Hey y’all,
Here’s a pic of my recently completed Wildcat for the Pacific GB next to a Wildcat that my dad built over 30 years ago when I was knee high to a grasshopper. I don’t know how his ever survived my sorties in it when I was a kid. It was pretty neat to have this hobby passed down to me, and I have the chance to do the same thing now. Maybe in few years, I can show three generations of Wildcats! Anyone else with similar experiences?
Glenn @ Dixie
That looks like the old Monogram Wildcat, a real museum piece! This post really says a lot about how far the hobby has come. Unfortunately, in todays environment, it’s hard to bring youngsters into the hobby. The mystique of our victory in WW ll is long forgotten, and the sense of awe that aircraft imparted on us in those long ago days is just there anymore.
Thanks for sharing this…a great post.
Regards,
Steve
Nice job on the Wildcat. My Father never built models, he was into woodworking.
Regards, Rick
That is very cool! I’ve started teaching my kids about WWII aircraft now,while they are 5 and 3. My 3 yr. old son can tell the names of the Corsair, Thunderbolt, and Mustang on site.We will be doing our first snap-tite very soon. My childern will grow up with history all around them, because I know they don’t teach it in school any more. At least the parts that matter. Gotta get’em while there young.[:D][^]
Eddie
Uhhh, which one is which???
Nice subject, Glenn; you are indeed a fortunate man! I never knew my real father, but my Uncle bought my first model for a birthday present, and the rest is history. I don’t know if any of his survived the years.
I had all daughters, and the only one that ever showed interest in modeling was the youngest… for about two years, then her interest went elsewhere. But, I have three grandsons that’s fascinated with the planes I build, so maybe I can pass some of this down, one day. [:)]
Take care,
Frank
Darn kids. It’s because all they do is watch the dang cartoon shows. Kids should be watching the History Channel, like I did. That’s how I fell in love with those birds, and I’m only 17!
Well I’m the only one in my whole family who build model kits… I received my first model kit when I was 10, it was a Monogram 1/48 A6M5 Zero… now I’m wondering where’s that kit right now… then I re-started building models when I finished the high school… Now I’m 22 and I usually watch channels like Discovery Channel, A&E Mundo and The History Channel… that’s what I like a lot WW II aircraft… specially German aircraft, I don’t know why…
Nice post Glenn. My Dad built a couple of models with me when I was a kid, and he always encouraged in my interest in flying and studies of military history - my Dad retired after 21 years in the Air Force. I also come from a family with a long military history going back to WW I in the US and further Europe. We fail our children when we fail to teach them history as it happened, not the PC trash they teach in school today, I digress. My youngest is just 18 months and I hope to share modelling and a love of history with him when he is older. Once again a nice post.
Cheers,
Eric
Thank you to all for the very kind words. I know the hobby has its worries over how to get
new people, especially the younger ones into the fold, but I feel it’s going to stay in great shape by how we influence others in our daily lives. Whether it’s a father, uncle, friend, etc., usually it’s someone, not the kit on the shelf at the store, that gets us hooked.
Thanks
Glenn
That’s pretty awesome, Glenn! My Dad “tolerated” my model building after a while, even though he was the one that got me started in the hobby & him being a WWII vet! Maybe he started getting worried after my room started piling up with kits! LOL - Calvin
my dad’s never a scale modeler. for whatever reason, one day he decided to check out a hobby shop and dragged me along with him. I was about 10 or so. he came back with a haswgawa 1/72 F-105 for himself (i dont remember what he bought for me). he clued the thing together, then threw it aside and never build another kit again. that was the only time he dabbled in the hobby. i, however, was hooked. now i’m the only modeler in the family for the last 20 years that builds airplanes. my younger brother builds Gundams (blah).
My father wouldn’t have touched a plastic model with a ten foot pole and he belittled the heck out of me for wasting my time and money on them. I persisted through my teenage years and have been “in and out” of the hobby as an adult. My son turns 40 in 2 months and enjoys building models. Unfortunately, he enjoys chasing Bambi, Thumper and friends around the woods even more, so his modeling doesn’t get too far.
My older brother does a lot of modeling with cars/trucks and figurines,(most of them R or X rated), so I am not the only black sheep in the family.
Darwin, O.F. [alien]