Collecting or Modelling? (1 Viewer)

[Leadmen]

I envy all the K&C collectors that can stay focused on their products. I collect the figures also. I still like 35 scale Tamiya and Dragon wwll figures and armor. I think I went in too many directions on collecting figures and periods of history. I started years ago building wooden balsa planes till that ended abruptly when my wife could not find me at the kids party when she found me in basement I logically said "it is time to glue the next piece". Plane flew into wall ending that. So years of painting miniatures-plastics like Barzo etc. kept me busy.Books on "painting eyeballs etc. finally got to me and I moved on. Now you can get nice painted sets without working weeks on one figure. I watched has Military Modelling magazine first kicked out toy-soldier stories and products in favor of military miniature artists who are getting booted by armor multimedia kits. One more article on putting together 500 track links or look at another sprocket on a tank caused me to drop the publication. Do many collectors wander through different periods of collecting or stay focused on WWll ? Leadmen

 

[DMNamiot]

My personal thoughts on this subject are similar to the ones you expressed. I too started out with models I did a large number of German and American Armor from WWII and combined those with Plastic Britains and Monogram and of course Tamiya soldiers and lead soldiers that I cast with my father and painted. These were assembeled on shelves in my room and a giant battlefield I built in my side yard complete with bunkers and trenches for these armys to fight over. I still have some of these figures and I look at them with a lot of fond memories. But I have pretty much settled on collecting the pre-painted glossy Britains type figures and though I do still dabble in painting castings they are not the focuse of my efforts. So I guess I would agree with the idea that we wander thru this hobby and its logical off shoots as we progress through our lives.

Dave

 

[Alexdakar]

I'm still focused on WWII. I recently started collecting St. Petersburgs knights but I said "hold up!" This will be very expensive to start another collection when there is some many WWII products out there. I still also do the 1/35 Tamiya armor and figures which is a good thing because I'm incorporating it to metal toy soldiers now. Collecting or Modelling? Both for me.

 

[VIRIATO]

Well, at the moment I'm into collecting, not into modelling, I'm a disaster at painting and glueing, especially when I compare results with wonderful work like K&C'S or Britains or good modellers. I'll settle for WWII at the moment, but I've recently seen some terrific stuff at Fusilier Miniatures ( Napoleon's army retreat from Moscow, which looks terrific ), so one never knows about the future. WWII though really spreads me, because I'm interested in Britains,K&C, Conte, tanks ( Minichamps, Fov ...), but I'll have to make choices along the way. Let there be time, space and $$$$....

Regards,
Paulo

 

[binder001]

I guess I enjoy modeling more than collecting. THe K&C stuff is the only series I can't leave alone. I have changed a couple parts on my Britains Shermans, I redetail my FoV and 21C vehicles and put them with the old 1/32 Monogram models. I enjoy modifying and painting figures. Mostly I still concentrate on WW2 US Army in Europe. If I ever have the space I would like to add some USMC from the Pacific Theater.

As stated, my concentration is on US Army in ETO, but I have some vehicles and figures stored up to do a scene of British 8th Army and Afrika Korps. If I won the lottery and had time and a display venue I could really easily get into American Civil War figures and scenes.

I also build models in 1/35th, but I tend to finish more "toy" projects than "detailed model" projects.

 

[Ken & Ericka Osen/H&A Studio]

I guess I model more than I collect, but I do collect. The collected item in question usually has charm as in old toys, or is well executed. The largest grouping of newly manufactured goods are from Imperial... probably some of the best traditionals around, and William Hocker products are on my list of things to get. The rest are old Britain's from my uncles collection and a few odds and ends, including Elastolins and some Russian figures. Of all of the samples I have gotten of product I have sculpted for various companies, I have kept all of the ACW figures and hope to be able to add more in the near future.
I hope to be able to have time to build and sculpt a few things for myself, including getting back into model railroading.

 

[gk5717]

Started in 1989 collecting the old Marx, along with the plastic Airfix, Matchbox etc,
Then along came Contes plastic playsets which changed my plastic collecting as I felt no other line quite compared.
However the frustration of the delays in releasing sets caused me to look for something else. And there it was K&C, many thousands of dollars later, all K&C military lines are my main collecting focus.
As for modeling, simply stated "Don,t have the talent".
Gary

 

[Ken & Ericka Osen/H&A Studio]

Gary...EVERYONE has the skill to build models and figures. I would be embarrassed if my dad showed some of my first figures to you. My mom used to say that she couldn't draw a straight line, and I used to tell her that unless you are doing a mechanical drawing you don't have to. The doodling she would do while on the phone was as good as many commercial cartoonists ever get! You should buy a few paints and give it a shot...you will probably have fun!

 

[Alexdakar]

Do you own H&A Studio or do you work for them. I love the stuff, especially the 1/35 scale items because I do armor models.

 

[Ken & Ericka Osen/H&A Studio]

Do you own H&A Studio or do you work for them. I love the stuff, especially the 1/35 scale items because I do armor models.

Hi There! I am glad to hear that you are an armor modeler as it was my passion for years also. I never seem to have the time to build anything for myself, although there are a couple of vehicle projects on the back burner for the ONWTC series. We have been having a bit of fun customizing some of the Forces of Valor and 21st Century models and of course I use some of my products like Mud, Muck, Foliage, C & K Ration boxes, ect.
I have been operating Hudson & Allen Studio full time since 1991 and I am the sole owner/operator/cheif bottle washer. There have been a couple of short periods that I have had an employee to assist when I have a large job such as a museum exhibit and an tight deadline to finish.
There are several new H&A products that will come out if I ever catch up on pattern work for other clients, which never seems to happen. As much as I love the vehicles and figures, I prefer to build dioramas with scenery and structures. I suppose that is why there are so many detail and scenic items in my line.
Thanks again for the compliment...not very many folks in one hobby or the other seem to be able to connect the dots and figure out that I am the same guy servicing both hobbies!
What period do you enjoy modeling the most- ETO, Eastern Front, early or late war, Pacific?
As much as I like the ETO and 'Busting the Bocage' I have to admit that I like the visuals of the 'Red Tide' rolling west...Ken