Chuck Sawyer

I was born and raised in Calgary, Alberta Canada, initially near RCAF Station Lincoln Park, where my parents rented out their basement suite to several RCAF pilots that flew out of this air base. During this time in the late ’50s and early ’60s, these pilots would often fly a variety of military aircraft low over our house, waving their wings back and forth as a greeting to their families below, and of course me by association. My father and three of his brothers also served for the RCAF in WWII, as a Bomb Aimer on Lancasters, a Pilot on Liberators, a Spitfire Mechanic and a Maintenance Crew member, and thankfully all of them made it home safe and sound. Whenever they got together, they would tell me many stories about the war and the aircraft they flew or worked on, which I found fascinating. These early experiences cemented my interest in aircraft of any kind as a kid, particularly military ones, and my ultimate desire to build models of most of them.

Surprisingly in hindsight from where I find myself today, I didn’t model very much in my early years, making the odd airplane and a few hot rod cars. Tube glue, spray cans of paint and no putty or sanding was the norm in those days and I’m sure my models were terrible, but I still had fun building them. In my mid-teens, my interests changed to real cars and of course girls, so my modelling interest came to an abrupt end. I eventually started my career as a Geophysicist for several oil and gas companies, got married and had two children, so there was no extra time for hobbies like modelling.

In my early fifties with my children grown up and independent, I finally started to have some free time on my hands, so I started to make a few models of fighter jets, like a Revell F-14 and F-15, both at 1/32 scale. I was still using tube glue, spray cans of paint and my models continued to be terrible, but by then on-line modelling forums were becoming popular, where I could see what expert modelers could create and how exactly they did it. Slowly, over a long period of time, my modelling skills eventually improved enough that I would submit my own work to these forums for all to see, flaws and all. These build threads put extra pressure on me to improve my work and I continue to learn new techniques as the hobby grows with new products using 3D printing, to improve our models and make them easier to build.

About 12 years ago I submitted my first article to FineScale Modeler magazine of a 1/48 Tamiya Lancaster, that I had built for an uncle who was a Bomb Aimer in the war. I was thrilled that they accepted it and published it in a special edition, “How to Build Better Aircraft” and since then I have submitted more articles to this same magazine which were also published, with six of them featured on the front cover of a monthly or special issue. I can’t tell you how thrilling it is to go by a magazine stand and see my own work on the front cover of one of them, and think of how fortunate I am to have such a rewarding hobby.

My models are still far from perfect and I’m certain I will never build a flawless one, but I keep trying to get better with each and every new model I assemble and paint. I hope my work here at KLP Publishing will help you with your next model, just as the work of others has helped me in the past and continues to do so today.

Chuck Sawyer

Chuck’s KLP Titles