I didn't take your models for my nail polish revenge! So glad to see that you are reliving your joy and happiness of model building. Keep up the good work!
Hmmm, seems a rather vague, ambiguous answer from your sister, so funny! That Seaview model was the first one I tried painting too so I know how you felt. I used a royal blue Testor with a brush for the base color and a silver for smaller parts. Surprisingly it didn’t come out too bad for my first try despite some fingerprints on some parts and on my fingers for days. Those little bottles were a pain in the but to open when your ten years old. Lol. One of my first aircraft was right after the Seaview which was the Monogram F4U Corsair which I sprayed gloss black! I also built that P38 Lightning you found,! Of course it was the early 70s I built the first Starship Enterprise and the Klingon ship! I was envious to see the MASH models and that B25 Mitchell! I had forgotten about Kresgee, and have fond memories of the soda fountain counter and the toy and model section got many models there and later from good old KB Toys!! Which was owned by the Kaufman family whom one of the youngest daughters I went to high school with, she was a wonderful person! Great times modeling a skill that taught me patience and attention to detail that influenced my whole life! Something that many of today’s youths need and I hope to share with my now two year old granddaughter who is a brilliant clever very curious adorable little girl demonstrates great concentration figuring things out trying to take things apart such fun!
First model I built by myself was the IMC A-4 Skyhawk with battle damage back in 1967. My father was a former naval pilot and was still interested in aircraft models. He started me with plastic models and eventually on to balsa. Never left the hobby in my 58 years of building scale models.
my first armor kit i built in 1963. it was the 1/48 scale aurora Panther, with the box art showing german infantry scrambling along side the tank. loved it. bought it at the variety store for $ 1 dollar and 29 cents.
@@escaperealityhobbies i remember very well a wonderful monogram catalogue of the 70's... It was so....american 🙂. I dreamed in front of these fantastic images and these incredible models of tanks.
The first kit i built was when i was 5 years old back in 1959. i was living in the rocky mountain hamlet of spray lakes, Alberta.,Canada. i couldn't yet read the instructions. it was an aurora models 1/72 scale avro CF-100. but the instructions had arrows to show how the assembly went, so i was good. i built the lindbergh me 109 and spitfire, the aurora me-109, aurora hellcat, the monogram hellcat, helldiver and revell martin mariner. to name a few. the airfix fokker triplane, re-8, albatros DIII...so many more. most of my building occurred in the sixties. i still have the first monogram 1/72 scale b-52, vietnam version, given to me at christmas, 1968. still haven't built it. thanks for your show...just love it.
That's a bunch of awesomeness right there! I enjoyed Lindberg kits even though lots of modelers didn't like them. They were simple and fun. Their ship models were probably the last models I built before going in the Navy. I never built a B-52, any scale... thanks for watching!!! 🤗
My first model was a Monogram M-48 tank. It was 1964 and I was 5 years old. My dad helped, but I did all the gluing. And yes it didn't come out perfect. I wasn't aloud to paint it. I would eventually build all of Monogram's 1/35th and 1/32nd armor models. I actually have a 1959 Monogram M-48 issue in my stash. The same year I was born. I'm 63 now, and I'm still building models. Great score at the garage sale. Thanks for the great video down memory lane.
I can only DREAM about having all the old Monogram Armor models. It's amazing what some of them are going for now. The "battle" for me is do I build them or use them for display in my hobby room. Models were, after all, made to be built! :)
My first kit was in 1966/67 time frame (6/7 years old); was either the Aurora Batmobile, AH-1G Cobra or UH-1B Huey. They all had little figures- I thought that was so neat! Monogram kits were really great. They weren't particularly accurate, often combining details from several variants on the same model. But they were sturdy, readily available and not very expensive. Some companies made aftermarket cockpits/details which really improve them; still have a Kingfisher with a resin cockpit in the stash; and a Huey with a resin conversion to a UH-1 C gunship. Still have many of Shep Paine's diorama pamphlets from those kits- B-17, Jeep, B-29, TBD Devastor. Can't find my 1980 copy of the book (think i gave it away) but have the updated version. I may not have actually built any dioramas, but have done many in my head! Maybe one day.....
Yeah, this is 2 years old. Nice stash find!!!! Dont remember the "exact" first model but the first one I remember for sure was the MPC 28 Lincoln "Gangbusters" model car. WAY over my head. It had steering wheel that would turn the wheels. Doors that would open. Hood that would open. Seats that would fold down. Of course my gluing skills prevented any of those from working. Cool accessories too. Two figures, tiny guns, boxes, bottles, knives, billy club. Could be built as a cop or gangster car. Molded in black plastic! Tried to paint it yellow with a paint brush!!!! Never did finish it.
My first model kit was the Monogram 1/48 T-28 Trojan. My Dad was an instructor in the T-28 with VT-5 at Saufley Field in Pensacola. He brought the kit home and we built it together . I think it was 1971-72. I was 7 years old. My next kits were the Snoopy and Red Baron Model kits. Then the Aurora Forgotten Prisoner of Castle Mare'. I just discovered and enjoying your channel !!!!! Thank you !!!
