Nostalgia in modeling

We seem to be about the same age.and I have returned to the hobby about 2 years ago.

The old song " I wish I was 16 again and know what I know now"  certainly applies to to modeling in my case anyhow.

 I wax nostalgic about the kits I built as a youngun as well but  Where we differ is I enjoy building them with the better skills and techniques I have learned over the last few years to produce the old kits the way I thought they looked in my mind as a kid.

I only have a dozen or so in the stash , the ones I always wanted to build as a kid, and the joy of the hobby to me is still learning new and better techniques on each one I attempt to build. (The info I have recieved here is priceless.)

 I kindly encourage you to get in there and put some of these together as the doing is a lot more fun than the looking.

It isn't just 60-year olds. I'm 37 and I love to buy old Monogram and Airfix kits to remind me of the fun I had with them when I was 12 years old.

It is never quite the same though.

You can never go back home, as they say.

I built many Monogram kits during my youth, but most of them were balsa kits with a few plastic parts.

It never goes away. I'm just short of 60, and last week I was just thrilled to purchase Round 2's reissued "Piranha Spy Car," which at age 10 or so I built as the "Man From U.N.C.L.E. Car." Hope to do a little bit better with it than I did then, but I'm nearly just as excited to have it as I was back in the day.

I've built one or two kits from when I was a kid, but I really enjoy building the new ones now.  PE and resin detail parts, AM or in the kit, have demanded new skills and often heightened research requirements adding to my enjoyment of the hobby.

When I want to feel nostalgic, I often go to http://www.oldmodelkits.com.  I enjoy looking through the lists, remembering, "I built that!" and even buying one if the need or want arises.

Mike F6F

When I want to feel nostalgic, I often go to http://www.oldmodelkits.com.  I enjoy looking through the lists, remembering, "I built that!" and even buying one if the need or want arises.

That's an interesting site. Thanks for the link, MIke!

Thanks guys. Nice to know am not alone.

Thanks for the encouragement Jay Jay. I'm still actively building models , it's only the nostalgia kits  I am saving. Actually the lack of display space and poor eyesight are the ones preventing me from going full blast.

Mike F6F I also frequent oldmodelkits though I have not purchased from them yet. Most of my nostagia buys are from ebay and rare-plane detective.

I am now finishing up a Tamiya 1/48 Corsair, which I will give to my son, as it is his favorite plane.  I have another example of the same kit I built over 25 years ago, and it is obvious how much my skills have improved in Painting and Weathering.  Being 73 now, I can see my skills are declining , so I decided to build this for him now, while I can still do a decent job.

So, I urge all of you to build the favorites in your stash, before you run out of time!

Lately, I've been purchasing either kits I built as a child or kits i wanted but could not afford at that time.

Wow Cadet Chuck you're 73 and still modeling! That's very encouraging, that means I have many more years of modeling ahead of me. I agree with you to build our favorites, at least, in the stash while we can, hahaha.

Sprue-ce Goose  funny thing is there are some kits I can't afford before that I still can't afford at present. Looks like they have appreciated through time and still pricey for me especially now that I am retired.

Cadet Chuck

  Being 73 now, I can see my skills are declining , so I decided to build this for him now, while I can still do a decent job.

I'm 77, and while I can keep buying stronger reading glasses to fix the vision problem, I find my fingers are losing their manual dexterity, a real negative for a modeler.  But I have come to believe very much in the "use it or lose it" philosophy, so am making a point to move to smaller scales- 1:72 and 1:144 aircraft and 1:700 ships. Wish there were more 1:32 car kits.

I have been doing that off and on for about a dozen years or so, except my era is 1970s. I started building in about 1970 or so around age 9. Many years ago I began buying vintage kits or sometimes just the empty boxes. Sometimes to build again and sometimes to just fondle. Occasionally it will be a kit that I wanted but never had, like the Aurora Screwdriver Assembly B-25 and Monogram Phantom Huey. A happier time of my life!

