Model making has been an interest of mine for a long time: first in high school, when I built a lot of Star Wars kits, and then later starting building Gundam and other anime stuff.
One of the things which drew me to robot modeling was that the experience of creating a 3-D model of the design helped me to understand the object the design represents. Often I would see these designs in animation and be captivated by them, but at the same time have no concept of how they “worked”. I couldn’t visualize the transformations in Macross Plus, for instance, because I didn’t have a complete mental picture of the designs. Physical models, even from old, inaccurate kits, provided a tangible representation upon which I could base my understanding. More recently I’ve developed an interest in the particulars of the designs, and how the designer used them to create a particular effect: I enjoy the process of modeling as a way to better understand the design I’m building, and what drew me to the design in the first place.
One of the things I want to emphasize in my builds is the unique structural character of each design. To me, when a kit is produced of a design, but the proportions are changed, it is no longer the same design.