The first model I "helped" my dad build was the 1/48 scale Hawk Westland Lysander when I was 7 years old in 1967. He bought it as a surprise, I say helped because he did all the gluing, I just cut the parts loose from the sprue as he needed them. No paint used since the plastic was green and the picture on the box was of an army green airplane. Of course the plastic was nowhere near the correct color. I remember he misunderstood the directions for the decals, instead of cutting the individual decals out as they were needed, he put the entire sheet of them in the sink full of warm water. I still remember his extreme use of colorful metaphors as he scrambled to get the decals on the model. Around 20 years ago I found the exact same Hawk Lysander kit on ebay, I bought and built it as an homage to my first model, yes, it was the same ugly green as the original kit so I did paint this one, I also did not mess up the decals, the original model wound up with markings only on one side and one wing, the rest were stuck to the sink. The next kit was the Aurora Seaview, then a WWII German Submarine that summer followed by a pair of tiny WWII aircraft, perhaps 1/144 or 1/100 scale, a Corsair and a Zero for christmas the same year. He let me build and decal those models. The next one was an AMT 1967 Chevelle SS 396 when I was either 9 or 10, I still remember the distinct smell of opening an AMT model car kit, nothing else like it.
Great stories Kenneth and an "interesting" way to do decals all at once! The Lyzie was always a neat kit. You can still find them from Testors or Italeri. Cool to see another Seaview builder! It sounds like you build quite a few as a youngster. Are you still building? Thanks for watching and commenting! - Tom
@@escaperealityhobbies Yep, I still build, mostly sci-fi, I built the aurora Seaviwe again 20 or so years ago when Polar lights re-issued it and I built the large one that Moebius released a few years ago. Right now I am doing the 1/25 Caterpillar bulldozer reissue from AMT/Round 2. For some reason they chromed a number of the parts in the kit, there is no chrome anywhere on that bulldozer!
I'm a bit older than you, however my local Woolworths had a great selection of models. Mostly Monogram and Aurora. My first build was the Monogram 1/48 Me109 and I was hooked (movable landing gear). You'll love the Hurrican kit you got: workable landing gear and enough ordnance choices to keep you up at night or buy two more kits. My first tank was the Monogram 1/32 Stug'. Monogram lost out with 1/32 scale in armor to Tamiya's 1/35. Have fun is all I can say. I'm just learning the joys of photoetch at 65 and still building.
I miss Woolworths! We had one in St. Pete but it was too far for me to ride my bike. When my mom did take me there, I remember seeing the Aurora Planet of the Apes models and a couple biplane. I think most modelers love the old Monogram 1/32 armor kits for the simplicity AND the Shepherd Paine inserts. 😉
Wow, what a find. I probably built half of those kits from age 9 through age 20 - almost all bought at a Kresge's store or the local drug store. First kit was a 1/48 scale Spitfire by Arfix from a garage sale. Thanks for the walk down memory lane!
First model? Revell X-15. I was five or six. About 1963? Probably cost a buck. My mom had to help. It was a mess. I found the same model in the original box three years ago for 75 times that amount. Bought it, and built it correctly. Sits in my hobby room next to my (same purchase) 1964 Revell Mercury/Gemini capsules atop resin rockets. Built those as a kid too, and they were also a mess! Love finding treasures like those you found.
Thank you for the trip down memory lane, I remember building many of these kits in my childhood. My first kits were the Monogram P40 Flying Tigers and M4 Screaming Mimi. People today don't remember how popular models were in the 60's and 70's. I remember that our local mom & pop convenient store even had a shelf of kits, and they always had a couple dozen plane and car models for sale.
Thanks for watching Mike and I'm glad you enjoyed it! Modeling is still very popular now, but basically with the 40 and older crowd. Too many things for youngsters to do now. Plus, kids (and a lot of adults) want IMMEDIATE results these days! ;)
@@escaperealityhobbies Believe me I know how popular it is today. I'm on my 3rd go with the hobby, been at it for the last 16 years, but just thinking back to when hobby shops were as common as Game Stops, and every department store had models for sale. My favorite was Woolworth's bargain basement and Airfix and Revell kits for $.79, those were the days.
A 1958 SMP Pontiac Bonneville convertible when I was nine in 1959. It was simple and who knew plastic glue fumes were not good for you! I came across the original instructions about 15 years ago with many others I saved for some reason and sold them on ebay for good money. So try to keep as much as possible and don't tell your mom where it is or it will get "cleaned out!".
Man, that is one lucky find! I hope those Monogram 1/32 scale Armor Series models still have the Shep Paine diorama tip sheets; those literally kept me in the hobby by taking model building to the next level. I don't remember the first model I ever built. (I think it was an Aurora hot rod kit in 1/32 scale.) But I do have a fond memory of those Sturmpanzer 43 and Ostwind Flakpanzer kits, and I have a story about them to tell . . . . I was 14 years old in the summer of 1974, and I had just helped my dad build a cedar closet downstairs. We put up the frame with 2x4's, fixing them to the basement floor with a .22 cal. stud gun (that dad even let me use a few times.) When finished, dad gave me five whole (1974) dollars and the next day I rode my bike straight to K-Mart and made a beeline for the model kit section to get myself a Monogram 1/32 tank kit. I already had the Panzer IV, the Sturmgeschütz IV, and the Flakpanzer Wirbelwind, so my choice was between the Sturmpanzer and the Ostwind. After about half an hour, I settled on the Ostwind, and went to get in line to pay for it. It was almost my turn when an idea suddenly hit me, and I went back to the model kit section, and swapped the Ostwind for the Sturmpanzer. The line was a lot longer when I got back to it, but I didn't care. I had an idea . . . . Once I got home - even before I tore the wrapper off the kit - I dove into the trash can to dig out as many of the spent .22 cal. short round casings that I could find before the trashmen could come for them. Dad then cut me a square of plywood for my base, and I proceeded to build a diorama of the Sturmpanzer surrounded by spent cartridges! I didn't care that they weren't exactly 1/32nd scale 150mm shell casings. To my Ninth Grade Eyes, they looked great! Enjoy your vintage kits, and thanks for posting this!
