Our Modelling Histories

[RexCag]

Cool story, Kari. And you already know how rare some modelers would find your wife.

You did say one thing that I think is very important.

If all the forums we belong to, whether it be one or twelve,,,,,,,,help each other to "keep the spark alive", then that alone is worth belonging to a forum. All the rest of the things a forum could do is just gravy from that point on,,,,,,,as long as we "keep that spark going" for each other.

[BorgR3mc0]

Wow - see I told you you guys would have more interesting stories than me! Great stuff and thanks for sharing them.

Duke I have to say your story in particular gives me some hope as my 4 year old is Autistic/Hyper active - maybe I'll get him into modelling yet (though getting him to talk first would be a bonus) - thanks for sharing it.

Same here on the hyper active part. Although definitely not autistic my teachers and some doctors tried to convince my parents that I was hyperactive and needed medication. We never went that route. I started modelling (aka watching what my grandfather build) at five. It really helped to learn how to focus on what you are doing. And the other things where clear rules, a lot of playing outdoors, LEGO and loving parents.
Since then this "hyperactive troublemaker who was going to have trouble with finishing school" has earned an LLM and an MBA degree so I think that turned out alright.

[Stuart]

Wow - see I told you you guys would have more interesting stories than me! Great stuff and thanks for sharing them.

Duke I have to say your story in particular gives me some hope as my 4 year old is Autistic/Hyper active - maybe I'll get him into modelling yet (though getting him to talk first would be a bonus) - thanks for sharing it.

Same here on the hyper active part. Although definitely not autistic my teachers and some doctors tried to convince my parents that I was hyperactive and needed medication. We never went that route. I started modelling (aka watching what my grandfather build) at five. It really helped to learn how to focus on what you are doing. And the other things where clear rules, a lot of playing outdoors, LEGO and loving parents.
Since then this "hyperactive troublemaker who was going to have trouble with finishing school" has earned an LLM and an MBA degree so I think that turned out alright.

I would say so!

Actually I'm not too worried about my son, I'm sure he'll turn out alright in the end - he'll either be an IT whizz or Evil overlord of the whole world - it's just getting him there that's going to be hard.

[mustang1989]

Good thread Stuart and good stories throughout.
Let's see.......my modeling history started out when I was about 10 years old with a Revell Mean Mudder Chevrolet van kit (which I have recently found and since it was only released one time for one year it's going for $150-200 bucks now. Nice kit though). There was not a whole lot to do there in the little town of Bowie, Tx as there was only a population of 5000. It's in the middle of nowhere and there's like really not a whole lot to do there unless you are a kid growing up in farm life (and that was called work). My dad had (and still has) an automotive exhaust repair shop right next to the house and it was the perfect place to bust out the spray cans and "go to town" on painting a model. I graduated to model aircraft of the WWII era as my interests in WWII aviation began to grow. It was the coolest thing back then to bring all these planes that I'd been reading about come to life in plastic. I had almost all the Monogram birds on my shelf in the early 80's like all the Allied Pacific warplanes, the highlighted Luftwaffe planes, a couple of the European Theatre Allied planes. There were a lot I remember that, and I had a blast doing it. I continued building throughout my high school years and dabbled in some 1/72 nd scale armor (which I was never much good at) and went back to automotive builds (which I didn't get really good at that either) and continued to enjoy that until, like stikpusher, I joined the military. There were a couple of times that I tried to take off again with the hobby while I was in the military but I was having too much fun with cars, partying and all that to make modeling much of a priority.
It wasn't until after I got married in 1996 that I wanted to pick the hobby up again. Finally in 1998 I built a Hasegawa Dauntless and then went back out again in favor of other priorities regarding work and family. I built a couple of cars in 2004 (a 1967 Mustang and a Buick GNX) and went back out again until I went to Iraq as a contractor in 2006. I built a 1/48 Hasegawa Bf 109G-10 because in my spare time there was nothing to do but that. I had plenty of paint and tools at this point with my own little desk to do all this stuff with.
It was at this point that life really started to take a dark turn for me as I had developed a drinking problem in the middle of a war zone. This was to plague me and my family for another 7 years. I returned home in 2007 as a total mess. My poor wife and son didn't know what they were to endure for the next 6 years which was as close to hell on earth as it gets for those of you who don't know what having a member of your family caught up in addiction is like. I continued to be interested in modeling throughout this bad period but wouldn't pursue it because of my drinking priorities then. Hell I couldn't have done it anyways at that point. On January 10th of 2012 I decided to pick up an x acto knife and start working on a 1/24 scale Trumpeter Bf109K-4 that I got for free. In March of that same year I found FSM which was a good thing because here were all these other modelers that were building awesome stuff. Along with the other modelers on that site there was this fella named Joe who was in recovery from alcoholism. We became friends and I talk to him every morning to this day. I struggled with addiction on and off for another 1-1/2 years until the summer of 2013 when I decided that enough was enough and I quit for good. Today , while modeling isn't the cure for my drinking habit, it gives me another avenue in which to channel my attention to something productive and positive. What you'll see in my builds is my drinking habit transformed into time that I can have something to show for. I love this hobby for far more than the outcome of each build, it has helped to give me a worthwhile outlet. When I show my builds I'm also showing a trophy of my sobriety. Today I am still married to the same lovely wife of 19 years, have a tightly bonded relationship with our 11 year old son and I couldn't ask for a better life than the one I have now.

