FROM AIRFIX TO SCRATCH-BUILDING. 40 years of model making | ASPW
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- čas přidán 25. 08. 2024
- From Airfix to scratch-building tells the story of my model making since 1965. Welcome to "ASPW,", Andrew St Pierre White's living life to the fullest channel.
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It's fantastic that you still have the old children's films from the past. I see a lot in common, I was born in Germany in 1961 and I still build model airplanes to this day. Even professionally, airplanes have never let go of me, I've been with the German Air Force for 42 years, 38 years as a crash rescue firefighter. Greetings from Germany Ed
WONDERFUL. I,m 68 and didi the same things you did growing up. Spent my childhood,building and flying RC airplanes and boats,and building models of them. What a GREAT time to grow up. My brother went on to become a pilot,and i spent my time on boats. Both sailing and motor, doing underwater photography around the World. Spent a month in Austraila,years ago. Enjoy your videos very much,keep them coming.
I gave up model building for 20 years and got back into it during the pandemic. It's such a fun and rewarding hobby, I encourage any kids out there to give it a go.
You are the GOAT of model ship building.
Absolutely brilliant you made hand built modelling come to life, 24 minutes of heaven. No repeating (saying the same words over and over) yourself, speaking quietly and calmly. This is the best video I have seen you do.
I was totally immersed in your story, It reminded me so much of my late father who was an RAF veteran in Nth Africa during WW2 and later returned to photography in Manchester and emigrated some years later to Australia to open a Camera & Hobby Centre in Ballarat. My childhood was full of aircraft models and humbrol paints as well as a fair array of Balsa wood, as it was just too expensive for customers to buy in the 70's. I migrated from planes and trains to WW2 tanks and infantry, painstakingly assembled and painting faces on 1/64 scale soldiers. My father would drop me off to a group of friends on a Saturday afternoon where I met up with others with a similar box of army soldiers and tanks, a dice and a ruler included where we would battle on home made diorama for hours, each piece could move a proportionate distance when it was your turn and a hit of miss was governed by strategic throws of the dice, this of course would be boring by todays standards of excitement but the inner child in me would love to relive that time, albeit somewhat tougher to get down on the floor for several hours. Thank you for sharing your indulgence Andrew, it certainly sparked some wonderful memories of my own. Regards from the East.
Brings me back in time, A authentic warm docu of An artist Weldone.
Just wonderful. Thank you. Took me back 60 years plus.
Hello from Germany, great Video , I am Born 1961 , and I have exakt the same experiences with Airfix and other Model Kits like you . I was the whole Life interested in Airplanes , and I am now 37 years Crash Rescue Firefighter in the German Airforce. Greetings Edward
The comment about the little rewards all the way through the build is a good explanation. Love solving the little problems. It all comes together at the end.
Bonjour et merci pour votre vidéo
Je me suis retrouvé dans vos archives de famille quand J était enfant et que mes maquettes prenaient leur envol😭
Aujourd'hui à 57 ans je construit toujours comme vous
Merci pour ces jolis souvenirs
Jean Luc
Andrew, I was born in 1951, and grew up in West Wickham, I used to collect ship deck plans during my youth and had ambitions to become a Navigating Officer in the Merchant Navy when I left school. However, despite gaining a place at the King Edward VII Nautical College, I was unable to take up my place, after failing the Board of Trade eyesight test. I then decided to join the Royal Navy as an Artificer Apprentice. At the same time a school friend joined the Ben Line as an engineering cadet, as spent his first years on vessels carrying bananas out of Cape Town.
I well remember my dad taking me to see the Biggin Hill Airshow, a number of times around the late 50s and early 60s, and your film brought back many happy memories. Not having a car we walked the few miles across Hayes Common and Keston Common to RAF Biggin Hill. My dad's mother lived in a small house in Greenwich, we would visit often, on the 47 bus from Bromley, I would regularly visit The Royal Observatory, and the Cutty Sark, and on occasion I would also visit the National Maritime Museum. Viewing their collection of model ships was always a most enjoyable pastime, and they were all crafted to the highest standard.
