Hello all!

It's been a long time since I posted here and it feels good to start modeling again!

Now that we've moved into our new house and I finally got my modeling area set back up, my 7 year-old son has taken a newfound interest in modeling, but he gets easily frustrated by some of the kits I've given him from my stash.

I was wondering if anyone had suggestions for good starter kits (non-Snap-Tite) for someone in that age range. Accuracy isn't the most important for him, but I want him to feel the satisfaction of creating something unique. Needless to say, fiddly attachment and tiny parts wouldn't do much good here.

Any recommendations?

Thanks!
Frank

I started on 1/72 aircraft, but perhaps 1/48 aircraft or tanks & 1/24 vehicles would be a good start. Many kits in these scales are not too expensive and if the kit is well chosen then the parts are of a manageable size.
My son started by making Games Workshop figures - unfortunately his interest didn't continue!

or.. what about a HO scaled house ? you know the ones.. Pola and all.

They are cheap, easy to construct and will teach a starter a lot of skills.

I would give Monogram models a shot. They have decent detail, good clear instructions, cheap in price, and are the most part a decent product. I am not sure if you are looking for aircraft or armor, but Monogram makes decent aircraft. For armor I would give the older Tamiya kits a shot. They are solid builds all the way around.

BTW, if he likes the sci-fi aspect Gundam models are pretty cool. They can either be put together by gluing or built without glue (better quality than snap together though).

HTH,
Salvo

For Armor/AFVs, I also recommend the older Tamiya kits. Their M41 is a great starter kit. M151A2 MUTT (jeep) is an easy one as well. My daugter did the MUTT a few years ago and had no problems with it. It was her first all glue-together model.

Frank,
On the line of Sci-Fi kits that Ryan sugestted, the AMT/ERTL Star Wars kits could be a good start. The new Jedi Starfighters the just released from the Episode III movie look pretty darn cool. He might even relate to the models if he has seen the movies.

Thanks all for the replies thus far. I'm not quite sure what his tendencies are at this point. One minute he's looking at armor, next aircraft, then cars and trucks.

Good hear that the older Tamiya kits might be a good starting place. We've messed with the Monogram aircraft with good success.

I took him to the local Hobbytown USA last night to see if anything peaked his interest and he immediately said he wanted the RoG Peterbilt Wrecker at $125

After that he seemed interested in a ship of some sort. He specially picked up the Revell USS Airzona and Missouri, which I remember doing as a kid, but then started looking at $50 Titanic kits.

In the end, he never picked up anything, but I ended buying myself something, so I guess it was somewhat of a successful trip!

Yes without a doubt some of the older Tamiya kits that are often re-releases are a great way for the younger modeller to cut their teeth on. They have good instructions are not normally covered in flash and are well designed so they drop together in a great fashion. Price is obviously an issue and they are good on that. With my own son who is now 25, we tried many different scales but settled on 1/35 as getting the best result. He built about 5 of the SAS jeep and each one got better, even if his idea of colour was a little imaginative in a couple of builds.

Its great to see more young people getting the bug and it is great to encourage them in something productive and artistic outside of PC's and Playstations and their cousins.

Regards,

John

Frank you might try tanking him to a modle show if there are any around your area. I always enjoy seeing built kits and it motivates me to try different kits. That way your son could see what the finished products look like. Also you can usually get good deals at show on older kits.

BTW glad to hear you didn't waste your gas by going home empty handed. haha

Cheers,
Salvo

I'd go with the Monogram kits in 1/48 scale, myself. I bought some of these for my nephews. They needed something with larger pieces to work with, and these seemed right. Their mother says they are enjoying building them. I believe Monogram or Revell also has a good selection of cars and trucks in larger scales, which also might work.

Mike

I would keep it simple also.Like the others above,1/72 aircraft,1/48 or 1/35 wheeled vehicles.Track running gear can get fiddly for a 7 year old.Jeeps,small trucks,armored cars.Fun,quick,and conquerable!
cheers!

I will personally recomend PM's 1/72 airplanes if you can find in teh States. It is a Turkish company and most of us here (in Turkey) started up with them around that age. They are pretty simple, inexpensive, pretty low on part numbers thus suitable for a 7 yearsold newbie. Check them around. F100 or Horten Ho229 will be pretty good for start....

