What fired your interest in model warships .

[Neptune]

hmm DOW, the pain the ass of the area I suppose, an awefull chemical plant, but indeed just next to the river Scheldt! I know some people in Terneuzen too as I am in the swimming club near it and they are in our competition. Is Polder een Engels woord???

Fransisco, on which ships have you served? And when you became a pilot, was that a Navy aircraft pilot? or just a civilian aircraft pilot? Or do you mean a shipping pilot?

Regards
Roel

[JIM BAUMANN]

Good thread Dave W!

Like many children of my generation I started modelling firstly by building crude Balsa Model yachts.

In actuality, they were more like a rafts, (my inspiration came from the Kontiki/Ra expeditions) mutated with with 1930's J class racing Yachts. I was a nautically confused child.....!!

Couple that with a healthy dose of Maerklin alternating current stud contact (what an anti-scale idea!!) modelrailway, which to my families horror, I proceeded to weather with paint streaks and coal dust.

I was nine and very serious!

I spent the first 12 years of my life growing up in Switzerland on a diet of 1920's Electric locomotives and coalfired(!) Lake paddlesteamers and becalmed sailing yachts. Since there is generally little wind on Lake Zuerich...I naturally had to mimic the elegant lightweather sailing yachts and Riva type motorboats seen on the lakes in modelform (at least my childhood interpretations thereof) and soon gained a taste for all things old--- (remember there is NO Navy in Switzerland..).

I suddenly discovered LIFE...-- in the form of the Airfix HMS Iron Duke 1/600 plastic kit, and promptly stopped messing around with wood and hullshapes that did not want to go my way....( how to get waylaid from scratchbuilding hehe!!)

Then I discovered the bi-planes. Oh the fun and frustration of 1/72 Tiger Moths and Sopwith Camels... long before the days of CA glue and adult patience(!)....



I then moved to England where I saw first hand the derelict hulls of the old J-class racing yachts (120' long!!) simply lying around on the shores of the Hamble River, all pretty inspiring stuff, and as a result started building passable models of the various yachts (Endeavour, Velsheda Shamrock, etc. have now thankfully been restored to their former glory).

Shortly thereafter I was taken to see HMS VICTORY at Portsmouth, followed by a visit to the CUTTY SARK and the maritime museum at Greenwich in London.

How could one NOT become a ship modeller with all these wonderful vessels on ones' doorstep? With regularly scheduled Hovercraft and Hydrofoil services to the Isle of Wight, along with a healthy interest ( I admit it, obsession) with sailing and yacht racing, I could never become a normal person. I was destined to life of nautical obsession.

Then I discovered Girls..... Fast forward some years...forget nautical obsession, now it's glandular!!!

It was while I was with a girl I had the splendid idea to visit (as an alternative to Pub/Beach/Cinema) the Flying Boat Museum in Southampton. ---There, displayed alongside a Sunderland and other famous Coastal Command aircraft, was the Supermarine SE5 Schneider Trophy Winning Racing Seaplane; ----how cool is that?

So cool, that immediately afterwards, we RACED (ok, I raced) round to the modelshop where I purchased the Airfix 1/72 version thereof which was built that very evening and painted (I still have it) and set on a sea base.

The girls came and went, but I was back to MODELMAKING....

Model Aeroplanes, plastic and RC, Racing A class Modelyachts, Vane and RC as well racing real sailboats... I was truly an obsessive....

For awhile, I built a lot of models and saw fewer girls.....

Eventually, I built even more models and saw no girls......

..........until I met Katrin.


Katrin is a modelmaker's dream come true...in all honesty, I'd say she's every man's dream come true....

She lets me play to my hearts content, makes encouraging noises and comes to shows, and NEVER bats an eyelid or complains when yet ANOTHER big parcel comes from Pacific Front Hobbies or White Ensign Models.( and now latterly... e-bay)

So now, I build a few less models, but I've been gifted with a very happy life.

HAPPY ENDING!