That's great Don, 77 and moving to smaller scales! We must have a league of senior citizens in this forum. I wonder who's the most senior?

Hey famvburg looks like you're more nostalgic than I am, buying even empty boxes. I do keep all my empty model boxes though.

When I got back into building models around '99 or so, I also looked to build the same models I built when I was a kid (b. 1964).  I grew up on Monogram, Revell, Airfix/MPC, Aurora.  I consider myself a nostalgia builder.  But as with nostalgia in other areas, I find that when I look at some of those kits that I remember fondly, I can see the warts--the soft detail, poor fit, and simple features.  I take the nostalgia for what it is, remember those days fondly, defend those makers for what they achieved in their time, but I don't pass up new makers' kits, just because they weren't around "when I was a kid".

nkm1416@info.com.ph

Sprue-ce Goose  funny thing is there are some kits I can't afford before that I still can't afford at present. Looks like they have appreciated through time and still pricey for me especially now that I am retired.

I'm 44 and find that I still buy a lot of my kits due to nostalgia.  In fact, I bought the big, and much maligned, 1/32 Revell F4U Corsair for nostalgia.  It was the first kit my dad built for me when I was 7 and now I'd like to build one of my own.  It'll not only take me back to those wonderful years of childhood, but I'll also get to experience what it was like for him to build it.

So yes, I'm basing many of my current purchases on nostalgia but they're also getting built.

Eric

echolmberg

...I bought the big, and much maligned, 1/32 Revell F4U Corsair for nostalgia... 

That's one that I want to build again, too.  I built two, when I was around 14 or 15.  I built the regular boxing, with Ira Kepford's mount on the box cover, and then the "Baa, Baa, Black Sheep" reboxing.  I don't think it's such a bad kit, and it's a heck of a lot cheaper than the alternatives.

Well;

   Let's see , I am not as old as Don and not as young as I used to be either ( 72 ) . Comet Bild-n-Fly come to mind for me . They were probably about 1/32 or 1/48 but were fun to build . Could even fly one before bedtime !

Lessee ; Then we moved off the farm . I found out what a " Hobby Shop " was . I guess I shouldn't forget S.S. Kresge , S . S. Kress  and of course Fremont's and Sciandra Toys . They had something I had never seen before . Plastic Models !

     I went to summer camp that first year .The camp had plastic and wood Monogram kits for the  Boys , Necklaces and Plaques for the Girls . Baskets and lanyards for whomever wanted to try those .

      Plastic models were " Dear " ( expensive ) back then for me .Why , a whole 98 cents, Gees!  that was expensive . Aurora had some nice stuff for kids then , simple to build ,many pre-colored and raised locations for decals .Gee , you could paint the markings on .! Later on they did do some really decent cars( 1967-68 ) . Long after I had gone through the Revell multi-piece body kits (1955-1958 ) .My first A.M.T. kit was a 3 in  1 - 1958 Chevy Impala.( the old Promo mold ) version !

Today however , It's quality, selection and size that count . And nostalgia too  .I went and bought the " Piranha " Spy Car again too .Betchya it will be better than the first .

   1/200 , 1/350 and where it's unavoidable 1/700 ships , papermodels and some planes and armor still . I'll never finish them all  .At least it won't be for not trying ! My fondest memory of a " Hobby Shop " was Kensington Hobbies ,  Right around the corner from the theater where we went for Saturday matinees .

      Must not forget one very important thing . My foster father was a tool and die maker . He supported all sorts of hobbies I got involved in . No I didn't get to be a tool and die maker andI made him proud anyway , graduated from one of the country's leading institutes of higher learning . And served with Honor and Pride  , in the U.S.N. and the Corps . Good years all .

I was so disappointed when Comet went out of business just before the turn of the century.  I could pick up the exact same kits I built as a kid when I was an adult- even an older adult.  And Comet kits were always affordable.  I guess it is surprising they lasted as long as they did.  I know they were a well established brand even when I got into modeling in mid to late forties.  And I loved those Monogram kits, like the Speedi-bilt line, that were combination balsa and plastic.  They did not fly worth a darn, so I built them as static scale only.

