I used to stand at the end of my Dad's workbench and watch him build the old '60s issue Monogram kits. He built armor, aircraft, cars, didn't make a difference to him. He never painted anything, he would just build them, and put the decals on
When the glue was dry, he would give them to me to play with..needless to say, they didn't last long..
I was 5 or 6 at the time..
I started building on my own when I was about 9, and those first models were absolute crimes, but god, I had fun
Great memories..
Cheers, Ian