These were the words spoken to me earlier this week by one of my close friends who has always been an encouragement to me. We were walking to lunch that day in a beautiful little downtown area talking about my recent experience at a model show. This was my first show and I took second place in 1/48 and larger WWII. I told him I know people think it is silly to have shows and contest for plastic models. I said I know it is just plastic, and many people don't consider it art, but I enjoy the hobby. That is when he looked at me and said, "It is just paint on a canvas." He went on to explain how no one would ever tell Picaso that his paintings were not art. It is just paint, plastic, canvas, or music, so what turns it into art? Who defines what art is? Am I an artist in my own right? All good questions, but what are the answers.

Just like so many other questions in life, I do not think the answers are black and white. Here are my thoughts. Art is the creativity birthed in the heart, seen in the mind, and created with action. Weather it is a song, painting ,or yes, a model. Art is trying to tell a story through the eyes of the story teller. So in my own right, I am also a story teller. I build models as I see them, as I want others to see them. Not only as big tough machines, but as an individual story of the people who fought, bled, and died. Wheter it be just a stand alone tank, or a small dio with figures, every model has a story of people built into it.

This then raises the question that is so often asked and debated in the modeling community, "When is too much weathering too much?" I say, there is no such thing as too much. If you want to build a model of an AFV, and you have been around them and worked on them and see them as clean well maintained vehicles, then by all means it is your right to build it that way, and it will still be a work of art. Me on the other hand, I choose to show the hell these souls went through. That is why I weather and chip most of my AFVs. It probably did not happen, but also, the world is not blue, but many "fine" works of art are blue. They are that way because that is the wat the artist saw the world because of their mood. This is what I am trying to bring to the table.

I do not weather to show how skillful I can be, I do it because it makes the scene look dismal, which is what war is. No matter what side is being depicted, war is not fun. Look at pictures of European cities during the war, and there is devastation everywhere. Even pics of triumphant American soldiers show their equipment worn out and dirty. The 1,000 yard stare is everywhere, in the losers eyes, as well as the winners.

So why do I build models of such awful scenes? If war is so bad why do I study it so much? I do it to tell the stories of the people who lived and died. They had families, lives, and dreams that too many never got to go back to. By studying past conflicts maybe we can help prevent future ones. Help prevent losing entire generations to senseless wars. So I will tell the stories through my models. Some stories of victories, some of defeats, but all of brave men and women who went through it. That is also why I like to build for others. Maybe you or someone you know has had experiences in or on AFVs and you would like to have a customized one to show the world what you or someone you know went through. Please contact me, and I will be happy to help. It is not much, but this is my art that I can share.