Modeling Class by David K. Bogard

I dropped in to my local hobby shop a while back  (“just looking thank you”) and struck up a conversation with the owner.  One thing led to another and he told me about a Class that was ongoing and thought I might be interested.  I had built model cars 40 years ago but that got swept aside with career, family and so many other things that had come along.  Now at nearly 60 years old, I thought I might want to recapture some of the fun of building model cars again so I thought to myself, sure, why not check one of these classes out.  As far as model building goes it was the best thing I have ever done!

It’s been about a year and a half since I began my association with this class and now I own an air-brush and spray chrome and candy colors; I cut up and re-piece body sections to modify them to my liking; I literally fabricate items from evergreen styrene, solder and other commonly found materials, and the list of modeling skills continues to grow!

The beauty of it all is that nobody “tells” you how to do anything, they show you what they do and you are free to take that idea or technique and explore it for your own purposes. Almost all of the learning is based on real projects, many of which you get to do some “hands-on” experimenting. I have found so many techniques from members who primarily do armor or planes or figures or whatever, that have terrific applications to what I want to do with some of my car models.

Another key to this class is that three important foundational things are all commonly shared; Camaraderie, Encouragement, and Skill.  The attendees have diverse backgrounds and they are all a lot of fun to be around. I am not the greatest model builder in the world but I am always encouraged by the group as they “kick the tires” on one of my “Show ‘N Tell” builds I have brought in.  And finally, nobody in the group attempts to corner the market on some magic secret. If they try something we all benefit in the experience.

If you don’t think you’re a good enough builder to come join us, that’s exactly why you should come! You will learn things that are super easy and that will make you look like a much better modeler than you might be. (I know that’s the case with me!) On the other hand if you think you already know it all then that’s exactly why you should come because the rest of us could sure learn from your experience!

I used to struggle to “assemble” model cars; now I fearlessly “build” them! They don’t always end up quite where I want them but I am enjoying the heck out of this hobby again, even more so than before. Like I said at the outset about this class. . . “best thing I have ever done.”