Greetings and salutations to all!

After a bunch of years off, the allure of the new age of modeling madness is too much to ignore any further. I gotta say, I've been watching from afar for a while now. That said, I can't believe the state of kitbuilding these days. Smart kits, add on's, photo etch...man oh man!

I first started as a pre-teen building all of those great Aurora movie monster and superhero kits. As I got older and found myself getting more interested in historical themes (OK...I also built all the Aurora's that I could get my hands on), I bought my first tank. It was a monogram Panzer IV. Although quite primitive, even by 1982's standards,it got me hooked. For the next handful of years I got heavily into Tamiya's stuff, with a heavy accent on WWII German armor. I had a great eye, a stickler for detail and just enough OCD to still be enjoyable. I treated the Shepard Paine books like a bible. By the end of my run I was backdating the ancient Tamiya Pzkpfw III M/N kit into a pretty respectable Ausf.G. It always ticked me off that the early war years were so badly represented back then. Pretty much over night at 15, I however found out about girls and guitars and my modeling days were finished.I thought...

Well, after 20 odd years of a very intense adult life spent living in NYC I found something was missing. My work life has always been high octane. I found my love of playing music could drive me as nutty as it made me happy. High standards and OCD will do that. I found myself with hyper tension, and the realization that this could be as therapeutic as it was fun for me. The thought of adding something back into my life that could be creative as well as allowing me a certain degree of solitude was very enticing. There was also the matter of unfinished business from my childhood too.

Early era Pzkpfw II,III, and IV's..Char B..Early stugs and T34's..and so much more. Interior sets, Detail sets with stuff that my eyes and fingers could only dream of scratch building...LIFELIKE FIGURES! If this all this was not enough I really started to look on blogs and see the Euro modellers who really seemed to have a very artistic as well as light hearted approach that I feel takes the modeling field to an altogether different place. Two guys I really like are Glenn Bartolotti and Mig Jimenez. For starters, they can make even the older kits look great with a minimum of add ons. The fact that they don't get all tangled up in p***ing contests over fuhrer directives and finger pointing over RAL numbers is refreshing. They see the bigger picture of how all the element of modeling and painting come together to create the bigger picture. IMHO it all works out in the end and these guys have helped bring a level of realism and artistic quality to merge into one.It just looks like a lot of fun again.

There is so much out there to choose from and be inspired by these days. And I'm not just talking armor. 1/32 Ju 88 and heinkell 111. A great looking 1/32 1966 TV Batmobile. I'm getting into this deep again and my biggest fear is that there is not enough money in my wallet to fuel the glue sniffing polystyrene monkey on my back.

I do hope to post soon. I've seen some really amazing stuff on this site already and learned a lot of amazing tips from many of you guys. Thanks for bringing me up to speed!

Welcome to the site, Lee. Glad you jumped back in. I agree, modeling is perfect therapy for stress, OCD, ADHD, anxiety, and depression, probably because it takes us back to a happier time. Who needs medication? Just give us styrene. Show off your work. There are forums here for every modeling interest.

Thanks Russ! I appreciate the warm (and very truthful)welcome. Well I've got to say the purchase of a decent camera is next on my list. Speaking of OCD, I've also quickly accumulated about 10 kits along with numerous aftermarket items that I am in various states of building. This does seem to be a common theme amongst us types though.

Hello Lee, and welcome. There are quite a few clubs and shows around the NYC area if you're interested. NJIPMS, Long Island Historical Miniatures Society, Hudson Valley Historical Miniatures Guild, Northeast Military Modelers Association ( formerly AMPS CT), and IPMS Stratford, CT., are all great clubs and all put on shows within easy driving of NYC. Al

Al,Thanks for the welcome! I am actually living back upstate in Buffalo these days. I still love NYC...just now more like a ex-wife that I still like to speak with from time to time. I will however be hunting my local IPMS out again once I feel I get myself up to speed with the new techniques I've been learning. It's amazing how much things have changed in the past couple of decades. The quality of work I'm seeing all around me far surpasses what I remember from years back.

Lee,

Welcome back! I took a break as well about at the same age (maybe a few years older) when I joined the military. I agree with Russ and the others that building these baggies of parts and bits is almost like therapy for most of us.

By the way, here is a link for the local IPMS chapter up in Buffalo, NY:

http://www.ipmsniagarafrontier.com/

Happy modelling!

Matt

Hey Matt! A BIG thanks for the welcome and the time that you spent away from modelling. As well as a big thanks for the link. I've been sort of bouncing around a bunch of different kits, progressing along as I acquire the items needed for different tasks. Starting from the ground up can be a little daunting, as there are so many new tricks, tools and goodies that come into play. Truthfully I spend 4 x's the amount of time reading and learning about whats new, good and/or should be avoided as i do modelling right now. This is of course a lot of fun and a great new adventure. So I have to give you and everyone else here a big tip of the hat for the time, energy and passion you've shared with others like myself. If my local IPMS is anything like the sense of community I see here, it will be awesome! Thanks--Lee