreshed and of course happy afterwards. With scale modelling you don't have to worry about strict deadlines and specific criteria - well except for Group Builds of course but they are casual not corporate.

~ Finally this fine specimen of a forum. Modelling had been a side project among other hobbies for a while but this forum has helped me realise that this hobby is the one that I enjoy the most and captures my imagination every time I see images and read posts.

[wappynutter]

Well I think you guys have about summed it up in half a dozen posts....
My buzz is building a rare or forgotten or unloved subject....
I like turning junk and everyday trash into something everybody goes WOW...... at...or doing my own thing with styrene and bits and bobs.
I love the idea, the build and the finish.... even the bad, sad or disastrous bits....The blood sweat and tears gone in... crazy ideas, 3am wake ups and jotting down notes and plans.......... dreaming about the project and how it will look or entertain others.
BUT.........
The biggest buzz IS... you guys and ISM...
ISM has something that I think a lot of other modelling sites doesn't....... and I think that's......... modelling friendship..
There are no rivet counters, no one criticises another's work. Everyone of us is working at a different level and at a different pace.What is good enough for one is not quite for another but no one bullies or belittles the less skilled or noob/newbie/young/older modeller.
Some of us brush paint, some of us spray. Some have workshops/areas, some have tables or desks or the floor...
Each is different and brings a different or a special quality or skill to the forum.
Some live quite close, others thousands of miles away. Some are quite ill or are in constant pain or suffering. Nobody judges, nobody makes the other feel bad or low. This forum is therapy to lots of different users...
We all just get on, damn some even spend good hard earned cash supporting others who need or don't have the means to have what is required to keep posting, entertaining and encouraging the forum users or followers.

I personally am a member on "other" sites for a couple of years now, and even though I occasionally post..... ( 60 odd posts on one 110 posts on another )... the reason my posting is so small is because I feel like an outcast on one site due to my lack of skills and knowledge of figure and bust painting, and an entertaining fool on another due to my posting my builds but them not being enough to raise interest or be accurate enough to involve anyone but the similar skilled individual..
Sad but true....

ISM and its 900+ strong of new and keen forum users is like a breath of fresh air to the community, weather this is because its new and different, Or maybe its the Youtube link... or the linking of many Youtube modellers to one forum? I don't know... but while ever it keeps doing it like it is, I will continue to comment and post and encourage its users..
Your all good people, with Tamiya Extra Thin running through your veins, and a good Dragon kit pumping in your chest.... and I thank you all for letting me into your lives on ISM..
Good luck, good health and happy modelling guys.... and girl...... oh and under 10's....

[Nige201980]

Well I think you guys have about summed it up in half a dozen posts....
My buzz is building a rare or forgotten or unloved subject....
I like turning junk and everyday trash into something everybody goes WOW...... at...or doing my own thing with styrene and bits and bobs.
I love the idea, the build and the finish.... even the bad, sad or disastrous bits....The blood sweat and tears gone in... crazy ideas, 3am wake ups and jotting down notes and plans.......... dreaming about the project and how it will look or entertain others.
BUT.........
The biggest buzz IS... you guys and ISM...
ISM has something that I think a lot of other modelling sites doesn't....... and I think that's......... modelling friendship..
There are no rivet counters, no one criticises another's work. Everyone of us is working at a different level and at a different pace.What is good enough for one is not quite for another but no one bullies or belittles the less skilled or noob/newbie/young/older modeller.
Some of us brush paint, some of us spray. Some have workshops/areas, some have tables or desks or the floor...
Each is different and brings a different or a special quality or skill to the forum.
Some live quite close, others thousands of miles away. Some are quite ill or are in constant pain or suffering. Nobody judges, nobody makes the other feel bad or low. This forum is therapy to lots of different users...
We all just get on, damn some even spend good hard earned cash supporting others who need or don't have the means to have what is required to keep posting, entertaining and encouraging the forum users or followers.

I personally am a member on "other" sites for a couple of years now, and even though I occasionally post..... ( 60 odd posts on one 110 posts on another )... the reason my posting is so small is because I feel like an outcast on one site due to my lack of skills and knowledge of figure and bust painting, and an entertaining fool on another due to my posting my builds but them not being enough to raise interest or be accurate enough to involve anyone but the similar skilled individual..
Sad but true....

