Just sort of curious...

How many out there are modelers from a while back, who have been out of the hobby for some period of time (years, not months) and are getting back into it??

If this is YOU, I'd be interested in hearing why you came back, how long you were "gone", what you think of the current state of the hobby, etc.

For myself...
I started building models pretty close to 40 years ago (arghh). I remember the FIRST Squadron Shop located in Hazel Park (I think) Michigan. I used to spend my time and money there! I was deep into military modeling for years...even owned a hobby shop for a bit. TOUGH way to try and make a living!

Last model I built was probably, 15+ years ago. I've started a couple of projects since then, but nothing in the past 9-10 years. Also bought a good amount of Verlinden PE & Resin stuff during the Gulf War timeframe. Family, Kids, jobs, etc. outranked models for some time!

Now, I want to get building again! Kids are still here (12 & 14 yrs old), busy with a lot of stuff related to their lives but the ITCH to build is there!!

The hobby is certainly more complex these days...a byproduct of the MASSIVE amount of information available on the Internet I think. Not as many good old fashioned Hobby Shops as there were once were but I have found a good "Mom & Pop" style one within 20 minutes of the house!

It's good to be back, and I'm happy to have found Armorama, THANKS to the folks that put it together! GREAT SITE!

To ALL...ESPECIALLY THOSE OF YOU IN THE MILITARY...

Have a GREAT CHRISTMAS!!!!

Jim

Jim,
I built military kits from about age 6 to 14. Then I switched to scratchbuilding spaceships for a time. I stopped building for a few years in high school and college. Then I picked it back up again when I was around 21 or so and built rather furously for 3 years. When I moved I lost my modeling space and kind of forgot how much enjoyment I had doing it. I would still build an occasional Star Wars or Star Trek kit though. Amazingly, somehow 15 years passed by like this...

Starting this site was suppose to get me back into actually building although I still can't seem to find the time. At least now that I have moved I will have some space to devote to it. And with a garage I can hopefully have an area to airbrush too.

Cheers,
Jim

Hey Jim...

I too have been building models.....not for as long....but probably going on 25 yrs.....and have just recently gotten back into it from a 9-10yr hiatus.

I don't really have a specialty so to speak....I am more into moder armor than anything....followed closely buy modern aircraft, and of course what got me into this whole mess that we call a hobby was cars...don't do many of those anymore, once in awhile when I need a break from the mud slinging. And I dabble in ships.....mostly modern warships.

From then 10yrs ago...till now....the hobby has changed a great deal.....when I got out of it....PE kits were becoming of fashion....Monogram had a few Hi-Tech kits out there with the PE in it....managed to grab me one the 1/48 F-4 C/D Phantom.....nice kit. Now it seems that if you don't have any PE on your kit.....you don't stand up to......or stand out from the rest of the crowd.....but alas....I didn't get into this hobby to win awards....so I really don't care about how the PE looks better than the styrene....or how accurate a kit is. If it looks good when I am finished with it....and I am happy with the results...thats all that matter.

BTW.....what is your current project(s)?
Mine is a Dragon BTR-80......is going quite well.....despite the thin hand hold bars in the kit that keep breaking. I ripped them all out and used metal wire instead....much more sturdy!!! Just not sure what color to paint it....want to do something different than just overall Russian Green. Any ideas???

Don't know off the top of my head - but - Afghanistan colors would be an interesting option for your BTR-80 if they indeed saw service there like I think they did...

Gunnie (:-)

Jim,

First off, let me say Welcome to Armorama. This site is the best place on the internet in my humble opinion. I think after you look around and spend some time here you probably will agree. The content is user driven so this site can be as good as we want it to be. There are guys here that have great talent and knowledge and are eager to help. I usually come here several times a day.

Now, to answer your inquiry. I am 31 years old and have returned to modelling this last year. I got out of it about 8 or 9 years ago. I spent my "off" time collecting 1/6th scale military figures (Dragon) and kissing the ex-wifes backside. I did not stay informed on the amazing transformation taking place within the hobby.

I returned to modelling around January of 2002. I subscribed to Fine Scale Modeller to catch up on the hobby, joined IPMS and I joined AMPS (Armor Modellers Preservation Society). I am amazed at all of the photo-etch and resin stuff that is available. I build mostly German WWII vehicles but I dabble in Modern armor. I missed the aspect of working with my hands and "building" things. When I sat down and started putting together my first kit after the time off, I was in heaven. I had missed the hobby far more than I had realized.

