Nostalgia , and learning ;

Hi Don ;

Yeah , I know what you mean .I  still get nostalgic around small planes and dive boats .

 The planes and hangars for the smells . The dive boats remind me of the taste of air out of a tank.

Another nostalgic smell for me is hydraulic fluid.  Dad's idea of quality time was to take me with him to airports, where he just turned my loose while he hanger-flew with his buddies.  I could wander around through the hangers, and tie-down areas.  The smell of hydraulic fluid permeated all the hangers, and when I smell it today it reminds me of those walks through the hangers at various small airports.

TB - following on the sensory induced nostalgia... sometimes the smell of original Testors paints, or tube glue, or a song will invoke memories of building (ruining) a model as a boy.  Or the image of the original boxing of an old Monogram Kingfisher - reminds me of scouring the shelves of the local 5 & Dime.  Even the way the kits were shrink wrapped back then was different and it kicks off an old memory of opening that kit on the way home from the store and my mom saying - stop!   Wait until we get home!

I suppose it's why I subliminally put a fingerprint on every model .... lol

I actually prefer working on the old kits. Slowly working my way through the old Revell 1/72 WWI and WWII series, especially the triple kits with the prosaic names. Also the old Airfix ones with the gimmicky bits. I enjoy the challenge of making something decent out of them while remembering my boyhood days in Denver when the Rexall Drug actually had a pretty decent selection. Thought I'd died and gone to heaven when I discovered Heller.

I can't bring myself to pay that kind if money for the current Tamigawa kits and all the aftermarket stuff, although I have succumbed to the newer Airfix ones.

Oh !

    Now I remember .They came out with a line of H.O. scale buildings . My Holy Grail has always been the Nuclear Power station . Those were okay for the time .

Hmmm  Revell Summer Stock ?

 I don't remember that , But I was out of country a lot . " G " do you still live in the Bay Area ? If so visit Just Trains in Concord and check out some of my work .

Oh My " G " 

 Yes , I know those Folks . It's been years , but , back in the day I spent my bucks there .My first real nice plastic boat kit was bought there . Aurora's! The kit was of a foot Wheeler Cruiser 42 footer .

 I kept that thing for years eventually replacing the plastic toned wood areas with the real thing ! I tried replacing that kit for years and  No Luck . The nice thing about Fransiscan , It was NEVER boring . Besides I enjoyed the light rail and commuter train ride out there . 

 Aw shoot ! don't get me started . I still miss the Sacramento Delta and San Francisco area . As to the Wheeler , I finally recreated it in plastic and wood in the same scale .

Anyone remember the Revell Summer Stock Theater?

I’ve built kits beginning in the early 60s.

My favorite time back Then was  the late 60s.

so much so that I painted the Revell logo on my tree house.

Built the Picture Fleet and thumb racked the box covers on my wall.

I would put together another Revell Essex any time if asked.

When I was younger than that it was slot cars.

 Take a shoe box with your 1/24 cars to a track at the HS and wait for your heat.

lately I’ve been searching out local HS all over the State. Those old slot tracks were bought and sold, those who know, know where they are.

Then it was trains.

TB you know the folks at Franciscan.

I still know Don.

500 sq. Ft. of Southern Pacific over the Coast Lines. Daylights, Larks, root drags, the cans.

All 1/160.

To me, the vintage kits are the ones that I built as a child. I often re-visit these old kits when they get reissued. They are not as "fun" as I remember now that I look at them from modern viewpoint. I feel the need to fix things that are not as fixable as I'd like.

Love vintage kits.  To me the vintage kits are those that pre-date plastic.  I was in about sixth grade before my first plastic model.  I ordered a number of kits from eBay, and a few from people on forums that knew I was looking for wood plane and car kits.

One wooden race car kit I bought proved to me I can have my kit and eat it too. Car kits in those days were blocks and sheets of wood- you glued the blocks and sheets together and then carved the body to the shapes and contours shown in the plans.  None flying scale planes were same way.  Flying planes were the stick and tissue kind.

Even got ahold, via eBay, a Joe Ott airplane.  During the war balsa was a strategic material- used for life rafts for sailers.  Ott continued production without pause because the sticks were stripped pine, and the formers and ribs were die cut from cardboard!

   I like this post TB, what I took from it was the thrill and excitment that comes from a new kit,( when we were kids), and having a virgin vintage kit now, (call it prime time), and working it into a presentable display.

     We have had years to research that subject, figure what we would do different, execute the build, and bask in the glory of our success.

       That being said when I opened the Revell 32nd scale F4U Corsair for the 3rd time, the theme from Baa Baa Blacksheep immediately started running through my head.

       Yes TB I think I like this post.