ISM and its 900+ strong of new and keen forum users is like a breath of fresh air to the community, weather this is because its new and different, Or maybe its the Youtube link... or the linking of many Youtube modellers to one forum? I don't know... but while ever it keeps doing it like it is, I will continue to comment and post and encourage its users..
Your all good people, with Tamiya Extra Thin running through your veins, and a good Dragon kit pumping in your chest.... and I thank you all for letting me into your lives on ISM..
Good luck, good health and happy modelling guys.... and girl...... oh and under 10's....

That wappy says it all mate couldn't have put it better myself

[wappynutter]

That wappy says it all mate couldn't have put it better myself

Thanks Nige....

[Coen]

What he said...


Well done Andy!!!

[Radzy]

Andy,

Big & to you mate!

You exactly pointed out, I think... that essence...quintessence of what modelling became to me after I joined ISM.

Thanks for saying that... and happy modelling to you guys...

Kind regards,
Radek
PS. So I understand that within one year we organize some rally or something to share all these beers that were given here ?

[Paul]

It's the relaxation for me, I think without it I would go mental (well a bit more mental anyway)

I enjoy everything I build and will build anything really.










Oh and paint I like paint

[Coen]

Oh and paint I like paint

You don't say?

[Radzy]

Oh and paint I like paint

Oh if the paints were napalm based... I would love smell of them in the morning

[Wayne]

Wappy hit the nail on the head. I am also part of of another forum that sins joining here i have not really looked at. They are good people, i just feel i am wrong being there as i am not as pro as they are and it kinda makes me feel very small indeed.

I have only been a member here a very short time but i feel like i have been here years (In a good way) The first thing i look at when i go on line and the last thing before i go to sleep (if there is such a thing) is this forum.

Everyone has been so nice to me in my time here. I have asked so many things and so many reply's its mind blowing. As some of you know i am coming back to scale models after not doing anything from my early teens. And the stuff i have help with is awesome. All the tips you guys share is epic. Most sites tell you to get lost and work it out your self. You guys are my online family.

My other reasons for scale models if to rest my mind Its a place i go to like a planet all to my self (Wayne's world if you like lol) all the stuff in my life leaves me for the hours i sit there just me and my music and my model. None of you know the reason i got back into this as i have not felt up to saying until now. I kinda had a bad brake down at the start of the year due to my marriage ending on boxing day 2011 due to her cheating on me. She has more or less stopped me seeing my kids. End of that was it, it all got on top of me and i fell apart.

So the Doctor said i need to find things in my life to help, so i got back into models and then found you guys so thanks

[alextheblue]

Pitstop bud, I've got to take my hat off to you for opening up like that. I know it's a cliche, but time is truly a healer. Exactly the same thing happened to my best mate and at the time he was devastated. Now, he has remarried, has two beautiful children and is happier than he's ever been. Sometimes iLife has a plan for us, but its not always easy to see the final outcome. Hang in there dude and never lose site of how magical life can be. All of those other websites, f**k 'em, they have no idea! Building scale models is a means to an end and whilst there's no denying how much we all enjoy the hobby, it helps us to escape from "real life" whilst at the same time giving us the opportunity to recharge our batteries.

If only I could win the lottery I'd organise a big party and pay for everyone to get there. I have a feeling we would all have a great time!!

[Wayne]

Pitstop bud, I've got to take my hat off to you for opening up like that. I know it's a cliche, but time is truly a healer. Exactly the same thing happened to my best mate and at the time he was devastated. Now, he has remarried, has two beautiful children and is happier than he's ever been. Sometimes iLife has a plan for us, but its not always easy to see the final outcome. Hang in there dude and never lose site of how magical life can be. All of those other websites, f**k 'em, they have no idea! Building scale models is a means to an end and whilst there's no denying how much we all enjoy the hobby, it helps us to escape from "real life" whilst at the same time giving us the opportunity to recharge our batteries.

If only I could win the lottery I'd organise a big party and pay for everyone to get there. I have a feeling we would all have a great time!!

