Where do you find YOUR inspiration ?

[Greg Myers]

What is it that drives you when building or for many of us, just contemplating a build?

I actually have several small note books with building ideas ( least i forget them, remember, I am 70 years old) that I list kits used, parts from other kits, etc.

I use the actual 1:1 approach on many of my ideas. Basically, how would I build this if it were a real car, 1:1.

[Ace-Garageguy]

Just now, Greg Myers said:

I actually have several small note books with building ideas... that I list kits used, parts from other kits, etc.

I use the actual 1:1 approach on many of my ideas. Basically, how would I build this if it were a real car, 1:1.

Exactly. 

I'll get an idea, start a box for it, and start making notes and pulling parts from the "junkyard". I usually note on the pirated kits what's been removed, but whoever ultimately inherits my stash will most likely be cursing me to the model car gods. 

[Snake45]

Car magazines, mainly. Sometimes I'm inspired by what others here are building, or are working on. 

[echo]

The H.A.M.B. site.  Building kits that I wish were out when I was a kid in the middle of the last century.  Members of the model car club I belong to., it's interesting to see everyone's version of the same idea for a build. The problem is finishing.

[Ace-Garageguy]

16 minutes ago, echo said:

...The problem is finishing.

Isn't that the truth.

But as long as you're enjoying the time you spend building, who really cares if you finish something or not?

Personally, I HAVE to remain chained to real-world projects long after the creative and most "fun" part is past.

Working on models allows me to stay in the creative zone, without the sometimes-drudgery of going through the motions of bringing something all the way home.

I keep telling myself that once I'm finally "retired", it will be easier for me to get things "done".

We'll see.  

[Richard Bartrop]

Mostly The Jalopy Journal and Rik Hoving's sites for hot rods and customs.   The Cadillac Database has sparked some ideas for the Jo-Han kits.  Sometimes it's something I've seen in a book, or at a show, and sometimes another model build will inspire something.

[OldTrucker]

Like you I try and base off of what I would do on a 1:1 car or truck.

I try and remember cars I saw as a kid and growing up that I liked and a lot of what I build is based off of that.

For reference to trim, interior and other detail I just google the car and see what I can find as in pictures and specs.

[Southern Fried]

[Greg Myers]

3 hours ago, echo said:

The H.A.M.B. site.  Building kits that I wish were out when I was a kid in the middle of the last century.  Members of the model car club I belong to., it's interesting to see everyone's version of the same idea for a build. The problem is finishing.

That's one of my favorite club theme builds, same kit. You really get to see some unique ideas.

This is a hard build, as this theme rarely gets picked anymore.

 

[Richard Bartrop]

Sometimes it comes from looking at all the leftover parts from another project and wondering what I'm going to do with them.

[StevenGuthmiller]

It's pretty easy for me.

I build nearly nothing but factory stock, so all I have to do is do a little surfing & find some photos of 1:1 examples of the model I'm building.

That plus going through some color chips to find a color combo that really grabs me.

 

Steve

[gotnitro?]

Inspiration for me comes from numerous places, most unexpected.  Sometimes a vehicle will pass me , see one at car show or just a photo in magazine will kick start the mood. 

This one I saw pouring a sidewalk at work...course no kit existed..

[Deuces]

8 hours ago, echo said:

The H.A.M.B. site.  Building kits that I wish were out when I was a kid in the middle of the last century.  Members of the model car club I belong to., it's interesting to see everyone's version of the same idea for a build. The problem is finishing.

Yep!.. I'm a member there also.... The H.A.M.B. is a pretty cool place....

[PARTSMARTY]

T.V.  and internet sometimes.But most of the time it's something i think of as i go along.What i absolutely love is having ideas-colors and start and as i'm going along things might change several times as i go along and when it's finished i go -WOW !!! i don't remember if i've ever taken notes-i'm old-lol.I retired 7-8 mos. ago and work on models every day. My interests'revolve around MOPARS-4 SPEEDS AND V-TWINS-pretty simple-LOL.I was in the auto parts business for about 46 years

Edited July 31, 2018 by PARTSMARTY

[landman]

On 2018-07-29 at 12:36 PM, Ace-Garageguy said:

Isn't that the truth.

