A little experiment I did yesterday gave me a funny story to share with everyone and also made me think… what do you guys do with your old models when you have no room for your latest build? or they become broken and you dont want to take the time to repair em?
Ever since I was a kid Ive fooled around with fireworks. At the age of 13 I got the great idea to strap bottle rockets to the bottom of my models and see if they would fly. ( a sacrilge I know) My first attempt was with a 1/72 SR-71, Two large bottle rockets replaced the exausts, stuck it in the ground… didnt work so good. But I didnt give up there… the next attempt was with a 1/48 F-100 6 Bottle rockets (3 on each wing) and this time placed on the slide at the local playground. WALLA!!! I was about as happy as wilbur and orvil in 1903 
(untli the SP’s - Air Force Police - came knocking on my door wanting to speak to my father about his son using fireworks on base…) Over the years as I built more models every know and then I take one Im no longer happy with and relive this wonderfull child hood experience. So yesterday I took a 1/48 B-17 that got rather beat up in this last PCS move outback with 4 very large Bottlerockets attached under the wings, placed it on my daughters slide and Houston we have lift off!!! I wish I had a digital camcorder so I could share the flight Now for the nightmare… the B-17 cleared the fence line/hedgerow at the back of my yard, a pretty good distance and landed in the field behind my house. This was actually intended if it cleared the yard like I hoped it would. What wasnt intended was I thought the bottle rockets would exploded before the plane hit the ground. I guess these things take longer to detonate than regular bottle rockets… the field it landed in had just been cut (for hay?) and was full of dry grass which ignited rather quickly… oops I was barefoot and had to quickly throw on some shoes, jump the fence and stomp out the flames. Not fast enough for the Farmer to notice his field was on fire and come yelling at me. Being in Belgium and not speaking French I have no idea what he was saying… I’ll let you guys guess though Im sure most of it would require[censored] All I could do was smile and walk away saying I was sorry, if he understood English. Nothing else has come of it yet but Im waiting for the local police to come knocking saying I owe the farmer for damage to his field… which I do. Hope you guys get as much a laugh out of this as my wife did…
I sell them at garage sales. This really does work. When I moved from California to Washington state in February I put a few of them on a table in front of my house. An aviation enthusiast just happened to drive by & he bought EVERYTHING I had–a cool $600 score! I then spent all that money (plus more) buying new kits to replace the old ones after I relocated. That shopping spree was one of the highlights of my life, let me tell you. Haven’t had that much fun since I discovered girls.
unfortunately my older builds have all but dissapeared. due to many many moves they ended up in pieces. there are four that remain, four auto builds from my late teens.
joe
My old builds never made the many moves my family made. Moving to Africa and back will do that. I remember an F-15 Eagle I built when I was 8 or 9 before going to S. Africa. Not sure what I did with it. I remember the red, white, and blue paint job being rather cllumsy. While in S. Africa I remember building an Sr-71 Blackbird, a Harrier, and few other planes. They ended up experiencing the fate of my much more destructive “friends” and their pellet guns. Never would have made the move back. After that high school, college, job, and grad school kept me out of the hobby until a recent unemployment skid of a few months. Now gainfully employed, the builds aren’t rolling off the line as quickly, but I’ve got 20 builds under my belt now from the past two years and plan to keep them; unless I replace them with a better build - probably gonna happen with my dilapidated F4U Corsair and P-40. Maybe I could mail them to my old “friends”. They seem the type that would still need something to shoot off the top of the double wides. I’m bad.
i gave a 1/24harrier to a friends son , most of the kits i keep except for 1, i didn’t get round to complete it because of the kit it self being c##p , so i sent it to bruce , who’s going to put a rocket inside it and send it to the gods who will reject it ( because its a c##ppy revell kit ) then it will fal to the gates of hell!!!
My old builds always went to my nephew, untill he got to old, then they were given to a friend for his son, now the grandkids have em.
Rob.
When I lived in Belgium I got yelled at by the neighbors several times, in French, and for nothing so bold as dive bombing the neighbors field. (Sixty years ago they were thanking us for it.) I don’t remember it ever being dry enough in Belgium to get the grass to burn. Honestly though, I enjoyed my stay in Belgium enormously.
As a matter of fact, I don’t have much of a problem getting rid of my old models. The moving company solved that problem for me. [:(!]
I did take an old Revell 1/32 F-4 and make it into a three wheeled land speed racer powered by two Estes C-6-0 rocket motors. It went pretty good for about ten feet but was too heavy to really get going. Thought about using D motors, but the grumpy neighbor put an end to that!
I started selling everything on eBay about two years ago, built or unbuilt. I’ve got a few Ducati motorcycle models in the Netherlands, a Chrysler Turbine model in Singapore, and a bunch of 1/72 airplanes hanging from a kids room ceiling in Virginia.
I’m not getting out of modeling, just ‘purging’ a bit!
Although I have quite an understanding girlfriend where my modeling is concerned, she has her limits. As a kind of controlled way for letting of steam when she gets frustrated with yet another kit purchase, I sometimes get rid of an old and broken one. Well, the things were going to go in the trash anyway, but I like to keep that quiet.[;)] Anyway, we stage these maiden flights in the living room (no garden), that always end in disaster.[:-,] The plane that flew the farthest (in a nice flat trajectory) was an old Revell 1/32 Beaufighter. The impact was a little louder than expected actually: quite a heavy kit [:I]. Well, no neighbours rang the door, so never mind I guess. Awood has inspired me to do bigger and better things, and the next kit that flies will go off the balcony into the trees.[}:)] A pity I have to let my girlfriend do the trowing.[:(]
seanrgb,
Damn! That’s the best F-4E I’ve seen a a looong time. Please don’t be bashful and show us more. Maybe even on a seperate post. Excellent weathering and shading, especially the former USAF markings.
Sean you’ve read my mind… Ive been looking at those Phantoms for a couple days now drooling. Awsome builds that If had had the talent would never go the way of my Fortress
Moving house solves all the problems.