Anyone care to talk about their first model?

Anonymous

Member since
November 2005

Anyone care to talk about their first model?

Posted by Anonymous on Wednesday, July 23, 2003 10:34 PM

How did everyone get into this hobby? When I was 10, a couple of older kids where I lived bought this motorcycle kits and I watched them assembled it. They didn't let me touch it but I thought it was fun to put together something piece by piece. A couple of weeks ago I bought a 1/24 Revell Dodge Viper I think...I spent about 2 hours putting the thing together. A messy job... Couple of weeks later I realized it needs to be painted. I bought a bottle of black enamel and brushed the edge of the windshield....it got all over the place... As for the body, I didn't know it was supposed to get painted, I left it bare plastic, which is red anyway. Overall it was a complete failure but at least the wheels rolled... It made a good toy.

Reply
Edit

allan

Member since
June 2003
From: Cavite, Philippines

Posted by allan on Wednesday, July 23, 2003 10:49 PM

I was 13 and the family was about to go swimming somewhere. I asked my mom to buy me one of those motorized ship toys that I could send running off in the pool. My mom came back with a 1:700 Matchbox HMS Exeter. Needless to say, it sank. I brought it to school and discovered that about a half-dozen classmates were into modelling. And they told me about painting and why not to use white glue to assemble the parts. That was 1983.

I was able to save my very first kit. Sometime in 1994 I brought the old ship, with messed up paint job, missing parts and about an inch of dust, to a club meeting were it was met with chuckles and offers to buy the scrap plastic. But I was determined to restore it. The night I very carefully disassembled the fragile parts and began stripping the paint off. About a year later it rejoined my collection, complete with handmade railings, rigging and details.

No bucks, no Buck Rogers

Reply

Anonymous

Member since
November 2005

Posted by Anonymous on Thursday, July 24, 2003 1:10 AM

I was 14 when I started reading up a lot on aircraft esp WW2 ones... then I saw these ARII kits(formerly Otaki) on the sheves of the toys'r us store.... I bought the spitfire and decided to snap it together... only to find out it needed glue... Then I assembled it using Epoxy! The unpainted aircraft looked fabulous to my eyes... esp after having a nightmare with the decals only half of which I managed to stick on the aircraft, the rest either flipping over each other or lost in the water!! Only when I saw the pic on the box top did I realise it had to be painted!! Then I borrowed a how to book and started on my first painted model.. the P47 of the same make... it too was a disaaster but I felt proud when I finished it!!!!

Cheers,
Nandakumar

Reply
Edit

djmodels1999

Member since
December 2002
From: United Kingdom / Belgium

Posted by djmodels1999 on Thursday, July 24, 2003 1:50 AM

I was 8 and the model was an Aifix Me-109G. I vividly remember the pale blue plastic and my frustration at not being able to get the underwing rocket tubes to glue properly... Ended up with plenty of glue all over (fingerprints galore!!). Can't remnember if I painted the damn thing. I had in fact been painting for a little while before that, emulating Daddy who was big time into Napoleonic wars, but the earlier figures I can remember painting were Airfix 1/32 Soviet infantry, which I painted with red-brick trousers and royal blue tops. All glossy, of course!

Reply

Anonymous

Member since
November 2005

Posted by Anonymous on Thursday, July 24, 2003 2:14 AM

Well, when i was around 12/13, my mom bought me some really small F1 cars (5cm long!!!), just noticing that they were for assembly when it reached home....
Needless to say, the parts were "snapped" in place, so a lot of them broke, another one missing, and yet a few weeks ago my mom found out a small matches box where it was the remains... at i still managed to get one full car mounted!!!!
Of course they weren't painted, and it wasn't no decals...
After that, i've bought an AH-64A when i was around 16/17, and glued it with some contact glue, and painted with small paints (the one's to paint furniture, and small arrangements)...
Needless to say it was awfull, but at the time i think it was the best one i've ever seen!!!!
By the way, when i was much younger, about 4 to 6 years old, i really enjoy doing all the stuff with lego pieces, and i think it's where it started the "constructionmania"!!!!
By the way, i work in the construction bussiness, so....

Reply
Edit

Cobrahistorian

Member since
December 2002
From: Aaaaah.... Alpha Apaches... A beautiful thing!

Posted by Cobrahistorian on Thursday, July 24, 2003 2:15 AM

Wow... my first model....
It would have to be the original Star Trek USS Enterprise kit in 1977 when I was 3 years old. My dad and I glued it together and then painted it with a heavy brush coat of grey and navy blue. I had it as a toy for several years after that.... great time building it too. From there I moved on to the early Monogram snap-tite WWII fighter kits with the sticker decals and absolutely had a ball with them. If I did well in school that quarter, it was almost guaranteed that I could go to the local stationery store and pick one out for my parents to get me. Gotta love those days.

