Why do you build models?

[landman]

In my case it is a life long thing. Introduced to it in the 50's by an uncle. Mostly off during school years. picked it up again when I started working. Had a road job for years. Built them in my hotel room to stay out of the bars.There was a break of about 10-15 years after I got off the road and into management positions. After retirement, I got back into it. I just love it. It is my best means of escape after reading.

 

 

[Tom Geiger]

6 hours ago, Straightliner59 said:

This is the most apt description of why I build. Like Shirley Muldowney said, when asked why she drag raced, "It's what I do." I get a vision/idea for something, and I want to see what it looks like. There's only one way to do that (Since I can't really draw)! I enjoy competing, but I have never built a model for competition--only to satisfy my own curiosity and desires. I enjoy trying new things, like forming aluminum sheet, building a chassis from brass, making a master, then casting it (like the Enderle injection setup on my junior fueler), or some crazy paint scheme, like on my current Firebird project. Modeling also helps me get away from what may be troubling me.

Thanks Dan!  

I agree with your thoughts too.  One of the aspects I enjoy is looking at a challenge and thinking,  "Can I do that?"  And the thrill of conquering it!   And yes, Modeling IS Meditation!  I can have had the worst day, feel tired and dejected but after an hour at the work bench I feel refreshed and ready to face life again!

[thatz4u]

Because I Can....

[Brudda]

Had a stroke 10 years ago. Needed fine motor skills. So I started building. Did this as a kid but stopped in high school. You know , girls ,real cars, life etc. Since then I have met the nicest people ever. Do it for fun and have fun with the guys. Still learning and having a great time. IPMS guys are cool also ,even if they build armor and aircraft. Just a joke guys! I love aircraft and armor also, I’m just not good at it. All kidding aside it is a very relaxing hobby and fun. Will keep doing it as long as I can. 

[Bucky]

Kudos to you, Bruce for using the hobby as a sort of therapy! I've known of other builders who do the same thing, and it really helps them.

[ChrisBcritter]

18 hours ago, martinfan5 said:

Because they won't build themselves ?

?

Yep - not even the Christine kit. 

Been building and collecting over 50 years now (with occasional purges); only took a couple cars to an MPC show in the mid-'70s, and not again until Tom Piagari took me under his wing and encouraged me to bring something to the LMMCC meetings, and then the Milwaukee NNL. I greatly enjoy adding little improvements to the simpler old kits, and I find I'm getting better with practice, so there's satisfaction in that.

[martinfan5]

I honestly don't know why I still build models some days,  and some days I think about giving it all up( when builds go wrong)I guess it just part of my childhood I don't wanna give up, well and video games.   I love cars like the rest of us, and I am wealthy impaired so I can not afford to have a large car collection so I build them in scale.   I would like go say it lets me be creative, but who I am kidding, I build box stock/factory stock and race cars, I am not very creative with my builds.

[stitchdup]

4 minutes ago, martinfan5 said:

I honestly don't know why I still build models some days,  and some days I think about giving it all up( when builds go wrong)I guess it just part of my childhood I don't wanna give up, well and video games.   I love cars like the rest of us, and I am wealthy impaired so I can not afford to have a large car collection so I build them in scale.   I would like go say it lets me be creative, but who I am kidding, I build box stock/factory stock and race cars, I am not very creative with my builds.

You're creating something whether box stock or not so I would call that creative

[StevenGuthmiller]

Why do I build models?

Easy answer for me.

Because I love cars and I can't afford to own a warehouse full of 1:1 cars!

 

My wife says that I have an "attention to detail" and I think that is a big part of it.

I like fiddling with little stuff.

 

Sorry to disappoint, but it's really no more complicated than that for me.

 

 

Steve

Edited October 8, 2019 by StevenGuthmiller

[Blazeguard]

I build models because I enjoy the building process - watching something come together out of a mess of pieces and the tactile feeling of creating something with my own 2 hands.  The analytical side of me enjoys the structure, the detail, and the steps to follow.  I never thought I was very creative but the more I build I'm finding that maybe I do have a creative streak in me and it's exciting to see that emerging. It also helps that I have an artist for a wife who helps push me to exercise those creative muscles.

Edited October 9, 2019 by Blazeguard

[Straightliner59]

18 hours ago, Tom Geiger said:

Thanks Dan!  

I agree with your thoughts too.  One of the aspects I enjoy is looking at a challenge and thinking,  "Can I do that?"  And the thrill of conquering it!   And yes, Modeling IS Meditation!  I can have had the worst day, feel tired and dejected but after an hour at the work bench I feel refreshed and ready to face life again!

It's funny, Tom. I live alone (I'm unfit for human consumption!?) and, over the last couple of years, I feel most at home, when I'm in the shop. I love that "Can I do that?", and you are so right about the satisfaction that comes with discovering that, "Yep! I can!" There's so much zen, in creation.

