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How old were you when you got into modelling?

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  • Member since
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  • From: Where the coyote howl, NH
How old were you when you got into modelling?
Posted by djrost_2000 on Friday, August 10, 2007 5:58 PM

How old were you when you started building models?

I ask this question because I'm curious how many young people start model building after years of playing video games.  And whether the absence of a Local Hobby Store was an obstacle to get people into the hobby.   I also wonder what would get a young person building when their only hobby has been video games for years and how they heard about the hobby.

Dave 

 

  • Member since
    November 2006
  • From: United States
Posted by ww2modeler on Friday, August 10, 2007 6:49 PM

Since I am considered a young person under 18, I can remember this quite clearly. Sorta a long story but here it goes:

There are about five diffferent things that connected that got me in this hobby.

A. My Grandpa built model airplanes (RC) and had a Tamiya A1 on the shelf (he flew them in Korea) and one day, he asked me if I would like to build it with him. I saidm sure and I still have that model sitting on the shelf, minus a propeller shot of by the North Koreans and the rockets and bombs have all been detached.

B.My Dad was flying RC models and as he was going through an old box, he found a bunch of old Revell and Monogram kits he had built as a kid and got me a Revell F-18 that we built together.

C. My mom had to take me to work with her one week so she had to give me something to do so she got me a Revell P-61 to keep me busy, I know, not the best kit to start with but it was fun.

D. I had read a lot of books on Military history before I started modeleing and had always been fascinated by the ehickles and weoponry.

E. I grow up in a house where there is no nintendo, Xbox, PS2, gameboy and no cell phone. All I have is a computer. Eventually, video games get boring. To me, making a diorama is like making a scene in a movie or game, And the best part is when ou sit down after a completed project and can say, I built that with my own two hands, the sense of improvement and accomplishment far surpasses anything that can be achieved by a video game I think.

I played started playing Combat Flight Simulator 2 and 3 and Medal of Honor. About a year later I got into modeling.

I heard about the hobby from family and from going to alot of train shows where they had modeling products sometimes. And going to the LHS with my dad to pick up supplies for his kits.

I was 9 when I started building models. If you want to get a son or daughter into the hobby, the best thing I would reccomend is maybe getting them a small 1/72 or 1/48 kit that doesn';t have to many fit problems and let them give it a try, the worst they can do is say I don't like it. 

David

On the bench:

1/35 Tamiya M26 Pershing-0%

1/144 Minicraft P-38J Lightning-50%

Numerous 1/35 scale figures in various stages if completion.

 

  • Member since
    December 2002
  • From: Massachusetts
Posted by ajlafleche on Friday, August 10, 2007 7:19 PM

I started building in the fifties, no, not my fiftes, THE fiftes.

The earliest I can remember was a P-39 with my father. I also remember an Indian in full headdress (not too different form my most recent, except it was probably Aurora and a foot tall in plastic). I did that one with my grandfather. I can also remember Disney's multi stage Werner Von Braun "Moon Rocket."

One of my earliest solo projects included a USS George Washington nuclear sub with full interior, drop down side and firing Polaris missle. It was finished in natural gray plastic.

I still have an Aurora white tail deer with a copyright of 1960 which I built when it was new.

Remember, if the women don't find you handsome, they should at least find you handy.

  • Member since
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  • From: Oklahoma
Posted by chopperfan on Friday, August 10, 2007 7:23 PM
Around 1960. A friend had all kinds of import kits. That was the only way to get anything different.
Randie [C):-)]Agape Models Without them? The men on the ground would have to work a lot harder. You can help. Please keep 'em flying! http://www.airtanker.com/
  • Member since
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Posted by ben1227 on Friday, August 10, 2007 9:46 PM
Don't wanna say my age on here, but you can call me a kid. Or young modeler. I've been exposed to planes all my life...And i love reading military books...Since I can't fly them for real, making plastic models of them is the next best thing. 
.:On the Bench:. Tamiya 1/72 M6A1-K
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Posted by DURR on Friday, August 10, 2007 10:01 PM

i started in the early 1960's at about 6

btw AL the 50's  2was that the 1650's , 1750's or whatClown [:o)]

  • Member since
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  • From: Peoples Socialist Democratic Republic of Illinois
Posted by Triarius on Saturday, August 11, 2007 11:05 AM
 DURR wrote:

i started in the early 1960's at about 6

btw AL the 50's  2was that the 1650's , 1750's or whatClown [:o)]

That would be the 1950's, BCE……for both of us! Laugh [(-D] Laugh [(-D] Laugh [(-D] Laugh [(-D] Laugh [(-D]

Ross Martinek A little strangeness, now and then, is a good thing… Wink

  • Member since
    August 2006
  • From: Neenah, WI
Posted by HawkeyeHobbies on Sunday, August 12, 2007 10:36 AM

I started in my early teens. In fact I still have most of the models that I built as a kid, though I've disposed of some of them. They are beginning to dry and crumble apart at the slightest jar. Most haven't seen the light of day for more than 30 years.

