Early Builds or Hall of Shame - 1980's and 1990's

Michael Phillips
I find it really cool to look at old builds from great modellers to see how far they have come from when they started. With that being said, some of these are quite impressive. You had a knack for Dios and weathering of armor and vehicles at a very early point. Thanks for sharing!

Spanjaard
Michael, I knew you have a talent for building models (your last Mig is really a master piece), but now i also know about your talent for flattering 🙂 thanks a lot for your incredibly kind words 🙂

Michael Phillips
Haha, thanks Spanjaard, I just call it like I see it! 🙂

Spanjaard
thanks again Michael 🙂

Choppa Nutta
some great work in there, pic 45 is my fave 🙂
nice to browse through your modelling history, thanks for sharing 🙂

Spanjaard
thanks Choppa. i think i have deleted a couple of pictures while you were writing. you mean the little Chieftain?

Martin Oostrom
All I can say is that your skill has really grown 🙂
But there sure are impressive pieces of painting in there. Mottled camo with a brush? I find that very impressive!

Spanjaard
thanks a lot Martin. mottled camo was done with sort of dry brush technique. I had no other alternative since airbrush (and specially compressor) were far too expensive for me as teenager in the early 90's!

Choppa Nutta
I think so, pic44 now 🙂

Spanjaard
thanks Choppa 🙂

Greg Baker
Hall of shame indeed! A misnamed gallery if I've ever seen one!

Spanjaard
maybe the pictures are forgiving, since the Tomcat for example, is a real shame 😄 but thanks for your kind comments 🙂
picture quality is not that good, but maybe it is better like that 🙂

gorby
I enjoyed looking through your old builds Spanjaard, even though some of the aircraft seem to have acquired some serious battle damage. It gave an insight into what my early models probably looked like. The dio's look good, although they probably looked even better before the dust took over. It's a shame that dust isn't white, then it would look like a light layer of snow (probably not so good for the Vietnam Dio though).
I think the Heuy, the Kawasaki bike, the Chieftain and the Ta 183 are the best of the plastic. Your Japanese swords are excellent, particularly being scratch built.
Some of that brush painted mottling is actually very good.

Spanjaard
thanks a million gorbygould, your comments about the dust really made me laugh 🙂
those pics were taken some time after i started to leave on my own... i was "glad" about the dust, "battle" damage by my mother would have been a lot more serious if she would have cleaned them 😄. on the other side that was also the cause that she eventually made me store them in boxes, since i was not there often enough to clean then😉
At least, most of them still exist. in fact, the Huey, Chieftain, Kawasaki and the swords are now in my apartment 🙂 dios will be a lot harder to travel with so there is no plan to unbox them....
and of course, thanks a lot for your kind comments 🙂

Alec K
Great stuff Spanjaard! I love it all. I think that all of these visual reminiscences underscore how far the hobby has evolved over the years. I still like to look at my old stuff; not only does this provide a benchmark for my own relative skill level growth, but it always brings me back to those days.

Spanjaard
thanks a lot for your kind comments, those old models certainly bring many memories 🙂

Kerry COX
Ah. ! The 'glory' days. 👍 👍 🙂
What a great collection of some stunners and bummers mate. 🙂
The beauty of them all are the memories, remembering each and every build and where it happened, for sure. 🙂 👍
If your a bit like me, 'rescuing' some of them is a lot of fun too, especially now that we have the ability to strip back some paint jobs and buy the decal sheets that would do so much to improve what's reclaimed. Thank you so much for sharing something that most of us have either tossed in the bin or given away. hahahaha
Spanjarred, your a champion mate. 👍 👍 🙂

Spanjaard
thanks a lot Kezza! no, even my worst examples i can not toss them to the bin. they have a great value for me. there is always a chance for rescue. although i must say that i have also purchased some of them again... "to make it right this time". although i must say that sometimes after the impulsive purchase I thought "why in heaving name i purchase a 30 years F-104 when I could have got an Eduard F-104 for example???" well, what can i say? nostalgia I suppose 😄

Guy Rump
Really enjoyed looking at your older models, many thanks for sharing. Definitely NOT a hall of shame. 🙂

Spanjaard
thanks Guy, really appreciated. pictures can be forgiving believe me... the F14 has enough paint on it to cover 3-4 tomcats for example 😄 😄 i did even use it to try and cover the gaps (putty? what for? 😄 )

David Januska
It's sad that some of yours hall of "shame" kits might be the best for me🙁. So there is a little hope for me, may be after a couple of years of modeling I'll be able to make better ones. Thank you for sharing and giving a hope:-D.

