Yesterday, I spent the entire day shopping with my wife without a single complaint, moan or sigh (except delight) and we did not even visit the local model shop. She was thrilled as I “REALLY HATE SHOPPING” (not shouting just emphasizing).

Now the true reason behind this, we visited:

The chemist (she wanted perfume; I got new tweezers, toenail cutter, cuticle scissors and nail cutting scissors)
The newsagent (she wanted Auel’s latest; I got Military in Scale and Tamiya’s latest)
The beautician (she got a hairdo; I got some really cool plastic holders for paint etc)
A gardening shop (she wanted some plants; I got binding wire, thin tubing and a very fine long haired brush – it should be great for long grass)

Is this just me or do many of you walk around looking for new items to find new uses for?

#:-)

Savage..I think we're all wired that way. I ABSOLUTELY hate shopping and when I have to go I'm always looking for something model or history related. Sometimes I'll find a cheap video(previously viewed from the video rental) at the grocery store or something I can use in modelling at the craft store or tools at the mall. She indulges me. No you're not strange...WE ALL ARE!!!!!!! Later....Jeff

I bought a bunch of eye-shadow sets from Boots whilst my wife was trawling through the beauty section. She thought I was ill until she sussed my true motivation.

Siggi,
I've been looking at the eyeshadow myself. there are some great color shades there that would be great for drybrushing. If you do drybrush with the eyeshadow, let us know how it turns out.

If I were half as good as you, I'd be living a charmed life. You are the man!!

Bodeen, Siggi I wonder what a psych would call us, wired …………?

Well put it this way. The wife bought me a cactus:



so I would have contact with other living things while building models, studying or ‘playing’ on the Internet.

My daughters bought me a Garfield:



to keep me company during ‘this’ time. Before anyone asks, Yes, I do hate Mondays.

I´ve only had some evil eyes pointed at my general direction when we were just hiking with the Mrs. and every once in a while I sprang like a dog in the bushes when I spotted something "extremely useful".
She didn´t like it either when I stuffed my pockets full of moss, fine grain dirt and wood sticks.
I bet some day she´ll surprise me with a dog food plate with my name written on it...



Toni

"Opportunity seldom knocks twice" so why lose a chance to improve the "weird" tools any good scale modeler should have? Although my wife is very supportive, or at least she looks like, and not complaining at all about my hobbies (yes I've got a few) and says, regarding scale modelling, that she prefers me to spend a few bucks on a scale model than on another chop of meat, when I'm uot shopping with her I'm always hunting for useful stuff I can use in my hobbies...
Ciao

My wife and kids have gotten to the point that when they see me grab anything the slightest bit unusual they KNOW it's for a model.

Last night I started sweeping up our driveway. It's been raining pretty much every day here, thank goodness because we're in a drought, and a lot of very fine sand has been washed onto the drive. Instead of sweeping it into a trashcan I started to put it into a bucket. Both my wife and oldest daughter walked up, took one look, and said, "Let me guess, it's for your MODELS?" Isn't it funny how wives and kids can make a word like models sound like something you step on in the gutter?

Everywhere I go, I always think about getting my model the best it can get. If they shop, I find things there "I could shop" :-)

When we hit the yard sales, I'm always looking for cheap costume jewelry. The right necklace can provide over 50 or more scale feel of chain for a quarter. Decoupage plaques provide bases for pennies on the dollar. I've found drafting sets, X-Acto sets, models, paints, and display shelves, and more, at these as well. I also got my Badger 150 for $25 at a yard sale.

The wife bought me a cactus:

so I would have contact with other living things while building models
LoL

I dont go shoping that much, but ill try and go and see what I can find

The same hapens to me. When I go shoping with my wife or kids, I always found something for the Hobby. Is like it´s always present in in my mind. That´s because for some of us this is a passion and I think that it´s great to have an activitie that can keep your mind away from the daily problems and stress. I´m not a strange person and in this matter I do the same that you do.

When i was a young constable my duty sargeant found me down an alley behind a resturant at 2.a.m. cutting lead foil off empty wine bottles muttering and laughing.he rekoned i was a raving lunatic. Or when my wife found me collecting worm castes from the lawn and drying it out in HER oven doesnt she understand it is the finest ground cover you can get, some people are strange.

I have a pile of "spare parts" in an old box behind the TV. Sometimes my girl comes around and starts cleaning the house. I always keep a close eye on what she is about to throw away. Chances are I find small parts that got lost or I find some pieces which she thought was trash (like old soda cans, motor rotors, etc). She used to shoo me away from the trash bin but she gave up after a while #:-)

I deliver construction equipment for a rental store and Im always picking scraps from job sites. I find alot of useful stuff,sand,wood, dirt, dried brick mortar this is great for rubble when it is crumbled up to scale.

I see nothing strange in this thread, just a bunch of guys adapting anything that comes to hand to a useful purpose.

I have used everything from toothpicks to dental floss for modeling. I wheedle used dental burrs, ribbon abrasive, and a ribbon saw from my dentist. Plastic medicine cups from the hospital. Toolmaker's diamond files, automotive sand paper (glued to popsicle sticks) etc, etc.

My wife and I walk in the woodlands near our house and in the fall collect all kinds of dried weeds, burrs, and any intresting looking plants that she makes into decorations. So I have all kinds of intresting bits in plastic bags that might be useful. Small stones, sand, etc.

Strange? Define strange.

The other day in the supermarket I went into raptures over the string bag that the potatoes came in, I was also discovered looking at hair-nets and complaining that the mesh wasn't fine enough. My wife is beginning to come to terms with this to the extent she now asks before she throws something away. jim #:-)

I've got a habbit of keeping the foil off the lids of the meals you get on the airplane when you go on holiday the trays would be great but havent got the bottle to stick them in me bag I also have a nice collection of take away cartons as well and some sand in an ice cream tub
which I picked when I went to the beach

oh and syringes are good for mixing paint ratios too! my wifes a nurse so I dont get funny looks buying them and they come in different sizes too