Why did you...

[MikeyB08]

Why did you start modeling?

Let's here the stories as to why/how you began modeling.

I started modeling because every other hobby I tried got bored very very quick. Video games, computer games, art, photo design, and many more to add to the list. Modeling, for me, is a great way to spend my down time (at work mostly) while usually being happy with my outcome. It actually stretches my mind to think, "Well if I try this..." or, "I wonder how that will look if I do this..." It allows me to create any color combo, crazy design or just down right unrealistic car I want. I can build something that suits me as an individual.

So let's here your story.

[Nick Winter]

Christmas '04 my parents gave me a few kits and some paint as gifts, my dad and I built the first one together, he built as a kid and into young adulthood, I like being able to build vehicles that suit my tastes, and stuff that I have seen or have experience with, that and there cheaper than my 1:1 project.

Nick

[slusher]

When l was real small l remember models sitting all over the house. When l got older my big brother was still building them so at 7 l got started on my first one and been hooked ever since. In THE 70'S it was a popular hobby. its not as popular as it was then but its still a very cool hobby..

[cobraman]

My father bought me my first one and helped me assemble it. That was at a time when there wasn't any such thing as video games. Heck, I think there was only 5 channels on the tv and you had to get your butt up to change it. Anyway, I got hooked on how you could take a bunch of pieces and put something together that looked like a car. Not much of a selection back then so I built cars, planes, boats, tanks. I have been "hooked" on models ever since although there have been times when I gave it up but the urge always returns.

[Green Duster]

I started when i was about 6 years old. Got a kit from my Mom. She was suprised that I built it.
That was back in 1960. Took time off from it. when my kids were little. But been building strong
for the last 25 years.
I love the whole process. Just can't get enough. I will be building as long as my hands hold out.
I have arthritus in 85% of me. I'm only 58( turning 59 in a week). Just hope the hands last
as long as the mind. I hope that lasts too!

[knarf]

i've always been into cars ever since i can remember. been building models since round about age 5 and back them mom wouldn't let me have model glue(too messy). does anybody have a clue how hard it is to build a model with elmer's white glue? my first kit was "the cuckoo's nest ford van. modeling is a cost effective way to own every car you ever wanted

[ToyLvr]

Similar to Carl's story, I started in the mid-60s at age six (6). My much-older brother started building in the late 50s during the dawn of the "Golden Age" of car modeling, and I was in awe of his models (still am). He was an excellent craftsman, and later transferred his skills to his work with 1:1 cars.

I wasn't allowed to touch any of his models, or even come in close proximity, so I started building my own after talking my Dad into buying a kit for me. The first one, as I recall, was like a 1/32 or 1/43 scale, and maybe a '40 Ford. Nearly 50 years later, it's hard to remember....

Been collecting model kits ever since, and building when I can. My absolute favorite pastime....

Epilogue: Last year, just after my brother's 69th birthday, he bestowed upon me the surviving units of his model collection "for safekeeping". Now I don't have to worry about getting caught and busted for sneaking into his room to look at the models.... ;-)

[Hollywood Jim]

About 10 years ago Doctor Cranky told me if I did not start building model cars he was going to super glue my eye lids shut.

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[ToyLvr]

See the recent posts on "Worst Ouch".

Seems to be a lot of trouble with body parts and CA glue lately ;-)

Some might *want* to glue their eyes shut rather than look at Cranky! (HaHaHa)

[Tom Geiger]

I didn't have a normal childhood. My father was a US Army officer and we lived in different places every two or three years. I was always into cars and other vehicles. My Uncle John told me how when I was 3 they had to follow the city bus and stop at each stop with it because I like buses and watched the passengers get on and off. My early passion was Matchbox cars. When I was six, we lived in Dayton, Ohio and my father taught ROTC at the U of Dayton. We would go to the Base Exchange at Wright Patterson AFB and there was a rotating display of Matchbox cars on the camera counter. Every trip I was allowed to pick one out.

From there we moved to Izmir, Turkey. In the 1960s the Turkish economy was poor and there was nothing to buy locally. We depended on the US military PX for our every need. Toys were scarce, so I learned to take care of my things. A good life lesson. There also was no TV, so I read a lot and played with my imagination. We depended on my grandparents back in the US to send us things. That's how I got my Matchbox cars!

My father got assigned to Seoul Korea and my mother, sister and I went to New Jersey to live near my grandparents for the year in 1968. I was 10 and that was the year Hot Wheels came out. I was instantly hooked. And this was also my first exposure to model cars. I had exposure to the American car scene for the first time and soaked in the culture! I did custom paint jobs on my Matchbox and Hot Wheel cars and started building models. We lived near a Chevy dealer so I believe my first glue kit was a 1969 Chevy Impala SS.