Revisiting years later with my youngest son, I was dismayed to find that the ship model collection had been placed in storage, although I was told that some had been transferred to Chatham Dockyard. Visiting there a few years later I found that only a fraction of those were on public display.
I have since found that the bulk of the Maritime Museum collection is in storage, but can be viewed by appointment. Something that was not known at the time.
www.rmg.co.uk/collections/our-collection-worlds-largest-ship-model-collection. This would be well worth a visit.
I imagine that travelling as you did with your family would have been very exciting for you and your brothers.
Your video was a fascinating insight into your hobby as you grew up.
Faantastic video. Why would anyone watch television when they can get content of this quality on CZcams.
I have built many kit motorcycles in the past. I am thinking of getting back into it. Model building is one of the most rewarding things I have ever done.
The level of model building as a hobby has risen so much in the last decade thanks to social media it is mind boggling. So many young builders with CZcams channels who all do things that would have blown my mind when I was struggling with my model kits as a kid.
As one ship modeler to another, I have to say how much of a thrill it is living vicariously through your models as well as enjoying mine.
This was beautiful. I have recently got back into model kits in my adult life - partly for photography purposes, partly for the sheer fun of building something with my hands! Thanks for sharing this.
Well said 😊
I too enjoy building models for the purpose of of photographing them.
Me too !
Hi, thoroughly enjoyed this short film. My Nan used to work at the Airfix factory so Christmas was a time we got the kits that were ordinarily out of reach of our pocket money. Sometimes my Nan would buy models that were discontinued for pennies rather than see them get melted down - I once built a squadron of RE8s this way as they were just 2p each! We also had pretty much every Airfix toy they made too! I carried on making model kits until I was about 16 then under much pressure to 'grow up' I eventually stopped. Years later though I built some of them again with my son but only have 2 left; a 1/72nd scale Spitfire and the Apollo 11 rocket. Fond memories...thanks.
I really hope you enjoy building those last two - (if you do).
@@jjs3287 I definitely will!
I so very much enjoyed watching this today. Beautiful models, suburb workmanship.
From a boy I have always been into building model planes, particularly from World War 2. I am much older now but watching you video has inspired me to get back into it! Bravo! Thank you for the video and the inspiration!
This video should be on tv, it’s so good!
Dear Sir,
A Craftsman of Passion.
Thankyou for sharing. This was a lovely salute to your family, your parents and your brothers. As the eldest of three brothers, your storey brought back to me some great memories of growing up with them.
thanks for your lovely story great model building brings me back as a child loved airfix
I build to keep History alive and it keeps me Sane
I enjoyed building the Hudson as a kid. Loved the plane ever since
75 now, been building models for at least 65 yrs, remember building 3 Airfix HMS Cossacks, and one of my favourites USS Constitution, went on eventually to scratch build Boats, it’s helped keep me sane.
Marvelous video and beautiful models. As a child, I lived in Northern Rhodesia and we had two trips on Union Castle ships. The first I believe was on the Bloemfontein Castle and the second was from Durban back to the UK on the Rhodesia Castle. I loved that ship and the journey. They were real ships with a mix of passengers and freight so there was always a lot of activity when they called in at various ports on the way. I spotted the distinctive lilac coloured hull of a Union Castle ship in the thumbnail of your video which is why I clicked on it in the first place.
A world that came to an end still lives on.
I enjoyed listening to your stories about model building with your brothers and your scratch building. Thanks for sharing.
You are gifted my friend,a facinating hobby. In the 1960s as soon as i had enough money i used to buy a airfix kit. I had no money for paint and put the decals on grey plastic. I now buy built models from ebay. Im 61 now and cant see well enough to build my own kit.
Brings back distant memories growing up in England. I built a harrier, Japanese zero, spitfire. Look those airfix model. Funny how a childhood becomes a career.
What a delightful video which brought back many happy memories. Thank you very much!