Thanks you bud means a lot

Jeez you think of us lot a party lol would be so much fun tho

[Paul]

Wow andy I missed you post mate, so sorry dude that was an awesome post

And pitstop again, it take a lot to open up like that' I think if I'm honest I would have lost the plot if it hadn't been for modelling so I owe it a lot.

Cheer guys

[Wayne]

Thanks Paul

I am the same bud i need modelling. I just cant wait to get this move out the way so i can get back to it. 11 days to go now then i can get building again

[fly1ngdutchm4n]

I'm with Coen and Wappy

Never been on forums before. I read them, but never been part of it. I used Flickr for posting pics (still do) there I met some great people. One of them is Chief, and he pulled me in to this forum. So it's him to blame guys...
I like the way this community is taking care for each other, and helping one and other where possible. Even sending parts if needed! Everyone is welcome no matter if English isn't your mother language. We all speak the language of modelling! Now that's some spirit I needed a hobby for getting some rest in my life and head, so two years ago I tried modelling afv. Didn't model for almost 30 years, but I was having fun and getting relaxed, and that was for me the moment I found my spark. As my father Is an old special forces officer, and wwII interested, It is he that keeps me building. Love his story's from him and "the guys". I like to build for him. My father is ill, nearly 70, and even when time comes and takes him, I still will keep on building and let that spark going on forever.

cheers guys!

[wappynutter]

Thanks guys.... just telling it like it is....
Many thumbs to you too Frans....
Your father sounds like an amazing guy...He's your inspiration... your hero...remember his stories and pass them on to your kids mate.

Pitstop..... Dude don't worry mate, we all friends here..... Little secret mate, me to you, because you have been open and told us, I will tell you " don't tell the guys on here though!" ....
I can totally relate to where you are coming from..
I am on my second marriage. My first wife was a cheater..... with my best friend, a bloke I had grown up with.
I lost my wife and the worst bit she took my Best friend too, his betrayal was the worst part as he knew what my wife was like..
You see she was also violent, I was a battered Husband who was stabbed, beaten, burned and emotionally blackmailed and made to feel worthless and like dirty for around 12 years....
I lived rough, felt depressed and sometimes wished I could fade away... The thought of my kids kept me strong though, they would eventually need me, and I needed them....
I met my present wife 10 years ago after being on my own for around 8... we got married and have 3 little kids, and I'm happy mate..
I still see the big kids from wife number one on a regular basis, they are married with kids of their own now... but the moral of the story is love and happiness will always find a way to creep back up and find you.... Your kids will always be just that.. YOUR kids, the wife can never take that away.
She will get bored playing mind games with you, Then BOOM... its Pitstop time......
I choose to fiddle with plastic and have for a couple of years now, as I am now in a relaxed, pleasant relationship and because as a child it was something I enjoyed...this is now my mid-life crisis and I have returned to the safe, happy days of childhood..
Chin up, keep well and model on buddy... we all here, 24/7...

[Wayne]

wow wappy i am lost for words man you have been to hell and back. I can take one thing from this and thats if you can come back from all what you have then i can come back from mine.

Thank you for sharing your story mate.

[wappynutter]

Its all good mate.... As the Meatloaf song goes...
" it was long ago and it was far away, oh god it seems so very far......"
Take care, have a stress free move and come back modelling hard dude...
Look forward to your build posts..

[Wayne]

Thanks bud. Yeah i cant wait to get back to it got 6 kits to make plus my Whirlybird SIG to do. I know what i want to do just need to get moved lol

[Coen]

I love this place!

[Nige201980]

Pitstop and Andy 1 thanks for sharing lads and great respect for it my heart goes out to you both though my "story" is not the same i know how it can feel like the end of the world some times you see i have PTSD and M.E and last year i was at my lowest that i very nearly took my life the only thing that stopped me was my wife and kids. it wasn't until January this year that i was diagnosed with these 2 condition's and i knew what was wrong with me so i could tackle them with thye help of my wife i got back into modelling then i found Youtube and then this forum and through both i have steadily been able to build my self up to 1st taking myself of the sick and starting this course which should lead to work fingers crossed and in a way this forum and modelling as helped me get to where i am now which is feeling good about the future and looking forward to it instead of looking back and relieving the past that damaged me and my family in a way.

