2024 marks two anniversaries I’d not really thought about before.
In the autumn of 1994 I was 16, just entered Sixth Form at school, and unlike everybody else, was still cranking out the models. For at least ten years I’d built anything I could get my hands on – ships, tanks, figures, cars – but aeroplanes were always my favourite. I can’t explain why: they just were.
In the summer of 1991 I knuckled down and focused. A particularly memorable bike ride from my home to Toys R Us in Woking, and then to the Model Aerodrome in Guildford netted ten Hasegawa 1/72 jets and a load of Mr Hobby Aqueous paint. This was a seminal moment and I restricted myself to only making US Navy jets in 1/72 boxed by Hasegawa. This happy situation continued for a long time until I acquired a Hasegawa 1/72 F-15 and I branched out into any US military jet made by this company in this scale. And then I got an airbrush and I was away.
The occasional tank or car still rumbled across the workbench, and a good few 1/35 Dragon figures, but 1/72 aircraft were My Thing, until it was all disrupted by a certain Jonathan Mock and his review of Airfix’s first attempt at a 1/48 Buccaneer in 1994 in Scale Models International.
I really have no idea why I bought this kit. Mock gave a fair review and showed something nice could be made from what was, in all honesty, a rough moulding. It certainly wasn’t a patch on the Hasegawa 1/72 F-111 I recall having recently made. Maybe it was the colour scheme: I was 12 when Desert Storm kicked off, it made a big impression on me, and I wanted a desert pink aeroplane. Maybe that was what sparked a subject and scale change.
And I’ve never looked back. Everything since then has been a 1/48 post-war military aircraft, and I’ve loved this modelling journey I’m on. The second model was an Airfix Jaguar with my first experience of aftermarket: Xtraparts resin and PE details. In 30 years I’ve made 168 aircraft in this collection with no duplicates. Two have been started and abandoned (a Revell 1/48 F-14D in 1994 and a Revell 1/48 A-6E in 2024) and 203 now sit in the loft un-started (although in all honesty, am I ever going to build the Italeri G.91R? No.) I’m 46, I could live for another 30 years, and I could make a decent dent in that stash.
Fast forward 10 years to December 2004. I had 68 built models in the collection, all stored in my old bedroom at my parents’ house. I’d just submitted my PhD thesis, I was exhausted, took the month off in said parents’ house, and needed a project to fill my time. What better than to photograph all these models, learn html4, start a website and move the collection online?
This launched jonbryon.com (I think I might have had jonbryon.net at some point as well), a somewhat pretentious URL in 2024, but back then nothing special. Social Media wasn’t a thing and blogs were only just getting going. Mine was written from scratch and featured a gallery of photographs of each of those aircraft and a paragraph to go with it. In hindsight they’re embarrassing in quality and the text is very naïve, but I keep them as a marker of where I’ve come from. It’s been a very long and gradual journey. Some people wrote nice things to me (including a couple of ‘names’) and there were pages on there a bit more MySpace-y and the basics of my PhD thesis. I’m glad Shell never came across it as I was probably posting proprietary data…
The website has evolved and moved to WordPress about ten years ago. The photos have slowly got better, and more uniform, although I still wish I knew how to get a decent white background. (However much light I dump onto the model, it’s still too dark.) The models have slowly got better. I don’t think I have a ‘level-up’ build and it’s been an incremental improvement with some dips and troughs. The text has slowly got longer, and in-progress photos are now a feature. Some of those articles are now genuinely useful if you’re making the same kit!
It’s kind of a virtual showcase. Abby is generous enough to allow three IKEA display cases in the living room with 91 models on show to all and sundry, and there’s another in the model room with a further 19, which means 58 models have been binned. I still get to enjoy them online. I don’t know how long I’ll keep it running as it costs a fair amount of money and generates no income, and no one really visits blogs anymore, but it’s a been a labour of love, and love it I do. It’ll be interesting to see how things look in 2034…which when you write it down, looks like a pretty scary number!