JIM B

[Francisco P. de Nanclares]

Fransisco, on which ships have you served? And when you became a pilot, was that a Navy aircraft pilot? or just a civilian aircraft pilot? Or do you mean a shipping pilot?

Regards
Roel

Hi Roel. I have served on two LST vessels (old american County class), minesweeper, both aircraft carriers and last one as the Ops officer on board SPS Pati�o (sistership of HNLMS Amsterdam). In between I served as a Navy pilot flying the good ol� SH3 for six years. Oh, happy days...

[roy allen]

As a child my favourite films were always about the sea and i never missed an episode of Jacques Coustoue and calypso's amazing sea discovery programs. Seeing as i live about as far away from the sea as it is possible to be in the Uk this might seem a bit odd ,but ive always been a maverick and gone my own way. This led me to join the RN starting of in p&o subs then converting to the Royal Navies Hydrographic branch and many enjoyable years looking for wrecks and recording all manner of oceanic data. To be honest if i was single i woudn't hesitate but to go straight back to sea. Even know i still miss it and anytime i come near to the coast line my family seem to know how i feel and always leave me alone with my thought's.
I found that my modeling skills came in handy during this time and would spend a lot of my off duty time building a vast array of ships for other members of the crew on various ships . The price was always the same, beer chits. The longest i went without buying my own beer was 8 months. OH happy days.
yo ho ho and a bottle of rum (or beer)

[ModelMonkey]

My dad and I used to watch "Victory at Sea" together on broadcast TV (yea, no cable or satellite yet) when I was a kid (1975). And the movies "Sink The Bismarck", "Tora Tora Tora" and "Midway" fired my imagination. After that I was hooked.

And Jim, I think I know what you mean by your appreciation of Katrin: my wife, Cathy (the name interestingly is a form of Katrin), is tremendously supportive. Cathy even feigns interest when I am describing hull plating patterns. And for any given major holiday, she treats me to PE sets or a kit. How's that for a cool wife?

Every male modeler needs a Cathy.

[ArizonaBB39]

All my older brothers (and even my sister ocassionally) built models, so I finally talked my dad into getting me one. It's been 10-11 years since then and now I'm stuck on WWII naval subjects. This, in turn, has made me decide the course of study I will take in college (I want to be a history teacher). It's good to hear your wives are so supportive Jim and Steve. My girlfriend is the same way!! Shelby always puts up with my talk about WWII and my ships, and she really is interested about it all. As a matter of fact, shes shown some interest in building a model with me!

[Victorious]

As a child my favourite films were always about the sea and i never missed an episode of Jacques Coustoue and calypso's amazing sea discovery programs.

Hi Roy,
Ijust thought you would be interested. One of our club members has built a scale model of the Calypso in 1/96 scale. Here it is on our lake at Kingsbury Water Park.

[kennylibben]

This, in turn, has made me decide the course of study I will take in college (I want to be a history teacher).

Always a good major Abe! Thats what i plan on going for, althought not the education part. I dread being a teacher, college prof would be better... but i dunno. are you going to ASU?

[roy allen]

Hi victorious
nice pic of calypso, tell your friend to be carefull of the intakes as they can become blocked by squid

[Dave Wooley]

[quote="Stephen Larsen"]My dad and I used to watch "Victory at Sea" together on broadcast TV (yea, no cable or satellite yet) when I was a kid (1975). And the movies "Sink The Bismarck", "Tora Tora Tora" and "Midway" fired my imagination. After that I was hooked.