[disabled modeler]

#1 I build because I love it.

#2 it keeps me active and occupied being disabled.

#3 I have been building all my life since the age of around 6 or 7 years old...now its in my blood.

#4 building lets one have vehicles in scale they could never have in 1 to 1 and or replicas of ones the family had owned over the years which is one of my passions. 

[Brutalform]

I build because I’m old, and I’m lame. 

Pretty much anything dealing with cars always was a big interest to me. I used to build with my father when I was young, and the old memories are always good. 

 

[drodg]

I build for most of the reasons you guys have mentioned like I can't have all the cars in 1:1 because of money and I love seeing the kit coming together. It certainly gets my mind off of business pressures.   I think it is interesting that I started building kits 50+ years ago as a kid and loved building them.  I think I really started when I was like 10-12 years old.  Probably the same with most of you.   I have a  couple grandsons who are really into cars and motorcycles but show absolutely no interest in building models.  I kind of blame screen games on this but they are pretty good about not spending as much time as some teens on phones etc.  I have tried to get them interested but they are not.  Kinda sad.  

[Shambles]

On 10/7/2019 at 12:14 PM, Oldmopars said:

I have thought about making wrecked models. Instead of melting the plastic, I am thinking of forming the fenders, hoods, doors etc out of thin aluminum like from dollar store roasting pans. I like the idea. Yours look really good. 

Yes, I experimented with some various thicknesses of foil. It's more forgiving than plastic and looks more like real, crumpled sheet metal. New cars have so much plastic that, in a wreck there's just a bunch of busted plastic! On this one, I was forming the foil to the heated and bent hood. As you can see, the hood looks more realistic than the fender.

Edited October 12, 2019 by Shambles

[Shambles]

On 10/10/2019 at 12:35 PM, drodg said:

I build for most of the reasons you guys have mentioned like I can't have all the cars in 1:1 because of money and I love seeing the kit coming together. It certainly gets my mind off of business pressures.   I think it is interesting that I started building kits 50+ years ago as a kid and loved building them.  I think I really started when I was like 10-12 years old.  Probably the same with most of you.   I have a  couple grandsons who are really into cars and motorcycles but show absolutely no interest in building models.  I kind of blame screen games on this but they are pretty good about not spending as much time as some teens on phones etc.  I have tried to get them interested but they are not.  Kinda sad.  

Kids today have a lot more to entertain themselves with than we did back in the 50s and 60s. I'm just glad to see such active model car websites and forums for us old model builders.

Edited October 12, 2019 by Shambles

[Brudda]

On 10/10/2019 at 9:02 AM, Brutalform said:

I build because I’m old, and I’m lame. 

Pretty much anything dealing with cars always was a big interest to me. I used to build with my father when I was young, and the old memories are always good. 

 

Brutalform you hit something that all of us want. To have the feeling of being young again. I remember showing my dad, and he smiled and said it was good , when it was probably pretty bad. My mom said she liked it , but now I know she did not know anything about it. When I model , I do get these feelings every once in a while. Feels pretty good. Good job sir!

[Brudda]

Just now, Brudda said:

Brutalform you hit something that all of us want. To have the feeling of being young again. I remember showing my dad, and he smiled and said it was good , when it was probably pretty bad. My mom said she liked it , but now I know she did not know anything about it. When I model , I do get these feelings every once in a while. Feels pretty good. Good job sir!

P.S. I’m old and lame also! LOL

[iBorg]

A very personal type of self abuse.

[Straightliner59]

14 hours ago, Shambles said:

Yes, I experimented with some various thicknesses of foil. It's more forgiving than plastic and looks more like real, crumpled sheet metal. New cars have so much plastic that, in a wreck there's just a bunch of busted plastic! On this one, I was forming the foil to the heated and bent hood. As you can see, the hood looks more realistic than the fender.

Bob Paeth used to form foil over the straight body parts, then dent the new aluminum parts. I saw him demonstrate it at a contest, once. It looks great! I think tooling aluminum (Maid-O-Metal is what I have. Available at HL and Michael's) would be best suited to this application.

[Shambles]

2 hours ago, Straightliner59 said:

Bob Paeth used to form foil over the straight body parts, then dent the new aluminum parts. I saw him demonstrate it at a contest, once. It looks great! I think tooling aluminum (Maid-O-Metal is what I have. Available at HL and Michael's) would be best suited to this application.

Thanks, Daniel. I was just in a Michael's the other day and didn't think to look for foils. The checkout line there is always so long, it's my last resort for hobby supplies. I've found some foils online but never heard of Maid-O-Metal. I forget which thickness worked best so I had an assortment but sold all my supplies with my collection when I moved a couple of years ago. Do you have links to any online suppliers you recommend?