Awesome story, awesome comments!!! Yup, EVERY ONE of them has the Sheperd Paine inserts! I'd pay $10 each just for those! The Flakpanzers were the two I was most interested in... Something just neat about the look. I have no idea if I'm actually going to build these some day or just keep the boxes on display. If I do build them, I'd want to build them the way they look on the boxes, not with all the ultra-modern/realistic looks we have now. Are you still building models? - Tom
@@escaperealityhobbies Yes, I am. I'm 62 and retired, now. But my main problem is lack of space to display newly finished models. As for dioramas, I have recently adopted methods used by wargamers to make buildings out of carved XPS insulation foam and thick cardstock, rather than out of thin plywood or using aftermarket plaster or resin buildings along the traditional Paine / Verlinden / Letterman methods. These buildings are less expensive, easier to construct, and durable enough to withstand rigorous game play - and more than strong enough for traditional static display models. That said, I do owe a debt of gratitude to Shep Paine for inspiring me to remain in the hobby through the encouragement of his tip sheets. Sadly, I never got to meet the man, himself. But one day, I was at a local hobby shop (that unfortunately doesn't exist, anymore) in the early 1980's and got to meet Francois Verlinden. I was also a member of IPMS Gateway Chapter, and learned a lot from fellow member, Bob Letterman; The Master of the Large Dioramas, himself. Sadly, Mr. Letterman passed away earlier this year, but as with Shep Paine, his influence and contribution to the hobby cannot be underestimated. Again, enjoy building your fantastic find!
Yes, Verlinden was another pioneer!!! Took Shep's work just a bit farther. I tried to pick up a few of his models when they were on auction... I missed out by just a few bucks... :( I'm going to start making buildings myself for tabletop games and the methods you mentioned will be in use. If there's a will, there's a way you'll find space for your models. Right now, I'm just trying to figure out space in my Hobby Room just so I can move around! Take care, Tom
@@escaperealityhobbies As a final aside, I have one of those Monogram 1/32nd scale M3 Grant Tanks - one of the hardest to find these days in the series. My plan is to build it using the provided "test vehicle" decal option (something I've never seen done with one of these kits) and pair it in a diorama with the Airfix 1/32nd scale Monty's Humber kit. As for the figures, detail parts and decals included to make the American Lee the British Grant, my plan is to combine these with a Monogram 1/32nd scale Sherman Calliope that was recently reissued to build a Monogram "Phantom Kit" of the British Sherman Mk. I; something Monogram should have done back in the day, but didn't. As an added bonus, the kit suspension may be used "as-is" for a early British Sherman and not updated as per Shep Paine to accurize it for the Sherman Calliope or Hedgehog versions. Again, have fun building those old kits. In addition to the M3 Grant, that Ostwind Flakpanzer is also very hard to find. My suggestion is to build them in dioramas "Old School" style, using plywood for the base and buildings with Celluclay groundwork instead of XPS foam, with NOTHING aftermarket added. Happy Modeling!
Monogram 1:48 Ju 87G-1 Stuka #6840 1975 . Completely painted with light blue belly and camo top frame. Hung it from fishing line from my light over my bed. Showed it to my Aunt and Uncle where I was living, little response. No surprise, they had little interest in my hobbies. Models, comics, bubble gum cards, etc. I loved that kit and cleaned it every week until leaving home after collage. I forgot it and moved on to other kits, but asked in 2011 before my aunt passed away what happened to it. They had moved twice and couldn't remember what happened to it. Not really interested in rebuilding it now, my memories are good enough for now.
Greetings from the UK - I'm so envious of your garage sales and thrift stores having model kits - we don't have garage sales over here and its almost unheard of to find more than the occasional mini kit at a charity shop or a boot sale. That aside, my first kits were Airfix and Matchbox tanks but the most memorable kits were Aurora monsters, prehistoric scenes and the TV scifi. Cost me a small fortune buying them all again!!!!!!
Who no garage sales? Something the UK doesn't allow or are they taxed? That's a bummer! I love ALL the old Matchbox kits. No, not detailed but they looked the part, were easy to do... and their subjects were ones that no one else would do!!! Some of the first Aurora Models I did (other than the Seaview) were the Planet of the Apes models. Keep looking in the charity shops... you might be surprised what you find!!! - Tom
The first model that I built was a 1970 Chevelle, and I believe it was in 1970. I got it as a birthday present along with a tube of glue, one paint brush and a bottle of red paint.
