What was your first truck model?

[Mike77]

I'm sure you guys have done this before, but I thought it would be cool to hear what everyone's first truck model kit was. Let's hear about the first big rig kit you built...the one that started it all. I'll go first...

In the mid-70's I was about 10- or 11-years-old and my parents bought me a Peterbilt 359 kit. I didn't know the first thing about detailing trucks so I built it straight out of the box and painted it copper with a black frame. Nothing special but I couldn't wait to save up $2.97 to buy another kit at Kmart, which I think was a Pete 352. The bug bit me and by the time the CB craze hit in the late-70's I had already built quite a few rigs and I was hooked for life.

[Badluck 13]

Mine was back in '75, a Chevrolet Titan I got when I was 12 and all I painted was the cab Testors metallic blue and the engine Testors bottled green,I remember having a heck of a time getting the cab glued to the hinges......then it all started from there.........

[vincen47]

My first was the AMT T600A, got it from Kmart when I was in 5th grade. Painted it silver like the box art. A glue bomb, but I still have it, though it is in pieces in the parts bin. 

I just bought another sealed kit, have plans to build it with all the corrections needed for an accurate T600.   

It'll be a nostalgic build.

[Bennyg]

First one was an amt Mack Super-Liner. My dad is a sign writer and he put my name and our family phone number on the door.

 

Ben

[gatorincebu]

 

    1970 Had just got out of the Marine Corps, got married and saw that they now had truck models. My first one was the AMT Peterbuilt/w sleeper.Right after that the MPC Mack DM 800 and AMT lowboy. All three I still have.And they are slated for refurbishing some time next year.

 

 

   Be Well

     Gator

[junkyardjeff]

A Peterbilt back in 74 and I still have some of it.

[Rigzndiesel]

I was hooked on truck models about 1973 or 74.  My Dad built an Ertl IH 4070a kit for me and he built the AMT Ford dump truck for my brother.  I was about 7 at the time.  I thought the 4070 COE was the coolest thing I ever saw and played with it on the carpet like a Tonka truck.  I would dream of climbing up the little steps/ladder to get into the cab and sleeping in the bunk.   I liked all the movable parts.

My Mom bought me a trailer model at the grocery store back when you could buy them there.  I built the AMT Wilson livestock to go behind the IH.  It was a massive gluebomb with dabs of silver paint from using a hand brush to coat the exterior.  It didn’t take long before the model broke making me sad.  My Dad did a real nice job building it and I would like to have it today.  He built it right out of the box with no paint but he was an accomplished builder at the time.

I guess my first “truck” model would be the 1/43^rd Peterbilt conventional from the TnT series.  My brother had the KW COE and I liked his better but he wouldn’t switch with me.

Now that I’m thinking about way back when, I remember getting models in the mail as a kid.  It was some mail order model club that would send us an assortment of models from cars to ships.  It was a real treat guessing what type of model would show up at our doorstep.  That was a cool time…

[plastic trucker]

My first truck was the Peterbilt with the sleeper back in the early seventies.

[rctruk]

My first truck was the Peterbilt without the sleeper. Here it is today as a rebuild project.

[Old Buckaroo]

Great stories and I feel decades younger after reading them.

Mine was the "Movin On Kenworth"  my buddy and I rode our bikes several miles to a department store,  he had gotten the Peterbilt kit at the same time.   I painted mine with Pactra Candy apple green (with no basecoat) it was a gelatinous runny translucent mess.  But every time I looked at it I heard "Whomp Whomp" and Meryl Haggard right on cue !

[disabled modeler]

I cant remember for sure but it was ether the Ertl International 4070A or the Kenworth Challenge mixer kit...both were pretty close to being one of the first 1 to 4 I built as a kid.

[Petetrucker07]

My first truck kit was a 1/32 Snap T600 Hot Wheels transporter. The second truck was an Italeri 377 then a 378.

[Mopar - D]

My first one was the AMT North American truck that was a very simple truck after the was the IMC Dodge L700 and then the AMT Pete. 

[landman]

Mine was the Watkins Kenworth,followed by the AMT lowboy and the D8.It was around 1970.

[DRIPTROIT 71]

My first truck kit was the AMT 359 Peterbilt (Matchbox version I think). I got it for Christmas when I was about 9 or 10. I put it together without paint or anything. The fit was terrible, I got glue all over it, but it all started there. The following year I got several truck and trailer kits for Christmas. My mom use to take me to the Rose department store to buy model kits after I started building. I Remember the DM800 Mixer and the DM800 tractor sitting on the shelf forever, I thought that they were ugly then. Live and learn.

[Aaronw]

I mostly built aircraft as a kid, a little bit of armor so if you count a half track... Truck kits are a relatively new thing for me, I think the IH Paystar was the first I actually completed.

[Jim B]

Like Aaron, I mostly built aircraft or ships as a kid.  I do remember requesting the AutoWorld catalog from an add i saw in Boy's Life back in 1984 (I was 15 or 16).  In that catalog was an article on detailing the Movin' On Kenworth.  Well, I purchased the AMT Movin' On Kenworth, Building Model Trucks by Phil Jensen, and Collecting & Building Model Trucks by Lou Kroack from AutoWorld.

When the kit came, I promptly built it & brush painted the cab & hood black.  I had never seen Movin' On but I had seen Smokey & the Bandit, so that's what i was going to build.  Let's just say that my imagination didn't exactly measure up to my building skills (still hasn't actually).  It was a disaster, but I loved it!  Bought another AMT Kenworth W925 (Watkins if i remember correctly) & a AMT Kenworth K100 AeroDyne.  I was hooked.  The K100 came out much better.

