I built my first model kit in _________, and it was a ____________.

[Wickersham Humble]

I built my first model kit in 1953 (yep, 'fifty-three) and it was an Aurora 'Famous Fighters' Curtis P-40 Warhawk.  That's when I met Duco Cement, much to the despair of a lot of styrene!  Followed quickly by the Spitfire, Me.109 and Zero kits from that source.  I imagine I specialized in glue-fingerprints on clear canopy plastic!  I built kits from ITC, Palmer, Hawk, Revell, Renwal, and other sources, and slowly improved.  Testors and Pactra paints, and one set of Aurora colors which brushed nicely.  

But, I left all that for car kits when I got my first 3-in-1 promo-based 1/25 scale auto in 1958.  Actually, I'd struggled with two Revell kits, the '56 Ford and Buick, but the curse they carried was the multi-piece bodies; the AMT/SMP kits avoided that hurdle; it was harder to mess them up!  First AMT kits were '59 Ford ragtop (which my bro still has; artfully 'kustomized' and a '60 Edsel ditto, which I had so much fun modifying that it basically 'died under the knife'.  I was saving for a 1/1 car, but kits (at $1.39) kept eating into my bank account.  In 1961, I discovered Auto World, and ordered batch of 1960 kits because they were reasonable and I could get hard-top bodies, which the local 'five & dime' stores never carried: '60 Chevy, Ford, Pontiac, and T-Bird.  The Poncho is the only one that survived, as I got Dave Shuklis' instructions for converting the Birdy into a Ranchero, which I botched sawing the deck away with a hack-saw blade!  I still have the dasboard, front and rear bumpers, etc., if anyone needs them desperately.  

Our '88-Cent Store' always sold JoHan 'curbside' kits for their advertised price, mostly MoPars, of which I still have three, OC with opening hoods and engines, now.  Also, Revell ut out a lot of MoPars in '62, which I bought and gave to my younger sibs as Xmas presents -- I'm soooo generous: offering to do the builds for free; my sisters probably loved that!  Two of those I still retain, rebuilt with better engines, the box mills being 'way to small for B-blocks!  I tried to build the Revell '56 F100 truck, but the body warping feature of that era almost won the match; still have it, in parts.  Lots more Pontiacs, because I really like them.  Vettes too.

Of course, I bought the Monogram 1/24 race-car kits, which were really fun; I took the 'Sizzler' kit apart so many times it finally succumbed, but still have components!  And all the 'hot rod' and dragster kits from AMT: Double-Dragster, etc, plus all the old Ford numbers: '27 T, Deuce coupe and roadster, '36 coupe, all the '40 permutations (some still in-progress!) and more.  I thought I was brilliant when I experimented with not painting the '32 Coupe, built as a full-fendered hemi-rod, and used a liquid shoe-polish that I had (for my black penny-loafers, de riguer wear for young bucks in the pre-hippie 'sixties (check out Wally Cleaver and Bud Anderson on TV) which is still holding up!

What was your first build?  And which one is more ancient than my McCarthy/Korean War-era attempt?

I'll post a pic of our Cub Scout Den with a diorama of oil exploration that was supplied by Standard Oil about 1955 soon as I find it.  Mom was the Den Mother, and we five nerds look very proud.  Wick Humble

[LDO]

1974…ish. 1/32 Vega funny car. Age 5. 
The first one I definitely remember is a Monogram Mig-15 from around 1976.  I remember it because I didn’t read the instructions and glued left and right upper wing halves together. I don’t remember if it got finished. 

[Bainford]

I built my first model in March 1971, about a month past my 5th birthday. I have been trying to identify the kit in my adult years, but haven't as of yet. It was a 1/32 scale 1960s T-Bird, molded in a robin's egg blue, and probably a snap-together. Perhaps the best identifier is the wheels. They were a smooth disc with a single raised line bisecting the wheel (or possibly two raised lines forming a cross on the wheel), and were probably un-plated. I believe this kit may have been part of a series, as some time later a friend showed me a model he built which was a different car molded in white, but had the same generic wheels.

If anyone has an idea of what kit this was, please let me know.

Though I was only five at the time, I remember the event well as it was an evening of discovery and revelation of the highest order. Like most (all) of us, I was a car nut from the word GO, and had lots of car toys. But even at that young age I had no interest in fantasy. Realism mattered a lot. That evening, as I was playing with my toy cars in the living room, Dad said, "I've got something to show you." He went into the kitchen and pulled down three boxes from a high cupboard and set them on the table, and I could tell right away from the images on the boxes that whatever was inside, it would be about the coolest thing I ever saw. And I was right, for this was the moment I was introduced to model car kits. They were built AMT kits; a green Chevy of some sort, a blue '65 or '66 Galaxie, and the '63 Corvette, painted red and on a trailer. I was stunned. The accuracy and realism in the molding and details was so much better than my toys, and I could readily identify them from cars I saw on the street. Dad took a tube of glue from one of the boxes, removed the wheel chocks for the trailer from their sprue, and glued them in place to secure the Vette and show me how it is done. I was sold. But the best was yet to come; he brought a fourth box down from the cupboard, the 1/32 scale T-Bird, and gave it to me to try my hand, and I was off and running.

