Miscellaneous Tips

Finish what you start - Don't get discouraged. I know, you've heard that before but remember this is a hobby. My wife reminds me of this all the time. I will be at my model bench cursing and ready to throw my project across the room (for one reason or another). Just about that time she will walk in and say "Hey, its only a hobby. You are supposed to be having fun." I usually mumble a few more things and then go walk away from it. Once I calm down I come back and find a solution. The worse thing you can do is put the model back in the box. Working through the problems and practicing make you better.

Do your homework young man! My mom used to say that all the time and she is still right. Before you put together a diorama watch some films and read some books about the historic era/battle you are portraying. Even then your research may not be perfect. My diorama "Saki break On Iwo Jima" has a very specific Sherman tank in it that fought on Iwo Jima. I was so proud of it only to find out it was the wrong colors. I only had black and white photos and later after it was built I saw the same tank in a color newsreel. OOPS! Of course, if I had asked several model buddies they would have shared the correct colors with me. If you are a history nut like I am you can never have enough research to make a correct/realistic model. Sometimes you just have to guess and hope you are right. If you aren't, there is always the next model!