I remember my very first kit vividly, it was a three wheeled atv with a rider, and the wheels where ob longed shaped to give it the look of movement in a cartoonish style, and it snapped into a small base plate, that gave it the overall appearance of the rider lifting the front wheel, like it was at the start of a jump or such. It was a simple snap kit, but to a five year old, it was very very cool. Probably had about a dozen pieces or so. But spending six months in a hospital, that is one of the few memories I have from that time. Well one of the few I would wish to keep, there is a few I wouldn't mind losing, but that is a discussion for another time.
My next modeling memory came along about, three years later or so, the apartment we used to live in, there was a family down the hall, and they had a couple of older boys, about 10 - 12 years my senior, one of them was into the plastic kits of the day. He would of just been starting into university, the one summer I was staying with his mom.
He came home one day, and saw me admiring his stash in his bedroom, looking at all the marvelous boxes and planes hanging from the ceiling and such. And he saw me in there admiring (maybe even coveting
) his collection. Anyways a short dialogue ensued, as he ushered me out of his room with the promise to get a kit and teach me how to build it.
Well fast forward a few days, he came back to moms place, and had a 1/72 B-29 kit for me. I was more then over excited. We built that bugger up, didn't paint it as it was already in silver styrene and to a young kid already looked amazing, slapped the decals on, and it hung from my ceiling for years.
That was it I was hooked, when I was a kid you could buy kits anywhere, even the corner store, and while other kids where playing with hot wheels, I was always the one building kits, I would sit outside in the summer on the grass and do them.
Always used way to much glue, what ever I could find for paint, and just squished the parts together until the glue would hold, once built they got added to the collection of army toys and the my divisions grew and grew
I could line them up for about thirty feet or so, my complete airforce and 1/72 - 1/76 soldiers, tanks jeeps etc. I spent more time playing war games with those things before gaming was "cool" then I did school work (which I guess explains a lot now)
But that was it for me, I was hooked from those first couple of kits, it is with a bit of sadness I will now be packing everything up (temporarily) as my wife just finally last night received her Passport Request from the Visa office in Manila last night ( a sign that the end of our immigration process is near). As we will be starting out from this small one bedroom apartment, and there will not be room for my modeling crap, myself, my wife and her four year old son. So into storage it will go for a few months, until we can get settled, and into a new place that will allow me to start up a new bench.
But I have have a few things to look forward too, my wife and son finally getting to Canada, after two years! Setting up a new dedicated spot for me to work (I am already starting to build a new desk and such for that, to go to what ever new place we decide to set roots into).
And best of all, Finding another B-29 for me, and my son to do together, (well ok maybe two B-29's one for him one for me
) and introducing him to the hobby. Building a kit together will be the first real bonding experience, he and I will have together. As he is just about to turn five, he is a bit young to be building anything much on his own, but he is definitely old enough to get bit by the bug.