Spanjaard
not true David, the cockpit of your JU-88 is quite nice as I said there already😉 looking forward the rest.
we are all our toughest judges... if i were to judge my modelling by what i did in the past, i would not be doing what I do now! the main goal is to enjoy while we do it. some others will do it much better than us (Kerry, that goes for you mate), but that is always the case in life!

Kerry COX
Spanjarred, I could 'say' a lot of things about someone's work, but that is only criticism and nothing 'taught'. Pulling some ones work to pieces here is not the aim of your mates, but rather, when we tell 'how' we achived our results and the techniques involved. THAT is when others learn and become game enough to try a different approach, especially in the use of the air brush, new paints and methods. It was not until I had tried several brands of air brush that I figured out how to get not just a shiny surface, but a finish that actually 'sparkles', like a show room floor car before it is put on the road. But All the other aspects of scale modelling I became aware of right here on SM, and the way you guys did such descriptive texts with images that made all the difference for me. I may be an 'old' modeller, but it's the tips and tricks on SM that have made me improve my abilities. I have been insulted and brow beaten for some of my words and work over the years, and I will not be just like them to say I have 'helped' a modeller gain more confidence. YOU know where you can improve, and you know just how bloody good you will be. 🙂 🙂 🙂 👍

Łukasz Gliński
Thanks for sharing, mate. Not everybody has the courage to publish their hall of shame (e.g. me 🙂 )

Don "The Don"
I just love your German Gun crew Spanjaard. The mud and dirt to me on your diorama are just awesome. Please remember that no model is in the Hall of Shame. It is the best that we could do at that point in time. We all hope to improve with the next one. Thanks for sharing all your pictures. It gives me hope that I can achieve better results over time.

Peter Hardy
Being the most recent "beneficiary" of that advice Kerry mentions I have to agree. I haven't had a go at a dio yet Spanjaard but when I do, I hope and pray that I can achieve the level you have with the Viet dio above. Creative, inventive and skilful. I have only noticed one thing out of place in it, and that is the Buddha. SE Asian Representations of the Buddha are actually quite skinny. I know that only because my wife is Buddhist and he stands, surrounded by candles and offerings, unmoving, unjudgemental and unnervingly quiet in my Lounge room! He has a very nice hat though!!

Kerry COX
We are all very diplomatic too Spanjaard. 🙂

Spanjaard
ha ha ha. indeed Kerry
thanks all for the comments, i am glad you like it.
good that my first dio is "lost in time" some pieces are still around but the complete thing is lost for good 🙂
Vietnam dio i still like a lot. it looked better before the dust covered i must say. the Buddha? well, it is the old Verlinden figure, not much more available at that time 😄 😄 but you are right Peter, Buddhas are a lot more skinnier in Asia. i know that now after visiting some south-east countries.
i think that M113 was my first weathering attempt with oils, and first good results (dust in the sides) with my old cheap airbrush

Julian Herrero aka Yuri
Thanks for sharing .... not that bad for such old models .... I've still got some models from the 80s & 90s ,,, I'll post some pictures one of these days ,,,,,

Spanjaard
some were the state of the art at that time 😄 😄 besides, i could not afford even a good airbrush back in those days 😄 😄

Peter Hardy
So, what are you saying Spanjaard? You are rich now?????

Martin Oostrom
Not anymore. He's bought that fancy airbrush😉

Peter Hardy
Easy come, easy go!

Spanjaard
Ha ha ha ha

Gordon Sørensen
Some nice models there, Spanjaard! Like Kerry and Peter said, sometimes it is nice to look back and see how far we have come in our abilities...

Spanjaard
indeed 🙂 i hope i have learnt a thing of two since those models were done 🙂

Peter Hardy
Ha, I am still trying to achieve what you did 30 years ago! I still go back to the Kawasaki KR 500, some great ideas you have put into place with that build. Ok, airbrushes make the big improvement but your ideas and approach were spot on. Yes Spanjaard, I am still impressed with the bike! I now have two of them in my stash with a third lost in the mail.

Spanjaard
yes, i have that in my stash too, i will love to do again the KR500 but with alclad and airbrush, rather than humbrol and hairy brush i did a long time ago 😄 😄

Neuling
Nice collection with nuggets waiting for a refresh!

Jv
Thanks for sharing very interesting
For early work I think fantastic
But you sure have got a long way

Tini Hendriks
I wish I stashed all I made. Quite a pile, Spanjaard💪🏼

Spanjaard
thanks a lot Neuling, Jv and Tini Hendriks. i only have a couple of them with me, the rest are in boxes at my parents house. i would love to bring them with me, specially the Vietnam dio but changes are slim.....