Overall, I like the current state of the hobby. The only disappointment I have is with the "Elite" modellers that use every resin accessory and PE set on their kits. Then, they in turn look down on those of us that build "out of box". I'm not saying every person is like that but here in Kansas City Missouri, I have run into several jerks at local contests. Contests are too slanted toward people that are able to afford all of the bells and whistles for their kit. But, oh well. I have fun and that is all that matters.

I could go on but I will shut up for now. Again, welcome to the Armorama family and I'll see you around here.

Brent Sauer

I've been modelling since I was 9, took abreak from 18 till 28 then started with a Magach 6 .
thats when I started doing solely IDF stuff . now there is ove 150 boxes and conversions in my closet. :-)

Now may god grace me with the time to build them.

Josh Weingarten
aKa shiryon

I built off and on as a kid, then built in college quite a bit and BM (that's before marriage and Kids) I built too. I stopped for a number of years due to time and getting into computers as a hobby. Now that computers are no longer as much fun (were they ever as fun as building a tank??) I am back into it, been back for about 2 years or so.

I too am astounded with the changes in the hobby over the years as well, but mostly for the good. I am eclectic, building space craft, planes, figures, but most modern armor. I have a nasty, nasty Heller Leopard 1A4 on my bench, but will not give up on the thing.

I built for 30 yrs, then in the late 80's I lost all my stash, built-ups, tools and supplies in a flood. In 2000 my father got cancer. I live 1200 miles from him and my brother, and I think my wife and sons thought modelling would help take my mind off it. We lost Dad in 2001 and I have continued to build.
The main change in the hobby, for me, is the internet. The Armorama family, RMS newsgroup, and all the research one can do online.
Welcome to Armorama, and enjoy building again.

I was away from modelling for 12 years and came back due to illness and modelling I could handle. I found the variety and scope of modelling gear availiable over the counter today in Australia/New Zealand mind boggling compared to 12 years ago. Things we could only drool over in overseas magazines back then I could buy now. It's just a pity I do not have an unlimited supply of money or..........................................................................................

Cliff

I guess I started building models when I was a6 or 7 with a couple snap together kits. I graduated to some glue kits probably around 10, and continued to model sporadically for the next five years. I left the hobby to other interests for about 10 years until about 1995 when I bought my first aircraft kit. PE had come into the world, as well as resin and all sorts of other expensive goodies. I've been modeling slowly but steadily since then, switching now to mostly armor subjects very lightly modified. Through 2001 I think I completed a total of one model amongst a load of personal upheaval and now that things have settled, I really enjoy building again and am looking forward to being a little more productive.

Well, here's my story..

I started modelling only at the ripe old age of 22, simply b'cos I had neither access to any models here in India, and nor was there a superb site like Armorama around!!!

Had some time on my hands while I was studying, so I got into the hobby. Gave it up while I did my MBA, and also while looking for a job. Got into a regular job after a gap of nearly 7 years, and now have the money to afford kits. Plus, I again have time on my hands. So I have got back into it now...

Hope at least this time I show more patience and commitment than the last time.....

Cheers,
BP.

Since I grew up in a small New England town, we never had hobby shops let alone a department store or even a Wal-Mart that carried models. There were Woolworths that carried some models, but the selection was rather limited. Most kits available were the old Aurora, Monogram, Lindberg and Revell kits. I was just an OOB builder throughout my childhood and once high school came with football, wrestling, girls, etc., my model building tapered off considerably (with small surges whenever a sci-fi movie came out and kits were released).

When I went to college, I discovered a hobby shop that had a decent selection of armor, around this time I saw my first Tamiya kits like the M60A1, M60A1, and M113A1. My skills were rather basic and I was just starting to use putty (never saw the stuff growing up) and emery boards to remove seams. I didn't buiild too much due to school requirements, I was still wrestling and I had started ROTC and joined the National Guard. The latter sending me on my modern armor journey.

Once I finished college, I entered active duty and as a tanker, I had all the references a modern US armor builder could ask for. The PX and various military museums carried model kits (back then) and there were usually several hobby shops nearby. Getting to Germany, I was introduced to Verlinden detail sets (the Sherman Super Detail Set and the M60/M48 Detail Set were the first I ran across). Another benefit was the excess disposable income available to a single officer who spent the majority of the time in the field.

My serious modeling started after I came on active duty. I never really left model building, but there were long stretches of time when it was not a priority and much building never got done.

Like many, I left the hobby in my teens, only to return as an adult. "The beginning of the end" came in about 1985 when I made friends with some IPMSers I met on an aircraft loading detail. I've never looked back!




Hey, Brent, I resemble that remark! #:-)

But seriously, don't let a few blow-hards bring you down. I know most of the treadheads in the KC area and can say that most of them are good guys who respect a well-done OOB model. I sometimes like to use PE, but I tend to shun aftermarket resin (unless I think I can bootleg parts and get my money's worth). Personally, I'd rather make details myself with sheet, strip and rod styrene, bits of wire and a bit of imagination.