Its kinda scary. I've been building for over 25 years now! Nowadays its either 1/35th Helos or modern Armor. I've got more 48th scale WWII aircraft than I know what to do with back in my parents basement. But I'll never forget building that Enterprise with my dad... Big Smile [:D]

"1-6 is in hot"

Reply

Anonymous

Member since
November 2005

Posted by Anonymous on Thursday, July 24, 2003 8:17 AM

Sorry, on my first post, I meant to say "a couple of weeks later", not "a couple of weeks ago". Big Smile [:D]

Reply
Edit

wibhi2

Member since
March 2003
From: Brooklyn

Posted by wibhi2 on Thursday, July 24, 2003 8:54 AM

If I remember correctly (yes I suffer from CRS in my old age), I was about 8 and it was mongram's M60

3d modelling is an option a true mental excercise in frusrtation

Reply

dogsbody

Member since
March 2003
From: Canada

Posted by dogsbody on Thursday, July 24, 2003 9:44 AM

I think it was Christmas, 1966. One of my presents was a Revell 1/72 AlbatrosD.lll. Do you have any idea how much Testers Gloss Red paint you can get on such a model? Quite a lot as I recall.

"What young man could possibly be bored
with a uniform to wear,
a fast aeroplane to fly,
and something to shoot at?"

Reply

LoneWolf1Seven

Member since
March 2003
From: Colorado

Posted by LoneWolf1Seven on Thursday, July 24, 2003 11:26 AM

My first model I got as a birthday present when I was 8, it was a M4 Sherman snap together from Monogram. I had a great time building it, an even better time blowing it up with cherry bombs.

"When you're gambling always put your money heads down, never let money look you in the face!" "If I die before I wake, hit the snooze button for me!!!"

Reply

Bones-coa

Member since
April 2003
From: Savannah, GA USA

Posted by Bones-coa on Thursday, July 24, 2003 12:33 PM

Heh...I think I'm about to show my age.

I got my first model at a Blue Angels air show. It was right after they went to the Skyhawks. They were selling 1/48th scale models kits of the Blue Angels Skyhawks in plastic bags. That was my fiirst kit. No paint. In fact, that got me hooked on models and I didn't actually start painting them until I was much older. My mom wouldn't allow me to have the paint in the house.

Dana

Dana F On the bench: Tamiya DO335B-2 with LOTS of Aires stuff (On Hold) Trumpeter A-10 with LOTS and LOTS of aftermarket goodies! (On Hold) Tamiya 240ZG (In work)

Reply

Anonymous

Member since
November 2005

Posted by Anonymous on Thursday, July 24, 2003 1:58 PM

My very first model was a 1/72 Revell Lodela F104 Starfighter that my Dad gave me as a 10 year birthday present and I has been engaged since then (I have to say that I'm 36). Needles to say that I painted and repainted several times. After all this time I still have the missiles and mechanics included in the kit.

Does anybody knows a good 1/72 F104 model that I can buy now??

This forum gets me littlle nostalgic.

Reply
Edit

Kugai

Member since
July 2003
From: Huntington, WV

Posted by Kugai on Thursday, July 24, 2003 4:54 PM

There are a couple of "firsts" in my mind. My first-ever kit was an Eagle from Space:1999 that my dad bought for me when I was about 6. Building that thing with him is a memory I treasure. even if the model ended up falling apart from being used as a toy by my brother and me.

The frist one I made myself was a small-scale kit of the Yamato when I was 9. My interest in that and a few $1 airplane kits at the local drug store were the proof my dad needed that I was not going to use these things as toys, which led to...

The first "good" kit ( given my age )I made was a 1:48 F4U Corsair that my dad bought for my 10th birthday, along with a 1:48 Saab Viggen. That was the first one I actually painted and tried to make look like the real thing.

I've already planned for my son's first kit. He's 5 now and hovers over me when I'm working on my kits, so I'd guess the interest is there. When AMT re-released their old Space:1999 kits a few years back, I was sure to get an extra Eagle.

Reply

Anonymous

Member since
November 2005

Posted by Anonymous on Thursday, July 24, 2003 6:21 PM

First model...

August of '85... Was 9 I think... Got a Heller 1/72 Lockheed F-94B Starfire
from my Aunt... The thing was together in about an hour. Jacked up every
part using LOADS of Testors tube glue... Then decided to paint the
red, black and silver (as in the box art) all in one sitting... Was a god awful
mess of a build, but had a blast with it....

Nostalgia bit me about a year ago, and grabbed one off the local shop shelf...
Just waiting for the right time to take another stab at it...