@@escaperealityhobbies I don't remember, but I'm sure it was only a couple of hours. Now it can take weeks or even months, if I do finish. I can lose interest at times and a kit will get put back in the box to be finished who knows when.
Love the classic box art. Then the Politically Correct folks got involved and removed any war activity from the boxes. Apparently, those battle scenes corrupted us as kids! ;>) Take care - Tom
Ok now that you revealed your the luckiest kid in town. I had all of the tank kits but one the Brummbar I know that's not the name but that's what I heard as a kid. I found one in a K mart when I was about 14 and I was broke I begged my dad for it but no was no back then and you didn't whine about it. Or else. Could you open it at least to show what I never got to see. That was my unicorn. And thanks for the walk back through my childhood. Lucky and 45 DOLLARS!!!!! 💥 BOOM 💥 go's my brain.
Luckiest "big" kid! :) I'm glad this brought back some hopefully "good" memories, other than dad ditching you and scaring you for life! ;) Needless to say, SW Florida has a lot of elderly (which I'm almost there....) in it and they have some great garage/yard sale items. I've only found one more car model missing parts. I'll keep looking!!!
Hello. I came across your channel today. Liked & subscribed immediately 👍 I am less than a month from turning 58. My first kit was the Monogram Hawker Hurricane, built in the early summer of 1976. I "borrowed" my kid sister's Tempera water color paints and coated in some shade of blue. Of course by late afternoon the paint peeled completely off! My eyes teared up some when you showed the Hurricane & Zero kits. Just as I remember them on the shelf of my local 5 & 10 store where I bought them! Great memories came flooding back when you showed the models you bought at the garage sale. I remember building just about all of them. A real treasure-trove of memories! Thanks for posting and I will be tuning in from now on.
Thanks Jim and I'm so, so glad this brought back some great memories for you! We sound like brothers from a different mothers! Plus, looks like we had very similar experiences. Take a look at my Episode 9 video... that will probably bring back EVEN MORE memories and please vote for the two you'd like to see built! Thanks for subscribing!!!! - Tom
@@escaperealityhobbies Sure will Tom. I am starting from the beginning with your first video. I like your modest, relaxed, funny & honest style. Very enjoyable to watch. Keep 'em coming! 👍
@@jimaltergott9326 Thanks a bunch Jim, very kind! I just hope I can make this channel work. I love hobbies, but it would be nice to make a few hundred a month (eventually) on CZcams to pay for them!!! :)
I started building model kits when I was about 9, which was in 1976. I belonged to a club that sent me a model once a month for about a year. If I remember correctly they were Revell and Mongram kits. They were mostly WW2 aircraft, with a couple of cars and ships. Don't know what they cost as my mom paid for them. I also used to buy kits at Woolworths.
I always wanted to join one of those clubs... Mom said too much!!! 🤨 I think I picked up a model or two from Woolworths as well... it was just a long way from home. Thanks for watching!!!
Shepard Payne was unbelievable.Every monogram kit I couldnt wait to open the kit to see the diorama pictures.I have the huge book about dioramas written by Payne that has all of his stuff along with explanations about them.
I just purchased through e bay the Hedge Hog kit from Monogram I built this kit when I was ten and it changed hands a few times. the kit then I payed 10.00. The seller had it listed for 70.00 with dollar exchange from Canadian to American plus shipping is now 114.00 so you got a great deal its too bad she didnt know what she had . Thanks for giving her the extra by the way
Hi James and thanks for watching!!!!! Yeah, pretty darn crazy what the original ones are going for now. Especially since Revell-Monogram (USA) when into bankruptcy... Unfortunately, the folks that bought their remaining holdings destroyed/scrapped many of their original molds!!! Boo-hoo-hoo... :( The same lady had another yard sale and I picked up a couple Milton Bradley & Parker Brothers games from the 1960s! :)
I don't remember my first kit, but at nearly 70 yrs old I think I can be forgiven. I'm going to say it was an airfix model, the cheap ones that came in a plastic bag with a cardboard header. It was probably a spitfire or similar, but I was only about 10 yrs old.
Those plastic bag and hanging card Airfix kits are classics. I still have a couple sealed ones, biplanes... and everything is yellowed in them but I appreciate them!
Check out the models I found at the Thrift store. 🤗 I went out last weekend up in Sarasota and found another dozen or so kits - that will be the subject of my next video...
Thank you for your inclusion of Shep Paine's works of art and his involvement with Monogram. At 22.59 of your video there is a still of Shep's "Eve of Essling" diorama. Many mounted Historex plastic models are featured. If you have ever built and painted a Historex kit you realize they are detailed and accurate, the tough part is making them look "human", as they come off as stiff store fashion manikins. Shep was able to relax them into reality and tells how to do it in one of the Historex catalogs. I still have that catalog and 3 or 4 Historex kits somewhere. In the early 70's I saw the Movie Waterloo with Rod Steiger as Napoleon, bought a few Airfix 1:32 kit figures. Over time I purchased more Napoleonics of various scales in metal, plastic, and resin. Also painted a lot of Stadden 80mm musician figures. I had always liked car models but viewing them at contests left me with " nice paint jobs and details but the chrome was toylike". After painting figures where the game is to take this sculpted lump and make it come alive, building a toy car was not going to happen. Then the game changer"Alclad" metalizers where you now are in control of scale chrome. And about 400 stashed automotive kits await me...............................cheers eh!