In 1969 my father got assigned to Pirmasens, Germany so we moved there. We lived on the US Army Post and the German economy was much more like that in the US than Turkey was! They even had Kellogs cereals in the market! And Hot Wheels, Matchbox cars and models. They did play a funny trick on us though... when we arrived a US dollar was worth four German Marks. The economy changed and suddenly our dollar bought less than two Marks! The cost of everything local had effectively doubled! Revell kits were 20 Marks, which was a bit more than $10 US, back when US kits sold for $2! So my local purchases were few and far between. The PX never got good model kits. They often had Airfix and sometimes Lindberg kits. I learned to love the Airfix 1/32 scale cars!

Then I discovered Model Car Science Magazine in the PX book store. I sent for the AutoWorld catalog and that became my world! I had half the catalog circled. Every time I had enough money from my jobs of mowing lawns and washing cars, I would place an order for a kit or two and supplies. Those orders would take 3 months to receive., so there were times I had 3 orders out, all carefully marked on paper I kept in my catalog. I bought Duster and Barracuda annuals, The Simple Simon Thames Panel, the Scat City Funny Car, the AMT '53 Ford pickup and other iconic kits.

We did get back to the USA permanently in 1972. My father's last assignment was Fort Monmouth, NJ so we bought a house and settled in. He retired at the end of the Viet Nam war when the army was cutting back and offered incentives for officers to retire. Once back in the US, I went on a model car buying binge, and built right up to the point where real cars took over. I still had a few kits stashed and would buy a few on occasion. I had a 1:1 '56 Chevy so I bought the Revell kit and the AMT '51 Chevy for the six cylinder. Life did get in the way, and like many of us I got consumed by work, marriage and kids. And I still would buy occasional kits. I was collecting car brochures then and was big in the Mopar clubs, owning a '65 Barracuda and other neat cars.

Then in my early 30s I went on a business trip to Boston and found Scale Auto magazine in a book store. Man, I hadn't seen a model magazine in years. I stayed up nearly all night reading it cover to cover. In the back was a small ad to join the Tri-State Scale Model Car Club. I answered the ad, went to a meeting, and the rest is history!

Edited March 31, 2013 by Tom Geiger

[Guest]

I started model building in about 1968, at the age of 8. I saw a model of the USS Enterprise from Star Trek. I didn't build alot, but once in a while. I never fully left it, but in the summer of 1992, I was at a drug store, and saw the cover of the june issue of SAE, it had a bright yellow 66 Fairlane on it. I picked it up, looked, and the obsession started.

[disabled modeler]

I got started when my dad got me my first kit when i was around 6 or 7 years old been hooked ever since...lucky to still have my first one even though it needs lots of parts and a rebuild it was the old Johan Haulin-Hearse. I always liked passing the time building when I became disabled it was more important than ever and still is to me...great hobby with great people.

[gbdolfans]

Like many here,I got started very young.I don't remember how I started building.I would go to the shopping center and there were several stores that carried models.There was a store named Earl's Hardware that was more of a general store.They always had a bunch of models,cars,planes,armor,and ships.I built them all!!! Of course,that was when I did a model in a couple of days from start to end.Now it takes a couple of months or longer.I would go to Orange Blossom Hobbies to get kits and supplies,and,of course,K-mart.

I remember building a bunch of 1/16 scale drag cars.I had to take a break for some time due to life events. I got back into the hobby about 15 years ago and found my LOVE of the hobby again.I enjoy all the resources we have now,including the best one,this forum.

I really feel that this place has helped my skills get better.

[gtx6970]

I've always been into cars. and I like working with my hands .

models seemed logical to me

[Terry Sumner]

I dunno....was so long ago I can't remember!

[bbowser]

I started at 7 or 8 back in the 60's. I wasn't athletically inclined and liked to stay indoors a lot, so models were a natural. I used to save my pennies until I had $2.00, enough for an AMT annual back in those days. I've gone through phases of building cars, WW1 biplanes, WW2 German planes, armor, boats, you name it. Girls, the service, 1:1 cars, marriage, kids, divorce, and life in general put a stop to it until the 90's when I started on NASCAR kits and was hooked again. Now it competes for time with my 1:1 67 Chevy pickup restoration and remodeling the kitchen and bath in our 100 year old farmhouse. In the winter modeling wins, come summer there's too little time and it takes a back seat.

[daveblev]

started years ago before i could drive(learned that at 13). got away from it for years(kits were $2-$5 then-that give you a clue?). now, don't have a garage, or the money, to build a 1:1, so for now, it's back to modeling. and, since i'm older, and eyesight not as good as it used to be, i've discovered the wonderful optivisor!

dave

[DPNM]

My brother and I built kits back in the early to mid '60s. ALL were glue bombs as the only glue available was the tube stuff. Too hard for a kid to use "just a little", at least for me.