Time for a Master Class. I'd sign up in a heartbeat! Fantastic work.
Thank you for that story I’m a modelling amateur at 56 have been building nearly my whole life ,I’m still learning and yes mindless tv sucks not many people know of my addiction I’m glad your story telling has shown me there are others out there thanks again and cheers from Queensland Australia 🇦🇺 mate
I'm 60 and my big issue now is eye sight lol......and steady hands hahah.
I built a CNC router that is also equipped with a laser so when it comes to wooden ships, I can pretty much cut out or "make" any part I need.
I even got into casting of aluminum so I can cast any fittings I need as well.
God, watching this really brought me back to my childhood. Buying models with my paper route money and finally getting into building very detailed models and dioramas. Building a Canadian corvette diorama from WWII picking up my dad after being torpedoed and that was the first time I saw my dad cry when I gave it to him. Thanks again for bringing back some warm memories Andrew. Beautiful workmen ship by both you and your brother!
I'm welling up myself here. Damn you.
thanks for that anecdote my late father served in the the war as leading yeoman of signals attached to whatever the convoy commodore particular vessel of choice and one trip involved the "dominion monarch" i discovered there was a huge of model of said ship in the science museum in south Ken i took photographs and executed a painting from the same and gave it to him as a christmas present My dads response was emotive as yours and the following year i exhibited it at the Royal society of british Artists ' (Mall Galleries) i think one of my relatives hangs it in pride of place somewhere in the home counties David P Rowan RBA (sen)
Wow, this is fascinating. Your great passion and dedication are very admirable. huge respect for you and beloved brother
I was born in 1970. I went to Finigley Airshows in the 70s! The Vulcan,the Lightening, Tornado jet plans love them!
Wonderful video, thanks. I'm just getting back into aircraft model building after many years and envy you your long, unbroken innings. Pure joy I image, especially with your brothers also involved. We sailed on the SS Oceanbreeze which was an extremely beautiful ship even among the jazzy new megaliners. It started out as the SS Southern Cross, sailing between the UK and Australia in the 50s. From what I read, it was a revolutionary design. Easy to see how you love these ships.
Really impressive! Thank you for sharing the story of your modeling evolution. For sure a much better way to spend time than watching mindless TV.
Very inspiring to those of us who are at the beginning of the modelling hobby!
You bring a smile to my face understanding that your parents encouraged your creativity all through childhood. …and you found a woman who understands, respects, and share your passion. ❤️
- Now I understand why you’re so creative and meticulous when it comes to your vehicles. You impress me.
'Mindless television.' I am with you 100% there! I love ships and therefore model ships really do float my boat. You have some amazing skills and thanks for sharing them with us.
I envy you your childhood! Great work!!
Thanks for your inspiration video :) I've been modeling since I was about 5 years old, and recently the past 2 years I was really on and off again with my modeling due to difficulties in my personal life. The past few months I've really been at it building and strangely found a new sense of fun, which is great as I don't want to lose this hobby.
Beautiful builds.Truly gifted family.
Great story! I am smiling from ear to ear because I am reminded of the times of my youth and the beginnings of modelmaking. Time is damn short, but I still hope to get back to my hobby and that moments of relaxation and enjoyment with the finished model.
Greetings from Poland.
Stunning workmanship Andrew.
Existe algo realmente especial em criar alguma coisa com as próprias mãos! AWE!
Excellent trip down Memory Lane for me. thank you.
WHAT A WONDERFUL TALENT YOU HAVE! Thank you so much...Judy in Nova Scotia, Canada
From the age of 11 onwards until 16, I built about 27 airfix planes. Then I hung them all from my bedroom ceiling. The biggest one I had was the Lockheed Hercules complete with a land rover and ground crew, wing span of 15 inches. I became a complete fool and gave them all away to my school chums in 1979. That was my biggest regret until today. They were cheap to buy and affordable in those days. Very good video, takes me back all those years ago.
