What childhood model would you rebuild or collect?

Monograms 48th Wildcat and Dauntless.

First 2 models I ever built when I got into modeling. I was 14 or so.

What got me started was reading the little paperback book called Midway with the painting of a Japanese carrier on the cover. Anyone remember reading that book. Cant remember the author but I think I'll pull it out and read it again.

I love that book and those kits, some of the best memories I have growing up.

I haven't built them since but I will soon enough.

Mike

I still have one of my first childhood tanks, the old Aurora MBT70. In the early days of eBay, I found a partially built one for $5 and used it to rebuild my original tank. I should have left the kit in its vintage state and just found another to build.

I have since aquired 4-5 others, but J-Hulk has talked me out of a pair of them (original tool and the retooled one). Still got a couple in the stash, and I will someday build one up properly. Fortunately for me, I have a restored actual tank sitting right in front of my building.

Rob Gronovius wrote:

I still have one of my first childhood tanks, the old Aurora MBT70. In the early days of eBay, I found a partially built one for $5 and used it to rebuild my original tank. I should have left the kit in its vintage state and just found another to build. I have since aquired 4-5 others, but J-Hulk has talked me out of a pair of them (original tool and the retooled one). Still got a couple in the stash, and I will someday build one up properly. Fortunately for me, I have a restored actual tank sitting right in front of my building.

And thanks a bunch for that pair o' MBT70s, Rob! You know, I got the original tool kit finished last year, and I'm trying to get the retooled one finished for this year's Shizuoka Hobby Show, where I'll display it with the original tooling and the one I detailed up. Love them MBT70s!

However, although I had many of the 1/48 Aurora armor kits as a kid, I never had the MBT70. Got my first one of those about three or four years ago.
One of my earliest builds was the 1/48 Bandai "Porsche" King Tiger, which I still actually have!

Get a load of this:

Built when I was around 9 years old...a very long time ago! I thought all German tanks were gray...probably thanks to the film The Battle of the Bulge.
A couple of years ago I found the old Bandai kit again at an LHS, and picked it up with an eye towards reliving the early days. With the excellent 1/48 Tamiya version out now, there's really no reason to build the Bandai kit as a "serious" model, but the nostalgic value is immeasurable! It'll be a straight OOTB build.

The two kits from my childhood that I've been searching for for years are the Aurora 1/48 Blue Angels Phantom II and 1/108 C-141 Starlifter. I'd love to find those two old kits and build 'em straight out of the box! I'm sure we'll cross paths again one of these days...

Actually there are 2.

1928 "Gangbusters" automobile. I remember all the little "extras" that came with it. I tried to hand brush it with Testors gloss yellow, didn't work out very well. Recently acquired one!!!

The "Snark". There was a full size model on display at the entrace to our local air force base. This one must not have been re-released as often as many rocket models. Way to many $$$ on ebay. I want to build it, not collect an unbuilt model in a box.

Oh, wow - there's a whole list in my mind!

First off, the Monogram 1/32 F-51D Mustang kit - not the Phantom Mustang, but the one with retractable landing gear, dropping bombs, and whatever else it could do.  It was my very first kit - My dad came home from work one day and put 3 boxes on the kitchen table for me - the Mustang, a 1/48 Monogram P-40B, and I think it was an Aurora 17/72 Huey Cobra.  We had no glue, so my dad mixed a batch of epoxy and we went to town that weekend.  Sadly, they made me blue all the movable parts in place, since it was a model and not a toy.  So I've been on the lookout, ever since I came back to the hobby (December), for one of these kits on eBay.  (No luck yet, though.)  This time I'm building it my way!

I also want another crack at the Hasegawa 1/32 kits of the 1930's US aircraft (P-12, F4B, BF2C, P-26) - I had pretty poor luck with them the first time around, as a teenager.  I also want the Monogram 1/32 Grumman - the one that retracts the landing gear when you turn the propeller.  That was always so tempting, but always out of my price range as a kid.  I'd see it listed in that little brochure that Monogram included with all their kits, but it always had that super-out-of-range price (probably no more than $7.95, but with an allowance of maybe a buck a week back then, it might as well have been $100).

