what's your modeling history?

The earliest I can remember are the Semi tractor-trailer models my cousin built for me. I can't remember how old I was. One of them was an orange COE with a tandem trailer. The other one was green  COE with a "regular" length trialer. My other cousin helped me with a '56 Ford. When they got older, I got all of their spare parts. It was a big box. My friends would come over and we would take over the kitchen table just putting what ever parts "looked cool/right" together. But I give the majority of the credit to my Dad for buying kits and for giving a love for aircraft. So, I've been building off-n-on (mostly "on") since.

I guess I'll share next. I'm 47 now, started when I was 6 or so. We had relatives that visited at X-mas and my older brother got a model of a 64 Nova.I liked it better than what I got,so we swapped. I didnt do that many cars then as I was very into WW2 subjects.My dad was a vet and was in aTD battalion. I got out of the hobby in about1979 but was back in it by 87. From there I started building cars and have quite a few contest wins under my belt.I'm still building some automotive subjects,but have recently returned to aircraft,armor,and even some figures and ships. Love the hobby and I must say I have met some of the finest people at the shows and swap meets. My Local IPMS group is a great example of the caliber of model builders and "just good folks" you'll find in this hobby.

Rob {skippy28}

As I said in Durr's post, I started building around 6 or 7 to get more accurate toys.  Since that post, I took this picture.  I played with them as a kid, and left them at my mom's.  When my kids were growing up, they played with them when they spent the night.  Most end up broke at the bottom of the toy box, and a few became targets for.22's, bb's and firecrackers.

 

In the picture is a 1/40 Revel T-34/85, Sheman, jeep and combat troops.  Also a 1/40 Adams LVT 4(A), and a 105 mm howitzer on a Revell 105 mm base.  I have several more troopers.  They came 18 poses to a box.  The Sherman cam with five figures, as did everything but the jeep.  They need a little work today.

I grew up watching my oldest brother build model ships, cars, planes and old Apollo rocket models. I built my first kit when I was 9 yrs old. It was a Revell 1/72 Sopwith Camel. At the time I didnt know anything about painting them, they were just fun to put together and play with. When I was 12, I got am AMT Star Trek Enterprise model and this was my fist introduction to painting a model. Throughout most of my teenage years I wasnt interested in model building. It was girls and Rock n Roll. When I hit my mid 20's in the 80's I got back into the hobby and started building modern military aircraft and have been hooked ever since. I took a long haitius from the hobby after a divorce from ex wife. Then back in '97 I started briefly building again then stopped because I bought a computer and got addicted to the internet. Then about two years ago after the novelty of owning a computer had finally wore off I started building again and decided to work on improving my skills in building models and been at it since and have no plans to stop again.

Air Master

Two of my uncles got me started in 1946 when I was 6 years old. One of them was in the Submarine Service in WWII and the other was in the Merchant Marines in WWII so naturally they got me interested in ships of all types. As I got older, I think I had built almost all of the ships that Revell put out. Got interested in all types of models. Flew U-Control planes. Built indoor microfilm models and flew them at the local armory. Also built and still do build stick and tissue planes which one of my grandsons is getting interested in. Switched to R/C. In the late 60's, switched to R/C Sailboats. Built and raced all classes up and down the east coast until the early 80's. All this time I had built all types of plastic models in between the rest. I now stick to plastic models mostly.

Jim 

I got started in the early 1970's, and like most modelers, I only did it for a few years before other things interfered. Things like my first set of drums and a new hobby, collecting the old glass insulators from telephone poles. By 1979, I had pretty much stopped for good.

I got back into it about a dozen years ago when I found a kit of an RC fishing boat at a garage sale. I bought it, originally intending to mail it to a friend in Hawaii, but after I got it home, I decided it might make a good "rainy day" project. Over a few years, modeling slowly became more of a full-time hobby.

After watching ''Tora Tora Tora" back in the early 70's, I was hooked on military history. ironically my first model became a Dauntless which i spent a then fortune on, and promptly ruined it with glue and not reading the directions. Was into planes for some years than made the shift to armor, which I've resided in ever since.

Durr posed this question a couple months ago: /forums/770560/ShowPost.aspx I started with the old Aurora kits as a child.

I started making models at about 4 or 5 years old (late 60's), influenced by my Dad who made model trains, cars and the occasional aircraft. The first models I remember making were a razorback P-47 (can't recall what brand, but I remember that it was silver plastic, didn't have open wheel wells and I think it had embossed stars & bars) and a Frog Dewoitne 520. These first models were made on family holidays to the Gold Coast (Australia); I remember them being slapped together then hurriedly painted with Dad's gloss model railroad paints. I remember this well because I still have these amongst my collection of relics.