Shep did indeed make things come alive! Another great is Francois Verlinden. I "almost" won a couple of his models in an auction years ago... missed out by just $3!!! The nice thing about car models is you don't need to weather them. Chrome was always my issue building cars, I never could get the "foil stuff" to lay just right...
Hi from the U.K. A modeller since the 1950s, I got out of building kits in the 1990s, but I’ve got a couple of Monogram Big Deuce kits put by. My best find recently was a boxed unbuilt Monogram Sizzler dragster kit from 1961. Although I built Drag Racing and Hot Rod kits from the early 60s onwards, this was one model that I never had. Do I build it, or leave it unbuilt. All of the parts were carefully wrapped in the box, and the rubber tyres were in their own little sealed bag. This kit brings back many happy memories of my childhood.
Five partial models for five bucks at a garage sale. They went into the tub in the shop marked "Nerf Ship". They were missing lots of parts, but will find new life as my sci-fi hyperspatial, transmogrified, interglactic space ship!
i so loved monogram armor! i built my first one in 1970. it was the panzerkampfwagen IV. i built the sturmgeschutz IV a year later. both were 1/32 scale.
The switch to photos of the actual models was a legal requirement - not a marketing ploy. Basically, the story or myth was that some boy was upset that the model didn't look like the picture on the box and his mom apparently complained to the FTC who felt the artwork was false advertising and so all American model manufacturers had to switch to photos of the models. Also, my first model was the Revell USS Fletcher destroyer, built when I was six years old and I had a painting "whoops" - after painting the hull bottom red - with actual model paint! - I set it down on the nightstand in my bedroom and of course when it dried to stuck to the wood! Boy, did my mom give me hell. That was in 1957. I don't recall what my first plane was, but my first tank was Revell's M4 Sherman, a few years after the Fletcher. I built over 700 models in the ten years between 6 and 16. Back then most models were less than a dollar and some less than 50 cents. When I was 10 I started getting an allowance of $3 a week from my dad (it went up to $5 a week a few years later) and I also started working doing the usual jobs teenagers do like lawn mowing, so I was actually quite "rich" and bought and built at least one and often two models a week, sometimes more. I have now increased my model building quantity to almost a thousand, but most are long gone, destroyed as teenagers often do in various ways, or thrown away when we moved and just couldn't take all of them with me.
Wow!!! That's crazy!!! I guess what I read was kind of a tweak of that story about "seeing the model better". Sounds like today, one person complains and everyone scramble to appease them at the expense of everyone else! :( I think I may have done the same thing when I build the Fletcher, painting the hull, but I put mine on newspaper. Since the paper stuck, my neighbor suggested I paint the newspaper blue to simulate waves. 700 MODELS - that's AMAZING!!! - Tom
I too have found some great old models at yard/garage sales. Some very rare ones too in like brand new condition. Glad to see you offer the lady more then what she was asking. She obviously didn’t know anything about models. Very good video. I like!
That awesome! I enjoy the hunt!! It's neat to find old stuff, but the decals are not always good. Still easy to replace them if needed. Personally, I like finding the odd stuff but anything that reminds me of my childhood is nice. At one time, I had just about every Matchbox plane ever made. Then, when I went in the Navy.... Mom cleaned house!!! :(
I'll probably build at least a couple of them... Just to show how simple, but enjoyable, these models used to be. The nice thing, the Sheperd Paine inserts are in each one of them along with the B-26 model! Yay-woo!!!
Hi Tom, I just found your channel and subscribed. Great video and great story. Your probably 4 to 5 years older than me but we pretty much had a lot in common growing up. granted, your in FL and I was in CA, so K-Mart was where most of my kits came from back then. Second, OMG!!! What a cool score!!!! Those are some amazing kits and worth a lot more than what you paid. Also, I thought it was really nice of you to offer her a more reasonable amount for them than what she originally priced them at. To answer your question, I vaguely remember the first kit I built with my dad but I was probably 3 to 5 years old at the time but, it was a war bird of some sort. I know it had two engines but that is where the memory fades. Best guess it may have been a P-38. The ones I definitely remember, as some of my first, were the old funny car snap-tite kits. That said, I have been building most of my life, except for the 20+ year break I took, I just got back into the hobby a couple of years ago. I'm looking forward to checking out the rest of your videos and future content. Have a great day. -David
Hi David! Thanks for the kind words and nice to meet another modeler! Wow, 3?!! That's a young'n to start modeling! I built a couple of the Snap-Tite Funny Cars as well....loved 'em! I look at the old Monogram armor kits I scored (they ALL have the Sheperd Paine inserts!) and ask myself will I build them or just look at them!!! Thanks for subbing!!! Tom
My friends neighbor passed away, he was a navy vet, and left an apartment full of unbuilt model kits- all high end top brand names ... My eyes are going, my model making days are over, and id really like an older antique car, anybody got cash or trade? These are mostly ww2 to gulf war ships, armor, and planes... Many navy and pacific ww2 japanese. Several big models like a giant fletcher class destroyer, the indianapolis, the hornet with B-25s,. And the arizona. Too many brands and types to list, took me 3 full carloads floor to roof... Enough to fill 2 closets! I was saving them for my retirement, but like i said, my eyes are going. Im into Studebaker cars, but open to anything old,
My first platic model was the aurora 'me109.molded in bugandy plastic.did not paint. A gift from my grandparents! Rest their souls.i was 8 years old at the time. Hooked ever since! Enjoying your channel.new subscriber! Please have more of these!
