I'm always curious to know two things about fellow moders...

1) What was the first model you can remember ever building and
2) what was the most satisfying model you ever built?

For me, it is a strange story... in the summers when I was a child, my parents would send my brother and I of to my Grandfather's farm in a rural community in Mississippi. We helped him with his watermellon crop all summer (MAN that is HARD WORK!)... we got paid $3.00 a day (talk about child abuse!).... but the farm was so far out in the boonies, there was no place within miles where we could spend the cash. My grandmother would feel sorry for my brother and cousins, so she would take us into town each Saturday, and we would spend all our money on comic books, sodas, and a week's supply of models to give us something to do during the week... I must have built every plane that Revell and Testors ever made! When I came back to modeling in the mid 90's, I got hooked on WWII armor and have been a glue monkey ever since!

2) My favorite thing to model are urban dioramas of WWII armor and figures... the most fun single model I ever built however was a Tamiya Panzer IV... what a great kit that was to build.

So what's YOUR story?

My first models were an Albatross and a B-17 that I got for Xmas one year (complete with green, purple and silver paint). I really enjoyed building them, and from there it got worse...

As for most satisfying - I won a competition once with a 1/72 Fw-190D-9 that I converted to a D-12. I like to think it was because of the instrument panel, which I drilled and used glass sheet for the glass.

Hi
My first kit was Hasegawa´s F-102 Delta Dagger. I built it with the help of my brother at the age of 8. It survived for almost 20 years (kept it for "romantic" reasons) - until the vibrations of a nearby construction site knocked it over the edge of my shelf. Tough luck on the construction workers, found some words for them you wouldn´t learn at school...

The most satisfying kit is always the latest I built. At the moment it´s "Calcutta", an M4A3 with Iwo Jima additions and markings, based on Italeri´s "Marine Sherman".

boris

Heck you are talking over 4 decades when I first started but I remember the .50 Lindberg planes that were 1/72 or 1/76 scale came in the little box that you bought at the candy store. (:-)

I remember now a British Spitfire it was.

And used a whole tube of 10 cent testors to put it together.

Well, there was MaryJane Biolowski ("Oh, you must mean Nancy") and me in the back seat of dad's 59 Chevy...Oh, you mean model.
The first Model I remember working on was a P-39 in maybe 1955 or 56. I don't remember what the first one I built by myself was, though among the early ones was a 1957 Ford Country Squire by Revell,3 piece body and all, also an early USS George Washington sub by Renwal with drop away side to reveal a full interion and firing POlaris. That even had raise detail of pinups on the bunk area.

I came back as an adult first with a Curtis Hell Diver and Huey Cobra. The first armor as an adult was Tamiya's M3 Lee followed by their Stuart. (1976). My first free standing figure was Airfix's Scot's Grey Napoleonic era cavalry.

Possibly the most satisfying kit was Warriors' American Heroes, the firemen raising the flag at Ground Zero. I wound up getting an offer to sell it to the wife of a local fireman for her own tribute area at their home.

The first model I ever made was a big scale Corvette I don`t remember the brand of it and it was really a big car. Because I was a little young kid I built it together with my dad.
every evening we worked on it and finally after two weeks the car was finished everything painted and ready.
In a terrible fast way the euforia turned into horror. It stood only on the cupboard for two days
My mother was cleaning the house and when she reached the shelf where my ..... sniff great red corvette stood she bashed it out the cupboard and reduced the value with that to scratch.
After that I started with planes in different scales but I didn`t like that and after a couple of years I bought a Tigertank and that was the start of a new era

I think most kids start building cars, not to paint or display put to play with or blowup on the 4th of July. My turning point came when I was sick and my grandmother gave me either a P-51 or Spitfire. The box art showed the plane in a elaborate camo scheme and I thought I would try to match it. So I was hook on planes for a while, then I saw my first Tamiya Tiger I and I was awstruck by it. I had seen other tank kits by Monogram but for some reason this kit started a love affair that has lasted 30 years. When I finished that Tiger I decided to find out everything I could about it and of course this lead to wanting to know about all armored vehicles of World War Two.

mkctanker

My first model was built in one evening. It was a Monogram '65 GTO. I built mostly cars with a plane or two and 1 Cobra helo as a kid and then didn't touch models for a long while when I discovered the opposite sex. In college, I subscribed to WWII magazine and saw in the back an add for a place that sold military tank models. I was intrigued so I orded the Matchbox 1/76 T-34/76. I was instantly hooked and proceded to build almost every Matchbox kit and a number of Hasegawa kits. I then discovered 1/35 scale when I built the Tamiya Type 97 Chi-Ha. I have not looked back since I started 1/35 armor models and that is my only real interest now (although I have been flirting with the idea of doing another small scale kit in the future).

