What Model Is Your Sentimental Favorite And Why?

[93Z34]

Most of us here have built models a majority of our lives. During that tenure, surely there has been one or two that stand out in your collection. The ones that, when you look at them, they bring back memories the others don't. Models that hold a special place in your heart. Maybe they aren't the most detailed cars or trucks in the world and maybe the paint has more orange peel than a Sunkist orange, but nonetheless, when you look at that model, you are brought back to a different time and place.

What model in your collection holds such a special place and why?

For me, it's the Monogram '71 Hemi Cuda that I started back in 1990. I started the kit in June of that year in Little Rock, Arkansas. In August of that year I found myself in a foreign land full of sand and oil. I spent over a year in Saudi and when I came back it was a long time before I got back into serious building again. I pulled this kit off the shelf countless times over the years and puttered with it. I worked on that car in Arkansas, the United Kingdom, Florida, New York, and a few other places as well. When I see this car, I am brought back to specific times from those places that bring a smile to my face and stir fond memories.

Thanks to Dave Carnevale and his genorosity, I finished this kit today and as I look at it now sitting on my shelf, there is no other model in my collection that holds the place that this 'Cuda does. For me, this car holds alot of history that no other model could possibly possess. I have alot of models in my collection with better paint, more detailed engines and so forth, but this car and it's memories more than make up for what it lacks in super detailing.

So, what car in your collection holds that special place in your heart and collection and why?

[Mike]

I guess I don't have a specific model, but there are a few that have some sentimental value to me. I'm not a Mopar guy, but my '69 Daytona Charger is the benchmark build in my collection where everything just came together for the whole build. I've got a few that I've built that are Christmas & birthday presents from my wife & kids. A couple of which I still have to build. My wife has a way of picking things "outside of the box" for me and helps my skills move forward or challenge me in a new way.

[RyanSilva]

Being only 24..My child hood is the late 80's early -mid 90's. The one kit that stands out is a richard petty grand prix from AMT (the early 90's one) It never got completed..because I was little and my dad didnt have much time to complete it for me, but I do remember him purchasing the richard petty blue from testors..and laying some nice paint down (hes a perfectionist) But me being little, I would take it apart.. I feel bad now, But I purchased another one, and will finish it in super detail some day in the future!

[LDO]

A Jo-Han '34 Mercedes coupe and Monogram Duesenberg Town Car. I finished these two while deployed to Afghanistan. The mission was so mind-numbingly boring and just effed-up...well...I don't know how to put it in perspective for anyone who hasn't been in that situation. Having a model car to work on may have literally kept me from losing my mind.

[RodBurNeR]

Boy....I don't know? One of my favorite kits because of the box art was the AMT 1967 Ford FairlaneGT. I bought a vintage build up, with box and got repro decals when I was running Gooche decals' site and I built it.....more like restored it and built like the box art. I don't know why I liked it so much, I was not born until '74 so it's not from my childhood. I have always liked older stuff anyways. The Fairlane doesn't have the exact shade of blue on the body and it's not foiled....I just wanted to see it built and didn't take time to foil it or black wash either.

I have other kits that mean a lot to me, most all are FORDS haha!

[Jantrix]

Great topic. For me it's the AMT 1925 Model T double kit. Back in the mid eighties my grandfater gifted me with this kit when I was 14 or so. He'd had it since 1960 or so tucked away for "someday". And being 14, I kit bashed it, created monster machines and had them apart and changed a dozen times. I'm sure they ended up in a landfill somewhere.

But now as an adult and knowing how rare that kit was, I feel bad for what I did to it. A few years ago Grandad passed on and left me a nice little sum which we plopped down on our first home. As a was of saying thanks I purchased an incomplete 25T double kit on Ebay and built a rod up in a way I though Grandad would have liked.

I'm very happy that this kit will finally see store shelves again. I'm going to buy an extra one to stick in the closet for "someday" and give it to my my grandson (if I have one) so he can kit bash the heck out of it too.

[Custom Hearse]

I'd have to say (no surprise here), Jo-Hans Heavenly Hearse is my favorite kit.... I had graduated high school when this kit came out, and I bought somewhere between 25 to 50 of those kits, and made something different out of each one.

My first serious kitbashed custom that I ever built was was Monograms Fire Iron, back when I was 16. I cut off the front frame of the truck, mounted a top fuel dragster frame to it, mounted two 426 Hemi engines, and the fuelers front suspension to it. That model helped me get my first job, working in a hobby shop.

The last kit that comes to mind, is the first contest winner I ever built. I took two "A-Team" vans, cut one in front of the rear wheel wells, the other one behind the rear wheel wells, and made a six wheel van out of it. I painted it (by hand) with red flames on the front, white flames in the center, and blue on the rest of the body. I entered it into a contest in Iola Ks., and won a first place blue ribbon....

Hmmm.... Anybody have a couple of "A-Team vans they want to sell....?

