What was your very first model?

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

I think it was a 1/72 scale hurricane,brush painted and the canopy attached with tube glue.(it got very foggy in there!)

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

UUhhhh let see, I know it was P-39 Aircobra not sure who made it, I got it from American kid which perent worked in US Ambassy in Belgrade. After I was done that poor thing had so much glue all over it. I was about 10.

That was soooo long ago is this really a fair question? Aurora made some small kits of private planes that retailed for 29 cents. It was one of these, probably a Cessna 310 or an Areo Commander. It was most likely the Cessna because I watched "Sky King" on TV.

I was around 7 years old when my Father sent me a military helicopter kit while he
was in Viet Nam. I don't remember the subject,(1/48 scale, I believe). I could'nt
wait to build it, but I did'nt have any glue or paint. So I improvised and put it
together with mint green toothpaste and did'nt paint it. I was so proud until my
younger sister bumped the table and it fell to pieces. Back to the kitchen table....

Mark

That was a long time for me as well so the details are sketchy. My first was a small scale Matchbox big rig snap together job. As I recall I didn't use all the pieces and no paint what so ever, but it got the ball rolling. Oh yeah, I bought it at the local drug store for about 99 cents. The good old days.

Darren

My first kit was an Airfix USN phantom that my dad bought me. I was about 6 yrs old at the time and when I opened the box the whole thing seemed very complicated to me.But the next night I rushed home from school and got stuck in-literally!

As a result of inhaling way too many glue fumes while assembling the kit I became quite ill , my dad got into trouble with my mum and I was banned from using glue for a very long time. My dad feeling guilty decided to finish the kit for me. It looked great all shiny with bright 70's markings. He told me not to touch it as the gloss was still drying. The next day I woke up to play with dad's latest masterpeice. I found it in front of the fireplace warped and bent out of shape.

It so happend that being worried about more glue and paint fumes, my ever thoughtful mother placed the model in front of the fireplace so it would dry more quickly ! My stessed-out dad assured me that these things don't usually happen when you're old enough to build your own models..........

Happy kit-bashing everyone!

Darren.

Darren,

Sounds like you were lucky to ever touch a model again. Great story, It made me LOL.

By the way, my name is also Darren and this caused a bit of confusion for me the first time I read one of your posts. I finally figured it out.

Darren

I was about six when my Grandpa bought me an Aurora F9F Panther. The only glue we had in the house was some thing my my mom brought home from the dime store that was called Elmer's Glue-All. I quickly found out that was no good, and decided that i had better read the instructions. After finally getting my hands on some polystyrene cement, I finally got it built. The decals didn't work because I somehow screwed them up. After several more planes were more or less built I found that you could paint them, so I saved enough allowance to buy a paint brush and one bottle. Since most of my creations were dark plastic, I opted for silver, What I bought was Areo-Gloss Dope for flying models. It worked OK. The paint work was sloppy but the models looked cool because the were now two-tone. The kicker was I spilled most of the dope on my bedroom floor. Cellulose dope eats into asphalt floor tile and makes a real mess. Man, Was my Pop ever mad at me? But, I survived to make more messes and mistakes over the years that serve to temper the joys of my successful projects.

Ah this brings back memories! It was around 1976 when my grandma gave me some money for my birthday. I went to the local dime store and found the Monogram 1/48 scale SBD Dauntless. It was love at first sight, I took it home and threw it together in about a day. In the instruction booklet there was an advertisement for the TBF Avenger. That was the second model I ever built. And thats when the addiction started.......

First model? That's easy. X-mas about 1970. I would have been about 10. Revell's 1/32 scale Phantom F-4J. No paint, just Testors tube glue and I was finished by bedtime and had it hanging from my bedroom ceiling. I had dreams of cat shots and wire traps that night. I've been in love with aviation ever since.

