I have read through many posts where some of you have returned to the hobby a bit later in life, many of you much older than me, so I am very optimistic about my recent restart which began late in 2022.
I had completed exactly one plastic model kit in my life until recently. It was a Monogram Lamborghini Countach LP500S, which I built 30+ years ago, and it was a typical preteen hack job. I can clearly recall a stringy mess of glue and fingerprints, an awful brushed paint job, and a bunch of leftover small parts that I didn’t feel like messing with in the bottom of the box when I called it complete. I am sure a few of you can relate. I plan to eventually buy it again and do it right the second time.
Anyway, fast forward to 2022 where I found myself aimlessly wandering the aisles of Hobby Lobby while my wife looked for something she needed on the other side of the store. To my surprise I found myself standing in front of a 1:25 Revell Jeep Wrangler (TJ) which I also had sitting in my driveway as a 1:1. I decided then and there I was going to buy it. No glue, no paint, no prep supplies, nothing else, just the kit. I don’t even know at that point if I was even planning to build it; I just wanted it. So I bought it.
It was all downhill from there. My stash started growing, I was suddenly watching modeling how to videos and browsing forums for tips and tricks instead of reading novels before bed, etc.
My area of interest is mainly 1:25 scale auto, though I also enjoy 1:64 scale customs as well.
I guess I have come to realize that my 40's has brought a much different mindset to model building than I had as a 12 year old kid, and I am very excited about my restart. I can't get back the 30 years I've missed, but I figure I can do my best to make up for it during the ones I have left.
Thanks in advance for all of the tips, tricks, and info I will certainly pick up from this forum moving forward. Hopefully I'll eventually be able to give back in some meaningful way as well.
Shawn