Model Madness

I've been building models for about four decades. My first model was a tiny Revell Fokker Dr.1 triplane, the light blue Werner Voss one with the amused face on the cowling.

My worst failing as a modeler is my inability to restrict myself to one genre so I get really good at one thing. I build pretty much everything, so I end up being sort of amateurish across a broad spectrum rather than really good at one thing. If the goal is to have fun, then I succeed, but if the goal is to demonstrate master craftsmanship, I have work to do.

But having said that, I now append a few pictures of some of my work.

54mm Andreas miniatures of two Roman soldiers. This was a very nice kit, though the sheet of instructions held up in the background to hide the clutter on my workbench is a decidedly lowbrow touch. (Trivia question: can you identify the instruction sheet? It's from a Heller 1/35th scale AMX-13 tank model, and it wasn't nearly as nice as the Roman figures.)

A Russian T-72 tank by Tamiya and a bunch of motor rifle troops by DML. Both kits were truly excellent. The shaggy grass on the base is some of that "hair" grass sold by Woodland Scenics. I find it troublesome and would revert to my usual standby, flax fibers, if flax fibers didn't look so much like flax fibers.

Gowron, I think from the Geometrics kit, I don't remember. Either way, it's hollow vinyl. Vinyl kits don't offer much fun in terms of assembly, but they're fun as painting projects. Gowron in particular was mostly an exercise in washes and drybrushing. The most fun was getting the proper pop-eyed look in his right eye while the left one squints.

So what have we got? Some historical miniatures, a tank, and a Klingon. Yep, I think I'm having trouble restricting myself to specific genres...