Now......................I have to get that Mean Mudder kit.

[BorgR3mc0]

Wow, that is a heavy story Mustang! Good that can channel your energy into something positive like modeling.

My story is more light. My early modelling memories are building models "together" with my late grandfather. As in, he did the building, I watched. I was about 5 at the time. Together we build a 1/144 B-17, DC-9, F-15 and a 1/72 P-26. I still have the DC-9 and F-15, the B-17 and P-26 where sacrificed for WHIFF's. My grandad taught me the basics: check the parts, follow the instructions, test fit, use glue sparingly, etc.
My first model was a 1/144 F-14, to complement the F-15.
Aircraft where always my favorite but I also made scenery/houses for my Märklin railroad. My interest in aircraft was unwittingly ignited by my father. He is not much of a reader but he had some aircraft books. So I choose that as my subject of interest to connect with him.
From 6 to 16 years I build a lot of models but never painted them. For me collecting them was the most important thing. But I started to visite airshows and at one of those I purchased a book that changed my modelling: "how to go advanced modelling" by Chris Ellis. Altough already very dated at the time it changed my perspective: a model needs paint, filled seams and (most importantly) a basic kit can be improved upon!
So I started painting and after a few years (during my college days) I bought an AB and compressor.
Unlike many I never quitted or paused modelling: I modelled during highschool, university, varsity rowing, meeting a girl, starting to work, living together, full contact martial arts, studying ad working at the same time, starting a family, getting fired, finding a new job.


I just love modelling!

[BlackSheep214]

Well, my start began when I was about 5, 6, or 7 years old. I had asked my grandparents to buy me a dragster model kit at a department store called Stars back in the early 70's. I remember it was a dragster kit and it required paint and glue. Anyways, later that night, I asked my dad to help me build it. Needless to say it was impossible to do. For one thing, my dad has never done a model kit in his life. Secondly, I had snapped every single piece of part off the sprues - I probably destroyed quite a few delicate pieces in the process as well too. That kit went in the trash. The follow Sunday, (we visited my grandparents every Sunday back then) my grandfather took me to a Kmart and picked up a Snap kit dragster. he helped me by showing my easy way to remove parts from the sprues and how to build it by following the instruction guide. My grandfather also never built model kits as well but he repaired clocks on his spare time.
After one snap kit dragster, I got another and soon I was hooked. I moved onto the next cool kits to buy -Aurora Dinosaur snap kits. I had the T-Rex, Triceratops, Sabre Tooth Tiger, Cro-Magnon Man, Cro-Magnon Woman, Wooly Mammoth, Prehistoric swamp, Prehistoric Cave, Sailback dinosaur, Allosaurus (can't remember if there was one by Aurora), and Styracosaurus. I'm sure there were other but I can't remember them all.

One day, I decided to take the next step and try my hand on a real model kit.I started out building mainly car kits; particularly building a lot of Thom Daniels design kits like The Red Baron, Vandal, Bad Medicine, S'cool Bus and a whole others. I had the tube glue, Testors paint in square bottles, sprue cutters, and endless supply of turpentine because my grandfather always had some on hand for his own uses. it wasn't long before I started using paint in rattle cans - either Testors brand and/or whatever color my grandfather had on hand.

