I really enjoy this community. I’ve been falling down lots of different rabbit holes here by reading all the work-in-progress build logs, and I’ll tell you- being a member of this community is, for me, like being a Pee-Wee football player who, through sheer dumb luck, ended up being drafted into the NFL, and all the cool players are right there helping him out. That’s what it’s like for me, and I appreciate it and enjoy the time Inspend here.speedgraflex wrote:Congratulations on the twilight paint work. I have been enjoying your progress immensely. We seem to have a great group of Axis and Allies subjects happening on these forums in no small part to your Luftwaffe builds. One of the best parts about SPA Modeler is its membership diversity — and I am always deeply aware of how talented and creative everyone is, and even more deeply aware of how supportive everyone is. What also amazes me is the level of research undertaken to set the scene for a build.
How do you choose your subjects and how are you researching the details? For me, I am quite taken with Kurt Tank’s FW designs which culminate in the Ta-152. I feel that the pilot and the machine are closely aligned. I feel this way about the Mustang, too.
Now, onto your question because I was actually thinking about this yesterday.
My subject picking is actually rather haphazard. The first plane I built when I came back was an Emil, and I picked the aircraft it’s self because to me, when I first saw it, it looked like a work of art. The light blue, the unique camouflage scheme, the shape of the airframe. It just totally did it for me. That build sucked LOL Oh man. There were gaps that needed fills. Poorly-done fills. I brush painted it... But I did the best I could with what I had at my disposal. And I was pretty proud of it.
Then, one afternoon my nephew and his mom were visiting. He was inspecting the aircraft, and accidentally dropped it LOL
“OKAY! I’ll build me another sometime real soon to replace it!” I said.
It was around that time I actually started reading about aircraft and pilots, and talking to some friends of mine about my new hobby and how it was helping me with my depression/anxiety. These friends of mine I met in an online forum for powerlifters and Jiu Jitsu players. Several of them are either active duty military or retired and they took great interest. We had a lot of talks about Axis aircraft, Allied aircraft, specific machines, etc.
I’d been reading about The Flying Tigers and one day my wife and I were talking about it, and she said “I wonder what kind of airplane Vance (our baby boy) would fly?”
“WARHAWK!” I sad. I don’t know why. It just seemed like that’s the plane my baby boy would fly if he was a fighter ace. So I built one for him, partly because of that, and also because the Hasegawa kit seemed like a good kit to try next and take the lessons I’d learned from the Emil and carry over into a project, hopefully improving my budding skill. I didn’t use references. I just tried to build it best I could according to the instructions. And it came out pretty well!
After that, armed with my new airbrush, thanks to my wife, I felt I was ready for another crack at the Emil, which I’d been reading more about and which was quickly becoming my personal favorite aircraft -the Warhawk being a close second. I saw Franz Von Werra’s aircraft in the markings section of my kit, and started reading about him. LOL He had a pet lion named Simba! How could I not go for that? So this here is literally the beginning of me actually looking at specific pilots and subjects.
And the G2 is a diversion from that. The G2 is a technique build, if that makes sense. I’m shooting for a real-looking finished product, but I picked that one because I loved the color scheme on it and I wanted to try Black Basing. And that seemed like the perfect subject for me to try that on. Later I plan on doing a Gustav, after Heinrich Ehrler. A family friend of ours, Sally Ehrler, is rumored to be distantly related to him. His last words were (paraphrasing) “Already shout down two. Out of ammo. So I’m going to ram him. I’ll see you in Valhalla.” Holy cow! How could I not go for that!?
I have plans for my 1/32 Dragon E3. Horst Tietzen. Researching that one now.
I relate more to the Luftwaffe planes. I don’t know why.
My wife thinks it’s funny. “My husband builds NAZI planes. No, he’s not a NAZI. He’s just eccentric that way.”
Maybe I should see a therapist LOL
But yeah, I see how much research you guys do, and how awesome your finished builds are, and that’s inspiring me to put more time and research into it. So that’s what I’m doing.
It’s really great to be here. I’m enjoying modeling and I’m enjoying being a member here with all you guys. And I truly appreciate the support!