What inspires us..

It's fascinating (I think) to ponder what has inspired us to take up our hobby. I wrote some time ago about Commando comics. Here's another thing that really inspired me.

My Dad was a Fitter and Turner, and a model maker extraordinaire. However he didn't make his models from plastic kits. He used wood and metal, parchment and plexiglass. I still have some of the wonderful models he made, many of them from plans that would arrive with his subscription to 'Hobbies Weekly' fresh from England. These included a lighthouse, a church, a swiss chalet, and.... this model of the Golden Hind. It sat in our 'sitting room' (as they were called when 'I were a lad') and I have clear recollections of being mesmerized by the model.

You may be able to see here the cannons, and the lifeboat complete with oars (all hand carved) beneath the layers of dust.

There is also an A13 tank in what must be about 1/32 scale I guess, that sat on my tallboy as I grew up, and I clearly recall imagining this giant machine going into battle. Today it sits in my study at work. I keep it there to remind me of what it was like to be a boy, in the hope that I will deal with boys sent to me with a degree of humanity that I rarely saw when a lad at school myself.

These were things that inspired me, although perhaps it was my Dad who inspired me more than the models themselves. I'm certainly glad he did.