I’d always liked music with great guitar work in it as a kid. Growing up in the 70s, it was all around. I did like everyone else at the time and became a master of “air guitar”. I recall times that I’d be standing on my bed, pretending I was on stage, jumping around and flailing my arm around in a fashion that Pete Townsend himself would have approved.
Some younger guys may be asking “Who?”
Exactly… 🤣
Then one day I was visiting a friends house. He was learning to play guitar, which seemed so cool but so out of reach for me. We weren’t poor, by any means, but I knew an electric guitar was out of the question.
He popped a tape in, and said “listen to this.” It was Van Halen’s classic “Eruption”.
At that moment I knew what I wanted to do.
Macross Tomahawk: An Eruption Moment
When I was getting burned out building aircraft in the summer or 2017, I looked around at other genres that I could perhaps use to take a break from the winged things. I looked here and there, and found plenty of cool looking stuff, but none of it grabbed me.
But somewhere in my searches for “mecha”, I happened across one that grabbed me. And as soon as I saw it, I realized I knew what I wanted to do.
The Macross Tomahawk stood out to me as being very distinct. It didn’t look like a giant robot man, or a guy in a suit. It was clearly a war machine, a walking tank. It had a purposeful look that seemed as if it could step right into modern battlefields and be right at home.
The trouble was, it was way expensive. And just like when I was a kid, budget cast a shadow over everything.
Still, I decided to press forward, and began building scifi.
A while later, I was asked if I did commission builds. I said “thanks, but not anymore.”
“Darn” they said. “I had a Macross Tomahawk I wanted built.”
I smiled. “I think we can talk.”
Finally Full Circle
A few weeks after hearing Eruption, my friend asked if I wanted to borrow his guitar and lesson sheets. He was getting frustrated with it, and figured a weekend without it wouldn’t hurt.
I immediately took it home, and got to work. I literally practiced until my fingers bled.
My friend seemed willing to let me keep it a few more weeks, and then finally he called and said he was coming to pick it up. I was quite sad, of course, but it was his guitar. He showed up, and said “let me hear you play.” So I played my very best, amateur as it was. Iron Man, Rock You Like A Hurricane, Back In Black, and a few others. I even managed to pull off something that sort of sounded like Eruption.
When I finished, he shook his head. “How about you just keep it a while longer? You obviously want to play it. I don’t really want to – too much practice.” And play I did. I still do, now and again. Arthritis has slowed me down, and my time is focused on models. But now and again I pull my guitar out, turn it up, and play away.
This Tomahawk is the same in a way. As soon as I saw it, I knew what I wanted to do.
So I’m really happy to finally have the chance to build it!
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