My Modelbuilding Journey

Hello. My name is Richard. I live in Cape Town, South Africa, and I build scale miniature models. Not restricted to any particular genre, I build models of things that visually appeal to me. I have come to weathering my models, preferring natural-looking, as opposed to pristine or clean finishes, in fact, the dirtier or rusted it is, the better!  Also, I mount all my models on bases – albeit simple bases. And I love detail.

As the saying goes: “The art is in the detail”.

But getting to where I am today has been a journey….!

Come away with me, read along, as I tell you about my modelbuilding journey.

I was introduced to building plastic model aircraft by my stepdad at the early age of nine. In fact, whenever I see a Lancaster bomber, be it plastic or in a movie, I remember that he had made one. Sadly he passed away when I was eleven years old and that was the end of that.

 

Or so it seemed... 

The seed had been planted and, in 1984, when building Gunston cigarette canon models was all the rage amongst my colleagues, I decided to be different and built a ship’s cannon - my first model. 

The model was very basic and,

though accurate, it was not to any particular scale. I had yet to learn about that!

Being a lover of artillery and weapons of war in general, it was natural that I should go on to build a Napoleonic 12 pounder field gun and a catapult. The plans for both the field gun and the catapult plans were drawn from sketches in a book, so not exactly to scale! But it was good fun!

I even tried matchstick modelling, but

that was definitely not for me because

the result did not look realistic.

The model on the right was designed from 1cm x 1cm picture in a magazine and was made from 1500 matchsticks!

Nonetheless, the model building bug had gotten hold of me and I progressed from there to measuring and photographing an original Boere communion oxwagon in a museum.

From these photos, measurements and sketches, I proceeded to draw to the plans in 1/10th scale and build my first wagon.

I am particularly proud of the result, which could easily be considered as my

best work ever - considering that my tools consisted of only a set of needle files, a hacksaw, a small hammer, a steel ruler, and a vernier, which I still have, and use, to this day. Thankfully, I had access to a metal lathe for turning the wheel hubs, and a massive soldering iron for the tyres!

Shipbuilding took my fancy next and I built Latina Artesania's "le Hussard" in 1/50th, followed by an admiral model of Corel's "HMS Victory" in 1/98th scale and in (what is thought to be) her colours of cc. 1765. This build took 735 man-hours, over a period of 4 years, and 3 relocations and I lost my enthusiasm for building ship models, which is also the main reason why I did not build the masts, opting to build an admiral model instead!

After a short hiatus due to the bumpy road encountered building the HMS Victory, I stumbled across plans for a horse-drawn milk cart. The seed re-sprouted, and like a perennial plant, grew again and I tackled the model (still owning minimal minimal tools). This would be the continuation of my journey.

It was around 2004 that I discovered internet forums. One such forum, “Scale Model Horse Drawn Vehicles (SMHDV)” soon had a new member: Me! 

Online forums comprise of various people. Arrogant ones, friendly ones, and the list goes on. This one had its fair share of all of those types of people but two things that all members of SMHDV had in common though, was a love for building detailed models, and readily sharing the knowledge to do so. I stayed with this forum, building a few models, until it died. Reason still unknown… I think it was when a popular photo hosting website (whom we shall not mention!) started charging for their services. I know of a number of online forums who simply just died. [Sidenote: The link to the forum is still active, but the build threads are no longer there, and I see that they are now on Facebook].

I had, however, learnt a lot during the six years that I had been a member of the “Scale Model Horse Drawn Vehicles (SMHDV)” and had built a few models during my sojourn, so it was all good! I was getting tired of certain people's attitudes of superiority anyway and decided that it was time to move on.

I am particularly proud to say that I also authored a book on how to build a scale model peddler’s sleigh during this time. The objective was not to make money but, purely to author a book!

After my stayover at the SMHDV forum, I decided that I wanted to build a model steam locomotive from the American West. However, because the required engineering skills were way beyond what I was capable of, I decided to build a plastic kit instead and I was able to find a model of “The General” made by MPC, and in 1/25th scale.

I was excited!

Having been working with wood and metal up to this juncture, I had developed a sense for perfection (not that my work was perfect, but I tried my best!) and so, sought out the help of Eric Roberts, a professional plastic model builder. He gave me a 1/72 tank and told me to have fun. It was not as difficult as I had imagined, after all! I even added an antenna - albeit oversized!

Painting it in a realistic fashion (used and a bit dirty) and mounting it on a base somehow just seemed natural. I was pleased with the result of my first plastic model and moved onto researching how to build The General. I very soon realised that the MPC kit was very much lacking in detail and nowhere near meeting my expectations, my excitement vanished like morning mist over the sea, and I sold the kit to an avid plastic train modeller, who obviously did not care about detail, and moved on. June 2015: My start into the world of fine scale modelling.


I subsequently built two more scale horse drawn vehicles, (the hearse and merchant’s wagon) before switching completely to plastic modelling. As with all the models I had made prior to this, I built those which appealed to me – not pinning myself to any one particular genre. In fact, I tried various genres (except models of flight), but soon gravitated to dioramas, liking the opportunity for detail and realism that they offered.

From "3 Blind Mice" diorama

From "Space Invaders" diorama

Draisine

Articulated Sled

Studebaker Sprinkler Wagon

Peddler's Sleigh

Adam's Express Wagon

In early 2020, I discovered Shep Paine’s work and decided to try my hand at making a shadowbox diorama. The first one being the Nieuport, and the second, the Sopwith Camel, (pictured right) which had much more detail and added better lighting effects than the Nieuport's.

Having an electronics background simplified things a bit, but the art in shadow box dioramas revolves in setting the mood through lighting and effects. This is apparently a lost art and one that I hope to exploring more in the future.

As time has gone by, so my dioramas have become more detailed, and more intricate. My favourite scales are 1/12 and 1/24 and I scratch build, or 3D resin print, most of the items I need.

I really enjoy building miniature scale models. My workshop is my happy place. I hope the Lord my God continues to bless me with a steady hand with which to continue this journey.

 

I have not yet reached the end….. 

One thing people often ask me is: "where do you put your completed models?"

My answer to this, seemingly global challenge, is two-fold and simple. Firstly, I have learnt to control the urge to buy kits simply for the sake of buying kits. (Doing so has been a separate journey!) Secondly, I build dioramas, which take many, many hours to make. Hence, I do not have that many to concern myself with as to their placement. I have also started taking on some commission builds, but try to steer clear of anything with a high gloss finish!

Photo by: Richard E Mason 2008 

(Most of the models featured on this page are covered/displayed in more detail in the Model Build Blogs)