Where do you get the inspiration for some of your builds?

Hey. I get my inspiration from a variety of source such as 1:1 car magazines, model forums (you guys!), car shows (real and online), cars I see on the street and from various television show. I like a wide variety of cars though my builds may not always reflect that. I am just curious as to what drives your building processes. :)

For me, a lot of it comes from those same sources.

I also like to cruise parts sites; since my tastes follow Hondas a lot, I can just go around the sites that sell the 1:1 parts I like, and that's where I get a lot of inspiration for the details of my builds. The over all inspiration for a car may come from a magazine - like the V8 Celica I built, or from my head - the K20 SiR I'm building, or just from the kit itself - my Ferrari F430 or when I get the Aston Martin kit, of even from work - I'm building a garage diorama that lifts heavily from work and I just got a new SiR kit from eBay to do a white, RHD one like a friend at work has.

I also get a lot of inspiration that gets me started but doesn't carry me through. I've got a time-attack Integra that is inspired a lot by event coverage on the internet and a D-Sport magazine DVD. I want to make an Autocross Austin Healey Bugeye, and have sort of was started, and a drift Miata that is after a car that a coworker had.

I also get a lot if ideas from different internet sites that aren't just part sites. I look at honda-tech.com, or hondatuningmagazine.com (like this (http://www.hondatuningmagazine.com/freestuff/htup_0907_benchmark_civic_free_poster/photo_01.html)), or places like 7tune.com. Sometimes, even, I wake up from a nap with an idea that I love.

The problem is, for me, I get too much inspiration, and don't have the skill, time, or commitment to take care of it all. Oh well. I'll build what I can.

Cool stuff Will! We think a lot alike. I guess the idea from this thread comes from a lot of the comment I see on various forums such as "not my type of car" or "I'm not into that style" and statements of that nature. There's nothing wrong with that but I was just curious. I just basically like cars and just wanted to get some insight from different points of view. Carry on with the discussion! :sunglasse

Where did I get inspiration??? first magazine. because we have 2 tuning show in the area / year and one of them is at the same tiem as a model show. Result I go to 1 show only. and magazine are cheaper at the total than going to a show. when I found a coll car I contact the owner and ask him ( if he's to far from me ) to tyake some measure and other picture.

of course I google a lot in the image section. when I found an image of what I like I go on the site and check the entire site to find other beauty.

alos when I'm in the road I always have my camera with me with a good amount of memeory card and battery... just in case I see something..

tihis is the way I do.

yours

Same goes for me. I mainly get my inpiration from here (AF), from some great modellers including micha,veyron,bob,klutz,andy,alex,mike and many countless others. Also auto mags are great inspiration also. The internet helps too.

I get a lot of my inspiration at the race track. I've been a Sports Car Club of America pit lane official for almost 25 years. In that time I've been lucky enough to see almost every type of car you can imagine. We also have one of the largest vintage racing events in the US at Road America each July (only about 40 minutes from my house). So far I've managed to get rides around the track in the '66 LeMans winning GT40, a Ferrari 512M, a McLaren F1 GTR and a host of street cars.

Mike

Realism is usually plenty inspiration for me. I don't like to put up with weak or inaccurate details that will be visible on the finish product. So I feel like I have to at least put enough modding and detail into it make up for that or make the model appear accurate at most view points.

Le Mans 24 (+ Classic), Goodwood Revival (+ Festival of Speed), + the Ace Cafe (Londontown).

All the autoculture you'll ever need! :)

We do think a lot alike, Tonio! I don't have a lot of building time so I stick mostly to imports, but I do love most anything with tires! I really enjoy seeing what's next from you, because you build cool stuff. I like to think I do, from my Hondas to my F430, to my 64 Galaxie, period 50's duece coupe, have a fun eclectic taste too. Cars are fun and expensive, models are fun and less expensive. Cool thread.

a lot of the comment I see on various forums such as "not my type of car" or "I'm not into that style"

We do see that a lot, don't we? That always strikes me as weird. Personally, the more stuff I see that is not my 'usual style', the more I want to build.

For me, the things that inspire me most to get a build groove on are-

1. Forums (especially this one). Seeing great stuff from other people above all else makes me want to build.

2. Classic car shows/Concours events. Seeing cool old cars in person always does it for me. The local BMW, Porsche, and Mercedes clubs do a large concours every spring. I always find myself dusting off kits from my stash afterward. :rolleyes:

I agree with Cinqster - my annual visit to the Le Mans 24hr in June somehow recharges the batteries and gives my modelling enthusiasm a boost. Maybe it's because I spend five days camping in a tent where I can't do any modelling, that I return to the UK wanting to press on with the project! It's a great place to be for a few days - the athmosphere, the history, the cars...'autoculture' is absolutely the right word for it. Strangely though, other than the 'naked' 917 from a few years ago my visits to Le Mans haven't made me focus on sportscars that actually raced there (but this could change if the 956 / 936 / 935-78 projects eventually take shape!)

