How did you get started in model building?

[DeeCee]

My father was a car guy, always had something different,  and when i went to town with mom, if i was a good boy i got a matchbox car, ( or hotwheels).

When i got myself a job at 15, i brought my first model car kit, as real cars were still 2 years away, and i have been building real cars and model kits ever since..

And now my son has the "car blood" .

[unclescott58]

I've always loved cars. My mother wrote in my "baby book" that when I was about a year or two old I had a toy Buick that I had to take with me everywhere. She couldn't understand it. I had much nicer toys. But, loved that cheap little toy Buick. I remember my dad building a red plastic model of what looked like a Grand Prix or Indy car from the 1950's when I was about 4 years old. I also remember visiting cousins who were into building models. It may have been my interest in those that got my mother to buy and teach me how to build models. I was about 6 years old when she and I built our first model kits. ( I'm sure this was her first and only time building models.) Two Aurora kits and one airplane. The two Aurora kits were Frankenstein's Fliver and Dracula's Dragster. (Besides cars, I loved those old Universal monsters.) The plane was a Me262. Which in retrospect surprises me. My mother was born in Norway and lived through the Nazi occupation of that country. She hated anything dealing with that subject. So the Me262 is a bit of a surprise in retrospect.

A couple of things I remember about those first kits. Painting Frankenstein's head and hands green. Painting the heart and blood in a cup Dracula had red. And Frankenstein having a yo-yo on a string attached to his one outstretched hand. I also remember putting way too much glue in one of the engines of the Me262. The engine became soft and pliable. And touching it later ruined it's shape.

The next kit was a '64 or '65 Corvette coupe. I did most of the work with my dad supervising. I then lose track of exactly what I build when after that. I built a lot of kits through out the late 1960's and early 70's. Many I remember and wish I had today. I'm pretty sure my mother threw out all my models when I joined the Navy right after high school. But, I never truly lost interest. I've been building models pretty much my entire adult life too.

 

[Fat Brian]

Like others have said, I was interested in mechanical things from very early. I had Matchbox cars and Tonka toys, I got my first Lego set at about four. My dad built models as a kid but stopped some time in his early twenties, his last kit was a Monogram IMSA Mustang. My first kit was a snap version of the USS Yorktown bought on the ship at Patriots Point in Charleston SC when I was seven or eight. Within a year or so I got my first car kit, Mark Martin's #6 Folgers Thunderbird. I think I used a whole tube of glue on it and once it was dry it didn't last long as I barrel rolled it down our hallway mimicking NASCAR crashes of the day. My dad gave me his old model stuff at this point and I built several more NASCAR kits along with some Lindberg tanks and the old Monogram A-10. I never really took a break though I've had periods where I couldn't really build due to living space.

[Deathgoblin]

I had over 200 Hot Wheels and Matchboxes at one point and always loved cars.  I think I was about 6-7 when I got my first kit, either the Snap-Tite '55 Chevy or the Snap-Together Police Van.  I don't have the HW or Matchboxes anymore, but I kept the love of models. 

[D. Battista]

Hello everyone...

Hotwheels started it in '68 ,,,,My interest in cars........I was 8 years old .... then I got into model cars at about 10 years old. I earned money mowing grass and shoveling snow  that I would spend on model cars and paint & glue..( plus Christmas and birthday presents). mostly on my own no one I knew built models....  My uncle owned a stock car and drove a Semi...so I would say that also sparked my interest in cars...and racing ...Hotwheels  Snake and Mongoose cars turned me on to drag racing. Been building model cars off and on since 

[dragcarz]

I too, was born a motor head. In 1964, I had an older cousin that built models and they were on display on his window sill. I thought they were so cool, I remember talking my mom into letting me get one and it taking me forever to decide what kit to get. I finally settled on AMTs 1964 Pontiac Bonneville. I was 7 years old and I have no idea of what ever happened to it. I mowed lawns, raked leaves and shoveled snow to make model money. I built models until I was 17, real cars took over then. I gave all, but one of my models to to the kid upstairs. Fast forward to 1982 or so when Monogram brought out Bob Gliddens T Bird Pro Stock  and the Reher and Morrison Camaro kits and I was hooked again. I've been buying and building ever since.

