How far should I go?

[mnwildpunk]

the other day I picked up a snap tight kit for my girlfriend's son I got the Revell 70 chevelle. Her son beau (age 7)is a great kid and a car/truck junkie he build lego kits all the time and is really good. His imagination is amazing. I want to show him that what is in the box and instructions isn't the only way you can build it. Now obviously I won't show him kit bashing but little things that make a difference. I am not familiar with the kit in fact I've never built a snap tight kit before. How basic are these kits and how much detailingshould I try and show him for his first kit?

[Joe Handley]

Never bought one of those, but the other 1/25 Revell snappers I've bought were really nicely done for snap togethers!

You can do quite a bit with them, they're very promo like, but with interiors that are far supirior to the traditional promo interior. Here's a few I had been playing with.

Edited July 16, 2012 by Joe Handley

[southpier]

don't overwhelm him. save the tricks for the next one and the one after that. and let him discover things on his own.

[sports850]

I agree , first one nice , quick and easy so the bug bites , then you can go further with the next

[slusher]

Let him build the first one on his own and then just let him look a a model mag and see what happens. SAE had a section on making snaps better kits in june...Slusher

[george 53]

The Chevelle is a NICE kit! Just show him the basics of clean oob build. IF you try to show him how to build at YOUR level, he MAY become discouraged, caz it takes time to learn alot of the tricks. Keep him interested in building though,show him how to swap wheels an tires to personalize it as HIS model. Stay with it, and help him out, caz us OLDER farts are slowly leavein, and we NEED new blood to carry our hobby on.

[mikemodeler]

I would have him build it straight out of the box first time out. If he takes to it, then pick up a couple more and show him how the wheels from one kit fit on another, get some aftermarket decals and try them and when he is ready, get a simple glue kit.

Keep him interested so the hobby survives!

[sjordan2]

I will only add that my introduction to modeling and my love for it began at about age 7 by building Highway Pioneers kits with my Dad alongside me. He wasn't a modeler, but he helped me figure things out and prevented frustration with his presence and adult perspective. He wasn't always there looking over my shoulder, and he only performed the tasks I asked for help with, and that worked for me.

I remember those days and it still gives me a very nice feeling of a great time with my Father.

Edited July 16, 2012 by sjordan2

[VW Dave]

Help him build it out-of-box, and save detailing for later....like others have said, keep it simple to avoid scaring him off from the hobby. I was about 7 when I built my first model, and keeping it simple was good for me then.

[gtx6970]

The more we coach the younger generation the better off the modeling hobby will be, DO IT

My daughter built this as her 1st. Other than the decals nothing extra has been done.

I did help with the decals and some of the tight fitting pieces of the kit,,,, but for the most part it was all her.

PS, this is a Polar Lights pre-painted snap kit in pearl white

Edited July 17, 2012 by gtx6970

[sjordan2]

The more we coach the younger generation the better off the modeling hobby will be, DO IT

My daughter built this as her 1st. Other than the decals nothing extra has been done.

I did help with the decals and some of the tight fitting pieces of the kit,,,, but for the most part it was all her.

PS, this is a Polar Lights pre-painted snap kit in pearl white

Looks great and I'm sure it gives her a sense of pride that will inspire her to keep going.

Over the years, I found that getting into different modeling subjects kept up my interest in the hobby and helped me get better with different techniques, which made me better at my first love, model cars. I built stagecoaches, Roman chariots, airplanes, tanks, even a fuzzy squirrel kit, etc., and the whole deal was extremely rewarding.

Edited July 17, 2012 by sjordan2