Brian
SJAFB

Reply
Edit

tigerman

Member since
March 2003
From: Rain USA, Vancouver WA

Posted by tigerman on Thursday, July 24, 2003 9:22 PM

I'm not sure it was my first model, but it was my first aircraft model that I remember. I was about nine and got a 1/48 Fujimi Dauntless. I must not have read the directions very well, for I glued the prop in place as well as the landing gear. Of course, forget about cleaning the piece once I got it off the sprue. It was ugly, but I got some playtime out of it. Maybe someday, I'll have the guts to build another.

Eric

Reply

djmodels1999

Member since
December 2002
From: United Kingdom / Belgium

Posted by djmodels1999 on Friday, July 25, 2003 2:55 AM

Kugai, was that the old ESCI Viggen..? Talk about an easy colour scheme for a beginner!!! I'm about to try a very similar splinter scheme on the S tank... Could be fun!

Reply

erush

Member since
May 2003
From: USA, GA

Posted by erush on Friday, July 25, 2003 6:55 AM

Talk about showing your age....I don't remember what my first model was but the first I remember was an old Monogram Puma (back when they did armor). That was when I was around 6 or 7 and I just glued it together and played with it till it fell apart. Then I used it for a pellet gun target. Big Smile [:D]

Eric

Hi, I'm Eric and I'm a Modelholic too. I think I have PE poisioning.

"Friendly fire...isn't"

Reply

KJ200

Member since
July 2003
From: Bicester, England

Posted by KJ200 on Friday, July 25, 2003 7:24 AM

I was 5, with an Airfix Hellcat, you know the ones that came in a bubble pack and had a clear plastic base. Assembled with airfix tube glue, and lots of finger prints on a Saturday morning. I don't think I managed to get the decals on, and paint was not an issue, still I loved it, and with the opening of an excellent model shop a 5 minute walk it started me on a hobby that carried on into my teens when other interests intervened.

Currently on the bench: AZ Models 1/72 Mig 17PF

Reply

Anonymous

Member since
November 2005

Posted by Anonymous on Friday, July 25, 2003 7:52 AM

Its really neat to see that there are folks out there that started so early.

My first kit was a green Snap Tite 280Z. I think it was a Revell kit.
I was 5 years old and it was 1979. I remember not being able to "peel" the decals off and found that on the back there were instructions(but I couldn't read them at the time) and I had to get my Mom to help, the decals of course were waterslide.
I've been searching e-bay for that kit for about a year and a half now.
That started a life long addiction(with a few breaks in the years once I discovered girls!)(then again, now I'm divorced and find that to clean up a relationship with a model all you have to do is dunk it in engine degreaser!).
Now my son is 5and he's already built 3 snap tites, and one die cast model.

Carlos

Reply
Edit

berny13

Member since
February 2003
From: Panama City, Florida, Hurricane Alley

Posted by berny13 on Friday, July 25, 2003 12:27 PM

I can't even remember what I had for lunch a half hour ago, how do you expect me to remember back over fifty years or more? I do remember it was an AVG P-40. Who made it or what scale it was is long gone from my memory past. It was given to me by an uncle for Christmas. No paint, stuck the decals sheet in water and messed the whole thing up. My pride and joy.

Berny

Phormer Phantom Phixer

On the bench

TF-102A Delta Dagger, 32nd FIS, 54-1370, 1/48 scale. Monogram Pro Modeler with C&H conversion.

Revell F-4E Phantom II 33rd TFW, 58th TFS, 69-260, 1/32 scale.

Tamiya F-4D Phantom II, 13th TFS, 66-8711, 1/32 scale. F-4 Phantom Group Build.

Reply

Anonymous

Member since
November 2005

Posted by Anonymous on Friday, July 25, 2003 12:45 PM

Well....I can't remember that long ago! One of my firsts was a kit from the CAF but i don't remember what it was.

Reply
Edit

Anonymous

Member since
November 2005

Posted by Anonymous on Friday, July 25, 2003 5:37 PM

Glencoe (at least they did the reissue) lunar lander - you know, a few bulbs on some framework or some such.... oh, what that started....

Reply
Edit

Anonymous

Member since
November 2005

Posted by Anonymous on Friday, July 25, 2003 7:47 PM

Well im not sure if it was my first..but i was 5-7 and got the F-14 by Monogram i believe....my thing was i would want to put it together..screw the paint...and then play with it....only then i would try to paint it..i was just too anxious to see how it would look when it was finished...lol I ended up throwing it away a few years ago and got the same kit which i still have..but it sucks too...lol ill end up givin it to my little bro to free up some space for a 1/32 P-51D and a 1/48 P-38J im workin on,........ but my models didnt look too good untill about 3-4 years ago..when i really got where i would take the time needed to make it look right...im surprised to see how in 4 years i have made such an improvement on the finished look...though i still have problems in some areas today...im 17 so i still have some experience to gain..lol but i think my models look ok ....but i believe since i started in the hobby so early i know i will have alot of experience when im older and will be able to make real beuties!