But as long as you're enjoying the time you spend building, who really cares if you finish something or not?

I keep telling myself that once I'm finally "retired", it will be easier for me to get things "done".

We'll see.  

Yes indeed, once retired you’ll find the time.....foe a while. Then you’ll get so busy you will wonder how you ever had the time to go to work.

[landman]

On 2018-07-29 at 3:50 PM, Richard Bartrop said:

Sometimes it comes from looking at all the leftover parts from another project and wondering what I'm going to do with them.

That is how my “Hot Rod Lincol” came to be.

[Greg Myers]

3 hours ago, landman said:

Yes indeed, once retired you’ll find the time.....foe a while. Then you’ll get so busy you will wonder how you ever had the time to go to work.

Love this , so true.

[Jantrix]

I'm a pretty active Googler. I'll search for whatever car I have a model for and keep an open file of what I like. After I have some ideas, they go on a post it note on the model box. 

                     

[Rob Hall]

I get a lot of ideas from magazine cars, SEMA show cars, cars I've seen at Barrett-Jackson, and pictures I stumble across on the internet.  I keep a spreadsheet of my ideas and save photos...

[Spex84]

Where DON'T I find inspiration?? Seriously, absolutely everything is so inspiring. Movies, car magazines, spending time outdoors, manual labor (gets the brain wandering!), books, car forums, random research for unrelated stuff...firearms, vintage machinery, landscapes, fashion photography, video games and concept art, science fiction novels, National Geographic, deep sea creatures, trees and flowers, you name it!

I bookmark car magazines with little paper slips with notes written on them. This only works if I review the collection from time to time, and sadly I've mostly ignored them in favor of the internet.

I assemble reference and inspiration images and notes into "moodboards" that convey the details and general feeling of the idea. Some of these become models or completed artwork; often they just sit until I'm ready to look at them again. This helps to distill a lot of vaguely related imagery into something with a definite direction.

I keep a list of "parts notes" that records all the little things I notice about kit parts that fit other kits, might work in a new configuration, etc. 

Caffeine. Lots of it.

Just this morning I spent some time looking photos of: The Brubaker Box kit car, Maserati Boomerang interior and wheels, 70s concept cars, Cyberpunk neon-drenched city scenes, utilitarian Russian sub-machine guns, punk fashion, electric cars with a "skateboard" style frame, prosthetic limbs, and race car diffusers. I'm hoping to put it all together into a finished artwork. We'll see. I often lose interest when the caffeine wears off.

Sometimes the toughest thing is not finding inspiration, but managing it-- for me, at least, the firehose of ideas generally results in a big puddle. 

 

[ChrisBcritter]

On 7/29/2018 at 1:00 PM, Southern Fried said:

So you've built the Tijuana Taxi? 

[thatz4u]

I usually look inside my mind, which is pretty wierd sometimes....I've been through the 60's twice, the first time was way more fun..!!!!

[Tom Geiger]

It's the voices in my head!   I have a pretty active imagination that can be set off by any stimuli I see.  Fortunately 99% of my great ideas are forgotten or otherwise not acted upon.   It's those ones that you just can't get out of your head!   That project that just screams at you and you can no longer ignore!   Yea, those are the ones.  

[socal76]

Greg, I wish I knew where to find the inspiration. I have more than enough kits to last my lifetime and then 2 or 3 more after that.

[ChrisBcritter]

All over! The H.A.M.B. is one of the best, especially the "Vintage shots from days gone by" thread (all 5000-some pages of it).

I like finding really obscure ideas, like this one:

This was on eBay; I passed because of the usual warp (sold for about $30) - but I saved the photos and did some Googling. Turns out Eddie's was a pretty swingin' joint in the '50s-''60s, and I guess some sign painter did this to show how he could letter the gofer-wagon. I'd like to recreate this one, maybe on a Flintstone Country Sedan.