I like to read things about modeling on forums so I thought why not join and see how that goes!
I am a Dutch man and moved about 10 years ago to Carrigaline, Co Cork Ireland.

I started making Matchbox plastic planes in about 1974, the little ones moulded in two or more colours so there was no need to paint.
The glue was provided in a rubbery ampul.
I liked several things in those days and building a model every now and then was just one of them.
The models were small and rather cheap, I tried planes and cars and boats and soon I bought my first glue instead using the supplied one: first a tube and later a brushable.
Then other brands in either one or multi colour like Italeri and Revell but decided to start to paint them as I didn't like to multi colour look (very fake I thought) and I found the mono colour very dull in white or grey. The decals would provide colour but only on a dull basis. So after the first few years I bought the Humbrol and Revell tinlets.
Not easy to make a pattern and impossible to make a straight line so experimenting with cellotape.

Some models stayed, others broke or were destroyed in play so you keep on replacing kits and become better.
To make place you have to choose what you want to keep for years and what you want to remove in a not very recycling manner...you are still a child.
Boats were eventually floated on our pond and blown up with fire works so they would sink in a battle watched from my rubber boat.
Planes would burn and crash, cars the same.
A shame that a few were not left to put on your shelf right now.

My father, a merchant sailor, had also built these things in his youth and probably gave me the idea to do this as well.
Also a good excuse to teach me and help me with my own models, same what I do with my son now.
I never needed much help because I got the hang of it and was patient when needed be.
Soon I didn't want any help because I liked to build all by myself, not in a greedy way of course.
My father sailed all over the work for all his life so he visited Japan and HongKong on a regular basis so after one of those trips (6 months at a time) he brought me a big scale Tiger tank from Tamiya in a box nearly as large as his suitcase.
Great gift for an 11 year old and what a treasure was in the box: loose link tracks with metal hinge pins, 2 electromotors, a controller in bits and pieces, wires and lots of plastic.
The instruction manual was in Japanese only so all the wire colour codes and other things handy to know for the build were in that language....great challenge to construct the electrical parts because nothing was premade. I made a legend of Japanese signs and their Dutch translations according to my opinion without ever knowing what they would sound like.
Anyway it all worked at the first try.
Making the tracks was slow, all wheels were suspended by plastic torsion bars and there was a full interior. I learned a lot about that tank.
Took ages to build, it could drive over obstacles, steer, pivot and was a mighty toy which is still in my parents' house all these years.
The next trip he brought another one, so about 9 months after the first I had a King Tiger (a bit like a baby brother so).
The next couple of trips he brought me a Panther, a Jagd Panther, a Vosper Perkasa torpedo boat, and a M60 tank, all with motors.
He told me about the Japanese toyshops, their size and friendliness to children: they allowed children to play in the shops so I wanted to move to Japan for such a reason. And the latest toys, some would never come to Europe at all and very cheap compared to the Dutch prices and that is still the case, you get caught by customs and shipping though, but he just brought them per boat or plane and there was no import tax then as is now the case.
I kept on building, brushpainting and spraycan painting for several years until school and other things became too busy.....less models were built.
I tried wooden models as well and liked that too...different techniques.

Then a stop, girlfriends, marriage, children, job before eventually moving to Ireland.
My father, his 2 brothers and I started pistol and rifle shooting on the track which was a great hobby so after a while I was allowed to get a gun: one per year.
I got a .357 magnum S&W revolver mod19 and a Unique Des69 .22LR for target shooting. We could also shoot our buddies weapons and the club's weapons: so a variety of weapons were available to try. My favourate ones were the M16 .223, a scoped Ruger Redhawk .44magnum and a Colt Walker black powder in .44 ball.
Done that for years and was saving for a special weapon after trying many.

I could not bring the weapons to Ireland so I did other things: a wooden boat model but then nothing for a while.
My father however bought a model ship a few years ago: the IJN Yamato from WW2 Japanese Navy in wood, about a metre long.
He told me and I got anxious to see that thing, they had no computer so I looked it up on the net.
It tickled my blood and I went to MarksModels and bought a small kit to make again.
When I visited my parents it was well advanced and now I was able to "help" him with something, in this case the bow. My 2 brothers have no interest in models at all and they are not allowed to touch. My father and I take our time, we don't care if it takes long or if we take a break of several days.
When the Yamato was nearly finished he got a wooden Bismarck, a bit larger model.
In the final stages of the Bismarck he got the wooden HMS Victory and currently is doing the hull's exteriors.
O yeah, he started this with his younger brother: they have both sold their trains and have each the same ships so there might be a next ship sooner or later.
I would love to make very detailed, large wooden sailing ships from scratch but have no space so I am planning a smaller one with sails but which type? It will not be a kit anyway because I have several drawings here of Dutch ships.

For the moment I have my plastic kits and more or less all the possible tools available.
A few years ago I got my first airbrush and compressor with tank and now I have three and spray away, great fun.
I use several glues and have learned a lot from examples on the net and am not afraid to try out new tricks.
Practise makes perfect and it does not matter if something goes wrong, just start it on scrap and try it then for real.
It is a hobby so it must be enjoyed.
My son likes it too but he is also interested in sports and computer game stuff (we didn't have that fortunately becasue I like to use my hands for crafts and arts and DIY and not for games) I am not good with computer games and have not much time for that anyway.

I like to collect kits and keep on buying out of curiosity what the contents look like instead of waiting untill a kit is ready....it might be sold out!
I would build anything that I like to look at as long as it is a challenge and has many parts...also colour schemes are important like camo.

I like old WW2 items like tanks, planes, cars but also some newer ones because I like the detail and not smooth surfaces.
I still have several trucks, race cars, F1 cars, tanks and planes (fighters and bombers) to build.
A few things like AFV's, planes and cars are under construction and I want a few things by Christmas.....this hobby is something that can run out of hand easily enough and you can spend €50 on a tank and €250 more on upgrade parts from resin and PE, internal detail parts that will not be seen (cockpits, tank turrets) but you know it is there so there is a lot of satisfaction.
I keep the upgrades to a certain minimum unless I pick a model that I think is suited for that and I have to be in the mood.
I would love to do dioramas in 1:35 but again the space is a problem...I don't like the smaller scales although 1:48 tanks are not bad (HobbyBoss is very detailed).
Maybe some day I will make one of a WW2 scene combination of a few vehicles, a motorbike, some soldiers and a lot of debris and destruction, then again a desert scene with some rocks and plants is also a challenge.
Too much ideas too little space and time.

I must make a new large cabinet that will keep a lot 1:35 AFVs, 1:48 planes and some smaller scale larger planes behind glass to display them save from visitors because nobody is allowed to touch my models of course....they break things off.

I would love to visit an exhibition or something to take a look and discuss with the builders.

Regards from Carrigaline

Hi Simson,

If your in the shop or nearby pop into Marks Models, Cork and say hi, I'm behind the counter. We have a get together on the last Saturday of each month in the shop (except Dec) where folks bring in Models, all welcome and theres no charge except for a donation of E0.50 for tea n biscuits.

cheers

George

that's one detailed intro