Good luck with model building :)

As for military kits, Estes is still huge today, and they do a bunch of kits, including some snap-tites. As mentioned, they’re not quite as high quality as glue togethers, but with a little bit extra time, modeling putty and some files, they can look very good.

I’m a long time reader and now first time poster. I love the James May series – very nearly went along to the Lego house build which happened down the road from me!

I’d like to suggest you look at the Games Workshop Model kits – they do Sci Fi and Fantasy kits – everything from cavalry right through to giants and then into tanks and space men. The kits come in a variety of “skill levels” – Take a look at the “Assault on Black Reach” box set – a load of infantry models, a space robot (dreadnought) and a bunch of other bits. And there’s a board game to play with as well!

For a more serious kit there’s the Baneblade or Ork Stompa. Gorgeous looking models and super fun to build.

Just my 2p

Varchilde

http://puzzlecollecting.com/index.php/tag/leather-puzzle/

I’ve done a bit of woodworking in my day, too. I always love devising new wooden mechanical puzzles. Someday, I’d love to have a steampunkish woodworking/metalworking shop, where I’d churn out models and puzzles. Ah, I can dream…

Listened to Vinyl Cafe? Unrelated but adorable.

Anyway i can remember sitting behind the steering wheel of my grandfather’s vintage car at the thanksgiving parade.
That time i was something around 8 as i still was in elementary school.
That was a VERY nice day for me.

As far as Estes model rockets, yep, I did that stuff when I was a young’un, but I judge that he’s a bit too young… and it’s hard to find places with a large enough field, AND a clear airspace overhead to legally launch ‘em. I figure that to be a 12ish project.

I also did a lot of leatherworking, knifemaking and gunsmithing, reloading, that kind of thing. I think I mentioned the reloading stuff a long time ago, in one of the storytimes. The knifemaking itself was fun, but I enjoyed learning to acid etch the blades more than the knifemaking part itself.

The one thing I did that I really enjoyed, and was good at, that I miss is leatherworking. I even looked into Tandy dealers in the area recently, thinking about getting back into it.

The problem is, I did leatherworking to make my own custom accessories for my knife making and gun collecting. I made gunbelts and quick draw holster rig for my Ruger single six and super blackhawk, holsters for various other pistols, belts of different styles, and sheaths for custom knives.

I did make a pair of hawking gloves once after watching Ladyhawke and thinking they’d look cool, and I made a really crappy looking leather vest that sounded better than it turned out, but other than that… gun stuff and knife stuff.

I don’t own guns or knives anymore. Well, okay, I do have a gun, and I’ve also got a firearm (lol), and I do have some knives, but I don’t go collecting ‘em or messing around with that stuff anymore. No real interest in it. So, what the hell would I MAKE out of leather? Belts? I can only wear one at a time, and so can Alex. A purse? Yeah, I think Cassie would prefer picking a more fashionable style than I’d make.

Too bad, really, I enjoyed leatherworking a lot, and it was a rather unusual hobby that I don’t see anyone else doing that much of anymore, and the mass produced stuff is, rankly, crap that falls apart. The stuff I made was freaking bulletproof.

Model making sounds pretty fun.