As a boy in the 50s I to made a point of watching Victory at Sea and lapped it up , even the music score cought my imagination and I was lucky enough to get a re-mastered CD recording from the States replacing my old LP which was well worn out by the end of the 1960s
Dave Wooley

[commodore4]

This now is an interesting question. I probably got my start in 1950 when I worked the summer on my uncle AL,S fishing boat chumming and using barbless hooks for tuna. I carved a model of her and went GA-GA(no, not her!!!) but silly.I saw a PYRO model in a five and dime (that was BEFORE MEGA-MARTS). It was the TUNA CLIPPER model. Well , it was fancier than unk,s boat , but , it could be built plainer.I plunked down my $ 1.29 plus tax and built her. I haven,t stopped yet , even taking commissions so I stay busy(yep, they all float).By the way I was seven . Cabin boys weren,t covered by child labor laws if working for relatives.I am actually glad, as I saw and got pictures of ships I never would have seen otherwise. To this day I build more ships for myself than any other kind of model.I do build ,one of type ,aircraft and models of ones I grew up around ,same for cars. Ships rule the shop and technical library I have though. I did my first conversion a year later when I took PYRO,S "NATCHEZ" riverboat and converted it to a SEATTLE type ferry boat. There ,you have the reason I do it and you know what? I wouldn,t change a thing. MARX had a neat model boat toy.It had an engine and very small cabin .I converted it to a ,what we call today a "motoryacht." commodore4

[robertmelvin]

For me it certainly wasn't fired by being around warships as a kid. I grew up and still live in land locked Kentucky, U.S.A.. But, I've had an interest in history, particularly WW 2 history, for as long as I can remember. I suppose my youthful imagination was caught by all the war movies that were popular at that time and which my dad took me to see. I still remember going to see "P.T. 109" and "In Harm's Way", among many others. Warships have been something that have been fascinating to me for as long as I can recall. When I started modeling as a kid I was naturally drawn to them, along with WW 2 warplanes, probably in about equal parts.

I drifted away from modeling in my later teens and completely lost touch with the hobby for well over 30 years. Last year I severely injured my left leg and found myself needing a somewhat more sedate hobby than some of the things I'd been doing. I happened across some modeling sites surfing the internet and discovered that the interest was still alive. I looked into things more deeply and discovered how far the hobby has come and what is available now. Even from the very first thoughts of getting back into the hobby my interest was still in warships. Over the years my interest in history, particularly WW 2 history and U.S. Naval history even more specifically, has grown and I find modeling to be yet another way to feed, express and satisfy that interest. It also helps me share that interest since I display my builds in my office for the most part and find clients often asking me about a particular model or the other, and the history behind it.

Bob

[Bigdaddy Mark]

I grew up building WWII aircraft. Then in the late summer of 78 I was 15, and on vacation at the beach when this monster of a ship came over the horizon. It was huge, and I was in awe. Then my uncle took us on a tour of her. She was the USS Nimitz, and he had to pull some big time strings to get us on. I knew I was going to join the Navy when I sat in the captains chair on the bridge. From that day I started building ships. I stopped building models when I was aloud to drive. Then last year I started again when my son joined the Navy!

[DrPR]

"Victory At Sea!"

When we got a TV in the early '50s I thought most of the programs were boring (still are). Then I saw "Victory At Sea" and I was hooked on naval history. I lived in Arkansas, and the only time I saw the sea was in trips to Florida, and I never saw a real ship up close. But I loved ships and naval history.

Our nextdoor neighbor (father) had been in the merchant marine during WWII, as had one of my uncles. They told us sea stories. The oldest boy next door built ship models and I found them interesting. I started building plastic ship models and tried to learn as much history of each one as I could. My friends and I went down to the Navy recruiter's office quite often to get the free recruiting pictures they gave away. I read every naval book in our city library, including all of 14 volumes of Morison's "History of United States Naval Operations in World War II" cover to cover, and things like "Shiphandling," "The Bluejacket's Manual" and Bowditch's "American Practical Navigator." I was hooked on ships and modeling.

The two boys next door went to Annapolis, and I eventualy attended US Naval Officer Candidate's School after graduating from college (we didn't have Naval ROTC at the school I attended). Coincidently, when we didn't have a scheduled activity at OCS they marched us into a classroom to watch episodes of "Victory At Sea." After I was commissioned one of the ships I was assigned to was bolted to the pier in Long Beach. To kill time in port I sometimes built ship models, primarily square riggers.