[jeffb]

i have two. the first is the "quicksilver" impala. i built military models from about age 8 til i was 14. the impala was my first sirious car model. i still have it, and soon im gonna restore it and build another with my skills now. should make a cool display. the othr is a 41 plymouth prostock i built while my wife was carrying our son, (hes 21 now) i had it in a hobby shop display case with several other cars, which were all stolen. the only one they didnt get was the plymouth.

[Eshaver]

Dang it Brian, you would make me think now this early in the morning too. Uh, I well, I guess it's my 1961 Ranchero I built back in 1961. It's the only kit to have survived the flood resulting from Hurricane Agnes here in 1973. I lost my entire collection as well as all my belongings in that flood. Then too, Jarius posted a picture of a RARE A M T Ford Levacar last night that belonged to Bob Paeth. I wrote to him as I had that model too , well from the day............ brought back some memories too! Thanks again Jarius !

Ed Shaver

[Peter Lombardo]

Boy, it would be far easier to list the cars that were not important to me. They all are an expression of my time, effort and passion. But if I must, a few stand out a little more in my mind.

Around 1962 or 63 I entered, a now long gone, but still alive in my mind, AMT 1949 Mercury coupe in a local regional Pactra (I think) contest. It had my first attempt at opening doors ( they looked pretty good for a kids effort) and used a hinge set I ordered from Auto World. The car won an award for best paint so I was pretty happy.

Then after many years away from modeling, in 1979 I built a few of the 1/12 scale Tamiya F1 cars, which, unfortunately are no longer on this planet, but back then I was huge Nikki Lauda fan. I built the Ferrari 312T which just blew me away. I just loved that car. I remember that the profile of the air intake snorkel was not right and I sent a fair amount of time fixing it to get the shape right. One of these days I will get that kit again.

More recently I really liked my 1999 Ford Lightning pick up with a nice custom body and the motorized retractable top, doors, hood and lights. I just love the look of my 1958 Impala with the Chezoom style roof and the remote controlled operating sunroof, my cut-away Corvette race car and of course my 1936 Auburn “Cybele†Special with the Greyhounds running alongside which is most likely my most important (personally) build since I designed the car, created the story to justify it, modeled the dogs as a tribute to Jay, my daughters late greyhound. Yeah, that is my all time favorite car on so many levels.

My only complaint is that there is just not enough time to build all of the kits I currently I have and will buy in the future. So many cars, so little time. I think I need to dump my day job and work on cars and paint more.

[Clay]

I actually have 3 that are sentimental to me.

1. 1963 Studebaker Avanti Salt Licker.

Built as a gift from fellow board member Raul Perez.

2. 1953 Studebaker Starliner Salt Licker.

Built by another board member Curt Raitz (wasnt originally built as a gift that I know of, just appeared on my doorstep a few days before Christmas)

3. 1969 Yenko Camaro

My first detailed build. Wouldnt have been able to do it without the help of all of you, especially Raul, Thanks.

[MrObsessive]

The '58 Impala pictured below in my signature is probably one of my favorites, because it was a first in a couple of ways. I hadn't before been able to build working windows in scale. Another first was detailing a interior with homemade decals as the multicolor seat patterns are.

I was very impressed by the October 1986 SAE article written by Ken Hamilton on roll up windows. I knew someday I'd have to try that feature but at the time my skills were just not up to par. I did try them when I was building my '55 T-Bird in 1999............but they just weren't right so I let that go for the time being.

I ran into Ken Hamilton at the 2000 Mid Atlantic NNL and talked with him for quite a while about working windows. He drew a diagram for me right then and there, and I kept it as I knew that I'd try it on my next factory stock build.

At the time I was building my '69 Daytona and was quite along with it and didn't want to slow the build down.

By the beginning of 2001 I started building the Impala and still had Ken's drawing............that was a big help as the car being a convertible had hardtop glass and Ken gave me a tip for keeping the frameless glass in place in the regulator. I was able to finish the model-----(sans the bumpers and wheels) working windows and all, and showed it off to the guys at the CPMCC meeting which was at Craig Turners home that particular Saturday.

How do I remember all of this? Well the date was September 8th, 2001..............we all know what happened 3 days later.

BTW, nearly 8 years later------everything still works! Working windows and all!

[Guest promodmerc]

AMT '60 (I think) Corvette. I bought it for my cousin for Christmas in the mid 70's. we sat at a card table & put it together. In the 90's she moved to Colorado and left the kits she built at my grandmas house.

I was able to get them back when my grandma moved 10 years ago. I'm so glad I did. My cousin died a few years ago. She literally drank herself to death

I was fortunate enough to find and original issue of the same kit shortly after her death that some day I plan on building.

[93Z34]

Dang it Brian, you would make me think now this early in the morning too. Uh, I well, I guess it's my 1961 Ranchero I built back in 1961. It's the only kit to have survived the flood resulting from Hurricane Agnes here in 1973. I lost my entire collection as well as all my belongings in that flood. Then too, Jarius posted a picture of a RARE A M T Ford Levacar last night that belonged to Bob Paeth. I wrote to him as I had that model too , well from the day............ brought back some memories too! Thanks again Jarius !

