Like many modelers, I built models as a kid and then quit as I got into junior high school and other interests took over. My main interests back then were ships, dinosaurs, and movie monsters. I wouldn’t say I was particularly good at any of them, but I had fun.

I started modeling again in 1989. I remember very clearly that what prompted my interest was news coverage of the turret explosion on the battleship USS Iowa. For some reason, seeing the images of that ship in the paper and on TV made me decide I wanted to build a ship model again. I can’t really explain it, but I went on down to the Kay-Bee Toy and Hobby store at the local mall and emerged with one of the models I remembered building as a kid, the old Revell USS Arizona. I started building that kit and I just got hooked. I’ve been modeling steadily ever since.

Things really took off for me when I discovered the 1/700 waterline series. The possibility of building a huge collection of ships all in proper scale to each other really intrigued me. 1/700 remains my favorite scale today, but I’ve also now built in virtually all available scales for ships, from 1/72 down to 1/2400.

In the 16 years that I’ve been modeling seriously, I’ve also done some planes and armor. I favor the smaller scales: 1/144 for planes and 1/72 for armor. I also re-discovered the movie monsters and dinosaurs and have a pretty large collection of those as well. I also have a number of HO and 0-27 train layouts. Plus, of course, sci-fi models from Star Trek and Star Wars. I’m pretty disappointed with model releases (or the lack thereof) from the recent movies. I don’t know if it’s the cost of licensing, or what, but there’s been a lot less out than I expected. I’m most interested in the capital ships. My favorite model from the original trilogy is the Imperial Star Destroyer, and that’s exactly the kind of model that has not been released from the new movies.

In recent years, I’ve also gotten into figure modeling. I’m a big fan of “The Lord of the Rings” and started with metal figures produced by Games Workshop from the movies. I’ve now built a lot of other Tolkien figures, including a good number from Mithril Miniatures in Ireland, as well as some Warhammer and other gaming figures. I enjoy painting figures because it’s very different than ship modeling, and it’s also nice to have some projects going that can be finished quickly, in a matter of days, as opposed to the weeks, months, or years it can take to finish a large-scale ship project.

But my first love and main interest remains ship modeling. I’m very interested in submarines as well as surface combatants, and I guess you could say I’m primarily a warship modeler. I have a couple of favorite subject areas – these include Kriegsmarine ships from WWII and Soviet/Russian ships from the modern era. But overall, I’m pretty diverse in my interests. There’s no type of ship that doesn’t interest me – I’ve built fishing boats, cargo ships, and ocean liners as well as warships

Like checking out at the grocery store, I’m mostly into “paper or plastic.” I’ve only built two resin ship models and don’t plan to do many others, due to the cost. I have two kids and a limited budget, and I generally don’t like to spend more than $20 on any one kit. So for the cost reason, as well as diversifying my collection, I’ve really enjoyed discovering paper models, as well as the GHQ line of 1/2400 pewter ships. Both have allowed me to get into unusual and hard-to-find subjects (particularly World War I ships and American Civil War vessels) at a reasonable cost.

I find paper models tremendously challenging. They take a lot more patience and a lot more time than plastic kits.

My biggest weakness as a modeler is I get bored easily if I try to just focus on one project. So I usually have four or five things going at once, and a couple of other projects “on hiatus” till they strike my fancy again. For instance, I’m currently completing a Hasegawa 1/700 South Dakota, in the early stages on an Airfix 1/600 Prinz Eugen, and slowly plodding along with the Revell 1/200 USS Andrew Jackson cutaway sub. I also have a DML Tu-95 Bear bomber that I haven’t worked on in a while and an Airfix 1/72 StuG-III sitting around, too. That’s just the plastic. Then there are my paper model projects, including a huge Maly Modelarz 1/300 French battleship Richelieu, and the small scale metal models, including a 1/2400 USS Maine. And lest I forget, I’ve got an Airfix 1/144 Swedish galleon Wasa, almost complete – except for the rigging. That’s going to take a while.

My other big weakness is I really slow down when I get to detail parts – the things that always take me the longest are rigging (whether line or stretched sprue), any kind of photoetched detail parts, and decals.

Oh, I should also mention a tendency to clutter – as the picture of my worktable shows!

Speaking of photoetched parts, I’m not very good at them and don’t use them too often. Although I’m completely in awe of modelers that can do them well, both my budget and my skill limitations mean I don’t use them that much. In a lot of ways, I’m old-fashioned: I don’t use CA cement, for instance, except for metal projects. Good old Testors “cement for plastic models” in the red-and-white tube works for me. I also don’t own an airbrush – everything I do is hand-painted. You could say I’m still doing what I did as a kid, only just trying to do it better. I’ve picked up a few new tricks over the years, like washing and drybrushing, mostly from reading magazines like Fine Scale Modeler. One thing I am learning and enjoying is the importance of having good references. I’ve started building a nice library of references on WWII and modern warships, and I use it on virtually every project now. The Internet makes a big difference now, too. There’s so much information out there if you look.

I’m fortunate to live in an area where there are several well-stocked hobby shops. Let me give a shout-out to two of my favorites: West Virginia Hobbies and Crafts in Teays Valley, WV, and Fountain Toy and Hobby Center in downtown Charleston, WV. If you’re ever in this area, you owe it to yourself to check them out – both maintain a great inventory of ships. Mail order, Internet, and e-bay are great, but there’s nothing like walking into your own local hobby shop on a Saturday afternoon and checking out what’s new.

I’ve really appreciated the opportunity to share my work in the ModelWarships.com Gallery. Seeing my work there has really helped build my confidence. This past March, I entered my first contest – the Kanawha Valley Scale Modelers – and was delighted to come home with a first-place trophy for ships. I look forward to entering other contests in the future.

The photos give some idea of my interests and also the challenges of display space. And, of course, that cluttered workbench I mentioned. A lot of my collection is in the garage where, unfortunately, the dust levels are pretty high. But that just gives me an excuse to clean them off and refurbish them from time to time. Due to limited shelf space all around, most planes I build have to be landing-gear-up so I can hang them from the ceiling.

Eventually, I may have to put some of this collection into storage. But now, I’m enjoying the challenge, every time I finish a new project, of finding room for “just one more!”