Wednesday 4 September 2013

What my wife thinks of my hobby

Sprue Cutters Union week 7



This weeks topic of what does your wife/girlfriend/significant other/etc think of you taking part in this hobby has completely thrown me. If I am honest I don't know what my wife thinks of me half the time and the other half of the time I don't want to know! I will say that she is a wonderful woman who has supported me in any of my life choices and that I love her for it. So I thought that the best thing for me to do for this weeks write up would be to hand the keyboard and access to my website over to my wife, Jayne.


I'm Jayne and I have been married to Craig for a little over ten years and I have been in a relationship with him for a total of seventeen years. When I first started going out with Craig he was not making models. instead he was playing around with full scale aeroplanes for the RAF. Craig started making models around thirteen years ago and I suppose that you could say that it was my fault he started. You see I had just started working in the evenings which left him alone in the house during the nights. He had also just started a new career of teaching aerospace engineering and he couldn't seem to unwind when he came home. One day he had popped down to our local news agent to pay the weekly newspaper bill and when he came home he mentioned that they sold models and that he used to build them as a child with his uncle. I suggested that he should buy one and make it for a bit of fun to take his mind off work. I did not even begin to think how a suggestion like that could spark off what has literally become an obsession rather than a hobby!

Over the years Craig has managed to take over a small part of the house for storage of un-built models and supplies, an area behind our sofa where he hides a large tool box full of more tools and supplies, a collapsible table that is never collapsed with you've guessed it, more models  and my fireplace always seems to have at least one model in some stage of drying. There is also a chest of drawers in our attic that is full of completed models and I know that he has a large shelf unit in his office full of the things as well!

In terms of what I think of his hobby I suppose I am lucky he chose this one. Some wives don't see their husbands in the evenings and weekends because they are off playing golf or spending all their time in a garage repairing an old car, etc. Craig is happy to spend time with our daughter and I in the evenings while he is making or sculpting a model and the bonus is that he doesn't really mind what I am watching on the TV as he will "tune out" and concentrate more on his models if he doesn't like what I am watching. The hobby does get on my nerves sometimes when he turns my kitchen into a model workshop and gets fake grass or dirt everywhere, but I must admit that I sometimes enjoy taking part in that bit and making a making mess while he watches over me spreading plaster over one of his bases.

It has got to the point now that wherever we go on holidays or take a day trip, he will map out any local model shops and make sure that we "visit" that particular town. He even takes an "away case" that contains some form of modelling equipment so he can keep up with his hobby!

He has recently started to sculpt his own figures which I think is really artistic. I am also happy he is doing this due to the fact that the clay he buys to do this is a hell of a lot cheaper than buying the bloody things! Craig also tries to involve me as much as he can with his hobby and sometimes its nice to offer suggestions on one of his latest models or suggest a new figure to sculpt, but if I'm honest, most of the time I just nod and smile when he is telling me about the latest thing someone has made or when he shoves a picture under my nose to look at. One of the best parts of him starting his blog and now his website is that he has an outlet to talk about his models to people like you who share the same interests and finally give me a break!

I hope this has provided you with a brief insight into being the wife of a modelling fanatic.

Jayne

if you found this post interesting and want to read more then check out these links below:

doogsmodels
kermits work bench
eternalwargamer
mattblackgodsworld
yet another plastic modeller
a scale canadian
martins scale models
the combat workshop



4 comments:

  1. Wow! Great to have you respond to this Jayne! Awesome to your perspective into Craig's hobby, and truly a unique idea for this post Craig!

    ReplyDelete
  2. thanks for the feedback Jon and Jayne says thanks for the comments as well. As I said in the write up, I was stumped with what to say so the easiest thing was to ask Jayne to write it. I will also admit that I was a little nervous at what she was going to write!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Great reply, it's nice to hear the other side. :-)

    ReplyDelete
  4. I agree with Jon, great way to write the blog; by the one who is best able to talk about the matter! Great read

    ReplyDelete