Certainly there's a lot of inspiration from seeing what others are doing on this forum - even if it's not necessarily a model I would want to make myself, you can still admire the skills and techniques used to produce it and maybe alter your own approach to suit.

Having said all this, I think my largest source of inspiration remains the cars themselves. For me, there's just something about what the Porsche racing department were up to in the late 60's, and particularly in the 70's and early 80's, that makes them such interesting projects to work on. As much as I love watching F1, the modern cars just seem...inhuman somehow? You can't imagine someone sitting down with paper and pen to design them...it's as though the human element is missing, and it's all computer-driven. Cars such as the 917, 935, 956, etc are clearly the result of someone saying 'how can we do that?', 'what if we do this?', 'has anyone tried this?', etc...and having bought the books, read the articles and studied the drawings, they're the sort of cars I want to make!

I think I'd better go and sort out the suspension on the 908-3 now...

SB

one word, Music

usually I take the ispiration looking at a special pic or at the object live (as for my BMW, saw her for real in Monza,and fall in love immediately, also cause cause own one)

In this, airplanes are really killer applications......if military even more.

My inspiration comes from wherever I can get it.

Sometimes it comes from a 1:1 car I've seen in person, or on the 'net or magazine or book. Sometimes it comes from a unique idea I have, sometimes it comes from models I see, and sometimes it is just easy to build something new when it comes out just because I like the subject matter. That would explain my pushing everything aside when the Tamiya Aston Martin DBS and SLR 722 landed on my workbench a little over a week ago for magazine reviews :smokin:

In one word, everywhere.

From models on various sites and shows, from tv programs, from toys, car shows, car artwork, cartoons, movies, friends, calendars, magazines and too many other places to list. Even opening up a kit and checking out the parts gives me inspiration.

My last few projects have been inspired by a Sooo Fast HotWheel car (mid engined, supercharged Firedome Hemi powered 34 Ford Land speed type car), a 34 Ford Fastback Land Speed Car from a parts box 34 Ford body, a super-detailed Corvette Grand Sport inspired by a friend and his beautiful Ferrari 250, and a T Bucket from a 429 Boss engine found in a box of parts of a Johan Maverick.

Like most of you, I have far too many ideas than I have the time to build so most end up as sketches on a cork board in my hobby room. In case your wondering, yes, the large corkboard is full of little sketches...lol

Excellent responses everyone! I look around everywhere and there's so many things in this hobby that inspire me and I knew I couldn't be the only one that they affected. Thanks for these replies! :sunglasse
sam-r350 UP.Browser/6.2.3.8 (GUI) MMP/2.0

i must say here, AF is everyday inspire.

I get my inspiration from a number of places. From watching various races on TV or in person, from vintage events and from the Amelia Island Concourse. I also get inspiration from seeing various cars on the road.

Mostly, my inspiration comes from my general interest in cars. I remember being a small child and loving Hotwheels and Matchbox cars and having hundreds of them all over the place. I also remember being taken to a car show when I was about 5 years old and seeing a bright yellow hotrod with a big chrome engine and every time it moved forward in a line of traffic coming into the show it literally seemed to leap forward every time he released the clutch, I fell in love right then and there with hotrods. My second most vivid memory was seeing a yellow Pantera at the same show and hearing the sound of it as it drove by me. I was amazed at that car. From that point forward I've always loved cars. I used to draw pictures of cars when I was a kid and eventually started building models.

Today, a lot of my inspiration comes from those same memories and from those same sources but also from the friends I've made along the way. Being a member of ACME (Atlanta Car Model Enthusiasts) with members like Zoom-Zoom and Veryon, GTMike400 and many other excellent modelers, certainly inspires me to build and push myself to build better.

Like most of you, I have far too many ideas than I have the time to build so most end up as sketches on a cork board in my hobby room. In case your wondering, yes, the large corkboard is full of little sketches...lol

I'd love to see that corkboard!

I'd love to see that corkboard!

Incredibly funny you mention that. I just took it down a few hours prior to this message. Loosin' the hobby room to a relative for a short time. Lots of careful and meticulous packing...

I have folders full of little scratches and notes. When I get an idea, I draw a rough sketch and throw some lables and callouts for features I envision. Sometime, I'll have to scan a few and throw em up on the boards. No Mona Lisas but I enjoy 'em...

Get most of my ideas from what I see in magazines, websites and real life.

Unlike what have been said before, I never take notes or sketches. I just pack the instant idea in a cell of my mind, where another instant idea comes and aggregates with this one and another one and another until I find it's an interesting enough concept to be build.

Of course, once my mind is set on something I try to get as many reference pics as possible, and even tho my mind can change at the very last minute while building.