I have continued to build model ships. Now I am working on models of the ships I served on in the Navy. And I have an often-viewed copy of "Victory At Sea" on DVD.

[Ticonderoga]

Well after 20+ years at sea serving in the RAN I guess you never really leave. 15 years away and I still miss going to sea. Ship model building seemed a natural progression.

I started off hoping to build a semi kit of USS Vincennes and while I was patiently waiting, Dave's Kiev build and the other sticky scratch buiild logs of ARH and others inspired me to have a crack at a scratchbuild.

So Varyag, Slava Class Cruiser, is on her way now. I did not beleive how much joy I would derive from building my own hull. It is not so easy, but is is so satisfying. The hobby has also helped tremendously during our recent family troubles.

So, a great many thanks to DW, ARH, Bruce, ozpirate and everyone else for the inspiration.

[Dave Wooley]

Well after 20+ years at sea serving in the RAN I guess you never really leave. 15 years away and I still miss going to sea. Ship model building seemed a natural progression.

I started off hoping to build a semi kit of USS Vincennes and while I was patiently waiting, Dave's Kiev build and the other sticky scratch buiild logs of ARH and others inspired me to have a crack at a scratchbuild.

So Varyag, Slava Class Cruiser, is on her way now. I did not beleive how much joy I would derive from building my own hull. It is not so easy, but is is so satisfying. The hobby has also helped tremendously during our recent family troubles.

So, a great many thanks to DW, ARH, Bruce, ozpirate and everyone else for the inspiration.

Hi Andrew you are very welcome and it's satisfying when modellers like yourself gain from the builds that are posted on this board . Do you think you might make it to Telford?
Dave Wooley

[Ticonderoga]

Hi Andrew you are very welcome and it's satisfying when modellers like yourself gain from the builds that are posted on this board . Do you think you might make it to Telford?
Dave Wooley

Hi Dave,

I got as far as being able to reserve some seats on airplanes, but unfortunately pressures at work have conspired to keep me here in Australia, so sadly no, I will not be able to attend. The remainder of the year also looks very tight as I will probably spend nearly all of December in Canada.

Dave, is there a calender of events in the UK available for next year? It will be more effective for me to properly mange my schedule and block out dates in advance.

Regards,

Andrew

[Dave Wooley]

Hi Andrew you are very welcome and it's satisfying when modellers like yourself gain from the builds that are posted on this board . Do you think you might make it to Telford?
Dave Wooley

Hi Dave,

I got as far as being able to reserve some seats on airplanes, but unfortunately pressures at work have conspired to keep me here in Australia, so sadly no, I will not be able to attend. The remainder of the year also looks very tight as I will probably spend nearly all of December in Canada.

Dave, is there a calender of events in the UK available for next year? It will be more effective for me to properly mange my schedule and block out dates in advance.
Regards,

Andrew

Hi Andrew Sorry you can't make it, Telford is always a must visit event. There are particular dates in the UK of events which are attended by guys from TF 72 , and many other dates , not all are for warships but most have some form of warship impute I'll PM you the dates .
Dave Wooley

[Ticonderoga]

Thanks Dave,

I look forward to being better organised......

[Capit�o Norbert]

well i like battleships since was boy and playing with my Kellog's microbattleships in my bath.
i think this is the first passion of battleships.
the second passion is a designer illustrations by the kits boxes with many wonderfull ilustrations like the 1/350 Yamato and superb painting of sea representation.
too the design of german battleships and american and English with superb designs.
my country have 8000km of litoranean coast. is a lot of beaches....
is sea for all main cities and i like to see the fishers with your modest boats too.
finishing are the indian contribuition with your nice canoes made of wood(carved directly)\and your history
who don't know Hans Staden and your journey with the Tupinamb�s and Tupiniquins cannibals indians.....
part of these indians lived in litoral of my city and Rio de Janeiro.
well that's it