Your emails are always such a delight to read. Thanks for sharing & for the pix! deb :)
On Fri, Dec 12, 2008 at 4:40 PM, John Freeman <[email protected]> wrote: > > This is a tale for those of you whom I see pop up now and then announcing > you are beginners. Welcome to our insanity, and may you enjoy it as much as > I have and do. > > About 35 years ago I succumbed to a tiny ad in the back pages of Mechix > Illustrated magazine. It was placed there regularly, and in other magazines > of a like nature, by John Hathaway, who has since gone to that great paper > model shop in the sky. He offered by mail order a large variety of paper > models, published by the publishing houses that were then well known only in > Europe. Being a model nut since the age or ten, I finally gave in and sent > him my cash money. In return I got my models, and an envelope containing the > coins for my change--along with a terse note that he didn't carry credit. > > The very first paper model I built was the Willhelmshaven model of the tug > Hermes. Here is a picture of it, taken today, 35 years later. I built three > other small ships, and was getting along fine, until we bought a > "fixer-upper" house. Guess where all my hobby time went then! > > Eight years ago, after retiring, we moved out of the fixer-upper, which was > still a fixer-upper, and into our present home on Vancouver Island--a house > that needed no fixing! It occured to me that I now had time to try paper > models again. I went searching on that new-fangled thing called the > internet, and found that the paper model world had become a vastly different > place. > > I started in again gently, making some small, simple buildings like these > three in the picture. They are the Barkersville church, from Fiddlers Green > (http://www.fiddlersgreen.net/), the Byrd school in Pendelton, Oregon, by > Peter Visser (http://www.icebergbouwplaten.nl/), and a blacksmith forge from > a source long ago lost to me. > > I finally got up my nerve to try an airplane. I had tried one 35 years ago, > and the plane and I went down in flames, so I wasn't convinced that paper > was an appropriate media for airplane models. I built Fiddlers Green's model > of the Pietnpol Air Camper--a quirky little home built from long ago, > sporting a Model A Ford engine. Much to my surprise--and delight--it turned > out pretty well! Here is a picture. > > So here I am, many years down the road, and the biggest thing I have learned > is that you never stop learning. I think that every model I build I discover > something new. My most recent models are a quantum leap beyond the Pietnpol > Air Camper, but I know I am still a beginner compared to some other > builders. > > So, you new addicts out there--don't stop now! It only gets better! > -- > John and/or Marzlie Freeman > Check us out at-- > http://2oldkiters.smugmug.com/ --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Papermodels II" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/Papermodels?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