The most satisfying kit I ever built has to be my StuG IV which won me a gold medal at the 2002 Washington Armor Show.

My First ????? Well.. It might have been a 59 Ford Black & White two door. BUT I do remember for sure a British Centurion Tank, That I was really proud of. Though I can not be certain who it was made by. Possibly an early Tamiya or Revell.. My best guess would be a Revell kit. Because I remember building alot of Revell Kit's in the 70's. The one I was most proud of was a Early production Academy ?? Tiger-1 with interior parts. It was alot bigger than the ones they make today. About the size of a M1A1 if not slightly larger. Either way.. When it finally came to it's end it was given a VIKING FUNERAL, and the remains were buried. But as my skills have improved over the years, I like the results I am getting these days alot more than ever before.

DAGGER-1

Other than in the back seat of my '60 chevy....

Let's see now... 40 plus years ago. I have a hard time remembering what I did yesterday. #:-)

I seem to recall the Renwal series of armor kits. Probably my first armor. There was a big B-24 in there somewhere for (one of) my first aircraft models. Assembled, decaled and then painted!) Old B-25 and SBD Dauntless in there somewhere as well. Old Revell (?) ship kits in there too.

Thanks,
Kevin Keefe
Mortars in Miniature

my first model was an mes when i was five and my fav was an phz 2000 last year because that was the first model i built with my cuz after a long periaod of time and it was my first amo

My "first" model was a figure kit of Superman. I was around five years old and my dad sat down with me. I think it was an old Revell kit: there were only about a dozen pieces (head, torso front, torso back, legs, arms,base, etc.) I remember how much fun it was because my dad let me paint the major areas, while he touched up where two colors met. The two of us assembled/glued it together. All told, it took us about two hours, spread over the course of a weekend. Amazing how something so simple has stayed with me over the years.

As for most satisfying? I'd say that's be a cross between my Games Workshop 28mm Chaos Dragon and my Tamiya 1:16 R/C Tiger 1. Well...that's not exactly true. The dragon is in mid-progress and I am very happy with it as I am doing some custom conversions/scuplting and using a new watercolor blending on it. I haven't started the Tiger yet because I have to pick it up on my way home tonite...but I am really looking forward to that project.

My first was an Airfix Spitfire, the most satisfying, thats very difficult, all of them in some way because they are all part of the learning curve. :-) If I was to choose one then probably it's one that is broken up in a box. A 1/72 Hasegawa A7 Corsair in Vietnam 3 colour wrap around scheme. The camouflage scheme was done free hand (first time I tried anything remotely like it), It was the first time I got decals looking painted on and it was the first time I got a wash to work. It was ruined when I masked off the wheel wells and the masking pulled off the paint. I learned from that as well. Every model I have made since that one has got better :-)
Mal

My first models were the snap together "Snoopy" kits. My Dad was a big Peanuts fan, and we did up the Sopwith Camel kit with the little electric motor when I was about in first grade or so. He was not a model builder, but he was always looking for projects to do with me. Later we built Snoopy's Buggati, and the Joe Cool Surfboard. The first real kit I did was probably in fourth grade, and it was MPC's Dyno Don pinto Pro Stocker. I butchered it! Since then I have built a lot of cars, and quite a few planes. I also have built lots of Peanuts & Pistachios (small scale flying model airplanes... Peanut = 13" wingspan Pistachio = 8" wingspan) It was buying plastic models for reference, that got me back into plastic aircraft. At least, this way, I don't spend a hundred hours detailing a plane, only to lose it in a crash!

I don't think I've ever been satisfied with a model, but the closest I've come is probably a 1969 Dodge SuperBee. For planes, it would be a P-47 Thunderbolt. 1/72 scale, by Hasegawa. I had a lot of fun detailing that one.

My first kit was Academys Abrams about 1.5 years ago. Hand painted thick cmaouflage, loads of gaps and heavy glueing. Then about four months later, I found out about all these sites on the web and did some heavy reading.
Ive built about 15 models and 5 dios since. The most satisfying was the much talked about and not very liked Italeris big foot. There is something about that kit I just love. Dont know why either! Maybe its because its not a tank???

Hola!
Great thread!

Hm...my older brother (whos 6 years older then me) Used to build airplnes and I remember him having a Crusaider Mk III from Italeri, anyways, he had a Heinkel 111 or something like that, a cool airplane with glass in the front. So I used to sneak up after he went to bed, go into his room and pick the model up, carry it to my room and build it!!! Like he wouldnt know! Then my brother went to the Cyprus islands with his soccer team, and came back with a box of Tamiya Panzer Grenadiers! After thet it just went downhill, and I startd going to competitions, and had a great success as a junior modeler (ages 14-16) where I won pretty much everything with anything I entered in contests. So at the shows I saw work of Mike Blank and a few others and was truely inspired, so from there my figure intrest grew and brought me to where I am today!

