
Syrian T-55
This is kinda one of the most important models of my life. When I started building it, I was at the top of my focus, skills, and energy. But just before the end, I had a terrible mountain biking accident which caused me to walk on crutches for 8 months.
I still remember that moment. The night before the accident, I started weathering the lower hull with earth tones and grime effects. It was extremely fun and I got it done very quickly, so I also weathered the wheels. I went to bed, planning to finish the same effects on the rest of the model the next evening. It was a hot summer, so I spent the day mostly outside and in the afternoon, I decided to visit my local bike shop and go for a quick trail ride. And just a few hours later, a helicopter was carrying me in a net.
It took me about 3 weeks before I managed to recover just enough so I could sit at the workbench with a huge cast that went from my toes to my pelvis. But what was worse, I completely lost my grip and confidence, and it couldn’t happen at a worse time. You see, earth effects are the final layer of weathering that can make or break a model… and I was attempting them at my lowest!
In fact, when I look back at it, this injury started the lowest point of my life. I was a completely useless human being, but I had the privilege of my family taking care of me. Once I was able to walk on my own again, I realized some things had to change, and it started a brand new chapter of my life!