| Message Board |
 |
|
| ALAN's story on his hobby 20/5/2002 I regard that the warships of the imperial navy were the best warships during World War II (at least at the beginning of the war...), nearly all ships got a glorious battle records. On the other hand, the structure of the Japanese ships were so distinctive compared to the other navies' warships, they seemed to look like modern warship of today, like the Yamato and Takao for example, they both have streamlined modern look, very much like "stealth". That are the reasons why I like it so much. I was the president of A.C.S. Aerospace club which I founded with two friends 7 years ago. The club concerned mainly at model rockets and remote-control planes as well. However, the club was unable to continue after 1 year of establishment because we are unable to devote the time to run the club.The club used to have 13 members and 4 fiancial supporters, and we provided monthly newletter regarding the events and news of rocketry and space related knowledge to the members. I am a beginner of 'good' modelling and I mainly build 1/700 ships but I also make 1/35 AFVs as well. The IJN ships and German tanks are my favourite WW2 weapons. I have been making models since I was about 6 years old, but the models were not really good models because I never painted or modified them. Not until my first participation in the Australian Model Expo in 2001, then I realized that my skills were 'really' behind the good modellers. Therefore, I decided to catch up with them by attending the local model clubs, so that I can learn about the skill of modelling. The first model that I seriously built was the Fujimi's 1/700 battleship Kongo in which I experimented first time with the rough cardboard to represent the sea scene. I also learned how to use wash to high-light wooden deck and wear of the hull as well in this model. Right after the Kongo, I then started to build the Aoshima's 1/700 battleship Nagato, in which I experimented with the painting of small aircraft, including rust and wear (they are really hard to do!!!). Then as I saw the skills of the two models were getting closer to the models that I saw at the competition, I decided to jump one step further, that is to do even better than the models in competition. Therefore, I challenged myself by building the "damaged" carrier Hiryu that was shown in photographs taken during the Battle of Midway. Works on the model including the heavy modification of the front deck, in which I need to scratch-build the hangar, addition and refinement of the model's were also needed, such as the scratch-built landing-lights that inserted in the bow. This is actually a very risky project because I have never done any scratch-building before.... I also tried pastels for the first time in modelling!!! But the end result was excellent, but the model took nearly 9 months to do. Anyway, I participated the Australian Model Expo in 2002 with my Hiryu and Mutsu, along with a 1/35 German Tiger tank as well. I came 1st for the Hiryu and 3rd for the Mutsu, my tank also came 3rd as well. I guess it was not a bad performance after only one year of self-training! I am very happy that the Hiryu caught a lot of public attention at the expo. Right now, I am building a "very detailed" carrier Zuikaku.....yeah.... I know...another carrier!!! But the process was very slow, because I tried to insert every single detail into the model. I have also changed my taste a 'little bit', because I started to build WW2 aircraft and submarine. Anyway, I am very busy at the moment with the 'half-finished' models on my table...... and I have just brought a 1/72 Academy Zero...man...please help me!!! Anyway, good luck to you all. I will update this page later to tell you about the progress on my models. Alan |
| 1st again for the model HIRYU! 19/6/2002 The model Hiryu came 1st again at the A.C.T. Annual Competition!!! Well, the next competition will be held in Adelaide in October, see if I am lucky enough to win again. Currently, I have finished my first 1/48 plane, the Fujimi kit A6M2 Zero. I am very happy with the result,...yes, what about the 1/72 Academy Zero???....hahahaha...I didn't do anything about it! I seemed to like 1/48 scale more than 1/72, the larger scale is easier for me to handle! (except ships...) Anyway, I got four weeks of holidays and I am going to start building the Zuikakau again!!! I haven't touch it for ages!!! Good Luck! Alan |
| Michael's Short History of Modeling 27/09/02 Unlike the humble beginning of Alan's expercience, I have my hands on my first model at the "tender" age of ... actually I can't remember. But I used to watch my brother who happens to be 7 years older than I am building military vechicles models without painting them because we couldn't afford the paints back in those days. So, I had plenty of experience in looking at other people's work but never my own. Anyway, my first real model came when I finished high school couple of years ago. I met Alan in a shopping centre which I had lost contact with for more than two years and he was surprised to discover that I picked up modeling as a 'new' hobby. (yeah, I changed my hobby ever so often, til now, I've picked up tennis and basketball watching, stamp collection, coins collection, stone collection, comics collection, appreciation of animation and drawing.) So, naturally he invited me over and share his experiences with me and after that day I started to call him my lecturer in modeling.This guy is amazing, he taught me from the basic to more of the advance techniques and stuff. For example, he taught me how to use paintbush properly, how to use airbush to sophisticated the finishing product, how to buy from the cheapest store and get the most out of it, how to choose model kits that give you the best value, how to modify the model and recently how to make diorama. My collection of warships models are 1/700 IJN warships, from battleships to auilixaries and hospital ship. Frankly, I love ships and especially unusual ships by which I mean unusally shaped or have unusal capabilities other than firing bullets and canons. The rest are one USS Enterprise, one Germany Scharnhorst and Tripitz, one Prince of Wales. Other than ships, I have one Porshce, one command post (as diorama), one JMSDF UH-60J helicopter, one Marder 1A2, one US Buffalo amphibian, two US LCTs, couple of these and couple of that. Above all, I still love ships. The physical presence of warships are a sign of their strengths and power. Alan encouraged me to participate in public expos which I had somehow made my way into the Australian Model Expo 2001 and 2002. With frequent attendance to my "lecturer", I managed to pick up quite a lot of experiences and new skills and techniques awaiting me to perfection. The latest production were the diorama of a command post and the not-really-a-diorama JMSDF LST-4002 Shimokita and IJN Battle Carrier Mogami. My future ambition now lies in building the IJN Ise with some more details. Michael |