Did you build models as a kid?

I have not built any plastic scale models since Jr. High. Most of the models i built was of military aircraft, but i still build radio controlled aircraft to this day.

 

I hooked the tail of my Andromeda on someones gutter on the very first launch (wind grabbed the chute & carried it way out of where we hoped it would land). Dad had the brilliant idea of using their hose to get it down. Ummm... it DID come down, but was soggy & useless after that

 

ships, planes and custom cars. i'd keep them for a while then dispose of them in a variety of ways. shot up with bb gun,i'd hang the planes from strings on the bedroom ceiling then lay on the floor and blast them. ships were placed on my brothers bed across the room then dispatched u boat style. blown up with M-80s, disintegration is always impressive. melted with lighter fluid, acrid black smoke and cool sound of dripping melting plastic. these were outdoor activties. ah, the joys of childhood.

 

I loved building models and I still do. Part of my skills are largely attributable to a cousin who would destroy all my models, and my mom was always amazed at how I got them back together, even with the additional glue and paint that I would use to restore them to their prior condition.

My basement workshop is loaded with plastic models and RC stuff. I probably have about 250 unbuilt or partially built models. I love them all, planes, cars, armor, model rockets. Lots of stuff to share with my boy when he gets older.

 

Back in the early 60's I started building AMT, SMP and Revell models. Later I built a few Tamaiya kits. But I have not built anything in many years. As you can imagine, I built mostly drag racing models.

I had a '68 Ford Torino that I had put working suspension on, cut the doors to open and close, detailed the engine and put a killer paint job on it (even if I have to say it myself). My cousin, who was in junior high at the time, took it without me knowing and entered it in a school shop class meet and took first place in the plastics division. His shop teacher entered it in the Texas school championship and it won..........My cousin came bringing the trophy to show to me with his name on it. I did get pi**ed at him but never told the school that he did not build the car. Maybe I should have.

I kept most of them in the little plastic boxes and they just gathered dust. I sold them in a garage sale many years ago. If I had them back now maybe I could sell them and get that real '62 vette I would like to have........this thread brings back a lot of good memories.

1. AMT Blue Max
2. AMT Camaro
3. AMT Cougar
4. SMP '57 Vette
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ahhh ... the black smoke of melting plastic, now that takes me back!

Anyone build a PeterBuilt? Lots of parts, but it looks good when you're done!

Reminds me of a time, when Ferrari 308's had CB's mounted in them and Convoy was the big hit song on the radio

cause we got a great big convoy
Rockin through the night.
Yeah, we got a great big convoy,
Aint she a beautiful sight?
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No, but i built a Kenworth that was from the TV show "Movin' On" (what a great show). I wish my photos were digital, I remember posing that model around my parents living room trying to make it look as big as possible.
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Heck yeah. Still do. That Calypso is great. I remember watching Jacques Cousteau with my dad as a kid. If you want to get rid of that one, let me know. I'd love to build it. Let me know if you want a Ferrari kit or two for it.

I remember having some of the Aurora kits mentioned here. I had one of King Kong, along with lots of dinosaurs. I had several Aurora jets with the "Jet Sssssssound" electric motor that needed to be put together. I never could get those to work. I got really frustrated with the motor not working so I figured maybe more power would make it work. I cut the cord off a box fan and spliced it to the tiny power leads on the motor. When I plugged it in, power to the whole house went out.

I'm not working on anything right now, but I really like pre-war classics, street rods, and of course Ferraris.

 

Hey... thank's for the flash back, I just remembered I have one of these that is 50% completed in the attic. The first one I built
in 1964 had a red body and wide white wall tires, I retired it with a ashcan and a can of airplane nitro. I hope my 9 year boy is not as crazy as I was.
Cheers, Don

 

I watched Cousteau's TV show and bought his set of books (they sent one every month) very nicely done. I like the Calypso because it comes with so many extras- 3 mini subs, shark cage, inflatable boats, divers, sharks.... tons of great detail. I'm keeping this one, but I'm sure you can still pick one up on eBay.

I think the Moon Bus was my most unusual model. It had a great interior made of some funky green glow in the dark material. I found a few photos on the web...
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I always wanted to build one of these 3-headed monsters... but never got around to the Godzilla series
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I built 1:25th car and trucks. I spent HOURS on them. AMT, MPC, IMC, JoHan, Tamiya. I still have boxes of them. Wife keeps saying to put them on eBay, but I can't bring myself to it.

I built the big rigs too. The Pete shown above and I have Autocar with lowboy trailer and a Cat dozer on it. Plus the Paystar 5000 dump truck.

 

Ah, memories... quite a bit of time and Grandma's birthday money went into these things... Monogram and MPC were usually pretty good. I hated Revell with a passion - who would make tires in two pieces that had to be glued together - what?!?! Tamiya was livin' "high dollar" but they were and still are great! Of those, I had a Testarossa, Countach, and Andretti's JPS F1 car. I also still have the Berger/Alesi F189 that was never built.