That's soooo cool! I remember that color with a biplane or two I had from Aurora... I wonder why they chose that color? It was a sort of metallic/burgundy finish if I remember correctly. I really appreciate you subscribing... spread the word! :) Tom
I BOUGHT HIS FIRST BOOK. " HOW TO BUILD DIORAMA'S". THE DETAIL ON HOW HE DID THING'S WAS AMAZING. I'VE BEEN BUILDING MODEL'S AND DIORAMA'S FOR 50 YEAR'S NOW, AND I NEVER LOOKED BACK. GREAT HOBBY.
Thank you! I finally found some more models this past 4th of July weekend!!! It had been like 24 garage sales and ZERO since the video. Nothing huge, but some really cool oldies. I'm planning on doing another shorter video. - Tom
First time seeing this MAY 27th 2022… I enjoyed watching this… my first kit was the AURORA 1/48 P - 40… 1968… Been building models since…well on n off… just got back into it… MONOGRAM, REVELL, AURORA then TAMIYA and anything else that caught my eye… still build the old stuff… ENJOYED WATCHING THIS CHRIS from OHIO
Thanks Chris! Do you remember the color of the plastic of the P-40? I remember they molded a lot of stuff in the burgundy plastic! :) I think I'm going to start up building again with either an older Monogram/Revell kit or possibly Airfix or Matchbox. Matchbox was never detailed, but they had some GREAT subjects!!!! - Tom
So glad your video popped up on my You Tube! I think we are close in age, I'm 58 as I write this. I had a very similar start with model building and one of my very first models was the Seaview! I know early on I built the Flying Sub and The Spindrift from the Land of the Giants TV show as well in the late 60's and early 70's. I spent a lot of my allowance and birthday money on the Universal Monster's kits produced by Aurora as well. Those older Monogram models you scored really brought back a lot of memories for me! I bought and built a lot of those models but they are sadly all gone now (I wish I had kept them), but I did save all those Sheperd Paine inserts from those kits. Your video inspired me to go dig them out. It was a great trip down memory lane thank you!
That's awesome Samuel! I'm glad it brought back fun memories for you!!! I think I might have the Monogram release of the Flying Sub buried in my stash somewhere... The Monster kits were great. I built the Mummy kit (the Monogram or Revell reissue) a couple years ago and posted it on my Instagram account (same name as my channel). Smart to keep those Sheperd Paine inserts. Some of those are going to $20+ now. He truly inspired "our" generation. Yup, I'm 58 too, just a couple weeks from 59. We're brothers from different mothers!!! - Tom
@@escaperealityhobbies It certainly brightens my day a little!! :D. The first episide where your tripod fell over was great xD. Love the skits you make :P.
I built a B-47 (maybe Monogram) when I was 10-12ish, with my grandpa. It was mostly him, but I helped. And I later learned it was one of the aircraft he flew in the USAF. Great find! I hear that there a are people around here that look down on yard sales, but I feel lucky to know the treasures you can find and I’m not too cool to stop.
Oh very true... It's amazing what you can find in garage sales. Rich to poor, all folks like the hunt. I believe both Monogram and Revell made a small scale B-47. Hasegawa made a 1/72nd scale one. :)
First model I built was the Airfix BF109 it was the bag type with the header containing the instructions. I was in primary school at the time 1966 (UK) around eight years of age and our class teacher Mrs Booth bought all the boys an Airfix kit. It was built straight from the bag in one evening and wasn't painted. I've gone from aircraft to ships to military vehicles and that's where I've stayed. This kit started me off in the world of model making and now at the age of sixty four I'm still at it, my skills have vastly improved since those early days and I still get a thrill from buying kits
I'm getting back into the hobby after an ~ 20-25 year hiatus. Paine's dioramas still impress me after all these years. So sorry to hear of his passing. And 👍 on your garage sale haul. I'm hoping to find even a fraction of that this summer.
Welcome back! Keep and eye out, you'll be surprised on what you find. Finding all that stuff really got my juices going to build models again. Talk about a memory bomb going off seeing all those kits from the 70s! I actually found two old white boxed Monogram kits (B-25 Mitchell & B-26 Invader) in a thrift store in Sarasota. Sealed!!! - Take care, Tom
@@escaperealityhobbies, finishing a Tamiya Panzer II Aus F in desert colors. Waiting to be built are a Hurricane Mk. IA, P-40B, and A6M2 Zero in 1/72 from Airfix; an A-7A Corsair II in 1/72 from Hasegawa; a Klingon Bird of Prey from AMT; and a Babylon 5 Starfury from Revell/Monogram. The two Sci-fi kits were actually sitting in the basement for many years. The others were all recent acquisitions.
