Why did you start modeling?

LOL... this made my day.

Great post Owl.

panzerpilot

DoogsATX:

For the chicks, obviously...

 

Yes, I like to see that glimmer in their eyes when I tell them I am building a 1/32 Hasegawa Fw190-D9!

a Fw-190D, you say? Oh I do declare!

DoogsATX

For the chicks, obviously...

Yes, I like to see that glimmer in their eyes when I tell them I am building a 1/32 Hasegawa Fw190-D9!

Why did I start? Because I like to create stuff and imagine. I started building models at age 5. I remember my first kit built, with the help of my parents, was a 1/700? Revell USS Missouri. I used to watch airplanes fly over and became fascinated, so I started building model airplanes. I would wake up on a weekend morning to start building and, as we modelers know so well, it would instantly be 11pm or so. I must have built a hundred models back then, using testors enamels, brush and the red testors glue. I took a 15 year, or so, hiatus and got back into it again. This time, with all the tools I didn't have the resources for back then. Airbrush, paintbooth, ... the usual. I'm having a lot of fun with it!!

I had always been a little airplane nut, as I grew up in the Air Force, with dad being a fighter pilot, and toy planes abounded in my room... We (Mom, me, & Sis) were spending a few weeks at my aunt & uncle's house back in 1967, while we got ready to move into base housing at Eglin AFB during Dad's 1st deployment to Vietnam.  He was flying F-100s back then, but I was more into the toy WW2 stuff and "green army men", and didn't know a Super Sabre from a MiG or a  "BUFF" from a "SLUF"...

My cousin Mark, who was a few years older than me, like age 10 or so, was a model builder, mostly cars, but airplanes too, and I was fascinated by his collection, as I's never seen any plastic models before...  So one afternoon while Mom & Aunt Donna were in town, Donna bought Mark a model, and she thought that it'd be somethin' I might like to try as well, since I was already a FAN (Frikkin' Airplane Nut), so she grabbed a couple 1/72 HAWK kits (.39 cents a copy back then), an F4U-1D Corsair and a Mk 22 Spitfire... Since I was "company" I got to choose which kit to build, and took the Spitfire... Been going ever since...

I remember the kit to this day, and even found another copy of it on Ebay and had to have it, just for nostaliga..

I even managed to bag the Corsair kit..

So there you have it... All it took was another modeler..

Because i wanted to and my dad made sailing ships and like most boys i wanted to do what my dad did.

My Grandfather got me into modeling I believe.I watched him build a Huey Cobra and an El Camino.The hook was set and I've been building ever since!

Tom Hering

The first time, as a kid in the early 1960s, it was a natural progression from Tinker Toys, to Lincoln Logs, to an Erector set, to a Kenner girder-and-panel set, to plastic model kits. My parents could see that I loved to build things, and gave me my first model kits as birthday and Christmas gifts.

Yeah what he said!!! My first model if I remember was the Creature from the Black Lagoon followed by the Robbie the Robot. Then started on aircraft and space craft as the space race developed.

I also had a vac-u-from. In fact I have one now.

Got back in about 4 years agao to do it with my grandson who is now 8 years old. Had to quit for awhile because of health but am back to it. I am currently doing 3 group builds, one of which is with the grandson.

My grandmother spent her Saurday's going to tag/yard sales and the local flea market.  She bought me a model and that's how I started.

Got back into modeling when I spent so much time in the VA hospital system and they gave us crafts/models/paint by numbers and stuff like that to do, so I restarted doing models to keep me busy and try not to be bored to death.  Now I use models to help take a break from school and work.

Tom Hering

The first time, as a kid in the early 1960s, it was a natural progression from Tinker Toys, to Lincoln Logs, to an Erector set, to a Kenner girder-and-panel set, to plastic model kits. My parents could see that I loved to build things, and gave me my first model kits as birthday and Christmas gifts.

 

WOW, been years since I thought about those Kenner sets. I loved those things! I only had one of the basic kits and  naturally didn't have enough material to build the really cool structures. Ha, I still have one of the girders around here somewhere.

I lived a couple of miles from the school and downtown area and really wasn't into sports. I grew up during World War II . Building models of WWII airplanes seemed to be the right thing to do.

Lovely stories to read!

Like my profile says i started modeling (again) during a prolonged stay at the hospital.... Tried to read but i was too doped up to focus (you try reading a 500 page book on german submarines in another language with valium in your system...you get the point....)....tv has never really been my thing. So i basically just sat there day after day.

One day i was going bored out of my mind when it suddenly hit me that my father had the old big revell cutty sark in a closet... He painted the parts on the sprue (poorly) and lost interest. So i thought "why the h*ll not!" and started on it.