I was an avid modeller of aircraft, AFV's and occasional ships until my mid teens when schooling, sport, adolescence and the ever-present quest to be "cool" took priority. Airfix, Frog, Revell, Heller, Entex & Aoshima were the main attraction. Then along came Matchbox, which whilst generally poor by today's standards, were a quantum leap back then, with their sharp moulding, relatively good fit, clear canopies and interesting range. Hasegawa and Fujimi were around of course, but they were beyond my pocket money budget. By then, I had started to experiment with conversions, scratchbuilding, detailing and airbrushing and I was paying more attention to correct colours and markings. I even won a few school model making competitions.

I revisited model making when I was at university as relaxation & distraction and from the pressures of study. In the meantime, I had stayed in contact with the developments in the model industry through my Dad's subscriptions to FSM and Scale Models. At that stage, PE had started to be produced and people seemed to be getting more serious about superdetailing, so I tried my hand at those with mixed success.

Then a career came along, followed by marriage and family, so although I dabbled in modelling occasionally over the next 15-20 years, my main connection with plastic was through magazines and websites. During this time however, I started accumulating a large collection of kits and references. I've since had a divorce, a new marriage and now live 80% of my time in another country but I have just started getting back into some regular model making. It's still not much more than a "dabble", but at least I'm gluing plastic again! Trouble is, I'm still buying too... I'm sure it's an addiction but I justify it by saying it's my planning for retirement!

I guess it's safe to 'show your age' on this site, so...

I had a couple of balsa models (gliders) back about, oh, '69? My grandad bought my first plastic plane. I wish I could remember what it was. By 1972, at 7 yrs of age, I was hooked. I built planes, big-rigs, ships, you name it. Planes were always my fave, tho. I remember building a Corsair, Phantom, Eagle, B-17, Mustang, B-29, B-25, Zero and many others. One in particular that I recall was...remember when the Space Shuttle was piggy-backed on a 747? I had one of those. I also collected stamps, coins, Wacky Packages and KISS trading cards. I wish I could jump in a Star Trek transporter and go back there. Sometime around age 14, I discovered girls and cars and other stuff. Now I'm 41 and I need to get back to that place. I'm jumping in head-first. I'm glad the pool ain't dried up.

I started at about 13/14, when the multi-coloured Matchbox models came out. Thinking they didnt need paint I started to build. Most of them ended up as target practise for an air-gun. I carried on until 16/17, then work/girls/going out took my interest away.

I restarted a few years ago after building a workshop in my garden with nothing to work on. I needed a hobby to keep away from the idiot lantern and the pub. I came across FSM and other modelling sites and made the decision to start again.

I first bought the biggest kit available, 1/350 Enterprise and went from there. Soon found out that I didnt have the skills required to turn out masterpieces, so started to read up and search the web. My builds improved dramatically as I learned new techniques.

Unfortunately, a couple of years ago I had marital problems that led to divorce and I stopped completely.

 But Im back now, catching up on the latest tricks from the forums and enjoying building again. I have a bit less disposable income but still have my workshop and house, so its not all bad. Looking forward to eventually finishing a build and posting photos again. Also, my new girlfriend dont mind my hobby, in fact is supportive as her dad was a keen modeller till his death. She dont live with me so she doesnt exactly know how much time I spend out in the shed, but thats life

 Enjoy the hobby and life

Dave

 

I started out as a kid in the 1970's, making those 1:72 Airfix kits- you know the ones in the plastic bag with cardboard stapled to the top ?  Unfortunately, my allowance didnt extend to paints, so I used to raid Dad's house paints- some interesting colour combinations there.  My sky-blue Me262 stands out- I think it was the same colour as my bedroom wall- very good camouflage !

I built as kid in the 1960's I had a few of those Aurora Monster kits.Godzilla,The Creature,Wolfman,Frankenstein,and King Kong,I remember a small USS New Jersey,and a military truck,but these were just put together by me and my mother-yes my  mother!!!!,Dad had no patience for that kind stuff,and mostly they where to play with untill they broke.

I started up in 1982-1993 while in diffrent apartments,but the computer games and so-forth cut in to my modelling time plus working at the kitchen table wasn't easy so I stopped for awhile -I have no kits from this time.

Finally in 1999 after I got a house where I was able to set up a shop in the basement along with an extensive  display area also,I have been at it ever since