I thought I'd give this Blog lark a try and to start with I'll take you for a short trip down memory lane.
I started modelling almost certainly in the late 50's or possibly 1960 (I'd have been 7 or
with the ubiquitous Airfix 1/72 Spitfire bought for 2 shillings from the local Woolworth's. Well the bug soon hit big time and very soon all my pocket money/paperround money was being handed over the counter at Woolworth's on a Saturday morning. In those days Airfix came out with 4 or 5 kits a month
After a while building series one kits I graduated to some of the larger stuff and for Christmas and birthdays I would get some of the even larger kits as presents. The Airfix Ju52 sticks in the memory for some reason. Probably the fun of getting the transfers to go on over the corrugations
Between 7 and 15 I must have built almost all the Airfix series one aircraft and armour models produced as well as a fair few of the ship models, dad being ex RN and that. I did build some others, mainly Revell but the ones that stand out are the old Monogram quarter scale kits. The Dauntless, Avenger and Helldiver with their working parts and the Fw 190 with it's multitude of armament options. I still use the old Monogram Me 109 box to keep my stock of RAF Squadron codes in.
I suppose my next big step was when the Airfix Magazine came out. In those days it was not only kits but railway layouts, model car racing, wargaming and various other bits and bobs. I started doing some of the more simple Alan W hall and Chris Ellis conversions. A P-36 from the Airfix P-40 and a Halifax cowling, a Pz III from the Stug III and a cut down Panther turret etc.
At this time I was sharing my interests in modelling with wargaming but in 1968 it all changed. Yup you've guessed - women came along. So apart from some occasional dabbling with the Matchbox armour range I didn't do much modelling at all for the next 30 years or so. I was still buying Airfix magazine but that was about all I was doing.
I can't really explain why I got back into modelling it just seemed to find me again. I think it was the Revell Ar 240 nightfighter in Modelzone at Holborn that caught my eye. Anyway I bought it and was bitten again. I started to buy the aircraft specific modelling magazines and was hooked for sure. I made a few mistakes in those early years. I assumed you needed all the resin and etched goodies to be a proper modeller and probably wasted money on stuff I will never use before I learnt the truth.
From a review in SAM I learnt of Lee's old Padded Cell and subscribed. The WIF bug bit deep. Then one night while pulling a 24 hour special at work (this would have been 1999 and the Millennium Bug farce) I found this site, then run out of New Zealand and I had a home. From there it was easy to find the UK Wif SIG and after a few tentative feelers at my first SMW I joined and made a lot of new friends who have stayed with me since then, along with a fair number of new ones since then. As an aside for anyone not sure of the UK SIG we do sometimes seem a bit insular, but that can be the nature of the hobby, we honestly don't bite (well Radish might
) so just say hello at a show and you might be surprised at the reaction. At least it's a place to park your bags and bum
Over the last couple of years I've gradually come to realise what my main interests are - 1930 to 1950 approximately, mainly 1/72 aircraft - although I will and do sometimes dabble with other periods, scales and genres. Importantly I've also come to be comfortable with my own skill levels. I will never be of compatition standard but I enjoy what I do and that's the main thing. Another important thing about the SIG is that no one ever looks down on someones models and this acceptance that modelling is meant to be fun actually tends to raise your own skill levels because you relax.
I suppose I'm mainly a repaint man when it comes to wiffing (my builds are approximately 50/50 real world and wif) but I have been know to do the odd simple conversion and you never know I might one day go farther down that road when I feel comfortable with a subject, we shall see.
Well that's the introduction. I'll follow with what I'm working on at the moment