I was the talk of the day at the hospital once i finished her. And i never stopped modelling eversince. My wife is really kinda bored with it even though she would never admit it but she is happy i didnt pick up bars girls drugs and alcohol as a hobby

Richard

Well seeing how when I started I was bigtime into Dinosaurs and my first model was a Dinosaur... Blame it on  those beasts. But it quickly evolved to include military models, airliners, (both of those are probably due to my dad) and real space probably due to the current ongoing Apollo program. I have never truly "stopped" building models though. At the end of high school my builds slowed don considerably due to school and work, but I still had stuff going on until I left for the Ft Benning finishing school for boys to men. After completion of that, I started right back up one I was assigned to a line unit at Ft Polk . There I started down a new path of modern 1/35 armor since the PX stocked those in large quantities and selection and being a TOW gunner I wanted to know what all that stuff was I was supposed to shoot at if the balloon went up. It has just gotten out of control since then... 

Aaron Skinner

The next time I had parental help was when I started painting models at 8. My mother showed me the basics of painting as I built the MPC X-wing (original release bought at J.C. Penney)

By then I was hooked. I built all four of the original Star Wars kits, including R2-D2 and C3PO,

 

Cheers, Aaron

Interesting aside; I bought my first Star Wars models at a JC Penney too. First the X-Wing and Darth Vader's TIE fighter followed by R2-D2 and Darth Vader with glow in the dark Light Saber. C3PO was the last one they had and I bought it eventually. They didn't normally carry models and the kits were in banged up boxes in one of those display tables in the middle of an aisle. The store had been a local department store that went out of business. That JC Penney was more of a store that people picked up orders placed from catalogs than a store you could browse. i found them while mom waited in line for her order.

R2-D2 used stickers (peel & stick) versus the decals that came with the X-Wing. R2-D2 was a rather complicated kit for the times. I have one of the later ROTJ reissues that's still in the box 27 years later.

The first time, as a kid in the early 1960s, it was a natural progression from Tinker Toys, to Lincoln Logs, to an Erector set, to a Kenner girder-and-panel set, to plastic model kits. My parents could see that I loved to build things, and gave me my first model kits as birthday and Christmas gifts.

The second time, in the late 1980s (I stopped building models when I was a teen), I walked into a hobby shop with my Dad, who was looking for art supplies. I picked up a copy of Tamiya Modeling Magazine because I needed something to read while visiting him for a weekend. A photo of a Merkava diorama by Francois Verlinden reignited my passion, which lasted until 2005.

Now, this third time, it's because Lindberg reissued their "U.S. Space Station" (as the "Space Base & Satellite Explorer"), which was one of the first kits I built as a kid.

Manstein's revenge

I started in prison and once I was paroled I just stuck with it...

Napoleonic era military prisoners produced some very nice ship models during their incarceration.

A combination of the movie Tora Tora Tora and my friend whom I learned was a model builder in early elementary school. After that, been hooked more or less ever since.

Tim Kidwell

Hi all,

My name is Tim Kidwell and I'm the newest addition to the FineScale Modeler staff. I thought this would be a good place to make my debut on the forum.

My dad was a modeler who loved to build wooden ships, cars and doll house furniture. I showed interest and one Christmas, he gave me a 1/72 scale F-16 in with Thunderbird markings and a base set of Testors enamels. That was all it took. It started me on a path that has led me to build many different sorts of models; but wooden ships and figures are where it's at for me.

Best,

TK 

Why did I start modeling? Because of a rash of armed daytime burglaries in my neighborhood, why else?

Well, kinda, sorta anyway. There were a bunch of these crimes happening so I decided to look into getting a gun for homeland security. I did a lot of research on the web and came across a particular gun forum. One day I clicked on a post by a member who was also a modeler. He posted some of his builds and I was blown away with the detail. Since I built models as a kid, I was amazed at how much the hobby had advanced. So I did a little looking around, found this forum and a few others, and got started.

I started in prison and once I was paroled I just stuck with it...

Don Stauffer

Cadet Chuck:

In 3rd grade, if you didn't come to school with "airplane glue" and paint all over your hands, you just weren't "hip"!

 

Indeed, fighter pilots were the heros then. I was in grade school during WW2.  I was able to build a couple of those Kix paper/card stock models (P-40 and Zero). 

Relatives gave me stick models for birthday and Christmas.  Couldn't build them.  Finally at age seven I learned to read well enough to figure out instructions enough to finish one.  When I had an allowance and could buy my own models I discovered "solid models", non-flying scale display models.  It was several years of balsa modeling before I saw my first plastic model kit, a P-80.

Don, it appears we are about the same age, and my modeling evolution pretty much exactly matches yours!

Built my first "stick model" in about third grade and went on from there and still going strong!

Hi all,

My name is Tim Kidwell and I'm the newest addition to the FineScale Modeler staff. I thought this would be a good place to make my debut on the forum.

My dad was a modeler who loved to build wooden ships, cars and doll house furniture. I showed interest and one Christmas, he gave me a 1/72 scale F-16 in with Thunderbird markings and a base set of Testors enamels. That was all it took. It started me on a path that has led me to build many different sorts of models; but wooden ships and figures are where it's at for me.

