Do you really need to know ?
A bit about me, a bit about other people, a bit about why, and a bit about other stuff......
Thank you first....
Many people have had a part in helping me get to where I am. Not all can be named, but here's just a few.
Neil Robinson - my first Editor. Robin Snelson - web designer and tech wizard, good bloke and honest friend. Ken Jones - long-time editor, confidante, advisor and teacher. Frances Hopwood and Ruth Hopwood - both sources of support, helpful criticism and understanding. Thomas Hopwood - Above and Beyond excellent in everything. Paul Dobson - for offering more ideas than its safe to contemplate. Basement Buddies ( they know who they are ) - for keeping it real, and supplying laughter and spare parts when all other options have run out.
Last, but not least, thank YOU for looking in at the website.
About me
Come on, my ego's big, but not that big....... Is it ?
Ok, born in 1965, I've been making models since 1972, entering and winning competitions since 1986, writing articles since 1996.
I've supported behind the scenes at Euro Militaire since 1999, have had major parts in organising and running FigureWorld Model show and Euro Miniature Expo and been both a Competition Judge and Chief judge.
Then some bright spark says they wish there was an easily accessed archive for the articles I've written........
Articles.....
it might come as a surprise, but there's rather a lot of them - I've written for...... wait for it, wait for it......
Military Modelcraft International, Military in Scale, Military Modelling, The IPMS (UK) magazine, The Modellers Resource, Airfix Magazine, plus various blogs, websites and newsletters.
So there's rather a lot of material to add on here, and it'll have to be done gradually.
Oh, and I have to learn how to build a website now; so please bear with me, there are likely to be delays, mistakes and although you won't be able to hear it, a fair amount of swearing.
Other stuff.
After several years of tapping the screen on a phone, I'm having to relearn typing - especially adding bits like the apostrophe when I'm typing and not having autocorrect give me very interesting, often amusing or embarrassing suggestions.
If you like the website then please tell your friends,.
There is a contact button at the top of the main page, but please be patient, I'll get back to you if an answer is required as soon as I can.
I'm pretty sure there will be something more to say, but for now, I'm going to leave it at that.
Things I hadn't thought about
Well, things that cropped up as I began this silly idea......
For a start, when you begin something, how far into the future do you, or can you for that matter, look.
For example, I began writing articles in Dos edit. Basically a program that allowed you to type stuff. Microsoft Word etc didn't exist ( well as far as I knew ) in 1996.
But Dos Edit meant that I added several spaces at the beginning of each line of text to get it to print out at work on an industrial laser printer. All this being formatting that needs taking out if you want the text to look right in Microsoft word to be able to place it on here.
But that presupposes that you, as a budding article writer had a way of saving the text........ OK three and a half inch floppy discs were the order of the day and were duly sent off to editors. But I didn't think to begin saving the text for myself to keep until much later.
So most of the initial articles I've got in magazine form, but I need to retype the text as the coloured backgrounds don't scan up and convert that well.
Add to this, I didn't start taking photos until well into 1998, so I don't actually have pictures of the models used in the early articles.
AND.... some of the models I don't actually have in my collection any more...... Breakages during house moves, items given away or sold...... You get the picture.
The solution is threefold then.
Retype the older articles from the magazines, retake photos if I still have the models and either scan photos if I have them ( the best option to be honest ) or scan and then process through Photoshop pictures from the old magazines as a last option.
Sometimes these pictures from that last option will have text from the original article encroaching on them. I apologise, but there may not be much I can do about it. I will try and avoid doing that though.
So the upshot of all this is that loading up some of the articles might take a bit of time. They will all get done, but please bear with me.
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