I was born in 1967 in Nova Scotia and I my first model building experiences were building balsa wood kits with my dad. I joined the model club at school and started building plastic kits, mostly planes but sometimes other subjects. I didn't build much in my teens but my girlfriend in University bought me a Monogram A-10 because every time we went to the mall, I would go into the hobby store but not buy anything. I built that A-10 in my dorm room - it came out pretty well considering. Once I finished University I started building more but I wasn't satisfied with the results - decals were my main source of dissatisfaction. Then I found a Fine Scale Modeler Magazine with an article on how to correctly apply decals. I didn't have an airbrush so I painted clear gloss with a brush to get the decals to look better. Still not satisfied, I bought books to learn more skills (this was before the internet.) I now live in Ottawa and over the years I have gotten better and better and faster and faster. 20 years ago it would take me 6 weeks to build a Tamiya Spitfire. Now I can build some kits in a few days or take on complex projects and which take longer but I am usually pretty happy with the results. I was exclusively a plane guy for a long time. I built one aircraft carrier in 2003 but that was it until 2014 when my kids bought me a tank for Fathers' day. I did mostly armour for about two years then I started with cars. I built about 24 straight cars before getting up the courage to try an F1 car. Well, now that's what I'm building most. The nice thing is, as a result of building F1 cars, I'm now a rabid F1 fan which gives me another hobby to keep my interest. Along my modelling journey, I wanted to be able to take nice pictures of my finished projects so in 2007 I bought a Nikon D50 camera and a photo booth. That started a love a photography as another hobby. So yeah, I love modelling various types of subjects and I also love that the hobby has introduced me to other hobbies and passions. My non-model related passions are playing hockey, ball hockey and golf. That girlfriend I mentioned, well, we're married (29th anniversary this Sunday, Sept 15, 2019) and we have two wonderful daughters 20 and 16. I have this weird sympathy for anyone who doesn't build models - I guess because I get so much enjoyment out of it I can't imagine why everyone doesn't do it. It's fun, satisfying and therapeutic when the pressures of life create challenges. My wife is a knitter, crocheter and cross stitcher and we love working on our hobbies together while watching movies, old sitcoms or true-crime shows on TV. I consider myself a descent model builder but I don't enter competitions. I like to do it for me and for the satisfaction it gives me. I don't want to build for anyone else. I like to take shortcuts when I feel like it and not be a slave to accuracy. That said, I love looking at others' contest models and the amazing work people do - they are inspiring and they make me want to keep developing my skills. So, that's me. I'm a proper nerd I guess but I wouldn't trade my life for anything. If you are interested in looking at my models, I have photos of every model completed since 1997 on flicker: https://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/albums/72157603606379755
Tamiya 1/20 Legier JS11
See all my models at: https://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/albums/72157603606379755
Decals - Indy Cals
Photograpy: Nikon D300; Focus Stacking using Helicon Focus; Editing using LightRoom
Fuji 1/20 Ferrari F10, 2010, Fernando Alonso. This was a competitive car for Ferrari but it fell short of the championship as Red Bull won their first of 4 consecutive constructors’ and drivers’ championships in 2010.
See all my [...]
Tamiya 1/24 Ford Mustang GT4 (24354)
2018 IMSA Road America Winner T. Hindman and A. Baynjolfsson
See all my models at: https://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/albums/72157603606379755
Decals - Blue Stuff Volt Racing Team (24087), [...]
These are Tamiya's kits with Studio27 carbon decals and Tabu logos. Paint is Zero "Rosso Formula 1 Pre-2004 (ZP-1007)".
See all my models at: https://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/albums/72157603606379755
This is a 50 year old kit but it holds up pretty well. It has raised panel lines but they were easily re-scrible. Decals are a bit thick but are nice none the less.
Here's the album: [...]
Kit: 1/32 Special Hobby
This is a great kit. It’s not for beginners and there are many challenges but the result is an impressively large and detailed aircraft model. The landing gear gave me fits - it is very fiddly and fragile but it [...]
Subject: MiG-3
Kit: 1/48 Trumpeter
Fun kit to build!
Album: https://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/albums/72157720104151092
All my models:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/albums/72157603606379755
Photo Editing:
Adobe [...]
This is a beautiful kit in some ways and a bit of a pain in the wahoo in others. The surface detail is first rate as is the detail in the cockpit. I ran into a lot of trouble with the fit of the fuselage halves. Perhaps it was my fault; [...]
The GWH B-52 is a great model. The fit is excellent and the surface details are appropriate for this scale. The only curiosity is that, although the builder has the option to pose the bomb bay doors open, there are no bombs to put in it. [...]
This kit is overall very nice but there are a lot of very fiddly bits that test the patience. In particular, the flap assembly and the exhaust assembly are a bit challenging since there are so many parts with little or not mating [...]