Seadude's Shenanigans: I dare to be different!

[seadude]

What the hell. I'll give this a try. Not sure how much I'll write or how often, but I'll give this a try. 

Where to start?

I first got into modeling back when I was 11 and was visiting my dad while on summer vacation. My stepmom noticed that some days I was bored around the house, so she took me to the nearest mall and I browsed the toy store looking for something to keep me occupied. I settled on two model kits: An F-105 Thunderchief, and a small ship, possibly a battleship but I don't remember. A few brushes and bottle of paints later and I was back at the house working on putting them together and painting them. In the next few days, the results were crude, but I guess I didn't care. As long as it kept me occupied and kept me from getting bored, then my stepmom was happy. That was back in 1981.
Now turn the clock forward to the mid '80's. I think that's where my modeling bug really started to take off. But everything then was pretty much straight from the box. No whifs during that time. And my gluing and painting results weren't that spectacular either. There was no model websites, blogs, or other social sites and groups to rely on back then for help. I didn't know anybody. Throughout the 80's and 90's, most of the models I built were pretty much normal OOB stuff. I had a Space Shuttle, B-1B bomber, New Jersey modern battleship, Bismarck battleship, Forest Sherman destroyer, F-4 Phantom, Ford F-150 pickup truck, SR-71 Blackbird, F-19 Stealth Fighter, and a whole bunch of other stuff. All that stuff is long gone now. Relegated to the garbage heap somewhere.

Now it is the 2000's and times have changed. More to follow in another post. 

[Go4fun]

Welcome back to the model kingdom. Here different is better and you can let your imagination run wild.
So a tip of the glue pot and a 21 hobby knife salute for joining What If modeling.

[kerick]

Your in the right place!

[seadude]

So how did I get into model whiffing? When did it all begin? I'm not really sure. Probably started in the early 2000's I think. I remember reading and having a copy of a FineScale Modeler magazine article titled "Modeling the Air Force that never was.". This article described and showed one person's (or was it different people? ) models of aircraft that never were, but could have been. For example: A USAF F-16XL in production service, an Australian anti-ship F-16 fitted with Harpoon missiles, an X-29 FSW fighter in camouflage and used as an aggressor in Top Gun, an an A-10 Warthog in Israeli camouflage/markings fitted for anti-tank missions. This one article, plus the fact that I was getting tired of seeing the "same old, same old" models of Tiger tanks, Yamato battleships, etc. at contests and in magazines is what started my beginnings into what if's.

Granted, there's nothing wrong with building the "same old, same old" stuff from time to time. We all have our reasons for building F-16's, Tiger tanks, Spitfires, etc. straight from the box.  Some people build them because friends or family served on them. Others because of the historical relevance, and still there are many more numerous reasons.  But for me, I was getting bored of seeing the same thing shown and talked about time after time. An F-16 is still an F-16 no matter how you load it up with weapons or change the unit markings. For me, I needed something different. I wanted to see and build stuff that nobody had ever seen or heard of before. I wanted to use my creativity and imagination. I wanted to see and use different paint schemes, decals, weapons, etc.  In other words, it's time to GET OUT OF THE BOX! so to speak. So in the early 2000's is when my whiffing began. Some samples:
http://www.modelshipgallery.com/gallery/users/Eric-Mante/user-index.html

So what do I have planned for the future? Way, way too much. I have so many ideas, I'm not sure where to start. Right now, my current big project is whiffing a 1/350 Gallery Models USS Wasp LHD amphibious assault ship into a what if USS Solace humanitarian relief/hospital ship. My list is so big, I doubt I'll finish any of this in my lifetime:

