Started building ship models in about 1960 with the best one and only one I still have being a Nichimo 1/200 Yamato that I began building in 1976. It was purchased from a militaria shop for $100 because the box had a little damage. It made it through two marriages because it spent those dangerous years parked on my old bed upstairs at my parent's house. After the last divorce I brought it home and the lighter superstructure and rigging was damaged by my two sons during a sock fight. Using fine copper wire from the armature of an HO slot car and better adhesive I rebuilt the entire above deck works and placed it behind plexiglass. In 1991 I decided to build a second story on the house and moved the ship to my parents house again and after finishing brought it back and carelessly placed it on a shelf up high where I thought it would be safe. Squirrels eventually decided it was OK to enter and undermine the roof including a hole right down through the roof into the room where the ship was resting. Intending to move it to a storage room where I safely store most of my cool stuff the squirrels beat me to it and while walking around the shelf along the wall scrounging for food knocked the aerial array where most of the rigging sources from loose. Since the early 90's I have littered the property with squirrel skeletons but unfortunately being nomadic beasts others of that vermin moved in to fill the void and it has been war ever since. Antifreeze doesn't work in eradicating them so I'm back to using the trusty Crossman and a blow gun with cookies as a lure to bring them within range.

how do we add photos of our work? I already have them in my profile, how do we post them in a forum??

Mark,
Check out Darren's tutorial here.

Tom,
Sorry to hear about your Yamato.

I forgot to mention my all wood Ashville Class patrol boat and all wood battleship Washington that I started on in about 1981 and '80 respectively. I always thought the Ashville was a neat looking boat with the gun turret forward of the cabin structure. I don't remember where I acquired the plans or what scale but it's about seven feet long. The wood work is completed that includes two access doors on the deck for radio equipment and drive equipment. I burned out on it when I reached the fiber-glassing the hull part because I didn't know how and it's sitting in a room with my motorcycle collection. The Washington never really got past the hull ribs and keel, I wanted one that would scale to 410 shotgun barrels and when I realized that I wouldn't be able to get it out of my house or had any place to store it it went on the bonfire. I was born with OCD and in my case that means lots of interesting hobbies cycling through including N-Scale Steam Engine collecting, snake collecting, tropical pitcher plant collecting, classic Honda collecting, RC Tank collecting, 1950's Sci-Fi & Horror collecting and dozens more that did and didn't take. Being 62 and single and now raising my 7 year old grand daughter I get to expose her to all of the wonderfull obsessions that I grew up with.