And now it's gotten to the point where if judges see that stuff they think you must be hiding something.

KL

Forgot to add something: Canopies.

Absolutely! Of the many hobbies I have, I think that if I had to select only one, models would probably be the one I’d hold onto. I love that you can actually hold in your hands that which you have built. And that it is a driver to learn more about the subject you are working on. The variety, especially today, is amazing, and growing all the time. As so many of you have written...so many models, so little time!!

Curt,
Right you are about the craftsmanship and enduring ability of model making. I've had many hobbies throughout my life , but as I age, the one hobby I've hung onto is model building. I used to hike, bike, fish, shoot (I was a competition marksman for a while) and SCUBA. Then came college, the Army, marriage, kids and other responsibilities. As I've aged, I've had to give up many of my pastimes due to life or my profession (I was a career army officer) and now-- age and injury. The one hobby I've been able to hang onto was model building. Model building was the interest I've kept since 1959 when my Brother-in-law and Sister bought me my first kit- the Monogram 1/32 Jeep and 37mm gun (which I still have, along with the original box it came in). My tastes, income and skills have changed, but not my desire to build something and as you said, be able to hold it in my hand as you said.
VR, Russ

I will build anything that piques my interest. And I probably have. Massive sailing ships, real wood sailing ships, balsa and paper WWI fighters, vacuformed airliners (talk about smooth finishes layers of glossy lacquer wet sanding gloss coat decals more gloss coat then using fine pens to simulate panel lines), fighter planes, cargo planes, (Testors 1/48 C-130 anyone?), real space, sci-fi, armor, autos, warships. Just about anything now including mecha and anime kits. I customized autos by chopping tops, suiciding doors, opening doors, trunks, working suspension and throttle linkage. I'm waiting on a paint order for a couple of armor projects so I'm working on an old set of tie fighters.

Build what you want, have fun doing it, if you liked it then good. If you didn't, well that's also good because you tried.

One thing I want to try is doing a few custom autos. It's been a while but car builders are using nail polish for custom paint jobs because of the vibrant colors. I'd like to give that a try.

I like building 1/48 and 1/32 scale planes the smaller scales can be a bit hard for me nowadays but the larger scales you can superdetail to your hearts content or you wallets limit.

So do it man and have fun.

Your assumption is correct !