Carlisle, PA

[willygoat]

Welcome Karl! It's good to have another modeler join the ranks. You can count yourself lucky to have been brought in by a good bunch of guys. You can learn much from the masters

[k.warner]

Ok, I finally finished my first real go at paper modeling... I did three or four of the willys jeeps Don gave me a while back to try out my gear, but then I moved on to one of the free models offered by CT Ertz (Thanks, by the way!), the CSS Palmetto iron clad. It was a great experience, and I think it was just detailed enough to be a good starting piece.

I am proud of the model at first glance, but when I really look at the details of the finished product, I see tons of room for improvement. I am certain when I eventually get around to buying a self-healing mat (I am using a clip board with the clip removed right now), the little bits and pieces will not slide around so much, meaning I can make cleaner cuts on the fiddly bits and details.

Conclusion: great model Mr. Ertz made available. I will pay WAY more attention to detail next time, and I will definitely revisit the model again when I have a few more under my belt and do a better job on it.

[KCStephens]

Great job on the Iron Clad! It really turned out great.
I look forward to seeing more of your builds in the future. Keep it up!

[Don Boose]

Wow! This is a great beginning, Karl! You really did a nice job with Cory's iron clad.

I look forward to seeing this model in person. With this start, you are well on the way to some satisfying model building.

You will find that the cutting mat will also lengthen the time you can use a knife and will make the cutting easier.

Next week, I anticipate getting back to MHI and hoipe to have the chance to talk with you and to hear about your next project.

Don

[modelperry]

Good Job! Can't wait to see your next project!

Greg

[georgerutherford1861]

Nice work. Be careful, though, the more you get of this the more you want and need! An upside, though, is that it's easier to hide lots of models you'll never have time to build on your hard drive than it is to hide plastic models in a closet - the wife always finds them!

Doug

[k.warner]

Thanks for the encouragement, gentlemen. I went ahead and bought a mat: Amazon.com: Self Healing Green Cutting Mat 8.5 x 12 inches: Arts, Crafts & Sewing. 10 bucks, no shipping and handling, so it barely fits in my budget. We will see how that works out.

I look foward to seeing you at MHI in the next few days, Don... which reminds me: I am absolutely fascinated by the designers here. I have gone through some of the threads discussing and showcasing the graphic design work that goes in to producing these models, and WOW! Where I work, I am literally feet from the largest military archives in the USA (depending on your metrics). If I can help any designers out by doing research (I do a lot of research on my days off) to help improve accuracy of weapons system models like tanks, wheeled vehicles, etc, please let me know. I would love to be part of the process!

[The Orange]

Wait, that was your starting piece? Looks more like a master piece!

Oh, and that cutting mat looks like a fantastic choice! Please tell us of your experience with the mat, I would love to get one for myself!

[k.warner]

Thanks, Orange! As much as I would like to say that is my starting piece, I cannot. I built 4 small willys jeeps (the 1/48 by Design Group Alpha), all of which frustratingly went into the garbage, and one other of the above iron clad, which followed the jeeps. The teeth grinding and cussing that went along with those models helped me form the basic skills needed to build something respectable. The above is the first model I felt worthy of showing to others :-)

And I will certainly post a review of the mat!

[Darwin]

hey, guys. we hooked another one....next thing you know, he'll be seen dragging his wife down the scrapbooking aisle at Michael's Crafts...

Welcome aboard, Karl. You will know you've truly arrived when you find that missing fiddly bit glued to the side of the "P" key of your keyboard.