Well said, Richard. I began at 12 y/o with Aurora WW1 planes then Monogram and Revell. There was certainly no PE then and resin cast parts didn't surface until the early 80's. During this period if you wanted an addon or needed to correct/add a scale part, you fabricated it on your own. We'd find ourselves going to and through stores such as sewing shoppes or 5 and dime stores looking at each and every item and thinking "how can I use this ". I acquired my first airbrush - Badger 100 single action - in 1975 then began building and competing in a scale aircraft modeling club and against other clubs in the area in 1979. Then regional after that til 1991. After a long hiatus I began modeling for myself in 2021. How true that we learn valuable skills through modeling. And for me it's also an immersive escape to my youth and love of aircraft. So much to learn. I was given the opportunity to join a local club but the need to meet completion deadlines et al tends to take the relaxation and joy out of it. If I were younger - 72 y/o now - I'd jump into a competitive venue. Keep doing what you seem to be doing so very, very well and ENJOY! By the way, building models is a great vehicle to maintain your manual dexterity and thwart the early onset of osteoarthritis in you hands and fingers. Cheers Rhys

Agree with you and yes it is great to modify a kit and thanks to you I am foiling my bulldog and having a great time

I've ordered some micro scale foil adhesive in order to try the foil technique. All thanks to you.

Thanks, Richard, for your honesty & thoughts & I agree with your sentiments, especially the end results & who see it, mainly me. I love this hobby & and it was one reason I got into engineering. It takes me to another place away from the mad world for a time & I enjoy it. Absolutely enjoying the builds & both look stunning. 😊

The great thing is, there's room for all sorts of people in this hobby. I'm with you on painting and weathering - I like to paint and weather in the order that it would have happened in real life. I'm a bit obsessed with aircraft flying out of Malta in 42/43, so those I do weather quite aggressively.

Woah, Richard! The foiled Spitfire looks mint!! Bravo, sir.

Hi Richard, this is a really well balanced view and must agree, everyone has their own way of building and own expectations of their finished model. It’s a hobby for everyone at any level with so many techniques that can be applied that’s the beauty of it. Airfix is synonymous with our hobby and this Airfix kit is superb for the money. Enjoying this build not seen one with a foil application, let’s see some more when your back on it 👍

I'm lucky. I subscribed to a talented maker's channel but he turned out to be styrene enlightenment. Always worth my time. Invaluable.

Totally agree with your comments. We all make kits as wd want to make them. There is a culture of "I must do this because I see someone on the internet do it" They copy errors too so more people copy the errors thinking it must be correct because that error has been copied so many times. I dislike all this heavy panel lining. Look at a kit with loads of black lines all over it then look at a real plane. Where are the lines? Like you I find it dull building out of the box and love buying an inferior kit and improving it. I do my research and try and get it right to avoid copying others errors. One quick question why is one engine bearer longer than the other on the Spit? Never realised it was before seeing yours. Cheers and keep it up. 😊

I couldn't agree more. I like Airfix too, I just wish they would give me a pilot in every kit so its not a flying "Marrie-Celeste". There are too many KZfaqrs who proclaim "I'm not telling you how you must do it" and then promptly decry anything other than their way. Manufacturers are too easily influenced by what the !influencers" want. I like it the way you make your vids.

Really enjoyed your take on the hobby Richard , thanks Fred

Couldn't' agree more Mate...And great to see you convert some more Pilgrims to the " Shiny Side " 😉😜👍🍻

Interesting video that I found by chance. I gave up modelling some time ago because I found myself following trends on KZfaq. I bought the kits that the ‘cool’ guys bought and I tried to build them essentially the same as they did. I realised I wasn’t doing the hobby for myself so I just stopped and turned to something else. However, I have recently bought a Tamiya LRDG Chevrolet, SAS Jeep and an Italeri European SAS Jeep and a Tamiya Pink Panther just to make a little tribute to the early days of the SAS for myself. I have bought the Eduard PE sets to enhance them a little bit but I don’t care how accurate the kits are or if I get the colour ‘wrong’. They will be just for me, I won’t be sharing them on social media, they will just sit in a cabinet at home. I don’t know if I will build anything after them, I would like to do something to represent the SAS in the present day but I don’t know what that would be. So yes hobbies are just that and, like many hobbies, ‘influencers’ can ruin them especially when they are creating things supplied by the manufacturers just to influence people to buy them. Watching videos of people creating something simply because they want to and no trying to push it onto other people is quite refreshing so please, keep doing what you do so well🙏

I think you’re totally right in that it’s better to do build videos as parts. I do this on my channel and if I make mistakes or things are wrong it’s shown and it’s also shown how I fix the problem and that maybe parts lost to the carpet monster etc. now I’m no professional and wouldn’t claim to be. I just enjoy the hobby and think people new to the hobby can hopefully gain an insight into model building. I also think outside the box and like to try to do things that are a little different. Your Spitfire looks amazing though keep up the great work.

If your new to the hobby or getting back in to it can put pressure on people to get the so called perfect model I build to how I like it don't get me wrong iam expermeting with weather etc but each to there own in my opinion

I think there is a hard balance to make. You want to make a perfect model ( and I am impressed ) but you have to rely on Airfix , because otherwise you couldn't make the model in the first place. But Airfix relies on you, because otherwise there is no meaning in producing kits. What came first: egg or chicken?

Hi Richard, remember your biggest critic is yourself, you will see faults in your build that no one else ever will, £90 will pay for your spitfire and has entertained 1500 people, that’s not bad value is it.