Greatly enjoyed your presentation. Took me to my early childhood.
I really love the passion you share with the audience. Please don't stop
Don't know why CZcams recommended this Video but watching your childhood pictures reminded me of my time as a child building warplane sets , I never got as far as to paint them though .Talking of warplanes a little story if anybody cares , before I built models I liked drawing them so one day at home doing my homework I got distracted and started drawing a dogfight between a Spitfire and a Messerschmitt of course the Messerschmitt was going down in flames . The next day im primary school my maths teacher was checking our homework and as I opened my excercise book I realized I had drawn the whole thing in my book I can't remember her facial expression but she was not pleased to say the least all I remember hearing her say was consequences and having a word with my class teacher . So when school ended that day and everybody in my class could go home I had to go and see my teacher .As I opened the door to my class he was sitting on a chair waiting for me he must have been in his 60s greyish hair with a matching mustache a little bit like Albert Einstein but better groomed , he was smiling and asked me to come closer I was so confused because I was expecting a beasting not a smile . As I sat on his lap he started explaining to me im a calm voice the bad things that had happened and that I shouldn't draw things in my exercise book especially warplanes with swastikas all over them as we are in Germany and it is not allowed to draw that symbol . Maybe I got off so lightly because I was a brit but I like to think that Mr.Wolf was simply a cool person and he would have been the same with a German child or maybe it was because he served in the Wehrmacht who knows .
Love your Castle Line ships. Very handsome vessels, beautifully modelled.
It is very important in life to have a hobby.
Wonderful guy, wonderful stories and amazing models, great Airfix collection too 👍😀
WOW! Appreciate the storytelling and production! Good show.
Wonderful. Seeing the Arundel-Castle was particularly interesting as my dad served on her.....lost to cancer last year, miss him terribly.
David Attenborough of model building !! Thoroughly enjoyed watching, thanks ! 😉
I thoroughly enjoyed your video and I agree, that it is far better than watching mindless television. I had stopped building models for close to 30 years and have recently gotten back into the hobby, with armor kits of all things. And you are correct, the quality of these kits from that of those from the 70s and 80s is magnitudes better.
my little brother and I had a similar childhood. we were obsessed with models. cars, jets, tanks, ships and planes. I got into it a bit more but this biography brought me back to my childhood, bigtime
I remember the day my auntie bought me my first air fix kit. Tanks and planes from WW2 were my thing
Going to an air show and buying a kit or one of those rubber band/ balsawood flyers. Ahh, memories. Thanks for the video!
Wow how amazing. I am a ship modeller myself. As a kid I built kits, until got married in 1974 and began on scratch build models in card. Won't go in detail as this vid explains a lot of the hobby.
I really enjoyed discovering your story and beautiful models. Thank you
What a great story behind your art! Thanks for telling it in such an enjoyable way!
Lovely video. I loved building models, and still do. My interest, though, is in building 1:24 scale vehicles and modifying them, Scratch Building/Kit Bashing Sci-Fi ships, and Model Railroading. When I taught art, I also ran a model building club, and then taught a class on model building. I loved to see how the kids put their creativity into unique vehicles.
Thank you for such a wonderful look into what inspired you to model build.
Amazing collection and brilliant video👍 I build model RC trucks and 100% agree with you on the small rewards along the building process. I got rid of my TV 7 years ago and have enjoyed working on my models ever since.
Hi there my father was in the RAF and I worked at Biggin Hill I grew up in Chelsfield and now live in Canada . I have a huge collection of vintage Airfix kits . Your channel is amazing ty .
Lots of resonance here. My grandparents travelled on Union Castle, and on the the Vaal. My bro + I collected Airfix models - Canberra, Q Eliz, Bismarck, Hood, Englsih Elec Lightning, VC10 - &c - when we lived in Dar-es-Salaam. We sailed on the Lloyd Triestino 'Asia' when my father took his home leave entitlement. En route we saw Chusan, Northern Star & Ocean Monarch, and we stopped to take aboard a stow-away from our sister ship 'Africa'. Happy days.
