Very interesting article. I had my wife look it over and she pretty much agreed with many of the salient points. When early last year I decided to get back into the hobby (after nearly a decade away) my SWMBO was surprisingly supportive and believe it or not, interested in the modelling process.
Her hobby is decorative painting and IMHO she is extremely gifted and talented. I have been extremely supportive of her efforts to develop and refine her skills. Her interest in my first build led her to follow the Sherman Campaign thread and offer suggestions and observations on how I might improve mine. She even took the time to see if her medium, acrylic craft paints, might be useful in the development of effective weathering techniques as well as the employment of judicious highlighting to further enhance the finished model (I'd hardly ever weathered or highlighted much in the past).
While I only completed two builds last year she has shown such interest in the hobby that I offered to get her a kit of her own to experiment with. This past Christmas she was surprised to open a gift that contained a 1/72 Airfix Spitfire I (she has often commented that she found the Spit's contours graceful and appealing). She thoroughly surprised me by the fact that of all the gifts I got her (including perfume, jewellery) the Spit seemed to really capture her interest.
She started her build on January 2nd and has almost daily done some work on it. While a very simple kit by most standards I have had to be there and hold her hand through the unknown (to her) assembly process. With the kit assembled she is now entering the phase where her painting skills can truly shine. This entire process has seemed to bring us even closer together and the experience has allowed her to offer even more constructive feedback on my current build. She says that she doesn't know if she'll want to try another build but is grateful for having the experience.
Cheers,
Jan
