About Me

I am originally from the busy South Manchester suberb of Stockport in the UK but I now live in a much more tranquil coastal location on the island of Anglesey in North Wales.

 

The mid 1970's is where model making all began for me. I loved Lego as a child, so I suspect this was just a natural progression, only I got to cover myself in glue😁 IIRC the first kit I built was a 1/76 scale Lysander by the kit maker Matchbox purchased whilst on a beach holiday. I used to have weekly subscriptions to comics like Warlord and Battle (remember Charlies War?) and on every family holiday would get my hands on lots of the handy pocket-sized Commando books. As well as a love of the artwork I was always fascinated by all the military machines. So, on one occasion the opportunity to build an aircraft that featured regularly in these comics must have been eagerly taken up.

My local newsagent stocked mainly Matchbox 1/76 kits and is wasn't long before I had constructed all the kits that they regularily displayed. Along with a friend we soon discovered a local hobby shop and from then on in until adulthood I emersed myself in the world of scale modeling even joining a local hobby club. Incredibly I still have a few Airfix 1/32 figures and my first 1/35 tank, a Tamiya Tiger I.

3cm M.K. 103 Zwilling Flakpanzer IV "Kugelblitz"

Cyber-Hobby's re-released Panzer IV Flakpanzer Kugelblitz

Although very few photographs survive of this prototype it still makes into a very pleasing model. A review can be found below

http://www.missing-lynx.com/reviews/german/dml9109reviewcs_1.html

Finished with the Vallejo Dunkengelb modulation set, Abteilung oils and Mig pigments, I completed this in 2014

 

My model making journey starts (2010)

It's late 2010. After starting the Tamiya Steyr kit I found a bunch of old modelling stuff at my parents. These included some quite well preserved figures, paints, and even the old but battered 1970's Tamiya Tiger I. What surprised me most of all though was that some of the Tamiya paint's were still usable!

I figured the Tiger I would be a great guinea pig so I set about trying out some of the latest techniques I had read about. One thing that I picked up early on is that the large Tamiya spray tins are not really suitable for 1/35 scale kits, and I would have to get my hands on an airbrush. I did some research and soon acquired an Iwata HP-C-Plus and compressor.

The Panzerwreck books really appealed to me so from the very start I was attempting to convey some wrecks. Scratchmod's site was a great inspiration and I soon set about destroying brand new but very cheap kit's, in my attempt to display wrecked vehicles.