Probably over a 100 I gave most to a kid my wife babysat for he was hooked I'd build them with him when she would baby sit I was 19 he was around 10.i think my 2 favorites were the Malco 33 Willy's and monogram '66 Chevelle with the flip nose I put a straight axle under it .
Yes, I built models of all kinds: balsa wood planes, car models (mostly hot rods), and a few ships. I was lucky building hot rods as an older neighbor gave me several shoe boxes of left over model parts to use to modify model kits as I wanted. When a slot racing track opened in an adjacent town, I scratch built a chassis out of brass stock, put one of my model bodies on it, and bought a cheap used motor and took a few turns of armature windings off it. It was very competitive. Life was much simpler at that time.
Actually, no. Couldn't get into it. All a bit boring to me. My youth was spent "hands on", customising skateboards and bicycles. There were modifications and custom paint jobs (flames and striping were used a lot). When I was not working on them I was putting miles on them. Things progressed in adolescence to dirt bikes, then on to road bikes and cars, all the while having the need to make "improvements". Models?.......... How the hell do you ride or drive a model car. I could never quite see the point. Am I the only one???
Too me it were and still is about the creativity, cutting and remodeling and laborating with the paint.
My Lincoln build needed alot of creativity, transforming Monograms ugly continental into a Zephyr coupe with a roof and backend of a Willys coupe
I had a couple of older brothers that built models and as a kid I'd try to play with them. This didn't go over very well but it did get me into building models. I still build one or two during the cold Montana winters.
@1971BB427 I can't just walk away. Don't know how You got through that. As a kid if they got broke or ruined, oh well. After saving them for years I gotta say you are a tall man. My wife destroyed three cases of late '50s to mid '60s magazines, but it was accidental. Still, I can recall the horror. My rationale was that I'd had my time with them dog eared old rags.
Dad and I built a lot of models together back in the early 60's. We were also into slot cars and Pinewood Derby cars too. I remember we did the "Visible V-8" motor and a Double Front Engine dragster. I think they were made by Revell. I often wonder what happened to all that stuff... Dad and I had a lot of fun together when I was a kid!
As a pre-teen in the fifties, I built Highway Pioneers, boats and planes. In 58, when the 1;25 AMT/SMP Three ‘N One kits came out, I just got hooked on hot rods and customs. I stopped when in college, restarted in the ‘90s, and now have stopped building again due to vision deterioration. All those below were done ten to thirty years ago.
I built hundreds of models before I got married to my first wife, started my first project car at the age of fourteen when I got my first car. So I’d have to say I definitely moved from model cars to the real thing after all they are basically the same thing except for the size and cost of the finished product.
Ohhh.....THIS brings back a few memories. As a sidebar, how many of you built those nickel Guillows dime store gliders, and after getting bored with it, taped a pair of firecrackers to the fuselage and gave it a toss to watch it blow up in mid-air? Yep, built many a car back in my youth....have no clue what ever happened to them as I grew up. Later years developed a passion for WW1 aircraft. Have a decent collection just waiting for me to set down and start building again. Remember Testor's No-Tox glue with the lemon scent? (No I didn't use it for very long.) Roger
The detailing on some of the kits shown here is amazing. I never had the patience as a kid. I inherited at least 20 kits in the late 60s from an older guy who lived next door. I was 8yrs old at the time. He moved to out west to be in a rock band. I’m not really sure what happened to him or the kits, after that. I did find this kit a couple of weeks ago, but the real one will be better detailed.
I did! Even customized the ones I built, just like today. Now, my buddy, Vic Collins, who I built the Kopper Kart with, does resin models. He did a series of 51 Aztec models for our friend Barry Mazza, who owns the real one. I painted them all. He also did a resin of a 56 Olds-Nomad, that I am doing in 1 to 1 scale. And he did a copy of my chopped 55 Olds. He used to sell the resins at the NNL, in New Jersey.
Great replies so far! Seems like there are lots of good memories here and clearly creativity and talent are on display. Let's see more...
Yep, not sure how many maybe 50 or 60, gave them all to younger brothers. My Grandson and I have built 2 so far. He is 8 now. One a year can’t post pics as they are OT, he picks them out and I help, he does very well and does about 80% or the work. Not sure what we’ll build this year. Dan
Haven't built any in several years now, but I do still collect them. I probably have a couple hundred built kits in storage. The upper shelving along the back wall of my shop are where most of my unopened ones reside. There's just over a hundred along the 60ft stretch.
Yes I did,and I continued to on and off my whole life. Then I retired in 2013 and I realized I didn't have the finances to do the full size car's anymore, so I did RC airplanes, RC trucks, and I finally got back to building model cars and trucks, I did that for 10 years. I have approximately 400 finished kits. I building last June. I found out I had cancer and had my Kidney and Ureter removed and I have no desire to build anymore. So now what, and I really don't want to do anything anymore but sit back and watch the world go bye, and I am happy doing it.
What about the Ballsa wood airplanes. Cut out all of the wood pieces, glue everything together. Cover with tissue paper. Then install the rubberband and propeller and hope it would fly.
I wandered into the mall and checked out the hobby store. The prices have gone up considerably since I was a kid and and I can't afford to go back.
Yes, Still have most of them! It was the 60's we were paneling the basement making it usable space. We Built display cases over a desk. Glad we did!
Built a bunch of them, and have the tip of a #11 Xacto blade stuck in a finger as a memento! Customizing kits is easier helps when your folks are running a design studio with a whole wall of kits you can use for kit bashing, too.
The Jalopy Journal