The kit that got me back into modeling was a Monogram Monster truck kit. I was in my late twenty's (if I remember right, I'm old too). I loved monster trucks and I happened to find a kit that I thought I could build. I was by no means a great modeller but I did make my own interior and I gave it movable 4 wheel steering. It wasn't a bad build but I have gotten somewhat better. From there I found and joined model club (hey, there are other people that build these).

I had a big collection but had to sell it off cause I had lost my job. I took another 15 years off and got back into it, again, close to 10 years ago.

I have a few built and have quite a few started plus a small collection. It is a hobby that can be very fun and satisfying.

[jas1957]

It was the mid/late '60s & I was an elementary school age car nut. Models were a natural extension of that, plus EVERYONE was building at that time.

[Rob McKee]

I was the youngest of a clan of grandkids that would travel to Nova Scotia to spend a couple weeks with my grandparents during the summer holidays. Grandpa would take us all to K-mart where we could pick out a model to build. This was his way of finding something for us to keep busy on a rainy day. I have great memories of sitting around the kitchen table building these kits almost in a race like fashion.

[kurth]

I am 37 and I want to say I started at 7 or 8 so almost 30 years ago, maybe more. As the tale goes, one day My Mom bought a model kit for my dad as a present when she saw them at the local dug store, perhaps as a birthday present. this would have been in 82 or 83. My dad had built models as a kid. ?He started out brush painting everything then started using spray paints and a badger spraygun with air cans. We would go to the National air and space museum and buy a model of an airplane we saw My Dad also taught me about all the different airplanes this way. At some point along this time I was given snap tites and simple glue models and my dad would help me. Later on we got an airbrush, compressor and a spray booth, and eventually when I was in High School oh say 9th grade or so I was airbrushing on my own. My parents were always pretty supportive of the hobby.

We usually had the latest issue of Fine Scale Modeler around the house. My Grandfather on my Dad's side built ship models, and my Uncle on my Mom's side built planes, then switched to race cars. He turned me on to NASCAR modeling and the Model car magazines of the time in the early 90s.

I never really stopped, I did not have much time when I was in college, I lived at home but much of my free time was used up with Radio Control Cars, studying, girls, etc but I never stopped completely. I have always built a mixture of Cars and airplanes. Once I was done with school and working full time in 1998 or so I returned to the hobby with more enthusiasm and attention to detail. I built quite a few models in the early 2000s but they all got damaged in a move and I tossed them. I build at a glacial pace these days but I enjoy it.

Now That I stop and think about it, it really runs in my family.

[lanesteele240]

As a kid in the early 80's, video games were to expensive. Models were in my budget. Well just the model. No money for paint. My uncles did models and i wanted to be like them so i did it. I tried to be just like them. Im just glad they were Clemson fans. No way could i have grown up a gamecock.

[mikemodeler]

Like so many others, I started in my early years and stayed with it until High School and girls/job/life took over. I would occasionally dabble in a kit but nothing serious until about 20 years ago when a co-worker and I walked into a hobby shop on a whim during lunch. We both bought a model and brought them into the office ( we worked for an auto parts company) and it was funny to see 6-8 grown men stand around the conference room table looking over the AMT 62 Bel Air kit! I have been deep into it since then, building a few and collecting a ton. Tried to get my son involved but he tended to go towards aircraft and my daughter built a few snap kits before discovering boys.

Been a car guy all my life ( loved the stories about the Matchbox & Hot Wheels Tom!) and even have my Tonka trucks from the early 70's! I have worked around cars since 1980 and can't see me doing anything else. I even applied for a job at Revell back in 1995 but it went to a guy with airplane knowledge because they already had Ed Sexton and his vast experience and knowledge of automobiles!

[mnwildpunk]

Like a lot of ya I started young. The story of the first one goes like this my mom was sick of me ripping apart the radios vcrs speakers and such. So she bought me a 2 gen camaro model. since I was born with gasoline in my viens it's been nothing but car/truck models. I took breaks from it here and there over the years. And finally got back into it 2yrs ago to help keep me clean and it's worked.

[Custom Mike]

I was a child of the '70's, in the Chicago area, which meant you were shut in most of the winter. Everyone had an Uncle or Father that built models, and as a 5 year old lad I thought that I could do the same, so I ruined quite a few of the old Revell Tri-Five Chevies. It wasn't until I got back into the car side of the hobby back in '94 that I got good at it, maybe my years in between building Military stuff helped!