Back in the game after nearly 20 years!

[OldSkool81]

Brace yourselves, this is gonna be a long post! My Dad (R.I.P.) started me on model kits at a pretty young age, at around 5 years old. Now, I can't remember which kit was THE first, but it was either the Monogram 1/32 Snap '55 Chevy ( I thrashed it), Monogram's Land Rover with the funky camo decals ( I thrashed it), AMT's Diamond in the Rough kit ( LOVED that kit, but also thrashed it, but found another one a few years back on ebay), or the AMT '53 Corvette custom that I also thrashed. My Dad built various kits at first; I remember an old-school steam locomotive with tinder wagon, a big scale Bentley Blower, Christie firetruck, and even a huge PT-109 boat with batteries and electric motor. Over time he came to focus pretty much on military planess, mostly WW2 fighters and bombers, but with the occasional sub, carrier and even the Titanic. On my end, this hooked me onto cars, big time, and made me what I am today. The way the blueprints give you an exploded view and parts names gave me a good overall understanding of cars at a young age making me prevalent in technical things. I studied a bit of mechanical engineering ( didn't complete), carpentry, worked a bit as a apprentice mechanic at a Toyota dealership and finally, auto body technician. Modelling being popular in my family, I was always sure to get at the minimum one model each birthday and Christmas, meaning that I always had a good stash that I could never get through. My last completed model dates back to like 2000 or 2001, when I was like 19 or 20, and was Tamiya's Opel Astra Team Holzer DTM racer. After that, well, I moved out on my own and work, school and just life got in the way. Then, a few years ago, I stumbled onto Doug's Right On Replicas and Chris' HPIguys channels which tought me new tricks and shown me how to get great results on the cheap. That lit the fire back and and gave me the passion again. Then came 2020, which finally gave me the excuse and mostly the time to get back into it. Funny how many of the kits in my stash that I thought were just "meh" back in the day are now long gone collectible or just forgotten! Here's a list of what I had, what I have, my stash and the status.

Built

Monogram 1/32 '55 Chevy snaptite -- Thrashed and lost over the years, Monogram Land Rover -- Thrashed and lost over the years, AMT Diamond in the Rough -- Thrashed, lost over the years but bought another one to be built, AMT '53 Corvette custom -- Thrashed, lost over the years, AMT 1932 Ford 2n1 -- Thrashed and lost over the years, Monogram '37 Ford Street Rod -- Thrashed and lost over the years, Revell F9F-8 Cougar fighter jet -- Thrashed and lost over the years, Tamiya Leopard 2 tank -- Thrashed and lost over the years, Monogram Rampage '69 Camaro -- Thrashed, still have for parts or custom, Monogram '70 Boss Mustang 429 -- Somewhat trashed, may customize, Monogram Demolisher Chevy monster truck -- Thashed, body, wheels and tires remaining, no plans for now, Revell Pro Street Lincoln -- Little bit thrashed, mostly complete, will restore, Monogram '80 Bronco (1992 issue) complete, on the shelf, not quite happy but will leave as is because of the period decals, Revell Anglia Street Rod -- Thrashed, few parts remaining, Ertl Perterbilt 359 Drag truck with metal frame and axles -- Somewhat thrashed but almost complete, may restore/kitbash, MPC '69 Charger 500 -- Thrashed, missing a few parts, may use for custom, Monogram '55 Chevy Street Machine -- Somewhat botched and few parts broken but rather complete; thinking to build a Blasphemi replica out of it, Revell 1960 Skip's Fiesta Corvette -- Thrashed, some parts remain, unsure if I still got the body, Revell Skip's Fiesta '57 Chevy Nomad, with opening doors and tailgate... Apparently I had 2 of those (I forgot lol) one has been glue bombed and lost, the second one thrashed, some parts missing but 3/4 there, may build a custom, Monogram '92 Firebird Formula -- Disassembled and stripped, awaiting restoration, AMT Back to the Future 2 DeLorean -- Somewhat thrashed, restorable but missing wheels and tires, AMT '68 RoadRunner -- In pieces, needs restoration, Revell VW Bug Street Machine (pink) -- Thrashed, Mostly body and chassis remains, so immediate plans, Monogram '57 Chevy Hardtop 2n1 -- Complete but needs quick repair, Monogram '66 Malibu SS Street Machine -- Disassembled, may be missing some parts, either restore or custom, Revell Gone Fishing Set -- Awaiting restoration, Monogram 3n1 '78 Camaro, built as the "Midnight Z" Street Machine -- Disassembled and awaiting restoration, Monogram '65 Vette Black Rat -- Disassembled, would like to restore since the body had been brush-painted, but don't want to lose the rat decal on the hood, so on hold for now, Monogram '40 Ford Pick-Up Street Rod -- Needs slight restoration, Monogram '93 Pontiac Trans Am -- Disassembled and stripped, awaiting restoration, Monogram 25th Anniversay Lamborghini -- Being used to restore the standard Monogram Coutach that I once built, Revell '41 Willys Pickup Dragster -- Currently being restored, Lindberg 1994 Ford Explorer --- Disassembled and slowly being restored, Lindberg 1994 GMC Sonoma High Rider -- Main project right now, being restored including tweaking the suspension for the proper factory stance, Monogram 1/12 '57 Chevy Sport Coupe 3n1 -- Awaiting repair/restoration, Revell 1/16 Swamp Monster Chevy pickup -- Awaiting repair/restoration, Lindberg Camaro Z/28 --Built & on the shelf, Monogram Supercharged '56 Chevy Street Machine -- Almost done, Revell Mazda Miata (1993 issue) -- Built & on the shelf, Lindberg 1995 Jeep Grand Cherokee -- Built & on the shelf, AMT Snake Bite Monster Truck -- Built & on the shelf, AMT Bigfoot Monster truck -- Built & on the shelf, overall really good except the body's paint is BLAH_BLAH_BLAH_BLAH; would like to repaint if I can find new decals, Revell Stage III 427 Corvette -- Built & on the shelf, Monogram Jeep CJ-7 (1993 issue) -- Built & on the shelf but needs slight repair, Revell '70 Plymouth AAR Cuda (1995 issue, the one that everybody seems to hate) -- Built & on the shelf, Monogram Camaro Z/28 Indy Pace Car (1993) -- Built & on the shelf, Monogram 1995 #3 GM/Goodwrench Monte Carlo Nascar -- Built & on the shelf, AMT 1970 Dodge Coronet Pro Street -- Built & on the shelf, Tamiya "Sport Bild/Team Holzer" Opel Astra DTM -- Built & on the shelf, Italeri M923 A1 "Bigfoot" army truck -- Built & on the shelf, need to glue the machine gun back on.

