# Any other model builders on the SDMB? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 24, 2008, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-other-model-builders-on-the-sdmb/465063 "2008-09-24T21:27:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Some\_FNG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/48db29/32.png) [@Some\_FNG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Some_FNG)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2008, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-other-model-builders-on-the-sdmb/465063/1 "2008-09-24T21:27:53Z")
So, any other Dopers build models? I build 1/35 scale WWII armor, German stuff mostly, and was wondering if anyone else suffered from this same disease. Anime, cars, professional film sets, boats, whatever… anyone? Anyone? ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2008, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-other-model-builders-on-the-sdmb/465063/2 "2008-09-24T22:46:08Z")
I’m not. I just thought I’d pop up and note that in Japan, model-making is a large enough hobby that it’s turned into its own business. The trade school I went to in Tokyo had a section for it. They made everything from giant robot models to busty babes. Really it’s sculpture in small scale since they mold the material directly, not just assembling parts. It would be pretty neat if what they were working on so laboriously wasn’t getting the panty-wrinkles just right for when you look up the skirt… ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2008, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-other-model-builders-on-the-sdmb/465063/3 "2008-09-24T23:02:03Z")
I haven’t made any models for years. I miss it. I just don’t have the time, money, or space. ---
**Author:** ![Some\_FNG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/48db29/32.png) [@Some\_FNG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Some_FNG)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2008, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-other-model-builders-on-the-sdmb/465063/4 "2008-09-25T01:10:09Z")
> [@Sage\_Rat](#): > > I’m not. I just thought I’d pop up and note that in Japan, model-making is a large enough hobby that it’s turned into its own business. The trade school I went to in Tokyo had a section for it. They made everything from giant robot models to busty babes. Really it’s sculpture in small scale since they mold the material directly, not just assembling parts. It would be pretty neat if what they were working on so laboriously wasn’t getting the panty-wrinkles just right for when you look up the skirt… That is so cool, I wish I had had an opportunity like that when I was younger. Getting the right shading on the panty wrinkles is an art only mastered by the truly dedicated perverts.😛 ---
**Author:** ![Ignatz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/3be4f8/32.png) [@Ignatz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ignatz)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2008, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-other-model-builders-on-the-sdmb/465063/5 "2008-09-25T01:28:09Z")
> [@garygnu](#): > > I haven’t made any models for years. I miss it. > I just don’t have the time, money, or space. I ditto **garygnu,** but I still have a dozen or more model planes ships, and antique cars that I assembled in1953 or so. Mostly plastic, some balsa, Revell, I think, with the boxes still labeled with the 29 cent prices. They do a good job of collecting almost all of the dust on top of my kitchen cabinets. I do have a balsa kit of \*USS Missouri \*(5-foot-long when done) that I haven’t had the time/space to start in more than 25 years. Paid $60 for it when I bought it. I may start it when I retire, again. **Some FNG** , do you build only from scratch or do you buy the kits? If from scratch, are you familiar with the Osprey Publishing books on from-scratch modeling of various military vehicles/aircraft? ---
**Author:** ![E-Sabbath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19adc/32.png) [@E-Sabbath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-Sabbath)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2008, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-other-model-builders-on-the-sdmb/465063/6 "2008-09-25T01:39:39Z")
Gundams, mostly. Lots and lots of gundams, in 1/100 HCM. ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2008, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-other-model-builders-on-the-sdmb/465063/7 "2008-09-25T01:40:24Z")
Scratchbuilder here, recently returning to the hobby after a lapse of many, many years. I do SF spaceship models; my next project will most likely be a studio-scale buildup of the Firefly _Serenity_. I got inspired to return to the hobby after my trip to the WorldCon in Denver, where I saw a studio-scale model of the Battlestar _Galactica_ built by [Sean Sides](http://squaremodels.com/index.htm). He told me it took him two years and about $20,000 in materials. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2008, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-other-model-builders-on-the-sdmb/465063/8 "2008-09-25T01:49:03Z")
> [@garygnu](#): > > I just don’t have the time… or space. Yep. When I was unemployed I thought I’d build a model of [_Calypso_](http://www.shipmodels.co.uk/1329_1_1467997.html). I needed a scribing tool but couldn’t find one locally so I put it off. Then life intervened and I never got to it. (I was at a hobby shop last month and saw that they had a scribing tool. I should go back to get it.) I have a couple of boxes of plastic models, a footlocker with plastic models including a Tamiya USS _Enterprise_ (CVN-65) that’s about three feet long, a couple-dozen Guillow’s balsa-and-tissue planes, two Midwest ‘Sniffer’ free flight planes (with radios so small nowadays I could make them R/C), an MRC Mercury capsule (two feet tall with the escape rocket), a Revell 1/96 scale Saturn V, a 1/96 scale paper model of the Apollo launch gantry, and a whole bunch of Estes rockets. I just have no time! And if I did, there’s no place to display them. ---