I 'ahem, appear' to be buying (to build of course!) all the 1/72nd Airfix kits I built as a kid & replacing them with the 1/48th, & 1/35th modern kits, oh well...

I just turned 50, and am currently working on an ooooooooold Tamiya Leopard 1, one of the very first models I ever built. I like to take old models that I had finished in my youth and re-build them from a fresh kit to my standards today. I've even bought some old ESCI 1/72 kits that I used to have in excess. It's always fun to go back down memory lane and appreciate the incredible standards we have today, but to be honest, sometimes I just look at improving the older kits as a modeling challenge and a good a to stay sharp!

I got two more Airfix Craftmaster kits, P-39Q and Arado Ar 196, for the nostalgia stash! A friend is visiting Las Vegas and I requested her to pick up the kits at Rare-Plane Detective. I can't wait 'til she comes home in June!

This makes this nostalgia thing an added expense. I bought my first Airfix Craftmaster P-39 way back in 1970. Then I bought another one in different boxing to build a better one, then another one for a different marking. I also bought other Airacobras ( 1 Heller, 1 Revell, 3 Academy - for more detailed builds) four are built-up, 1 waiting to be finished, 3 waiting in the  'stash -to-be-built'.

When nostalgia hits, reboxing don't satisfy. I need many more. Got to set aside some funds from the pension.

Sprue-ce Goose I'm not as lucky as you are, we don't have swap meets like that here. At times there is at our local model club but not at bargain prices.

Tankerbuilder I am sure the forum is proud of members like you!

I thank You !

I can only hope the guys are . I try to be fair to everyone and they in turn are fair to me . Best bunch I ever hung around with . The young ones get frisky now and then . Don and the others , plus myself keep them pointed in the right direction , I like to think that anyway .

the doog

 It's always fun to go back down memory lane and appreciate the incredible standards we have today, but to be honest, sometimes I just look at improving the older kits as a modeling challenge and a good a to stay sharp!

That's what I told myself, too, when I got back into models.  I wanted to see how I do now, building kits I built as a kid, and see if I've learned anything in the meantime.

And???

I wish I still had them just for the laughs.

nkm1416,

I'm a year older than you but started model building earlier, as in 1959ish. I actually started getting out of models in 1969. What with girls, college, working , a car, gas, etc. Not much money/time/interest left for models and comics.

I never totally got out of models always buying/building a kit every few years. About 12 years ago I started stocking up on kits knowing that my career was much closer to ending than beginning. One of the first kits I sought out was the "MPC Gangbusters 1928 Lincoln Model Kit ". I first received this kit in the early 60's. The "Untouchables" TV show was still fresh on my mind. This kit was way beyond my abilities as it had delicate moving parts that required skills I didn't have. However, it was a really cool kit! It had two figures, guns, grenades, bottles of booze, crates, bullet riddled parts! I never did finish it. I tried brush painting it a canary yellow, the kit was molded in black. Guess how that turned out. To this day I remember the excitement of that kit.

I also remember all the car kits that came with extra parts to build 3 different ways. The Monogram WW2 planes. The nuclear sub kits. (I believe some of these were the same model with a different name). The Hawk space kits, Renwal military kits. I would love to buy the originals again but cannot justify the price for something I wouldn't want to build. Also just something my family would want to get rid of when I'm no longer here.

My "Holy Grail" kit is the "Revell Westinghouse Nuclear Power Plant". Saw it in Woolsworth. Looked at it everytime I went in until one day a sales clerk told me not to be opening the boxes as parts might get lost. Scared the crap outta me. BTW, many kits in those days were not wrapped in cellophane.

Short answer to your question. Its NOT just you.

Hahaha thanks mitsdude! I see you build a wide variety of subjects.