Where did you start building model car kits?

[Greg Myers]

A simple poll to find out if you first built something other than model cars or just jumped right in building model cars.

[Greg Myers]

Go ahead and lump armor and ships and what ever else into the first answer (same group ) just trying to get an idea here if you just jumped right in. 

If you really feel a need, go ahead and tell us about your start in model car building, thanks.

[disabled modeler]

I have always built model cars/trucks...built a few other items before but wheeled vehicles are my favorites....

2door,4door,wagons,vans,campers,motor homes,big trucks,trailers,farm and construction related,speed or pleasure boats,motorcycles and ATVs in scale,dioramas,and promo restorations.

[High octane]

In the mid-50's I started building model airplanes, ships, military, and rockets. Then in the late 50's I was attracted to model cars, and the rest is history. I got into cars myself as I didn't have an older brother and my dad wasn't into cars either.

[Dave Van]

Built balsa model planes with Dad at 4 years old. Once in SoCal we switched to cars. 

[bismarck]

Started building model cars with my dad at 5 years old. My first kit was the Baja VW bus with the little motor bike. Good memories. Been hooked ever since. Been building cars ,trucks, ships, planes , tanks, guns... ect . Its a great time to be a modeler!!! 

[Tom Geiger]

Cars, it was always cars... from the time I was aware of things around me....

A picture drawn by yours truly when I was maybe 2-3 years old.  My grandmother saved these things and presented them to me once I was an adult. Priceless!  

I never had an interest in building any other type of model.  Peculiar since I grew up as an army brat and lived on the post in Germany where the US kept their arsonnel of equipment, just in case the Soviets acted up.  There was row upon row of any piece of equipment of that time period (1969-72).  Us kids would walk the rows, but I had zero interest!

[Ramfins59]

I started building model cars in the late 50's with the AMT great 1958 kits and went on from there.  I dabbled in tanks, halftracks, jeeps and such for a short time, but I always blew them up with firecrackers and lighter fluid.

[Snake45]

Started with model airplanes--Hawk, Revell, Monogram, Aurora, Lindberg, and the like--around age 4. Didn't switch to cars until I was 12. Shortly after I got my driver's license, I quit fooling around with model cars and went back to airplanes. Didn't get serious about model cars again till I was around 30.

[snacktruck67]

I started in the mid 60's in Austin Texas.  I was 16 then.  When I found out I was going to Nam in 71, I did not think I would be coming back home, so I destroyed all of my models with a bb gun.  I regret that now.  Restarted in 2007.

[Ace-Garageguy]

I built aircraft first, because that was my father's interest. Static and flying. Then rockets, ships, boats, submarines, tanks and artillery, kites, dinosaurs, visible man/woman...I was just interested in THINGS.  I liked cars from a very early age, but didn't start building car models 'til I was maybe 11 or so (the horrible work I did on my unlucky brush-painted first-gen Revell wagon doesn't count). Then I got interested in electronics, HO trains and cars simultaneously, then back to car models exclusively.

Real life distracted me for about 40 years (though I built scale-models of designs for full-scale vehicles and objects).

Now once again, I'm a modeler. Past-it grumpy old man. Cars mostly, occasionally historic aircraft or HO RR stuff (and still into electronics).

 

Edited September 26, 2015 by Ace-Garageguy

[Greg Myers]

Cars, it was always cars... from the time I was aware of things around me....

A picture drawn by yours truly when I was maybe 2-3 years old.  My grandmother saved these things and presented them to me once I was an adult. Priceless!  

I never had an interest in building any other type of model.  Peculiar since I grew up as an army brat and lived on the post in Germany where the US kept their arsonnel of equipment, just in case the Soviets acted up.  There was row upon row of any piece of equipment of that time period (1969-72).  Us kids would walk the rows, but I had zero interest!

Hope you have that under glass and framed. 

[Petetrucker07]

Cars, pick ups and big trucks is all I've built since I started 20 years ago. There is a John Deere backhoe in there, that's the only piece of equipment I've built, so far. I do 2 bulldozers in need of restoration. My detailing skills aren't good enough to do aircraft/military the way I'd want to do it. So, I'm sticking with what I can do for now.

[russosborne]

My dad built model cars, so that is where I started. I would, however, build anything that anyone would give me. Cars, airplanes, ships, tanks, etc.

I never built for accuracy, I built for the joy (to me) of just building. Get them built as fast as possible to play with.  Maybe 2 or 3 in a day if I was lucky enough to have that many. Then I would take built models apart and rebuild them in weird ways with a wood burning iron instead of glue. I almost always had an old fashioned paper grocery bag full of parts to play with like that.

In my teens(1970's) I got a bit more serious with them, to the extent of painting the bodies and adding the decals. But it was still more of a get it built to set it on a shelf asap thing.

I still enjoy just building them, not as into paint and details as most are here. Probably why I have so many started but almost none finished. I stall out when I get to the point on a kit that I have to paint. The couple I have actually finished the last 10 years are unpainted.

Russ

[MrObsessive]

It's Christmas of 1968 and of course, as a seven year old kid I can't wait to see what's under the tree! Hot Wheels had been introduced about six months before, and I got my first set to go along with the bunch of cars I got that came out that premier year. IIRC, it was a "Super Charger Sprint Set".

 

Of course, I couldn't be happier as I absolutely LOVED Hot Wheels! Something else was under that tree though............a couple model kits. One of them if I can remember was a kit of a '68 Chevelle. The box art was nice and pretty, but when I opened the box, I was so disappointed as ALL THESE PIECES HAD TO BE PUT TOGETHER!! I hated it immediately as it reminded me of a puzzle and I HATED puzzles as a kid. I put the kit away and never touched it as the Hot Wheels were more fun and interesting!