I don't think this statement is true. I judged at last year's KC AMPS contest, and have judged armor in the last few IPMS Great Plains contests. I can assure you that in each case, the first descriminator was basic modeling skills -- seams, alignment, finish, etc. If anything, models with all the "bells and whistles" have more things that can be messed up. Also, remember that our IPMS contest has OOB prizes in addition to the regular categories. In AMPS, we'll give you back a judging sheet that will tell exactly what the judges noticed -- we try very hard to give constructive criticism. You'll never see a comment that says "Should have used aftermarket tracks, PE and resin conversion parts."

If you would like, I would be happy to show you the ropes at the next contest in the KC area.

I grew up on a small farm on the praires and rare trips to town were always very exciting. When i was 11, I remember just being barely ale to peer over the old wooden counter of the local department store to see the toys and models on the high shelves. I think the old girl who owned the store must have thought i was cute because she patiently climbed a ladder and got down the kits for me to look at. I bought mainly the old 3 color matchbox planes and built them as soon as I got home with no paint and huge amounts of glue. My crowning achievment came when i got the space shuttle with rocket boosters and tank for x-mas and had it built and ready to go when the real shuttle first launched. Slowly sports school and farm work started to take up all my time.
After high school/university and getting my career going I found myself 32, single, time on my hands, with disposable income and a deep interest in history and the military. I wandered into walmart and saw the revell P-40 kit with glue and paint included. What the hell eh? And just like that I was back building (I use paint now and about half as much glue as i did) Almost a 20 year break!! I found armorama last summer and now you guys have got me building tanks, dioramas and trying to scratch build things. That's my story, and i'm sticking to it.

Pretty amazing stories.
I started off in the early 70's (decade... not age) and in my early teens. I mainly did aircraft at the time. But, I made my first diorama with the Do335 Pfeil. I don't even remember whose kit it was! I remember trying to create ammo crates out of match boxes (and how do you say ammo in German?!!!) I was hooked. I moved in to armor shortly after.
Got out of it when the kids came along. You all know the drill... work/kids/house/wife in never ending priorities.

I had been out for about 15 years. Now, I got back in to it about six months ago. My 10 year old son got in to the Gundam Wing models and I snuck peaks at the mail order shops. Oh boy, was I re- HOOKED. I thought, "Holy Crap you mean I can buy a Hummel or Nashorn?"

Plus these sites like Armorama are fantastic!

Anyway...

Yep I'm back....

I paused the hobby some 14 years ago and I returned early May this year ...

Why I came back.... I needed a hobby to control my nerves and I didn't feel like going to a bar.. #:-) No to be hounest, modeling never left my mind, but I never took the time for it during that last 14 years.... Things change while you grow older I guess... Now I'm fully in love with it again and.....I'm more accurate than in the old days... I put my standards higher than ever before.

When I paused practicing 14 yrs ago I reached the stage of single colour faces and uniforms and now.....weathering, washing, shading etc.......

That's it..

Interesting stuff...and a lot of the "histories" have a similarity.

I never completely ignored the hobby, I bought magazines, etc. but the time for building wasn't there!

It is great to be back...my first project is taking shape. It'll be a "future history", (sometime within the next 1-2 years) type of dio...no details yet, its' still banging around in my head. I actually have a series of various "WHAT IF" and "FUTURE HISTORY" ideas rattling around.

As an aside to the "FUTURE HISTORY" idea, if anyone comes across a source for 1/32 civilian vehicles, please post it! I know Monogram and Revell had a few pieces a while back (Ford Bronco, Chevy S10, some semi trucks...), but hey are not in any stores I have seen (online or otherwise). And I know that Revell has their Modern Heroes kit with the Fire Truck and Chevy piolice car. I did snag the AMT/Ertl, 1/32, Ford F150 Monster Truck Snap-Fast kit. To turn it into anything useful will be a MAJOR, HUGE, undertaking. It has no interior, no chassis (except the monster truck thing), the body is heavily modified to fit the huge monster tires, it lacks most details, and on and on. All in all, it'll be a monstrous undertaking! Sorry- pun intended. Also I apologize for digressing...

The community here on Armorama seems especially helpful! And, as I'm going to have to relearn a lot of skills that have gotten REAL stale, the helpful nature of everyone here is a BIG plus!

Later...

Jim

I started my modelling while I was about 10, It was a Royce Rolls Silver Spirit from Revell/Monogram I think that my dad got me. Then I started modelling for about 5 to 6 years, mainly with 1/35 Vietnam era Armor, and 1/48 planes. Then I gave it up at about 16/17. I found girls.....