So, it's all his fault. 

Edited May 12 by Bainford

[stitchdup]

spring 1988. i was an extra in a tv movie so had earned some cash and it was way more than my folks earned. convoy had recently been on tv so i spent half my wage on a american truck. probably by italeri and rubber duck shape. i now know it was a pete but i just saw the shape and to me it was rubber duck. post office red chassis, white primer interior and matt black paint all from humbrol. i still have a few parts but most is long gone

[Rbray47]

1986. New at the time, Monogram Dodge Daytona. 

[Little Timmy]

The year, ...1971.

I had been building snap together kits for about a year. ( don't remember exactly in what order but there was a green funnycar by Monogram, and I think a snap together Tijuana Taxi. )

But on my 5th birthday I received an AMT 56 Ford. I brush painted the car Royal Blue, but left the doors unpainted White.  I failed to remove the plastic sprue x that was in the door opening ( I thought it was part of the rollcage. ) and couldn't figure out why the doors wouldn't close, so I displayed the car with them open. I also had no idea that the air scoops were NOT supposed to be glued directly onto the hood.

I then took some binder re-enforcement rings and painted them Red, Yellow, Green and left a few white. I then glued them all over the car. When I was done the car looked like it had been involved in a bad accident with a "Froot Loops" truck.

I recently acquired  the exact same kit from the same re-release, so I have a chance of doing it right this time.

 

This car WILL be perfect this time !

Edited May 13 by Little Timmy
Added pictures .

[THarrison351]

I built my first model kit in 1970, and it was a Monogram Thunder Bug. I remember it being green. My mother has a picture of it in her home in one of he many albums. I'm wondering if the old molds might still be around and we might see it released from Atlantis one day.

[1972coronet]

MCMLXXIII , age 3. Monogram 1/32th scale funny cars ; the Duster and the Camaro. 

[Mothersworry]

Late 1965 or maybe early '66...IMC Ford GT. I wuz 7 years old in 66. My Dad gave me sum tips on assembly, glue useage and such and how to use an xacto knife but I did all the work myself and as I recall it didn't turn out half bad. 

Now my Dad explained to me that after you finish a model yer supposed to put it on a shelf and just look at it. Of course to my 7 year old brain this idea of looking and not touching wuz ridiculous...I built it, I'm gonna play with it. So my first build didn't last that long but it wuz fun.

[StanGlover]

I’m relatively a young timer here! My first model kit was the Revell Mustang Mach III Concept. I received it as a Christmas gift from my grandmother in 1998, at the age of 9. My 2-years-younger brother received the Sting Ray III that same Christmas. I remember us starting to build them together, but my brother immediately got bored and gave up. So I built his for him! I also remember my mother being pissed that she had to go out and buy us model glue since Grandma didn’t send any with the kit! (She notoriously never sent batteries with toys either lol). Both kits were definitely glue-bombed, parts-twisted-from-sprue, messes when I was done with them. I’ve since bought the same pair from eBay so I can do them justice!

 

[Rodent]

I don't remember? Dad did some paint by number and built some models when I was very young. This '49 Ford and a Monogram Duesenberg phaeton were on the mantle, there was an aircraft carrier, and a Big T was on the table in the entry hall. I may have built some simple planes or ships with Dad, but I don't remember.

In 1967 I had my tonsils removed. The folks wanted to entertain me as my throat healed, and I managed to squeak out that I wanted to build a model. Dad went off to the 5 and dime and returned with another '49 Ford and a '64 Galaxie Craftsman, molded in burgundy/maroon. The '49 was special because the first car my parents bought together was a Custom Club Coupe, hence the green one that Dad built. At the time of my surgery, there was a Dynasty Green '64 Galaxie 500 fastback 390 in the garage (not XL). Dad let me build the '64 Craftsman by myself with supervision (no paint), but we built the '49 together and painted it red.

I no longer have my '49 or '64, but Dad's '49 lives on in one of my Carney cases. I need to beg an antenna and a taillight from someone to fix it up.

The first 1/25th I bought with my own money and built by myself was a MPC '69 Mr. Norm Charger funny car. I no longer have that, but I keep looking on FleaPay. I don't want to pay $300 for one to relive my childhood. Another early one was the MPC '70 Coronet. I still have my AMT '68 Thunderbird awaiting restoration using some FleaPay parts.

