New Members, How did you find us?

[R.F.Bennett]

If you weren't a member of the old group. Please tell us how you found out about SMM.

[Jim]

Howdy! I got a note saying you wanted to know how I found this site and a few things about me.

No great mystery. I surfed over from Ray's old site, which I used to stop in and check periodically. I'm glad to see that the new site is flourishing, and that it's peopled by such frine craftsmen. My introduction to solid models was actually second-hand: I can remember that as a boy my dad's brother had a couple of solid ship models on display in his living room that he'd carved and painted in his youth. A destroyer and an escort carrier, as I recall. Probably kit models from the 40s. I never made one myself until a few years ago when I tried my hand at the ID Spotter Series Spitfire.

I've enjoyed scratchbuilding aeroplanes for years, mostly stick and tissue models for which I found plans on the internet, many from Ken's site. Winter was always a dull time for me, because I'm not into outdoor winter sports much, and along about january every year I'd often descend into what my wife called my "winter funk". Model-building gave me something constructive and challenging to do, and I've been at it for about 20 years now.

I tend not to get too hung up on scale sizes and whatnot, preferring instead to size the plans to accommodate the marginal amount of display space I have available! Mostly, these days, I build 'em and give 'em away to friends and relatives. I don't usually paint the solids. Instead I like to use the form of the 'plane as a medium for what you might call "art work". I like to laminate blocks of contrasting wood, like walnut, basswood, cherry and mahogany, and carve from that. Lately, I've been using some nicer exotic woods like purpleheart, bubinga, panga panga and whatnot.

Oh, the nickname "Fingers" comes from playing five-string banjo in a bluegrass band. That's another hobby that demands a lot of time!

[Kenny Horne]

Fingers,

Glad you are joining in.  Any member with anything to say is most welcome around here.

Kenny

[lastvautour]

Thanks Fingers. I hope to see some of your projects on line soon.
Lou

[dstauffer]

Link given in F/F Sport column in Flying Models, April issue.  It was referring to Comet 5c flying models, but still a fan of solid models, and happened to see a link from there to SMM

[lastvautour]

Welcome DStauffer. What are your interest areas.

[lastvautour]

Welcome Aloha. Are you a current carver? What are your interest areas? Let us know about yourself.

Lou

[Peter]

Hello my name is Peter. I have yet to build a solid model. But I uncle did in the 1930s and 40s. I heard about this forum on a wooden ship model Yahoo Group.

[lastvautour]

Welcome Peter. If you are interested in starting a new hobby, you found the right place.

Lou

[Ken Pugh]

Welcome aboard, Peter.  I assume you are the gentleman I saw on the Yahoo group.  If so, Peter posted that he had several solid plans and wondered if anyone would ever want to build these models anymore.  I immediately referred him to our group and here he is!

Again, welcome Peter.  Notice that cookups on this site never get shut down, so if you build something that fits one, please feel free to post about it in that topic. 

Ken Pugh

[Peter]

Thanks Ken! I plan on being very active in the forum once I figure out what I'm doning.

Peter

[vinairart]

Actually, in multiple ways..... mostly internet cruising. Steve Remington's
Collectair site, Flying Models Magazine's reference and just looking for info on Strombecker Models.

Speaking of models, I have a couple under my belt. I just posted a pic of a "Bed Slat Bomber" that I originally built for an Ex-POW from WWII. To try and make a long story short, he challenged me to build it using bunk wood specs (via USAF Museum, Dayton, OH), bare minimum tools and no plan as all of these were built from memory. Using the Stalag Luft 1 sample B-17 POW model (artwork link) and Col. Ross Greening's "Not As Briefed" book as my baselines I went about mentally preparing my own "Bed Slat Bomber" model. I did 95% of the work while in a mountain retreat between Christmas and New Years about 5 years ago. No TV, No Radio, No internet and no airplane books- It was a real treat to do it "Old-School" style.

Regards, Tom   

[dave_t]

I have seen a few of those carvings made by POWs and it is surprising how accurate they are. Maybe it was due to the fact that being on a crew, they were very familiar with the details. Also, they may have done a lot of solid modeling before the war.

[lastvautour]

Look mightly fine to me. Do you have a larger picture?


And by the way, welcome to the site.

Lou

[Ken Pugh]

I really like the base.  I plan to use that theme in the future.

Ken Pugh