[Art Anderson]

My very first model was a Strombecker solid wood Aeronca Champion that an Aunt & Uncle (who owned a neat small town general store (building was constructed in 1867, but that's another story).  My big brother (8 yrs older than my then 7yrs) took me to a hobby shop, where we got the wood glue,some fine sandpaper, an Xacto knife (which I still have, along with all my fingers!), and AeroGloss Dope--chose red, because the label said "Aeronca Red" (!).  I sat at our kitchen table on a Saturday, literally all day (clearing everything away for lunch and supper), on a mission--I was gonna build it myself--NO input from my brother, nor from Dad who had no clue as to what to do with a model kit of any sort.  It came out pretty nice, as I remember, had a lot of fun taking it to school the following Monday, for 2nd Grade show & tell.

My plastic model car hobby began in the summer of 1952, when I'd been down for weeks getting over rheumatic fever with a heart murmer, and was beginning to understand that my confinement to home and bed would go well into my 3rd grade year.  Sensing my disappointment and frustration with all of that, Dad stopped at Kresge's on his way home from the office one Saturday in late August, and came home with two Highway Pioneers kits, and a set of model paint colors. The next day, Sunday, while Mom and my two sisters were at church, Dad got those kits out, and we built both of them that morning, and into the afternoon, on a bed tray table.  I still have them!

 

Art

[unclescott58]

Interesting that you brought up the Aeronca Champion Art. My dad use to own a real one. So I kind of have a soft spot for the Champ.

 

[slusher]

My very first model was a Strombecker solid wood Aeronca Champion that an Aunt & Uncle (who owned a neat small town general store (building was constructed in 1867, but that's another story).  My big brother (8 yrs older than my then 7yrs) took me to a hobby shop, where we got the wood glue,some fine sandpaper, an Xacto knife (which I still have, along with all my fingers!), and AeroGloss Dope--chose red, because the label said "Aeronca Red" (!).  I sat at our kitchen table on a Saturday, literally all day (clearing everything away for lunch and supper), on a mission--I was gonna build it myself--NO input from my brother, nor from Dad who had no clue as to what to do with a model kit of any sort.  It came out pretty nice, as I remember, had a lot of fun taking it to school the following Monday, for 2nd Grade show & tell.

My plastic model car hobby began in the summer of 1952, when I'd been down for weeks getting over rheumatic fever with a heart murmer, and was beginning to understand that my confinement to home and bed would go well into my 3rd grade year.  Sensing my disappointment and frustration with all of that, Dad stopped at Kresge's on his way home from the office one Saturday in late August, and came home with two Highway Pioneers kits, and a set of model paint colors. The next day, Sunday, while Mom and my two sisters were at church, Dad got those kits out, and we built both of them that morning, and into the afternoon, on a bed tray table.  I still have them!

 

Art

Man, that's real neat you still have those models Art....

[1930fordpickup]

My Uncles and brothers were builders and Dad (who was a train guy) could get kits cheap at the Ford Plant as someone had family that worked at AMT. So they had a bunch of cars they built sometimes the same car over and over. Well when it was my turn to start building I was helped out by my big brother, he still tries to boss me around. LOL 

[Harry P.]

Man, that's real neat you still have those models Art....

Yes, amazing that you still have them after all these years. None of my childhood models survive to this day.

[Mr Stock]

I think we all have similar stories, I was a vehicle nut from a very early age and apparently could name most of the cars on the UK roads by the time I was 3 (1980), fast forward a couple of years , probably 83, I was living with my Grandparents in a small village that had a small post office/shop, in there they had these little model kits, I think they were made by Grisoni they were around 1/43 ish scale very basic and they were european cars, I loved those little kits and had several of them.

When I came back home after living with my Grandparents I got massively into Lego and that took me pretty much up until around 1988 when I was 11 years old.

Then on one trip into town for some reason the model kit section of my local toy shop looked really interesting and I was drawn to a Revell 54 Chevy Panel van, I remember taking the kit home with a bunch of Humbrol paints and glue .........and ruining it !, I made a right mess of that thing, but I kept on building through my teens up until I was about 17, stopped for the usual, real cars, girls and beer, and picked it up again in about 2003 when I was 26 and I havent stopped since, I absolutely love the hobby, even have my own Youtube channel on my models now.

Edited September 19, 2016 by Mr Stock

[Tom Geiger]

I think we all have similar stories, I was a vehicle nut from a very early age and apparently could name most of the cars on the UK roads by the time I was 3 (1980), fast forward a couple of years , probably 83, I was living with my Grandparents in a small village that had a small post office/shop, in there they had these little model kits, I think they were made by Grisoni they were around 1/43 ish scale very basic and they were european cars, I loved those little kits and had several of them.

