Although I don't buy models very often because they tend to be expensive for the limited amount of entertainment they provide, I have been building plastic models since I was eight or nine and still complete one every once in a while. I have managed not to destroy more than a third of these and keep a large shelf in my room filled up with them. Also, I have currently amassed quite a large collection of model cars and planes that have been given to me, bought at garage sales, and acquired in various other manners and I am planning on building some of them this winter. I currently have limited photos of my collection, but I will continue to expand this page as I take more photos and build more models.
00Qan T "Gundam" Mobile Suit
My latest plastic model is a 00Qan T (pronounced "double-o-quanta") "Gundam" mobile suit (it looks like a robot, but actually has a small cockpit embedded in the chest armor). The model is from an anime series called Mobile Suit Gundam. I've never built a robot before and have also never watched anime. However, my family hosted a summer foreign exchange student from Japan in 2016 and, true to Japanese tradition, he he devoted much of his precious suitcase space to a series of creative and thoughtful gifts for my family and I. Among his gifts he brought this plastic model 00Qan T. I have no idea how he managed to fit it in his suitcase and deliver it to me in the pristine condition it arrived in, but I'm glad he did. Some weeks later, one look in the box was all it took to know I had a rather major project on my hands. In most plastic kits, there are maybe three or four trees of parts and a foldout page of instructions, but this came with an instruction booklet and there were over fifteen trees of rather tiny parts. It took me a little while to come up with the motivation get into the project, but once I did, I enjoyed the build quite thoroughly. Despite being in Japanese, the instructions were clear and easy to follow and all parts fit together cleanly and smoothly. The finished product is about 8" tall, has moving parts almost too numerous to count and can be configured or posed in a variety of ways. Overall, it was a very interesting and entertaining project and I enjoyed departing from the normal cars and planes to do something a little different.
De Havilland DH.88 Comet "Black Magic"
This kit built model is a De Havilland DH.88 Comet. The Comet is best known for winning the 1934 MacRobertson race in the form of an instantly recognizable, bright red aircraft christened "Grosvenor House." However, less known is that fact that two other DH.88s entered into the race in the form of a green aircraft, G-ACSR, and a black and gold machine nicknamed "Black Magic." Despite a flawless start to the race, "Black Magic" eventaully retired from the race to due to engine problems. I bought this 1/72 scale kit to replicate the beautiful lines of a DH.88 while avoiding creating yet another model of "Grosvenor House."
Revell Shelby Cobra 427
This is my most recently completed model car and the first one I have painted with an airbrush. The model went together quite easily (except the exhaust pipes, which still are only so-so) and I am very happy with the result.
Airfix 1:72 Scale Supermarine Walrus MkII
A very nice, very small model of this less known Supermarine WWII aircraft. The model went together pretty smoothly, although the canopy was a bit thick, and I enjoyed the build.
1941 Willy's Coupe
This model is among the first plastic kits I assembled and painted. I finished it many years ago and have consequently forgotten the brand as well as exactly when I built it. I have a feeling that I assembled it with a lot of help from my dad, as many of the models I built by myself much later weren't half as well done.
Dumas Stick and Tissue DeHavilland Tiger Moth
A rather cute little rubber-powered model kit, this DeHavilland Tiger Moth model is built from balsa sticks covered with tissue paper. It was my first, and so far only, balsa built kit. It was nice, but I built it a bit crooked and after a few years it began warp even further and come apart. This, along with a few crashes trying to make it fly without nose weight, damaged it too much to be worth fixing. For lack of anything better to do, I staged a "crash" in the driveway which included heavy use of my dad's blowtorch. This is a fate many of my models built from flammable materials have met. They are especially fun if they have fire retardant that smokes like real gasoline (a blowtorch quite effectively circumvents the problem of the fire retardant keeping things from burning well).
Pro Hardware Die Cast Vintage Car
This is not a model I built. It was given to me by a friend in a finished state and it is still one my favorite model cars. It is also useful in that it doubles as a piggy bank. I think it is a type of Packard Station Wagon, but I don't know for sure.
True Value 1933 Willy's Coupe
I bought this die cast model car/piggy bank many years ago during my short (and extremely limited due to expense) obsession with True Value's model cars.
Chevrolet Cameo
A build it yourself plastic model kit, I completed this sometime when I was 9. It had a long and peaceful life sitting on my display shelf at the end of my bed until one night when I was especially restless and I woke up to the crash of it falling on the floor. I don't have any pictures of the final disaster, but have since built a (albeit a bit sloppy looking) replacement.