I built my first model back in 1957 or 1958. It was a small Corsair and my father did most of the work. That got me started and I built mostly aircraft into the early 1970s. Additional subjects included Grand Prix racing cars and some of the old Aurora tanks. Most of these were just glued together without paint, later some paint was added to details and eventually the whole model.

Life got in the way and actual building slowed and then ceased altogether. I still kept buying the kits so I never completely lost interest. PE & resin came along pretty much after I stopped building so I have not used these wonderful enhancements yet.

I have been air minded and my basic attitude was that anything that crawled on the ground or swam in the sea was just another type of target. Over the last couple of decades I have been reading a lot of books about the ground pounders and started to become fascinated by vehicles and the battles they participated in.

I'm interested in all of it now but primarily in WW2 Pacific US & Japanese subjects. The Soviet vehicles and battles are also a special fascination.

This summer when it got too hot to work on various vintage automotive and motorcycle projects outside I pulled an old Tamiya T-34/76 1943 out of the stash and just started in. Paint was sourced from the local hardware store. I made four more models in rapid succession all trying new things like oil paints and on the most recent, a CyberHobby M46 from the Korean War even pigments which I'm just over the moon about.

This one is waiting for some scratch built bits to finish and while I'm waiting a companion CyberHobby T-34/85 from the Korean war has been started.

It is sure a great time to be a modeler. The newest kits are gorgeous and the new materials, supplies and techniques are better than ever before. I'm told that there are fewer & fewer modelers every year and yet the hobby seems to be flourishing. How can this be?

When I started paints came only in basic colors and they were all gloss. I can remember making flats by adding talcum powder. I love many things about the past but modeling is better than ever right now.

First of all, welcome to the site. I'm glad you found your way back into the hobby. You are right about media leaping ahead and driving sane men mad. I too started my return with a few trips to the hardware store. I look forward to some of your builds and your input. There are a lot of great people here that are more than wiling to advise you. Have fun!

The mix of craftsmanship, historical research & artistic sensibility needed to make a good model is irresistible. Right now I frequently feel like I'm floundering trying to figure out how to get from here to there but I'm starting to get a sense of building in ordered layers to get realistic results. The book TankArt 2 has been extremely helpful in giving me a sense of direction as well as learning specific techniques.

Now I'm going to have to learn that darned airbrush . . .