@@escaperealityhobbies, the one from, I believe, 1971 or 72. Just sprayed the undercoat of German Grey a few hours ago. Will probably do the Desert Tan tomorrow. Using an inexpensive Master double action airbrush and Tamiya acrylics.
I was about ten. It was a stuka plane. My dad said he and I would build it when he got home from work. I was like you, couldn't wait. It was a mess but he said that it looked good when he got home. Oh, and we had to be home when the street lights came on. Simpler time for sure.
I think that's the first Stuka mentioned! Always an ugly but cool (in a weird way) plane. Yeah, dad should have known better than to make us wait!!! ;) Simpler time indeed... - Tom
Ive been looking on eBay for years. They occasionally come up but Im not trying to pay 400.00 for42 plastic parts in a box. There are never any deals even on rebuilders.
The Monogram kits were the prize of my model building years in the 70s. The 1/48 scale P-51B will always be the best bang for your buck kit of all time. Easy enough for a kid, but detailed and accurate enough to leave open the door to detailing and modifying it further. Second is the 1/48 Monogram F-4C/D/J. If limited to two model kits I could have the rest of my days, it would be stacks of those as they could keep me going forever 🙂. Dan
@@escaperealityhobbies I have all kinds of them in my stash. Many of the P51Bs and the F4s. The 1/48 Navy kits such as the SBD F4F F6F and others in the stash. Back in the day the ping pong table made a great flight deck for adventures with those 😀. Those Monogram kits feed the kid still in me. The more recent and detailed kits are more expensive and more geared to detail rivit counter folks. That’s not me 😀
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Great video. My first model was, if I remember correctly, the Avia B-35 from the KP company sometime in 1978. Greetings Aleš 😎👍
Thank you!!! I think a HAVE one of those in my stash. The model is sound but the decals have since turned "golden"... Not the good type of gold though. What do you mostly build? I'm really tempted to just do old kits that were made before 1980. No, not much detail compared today, but simpler... and I might like the challenge!!! :)
Just subscribe to you and look forward to watching your videos! - Tom
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@@escaperealityhobbies I'm also building mainly old kits. So now I'm finishing the Ford T kit, which is a relatively new kit, but if you look at my canal, you'll see my really very old buildings. Exactly as you say these buildings are the real modeling challenge and it is with them that my building passion is awakened.
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@@escaperealityhobbies Thank you so much Tom for supporting my channel. I will also be watching your videos with great interest. Have a nice evening. Aleš
First model? Actually 2, Airfix's MiG 15 and fiat G 91; it was 1960 and I was 8 years old. I was in town with Mum, we were in Woolworths (remember them?), in the UK they were the place to get Airfix models, mostly the series 1, hung up on a rack - Heaven!
Remember Woolworths well! :) I have the MiG-15 (the MPC version - Airfix) in my stash now! Do you have any of the Old Airfix "On Card" models still in our collection? - Tom
Yes, I do remember and have a picture of me holding it. 1965, I was a lotus blue body and plastic axles. The rear fenders cover the wheels half way. It rolled and I loved that model and I'm still building.
That's pretty darn cool! I wish I had photos of me when I was young with my toys. I think I might have one of me wearing a Batman outfit or a dinosaur costume for Halloween... Never stop doing what you enjoying doing!
I'm surprised how many folks have never heard of Kresge. Tom Daniels kits were awesome! Other than the Snap-Tite ones, I think my first full-size one was the Tarantula... :)
You lucky guy. I'm jelious.. lol 😆 My very first model was the HMS Victory by Heller (I think) I was 5 years old in 1966. My first armor tank was a Panzer IV dessert 2 in 1 kit (either by Itelari or Monogram.)
Airfix Vickers Vanguard, a Christmas gift; second was a FROG Me262 which I finished with oil paints from a paint-by-numbers set. Next was a MiL2, a Mil 6, and Antonov An12 cub. More Christmas gifts - they were Eastern European or Russian kits in a weird brittle Styrene, I honestly don’t recall the producer.
First kit was around 1964 or 1965, my dad and I began to build a Stuka (don’t recall scale) while doing laundry at laundromat. We later finished the build at home. I was 10 yrs old when I attempted my first model jet kits of a F4D Skyray and a F8 Crusader. 55 plus years later still building model kits.
The Stuka is an interesting first kit!! It's awesome that you're still building. I'll be starting up soon again with all the kits I've found. It would be ashame to just have them sit there!!! 😉
I seem to remember the first kit I "attempted" to build was a Palmer Ford Galaxie (?). It was an exchange gift from the elementary school christmas party. I brought it home and started fitting parts together. Of course, if anyone remembers these terrible Palmer kits, you will remember that the bodies are multiple pieces and very fiddly. I became frustrated in a very short time and let out a string of foul language that would make a sailor blush ! My mother quickly ran into the room - slapped my mouth - gathered up the parts and chucked them into the trash. Eventually, I was able to build kits like Beer Wagon, S'cool Bus, and a few other Tom Daniels designs. I slowly got better and better.
HSP was a master of the chalks, I always thought he used a larger scale to build his box art, there was inconsistent differences with the 1/32 models in the box, minor, but inconsistent. Nice video.