Would I have done it again if I could go back in time...hell yes! Only this time I would collect more kits! 

 

Gerald "Hawkeye" Voigt

http://hawkeyes-squawkbox.com/

 

 

"Its not the workbench that makes the model, it is the modeler at the workbench."

  • Member since
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  • From: California
Posted by SprueOne on Sunday, August 12, 2007 11:21 AM
I can't remember exactly but the first model kit I built with help from my brother, who bought it for me, was the Monogram Snap Tite FAKE OUT funny car. It was bought off the shelf, so there is the estimated year. I guess I was about 7 or 8

Then my first military armor kit was the Snap Tite Monogram Patton tank



Anyone with a good car don't need to be justified - Hazel Motes

 

Iron Rails 2015 by Wayne Cassell Weekend Madness sprueone

  • Member since
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  • From: Indiana
Posted by hkshooter on Sunday, August 12, 2007 9:50 PM

 SprueOne wrote:
I can't remember exactly but the first model kit I built with help from my brother, who bought it for me, was the Monogram Snap Tite FAKE OUT funny car. It was bought off the shelf, so there is the estimated year. I guess I was about 7 or 8

Then my first military armor kit was the Snap Tite Monogram Patton tank



I so had that funny car!!! It got me started at about five, I think. I wasn't in school yet.

  • Member since
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  • From: California
Posted by SprueOne on Sunday, August 12, 2007 11:05 PM
yeah! I was just web surfing this morning and found an image of the box art and it brought me back. I remember my brother teaching me how to do stuff to it. Sadly, I lost it during moves and time somewhere. I can still remember how it looked with my little kid paint job...

Anyone with a good car don't need to be justified - Hazel Motes

 

Iron Rails 2015 by Wayne Cassell Weekend Madness sprueone

  • Member since
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  • From: Hutchinson, KS
Posted by gtother on Sunday, August 12, 2007 11:17 PM

I remember slapping paint on a few glue-still-drying models when i was around nine.  I started to model more seriously when I was 14 (although id say my first respectable model was made when i was fifteen).  And now I'm a mere 16 years old.  All my life i have been really interested in pretty much all things science/tech.  More specifically military tech, mostly vehicles (especially planes).   Ive been around and in planes alot of my life so that was a pretty big influence.

 

                                                           -graham
 

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  • From: Utereg
Posted by Borg R3-MC0 on Monday, August 13, 2007 3:21 AM

I have beeing building models since age 5 or 6. My first builds where under the guidance of my grandfather who told me the valuable basics ("dry fit first, then glue"etc.) I stil have the second and third model we build together (a dc-9 and a F-15 both 1/144)  

When I was a bit older I was allowed to build them myself (because of the knives and glue involved) but my mother made sure that I didn't cut myself. I never painted, building models was a bit of a collecting hobby. I started painting at age 15 or 16, very late. I never stopped making model during highschool or college but now that I am working I don't have enough time for modeling as I would like to. And I always played a lot of video games so the two don't have to be exlusive.

  • Member since
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  • From: Sarasota, FL
Posted by RedCorvette on Monday, August 13, 2007 6:10 AM

Built my first models with my dad in 1959 when I was six years old. 

Mark

FSM Charter Subscriber

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  • From: Central USA
Posted by qmiester on Monday, August 13, 2007 6:36 AM
Sometime in July 1953 - a month or so before my 9th birthday - Revells battleship Missouri
Quincy
  • Member since
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  • From: Garland, TX
Posted by tabascojunkie on Monday, August 13, 2007 6:04 PM
Looking at when I started posting around here, I was 33 when I started, about 2 years ago.
Bruce
  • Member since
    February 2003
  • From: Where the coyote howl, NH
Posted by djrost_2000 on Monday, August 13, 2007 8:14 PM

Seems that the majority of us started at an early age, but there are still quite a few who started recently as an adult or teen.  I worry about all the hobby store closings but this hobby is still gaining new converts!

Dave 

 

  • Member since
    February 2016
Posted by alumni72 on Monday, August 13, 2007 8:27 PM
 RedCorvette wrote:

Built my first models with my dad in 1959 when I was six years old. 

Mark

Let's see - that would make you ......... 29!  Just like me!!