So thats why i model and love this forum with out them i know i would not be here without them FACT.

[alextheblue]

Wappy - you were already my hero after that stunning Logan's car build, but my respect for you has just increased even more. To be in such a dark place and pull yourself up and get your life back on track takes guts and determination that a lot of people just don't possess.

Nige - really glad you didn't listen to those dark voices and that you are now treating both conditions. I think PTSD has been much misunderstood over the years and even now people don't really understand what it is like to have the disorder. Many of my mates (all ex-forces) suffer to varying degrees (some admit it whilst some don't) and I myself have the odd moment when past events come back to haunt me. Still scare the wife some nights with the night terrors (luckily I don't sleep too much though! ) and really busy places can get me "anxious". Good luck with the course, I hope that gets you to where you want to be.

I've already posted a reply to this thread, but having read the subsequent posts I think there may be a common thread to why we all love this hobby. You can't build any model well without putting a piece of yourself into it. Having skillful hands and a steady eye isn't enough, you have to invest some emotion into that and I think that is why every model that I have viewed on this forum is so damn GOOD! I also think that is why a certain "type" of person is drawn to ISM. I too have never posted on a forum before, but right from the off, this forum just felt different to the rest.

Apologies for the lengthy post, but I read something the other day that I have always tried to apply, a quote by Eleanor Roosevelt - "Great minds discuss ideas, average minds discuss events, small minds discuss people".

I guess that makes us all ideas people!!

[zingpow]

i don't know, sometimes it's the lights and excitement as i walk down the runway with nothing but a speedo on, other times it's the attention i get from the female models in the dressing rooms...they're a snotty bunch generally speaking but if you got some of their favorite white powder they can be very appreciative and totally uninhibited, more so than most would imagine...zing of the blubbity blub blub...

[Coen]

i don't know, sometimes it's the lights and excitement as i walk down the runway with nothing but a speedo on, other times it's the attention i get from the female models in the dressing rooms...they're a snotty bunch generally speaking but if you got some of their favorite white powder they can be very appreciative and totally uninhibited, more so than most would imagine...zing of the blubbity blub blub...

[denstore]

The fame, fortune and wild women, mostly.

Seriously, it's the dreams. Every kit I have, carries with it dreams of being my one masterpiece. I dream about it when I buy it, and add to the dream with every purchase of aftermarket stuff I get for it. Usually the dream ends as they usually do, you wake up, but it doesn't matter. I love the planning and shopping, and most of the time the projects in themselves inspire me into other projects that surfaces while working on the current project. And sometimes returning to old project can be just as fun, since it gives you a chance to reboot that dream, and usually it turns in other directions than it did the first time.

[Colin]

For me its because of a life long love of construction, when I was a kid I loved Lego and then Meccano and I would still play about with them if I had such construction sets to this day I think all of us would, not so much the modern Lego kits where you build specific subjects, but just building a replica of the house (complete with inside room layout) I lived in or anything that came to mind was what I used to do.

I got into scale modelling at a young age ... too young maybe? and it was not until a few years later when I was about ten I got quite good at it This was about the time in the early 70's when the first Airfix 1/24 kit came out the Spitfire ... my mate got one first and I was so jealous but I got one slightly later and unlike my mate who just slammed his together with no paint I painted it inside and out with all the correct Airfix paints I'd saved my pocket money for, my Dads RAF tour took us off to West Germany after that and I continued plastic scale modelling and built the 1/24 109, Mustang and Harrier as well as other kits but also got into Aero-modelling, could not afford radio control at age 14'ish so built traditional old school balsa models where you had a plan and had to cut each part from balsa sheet, then cover in tissue and dope to harden the skin ... great construction times those were, mostly free flight gliders I built but some engine powered control line models too ... back to the UK in 1975 and I did a bit more Aero-modelling before trying Airfix's newer 1/24 releases ... Stuka then Hurricane I think it was? that went on for a while until I discovered Motorcycling, Woman and Music and never built a thing for what seemed like an eternity.