Best,

TK 

I got started not because of a parent or sibling. My grandfather was the builder, everything from stick and tissue flying models to plastic sailing ships. He had a big collection of Hubley metal-and-plastic car models.

His daughter was my mother and she always encouraged me to build. I built a couple of Matchbox airplane's when I was 5 or 6 with help from my dad, then I was largely on my own.

The next time I had parental help was when I started painting models at 8. My mother showed me the basics of painting as I built the MPC X-wing (original release bought at J.C. Penney)

and the Revell space shuttle with 747 (bought on a trip to Cape Canaveral in 1978).

By then I was hooked. I built all four of the original Star Wars kits, including R2-D2 and C3PO,

and any 1/72 scale aircraft I could get my hands on.

My appreciation of aviation grew out of modeling. I've been building ever since; even when my job dominated my life, I always had a model going. Sitting down at the workbench, even when I'm on a deadline for the magazine, is one of the greatest pleasures in my life, a combination of relaxation and accomplishment rolled up with a little education. It's hard to beat.

Cheers, Aaron

Cadet Chuck

In 3rd grade, if you didn't come to school with "airplane glue" and paint all over your hands, you just weren't "hip"!

Indeed, fighter pilots were the heros then. I was in grade school during WW2.  I was able to build a couple of those Kix paper/card stock models (P-40 and Zero). 

Relatives gave me stick models for birthday and Christmas.  Couldn't build them.  Finally at age seven I learned to read well enough to figure out instructions enough to finish one.  When I had an allowance and could buy my own models I discovered "solid models", non-flying scale display models.  It was several years of balsa modeling before I saw my first plastic model kit, a P-80.

no offense taken RESlusher

I started building models for a few reasons. The first is that I've always loved creating things, be it with Legos, K'nex, mud and sticks, playdough, etc. ON top of all that I came form an Air Force family and I've always loved airplanes (I even had an airplane mobile hanging above my crib! My indoctrination started early). I wanted to be a fighter pilot when I was little. My aunt was an airline  pilot and would always send us airplane goodies, such as that mobile. So when I heard the High School's AFJROTC program was offering a model airplane/rocket club, I figured, "What the heck! Might as well join." Been hooked on it ever since.

And it allows me to "fly" those fighter planes all round my room that I would never be able to do otherwise! Sound effects and all!! Zoooooom, pew pew!!

An interest in all these little boxes with pictures of planes on them & some persuasion from my Grandfather - after all he served in WW2, had apparently shot everything from a Webley revolver to an AA gun, fixed tanks, been a dispatch rider & even worn a gasmask!  Anything he said was good, simply must be!

Brings back so many memories thinking about this, I can clearly remember the incessant question I asked, did you drive a submarine, have you ever dropped a bomb, did you see a big railway gun, did you see hitler...................................................... He was very patient with all this, although he did stick in a few crackers to shut me up - like the time when he fought the Zulu in the Khyber pass

When I was in the Army in Germany (and in the Gulf during ODS) I liked being able to build models of the stuff I was seeing all around me:  HMMWVs, Abrams tanks, Bradleys, Paladins, etc).  Plus being an "intel puke" I thought it was cool to build models of the Warsaw Pact stuff that I hoped never to see on my side of the border.  (BMPs, BTRs, T-72s).  So it kinda helped with my job, "Look!  This is what a BMP-2 looks like."

Later on after I got out it served two more functions:  1) It kept me out of the bars! and 2) It kept me from running my now ex-wife through a chipper!  Well, it almost kept me from doing one of those things...

These days I just do it for fun and I get to virtually hang-out with you guys (and girls). Sorry CallSignOwl

In 3rd grade, if you didn't come to school with "airplane glue" and paint all over your hands, you just weren't "hip"!

Not to be a Policeman, fireman, Dr. or any of the other stereotypical careers.

Growing up I built for volume, then moderate quality (painting most of the model) finally some modest conversions, dioramas & scratch building.

Above a German tank was needed for a 1/72 scale diorama, as you can see under the scratch built skirt armor & modified muzzle brake is a very British tank. These two models were the top of my youths modeling skills.

...Then 'other interests' boxed the models for about 20 years...

In 2004 I picked up 'Great Scale Modeling' when away working a Pipeline to flip through. Been building ever sense yet this summer has been down to .01% production due to new baby & nowhere to set up a hobby bench in the house.

I started as a young boy, getting an Aurora hot dog stand hot rod kit that my dad built for me. I remember pestering him to build it for me. Sort of the same way my 7 yr old pesters me to build (or rebuild) his most recent Lego set.

Most of my first models were gifts for Christmas or birthdays. I do recall finding an airplane kit that was on the dining room table when I came home from school. My mom tells the story of how I had it built in about 5 minutes and was flying it around the house asking if it was for me.