  • Member since
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  • From: Bethlehem PA
Posted by crazygerman on Monday, August 13, 2007 11:41 PM
I won't get into the whole story about how I started, but like many of you it was my dad who inspired me to get into the hobby when I was very young...probably around 7. I got excited the other day though, going through my closet I found the first armor model I ever built, its a motorized M60A1 tank, I brush painted it OD green and went WAY too far on the weathering, but hey, i was only about 11...if it wasn't in a hundred peices after all the moves and storage I'd post a few photos, but maybe down the road, I've decided to reassemble it one of these days and maybe fix up that bad paint job.
“It’s the unconquerable soul of man, not the nature of the weapon he uses, that insures victory.” -George S Patton Jr. On the Bench; 71 "Cuda
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Posted by gulfstreamV on Tuesday, August 14, 2007 12:54 AM
I'd have to say '64 or there abouts. My Dad was a pilot, we owned a Piper Apache and when the Captain(my Dad) decided I needed a haircut. Well I hated getting a Buzzcut, but the reward was the model shop was right nextdoor to the barbershop. We built models togeather. Airplanes, Warbirds, Airplanes and more airplanes. No vidieo stuff back then. But when we got bored of sitting around the house building models and watching guy's landing on the moon. We went flying. I'd put up with a Buzzcut to relive those times againSad [:(]
Stay XX Thirsty, My Fellow Modelers.
  • Member since
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  • From: Oklahoma
Posted by chopperfan on Tuesday, August 14, 2007 8:29 AM

 gulfstreamV wrote:
I'd have to say '64 or there abouts. My Dad was a pilot, we owned a Piper Apache and when the Captain(my Dad) decided I needed a haircut. Well I hated getting a Buzzcut, but the reward was the model shop was right nextdoor to the barbershop. We built models togeather. Airplanes, Warbirds, Airplanes and more airplanes. No vidieo stuff back then. But when we got bored of sitting around the house building models and watching guy's landing on the moon. We went flying. I'd put up with a Buzzcut to relive those times againSad [:(]

I wouldn't mind getting another flat top haircut if I could just spend a few hours with my Dad again. Disapprove [V] Ahhhh, but I will, someday. Angel [angel]

Randie [C):-)]Agape Models Without them? The men on the ground would have to work a lot harder. You can help. Please keep 'em flying! http://www.airtanker.com/
  • Member since
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  • From: White Mountains, NH
Posted by jhande on Saturday, August 18, 2007 2:46 PM

I think it was 1966 (I was 7) when my older cousin got me started in modeling. I literally grewup around race tracks, my mom would bring me, diapers and all. So when I seen my cousins room with some kits of hot rods and muscle cars I was hooked. My first kit was a 1957 Chevy Bel Air.

In 1967 I broke my jaw and was laid up for the summer. So everyone bought me a model kit and mom and dad bought me all kinds of paints. By the end of the summer my room was filled with all kinds of car models.

The hobby slowed down for me, I would build an occasional kit now and then when I had nothing to do. By the time I was 15 real cars totally replaced my model hobby. Oh sure, I might build a kit once every few years, but the joy was gone.

A few years ago my son dug out some of my old models from storage and showed and interest. So we started building a few together on those long winter days. Now I don't have the time but I still help him with his projects. Once I'm done setting up (if that ever happens I hope) our family hobby shop and my college courses lighten up, hopefully I can start working on my stash at least during the winter. I'm getting the bug again to sit at the hobby table.

I was surprised that my son still has an interest in modeling. He grewup with the PS in his face and is used to that whole fast paced action experience. He doesn't mind going fishing with me in the canoe, but gets bored after an hour or so - not enough action. So I'm glad to see him slow down and take the time to accomplish something that takes time and patience.

I seen mention in this post regarding the demise of LHS's; I think that problem is many. A lack of new blood; overall the younger generation isn't interested. The Brick-n-Morter shops can't compete price wise with the wholesalers posing as online hobby shops. Also the lack of interesting subject material; I mean, how many times are they going to re-release a 1957 Bel Air? Sure they change the rims and tires, or make it a lowrider or stick oversized wheels in the box and call it a "California Special". But what about a lot of the other subject material out there? I sponsored a Modeling Club at my sons school. I brought in a few catalogs for the kids to pick what cars they might be interested in, there comments for the most part - "Why just old cars? Where's the new sports cars?" The manufacturers have to spend some money and start tooling up for some new kits. I mean, pretty soon there's not even going to be anything I want to add to my stash. Then who will they have to sell too?

Sorry for the essay... Whistling [:-^]

-- Jim --
"Put the pedal down & shake the ground!"

  • Member since
    May 2006
  • From: Tampa, Fl
Posted by zipmeister on Thursday, November 8, 2007 8:42 PM

 I started when I was 5. My first model was a model T roadster named "Scat Cat". It cost 50 cents. My allowance was 50 cents a week so I had to wait til the next friday to buy the glue. That was the longest week I can ever remember.

