I just turned 30 and I can still vividly remember the first kit I built when I was 7.
It was Monogram’s 1/72 snap together F-4 Phantom. Not five minutes home from the toy shop, I was into the box, twisting parts off the sprues. I had the thing slapped together in probably under 10 minutes (a personal modeing construction speed record I’ve yet to equal or better)
I "flew it around the house for a couple of weeks, then decide maybe I should paint it (No, I still don’t like to talk about that)
After painting, I hung it from my bedrom ceiling. I was bitten by the modeling bug and that Phantom was joined by Revell/Crown’s 1/144 B-52 Stratofortress and Revell’s old 1/48 F-16 Fighting Falcon in my bedroom’s stratosphere. There were also many others that I don’t remember so well.
I no longer have any of those old kits, but I’ve seen that old Phantom kit re-issued a couple of times and, If I had kids who wanted to take a crack at this hobby and that kit was out there somewhere, I’d probably try to get them to cut their modeling teeth on it. It may not be the “best” Phantom kit ever made, but the fun factor is there.
My first “model” was the old Mattel Spinwelder F15 eagle. I was probably 6 or 7, but my grandfather got me something to keep me busy one summer (and off of his award winning Railroad layout)
Bright blue plastic with “welds” all over it, really ugly, but I was so proud of it.
A 1/48 scale P6 Curtis Hawk. That was about 1970. I don’t remember who the manufacturer was. I just remember the flashy decals and those spadded wheels.
It was 30 years , it was a helicopter , may be an UH-1 , but I can not remember its scale and brand name . ( the colour of plastic was olive drab , may be it was a 1/100 scale Tamiya’s kit. )
If my memory serves me right I’m pretty sure it was a Bell X-1 in most probably 1960 or 1961. I was 5 or 6 years old. It was molded in white plastic. I built it in the kitchen on my parents old 50’s art deco chome table with red vynal cushions. I painted it with a brush and a small Testors type jar of silver paint. I got silver paint all over the place and held up dinner cleaning up the mess.
Kind of an age giveaway, but I was 8, and it was a Strombecker P-51 Mustang with about 6 parts. My dad, who flew U-control gas engines, gave me a little advice and I slapped it together in about 5 minutes, glue fingerprints and all.
My very first model was a Matchbox 1/72nd scale Alpha Jet. I was 5 years old. My dad built most of it for me. It was simple and straight forward. I basicly played with it until it broke.
Recently while at a model trade show I found the exact Matchbox kit, I had to buy it and basically I have just put it away unbuilt. I don’t know if I’lll ever build it.[8D]
My first model was a 1/72 Phantom. I was about 7 when i built it. I can’t remember what the brand was. I remember painting the whole thing olive drab except for the landing gear which was silver and black for the tires. It broke about 1 week later.
But before that i helped my dad build his models. He passed them onto me and i have them sored in a cuboard at home.
How long ago has that been? Somewhere around 1948/9 I think. It was an Me109 and I don’t remember much about it except it was molded in red plastic. No paint and lots of glue. But I was proud of it at the time.
My first was a Stuka JU-87. I did a horrible job with it… glue marks everywhere, botched canopy, sloppy decal placement… I was upset after watching my dad put together (to me) museum quality motorized tug boats and shrimp boats with virtually no effort. Why couldn’t I do that?
I tried to make up for quality by quantity, and by the time I hit high school I had a dozen German planes hanging from my ceiling… they were harder to see up there. Good thing as I had no knack for the hobby, but they looked cool hanging around.
30 years later and I’m trying again. With a vengence. I have great tools, much better kits, lots of “how-to” books and a lot of patience. I’m slowly developing good technique, and am producing some nice kits. Eventually, I hope to have results I’ll be proud to show off, instead of hanging from a high ceiling.
Oh, Geez…
I’m trying to think back almost 30 years, but I think it was either a 1:1 Pyro .45 Peacemaker revolver or the Evel Knievel one of him jumping over some junk cars…
It was old AMT Ertl 14 tomcat and I also had a Revell Su-27, both in 1/72 scale.
I didn’t have much in paint or brushes, but I did have alot of glue and some aftermarket decals for the F-14.
They looked really bad, when I think about it now, but when I built them at the time, I was really proud of them because I accomplished something that I just begun.[:D]
My first model was a 1/72 Bristol Beaufighter from Airfix, I was about six or sever yerars old. The final result was terrible, glue and fingerprint everywhere!
I`m now 31 and enjoy 1/48 aircraft and 1/35 armor.
My first model was The Revel USS Arizona. It was a gift for me on my 8th birthday (only 6 years ago…yes I’m young). I remember not having any modeling glue so I had to use crazy glue. I remember also having only 4 colours of paint so my hull is gloss white and the deck is skin tone.
The first model I remember building was the P-47 in about 1/72 or close, it was solid balsa wood with the basic shape.The first ones I remember buliding and putting paint on (with my father who did most of them) was the old Revell series of 1910 and there abouts carriage cars. That was about 1952-3.One of the earliest that was the most fun was the Comet F-80 shooting star, I bought three of them and assembled them (no paint) and started a little club and we flew these three F-80’s around the neighborhood, we flew them in formation, in hand, without stepping on each others toes. We challenged other kids to dogfights, great fun and along time ago, about 1954-5.
How long ago has that been? Somewhere around 1948/9 I think. It was an Me109 and I don’t remember much about it except it was molded in red plastic. No paint and lots of glue. But I was proud of it at the time.
[/quote]
[:D] That was most likely the old Arora kit if it was red.
Mine was Airfix’s 1/72 Me-109G. Age 8. I tried to paint it, but got nowhere with it really. Then tried to emulate Dad by painting figures, also from the Airfix range and I clearly remember my 1/32 Russian infantry sporting gloss Royal Blue tops and red-brick bottoms. What a sight those were… After that I spent a couple of years buying kits whose plastic ‘matched’ as closely as possible the colour of the real thing… I did a lot of US Navy greys and blues…
i was a bout 5 when i made my first painted model because up till then i was just puttin models together without paint on non painted one i can remember was the 1/350 ticonderoga class aegis cruiser but my first painted one was a spitfire mk1 when i was 5.
i turned out ok but the cockpit is really bad!
i also made the uss enterprise which igot once for a b’day at about 6 and it was cool!
im now twelve and im in the middle iof making a italeri f-22 raptor
My first kit was Aurora’s PBY-5. Last time I saw it I had just used it to test an airbrush pattern. If I knew how fondly I would remember it, I would have saved it. That in the early 70’s. My computer wall paper is the box art for that kit! Woody