1. Modern USS New Jersey battleship with more armament than you can shake a stick at. It'll be so heavily armed, it'll make the Chinese, Russians, and North Koreans shake in their boots!  Grin
2. Carpet Monster
3. Whif a Cylon Basestar into a Russian orbital platform.
4. Star Trek Deep Space Nine station. Not sure what to whif it into.
5. Build a second 1/700 scale HMS Habakkuk
6. Build a 1/350 scale HMS Habakkuk. (Might take me 10 years.)
7. Convert a XB-35/YB-49 Flying Wing into a Soviet flying wing.
8. Convert a 1/350 TAMIYA Enterprise carrier into a stealth aircraft carrier.
9. Build a second 1/350 USS Montana battleship.
10. Build either the H39 or H45 or somewhere in between, one of the proposed German super battleships in 1/350 scale.
11. 1/35 scale Landkreuser P1000 Ratte German super tank.
12. Build a WWII IOWA battleship/carrier. Only one official drawing exists and it ain't much to go by. The whole project will have to be scratchbuilt.
13. Korean war B-25
14. Scratchbuild a oil rig type platform and turn it into a military seabase.
15. Space 1999 military moonbase diorama.
16. Space 1999 Eagle transporter turned into a US Marine Corps troop transport.
17. 1/350 O.H. Perry frigate OOB, but with slight weapon improvements.
18. Testor SR-75 Penetrator into a what if B-3 stealth bomber.
19. BSG Colonial Viper into either a USAF or US Navy fighter craft.
20. Stryker AFV into an RV camper.
21. Battlestar Galactica with four flight pods.
22. Build every (or as much as I can) stealth aircraft, ship, etc. in 1/700, 1/144, or smaller scales for a special stealth display.
23. Testor B-2 stealth bomber OOB
24. FA-18E/F special project. No other info. available.
25. BSG Pegasus, but with a little more gun turret armament.
26. 1/48 F-15 Eagle, but with Phoenix missiles.
27. Academy 1/48 F-22 OOB.
28. Testor 1/32 YF-22. Not sure what to whif this into.
29. 1/350 scale NCC-1701-A. Might build OOB, or might add a few more phasers and photon torpedos.
30. Maybe build a LCS littoral combat ship into a Coast Guard ship.
............and I STILL have too many more crazy ideas in my head!

But right now, the hospital ship is on hold while I try to build a few small scale stealth ships for an upcoming May contest. I want to create a small display of stealth ships to showcase stealth technology on the high seas.

[Captain Canada]

Definitely a many and varied collection of ideas !

I'd like to try an oil rig set up some day myself.

[kerick]

I understand your desire to build "out of the box" as you say. If I opened a model mag or went online and saw one more bf 109 or FW-190ABCDEF I was going to scream. Not even people building RW stuff that was a little less well known. So, back to what I did as a kid. Take a model and start changing it. Seems to be working out.

[seadude]

2 days until a model contest this weekend. I don't have anything big planned to take. I had hoped to build 8-9 small 1/700 various stealth ships for a special stealth ship display, but I guess that'll have to wait till May for a different contest. Instead, I'm just working on 1 small 1/700 ship, the USS Freedom LCS to take with me. Will paint the main hull and superstructure tonight, then paint and attach all the other parts tomorrow. Even if I don't bring much to the contest to enter, I'd rather get more enjoyment by meeting others, seeing everybody else's work,...........and buying stuff in the vendor area.    I love contest's that have vendor areas, but my wallet doesn't love them back.    LOL!

[Captain Canada]

Sounds good. Ever since Brad aka Scooterman took me to the show I Austin I've been yearning to go back. Love looking at the models, but meeting the people and hanging out are the best part. And the vendors. There were so many piles of cheap kits there you could easily stock up for a lifetime !

[Howard of Effingham]

Sounds good. Ever since Brad aka Scooterman took me to the show I Austin I've been yearning to go back. Love looking at the models, but meeting the people and hanging out are the best part. And the vendors. There were so many piles of cheap kits there you could easily stock up for a lifetime !

aha referring to scooterman are we!? brad is a great guy always fun and a good modeller too. 

none of your ideas are especially crazy, btw. all normal to me and others I guess. 