In real working life it followed I just had to get into construction somehow, back then there was work for everyone and I was lucky enough to live near 2 big oil rig construction yards and worked in that industry as a Pipemill Operator, which is just a fancy name for a welder and sort of fabricator, mainly dealing in tubulars but I specialised in CNC welding machinery and also CNC flame cutting machines as well as milling, one good thing about the North Scotland fab yards was everyone had to adapt, so I got trained in rigging and scaffolding too for when times were lean, as well as really massive scale construction and engineering it was really well paid work too and that allowed me to keep my Motorcycling habit going ... there were a few pays off though when orders ran dry, but even then I worked in regular building industry doing roofing and slating mostly ... but again Construction that I loved.

At the oil yards I was proud to have been involved in the construction of Piper Alpha 2 (Piper B) and numerous other rigs and lastly just before all Scottish yards were closed for good the massive Elf Elgin Franklin jack up, after the redundancy's I tried a year in a call centre for a mobile phone company and gas/electric and hated it, nothing constructive there at all, it did teach me a lot into how to deal with utility company's though in years to come through having seen how they deal with our complaints ETC.

It was about then I picked up on scale modelling again, slowly at first with no sense of direction to present day where I feel I know where I'm going with the hobby in 1/32 Aircraft and Motorcycles of 1/12 and 1/6 scale and learned to build at my own pace and for myself, that may sound selfish and I dont mean it to be ... but I really have never been happier than now with my current mindset towards scale modelling

Its such a multi faceted hobby, that can involve collecting (our stash's) researching, sharing (on sites like this) even learning history too.

I agree with many of the reasons given here by others of course, especially the rewarding relaxing nature of it, but for me Construction has always been a biggie and it seemed natural as I settled down in life to start Scale Modelling again ... construction wise I even build my own PC's and prefer to do my own DIY, in my Biking days I'd do my own mechanics and for cars too where I could!

Cant let this opportunity pass without some pics of 1/1 scale modelling I used to be involved in at the oil fab yards

This was in 79 what was the worlds biggest mobile crane we nicknamed Nessie because we are near Loch Ness and it was a bit of a monster ...



And it never lifted much before it fell, was on site the day before this and saw it coming down while doing tests, will never forget it ...



nobody was killed although a few were in accidents on the site in its history.



Night lift of complete bottle assembly using a quickly designed lifting mechanism that for a while only Nessie could have lifted ... the yards worked 24/7 7 days a weak at peak project time.



And to give a scale of size this is bottle construction in the deck assembly building prior to going out to the Jacket area.



And the Elf Elgin Jackup ...

[Coen]

I don't think that I need to tell ya how cool that is Colin!
I think that most of use, to a greater or lesser degree, love the construction.
Maybe not quite as much as you haha.
Those shots are stunning buddy, but what scale is it?... Look at all those parts, must be a dragon kit.

Haha

[Colin]

I don't think that I need to tell ya how cool that is Colin!
I think that most of use, to a greater or lesser degree, love the construction.
Maybe not quite as much as you haha.
Those shots are stunning buddy, but what scale is it?... Look at all those parts, must be a dragon kit.

Haha

LOL I do remember some parts never fitted and there was always some after thought going on to bodge things together as well as we could, but like in scale modelling it always ended up spot on if you work at it

The Elf Elgin platform was constantly evolving during its 2 + year construction and needs from client and started to get a bit overweight at one point, so the architects and engineers decided to offload part of its construction to a little sister platform that was much to the delight of our overtime! I have nothing but admiration for the engineers who calculated this behemoth would float when the dry docks were flooded. I wouldn't know where to begin to calculate that, even with computers.

But float it did.

[Bridon]

Modelling to me is two fold...first you have the construction of the model which in my younger days was all I wanted to do as a kid. Nowadays, there is the added joy of historical accuracy and painting and weathering to make it look very real. The latter task is a pure joy of artistic interpretation of light and textures...very enjoyable.

Brian

[CrackedCubes]

Creating something from nothing is my favorite part! or something from parts if a pre-mfg model kit! Pushing paper all day, all I want to do is create something when its all over!

And yes, the chicks are a nice consoliation prize too!