Hello all,

New guy here...I just registered today and figured the best way to get started is to initiate some communication with all you folks who've obviously been modeling much longer than I have...boy have I been missing out!

I'm finally getting back into military modeling after a twelve year break....I was referred to this site by "kkeefe"...a great guy who builds near and dear to my heart..."MORTARS"...he has an awesome site if you haven't seen it... www.mortarsinminiature.com

Anyway, I just recently started getting everything together for my model building room. I know this is kind of a broad request, but I would love to hear any suggestions anyone might have concerning anything to do with modeling armor, softsides, and figures, such as... additional web sites, techniques, reference materials/sources and the like..basically anything you have found that I shouldn't be without...that kind of thing.

I hope to visit this site regularly, so anything you have I would appreciate..there are some really fantastic (and inspiring!) models, etc. on this site...one of the best I've found, so far...

For what it's worth, I served in the Army for about seven years total as an 11C...did my active duty time at Ft. Bragg with the 82nd...(CSC 2/325th Abn Inf. - '83-'84)...and at Ft. Benning as a Mortar Gunnery Instructor (B co. !/29th Inf. - '84-'87)...1/147th Inf. Ohio NG - '87-'88....and the 70th Div (training) USAR - '94-'96...if I can help you out in any way, please let me know....particularly if it concerns the 107mm, 81mm and 60mm mortars...

Can't wait to get building...Thanks!

Darryl
Cinti., Ohio

Welcome to Armorama!

Wellcome to the site 11Charlie.

Careful what you wish for... seeing the way guys help out eachother here, I think you are going to ge more than you bargained for!

As for tips and advice. All I can say is build what every you like and build it for you. Not someone else's expectations. If you're looking for help and improvement, you've come to the right place.

Welcome to Armorama! We love Kevin - any friend of his is a friend of us all! We like him so much Mortars might just figure prominently in our upcoming Artillery Campaign! Join up!

Gunnie

Welcome to Armorama!

Howdy 11Chalie ! Welcome aboard mate! I'm glad you decided to inlist here, you want modeling info and brotherhood of the hobby? Here it is with Armorama. Looking forward to chatting with ya!

Garry

Welcome aboard, Darryl!

I'd suggest surfing around this site a bit and you'll find loads of useful information. Be sure to check out the Features, Resources and Reviews, as well as the Forums.

Welcome aboard Darryl! Kevin did you right by sending you here! Oh, and as far as finding a better site out there... nah!

Kinda of a tough request, only because of it's vagueness.
Are you looking for tool ideas, kits, reviews, paints, references?

Welcome Darryl
As you've probably noticed, there's loads of info here. But a good start might be: https://armorama.kitmaker.net//features/14
Enjoy all the info and good people.

Hey, welcome to the "Big A"! Thanks for your time.

Thanks so much guys for the warm welcome...just what I had hoped for...

This site is obviously a great source of information...pretty much anything I would need, or at least someone I can ask...and I'm not afraid to ask really stupid questions and I would appreciate any constructive criticism when I do get to the point where I can post some "in progress" work...

In response to "Kencelot's" reply...I've been out of the loop so long, I don't know what's out there...I'd like some leads on who makes the best acrylic paints, armor and softside kits, figures (1/35), "how-to" books, etc. What everyone tends to gravitate towards I guess...you all seem to know what's good and what's not...

At this stage in the game, money, space and time are not at a premium, so I plan to stay with small builds for the time being...maybe leaning toward getting better at figures in 1/35, but open to other areas...

I'm sure I can learn most anything I need by just checking this site on a regular basis, but I'd like to get some opinions of those that have done some of the "grunt" work already, so I can avoid the expense of "experimenting" any more than I have to...I know much of this is personal preference and I do plan to build to suit myself, but I'm looking for the experienced modelers to get me on the right path.

Thanks again...I can't tell you how much I appreciate the help thusfar...especially from Kevin!

Darryl

Hello and welcome! It's always great to have members with real world experience with the things we love to build in miniature.
A good place to start with your search for materials would be Sheperd Paine's books on military modeling. One deals strictly with military vehicles and another deals with dioramas. Both of them cover a broad range of topics and are a good introduction to what is needed for the hobby. You should be able to find them at Amazon.com, most e-hobby stores, or at well stocked hobbyshops.
Hope this helps!

Welcome to Armorama Darryl.

Hello Darryl, and welcome to Armorama! Hope you enjoy yourself here

Well it is about time that you got here. Kevin could use some help. Glad to see you here. You will get plenty of chances to help out here. For every expert we have here there are guys like me thirsting for the knowledge. Be warned that this place is very additive indeed. Enjoy

Welcome to the site. I used to build before there were web sites. I was out for a while and got back in. For me, this site, and the people here have made the hobby 100 times better.
Many of us consider Armorama our "Model Club". And we love having new members. I look forward to "seeing" you around the site. :-)
Welcome aboard Darryl.
Chuck

Hey Darryl! Glad that you finally made it here man! Cool 'handle' too!! Told you that this place if full of great people that'll help you out no matter what kind of info you're looking for!! I know that you're a busy guy, we all are, but we're open 24/7 for your modeling pleasure!

Great to have you here... Welcome!! Looking forward to seeing some of your work (ooh, ya.. MORTARS! posted here as well! :-)

And believe it when the Animal says... "Kevin could use some help." You bet I do #:-) !

Welcome friend!!

Sir Gunnie... Standing tall! (Thanks!)

Two suggestions....use this site as your guide instead of "how-to" books and...stay away from kevin.

hehe

oh yeah, welcome and we like to chat during the daytime hours from our offices here in the USA...at...

http://groups.msn.com/ARMORAMA/CHAT

see you there

Hey Darryl
welcome to the greatest collection of modeling friends i have ever found..always willing to help..always willing to give you a bit of critism..on your build to help out...and always here when you need them..welcome aboard..Ray

Welcome to the site guy ! You ll like it for sure here friends and inspiration goes along

Welcome to the site Darryl, and welcome back to modelling!

As others have said, the best thing you can do is search around the forums. They are full of all sorts of ideas, advice, and great tips that will help you.

welcome to the best site on the net
there are a great bunch of guys here.
and we all helpe each other

Welcome to Armorama! I'm looking forward to hearing of and seeing your stuff!!!

This is AWESOME! I never expected this kind of response...talk about motivating...

First stupid question, since I can't find a local place for it...where can I mailorder "Scultamold" or "Celluclay"?

Darryl
:-)

First of all welcome and as a Field Artilleryman its nice to have some our of 'little brothers' from the infantry here.

Two places that I'd check out right of the bat are http://www.michaels.com for the Micahel's chain of art/craft stores or http://www.dickblick.com for the Dick Blick chain. Both have pretty decent prices and are backed by a decent supply chain so you shouldn't have to wait long to get your order. If you happen to have ether of those stores near you check em out, they'll have tons of paint and construction media you can use in building models at cheaper prices than hobby stores a lot of the time.