Building History

My Model Building Career & Credentials

A little bit about me...  Born and raised in the Detroit suburbs of Michigan.  Took an interest in model building at age 10 when I met Tim Zucharo.  We dressed up in Army gear and took on the "Axis Alliance of the Acorn" - aka. the squirrels.  They had nothing to fear from us. 

After school and homework, it was off to the basement to setup the next big battle on the floor at Tim's house.  After my parents moved us out of that neighborhood, I never saw much of Tim again.  (Hope he's still model building.)

I did, however, continue to build.  These were the good times, and there was a Squadron Shop down the street and I would drag the old man there whenever I could.  At first, he hated it, but then he got hooked on the history.  My father was saved by Squadron closing it's retail stores, and me having to settle for what Meijer or Kmart stocked.

I continued to build in isolation.  I got hooked on Dungeons & Dragons, and painted the metal figures for all of our group.  I had the steadiest hand, and largest selection of paint from my military days.  College brought a huge stop to my modeling, and when I graduated, I picked it up again when I started work at a local hobby shop - Rider's Hobby.  While at Rider's, I got involved in a local modeling club.  Those were good times, and I lived for the weekends of those meetings.  I participated in a huge diorama of the Hürtgen Forest, and got a real taste for building models, dioramas, and some scratch building.  Rider's also exposed me to different modeling media like resin and photo-etch.  I even started casting my own sculpts.

In 1997, I submitted an article to Fine Scale Modeler Magazine for a contest.  I didn't win the contest, but they did publish my article in the September, 1998 issue - Building an M923 Military Wrecker.

In 1998, I started dabbling in the archain arts of computer building and PC support.  This was a whole new direction, and required a lot of attention.  My model building dropped off compleatly and stayed off the grid for nearly 7 years.

My career was all over the map, and in 2004, I started driving 18 wheelers.  In 2005 or 2006, I passed a place in Lexington, Nebraska called the Heartland Military Museum.  Oh Baby!  After going inside, I knew what had to be done.  I got in touch with guys from the old club, and they had fromed a more organized group called the Motor City Armor & Figure Society. Many members were new, but I knew most from the "old days". 

In 2009, I finished a Tank Workshop, M123A1C U.S. 10-ton Tractorand displayed photos of the model on the web.  Tank Workshop owner, Jay Galbierz, approached me to use the photos for the box art of the kit on future run.

In 2010, I worked with Woody Vondracek, owner of Archer Fine Transfers, to get a set of Modern US Army Black Stars produced.  I also had a photograph I submissed to Fine Scale Modeler Magazine published in the Reader's Gallery section of the March, 2010 issue - DML's M2 Half-Track.

I find time on the road, and at home to build, and I use my computer knowlege to "spread the word".  I hope you enjoy the items on the Scale Models page as much as I enjoyed building them.

aka. Shadowfax