Zip

  • Member since
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  • From: Central USA
Posted by qmiester on Saturday, November 10, 2007 9:50 AM
The summer of 1953, a month or two before my 9th birthday.  My dad bought me a Revell U.S.S. Missouri, a tube of glue and told me to have at it.  Been building pretty steady since then.
Quincy
  • Member since
    January 2005
  • From: Lompoc, CA, USA
Posted by TomcatFanatic123 on Sunday, November 11, 2007 10:58 PM
Well, let's see here.  I saw Top Gun when I was like 7 years old, and fell in love with the Tomcat right then and there.  Then I watched Top Gun again a few months later, and re-fell in love with the Tomcat.  That Christmas a Testors F-14 kit shows up under the tree thanks to Santa Claus Big Smile [:D].  It sat in my room for a few months, then my dad and I decided to throw it together during my spring break from school and did it in VF-84 (sheesh, never seen one of those before, have ya Zzz [zzz]). Didn't look at another model for probably another 8 or 9 years, but I was at Wal-Mart one day and saw a Revell F-16 kit that included glue, paint and the paintbrush for like $10, so I figured "ah...what the hell."  Built that bad boy (and it looked like crap) and have been hooked ever since.
James "TomcatFanatic123" Eberling Have you ever had the odds stacked up so high You need a strength most don't possess Or has it ever came down to do or die, you've got to rise above the rest
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  • From: Glue and paint smeared bench, in La La Land
Posted by dahut on Thursday, November 15, 2007 9:08 PM

About 8-10. That would have been 1965. Back then it was a tube of glue per model and no such thing as paint. Airbrush? What's that? The first model I built was the Monogram Zero in bright yellow. In fact, Monogram was about all there was, along with Aurora. Hasegawa and Tamiya were the names of my neighbors, there in So. Cal where I grew up.

Once a model was finished, it was always hung on a string from the ceiling. When we got tired of looking at them (after about a week) we would stuff them with firecrackers, light the fuse and toss them off the roof of the house.

Sometime when Dad wasnt looking, we'd snag some of his cartridge reloading powder and make little rocket motors for our planes - with a firecracker at the end of the burn! Man, those were great times, when you could still have fun and not worry about lawsuits, Kiddie Shock Syndrome, or being anything but a kid.

 

Cheers, David
  • Member since
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  • From: australia
Posted by rafael80 on Friday, November 16, 2007 6:05 AM

I think I was around twelve when I built my first ever model kit-Cant remember exactly which was the first-anyway, this was way back in the 70's. I know I had a Revell Spitfire without any paint and my first ever tamiya car kit in 1/18 scale. I still have some of the old models with me dating back to the 80's and have even started adding some scratch building to them. I stopped for a while when I started full time work, etc. But the itch was and is still there until now. I feel that there isnt enough interesting subjects coming out. The only challenge now is to see how much skill I have learned to build better models in my stash.

 

  • Member since
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  • From: Vernon, BC, Canada
Posted by razordws on Friday, November 16, 2007 11:47 AM

Around 7 or 8 yrs old.  My friend down the street had an older brother that built them and that got the whole thing started.  That and my Mom took me to a toy store for my birthday and gave me $20 to buy whatever I wanted so I bought three battleship models (this was around 1970 when $20 bucks bought something).  Took a break for the usuall job and kids thing but it's pulled me back in now that the kids are a little older. 

My 13 year old son has been doing it for a couple of years now, built a model plane with him and it sparked an interest but is now into the warhammer stuff.  That sort of thing seems to catch the imagination of kids who grew up with video games rather than the the usuall plastic model subject matter.

Dave

  • Member since
    February 2007
  • From: Casa Grande, Az.
Posted by DesertRat on Friday, November 16, 2007 7:10 PM

I can't really say how old i was exactly. But as long as i can remember when i was a kid, my Dad used to build models and give the finished product to me to play with. Of course there was never one that lasted long enough for him to come home for the day. So at some point, he had just stopped painting them all together. Realism was the furthest thing from my mind- all i remember was that they looked so cool to play with!

But i think quite possibly i was 5 by the time my Dad and I had built a plane together, and maybe 7 when i first had my solo build. It just kinda ballooned from there...

But i do confess to making the airplane sounds around the apartment...... with the shades drawn, that isWink [;)]

Warmest regards,

Roger

  • Member since
    January 2007
  • From: Regina, Saskatchewan Canada
Posted by PaPa-John on Thursday, November 29, 2007 5:32 PM

HUMM how old was I, or should I say how young Laugh [(-D].  When did I start.  The secret is out, but don't tell anyone.

Started modeling in November/December 2006.  Went to a model show, saw a lot of nice work and thought this might be something interesting to do.  So I stated at the young age of 58 yrs Big Smile [:D].  I guess we are never to old, I mean young (second childhood) Laugh [(-D]Laugh [(-D]Laugh [(-D]Laugh [(-D]

 

PaPa-John

 

John

On the bench: 1:72 Hobbycraft CF-105 Avro Arrow.   1:24 Revell Dodge Superbee 2n1.

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