[Nova-ss]

I sure remember my first.I bought it from Grand Central. back then where I lived they were everywhere. I skipped jr high,got on the bus..went downtown. got my first semi truck after cars,airplanes and a few ships...fell in love with big trucks.AMT Peterbilt 352,the oil refinery scene.summer of 74 a week later she was done.no detail added,but the most fun I had building models..not to mention. .it started me reading and learning.from there I learned about speakers and how to rebuild them and mechanics. my father drove truck..he got me overdrive,which the othe boys liked cause of the girl pictures in them.I also started drawing trucks.so my interest in trucks keeped growing.next was the AMT Kenworth W925 Watkins version,bought at the same store..again skipping school.stepfather didn't care,mother didn't know till years later when I couldn't get a beating.I had my own money from jobs I worked...money wasn't the problem..time was betwwen working with stepfather on a farm and working with a lady on our block doing yard work and selling pictures kids wanted..I had money,just not enouch time.ERTL IH F4270 was next.thats when detailing started.I read books on what I was building,started seeing inaccurate parts.got involved with Autoworld back then and that started my love of Tamiya models.like you all its a fun read..and Jeff Regan..loved your history and all the times we meet and talked trucks..I sure miss them. ....Chris. ..oh and lots more trucks,trailers,tractors and other scratch built models after that...its funny how things start..oh and after I started rebuilding speakers...years later had my own sound co mixing sound with my best friend in the world.

[anarximis]

amt ih 4300 loved it and would lone to have like ten more but for what they are going for now thats not going to happen

[Nova-ss]

I was hooked on truck models about 1973 or 74.  My Dad built an Ertl IH 4070a kit for me and he built the AMT Ford dump truck for my brother.  I was about 7 at the time.  I thought the 4070 COE was the coolest thing I ever saw and played with it on the carpet like a Tonka truck.  I would dream of climbing up the little steps/ladder to get into the cab and sleeping in the bunk.   I liked all the movable parts.

My Mom bought me a trailer model at the grocery store back when you could buy them there.  I built the AMT Wilson livestock to go behind the IH.  It was a massive gluebomb with dabs of silver paint from using a hand brush to coat the exterior.  It didn’t take long before the model broke making me sad.  My Dad did a real nice job building it and I would like to have it today.  He built it right out of the box with no paint but he was an accomplished builder at the time.

I guess my first “truck” model would be the 1/43^rd Peterbilt conventional from the TnT series.  My brother had the KW COE and I liked his better but he wouldn’t switch with me.

Now that I’m thinking about way back when, I remember getting models in the mail as a kid.  It was some mail order model club that would send us an assortment of models from cars to ships.  It was a real treat guessing what type of model would show up at our doorstep.  That was a cool time…

Jeff,great story.I also built the AMT TnT series. they wasn't as fun as there 25th scale counter parts,but cause they were trucks..I built them and draw the pictures on the box as well..great story...I know it wouldn't be a best seller.but it would be great to hear all model builders story on there first builds..to me it would be great....Chris 

[Nova-ss]

Like Aaron, I mostly built aircraft or ships as a kid.  I do remember requesting the AutoWorld catalog from an add i saw in Boy's Life back in 1984 (I was 15 or 16).  In that catalog was an article on detailing the Movin' On Kenworth.  Well, I purchased the AMT Movin' On Kenworth, Building Model Trucks by Phil Jensen, and Collecting & Building Model Trucks by Lou Kroack from AutoWorld.

When the kit came, I promptly built it & brush painted the cab & hood black.  I had never seen Movin' On but I had seen Smokey & the Bandit, so that's what i was going to build.  Let's just say that my imagination didn't exactly measure up to my building skills (still hasn't actually).  It was a disaster, but I loved it!  Bought another AMT Kenworth W925 (Watkins if i remember correctly) & a AMT Kenworth K100 AeroDyne.  I was hooked.  The K100 came out much better.

I hear ya Jim,I mainly built cars and pickup,but a few planes and ships,but the 352 was what start it for me...there is still a soft spot for the 352,925 and 4270..but I started in 74 in trucks but started building when I was 4 years old.don't remember the car but it was AMT and no glue,no paint mother said scotch tape..I built it that way.thank you and all others on this thread,very interesting read......Chris 

[scummy]

About 73-74 , i got a coe kenworth for christmas and because dad was an interstater he started it and it was taking too long . So i started where he left off and built it slowly painting it as i went along . Then came the beaded side van and painted it in TNT colours . Fitted the kenny with a bull bar later on . Still have them today , they were at the kenworth muster last year as a display only as they were too brittle to be judged .

Was spray painted with auto painted , metalic red and yep she crazed , later painted the side grafics and placed a cardboard roof lining with air horn chain . Have looked after her for a long time .

[Force]

The first model truck I built was the AMT T-540 White Freightliner Dual Drive sometime back in 77-78 at age 13-14, the next one I built was the AMT/Matchbox PK-6120 Movin' On Kenworth W925 both brush painted with Humbrol paint...I still have them, the KW is still in one piece but the Freightliner has had an accident and are in pieces.
I have built more trucks after that but I don't remember the order and what years.
 

Edited December 30, 2015 by Force

[knarf]

my first truck was the Rubber Duck Mack back when it was first issued.  still have the styrene hood ornament (not the scale one for the truck but the roughly life-sized statue) from it.

[Goodwrench3]

First one was a AMT Peterbilt 352 Pacemaker cabover.  Built it right out of the box in white plastic.