[bobss396]

Mine was in 1961, the Monogram Black Widow. I got it for Xmas when I was 6.

I still get a flashback when I see those tires or the hub caps in someone's junk box at model shows.

When I was 7 or 8, we had a Xmas gift exchange at school. It was something used or for less than a $1. Format was grab bag, 1 for the girls, 1 for the boys.

I drew a Pyro 1/32 Jersey Bounce kit. I wasn't into the small scale thing. My brother's class did the same thing. He got a Hardy Boys book, so we made a trade. I have a big Hardy Boys book collection, that book was The House On The Cliff, printed in 1927.

[Daddyfink]

I think it was around '72 or '73, I was 5 and it was a Revell Snap Together Volkswagen Bug. Biggest memory of it was when I found it in a bush after the family dog chewed it up! 

[Mike 1017]

It was in the early 60's. I built a B-17 Bomber Kit with 3 individual B17's and it had three stands included.

Does anyone else remember this kit?

Mike

[DJMar]

I believe it was a JoHan 1963 Olds Starfire, when I was 8 or 9.

I remember following that up with a handful of their '68 Fury "Police Pursuit Vehicle" kits, because I had to build one from each department. I think I still have some bits and pieces from those kits in the parts box.

[Jon Haigwood]

Mine was the Revell Roth Outlaw in 1963. It turned out so bad I am surprised I didn't give up on the hobby right then and there. I have a few of the Outlaw kits in my stash by haven't brought myself to build one LOL 

[Wickersham Humble]

The 1/24 Mono kits were great; i didn't have the Black Widow, because it seemed to similar to the Green Hornet kit, but had Sizler, Model A Phaeton, and several other -- not Long John or Slingshot, the latter I bought at the IPMS Dragonlady show last year, and built finally.  The Mono instruction sheets were good, one exploded drawing and the rest photos.  Those big tires were great, mostly natural rubber, right?  My Strombecker Scarab is 1/24, and had similar meats; now lost.  I have one from the Comet Panther kit, with slot rim --why only one who knows?  

I tried the Outlaw, along with the Orange Crate, and while Revell got the fine detail very nicely, they were so fiddley and fragile -- and I was always in too much of a hurry!  Wish we'd had CA glue with accelerator back then!  Though, I suppose I would have gone to school with multiple fingers glued tightly together!  Wick

Have some Bandit and Ala Kart bits left, if anyone needs them; not the little Dodge hemi, tho!

[Falcon Ranchero]

I built my first model kit in 2015 or 2016, and it was Revell's snap-tite '57 Bel Air. But if we're talkin' not snap-tite, then I built my first model in 2021, and it was Revell's 1941 Chevy truck. Just re-did the Bel Air this past January, but the Truck I'm going to keep as it is, even though it's not the greatest.

[bobss396]

20 hours ago, Jon Haigwood said:

Mine was the Revell Roth Outlaw in 1963. It turned out so bad I am surprised I didn't give up on the hobby right then and there. I have a few of the Outlaw kits in my stash by haven't brought myself to build one LOL 

Those were tough to build. I grew up with one kid who could build any Revell un-buildable and make them look good.

[my66s55]

I built my first model in 1951. It was a Guillows Biplane. In 1952, I built 6 Highway Pioneer Pioneers cars. They were the original ones before Revelle bought them.

[Rob Hall]

I built my first snap kit at age 5 in 1975, my first glue kit in 1977 at age 7..it was the Revell 'Bad Dream' '56 Chevy.   Still have it. 

[1972coronet]

1 minute ago, Rob Hall said:

Revell 'Bad Dream' '56 Chevy.   Still have it. 

Is that the pink one or the green one ? 

I remember watching some homeboy build the pink one at a park in Downey (California) back in '80. I wanted to do the same thing, but my aunt wouldn't go for that (haha). 

[Rob Hall]

7 minutes ago, 1972coronet said:

Is that the pink one or the green one ? 

I remember watching some homeboy build the pink one at a park in Downey (California) back in '80. I wanted to do the same thing, but my aunt wouldn't go for that (haha). 

Green.  

[Ace-Garageguy]

First plastic car I can remember, in the late 1950s. It was a disaster, as I tried to hide my poor gloo-smeared assembly job with even worse enamel brush painting. I knew at the time it looked horrible, but try as I might, it just got worse and worse.

It was so awful and frustrating, looking back I'm kinda surprised I stayed in the hobby.

Possibly an early indicator of being a glutton for punishment.  

Edited Thursday at 10:37 AM by Ace-Garageguy

[Tim W. SoCal]

1967 or '68, when I was 9 or 10 years old, AMT '66 Mustang Fastback brush painted metallic red with chrome silver stripes, no masking of any kind used. It looked terrible but got me started on a life-long adventure.

Edited Thursday at 08:51 PM by Tim W. SoCal