panzerace007
Active member
I'm just curious where & how every one got started in the Hobby ?? So, let's hear it ! Tell TnT your Story of Styrene Madness....
A Modelismo Manifesto
I guess I was 5 or 6 years old. I remember getting an old 1930's style Racing car ( Molded in Green Styrene) from a Ben Franklin 5 & 10 somewhere near Roanoke, V.A. or Blacksburg, V.A. ( My Great Aunt lived up there & We would go see her ), from then on I built a few more & then ran across the Corvette ! I must've build every one in exsistance ( AMT/ERTL , Revell ,etc... ) I had 'em all lined up on a bookshelf , just like a show room.
I ran across a Hobby shop in Cary Town ( an 'Ol shopping district in Richmond,V.A.). I remember building the Revell Purple Chopper ! , But what Stuck out .... These newly arrived kits of WW II Tanks by a company from Japan. Tamiya ! I built a couple . The Store moved, I ran across them in a Mall( I was in Middle School now. '82 ). When I walked in, there were two guys sitting at a table ( Andy Tutka & Jim Huseby ) building Tanks & painting them with an Air brush ?? What was that ? . I talked to them. They mentioned they were there every Sat. & I was more than welcome to join them. ... So , I did. After a few Saturdays I was looking over the Stock of Tanks ( Italeri, Tamiya,etc.. ) One of the owners ( Mike Begol{a great Figure painter, I learned a lot} ) came over & asked what I was gonna build next. I must have mentioned that I didn't have th $$. So he said that it didn't matter ,as long ,as I would do most of the Building on Sat. in the Store. I jumped at the chance & grabbed a Tamiya kit. He also let me grab some paint to shoot through the Air brush. ( The other guys would usually paint th tank for me ( I was 11, 12 ?), then after several Tanks They gave me th brush & said -" have at it ".) Later that year My Grandmother , for Christmas ( Santa, actually )gave me a Pasche VL & a Bager Air compressor. Mike @ Bob's Hobbies hooked it up !In-line Moisture trap , regulator for the compressor. I was set !!! I went every Sat. ( except during L.L. baseball season ) building & reading in their Awesome Book & Magazine section. There I was introduced to Shep Paine. I must have read his Dio book 50 times before I finally bought it ( lol ) ! I was also introduced to Military Modeling magazine , Panzer Colors, Squadron books & this Up-start from Belgium, Francois Verlindin ( have you heard of him ?. I never took advantage of the situation. I was there faithfully, every Sat. building kits ( never taking a huge stash home), Painting them & started building Dioramas. Answering Customers questions, etc.
Well .... that all started to decline once I hit High School( '85-'89) & discovered Girls !!! and Playing baseball, graduation, Then set about to become a Rock Star( I had been playing guitar since i was 8 & loved KISS !). I actually didn't get back to th hobby until 12 years later. Living in Richmond,V.A. & trying to be a Rock Star ( ?? ), it ain't happening. Kudos to Dave Mathews , Lamb of God & GWAR ( they made it ). A friend of mine told me that the Old Hobby store (BoB's Hobby's) from Cary town was now located out in ( He didn't know they were at th Mall)th 'Burbs. I looked 'em up , went in. I found there customary Stock of Armor. Although something was different. There was a New company- Dragon ? Whats with all these little brass pieces in there & how do they attach ? I checked them out. I bought th Kugel Blitz kit. Restocked on paint , glue etc.... When I finally made it there to the counter... there was Mike Begol ( Graham was there too ,noodling around behind the counter) ! I knew he ( Mike ) was there. You couldn't help but hear His Razor sharp wit when you walked in. SO, I'm up at th counter. I ask Mike if I look familiar?. He looks me over,with a faint bit of remembrance, I said remember the little kid that came into th store every Sat. to build Armor with Jim Huseby ? He lit up ... " Holy Sh%t ! Erik !... " We caught up etc. .... I ended up getting an Incredible bargain that day.
I continued to go back. Not to build, per say. To buy more kits. Although when Graham waited on me I never quite got th same discount.( ? lol ? ). After a while I noticed that Mike wasn't in the store as much , & then Ever. ... I was there one day & Graham gave me the News that Mike had passed away ! Oh ! a Sad Time ( I had to step back & collect Myself. It hit me like a Ton of Lead! Mike Begol did a Fantastic job at giving Kids a Chance at th Hobby. His work with I.P.M.S. Richmond is legendary ! Model shows that the Store put on Really brought people into the Hobby. I continue to miss Mike ! Not for the "discounted kits". But for Who He was. He was an Awesome Guy! CHEERS Mike I raise a toast ! Thank you for introducing Me to Scale Modeling & giving me the chance to build, even when the Lawn work wasn't paying. Thank You JIM HUSEBY ( a real Mentor) ! For letting me learn on a Double Action Airbrush ! Andy Tutka & Jim Birdy for letting a 12 year old pull up a seat & learn how to build Dioramas & Armor. ( I haven't forgotten You, Mr. Shep Paine !!)
Now We are present day ! I'm still an Avid Builder, mainly of German Armor, Figures, & Dios, & a member of AMPS. When the Members of My local AMPS Chapter ( AMPSCV )sit around and talk of what got them into the Hobby I always gotta tip My hat to Mike & the rest of the Peanut Gallery at BoB's Hobby Shop ! WoW !, I miss th Hell outta that place !
Thanx a Million Guys ... You done Good !!
So, Guys & Girls this is Me ...inna Nutshell ! Thanx for reading
ERIK
A Modelismo Manifesto
I guess I was 5 or 6 years old. I remember getting an old 1930's style Racing car ( Molded in Green Styrene) from a Ben Franklin 5 & 10 somewhere near Roanoke, V.A. or Blacksburg, V.A. ( My Great Aunt lived up there & We would go see her ), from then on I built a few more & then ran across the Corvette ! I must've build every one in exsistance ( AMT/ERTL , Revell ,etc... ) I had 'em all lined up on a bookshelf , just like a show room.