Well, well, well - it seems to be a long time ago - in early 70s my beloved uncle from London sent to me a few Aifix models - I was a young teenager fascinatng in Battle of Britain, but there were no Spitfire, Hurricane nor Me-109 models available this time in Poland. I was so excited with them. In the begining my father build two or three of them to me, but - because of lack of time, he said stop - now it's your turn - if you want to have a plane, just do it by yourself. And I start with Airfix 1/72 F4U-1D Corsair with two amazing bombs under it's fuselage ! This model (nearly 30 years old) is still standing on one of my shelves, besides of it's bigger and smaller "brothers" in 1/48 and 1/144.The biggest project - in 1/32 is still waiting for it's turn ! Regards !Aleksander

My story begins in 1975 in Madras, India with a 1:72 Airfix Comet, and three small cans of paint. Kind of blundered my way through to an okay finish.
My second one was a 1:32 Gustav with the choice of two hoods, one of them being the slightly rounded Galland Hood.
Started off okay, but lost my way somewhere and totally ruined the model!

Didn't touch modelling for 19 years!

Got back in '94. Now have a stockpile of 24 kits, and am making space for my work table again.

So watch out, my dear wife!!!

Nandu

My first model was AMT's original issue of the U.S.S. Enterprise from Star Trek. I was 8 years old, and saved my allowance for what seemed like an eternity to buy it. It only cost about a buck and a half back then. Of course my brother trashed it!!

It was a model power HO scale building assembled with tube glue and unpainted. What a piece of crap that was!

Well my first model was when I was probably 10. It was some fantasy car by revell. I was just to overwhelmed by it then, I think I got a few pieces together and then I quit. It wasnt untill almost 10 years after that when I bought a 68 corvette. I have to say I did a pretty good job on it. I dont have it anymore though, I gave it to someone who had the exact same car in his garrage.

By the way, you all are old! They had plastic before I was born in 82'?

Yes xcmbike there was plastic before you were born in '82....and yes some of us are old. My first kit was sometime in the late '60's. I have no idea what it was but I used to buy them 4 or 5 at a time. 5 kits, a tube of glue, no paint.....a whole evenings entertainment. Man they looked terrible but the love of modelling stuck.

In 1970, dad took me to the Elgin Theatre to see Battle of Britain. I fell in love with the Spitfire right then and there. Afterwards, all I could do was talk about the planes in the movie and the Spitfire...a coupe of days later, he brought home an Airfix 1/48 scale Spitfire Mk XlV...I was happier than a pig in a pile of poop!

I finished it three days ago!

My first kits were the old Aurora SNJ trainer. That old box with the bright yellow parts was a great start to a hobby I've enjoyed for 40 years now. The next kit was the old Monogram Space Taxi. Still have the figures for that kit somewhere around here.

hi all, i found a photo some time ago of my first model i built at the age of 9 it was a skeleton dinosaur , brontosaurus and stegosarus , i think they were by glenco , i wish i could buy them now and rebuild them , ps i entered them into a contest and won first prize with the bronto , i used a tip from my late uncle , to paint the bones flat white , leave to dry then run in cold tea to stain them , he used the same tec to colour decks on model ships , cheers ian

In late 60s, during the "Cold War" there were no many plastic models in Poland - we have mostly our own production models (like 1/72 PZL P-11c, or P-23a) or some copies of Airfix models (i.e. Fairey Rotodyne, Westland Whirlwind S-55, Caravelle etc). In these years my uncle living in London has visited Poland. I was about 12 years old and much interested in Battle of Britain., so I ask my uncle to send me some models when he will come back to the UK. After few weeks I've got about 20 different Airfix models - Spitfire, Me-109, Stuka, Hurricane, Mosquito, Zero and even Do-217 and He111 H-20. I was so happy - nobody in the neighbourhood had such "western" models ! I was so proud (and I have still those box-arts envelopes) ! First model (A6M5 Zero) was made by my father because I was afraid to spoil it, but after few weeks (when my father has no time to build them) I begun with F4U-1D Corsair with two beautiful bombsunder it's wings! This was my very first model - it still stands on one of my shelves aside with 1/48 Arii Corsair and 1/144 Revell one ! The biggest - 1/32 is still waiting to be build! And when ever I see Corsair, I have always warm feelings about that plane ! Aleksander

A 1/72 P-6 Hawk (more that 30 years ago). I don't remember the manufacturer but I remeber the flashy decals.