When I was living in Germany, the American kits cost too much so I was drawn to the Airfix cars, sometimes bag kits and sometimes in boxes. These were 1/32 scale kits with the detail level and parts counts that rivaled the best American kits at the time.  And they were cheap!   I still have some of my originals, Ford Model T,  Capri and Mercedes SL.  

 

[iamsuperdan]

My dad has always built models. Boats and planes mainly. I think I've only ever seen him build two car models, which I now have in my display case. My first kit was a snap kit of Kojak's Buick. Pretty sure it was a Lindberg kit. My parents brought it me when I was my 5 or 6 and in the hospital for something. Thought it was cool, although now I think back and ponder over why they chose a four door Buick for a kid's first kit! i'll have to ask them that.

I didn't really get into it until I was in grad 3, so around 9 years old. Again, parents got me a kit of some kind for my birthday, and that was it.

Built a ton until around junior high, and that's when music really took over my indoor hobbies. Did n't build again until university, and then I don't think I finished anything. Girls, camping, marriage, music...all got in the way of building.

Wasn't until after I got married and we moved into our house that I got back into it. Wanted something to do in the evenings that wasn't a tv, so got back in to it. Many years later, here I am.

 

 

[mrindy77]

My dad built model cars in his youth and continued to build as an adult. I think it was 1973 or 74 when we he purchased this MPC 1/72 Wildcat kit for me. He helped me build it during the Super Bowl of that year. From then on I was hooked. I started building WWII airplanes in 1/72...then 1/48...I think I built every Monogram airplane there was. Then I started building military...we stopped one year at Squadron Hobby in Illinois on a family vacation...wow...I never knew there were so many models. While displaying my dioramas in a local mall/show I was introduced to the Model Car Club of Minnesota...from then on it was cars...I always have had an affinity for cars as my dad took me to car shows but I had never seen the detail that these guys were doing. From early 1984 it has been model cars. I've never taken a break from modeling...in fact it became a full time job for 2 years. This was the first kit...

Edited September 19, 2016 by mrindy77

[Mr Stock]

When I was living in Germany, the American kits cost too much so I was drawn to the Airfix cars, sometimes bag kits and sometimes in boxes. These were 1/32 scale kits with the detail level and parts counts that rivaled the best American kits at the time.  And they were cheap!   I still have some of my originals, Ford Model T,  Capri and Mercedes SL.  

 

Funny you should mention those Airfix 1/32 kits Tom, I'm building the Airfix mk1 Ford Escort at the moment, they are exceptionally well detailed little kits. 

[vintagercr]

My father built a '65 Mustang convertible and brush paint the body.  He never built another model, but I was hooked watching him.  I was 9 year old.  That was 52 years ago.

[Phil Scar]

First time I started modeling was about age 12.  As I aged, my little brothers started as well.  I was a car nut.  About the time I finally got my first real car, I gave up modeling for driving and girls.

Part two...  I started making a F&F diorama late last year, when I was laid up.  What fun!  What fun to visit this site to get some inspiration.  Bought a couple models just to use the parts on my creation (see my efforts in diorama forum).  Am now working on an AMT/Ertl blueprinter double kit.  The rail drag and the fiat .

[Dragline]

On or around 1970 my parents owned a "paraphernalia" or head shop in my hometown. There was a hobby shop about 3 doors down and one day dad took me into that sacred place. I ended up picking the Bug Bomb by Dave Deal.

My dad helped me build it on the kitchen table, and that began a lifetime of plastic pursuit.

[mchook]

When I was a kid my mother & father always went to auctions to buy junk. For mom anything she thought she could resell & make a few bucks on was what she'd buy. My father had a small junkyard of about 100 cars & trucks but they were all antiques, nothing new & in the 70s that made everything pretty old. At one of those auctions my mother bought some old model kits and loving old cars it was a great match. We would go all over to car shows every weekend to sell moms junk & dads car parts. One of the flyers for the next show we were going to had a model contest so I built what I had, old auction junk. Didn't win but it was fun. I learned to buy & sell my own stuff at the shows to make money enough to get some store bought models and supplies. I always had fun doing it & even won a few contests. Now many years later I still love it & my daughter is wanting to learn about building too. Gotta keep the hobby alive!