Reply
Edit

Anonymous

Member since
November 2005

Posted by Anonymous on Saturday, July 26, 2003 1:14 PM

I've been building models for about as long as I can remember.

I saw the movie "PT-109" on tv, and so I fell in love with those boats. My dad got me a PT boat simulator for our computer (an 8088, 4.01mHz, four color display, the works!) and we rented "They Were Expendable." One day my dad came home with the 1/72 PT-109 and we spent a few weeks putting it together. No paint, but we put on decals. Parts have been broken off of it over the years, it has gotten dusty, but it is still one of my favorites.

Gotta build another some day Cool [8D]

Reply
Edit

rutger p

Member since
March 2003
From: Netherlands

Posted by rutger p on Saturday, July 26, 2003 5:49 PM

In, I think it was, 1985 my brother got a model of a spitfire in 1/48. I was so impressed that I wanted to have such a kit myself. In lack of funds I decided to make a model of wood.

My brother had a propplane so I had to have a jet. I looked for a nice block, made a scaledrawing and started cutting. Within a few weeks I was the proud owner of a nice F14 (I had no idea there were differend types).

But the more pictures I saw the less it looked like a F14. A little later on my birthday I got a real kit.......the monogram F14 A. Luckily the plastic was already grey so I didn't even had to paint it. It looked rather impressive with its nice sharkteeth and wings that were able to fold back.

Needless to say that as the years got by there were some parts that could have been better but it was my first. It still stands on my shelf next to a few F 14's who are a little more accured, but if there was a fire and I could only take one model, I think I'd keep the first one.

Rutger

Reply

Anonymous

Member since
November 2005

Posted by Anonymous on Friday, August 1, 2003 9:12 AM

I was 7 and I think it was an Aurora kit. It was a Christmas present. It was molded in green , kind of shiney. I'm doing pretty good, better get this down before the memory fades. It was supposed to be a MiG-15. It looked more like a F-86 with a pirates cutlass attached to the rear end for a tail. A D model 86. I wonder if anyone out there remembers this kit also? I was already into aircraft and had numerous books in my room. So I knew what a 86 D and a 15 looked like. But it was a gift and parents have a way of persuading us kids not to say "the darndest things". And most times without provocation kids will tell you the truth. A couple of years later it went the way of the BB gun. I wish I had that kit now just because of someones idea of what a 15 was or looked like.

Reply
Edit

Anonymous

Member since
November 2005

Posted by Anonymous on Friday, August 1, 2003 1:16 PM

I can't remember my first model, but I have 2 that stand out in my memory. My father was a WW II pilot ( B 24, Ploesti; P 51, Italy ), and I remember building the Revell 1/72 B 24D and a large-scale vacform P51 with him. He built a B24 also, and the P51 was rubber-powered to fly (which of course it never did). I also remember the old Aurora planes with the scribed decal placement markings, and a SSN George Washington (interior, spring-loaded missles - Renwal ?) Thinking back, I can still smell the tube glue . . .

Reply
Edit

Anonymous

Member since
November 2005

Posted by Anonymous on Friday, August 1, 2003 1:55 PM

Matchbox Lightning (English Electric that is), given to me for my 7th birthday and assembled without using the instructions, with lots of parts left over including two wing halves! I was hooked immediately

Reply
Edit

PigFarmer

Member since
June 2003
From: USA

Posted by PigFarmer on Saturday, August 2, 2003 8:55 AM

I can't remember back that far. I think it was back in the late 1960s when I was in grade school. Seems like it was either an aircraft carrier or a viking ship. I beleieve it was an Airfix model. Geez, am I getting old. Tongue [:P]

Reply

Anonymous

Member since
November 2005

Posted by Anonymous on Saturday, August 2, 2003 6:04 PM

I can't say for certain that this was my very first kit but it's the earliest I can remember.
It was Aurora''s S2-F "Hunter Killer" (Tracker). Thickly molded in a dark blue/gray with the scribed decal placement lines.
It had no landing gear so it had to be mounted on the accompanying stand.
I brush painted it with a coat of paint thicker than the plastic itself.
It was a masterpiece!
I see that very same kit offered on ebay frequently. One of these days I'm going to get it and relive my childhood, only this time it won't end up with a firecracker stuffed into the rear of one of the engine nacelles. Smile [:)]

Reply
Edit

THE MAGAZINE

CONTACT US

RECENT ARTICLES

POPULAR TOPICS

RECENT REVIEWS

POPULAR TOPICS

RECENT REVIEWS

POPULAR TOPICS

RECENT VIDEOS

POPULAR TOPICS

RECENT THREADS

CATEGORIES

NEW PRODUCTS

OUR STORE

CURRENT ISSUE

SEARCH FINESCALE.COM