The most satisfying piece Ive done to this date? Its either this figure:


or this figure:

My first kit my dad built for me was the 1/32 scale Aurora "The Wurst". It is a hot rod hot dog vendor truck complete with beach bum and bunny and psychodelic decals. The first kt I built by myself was the Aurora Prehistoric Scenes Saber-Toothed Tiger.

Most satisfying was my first conversion kit. I took an Italeri M4A1 and followed the Shep Paine conversion. I added the HVSS and muzzle brake from the old Tamiya M4A3E8 and used the Verlinden Sherman Super Detail Set (my first use of Verlinden products).

Finally, Kara at the drive-in in a 1980 Chevy Citation....

First model - Don't remember exactly whaich kit it was, but it was a Snap-kit of a Corvette. 1982 vette, I think. Simple kit with stickers for decals...
Most satisfying build - M41 Walker Bulldog. Click on my 'Yoda's Hut' link to see it.

As for the other 'first time'... well... for now I'll just focus on getting that first date...

YodaMan

As far back as I can remember,My first kit was a Lindburg Build your own electric motor P-47 I think.I remember the motor had to be assembled and the windings put on,and son -of -a-gun,it worked.First armor was a matchbox or someone similar Stug in about 1/76th.
i did the car model kick in the 60's.I loved the 1/144th Saturn V.
The most satisfying is the 2 USS Constitutions I have built.1 for me,one for a cousin in Wyoming.(It survived the trip in the display case I also built.)
The most rewarding kit (s) were 2 copies of my father's B-24.I gave one to one of the waist gunners,and the other to the navigator.

My first was an Airfix Fairey Swordfish that I glued and my Mom painted with nail polish for me! I saw the same kit on e-bay a few months back and had to have it, it now sits proudly on my shelf still in it's shrink wrap as a reminder of how far I have come in 30+ years. My first armor kit was a Tamiya wirbelwind that I left unpainted because I thought it looked cool like that . Hard to pick a favorite, maybe my Cromwell, just turned out real nice.

Coop

The first one I built was an Aircraft Carrier. Back in 1971 when I was 8 years old .Don't remember which one or who it was made by. I remember using alot of glue and no paint. I think the plastic is still soft today.......... #:-)

I can't really remember my first time, I had so many!!! My brother and I built most of Monogram's 1/48 WW2 naval "classics", with the working features. My SBD and his TBF bombed a lot of targets.

My most satisfying kit was the little Monogram P-6E in markings of the 17th Pursuit Sqdn. I was able to get a Snow Owl sticker from the unit (I was the GLO at George AFB). I scratchbuilt additions to the interior, it was fully rigged, I had a plaque and case completed and it was presented to my Dad for Christmas back in 1986. He really enjoys the old Golden Age fighters, having been a kid during the '30s.

I can honestly blame my father for starting me down the road of plastic dis-illusionment. A 1/72 bell jet ranger and a P-51, I believe an early snap tite kit. Built them both in 1 day and painted the next. They hung around for several years, but were scrapped to make room for more. After that it all seems a giant blur of paint, glue and plastic.
Maybe we should do a thread on the longest time spent on any one model. For me that would be 11 years with my wife and counting. Still working on but never quite finished.

First model? Wow, that's tough. It was probably some 1/72nd WWII fighter I built with my Dad. I also remember doing a Gemini space capsule (1/48th??) that I thought was pretty cool.

Most memorable or satisfying kit: Tamiya's T-34/76 Model 1942 that I built back in the early to mid-80s. I scratchbuilt a full interior using the Squadron T-34 book and some other references I scrounged for months. With the T-34's big hatches, you can actually SEE most of the junk I stuffed inside. Took me months to finish.

As for that other first -- Linda from West DePere in the back of my '67 Olds Vistacruiser (yeah, the same car from That 70's Show) at the 41 Drive-In on the west side of Green Bay. The Olds was affectionately nicknamed "The Tank."

Well, my two bucks worth of happy memories:

First kit : A 1/144th (yep!!) Academy Kit of a Sepecat Jaguar waaay back in 1994. That was the time when we folks in India started getting plastic models. I have fond memories of the kit, altho painting it was a mess, and the wheel stuff was really tough to handle.

Best Kit : Undoubtedly, my Academy 1/48 Spitfire Mk XIVc. Hand painted with a lot of love and care, it's turned out to be the best model that I made so far(You can check it out in the Armorama Gallery ).

Ahh! Such sweet memories !

Cheers,
BP.