That's really a very nice hobby you have and very detailed and good model ships. Thank you very much for sharing this clip very interested and well done for your beautiful work.
Congratulations !! Amazing scratch-built models !
Totally mesmerising....I used to work on the cruise liners ,Sterling Castle,Arcadia,Orcades just to name a few,talk about a trip down memory lane.....Thank you .....👍🏻
The Arundel castle really was a beauty
Bloody hell that bought back memories. I grew up with Airfix kits. Superglue all over the place.
Fantastic show of skills. We are a dying breed for sure as I started modeling as well when I was 6 years old in 1969. Being a military child I built many different types of kits from ships, aircraft, and vehicles. As technology has advanced it truly has become easier to do fine details and more accurate representations of our works. At this point in time I am beginning to wonder if I will ever complete all of the kits that I have acquired for the last couple of decades. Thank you for this well done video.
Not a dying breed, far from it 😊 I'm 36 years younger and I'm introducing it to my nephiew who's 10 right now. It is amazing to see how far the hobby has went since my grandpa made his first metal cast planes after the war.
This was a thoroughly enjoyable video.....a documentary really! It reminded me of my flirtation with building kits. As a small lad growing up, like you I too had Airfix kits and enjoyed making them, but then girls come along and it gets forgotten about! But when I was 41 I collapsed at work and was taken into hospital where I underwent emergency surgery. Three weeks later I was discharged, back home, and settled into reading books and watching day time tv as I was off work for 3 months. By the end of the first month I was getting bored of books and tv so I visited a local model shop and browsed some of the kits and bought one. I enjoyed building it that much I went back for another! However they were small plastic kits and have since got destroyed BUT.....I bought a metal kit of a Ferrari 250LM (my favourite track race car from the 60's). 32 years later I still have it......BUT.......it is still in the box unmade!!
I built that Helldiver kit! My family drove down to Harlingen, Texas to attend the Airsho '79, and the Confederate Air Force had the Helldiver on display and I fell in love with that plane. If I recall, it didn't fly but we were able to walk right up to it and they had assembled some elevated stairs and we were able to get up and have a look at the cockpits, front and rear. Being a little kid, that plane was enormous. I remember I bought an Airfix Helldiver model kit a short while later. Ha! The C-130 was another favorite of mine as well!
Enjoyed your story & video. Your ships are wonderful as is your family.
My dad used to take us to Biggin Hill and Duxford every year in the 70s, and one of the highlights used to be visiting the model stalls and choosing which model to buy. Amazing memories. You've inspired me to start building again. Thank you.
Thoroughly enjoyed this - I followed a similar path building many kits as a youngster, mostly 1/25 big rig trucks and some of Tamiya's 1/35 military vehicles. Although I used liquid cement rather than tube cement, "glue bomb" still is the best description for most of my models back then! Brushed on paints were the order of the day, usually Testors in the little square bottles. Occasionally a tin of Humbrol would find its way into the collection - living in Canada, I thought of Humbrol as a rather exotic overseas brand!
HO scale model railroading became a hobby interest for a years in my early teens, then model building faded away for many years after I completed high school. I did drive big rig trucks for a few years and there were a couple attempts to replicate tractors I drove in scale model form but none of them got very far.
In the early 2000's N scale model railroading caught my eye and I became active in that field again. Around 2010 I started seeing reissues of AMT's 1/25 truck kits and bought one which I had not built when I was younger, the 40' flatbed trailer. This brought me back into the model truck hobby which I have been active with ever since. A few of them are here:
czcams.com/video/nGENje_4LAo/video.html
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In "Building Model Trucks", an early 1970's book by Phil Jensen, the author mentions reviewing his "shelf full of kits" in one of the chapters. I received a copy of this book as a gift one year (I think for Christmas), back then I couldn't envision a shelf full of kits as those were items I received one at a time, either as gifts or, as you mention in your video, purchased with saved up dollars.
