Hi, my name is Ken Roshak and my interests include photography, fine-scale modeling, computers and web design, all which have come in handy in developing this site.  As web master for Black Swamp Modelers I’ve learned a lot about putting together a web site, I hope you enjoy it. 

My interest in modeling started when I was in grade school.  I had built many models over the years, all Aurora dinos and Revell endangered animals.   Remember how the animal's jaws moved when you turned their heads?  How cool was that!  I still have them in plastic bags and eagerly wait to "rebuild" them!  Being an animal fanatic, cars, planes and ships didn’t interest me, though I appreciate them today.  I do remember my brother assembling some cool monster models like the Creature, Dracula and the Mummy.  Though as I remember it, I was more interested in the animal props such as the lizards, bats and snakes that came with the kits.  I would snap them together, paint some of them, leave others unpainted and be happy.  Years later, I met neighbor and modeling "madman" Mark McGovern who had "discovered" fine scale modeling as an "art form" and started entering his models in competitions.  I attended a few shows with Mark and watched him pick up an award(s) at every show - and that’s when the "bug" bit me.  I purchased Revell-Monogram’s Velociraptors from their Jurassic Park series and started my journey.  Being a novice (still am) I slapped them together the best I could and did a fairly respectable paint job on the creatures and the base.  I didn’t, however, fill the seams which would later come back to haunt me.  I remember being awe-struck at the attention to detail these modeling masters would demonstrate.  To this day, I'm still impressed with the hobby.

As my interest in modeling grew I found myself surfing the web, reading books and magazines on the subject but much of what I’ve learned comes from the master himself, Mark.  As my "mentor", he’s shared his years of experience with me and my eldest son, Nathan who is also enjoying the "art" of modeling.   I love the hobby and the excitement of starting a new model, followed by the "joys" of sanding, seam filling, more sanding etc.   Did I say "joy"?  Being a dinosaur fan I’m naturally attracted to these models.  I especially love experimenting with painting schemes for dinos.  While no one really knows what colors they were, I can't help but feel they were every bit as vivid as modern day animals.  I like to express this sentiment in my dino models. 

I hope to inspire other modelers to put together web sites devoted to modeling as a means of sharing information about the hobby, building world-wide comradery along with simply having other fun web sites to visit.   Enjoy our Black Swamp Modeler's site and feel free to drop us a line with your thoughts!