I was born with dawning of the 5th decade of the 20th century, just as the industry of injection plastic models was taking off. I can’t remember a time when I was not fascinated by miniatures, especially model railroading. In those days of model railroading, building from scratch was commonplace. The model railroading magazines of the times were replete with scratch built projects and techniques. Most of the techniques and methods involved skills and tools unavailable to me at that time. Plastic and ready-to-run were viewed as the bastard stepchild. And while building a plastic kit, of any subject, was just fine with me, I was always quite aware that there was another way of getting something that I really wanted.
One of my father’s hobbies was woodworking so I pretty much grew up in the shop. I learned how to run all the machines as soon as I was able to safely move around a machine and see what I was doing; even if it meant sometimes standing on a box. So while I learned the concept of making things very early on, I could never quite figure out how to model much more than simple boats, let alone a wooden HO steam locomotive.
Even from the beginning, it wasn’t only the model. The history associated with that particular model was of equal importance. I eschewed most all modern subjects of jets, diesel locomotives and modern cars (with the exception of racing cars and hot rods). I always read and reread the few paragraphs of history included in the kits. This would be followed by looking up additional information in the encyclopedia ... a fixture in most all households of the 50’s and 60’s. When this proved fruitless, a trip to the local library would be in order. My construction of any one particular model might be rushed as I was in hot pursuit of another model. A model that seemed relevant to whatever historical progression into which I had become immersed.
The quality of construction and my interest in history came together in one of those parent - child exchanges that seemed of little significance at the time. While sitting on the floor surrounded by several squadrons of UPC HO scale aircraft, my father walked in and said, “Rather than just slapping together a whole bunch of little models, why don’t you take your time and build one that is really well made?” My next model kit was the newest release from Monogram, the 1/24th scale Deusenberg SJ duel cowl phaeton. It was the perfect kit to learn how just simple care could result in a very nice model. One that I was sure the Deusenberg brothers would have approved. Things have never been the same since and those words are still with me today.
My finishing techniques took a quantum leap forward as I added an airbrush about the time of my 15th year. Along with some spot auto body repair on my first real car, I began to get a handle on air-painting. I started building “craftsmen” kits of railroad passenger cars and custom painting brass steam locomotives.
Shortly after graduating from dental school, I was invited to join a group made up of some real luminaries and elder statesmen of model railroading. I learned miniature machine work along with other scratch building techniques. I well remember the phrase “Ah, come on doc!”, whenever I rationalized why I didn’t include a particular detail. All things began to seem possible and those early articles in the model railroad magazines no longer seemed exotic.
My more serious involvement with static modeling began with the Tamiya series of 1/12th scale Formula 1 cars. In the late 70’s I was introduced to IPMS and encouraged to enter a regional contest in Monterey, California.
The years following were a blur of opportunities and development as I blended techniques from various forms of fabrication and model making into my own style of scratch building. I was fortunate enough to share many of the techniques in numerous magazine articles that appeared in the early years of FineScale Modeler Magazine. Today I continue to publish occasional material on my website at paulbudzik.com and my YouTube channel “Scale Model Workshop.”
For me, every model is an opportunity to learn something new and explore a different construction method or overall concept. I certainly draw on past techniques to use when appropriate for whatever specific task is at hand, but a major component of the building process will generally be something that I have never done before. Something that I can add to my experience.
Other than it being of historical or sentimental interest to me, I have no specific subjects that I gravitate towards. Likewise, I have no specific scale that I like working in. Typically I envision the final display, how it will be viewed and what significant elements that I want a viewer to focus on. In the beginning, I used to take a linear approach. If the detail was present, then I felt obligated to include it. My goal at the time was to draw the viewer ever closer, discovering more and more detail ... dazzling them with my technical prowess. In this scenario, the only decisions were how to make the details. After a while, the process started to become tedious, mechanical and clinical. That pesky question of “WHY” became louder and louder. But unlike a small child, “Because I said so,” never seemed to be a satisfactory answer.
I doubt that there are very few experienced modelers who would deny that they have not been influenced, to one degree or another, by Sheperd Paine ... and I am not one of them. I was fascinated by his use of “creative gizmology” from the first time I read about it. The concept of giving the viewer just the right elements to suggest the essence of what is important and allowing them to fill in the details seemed so much more intriguing. So the first step in my current “approach” was to have the audacity to break with the conventional ... to return to the beginning of “My Journey” back to the underlying concept ... back to the “WHY.”
When you start from scratch, the decisions and choices can seem overwhelming. What size, what scale, what materials to use, how can I make or where am I going to get this or that ... and on and on. It’s easy to get sidetracked and wind up going down a rabbit hole. The processes and techniques involved in building scratch built models are endless and most often vary greatly from model to model. Any attempt to cover just a fraction of the various methods would fill volumes. However, if taken back to basic concepts, there are many commonalities that are shared in almost all successful attempts.
The following four part video series is meant to be watched in the specific order. It is a personal walk through of what I learned about myself as I worked through the build review of the Tamiya P-38J. The Tamiya P-38J kit is very well designed to be built and displayed in a specific manner far different from my personal concept of an aircraft model. Exploring the contrasts helped me articulate what I term “An Aesthetic Modeler”.