Now I do have a "shelf full of kits" and have slowed down on the kit collecting front - it is time to build some of them!
Wonderful story with fantastic videos. Thank ya.
Much respect & admiration sir. Well done.
I love ships. I was in the US Navy for eight years, where I spent plenty of time in the ocean all over the world. I build RC Boats and ships. Very nice models you have built and a great story of your family. Greetings from the U.S. 🇺🇲
I loved all of that mate ,so many ocean lines that l have never seen ,you have done an excellent job on all of them
Andrew, many years ago I visited the offices of the family/company that used to own the Union Castle line and the office was full of the official models of the ships from the era you model. A colleague of mine also took the UC to the Cape and speaks lovingly of arriving in Table Bay to start his new life and adventure, many decades ago. What an impression that must have made on you as a young lad. I introduced my son to model making. He took to it like a duck to water but has moved on, and so I fear this hobby will decline with our generation.
Instead of watching mindless television I enjoyed watching your story. Very rewarding hobby, thank you.
Very good job Andrew !🙂
I am absolutely impressed by people absorbed by an activity that requires so much skill. And then know how to tell so many details.
I am an avid model builder from scratch and kits and I enjoyed this very much.Thankyou.
Glad you enjoyed it
You are fantastic. I also got the ship fever starting from my trip in 1960 Pendennis castle to Southampton and return on the Africa… thank you so much
lovely i went on a cruise round the med with my mother and father when i was 10 years old on the raina del mar thats 48 years ago!
Good memories. Thank you
Very interesting thanks. A timeless hobby, one I left behind some years back.
I was wondering,have you ever thought adding polar ligths to your ships models? I'm 100% sure that they will look amazing at night in their display cases. I used to build models of airplanes,boats,cars, Submarines ,tanks and T.V. series spaceships when I was a kid. And sadly...when I reached my teens I left that entertaining art. I'm a 58 years oldman now and I still keep only 3 models in their boxes. I also have a complete kit of materials, used to assemble models. But I just look at them, I don't have the intention of assemble them. I just keep them for the memories of that part of my life. I now watch videos of model making from time to time,just to relived those wonderful and entertaining old days of my past youth🇵🇷.
A lovely family! All of your guys are model lover!
As a Sussex local I’d like to correct you on pronunciation of arundel. Arran dl.
Love the models, you’re quite right when you say the satisfaction is ongoing, not just at the completion. Going to bed with your brain chewing over a process and coming up with a neat , relatively simple and easy solution is a nice way to fall asleep.
Congratulations! Very inspiring, thank you!
Thank you for sharing. This was wonderful. I grew up building building initially mostly model airplanes. My father worked for Fokker Aircraft so I grew up in an Aviation household. My parents bought my sister a train set (big believes in NOT limiting us to so called "sex appropriate" toys). In the end my sister didn't really take to the trains, but I sure did. By the time I was in high school I had a 200 sq ft HO scare railway in my bedroom. I spent many hours tinkering. I think I honestly enjoyed the never ending process of acquiring new buildings and adding them. I also got Fischer Technique when was 6 and spent countless hours building various machines. They had rudimentary solid state electronic blocks that could be linked to add various electrical functions. It wasn't until I was in engineering school that I finally truly understood how the components worked that I had played with. When I was 7 we got our first car and my dad and I enjoyed working together learning car maintenance and repair. Two years after college I purchased a good running 1963 Volvo P1800. I''ve enjoyed tinkering on that over the years. Three years ago I started with what was supposed to be fixing "light rust" in the trunk area. With inevitable scope creep that has turned into a nose to tail restoration. I really enjoy spending a couple of hours at a time working on it. This winter I am working on reassembling to top end of the engine and re-installing all other components back into the engine bay. I also am not a hugely patient person, but each day some more items are refreshed and re-installed. The wiring is being restored as needed. All just very satisfying. Thanks again for sharing your "building" story. Your work is stunning.
Absolutely fascinating presentation! Cheers!