 

Fast forward 9-10 years and I'm now a senior in high school. One of my first jobs back then was working at a McDonald's and it seemed I could NEVER get a Saturday off. My Dad even complained about it, so I spoke up and was given one particular weekend off. Well wouldn't you know it, it rained and I mean pouring down rain all day long! What to do?? I got in the car, and went to the local mall and did some window shopping. One of the stores in the mall was a hobby shop called "Allied Hobbies". I got nosy and walked inside, and saw rows and rows and rows of------MODELS!! For whatever reason, my interest was piqued and I was particularly drawn to a Monogram kit. It was their '57 Corvette which I think was newly issued back then.

 

The box art car looked really good, and I wanted that kit as I've always loved '57 'Vettes. I bought it and a tube of glue and the rest is history----I've been hooked ever since! Now that first kit I made a real mess of it........glue spots everywhere, no paint of any sort, ill fitting parts (on my part), but just the fact that it made my mind work in 3D, is something that's still with me to this day. Of course, NEVER in my wildest dreams did I think I'd be building the way I do now way back then. If someone had of jumped out of 2015, and told me I'd be doing superdetailing, I would have thought them totally insane!

 

Just goes to show the things we hated as kids can sometimes turn into the things we're passionate about as we get older.

[wayne swayze]

I have no idea where I developed an interest in cars, but had a few "Dinky" brand cars and trucks when I was quite young . Used the border on the rug in the living room as my "road".  Saw my first model car at a friends place in 1958 and fell in love with the 1/25 scale, the recognizable features of real cars, and the relatively low cost of the kits. My first 3 in 1 model was an AMT '59 Ford Galaxy annual. Did my building on the dining room table. I've had model cars as a part of my life since then. Never had an interest in any other  form of model building.

[oldnslow]

My first was a 59 Plymouth (in 59), tan no paint, lasted till new years and we got firecrackers to play with. 

[chunkypeanutbutter]

First one was done on a table in what's now the library with my dad. AMT/Ertl '66 Fairlane. He painted it (as per my request) in a really cool paint job, white on top, then blue, then silver, the colors in a three-tone with angled separations. I ended up wrecking the thing somehow in my "Reign of Destruction" when I was around 7-9. 

I stopped modeling shortly after because one time I refused to clean up my room and all of my models were shoved back into a box and hidden. I became a bitter and broken shell of my former self... so basically I turned into an adult.

Got a big box of old models from my uncle for Christmas a couple years ago that rekindled the fire. I also found the box of models that had been hidden from me, in a very high alcove over the cellar stairs on top of some Christmas stuff.

Memories, memories. I'm going to have to reproduce all the models I can remember doing. A lime Cuda, a white Torino Talladega with a black hood, a Fathom Green Duster, a red Mustang, a Grabber Blue Scout II, a black C-600 stake bed, a red White-Freightliner COE with only one rear axle, a blue '32 Ford coupe (I actually traded off the body not too long ago... I wonder if JTalmage still has it ) and a green '40 Ford business coupe.

[slusher]

Built cars when i started building about 7. i built a couple planes as a kid but they never interested me...

[Pete J.]

My first love has always been aircraft.  Dad was a Navy pilot in WWII, and he inspired my interest in flight.  Got my pilots license in high school.  Went through AFROTC in college and flew KC-135s in the Air Force.  While in college I developed a taste for F1 racing and sports cars.  Owned a 240Z and a Porsche 911 in the military. Started building autos when my son came along and found I had a bit of a talent for it.  Still build stuff other than autos.  Just diverse interests.

[Foxer]

I started with model ships from a 3 ship kit I got for Christmas. My Dad built one along with me as I did the tugboat. I I really enjoyed it and hoped to someday paint as good as my Dad did on HIS first plastic kit! I went thru many ships, planes and armor but was always a car nut. All the car kits at the time were multi piece bodies which didn't sound good to me. Then ... DRUM ROLL ... in 1958 a company called AMT came out with ONE PIECE bodies and I was HOOKED! I never looked back although I did build a couple Armor models of vehicles I drove in the Army ... APC Lowrider  .. linking just not working today  .. http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/topic/19880-armored-personal-carrier-lowrider/

[Roadrunner]

I sort of fall in between, starting off with building both airplanes and cars, though probably more cars. As the years rolled by, I moved mostly to military modeling, and have just recently come back to the world of car models, many as tributes to kits I built when I was a kid.

[mikemodeler]

I have always been fascinated about cars and machinery. I grew up at a great time as my oldest brother is 17 years older and he would buy me Hot Wheels and Matchbox cars every week. I would circle the Sears Toy Book every year and Santa brought me lots of cars and trucks. I have the distinction of being born right after Christmas (12/28) and my birthdays were usually pretty good as I got a lot of car stuff as it went on sale after Christmas!

Some neighbor friends were given some models by their uncle in the early 70's and I got hooked on them at the same time. Been building on and off for over 40 years, have tried to find some of the kits I destroyed in my youth.

[Harry P.]

I started with cars as a kid, but these days I don't limit myself to cars anymore. I like to build scale model vehicles...

[Earl Marischal]

Aircraft first a teenager in 1960s, then cars. Mostly 1/32 scale Airfix until I discovered other makes later, such as AMT, MPC, Monogram, Pyro, Aurora, Lindberg, etc.

Gave up in the late 1970s and did no modelling at all until l took up railway modelling in 1982. Getting back into cars again now although it is secondary to the trains.

steve