I was gaining so much experience building car kits, I was slamming them out on a weekly basis. I couldn't wait to buy another kit. It became an addiction. LOL! Soon, I took a liking on trying my hand on building WW2 aircraft, modern jets, armor, helicopters, ships, and an occasional sci-fi themed kit (Star Trek's Klingon ship, USS Enterprise, Bird of Prey, Buck Rogers space ship, the Millenium Falcon from Star Wars (that was a huge kit in 1/48 scale mind you), and lord knows what else.

Even my sister got into the act building kits and she continued to do so until Junior High.

When I was in my teens with a part-time job and had my drivers license, I discovered a new hobby shop downtown. It was there I discovered the motherload. I found other brand kits I never heard of - Hasegawa, Tamiya, Fujimi, Italieri, etc... My interests turned to modern jets - Navy jets that is. Why? Because I thought they had the coolest looking fleet of jets than the Air Force did. (Tomcats, Hornets, Tracker, Orions, Corsairs, Hawkeyes, Navy choppers, oh my....) I also discovered aftermarket decals too. I went crazy. I was like a kid in a candy store.

My interests slowed down in my early 20's. I started hanging out with friends, dating, and having fun. I also took on another hobby after I discovered a decent stash of my old baseball card collection from the late 70's - early 80's. Yep, I was a baseball card collector and attended shows every week - be it at the mall or a local VFW Hall. I started collecting sports cards seriously. By 1988, I was already in a serious relationship with someone who later became my wife.

It wasn't long before I started to realize the sports card hobby was getting expensive and the hobby itself was saturated. It wasn't fun anymore so I quit. My future wife and I started were seriously talking about the possibility of marriage. I got a full time job in 1990 with BOCES, I proposed to her in 1993, got married in 1994, bought our first house in 1998 and we both had our child in 2003. This past June, we celebrated 21 years of marriage.

Oh let's not forget about PC gaming. I was a hard core PC gamer at heart. I was playing flight sims, space sims and shooter games. I joined a Delta Force 2 online gaming squad called The Halfbreeds. I played almost nightly and eventually earned my tags. My call sign was IcemanTHB and The Halfbreeds became my second family. I also called myself the "lost black sheep" of the family due to my eventual inactivity in the games. (hence the screen name in the hobby forums BlackSheep214 was started) Sadly, the game and its server are no longer around, the squad soon faded away and moved onto other gaming venues. I soon drifted away too. My thoughts are still with them to this day and one day I will get back in touch with my squadmates. The Halfbreeds motto is "Once a Breed, Always a Breed."

One day out of the blue in 2013, for some unknown reason the passion, desire, and fire ignited from deep within my soul. I got to thinking about my first love of a hobby - building model kits. It was then I decided I needed something to fill my "me time" moments. My first kit upon returning after 20 plus years away was a 1/48 scale P-51 Mustang by Tamiya. I still have that kit in my den.

[Stikpusher]

Yup, Aurora made those dinosaur kits that you mentioned Blacksheep. There were a few others as well. They had interlocking bases to make a giant scene. Between my friend and I, we had the whole series I think...

[BlackSheep214]

I did forget to mention one thing about myself. I am hard-of-hearing in both ears and do wear a hearing aid in my left "good ear."

I almost forgot, I had the Aurora Prehistoric Giant Bird kit too. I remember that crazy metallic blue mold. I "think" I had the Neanderthal Man and the Wooly Rhino kit too.

I know you can still find the Aurora T-Rex kit - most likely a re-issue kit. I often wondered just how many of those kits were in the series though.

I did a few monster kits as well - King Kong, Godzilla, Ghidra, Frankenstein, Werewolf, Creature of the Black Lagoon, Hunchback of Notre Dame to name a few. I never forget the glow-in-the-dark pieces. There were a couple of big headed kits too. I do remember doing a King Kong one.

[BorgR3mc0]

Dinosaur kits are hard to get nowadays. Which is a pity because those are the types of subjecs (togethr with Cars and Planes) that I build with my son.

[Stikpusher]

Tamiya still has a line of 1/35 Dinosaur kits available. You can likely find them online.