Modeling On The Go (If You Spend A Lot of Time On The Road)

[Dr. Cranky]

A friend of mine who is a trucker and a model builder is always on the go and he travels with his styrene addiction every where he goes, so the other day I ran into this Tim Holtz video. Tim Holtz is a big name in crafting circles and he's always coming up with great ideas . . . including this one, which I think is perfect for those of us who move from place to place and will still want to build as we go.

I don't know how much these things are, but you can get the same idea by getting some vintage tool or tackle boxes from Wal Mart and other places.

I just though it'd be interesting to find out what most of you do when you go on vacation or travel for extensive periods of time.

Here's Tim's video. I hope you get lots of inspiration from it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=riH3JHxtyNM

And remember, just because you leave your workbench doesn't mean you have to stop building models!

Cheers, DC

[The70judgeman]

I have a tackle box for modeling. I do most of my model work in front of the idiot box in the livingroom, so it's convenient to pack it up and take it away. It didn't cost me anything, because I had a gift certificate. So I got a pretty big one and it filled up fast. I heard the lady comment to her husband behind me in the check-out say "that's not a tackle box...that's luggage". I didn't look at her, but kind of smiled as I left the store.

[Dr. Cranky]

Tackle boxes are great. Shoot, even a converted ammo case would be cool. Or if you are good with carpentry, you can probably make an excellent.

[Dr. Cranky]

Oh, I know more than a few of us model on the run, including all those folks who participate in those 24 Hour builds hosted at a either a club house or in someone else's house.

[Rob McKee]

I used to travel for my job and would find myself gone for long periods of time (3 - 5 weeks) often. Before all of the new security on the airlines I would carry a small tool box with all of the basic tools I needed. I even carried my testors airbrush with a can of air for painting. I would use Tamiya acrylic paints to make cleanup easy using just water. It really helped me pass the time while travelling for work. I was always on my own so there really wasn't much for me to do on those long trips. I would search out the LHS in the area I was and pickup a kit or two.

Once all the new secruity came in to play it put an end to all this. I suppose you could get away with packing this in a checked suitcase now but I would check it out first. They may not like the paints.

Thankfully I don't have to travel for work anymore but I have some fond memories of building while on the go.

[Dr. Cranky]

Rob, you are absolutely right, it would be a hassle now to take your tool kit on a plane with you. You'd probably lose 90 percent of your stuff. And if you put it through luggage, good luck it getting there. No, the best thing is to take it on the road in your car.

[Wagoneer81]

When I was driving over the road, I used to pack a small toolbox with paint and tools and a couple of 1/35 armor kits or 1/72 aircraft kits. It lived under the bunk in the sleeper and normally didn't get much use but when I'd have to lay over or be shut down due to bad weather, I had something to occupy my time...