I agree with Pete. I would start with one of the
more simple Star Wars models such as the AT AT
or the AT ST and they're readily available now.
They don't have a lot of parts and most parts are
rather large in size. Explanation in paragraph
below

I defnitely would not start with 1:72nd or 1:48th.
With those kits the parts get rather small. It is easier
for a child to build a kit that has all large parts.
Such as you see in the AT AT and the AT ST,
mostly. Stress to your son that the idea is to
have fun. And have a ball dad — a shared
experience with your "issue" will mean a great deal
to both of you many years later.

I started about that age with 1/72 aircraft, and I would recommend them. Not a lot of parts, depending on the manufacturer not a lot of tiny fiddly bits, can be painted with a brush easily.

He can build em 'flying' without installing landing gear to simplify them as well.

Of course if he isn't into planes.... I'm not a lotta help

Just my thoughts...

Excellent ideas across the board! Sometimes it's hard for me to separate what "I" think is a good kit and what would be perfectly acceptable for my son. For example, he picked up the Revell US Army Truck & Jeep combo kit and I immediately recalled hearing it was a dog of a kit. I mentioned that in nicer terms to him and it dissuaded him, but I can't help to think that it just might have suited him fine.

He does like Star Wars, but not sure he'd go for it. Worth pointing out the next time were in there. Heck, even Toys R Us has those!

One tread I've noticed with him is that he definitely thinks "bigger is better". He regularly points out kits in large boxes such as RoG's B-1B and B-17G in 1/48th, as well as every tractor trailer kit he sees. I know that they're too much for him, though.

Thanks again everyone!
Frank

A couple of kits that build up fairly nice and make good models though are not quite as accurate would be some of the old Tamiya kits.. I can vouch that the tamiya PZ II is a fairly nice simple build and the Marder II isn't much harder.. Also the 222 and 223 armored cars are fairly easy.. and those kits are not that expensive either..

I built the 223 as my first armor kit (ever) after taking a break of 15 yrs. Its a decent kit, its cheap, but... it doesn't have much in the way of a 'wow' factor.

I had a long chat with a lhs owner recently, and he said to me "They are great kits for a beginner, but no beginner is going to buy one, they all want the 'cool' stuff... Tigers, M1A or what have you....

A 7 yr old likely wouldn't care, but if he likes big boxes.. heh you don't find many 1/35 in boxes as small as the 223.


Martyn

My best recommendation for a glue together kit that a 7 year old could do would be one of the old 1/48 aircraft from revell-mongram like the Heuy Hog, the P-40, or one of those. They sell them at Wal-Mart for around $11.00 or $12.00. That's about what I started on when I was younger. They fit together pretty well and there's not much in the way of small parts. Hope this helps.

I started with Revell/Monogram helicopters and planes. The Apache was a pretty cool one. I remeber their P-47 and P-51 kits went together pretty nicely as well. I loved the B-26 and the awesome B-17, but those might be a little out of his league right now. I also remember some battleships I did, I could buy one of those and build it in a day, but the painting wasn't too fun. If he likes big stuff, why not try one of the new Hasegawa 1/32 planes? Looking at their instructions, they really don't look all that more complicated than the 1/48 planes I learned on. Some smaller parts, but not too many. Maybe you could introduce him to the world of decals as well with some from EagleCals, as this was always my favorite part :-) . Since then I've become a hardcore armor modeller, so it's kind of hard for me to think about armor kits without PE, metal barrels, and resin parts. I think that anything with individual link tracks would drive a 7 year old nuts though. Tamiya has rubberbands, so there's a thought. Of course, you could go with a Jeep or similar.
Check out this link, you can view the contents of the kit and it's instructions, so you know what's involved.
http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/plamo/

Here is a simple kit that has two models in them
It is the M34 2 1/2 ton truck and the little Willy's jeep. Very simple to assemble and not too many small parts.

I preffer The Tamiya 1/48 Tiger 1,they fit perfectly few tiny parts but will do

i built one of those and heh.....i messed up too many missing parts and a ugly paint job

I'd suggest a 1/72 single engine jet, or a simple 1/35 jeep like the Academy Mutt. Simple builds with no tiny parts. This especially so with the aircraft. Something like a Sabre or a Mig-15

I would suggest anything airfix. They were my first favourite model kits!

Just as Pete says; last year my 7 year and I built a Jedi Starfighter from the latest movie. It was pre-painted, snap together, so was a build exercise rather than painting, and was great fun.