Why model War machines?

[Phil]

Why do you model after machines of war?
I am not trying to start any arguments. I do not understand, and I want to.

I HATE war, the senseless killing of humans, destruction of property. It makes no sense to me. It is a useless occupation even for national security. There must be better ways to resolve disagreements between our leaders.

Is anyone with me on this?
Or do you people LOVE MURDER?

Sure, I played "Army Man" when I was 8 years old, and I thought Tanks were cool, but the more I thought about it, what they were for, and what they did, I became more and more disturbed.

I DO NOT want to get into a debate about why we war, or why we NEED military. And, frankly, if you love war, or other things that kill people,I would rather not hear from you.

But, those of you who model after war machines, and glorify them...please answer me WHY?

Or just sweep me under the rug, and pretend I don't exist...
There will always be someone like me asking this question, you cannot ignore us forever...

CRAZY Phil signing off...for now...


No, I am NOT drunk!

[SteveM]

Originally Posted by Phil

Why do you model after machines of war?
I am not trying to start any arguments.

Or do you people LOVE MURDER?

Not trying to start an argument? With a question like "do you people LOVE MURDER?" I believe you are trying to start an argument.

It is possible to appreciate a machine or a weapon for its own sake apart from its purpose.

And this has been discussed and at great length many times. This has not been ignored.

[Avi8tor]

I for one have always loved airplanes and aviation, I still do, I love to read about them, watch shows about them, play flight simulators and build models of them. I do not distinguish between civilian and military planes. I suppose one of the appeal of military planes is they are high performance and are often at the forefront of technology. However your comments raise an interesting point does making models of military vehicles glorify war (And if glorifying war is wrong or right). I do not believe it does, anyway it would depend on the individual and his or her reason for making them. As stated already I would suggest to you to avoid assuming that those who make models of military vehicles like murder. All of this discussions and the questions you raised all depend on peoples individual ideas and there is no one correct answer.

[Johnny]

I can only speak for myselves here. I build models because I think it's fun.....and because the model itselves is interesting either in the way it look,number of parts or just because I want.....
That MURDER thing is in imho way out of line here.Thats the most stupid thing I have ever heard.
Just because I build models from ww2 and newer doesn't mean that I like war...or anything that's associated with it.
The ww2 is history,and will remain history.
The machines,airplanes,vehicles,ships,trains,guns and trains from that period of time are historic objects and attracts my attention just because of that.
It's not about glorifying the models either......
Get a grip man,and don't put anything else that fun and challenge into my hobby!!
I think the models look good and are fun to build.
And it's not the gun that kills......but the person behind!

[Leif Ohlsson]

Phil,

I appreciate your concern - and your courage to raise the issue. I wish I had arrived at a clear decision never again to model a war aircraft. As it is, I haven't, and the vacillation hurts.

At regular, albeit long, intervals these feelings will pop up. See for example this post at Kartonbau.de. I can only hope such recurring outbursts will be tolerated by the rest of this community.

As things stand I am not sure I will get over the culturally determined fascination with war machines in the time allotted to me. But I am working on it. At least at intervals.

In the meantime I am very happy for every single model of civilian aircraft appearing in the flood of military models. And for the courage of persons such as yourself to keep the issue alive.

L.

[GreMir]

Phil,

Machines do not kill anybody - this is done by the people who fly, steer or drive them.

I'm in no way glorifing war and definietelty I'm not looking to murder anybody.
Why I build warplanes? Simple - does are examples of the finest engineering ever created and I have great fun when building and then looking at them when they are ready on my shelf.

[Lex]

Phil:

I do understand your concern. Personally I only build subjects whose looks appeal to me, and frankly I'm afraid warships and military planes (--I do build civil jets too) look better to me... Similarly I don't make any military vehicles because they don't appeal to me, so it's not because they're war machines or anything... And also I believe weapons themselves are innocent, it's about the people making them and using them. My argument stops here, and I do hope this doesn't turn "hot"... Yes, we don't want war, especially not in our own community ^^

[dansls1]

My starting answer is probably the most mundane of them all. When I was a kid and started building models, the majority of the models that my dad had lying around and would allow me to build were WW2 airplanes. There were cars here and there and jets - and eventually I built a little of everything, but it's hard to get over those first builds.

Next I look at the choice of models out there with great quality. Halinski itself has more detailed WW2 airplane models than exist at all of detailed non-military aircraft or detailed car models, for example.

In addition, the 6 or so years of WW2 gave more advancements in flight technology than much of the rest of the last century combined. It's hard to argue against honoring that achievement of man over machine, even if the reasoning behind it was macabre.

Also, most of the soldiers weren't bloodthirsty maniacal killers or anything - they were doing a patriotic job. Sure, perhaps by my standards that patriotism may have been misplaced, but isn't there something to honoring those men and their bravery to stand up - even if you don't agree with what they were standing for (how's the song go - if you don't stand for something you'll fall for anything).

Lastly - if you ignore and hide history it's bound to repeat. When my son gets old enough, I just might get into the discussion of right / wrong of wars based on his curiosity in my models. Hopefully I can steer him the right way.

[Clashster]

I love history. I own many books on the Civil War and WWII. I have watched many a show on both. I am facsinated on how events can get to that level. Yet I hate war. Owning a book on the Nazis does not make me a warmonger. Building a tank used during that war does not make me a war monger or does it glorify the war in my home. I like to read, I own books. I like to build things, I like the way the finished product looks when I build a tank. I like the challenge of putting it together, building all those wheels.... End of story. No war glorification, just a hobby....

[Kaz]

Given the choice between a paper urinal and a paper plane, I think most would build the plane, if, after building the two, and showing them off, I would imagine the plane would be the model most people would vote for in a competition. Why? because of all the people I know 100% of them are human, and as such they display all the traits of a possesive, argumentative, destructive and selfish animal ever to walk this planet, with a very few exceptions.
Phil, you are one of those exceptions, along with several others I have had the fortune to meet in real life. These people are considered 'odd' because they do the 'abnormal'. Things not considered 'normal' by the majority of the selfish, argumentative, destructive, and selfish. :D

Still I love the (paper) war machines, very easy to stand on and destroy!