**Author:** ![Dreamy\_B](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f07891/32.png) [@Dreamy\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dreamy_B)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2008, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-other-model-builders-on-the-sdmb/465063/9 "2008-09-25T01:53:55Z")
I’m currently building a Baltimore Clipper. It’s very similar to this [http://www.bluejacketinc.com/2006/jefferson.jpg](http://www.bluejacketinc.com/2006/jefferson.jpg) When it’s complete it should be almost 3 feet long. It’s from a kit “The Pride Of Baltimore” but I just used this as a template to do my own thing. The hull is mostly complete and I started in on the rigging. It’s been on hold since Spring set in. Now the weather is getting ready to turn cold and I can feel it calling me back. It’s my intent to complete it in time to give it to the parents as a holiday gift for their waterfront home. All and all, I’m pretty proud that I can make a stack of sticks (literally) look like it does. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2008, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-other-model-builders-on-the-sdmb/465063/10 "2008-09-25T02:03:55Z")
I’ve built plastic aircraft and flying (some less well than others) rockets. ---
**Author:** ![Acid\_Lamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Acid\_Lamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acid_Lamp)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2008, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-other-model-builders-on-the-sdmb/465063/11 "2008-09-25T02:20:52Z")
> [@Some\_FNG](#): > > Getting the right shading on the panty wrinkles is an art only mastered by the truly dedicated perverts.😛 Bah Humbug. The TRUE pervert knows how to mold REMOVEABLE plastic panties… What? ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2008, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-other-model-builders-on-the-sdmb/465063/12 "2008-09-25T03:07:27Z")
Home from work now, so I was able to Google up some links for Japanese stuff: [Mostly mecha](http://balon-park.cocolog-nifty.com/) [Anime babes](http://images.google.co.jp/images?um=1&hl=ja&lr=&safe=off&q=%E3%83%95%E3%82%A3%E3%82%AE%E3%83%A5%E3%82%A2&btnG=%E3%82%A4%E3%83%A1%E3%83%BC%E3%82%B8%E6%A4%9C%E7%B4%A2) [Warning - some thumbnails NSFW] ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2008, 11:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-other-model-builders-on-the-sdmb/465063/13 "2008-09-25T11:14:30Z")
I have absolutely no skill when it comes to plastic kits or sculpting or anything like that. My fingers seem to have the manual dexterity of a bunch of bananas. This is a great shame, because I would so dearly love to have any number of geeky things that are sculptable. I have friends who can do it, but they’re busy enough doing their own stuff for their own projects. Anyway, I make up for it by working in 3D virtual space, and do digital modelling instead. I’m not very good at that either, but it’s still fun, and I think has the same motivations behind it. ---
**Author:** ![Radegast](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c4cdca/32.png) [@Radegast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Radegast)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2008, 12:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-other-model-builders-on-the-sdmb/465063/14 "2008-09-25T12:10:08Z")
I like to build balsa and paper airplanes, mostly WWI stuff, and I’ve made a few plastic models with my son, most recently the battleship Terpitz, which was broken beyond repair in my recent move. My son and I are working on a Tiger tank at present, though I think he is no longer interested and I’ll finish it myself. I have a high-quality balsa and paper Wright Flyer kit waiting for winter to set in. The new balsa kits, with laser-cut pieces, are a joy to work with. I’ve been thinking about getting a good wooden saling ship model to work on. While I enjoy building the kits, and do a nice job of it, I wouldn’t call myself a modeler. ---
**Author:** ![CandidGamera](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/candidgamera/32/2878_2.png) [@CandidGamera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CandidGamera)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2008, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-other-model-builders-on-the-sdmb/465063/15 "2008-09-25T13:13:00Z")
I do buy, and even occasionally assemble giant robot models. I can never get the paint to do what I want it to do, though. ---
**Author:** ![Rocketeer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocketeer/32/4437_2.png) [@Rocketeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rocketeer)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2008, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-other-model-builders-on-the-sdmb/465063/16 "2008-09-25T13:16:17Z")
I build models, mostly cars and, well, girls. Here are a few links: Rocket girl: [![](https://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z256/hilbyf/wf2008261-vi.jpg) ](https://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z256/hilbyf/wf2008261-vi.jpg) [![](https://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z256/hilbyf/RocketGirlcloseupsmall.jpg) ](https://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z256/hilbyf/RocketGirlcloseupsmall.jpg) Bride: [![](https://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z256/hilbyf/Bride%20of%20Frankenstein%20project/Finishedfront.jpg) ](https://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z256/hilbyf/Bride%20of%20Frankenstein%20project/Finishedfront.jpg) [![](https://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z256/hilbyf/Bride%20of%20Frankenstein%20project/Finishedclose-up.jpg) ](https://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z256/hilbyf/Bride%20of%20Frankenstein%20project/Finishedclose-up.jpg) Aircar: [![](https://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z256/hilbyf/Auburn%20aircar%20project/DSCN2623.jpg) ](https://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z256/hilbyf/Auburn%20aircar%20project/DSCN2623.jpg) [![](https://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z256/hilbyf/Auburn%20aircar%20project/DSCN2624.jpg) ](https://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z256/hilbyf/Auburn%20aircar%20project/DSCN2624.jpg) Martian war machine: [![](https://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z256/hilbyf/Retrokit%20Martian%20Tripod/Martian1overall.jpg) ](https://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z256/hilbyf/Retrokit%20Martian%20Tripod/Martian1overall.jpg) [![](https://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z256/hilbyf/Retrokit%20Martian%20Tripod/Martian4Horsecart.jpg) ](https://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z256/hilbyf/Retrokit%20Martian%20Tripod/Martian4Horsecart.jpg) School bus: [![](https://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z256/hilbyf/Auburn%20bus/Auburnbusfront.jpg) ](https://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z256/hilbyf/Auburn%20bus/Auburnbusfront.jpg) [![](https://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z256/hilbyf/Auburn%20bus/Auburnbusrear.jpg) ](https://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z256/hilbyf/Auburn%20bus/Auburnbusrear.jpg) Peaches the Slayer: [![](https://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z256/hilbyf/Peaches%20the%20Slayer/DSCN1857.jpg) ](https://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z256/hilbyf/Peaches%20the%20Slayer/DSCN1857.jpg) [![](https://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z256/hilbyf/Peaches%20the%20Slayer/DSCN1858.jpg) ](https://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z256/hilbyf/Peaches%20the%20Slayer/DSCN1858.jpg) Went to Wonderfest this last July, and it was an eye-opener. I was fortunate enough to bring home a couple of awards. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Shark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/73ab20/32.png) [@Shark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shark)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2008, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-other-model-builders-on-the-sdmb/465063/17 "2008-09-25T13:19:59Z")
I’m a model railroader, in HO scale, which is 1/87th. I have built kits of box, flat and gondola cars, and some I have weathered to get a more realisitc look. I hope to get around to weathering all of my rolling stock and locomotive fleet eventually. I’ve completed about 99% of the trackwork for the layout, but I still have a lot of scenery to do, as in most of it. I have built a couple of buildings for the layout, including some paper models to act as stand-ins untill I can get around to buying and building either styrene or wood kits of the type of buildings I want. I wish I had more time to work on things, but I realize that the fun is not in having a complete layout, it’s in doing all the modeling, so it doesn’t really matter how many years it takes me. Shark ---
**Author:** ![chowder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/977dab/32.png) [@chowder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chowder)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2008, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-other-model-builders-on-the-sdmb/465063/18 "2008-09-25T13:38:35Z")
> [@Radegast](#): > > I like to build balsa and paper airplanes, mostly WWI stuff, and I’ve made a few plastic models with my son, most recently the battleship Terpitz, which was broken beyond repair in my recent move. My son and I are working on a Tiger tank at present, though I think he is no longer interested and I’ll finish it myself. I have a high-quality balsa and paper Wright Flyer kit waiting for winter to set in. The new balsa kits, with laser-cut pieces, are a joy to work with. I’ve been thinking about getting a good wooden saling ship model to work on. While I enjoy building the kits, and do a nice job of it, I wouldn’t call myself a modeler. Where do you get the balsa kits from? I used to build balsa airplanes as a kid and quite fancied doing it again but unfortunately here in the UK I can’t find a balsa supplier ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2008, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-other-model-builders-on-the-sdmb/465063/19 "2008-09-25T13:46:06Z")
I built models as a kid in the early '70’s back when airplane glue was used to stick stuff together! Star Trek / spaceships, cars (loved my Tamiya Porsches!) And WW2 planes (built a cool P-61 Black Widow) As I have posted in CS I now build electric guitars from parts I put together - scratches the same itch as models and I get a cool tool when I am done. My 10 year old son has expressed an interest in models - and it is getting closer to Xmas… ---
**Author:** ![Rocketeer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocketeer/32/4437_2.png) [@Rocketeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rocketeer)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2008, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-other-model-builders-on-the-sdmb/465063/20 "2008-09-25T16:30:06Z")
> [@Shark](#): > > I’m a model railroader, in HO scale, which is 1/87th. I have built kits of box, flat and gondola cars, and some I have weathered to get a more realisitc look. I hope to get around to weathering all of my rolling stock and locomotive fleet eventually. I’ve completed about 99% of the trackwork for the layout, but I still have a lot of scenery to do, as in most of it. I have built a couple of buildings for the layout, including some paper models to act as stand-ins untill I can get around to buying and building either styrene or wood kits of the type of buildings I want. I wish I had more time to work on things, but I realize that the fun is not in having a complete layout, it’s in doing all the modeling, so it doesn’t really matter how many years it takes me. > > Shark When my dad retired, we gave him a little diesel switch engine. It was like touching a match to a field of dry grass. 😃 Pretty much before my mother could react, he had filled half the basement with a perfectly monstrous two-level layout, a smaller switching layout, and about a zillion boxcars. I’ve never seen a guy have so much fun. 😛 I built him a number of automobiles for the layout, both from kits and cleanup/repaints of preassembled autos. Those Jordan kits are lovely little things. When he and Mom had both passed away, I reclaimed the autos; we sold the rolling stock at an estate sale; and when we sold the house the layout was still in place. Got no idea of whether the new owners kept it or not. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-other-model-builders-on-the-sdmb/465063.md?page=2)