Well…I can’t remember that long ago! One of my firsts was a kit from the CAF but i don’t remember what it was.
Glencoe (at least they did the reissue) lunar lander - you know, a few bulbs on some framework or some such… oh, what that started…
Well im not sure if it was my first…but i was 5-7 and got the F-14 by Monogram i believe…my thing was i would want to put it together…screw the paint…and then play with it…only then i would try to paint it…i was just too anxious to see how it would look when it was finished…lol I ended up throwing it away a few years ago and got the same kit which i still have…but it sucks too…lol ill end up givin it to my little bro to free up some space for a 1/32 P-51D and a 1/48 P-38J im workin on,… but my models didnt look too good untill about 3-4 years ago…when i really got where i would take the time needed to make it look right…im surprised to see how in 4 years i have made such an improvement on the finished look…though i still have problems in some areas today…im 17 so i still have some experience to gain…lol but i think my models look ok …but i believe since i started in the hobby so early i know i will have alot of experience when im older and will be able to make real beuties!
I’ve been building models for about as long as I can remember.
I saw the movie “PT-109” on tv, and so I fell in love with those boats. My dad got me a PT boat simulator for our computer (an 8088, 4.01mHz, four color display, the works!) and we rented “They Were Expendable.” One day my dad came home with the 1/72 PT-109 and we spent a few weeks putting it together. No paint, but we put on decals. Parts have been broken off of it over the years, it has gotten dusty, but it is still one of my favorites.
Gotta build another some day [8D]
In, I think it was, 1985 my brother got a model of a spitfire in 1/48. I was so impressed that I wanted to have such a kit myself. In lack of funds I decided to make a model of wood.
My brother had a propplane so I had to have a jet. I looked for a nice block, made a scaledrawing and started cutting. Within a few weeks I was the proud owner of a nice F14 (I had no idea there were differend types).
But the more pictures I saw the less it looked like a F14. A little later on my birthday I got a real kit…the monogram F14 A. Luckily the plastic was already grey so I didn’t even had to paint it. It looked rather impressive with its nice sharkteeth and wings that were able to fold back.
Needless to say that as the years got by there were some parts that could have been better but it was my first. It still stands on my shelf next to a few F 14’s who are a little more accured, but if there was a fire and I could only take one model, I think I’d keep the first one.
Rutger
I was 7 and I think it was an Aurora kit. It was a Christmas present. It was molded in green , kind of shiney. I’m doing pretty good, better get this down before the memory fades. It was supposed to be a MiG-15. It looked more like a F-86 with a pirates cutlass attached to the rear end for a tail. A D model 86. I wonder if anyone out there remembers this kit also? I was already into aircraft and had numerous books in my room. So I knew what a 86 D and a 15 looked like. But it was a gift and parents have a way of persuading us kids not to say “the darndest things”. And most times without provocation kids will tell you the truth. A couple of years later it went the way of the BB gun. I wish I had that kit now just because of someones idea of what a 15 was or looked like.
I can’t remember my first model, but I have 2 that stand out in my memory. My father was a WW II pilot ( B 24, Ploesti; P 51, Italy ), and I remember building the Revell 1/72 B 24D and a large-scale vacform P51 with him. He built a B24 also, and the P51 was rubber-powered to fly (which of course it never did). I also remember the old Aurora planes with the scribed decal placement markings, and a SSN George Washington (interior, spring-loaded missles - Renwal ?) Thinking back, I can still smell the tube glue . . .
Matchbox Lightning (English Electric that is), given to me for my 7th birthday and assembled without using the instructions, with lots of parts left over including two wing halves! I was hooked immediately
I can’t remember back that far. I think it was back in the late 1960s when I was in grade school. Seems like it was either an aircraft carrier or a viking ship. I beleieve it was an Airfix model. Geez, am I getting old. [:p]
I can’t say for certain that this was my very first kit but it’s the earliest I can remember.
It was Aurora’'s S2-F “Hunter Killer” (Tracker). Thickly molded in a dark blue/gray with the scribed decal placement lines.
It had no landing gear so it had to be mounted on the accompanying stand.
I brush painted it with a coat of paint thicker than the plastic itself.
It was a masterpiece!
I see that very same kit offered on ebay frequently. One of these days I’m going to get it and relive my childhood, only this time it won’t end up with a firecracker stuffed into the rear of one of the engine nacelles.[:)]
Hey hou_ge,
Wow neat question…!!! My dad got me my first kit back when I was seven. OK well he helped me bulid it(at least the interior).
It was the ol C-130 by MPC 72d scale and whats even cooler is that I still have her hanging in my ol room[:I].