Then the break up with my last girl friend earlier this year found me moved to a new apartment, during that time, I was rather depressed, then I got myself a Tamiya Pz IV Ausf H, never looked back ever since....

Well, I have been building models for 16 years now, and haven't stopped. I have two kids, and while pregnant I kept building. I just hope that the day I get modeler's burn out never comes .....

I started building models as a kid in the late 1950's.Remember the AMT cars? Well I'm still building, but today I like AFV's . Ilike to scratch build and kit bash to make different variants of different kits. My biggest passion is of the Vietnam era. I am diabled and now retired and have a lot of free time on my hands so I spend most of my day building project for my self or for others. That is when I'm not on the computer checking out all the great sites and looking at the work produced by all the great modelers out there.

My story goes something like this.
I built military kits from the time I was 8(ish) to the time I was 14-15 years old or so. Then cycling, and girls took over. School was the next obstacle. I didn't start back until I was about 30 . One day I got an itch and it was close to my birthday so I asked for a model for a gift. Low and behold someone got me a B-24 and it's been all platic plastic plastic since. I have spanned aircraft, military, figures, dio's, static, and some various other subject matter as projects come up. Of course my style and attention to detail and making it an art form have grown greatly from the snip'it & glue'it days.

Any way that's pretty close to the story and I'm stickin' with it.

(:-)

I used to build a lot of sci-fi and military models when I was a kid - oh to have some of those sci-fi models back now - the ship from The Black Hole is going for 200 bucks now! Then I quit the hobby in high school, and didn't take it back up until about 2 years ago. That's no modelling for, oh jeez, 18 years

I got back into it, I guess, for my second childhood. Nothing more relaxing than putting together little parts with your hands. I started building Star Trek kits, and was a bit disappointed that most of them are now out of production, but at the same time Ebay has a better selection and lower prices on all the oop kits than any hobby shop. The resin kit makers like Starcrafts really put out some cool Trek subjects as well. Finally I built most of the Trek kits I was interested in, and was drawn to the military stuff by the huge number of kits available, all the accessory parts, etc. I'm amazed at all the stuff available now - it would have been unimagineable when I was a kid! I just spent over 100 bucks on a Tamiya Tiger I, with Friul tracks, aluminum barrel, photo etch, resin zimmerit, and something else I can't remember. I guess I remember when I was a little kid, begging mom for that Tamiya kit, and now I can buy it and everything else that goes with it. I have truly arrived

Now, if I only spent more time actually making models and less time talking about them...

I did a few aircraft when very young, then somehow lost the interest. Now I'm much older, with more time and money, I have just (this last week!!!) got back into it.

It stemmed from my other main interest which is stamp collecting believe it or not. I collect Europe generally, then specialized in Germany, then further specialized in the two war periods. Now I collect various postal material from WWII, mainly D-Day both original and commemorative. Starting reading more and more, then went to visit the D-Day sites last year as well as a trip to Verdun. A natural extension of this interest struck me as building models of the equipment I was reading about, and so the modelling has started again. After a bit of research on the web, and a trip to my local model store, I am building an Academy M-10 Tank Destroyer and loving every minute of it. Struggling a bit with the painting, but I'll get there, especially with the help of Armorama!!

Incidentally I am hoping to go the the Bulge sites this next spring, anyone ever been?

:-) My brothers and I used to build Airfix kits, we reconed, at one time, that between us
we had all the airfix kits, I doubt it be we sure had alot. As we got older and girls became
more of an interest those models were destroyed with pellets and fireworks. I got back into
modelling many years later, while serving in the British Army. One of the subjects that I
taught was aircraft and AFV recognition. Rather than use slides I started using wargaming
models. Then to inroduce more interest I started building 1/35 scale tanks, and 1/72 scale
aircraft, these were obviously modern. When I moved back to the UK I sold those models to
the Regiment. In my new posting I wasn't involved in recognition training, but I stayed
involved in modelling, but now just 1/72 modern jets and helicopters. I then moved up to
1/48 modern jets. When I realised that my real interest was in WWII I switched to that era.
Thats where I am today, trying to model every plane that ever flew in WWII, knowing that
I cant possibly live long enough. I think thats one of the reasons I have so many on the
go at any one time, a desperate attempt to get as many done as possible, to a reasonable
standard. It dosen't work though, if anything it slows me down, to many different things
to do, or to many of the same things to do, like preparing 3 or 4 different cockpits to
spray RLM66. None of this is a problem though because I enjoy what I do. :-)
Mal :-)