If you're wondering why I've got some many "thrashed" models, keep in mind that a lot of those were built at a young age and been glue/paint bombed, and as a kid (even as an adult) we used to move a lot, damaging most of them. Now for the stash!!!

AMT '66 Chevy Nova Street Machine -- Started, Monogram '95 Corvette Indy Pace car -- To Be Built (TBB), Revell  '69 Shelby GT-500 -- TBB, Revell Dodge Ram VTS Pickup -- TBB, AMT Chevy C1500 454 SS -- Started, Revell Pro Modeler '69 Charger R/T -- TBB, Revell Dick Landy's '68 Charger- TBB, AMT General Lee Charger 1/25 -- TBB, Revell/Monogram '87 Buick Grand National -- Started, Monogram '93 Camaro Z/28 Indy Pace Car (another one!) -- May sell, Revell/Monogram '97 Corvette Coupe -- TBB, Revell/Monogram '93 Mustang Cobra -- TBB, AMT Jaguar XJ220 -- Started, Revell/Monogram Dodge Viper GTS -- Started, AMT 1956 Ford Victoria Hardtop 3n1 -- Started, Revell 1971 Plymouth GTX -- Almost done, Monogram Lotus Esprit Sport 300 -- Started, AMT 1994 Dodge Stealth R/T Turbo --TBB, AMT 1969 Chevelle SS396 -- TBB, Monogram 1992 Mustang GT Convertible -- Started, Monogram Callaway Corvette Speedster (2X) -- Started one, may sell the other, AMT '70 Chevelle SS454 -- TBB, Monogram '96 Corvette Grand Sport -- TBB, Monogram '56 Chevy Nomad -- TBB, Monogram '65 Chevy Impala SS396 (2X) -- TBB and may sell the second one, AMT Diamond in the Rough kit (the second one that I found on ebay some years back) -- TO BE BUILT RIGHT THIS TIME!!! AMT Diamond Reo Semi Truck -- Halfway done, Revell Germany Ferrari F-50 Barchetta -- Started, stalled due to a missing headlight (the headlight itself, not the lens; PM me if one of you could 3D print one or something), Lindberg Curtiss P6E Biplane -- Almost done, Revell 1/72 MIG-31 Foxhound -- TBB, Monogram 1/48 A-10 Thunderbolt II -- Started, Heller Mirage 2000N Fighter Jet -- TBB, and finally, MPC 1/16 '79 Pontiac Trans-Am on order, TBB eventually.

I may put pics eventually, but keep in mind that I'm a certified car nut; I'm presently spending most of my free time on real cars, either fixing my old Ranger or rebuilding and restoring my 1988 Jeep Comanche. Between parts orders and bad weather I switch to models. But for pics of finished models, I need to do a thorough dusting otherwise it'll be pretty embarassing hahaha!!! Oh and by the way, I still have the 1991 Monogram, 1993 and 1997 Revell catalogs if someone needs me to dig up some info! So that's pretty much it; I'll try to post pics of the projects as they go, but like I said, it might not be daily nor weekly! Hope I didn't put you guys and gals to sleep, and looking forward to know you! ☺️?

[slusher]

Welcome aboard, Olivier!

[Tortuga Kustomz]

Welcome, this forum is amazing, learn a lot already my self

[Captain Spaulding]

Welcome to the forum.

[PappyD340]

Welcome to the forum Olivier!