The Hobby Cupboard

The Hobby Cupboard, a photo by WW2 Scale Models on Flickr.

Well, here it is. This is my hobby cupboard that I can keep all my stuff together and work on my models. You'll spot a primed Sherman and my current SturmTiger project. It would be great to have your own wee studio with great light wouldn't it? Well, this works out just fine too. Although, I do need to be careful about fumes when airbrushing. Stay safe kids!

Adam Wilder

Adam Wilder is known for his work with MIG Productions and crops up on many DVDs showcasing techniques and tips. I think his work is stunning and gives me a few ideas that I'd like to try out. I recently bought his "Dealing with Photo-etch" DVD and found it to be really helpful. As a newbie to soldering and fiddling with Photo-Etch in general, it gave me an insight and the know how as to what to do with it thus reducing the amount of money I need to put into the swear jar. Just need to keep practising with it. Currently working on a SturmTiger diorama and have been using Photo-Etch in the interior to get some practice with it. I'd recommend this to anyone, really good. Here's the promo video for the DVD:

I got an email yesterday from Historex Agents telling me about his new DVD "Authentic Metal". I don't have this but the results look excellent as ever:

Eastern Front

Part One of a documentary on the early days of the Russian offensive. The other parts can be found beside it. Some great footage on a subject that many include in our modelling.

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....

Mig Jimenez

Mig's work really is fantastic and his championing of the Colour Modulation technique is to be commended as it results in a really detailed, interesting piece. You can find examples all over the place but the one I've chosen is of a Tiger on his blog. It's a shame that it isn't updated very often and seems to be a blatant marketing tool for AK Interactive but this step by step guide is great and the finished model is everything I hope to achieve in my modelling antics too (one day).

migjimenez.blogspot.co.uk

British Churchill Mk4

We all have many projects rumbling about in our heads and it can be excruciating trying to decide what to do. Well, the Churchill is one of my "to do" projects but haven't ironed out all the options. Quite like the look of the AFV Club version with an upgrade or two. Nice video this, I'll use it when I get round to building in anger...

This is the second of three videos. The other two you'll get from the links on the side.

Frontline Footage

Some stunning footage from the German frontline. This should give you a hundred ideas for dioramas as it covers most groundwork areas of interest (winter, desert, urban, rural).

Cologne Street Fighting

There are some great videos of real footage from WW2 up on Youtube for reference. Going to have a trawl today for some of the good ones and post some up. These can be used for environment details for your dioramas or picking out interesting aspects (tarps, kit, damage etc) to make your models unique. Plus, a fascinating insight and free!

Hello World

Shakey hands? Check!
Failing eyesight? Check!
Slavish attention to detail? Check!

Must be time to delve into the hobby of Military Modelling!

This blog is really going to be a collection of resources for myself or anyone else interested as the hobby itself is pretty vast. I'm a novice modeller and it's my intention to post here the things I find (companies, products etc) and the techniques I learn as I go.

Reference photos are always fascinating and if they help cut the cost of your project then all to the good! Feel free to chip in with any tips and pointers as I'm open to constructive advice and help.

Ali