This is actually how I got started in this wonderful hobby and it was through my dad. My dad was in the Navy and was in the aviation section and was stationed at NATC Pax River MD (Flight Test, FT)
Another thing that we share is my dad also got into building at the age of seven too.
Yes he and I are still building strong and enjoying a bond that will last a life time[;)]
Flaps up, Mike
I was six or seven, so this would have been 1953/54. It was an Aurora 1/48th Me-109 that my dad bought at a liquor store of all places. That store had a small toy section with some platic bagged molels hanging from a rack. That got me started in the right direction - been mostly 1/48th WW2 airplanes ever since !
Jim
I most definately remember that kit ! Actually, I think it was labeled as a Mig 19. Totally bogus, but I thought it was a pretty cool looking airplane anyway. I was about seven when I built it as well. I built ALL of the Aurora 1/48th “Famous Fighter” models of the day.
Jim
I spent my childhood in former Soviet Union. At that time there were only few models available - Spitfire (I believe Mk.IX), Hellcat, Lightning, Sea Vampire, Aircobra, Thunderbold and thats about it. They were made by toy manufacturers, that means - horrible quality, low detail etc etc… I’m not talking about marks - Hellcat was simply named “naval fighter”, Lighntning - “escort fighter” and so on. I can’t really recall my VERY FIRST kit. Perhaps it was a HUGE (considering my size at age of 5 or 6 [:D] ) soviet ailiners - Tu-104 and Il-18, that my father brought from his bussiness trip. For a long time I was just snaping lots of Spitfires and Vampires without painting, but with lots of glue [:D]. At the age of about 15 my brother and I started to paint our models with oil paints. Needless to say, paintschemes were totaly unrealistic (at least I don’t know of any Spitfire, painted dark green/black over dark blue [:)] ). Only about 5 years ago I returned to this hobby with a wish to make everything right [:I].
I think my first model was a Revell 1/72 F-14 Tomcat when I was 6 or 7 it is long gone now.
Ahhh…memories!
My first kit was an Aurora battleship from the late 50’s, I was 5.
I didn’t use the directions…I couldn’t read! When it was finished I was very proud, even if my friends couldn’t figure out what it was saupposed to be. But I knew it was well built because I used the entire tube of glue. Plus I would always be able to prove it was mine because my fingerprints was glued all over it.
I’ve been buuilding for 40 years now, I find it a very relaxing hobby…plus I’ve improved a bit since that first kit.
My first Plastic kit, as distinct from the old Frog Penguins,was the Lindburg Spitfire. It was not overly accurate but when painted looked good. That is until the celulose paint reacted with the plastic then it was even more inaccurate. My next kit was one of the same companys “MiG 19”. molded in translucent white plastic. I should have stuck a fairy light up its exhaust and stuck it ontop of the Christmas Tree !! Accurate it wern’t. Ah well the memories. The fun is still there but the inocence is gone.
Dai.
My first models were snap together and I think they were an Apache and a F-14 Tomcat. But I don’t really remember those except for after building them I took them into my room and started to play with them.
But really I started when I was 16 and the kit was an M1A1, and I finished it in two days because my dad required me to wait two hours for the glue to dry.
My god… I just realized I’ve been building for 26 years!
I remember my first model prefectly. However, I don’t remember how old I was. I was either three or four. The model was the Revell Bizmark in 1/600 scale. My mom bought for me from Eckerds for $3 dollars. I was so excited about it that I wanted to open it in the car. My mom wouldn’t let me. This must be the reason why I always open models in the car and give it a good look it over. My dad put it together with me watching in complete wonder. Even being so young, he let me put some of the pieces on. We finshed right before bed time. The next day I took it to day care and showed all my firends. I kept the model until I was 11.
By the age of 8, I built at least 50 other ship models. Most of them were painted. None were rigged or had railings. I moved to cars and airplanes when I was 10 because it become hard to find ship model at the retailers. I kept building airplanes until I found girls. I kept building cars models until I could drive.
When I was five, I found an ad for the 1/500 scale Star Blazer Yamato. I asked my dad to buy it and for next five years I waited for it to come in the mail. I check every package for it, but it never came. When I was 17, I found it a comic store and built it. When I moved out, I lost it. I think it’s in the artic of my parents house still waiting to be air brushed.
I’m now 26 and back into building model. I just finshed building 5 mopars and just started work on the 1/96 scale Revell Constitution. When at the rigging stage, I’m going to start working on a 1/200 scale Nichimo Yamato and bouce between the two until finshed with the rigging on the Constitution. I’m sure I will build smaller quicker models just to keep my intrest up and take a break from the two monsters.