So why do you model?

Like many adult modellers, I've returned to the hobby in my mid thirties. I was into wargaming in my teens and my brother always had model aircraft hanging from his bedroom ceiling. Once I started going out to pubs/clubs it didn't seem so cool!

Now I find I want something a bit more stimulating so I went back to wargaming but felt a bit too old/jaded for all the teenagers and their heavy use of sarcasm. To be honest, I'm also a slow painter and trying to crank out painted armies in order to play was a bit of a pain as I like to try to paint to the best standard that I can.

I picked up a Tamiya catalogue about 18 months ago and was impressed by the stuff they produced. At that point I realised I could combine my interest in military history with the creative side of building and painting so started looking into it to see what was involved. Talk about the tip of the iceberg!

Researching the tanks, finding the details and reference photos, deciding what kit to buy and creating snapshots in time with dioramas really sparks my imagination and I'm sure we all have kits/ideas that we can't wait to do! I find it very satisfying. In short, it's about escapism. The world around us today is a bit dull to me and I have always sought out things that are a bit different to the norm.

Why WW2? Well, It's a particularly fascinating period of history where extreme politics seemed acceptable and to be such a world apart from today. It really wasn't too long ago. I had an excellent history teacher at High School who made it really interesting and it's always kind of stuck. I remember we were studying the Jacobite Uprisings of 1745 and he had someone up in front of the class with a ruler as a sword and a jotter as a shield. Great fun.

Putting aside the horrors of war and the moral rights and wrongs of it, I think I just think all the vehicles/kit involved are cool as beans.  Can't really expand on it any more than that really. Modern tanks/jets don't do it for me (except the Vietnam era) and I plain don't get the fascination with trains that the rail guys have. I must ask the next trainspotter I see what it is they like about them. At least tanks go BOOM....