On this wrecked Challenger, I cut out the trunk lid, then formed the foil over the strait lid. Then, I crumpled the foil lid, painted it, hinged it and got a one of my most realistic effects so far. On that Ford Vickie, I had already heated and crumpled the hood but it didn't look right so I formed the foil over it.

Edited October 12, 2019 by Shambles

[Lizard Racing]

I started building in the early 60's and kept it up for about 15 years until kids started coming.  My collection got thinned out because of several moves during that time, but I still have some parts from the first kits I built.  I then took up the hobby again in the 2000's.  As in previous posts, I get an idea for a project and want to see what it would look like.  Mostly I build race cars, most of them as tributes of one kind or another. Because of this, kit selection is limited.  Model building is about the only creative thing I do.

[goldfinger]

My father and brother were car guys. They, and later I , always were into fixing up and modifying cars. American and foreign both.

my older brother taught me to build model cars. It seemed to go naturally with all the car stuff. I learned about engine parts and chassis parts from assembling models. Matchbox cars and slot cars were another part of that toy car culture. I love building now because it always fascinates me to see a pile of plastic parts come together into a tiny (and sometimes) perfect little car. I also use it to build the ideas in my head that I will never have time to actually build. And since I love restoring things it’s naturally thrilling buying built glue bombs and rescuing them too.

[Straightliner59]

4 hours ago, Shambles said:

On this wrecked Challenger, I cut out the trunk lid, then formed the foil over the strait lid. Then, I crumpled the foil lid, painted it, hinged it and got a one of my most realistic effects so far. On that Ford Vickie, I had already heated and crumpled the hood but it didn't look right so I formed the foil over it.

John, that is exactly how Paeth did it! This site has it available in several quantities.  http://www.whimsie.com/toolingfoilcoppermetal.html

It's known as "tooling" or "embossing" foil. It is also available in actual brass and copper, as well. I saw some on Ebay that is 38 ga. which might work even easier. I only saw it in longer rolls, at a much greater price. The stuff I have comes in a yellow tube. The foil is 12" wide and 36" long. I must have gone nuts, at some point, because I have 3+ rolls of the stuff! If you were in my neighborhood, I'd say swing on by and I'll give you one of them! ?

[redneckrigger]

I started building models with my Dad, back when I was 7 or 8 in the very early 60's. Still have a couple pieces of one of my first cars, a 1961 SMP Pontiac. Dad was the CO of the local National Guard unit, and built models of the armor and light skinned vehicles they had in his unit. I probably destroyed all of them as he built them, but we had fun, and he just built more. That just started a life long addiction to plastic that has lasted almost 60 years. I slowed down in high school, but started up again in college, and went kind of crazy in my early to mid 20's, becoming a collector, one who had to have at least one of everything made. I've always been a gearhead, owning perhaps 150 cars and various trucks during my life, being a mechanic and repairman and painter for a construction company, and then owning my own garage and bodyshop business. I wanted one of everything in REAL cars as well, but, alas, I ran out of space and $$$, not in that order. So, I continued collecting and building to scratch the itch of wanting one of everything. In the early 90's, I purged my collection, selling off about 4000 unbuilt kits to finance the building of a 55 x 100 full service garage and bodyshop. But, I kept building and kept a few kits along the way. I also have, for some reason, an obsession for the world of miniatures, be it 1/25th scale, 1/87th scale Roco armor, (sold my collection of about 5000 pieces a couple years ago), HO scale trains, or anything in smaller than life scale. I love the old muscle cars, Mustangs, Camaros, GTO's, and ALL trucks, from pickups to heavy tractors, and the heavy trucks etc. has become my area of interest now. I love the challenge of building something that I can only see in my mind, and making it work. I have started getting into scratchbuilding, and have not looked back. The small stash I had has again ballooned to over 500 kits with a hundred or so resin kits, and LOTS of resin bits and pieces. I love the challenge, and never build anything out of the box. I used to love painting 1:1 vehicles, and still love the paint portion of a build. I enjoy sharing experiences with the friends I have met on this forum, and enjoy the NNL East gathering each spring. I don't build for others, as I build for a much more demanding critic..................myself. But, mainly, I simply enjoy the time spent at the bench, the creativity, the therapy of the body and mind and soul, and the memories it evokes, that of time spent with my Dad, and now time that I spend now and again, building something with my grandson, (my passion seems to have skipped a generation, but that's OK too), who kinda thinks his Papa has a neat hobby! And all of this is shared with my other hobbies, gun collecting, (I own a gun shop now), hunting, motorcycles, dogs, traveling with my best friend my wife, and family! Not enough hours in the day!

Edited October 13, 2019 by redneckrigger