Ed Shaver

Actually Ed, it is your fault that I'm making you think this early in the morning. It's been our conversations that have gotten my mind thinking and posing such questions. I want to thank you for your insightful thoughts and input regarding the hobby. It has helped keep me focused on the important parts of this hobby and not things that can serve to distract us from the true goal of enjoying the hobby. You Sir, are indeed and asset to this hobby and all it stands for!

[whale392]

My Fox-Body Mustang kits (as I own 5 full-size Foxes), and my 65 Dodge Coronet kits (as I own 2 full size of them too).

[chris coller]

Mine would be my 69 Yenko Camaro. Ralley Green is the color( I think). This car went together so well, the paint laid well, no build issues with the exception of me painting the interrior white. I know wrong color it is supposed to be black. The clear laid so smooth I didnt even have to polish it out.

As far as competition is concerned this particular car has been nothing but to good to me. It has won various awards and has been in SAE. Sorry for the other mag plug. But MCM is a bit tougher to be published by in my humble opinion. Which is a good thing if you ask me.

[Gray Smith]

not really sure of my favorite...one will probably be all the revell 32 fords even though i've never finished one. another one is the fujimi enthusiast 911's I remember helping(more like watching) a freind build one back when they came in testors boxes...I've built one myself and i've got about 5 more to build..lol

Hmm thats about it..

Gray

[fordsixty]

well, my sentimental favorite would actually be two. both are from my childhood days in the 70s:

the first would be Tom Daniel's "Ice T". i really liked the monogram kits by Tom ( loved the box art ) but the Ice T was different. when i finished it, ( did not paint it ) it just looked great from all angles. the plastic was a beautiful, shiny yellow, the chrome was perfect ( even the two tanks behind the front wheels ) and then there was the melting ice blocks in the back with the ice tongs. as a kid, i would stare at it and let my imagination run. i think it was the first car that was not destroyed, on purpose, by me or my brother.

my second would be the 1/16th Revellution. my brother actually got the model, i just helped him build it ( he was three years younger than me and really needed my help ). when we opened that box and saw those real rubber slicks, we had died and gone to heaven. we were going to build a model with "real" tires and rubber hoses. oh, it just could not get any better than that. the model turned out ok, but it was those slicks that did it.

anyway, thanks for the trip down memory lane.

[Tonioseven]

The Bel Air pictured below because it was built when my wife was pregnant with my first child and it was the first build I think I poured my heart and soul into...

[E St. Kruiser50]

Hey Brian, this is a great topic

I have two favorites really;

The first is my scratch-built four-door street rod " '41 Hollywood Graham", that you see in my avatar.

This was a build to challange myself to go where I had never been before in my modeling.

A hand made body. Four door's that opened and closed, along with the hood and trunk opening.

A full leather interior that was scratch-built, custom mixed paints, and two identical scratch-built chassis with over 800 pieces in each one.

It took me month's to collect all the parts. Eventually I used part's from nearly 45 kit's, and a variety of over 85 after-market set's of photoetch, turned aluminum part's and so on.

It took 8 pages to catalogue all the parts.

Two years to build, 2000 parts and 2000 hours of work over a two year period. Lot's of two's.

My second fav is my full blown lengthened, chopped, and sectioned '49 Merc custom, covered with three-tone candy over metalflake.

Here's some pic's of both favorites

Edited January 23, 2009 by Treehugger Dave

[oldcars]

It was a 1959 Mercury convertible that I built(put together) in 1958. I didn't know then that it was the start of a hobby that I would be in half a century later. Where have the years (and models) gone? Richard

[James Flowers]

I guess it would be my 79 Ford pickup. I scratch built the extended cab part on it and changed the gas tank lids too the square type and painted it with the same paint as the real one. Next would be when I found an 62 Fairlane model already painted the same color as my real one . That was my first car, it had a six cyl. with automatic in it. I had looked for years for a 62 and could not believe it was painted inside and out the same as my real one.

[Terry Sumner]

This would be mine! I must've built this Vicky a dozen times in the middle 60's in every configuration you could think of. I still love this kit and have 3 in my stash. Brings back a lot of memories. Others that I really liked when I was a kid were the 58 Chevy and the Double Dragster kits.

Terry Sumner

Hosted on Fotki

[Rich Cummings]

My sentimental favorite would be the kit that kind of started it all for me. It was an MPC 1953 Ford pickup that my Dad and I built when I was in Cub Scouts a long time ago. We built to go on top of a cake that was auction off to raise some money. For some reason, I never forgot that kit. It was the only one my Dad and I built together. Last year I managed to find two of them and built one for him and one for me. He was surprised to see it again. Mine will be done soon. Neither of these have any real detail to them because I wanted them to just be clean builds of the way we built it.

[novadose71]

Hey Dave...........

Edited January 25, 2009 by novadose71