I can't remember who made the kit, but it was 4 Blue Angels F-4 Phantoms on a yellow display base. The parts holding each plane was like a lightning bolt.

Wish I had that one again......... 

stretchie -

I may be totally off on this, but that sounds like a kit I saw in those mini-catalogs that Monogram used to include in all their kits - this was back in the 1970's.  I remember thinking how tedious it would be to build 4 of the same airplane.

Thanks Alumni.....

I'll look into it. I don't remember anything about the build, but it looked cool the 4 of them on that stand.

alumni72 wrote:

stretchie - I may be totally off on this, but that sounds like a kit I saw in those mini-catalogs that Monogram used to include in all their kits - this was back in the 1970's.  I remember thinking how tedious it would be to build 4 of the same airplane.

I remember the catalogs. I used to circle all the ones I wanted and X'd off the ones I had. Oh the memories.

tigerman wrote:

I loved the old Monogram kits. The dauntless was one of my favorites with it's bomb release, wing-flaps, spinning prop and retractable landing gear. Lots of fun and value.

Yep! I'm actually working that kit right now for the Fleet Air Arm GB! It's the Confederate AF edition and i went with that one because it was one of the first few kits i ever did with my Dad (well, he did it, and i helped)

    One kit that i did when i was about 8 was the 1/72 B-17F "Memphis Belle" by Revell. In typical childish fashion, there was no paint, glue was everywhere, and not one of the decals were applied correctly! But it was fun! That one i really want to give it another try and i think it would probably look a whole lot better this time. Only difference is that i want the 1/48 scale. Now if people would just quit sniping me 30 seconds before the auction closes on Ebay....

alumni72 wrote:

I'm with you, Roger - even though I tend to snipe the auctions I'm interested in, I don't use a sniping service - so I tend to lose my fair share of the ones I want even if I'm watching until the end.  I'd say I have about a 50% success rate, since my PC is slow and I know I have to bid with no less than 1 minute left or the bid won't get in on time (need to clean up my PC for sure!).  But snipers will be snipers, and the ones that use a service are almost impossible to beat.  But I refuse to bid more than what is to me a reasonable amount, so the kits I built very early on will likely remain out of my reach, unless they're somehow re-released.  I'm particularly frustrated by the Monogram 1/32 P-51D.

Sniper service? I've never heard of it! I didn't even know there was such a thing....

Matthew Usher wrote:

The first kit that comes to mind is the "original" Visible V-8 -- the one with the electric motor and the little red light bulbs in the spark plugs. I spent the better part of a summer vacation putting one together when I was in grade school. It never really worked properly, but it was a great way to learn how engines work. Matt @ FSM

What a great kit that was. I built it when I was about 12 or 13 and it actually worked. I remember taking it out of the closet not long before I went into the Navy. Threw in some new batteries and she came to life. I think my Mom eventually trashed it. I've seen the new ones advertised in the modeling mags but it just wouldn't be the same.

DesertRat wrote:

Sniper service? I've never heard of it! I didn't even know there was such a thing....

Yep - they're out there.  I don't know the names of any, but I know people who have tried them out (they usually offer 3 or so free snipes as a trial) and they tell me some of them can get your bid in with 2 or 3 seconds left in the auction.  At least if I'm actually there trying to manually enter my bid, there's some challenge involved.  With a sniping service the win is pretty much guaranteed, if you enter a high-enough maximum bid.  No challenge = no fun. 

alumni72 wrote:

DesertRat wrote: Sniper service? I've never heard of it! I didn't even know there was such a thing.... Yep - they're out there.  I don't know the names of any, but I know people who have tried them out (they usually offer 3 or so free snipes as a trial) and they tell me some of them can get your bid in with 2 or 3 seconds left in the auction.  At least if I'm actually there trying to manually enter my bid, there's some challenge involved.  With a sniping service the win is pretty much guaranteed, if you enter a high-enough maximum bid.  No challenge = no fun.

Well whaddya know......