[seadude]

I don't know what's wrong with me.  I confess. I didn't do anything last night like I said I was going to do in my last post. I thought I could, but I was too tired after coming home from working a long early morning shift. And now with 1 day before a model contest, I won't be ready and won't have anything to take to enter.
I don't know what it is, but I've been in a modeling rut the last several months. I just haven't had the drive, determination, or the energy to work on anything. October through December I can understand because those are busy holiday months and my job is really busy and I come home from work too tired to do anything else. But here it is Jan. through March, etc. and there should be plenty of time to build models. Work at my job is slow, hours are being cut back, and I should have plenty of time to work on models in the slow winter months. But I don't. And it's not like my home life is busy either. I live by myself in an apt. I don't have a wife, kids, dog, or other major chores to do and take care of. I should have plenty of free time.
Instead of building, I spend my time just thinking up and daydreaming about new projects and ideas. Or I'll spend countless hours researching stuff online for a new idea/project. Or worse yet, I spend more time buying new model kits and aftermarket accessories than I actually spend time building something. I've got tons of ideas for model projects I want to build. And I've got tons of model kits in my bedroom that need building. But sadly, nothing is getting done. I want to build. But the drive isn't there. I really like model building. It's the only hobby I seem to enjoy, have fun with, and excel at. And if I don't start making a huge dent in my model stash soon, I won't get to a lot of the ideas I mentioned further above in my list before what's left of my eyesight goes away and I'm blind for life. Is it just procrastination settling in? Or is there some affliction, disease, or something else that us modelers have that hasn't been diagnosed yet? I know there's therapy groups for alcohol abusers, drug users, and so forth. Maybe it's about time there were actually some Modeling Therapy groups. I can't be the only one going through this. I know there are other modelers who have the same issues.

So it looks like I'll just be procrastinating again tonight.  Fix dinner, watch a movie, then I don't know what else.

In other news..........

In preparation for actually building a 1/350 scale model HMS Habakkuk ice aircraft carrier, I have been digging very deep to find as much more information, specifications, blueprints, drawings, etc., etc., etc. to help me with this project. This is something I am not going to give up on.  Picked up the following:
"Churchill's Iceman" by Henry Hemming
"Code Name Habakkuk" by L.D. Cross
History Channel DVD episode "Weird Weapons: The Allies"
..........and also found some VERY informative info. on another website, but I'm not going to reveal that yet.   I have been spending the last few night researching, researching, and even more researching for this project. I have become obsessed with it. I wonder if I am going crazy much like Geoffrey Pyke was. 

[NARSES2]

Must admit I think we can all feel a bit like that at times.

I tend to pick up a good book and catch up on my reading until the mojo returns which doesn't normally take to long

[seadude]

Went to a model contest on March 7th. Didn't enter anything as I procrastinated and couldn't finish anything.  I did take lots of pics though. At nearly 500!  I should finish uploading them probably by the end of the week and ready for viewing. I was disappointed at the raffle and vendor areas. Really wasn't anything worth buying. Nothing that grabbed my interest at all. Which is probably good as I didn't need to spend more money and have another "hole" in my wallet. 

Next contest is a 3 day event in mid May which is strictly naval/ship related. Maybe if I get my butt in gear and actually build some stuff, I can enjoy a much better contest. What I was thinking of is building 8-9 small 1/700 scale stealth ships for a special stealth display showcasing the future of naval ships and stealth technology. What I have is the following:
USS Freedom LCS
USS Independence LCS
HMS Daring destroyer
USS Arleigh Burke destroyer
Visby class corvette
USS Zumwalt destroyer
French La Fayette frigate
USS San Antonio amphibious ship
Sea Shadow stealth technology demonstrator ship

I was thinking of rounding out the group to 10 ships, but I'm not sure what the 10th should be.

[kerick]

Just my $0.02 but I suggest keeping the project small. If its too big then you end up putting a lot of pressure on your self to finish. Then it becomes work instead of fun. And that will crush your creativity. A collection of small ship models can always be added on to later.

[Captain Canada]

Exercise. Physical activity. Especially if you were so busy before Christmas, and not so much now. It's a fact that an object at rest tends to stay at rest....so get up and get busy !

And maybe start with somat a wee bit smaller. Keep your Habbakuk research going, and use that as your ide bank or what have you, and get a smaller project finished in the meantime.

[seadude]

Just my $0.02 but I suggest keeping the project small. If its too big then you end up putting a lot of pressure on your self to finish. Then it becomes work instead of fun. And that will crush your creativity. A collection of small ship models can always be added on to later.

All the ships I listed are small. At least 8 inches or less. Should be easy to knock them out in a small time frame.