I ran across a Hobby shop in Cary Town ( an 'Ol shopping district in Richmond,V.A.). I remember building the Revell Purple Chopper ! , But what Stuck out .... These newly arrived kits of WW II Tanks by a company from Japan. Tamiya ! I built a couple . The Store moved, I ran across them in a Mall( I was in Middle School now. '82 ). When I walked in, there were two guys sitting at a table ( Andy Tutka & Jim Huseby ) building Tanks & painting them with an Air brush ?? What was that ? . I talked to them. They mentioned they were there every Sat. & I was more than welcome to join them. ... So , I did. After a few Saturdays I was looking over the Stock of Tanks ( Italeri, Tamiya,etc.. ) One of the owners ( Mike Begol{a great Figure painter, I learned a lot} ) came over & asked what I was gonna build next. I must have mentioned that I didn't have th $$. So he said that it didn't matter ,as long ,as I would do most of the Building on Sat. in the Store. I jumped at the chance & grabbed a Tamiya kit. He also let me grab some paint to shoot through the Air brush. ( The other guys would usually paint th tank for me ( I was 11, 12 ?), then after several Tanks They gave me th brush & said -" have at it ".) Later that year My Grandmother , for Christmas ( Santa, actually )gave me a Pasche VL & a Bager Air compressor. Mike @ Bob's Hobbies hooked it up !In-line Moisture trap , regulator for the compressor. I was set !!! I went every Sat. ( except during L.L. baseball season ) building & reading in their Awesome Book & Magazine section. There I was introduced to Shep Paine. I must have read his Dio book 50 times before I finally bought it ( lol ) ! I was also introduced to Military Modeling magazine , Panzer Colors, Squadron books & this Up-start from Belgium, Francois Verlindin ( have you heard of him ?. I never took advantage of the situation. I was there faithfully, every Sat. building kits ( never taking a huge stash home), Painting them & started building Dioramas. Answering Customers questions, etc.
Well .... that all started to decline once I hit High School( '85-'89) & discovered Girls !!! and Playing baseball, graduation, Then set about to become a Rock Star( I had been playing guitar since i was 8 & loved KISS !). I actually didn't get back to th hobby until 12 years later. Living in Richmond,V.A. & trying to be a Rock Star ( ?? ), it ain't happening. Kudos to Dave Mathews , Lamb of God & GWAR ( they made it ). A friend of mine told me that the Old Hobby store (BoB's Hobby's) from Cary town was now located out in ( He didn't know they were at th Mall)th 'Burbs. I looked 'em up , went in. I found there customary Stock of Armor. Although something was different. There was a New company- Dragon ? Whats with all these little brass pieces in there & how do they attach ? I checked them out. I bought th Kugel Blitz kit. Restocked on paint , glue etc.... When I finally made it there to the counter... there was Mike Begol ( Graham was there too ,noodling around behind the counter) ! I knew he ( Mike ) was there. You couldn't help but hear His Razor sharp wit when you walked in. SO, I'm up at th counter. I ask Mike if I look familiar?. He looks me over,with a faint bit of remembrance, I said remember the little kid that came into th store every Sat. to build Armor with Jim Huseby ? He lit up ... " Holy Sh%t ! Erik !... " We caught up etc. .... I ended up getting an Incredible bargain that day.
I continued to go back. Not to build, per say. To buy more kits. Although when Graham waited on me I never quite got th same discount.( ? lol ? ). After a while I noticed that Mike wasn't in the store as much , & then Ever. ... I was there one day & Graham gave me the News that Mike had passed away ! Oh ! a Sad Time ( I had to step back & collect Myself. It hit me like a Ton of Lead! Mike Begol did a Fantastic job at giving Kids a Chance at th Hobby. His work with I.P.M.S. Richmond is legendary ! Model shows that the Store put on Really brought people into the Hobby. I continue to miss Mike ! Not for the "discounted kits". But for Who He was. He was an Awesome Guy! CHEERS Mike I raise a toast ! Thank you for introducing Me to Scale Modeling & giving me the chance to build, even when the Lawn work wasn't paying. Thank You JIM HUSEBY ( a real Mentor) ! For letting me learn on a Double Action Airbrush ! Andy Tutka & Jim Birdy for letting a 12 year old pull up a seat & learn how to build Dioramas & Armor. ( I haven't forgotten You, Mr. Shep Paine !!)
Now We are present day ! I'm still an Avid Builder, mainly of German Armor, Figures, & Dios, & a member of AMPS. When the Members of My local AMPS Chapter ( AMPSCV )sit around and talk of what got them into the Hobby I always gotta tip My hat to Mike & the rest of the Peanut Gallery at BoB's Hobby Shop ! WoW !, I miss th Hell outta that place !
Thanx a Million Guys ... You done Good !!
So, Guys & Girls this is Me ...inna Nutshell ! Thanx for reading
ERIK
From there, it was cars, cars,cars! I used my allowance, Christmas and birthday money and returned pop bottles to fuel my obsession! We had a variety store up the street that stocked some models and paints, so did the grocery and drug stores, so it always gave us something to drool over. 
). Fast forward about 20 years,my son found a new hobby shop near our apartment. What a place! Look at all these models I had as a kid! Do you want to build one?? Bought my son 6 models for Christmas, hooked him and reignited my fire! The IPMS Plastic Surgeons met at that shop and invited us to a meeting, been a part of that group in one form or another since! They corrupted me, dared me to build a tank and it's been all downhill since. :idonno
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