I’m interested to know if anyone else is narcissistic enough to have done this as well. Are there any other complete collections online, documenting every project over a protracted period of time? If so, let me know – I’d love to give them a follow.
Anyway, thanks to all who’ve visited, commented and written to me over the years, and the few who’ve dropped me a pound or two via PayPal. Your support has been much appreciated 🙂
Jon's Models 
A very interesting entry Jon and an enjoyable read. Many happy returns I guess! I must say I am overwhelmed by you dedication to keeping track of all the models you’ve ever made – I wouldn’t know where to begin – apart from the fact I know it was 1/72 scale aircraft in plastic bags bought in Woolworths! I had a very long hiatus through my teens and early twenties until I say a Phantom for the first time! Time has moved on rapidly since then and I fear I’ve not got very many modelling years left, but I look at my modest stash and hope that I might get through it (always assuming I don’t keep buying more of course)!
I really enjoy your builds and find them inspirational so keep up the good work!
Dave
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Thanks David! I can’t claim to have tracked every model – only those since 1994. There were tons before them, many lost to the mists of time and really that just remain as an impression of my young childhood 🙂 Always appreciate your comments.
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Hello Jon, I must say that the email and the story you tell has left me, as they say here in Chile, “dialing busy” hahahaha (allusion to the old landline telephones), you have made a great journey in life, not only In academics, but in Hobby, you are lucky to have the space to do and exhibit, I sense that your family supports you in this. Regarding the web pages or sites to be able to write, I can say that I was able to visit the blog a couple of times, but I will try to enter soon, I encourage you to continue in this, although I will not be a patron, I am an artist, I am a teacher, I am poor thing…hahahaha, that is a friendly legacy that crosses borders, it is something that continues beyond what you can foresee. Greetings again and my congratulations on your Hobby anniversary. Atte. Francisco Venegas
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Thank you for commenting Francisco! My family are very supportive (I think having daughters helps – fewer distractions for me!). I want my blog to be free to everyone – lots of others contribute to the modelling world for free, and I want to be one of them 🙂 All the best in Chile.
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Congratulations Jon on the 10 year anniversary of recording your kit builds. Your blog still provides me with much enjoyment and as you know, I unashamedly based mine on yours in style and substance. These days though, I have in a couple of instances shortened the build logs to cater for the sad fact, fewer people seem to want to read detailed descriptions.
I still think at some stage blogs and fora will make a bit of a comeback as people will realise the “one stop shop” they offer is far more convenient than searching out the many many different Facebook pages to find a specific thing. When they do, people will look at your blog as setting the standard.
Long may Jon’s Models continue! Hopefully for at least another ten years.
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Thanks for your comment and encouragement Bruce. I’ve always appreciated your appreciation for my website and I’m flattered by you embarking on your own. I think (hope?) there will always be room for longer form articles on making models – long may yours continue too!
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Hi Jon,
First let me say congratulations on your 10 year anniversary! Quite a momentous achievement.
I’ve been following your work for some time now, and had a rather quick suggestion or even question. Have you ever considered uploading your builds or material to Youtube or even Instagram?
There’s a pretty large following there and from what I understand, Youtube may allow for the generation of income that could spur this site on! You could even auction your build models off as an incentive rather than having to toss them out.
You do amazing work, and I can admit that I’ve looked at your work a lot more than is probably healthy. Whether that be for either inspiration to build and improve, or even mere information on a subject. I’m certain I’m not alone in that admission.
Congratulations again, and I hope we are able to see this site up for another 10 years!
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Hi Giovanni,
Thank you so much for your very kind comments. I really appreciate them.
I have considered YouTube, but I think it would just take too much time. Video editing looks really time consuming, and I could be spending that time modelling 😉 Instagram is another option, but I find their photo format doesn’t work for me.
I am pretty fortunate to get most of these articles published in Scale Aircraft Modelling, which does help with a little income.
Thanks once again!
Jon
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