Writing About Models

Hello again from here in Corvallis.  Yes, it has been awhile again since I wrote last, that is how life goes.  But as one of my friends says... "blog, blog blog... you need to write."  So here I am writing about my favorite subject again.

I really do love everything about this hobby.  I mean I love it all.  Of course I love building models.  But I also love reading about the hobby, going to shows, hanging out with my friends and talking about the hobby, reading the magazines.  And I love writing about it...

The highlight for this past month has been my trip to Nationals in Loveland CO.  My wife and I and my friend Ron drove from Oregon to Colorado and had a great time.  My wife got to visit her cousin in Denver while Ron and I had a great week at the convention.  As my wife observed during the drive out, "I had no idea there was so much to talk about for models for two days." Yes there is indeed dear.

As to builds, I am working on the new SWS kit of the He219 Uhu.  What a high tech kit.  Can you say "they even mold the pistons into the crankcase?!? Serious?"  Yes they do.  And it is a great kit.  More to come on that later.

I am also working on Russian KV-85 in 1/35 scale.  It is from a Russian manufacturer, Polar Express.  The first thing I need to do is get out my Dremel tool and sand off the Polar Express stamp on the bottom of the hull.  That is, of course, after I build the hull by adding the side and end plates.  My friends assure me that this is normal for these lower volume eastern European kits.  BUT, I kind of like it and actually the detail on the tank is pretty good.

I am venturing into a new area of model photography.  At nationals I attended a seminar by Aaron Skinner from Fine Scale Modeler magazine on how to photograph your models.  It was very good and very practical.  So I invested in a few items to create my own photo booth and am going to start using it to document some of my builds and work.  I never thought I would like doing this.  But I surprised myself and find that I actually do.  We'll see where it leads but I want to use it to help my model writing.

Speaking of writing, what exactly do I want to write about?  You know, I never have seen myself just writing about "how to's" for builds or techniques.  I have always had interests in the historical side of the hobby and the "softer" side of why and what we build.  But I don't know.  I will probably do both and this site may take on different shades of emphasis as I develop and mature at this.  But I am continually drawn to the "whys" and "whats" of our hobby.  Why do we do what we do?   And what happened in history to cause us to build this or that.

So, we'll see what comes next, and when.  Hopefully the when will be much more regular.  And... as for the what, what would interest you?  What of the "whys" in our hobby would you be interested in exploring?  Let me know and we can explore it together.

Thanks and Keep Building.