As a side note, back then I had a friend who was extremely talented. He entered some of his in a local contest - placed third, two of his tied for second, and he took first place! Sadly, he was killed in a car crash the summer after our senior year - we miss ya Mike!

 

What a great thread!
I built WWII bombers like B17s mostly, fighters like P-51 & “Flying Tiger" P-40. Also TWA commercial airships w/ the Boeing 707 being a fascination as my dad was flying it. Later I graduated to launching rockets at work...

 

Thanks, I'm having fun

I built the B17, I loved those "Tips On Building Dioramas" sheets that came with the Monogram models
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Tip sheet from Monogram .....

Porsche Diorama
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I just remembered: last summer I gave a guy a ride home from the race tarck and he invited me in to see a new head he picked up for his Miata. Well when we got down to his basement he had two entire walls 8 feet high 50 feet long covered with models still in the boxes. I remebered commenting on how many different Ferrari I saw just at first glance. You could spend days down there just looking at the box covers.

 

I would give anything to fly in a B-17! One just arrived in pieces at a local museum but I want to fly.

 

I built them constantly. I have the Panzer wagon & other military models. I really focused on the tractor trailer models. Peterbuilt, Kenworth, Mack, Freightliner, Ford. I still have most of them boxed up. I have a Pocher Fiat that I never started and some motorized submarine kits still in the boxes.

 

This might help you track down that ride I'm sure they must do this all across the country.

Seventy years after his days as a World War II gunner flying inside a tiny compartment under the belly of a bomber, Fred Slater again found himself in front of the fuselage of a B-17 Flying Fortress.

At the Wings of Freedom tour's stop in Clearwater four years ago, the bomber's 103-foot wingspan brought back a flood of memories too sad to share — but also a sense of duty. Slater is now one of thousands of volunteers nationwide who help run the tour, which has two upcoming stops in the Tampa Bay area.

"I feel it's my duty to show America what happened," said Slater, 86, of New Port Richey.

About 80,000 pounds of living history will touch down today at the Zephyrhills Municipal Airport when the Wings of Freedom tour brings its three World War II aircraft for a three-day stay.

After a stop in Venice, the tour returns to Clearwater Friday through Monday.

More than a thousand people are expected daily to tour the Consolidated B-24J Liberator, the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress and the North American TP-51C Mustang.

Those who shell out $425 can ride in the B-17 or B-24. For $2,200, you get a chance to help fly the dual control P-51 — no pilot license required.

"Our goal in the foundation as a whole is to educate through experience," said Hunter Chaney, marketing director for the Collings Foundation, the non-profit behind the tour. "When you experience history and it makes a profound effect on you, like flying in a World War II aircraft, what typically happens is people will go back and want to learn more."

World War II has "now become the only war in a very long time that most people are still comfortable in calling a just war, a war for the good of the world," said Elizabeth Bird, a University of South Florida professor of anthropology. "I think there was a sense then that this generation would prevent a worldwide catastrophe."

That generation is dwindling — almost a thousand World War II veterans die each day. With them go the memories and the tales of the war which, if you ask the folks at the VFW Post 4412 in Hudson, not enough people care about.

"I don't think the younger generation has that much interest," said Clarence Barr, 84, who served in the Marines Corps 1943-45.

"I don't think they teach them about it in school," said Richard Holden, 78, a Marine from 1946-48.

Barr and Holden are two of the 2.5-million World War II veterans that remain.

The receding numbers are exactly why the Collings Foundation pays more than $4,000 per hour of airtime to host the Wings of Freedom tour, now entering its 19th year.

"What we hope to do is continue their legacy and honor these World War II veterans with this aircraft," Chaney said. "We carry the torch for them."

Organizers say the tour is home to the only flying B-24J Liberator.

The 67-feet-long plane sat abandoned in a bomber graveyard until the Indian Air Force restored it in 1948. It was eventually bought by a private collector who sold it in 1984 to Dr. Robert Collings, founder of the nonprofit.

After five years and more than 97,000 hours of labor, the bomber returned to the sky.

"The Liberator was the most mass-produced, multiengine aircraft in American history. They made more than 18,000," Chaney said. "This is the last truly restored B-24 Liberator in the world."

The annual Wings of Freedom tour is the "meat and potatoes" of the Massachusetts-based Collings Foundation.

Helen Anne Travis can be reached at [email protected] or (813) 435-7312.

. If you go

Wings of
Freedom tour

When and where: Today through Wednesday at the Zephyrhills Municipal Airport in Zephyrhills, and Friday through Monday at St. Petersburg-Clearwater International Airport in Clearwater. Times vary by day, see collingsfoundation.org for details.

How much: $12 donation for adults, $6 for ages 12 and younger. Flights start at $425. Call toll-free 1-800-568-8924 for reservations. http://www.tampabay.com/news/pasco/article968620.ece
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I'm suprised, none of you guys built Ferraris as a kid???

 

I did try posting this thread in the Collectables, Literature, & Models section of FerrariChat, but didn't get any replies. The Hardcore Ferrari model guys didn't want to talk about ships, planes, tanks, monsters, or trucks

I built a lot of models before I even learned about Ferrari at the age of 14