You know... I never really thought about him using chalks and pastels but he did indeed use a lot for weathering from what I remember. Figures seem like they would be hard to control. Thanks for pointing that out and watching the video! - Tom
a Boeing P-12 biplane. it was a ridiculously tiny scale like 1/148th. it was about 3 Inches long. I was way too young and it was a gluey mess. I envy your haul!
I remember most of the P-12s had a really cool paint scheme of olive drab, red and yellow! I can't remember the name of the one that had the eagle feet on the landing gear...
Thank yee Thank yee! I'm getting the itch to go out and try a few garage sales or thrift stores this weekend. Last few weekends Mother Nature has NOT cooperated!!! :)
I think the first one I built was an Airfix Series 1 Westland Whirlwind, bagged, bought from the local post office for the princely sum of 1/3d (about 6p) in around 1965 or so.
Excellent! I never built that one... not sure why. It looked like it would have been an excellent aircraft but it never lived up to other aircraft of that time. I think there is one still flying! - Tom
I saw the Monogram 1/48 Mitsubishi Zero type 52, that was one of my first bought two models in 1979. The other one was Airfix 1/72 P-51D. What a nice memory !
I just stumbled upon this video...almost the same modeling history as myself! We too had a Kresge's in Davenport, Iowa that was my go to for model purchases! And mostly the Thom Daniels/Monogram vehicles. Thanks for the ride down memory lane and congrats on your once in a lifetime garage sale purchase. Great video.
That's awesome David!!! I'm glad it brought back some good memories! Not a lot of folks remember Kresge's. This weekend...I found another 10 models at a garage sale and thrift store.
Wow!!!! I see a lot of kits from my childhood (single digit ages), as well as several kits I never built but wanted to. First kit I can remember building was Mongram’s amphibious weasel.
@@escaperealityhobbies definitely brought back some good memories. I’ve even bought at least 1 kit (Monogram B-29) to do a good job on it as an adult as opposed to childhood.
My first? A Local (NZ)toy company's (Lincoln Toys) rebox of the early Mongram Spitfire IX about 1966. (I think- I didn't pay much attention to what year it was.)
Thanks Paul! Hopefully it brought back some good memories! By chance do you remember what B-26 it was? Monogram, Airfix, Matchbox? Welcome back to the hobby. I myself took about a 25 year break, busy with it for a few years, then another 10 year break. It's time for me to get building!!! - Tom P.S. - Going to do more garage/yard sales this weekend and maybe score some more treasures!!!!
I'm not sure who produced the model kit, I do remember that it was Snap together kit. I mistakenly called it a B26 Mitchell it was the "B 25 Mitchell "my second model was a John Deere backhoe.
Hey Tom! Lamplight_painter_d here. This video also took me back to memory lane. I never got to build any of the smaller planes until college but my very first airplane kit was the Revell B-24 Liberator that my Dad bought me when I was 6. He pretty much built it after I kept getting glue on the table but he at least helped me out with it before firing me from the assembly line. 😆 Little did I know that building models would later lead me to start wargaming. Now I just crave building and painting miniatures and miniature vehicles. You can say model building was the cause of my hobby addiction now. 😆 Great video! Thanks for sharing!
Thanks for watching! Did you get any severance pay after being fired?!!!! :) I think it's very true about model building at any early age leading towards other miniature and wargaming hobbies. I'll probably get into Flames of War or Bolt Action as those two fill soooo many interests for me - history, models, gaming, etc. What wargames are you into? - Tom
@@escaperealityhobbies Alas, no severance pay. 😆 As for what games I play, here's the list after I quit playing 40K in 2003 (in order of addiction 😆) : Flames of War Gear Krieg Bloodbowl Heavy Gear Bolt Action Black Powder Across the Dead Earth Regimental Fire and Fury Victus Star Wars Legion and a smattering of Skirmish games that my friends have me play just to keep me in the hobby. 😆
"In order of addiction...." CLASSIC response!!! :) I have five of the games you have listed, NEVER played one of them... It's a matter of time but I need to build/paint things, learn them... and most importantly... find some folks that will play!
@@escaperealityhobbies Finding people to play is the hardest thing to do these days. I'm doing the same right now. Solo gaming gets boring after the third turn. 😆 Well good luck, brother! I'd offer my time to play with you but I'm stuck out here in CA. But if you're ever in the neighborhood of Stockton, just send me a notice on Instagram and I'll get my dice warmed up. 😆
first model built, good god that was almost 50 years ago. let's see it would have been Revell's P51D 1975ish time frame. would be doing Revell and Monogram for next couple years. till i bought my first MRC Tamyia kit which was the early version Tiger 1. haven't built Revell or Monogram since.
I'm thrilled you liked it!!! :) Granted, it was much longer than I wanted it to be but I think I got caught up in my own memories!!! The 1970s was an awesome time to grow up in. Still the old fashioned values but mixed with modern stuff just around the corner! It definitely got me wanting to dive into model building again!!! Thanks again! - Tom
@@escaperealityhobbies Thats correct. Built many thousand models since. Been trying to remember the name of the hobby shop in north St. Pete. in the 1970s.
What a Blessing for a devoted Hobbyist. I built Many of those Kits in the 80s. I have found a few on eBay in the past 5 years. The force Was with you. Those Models are Gold. They gave you a chance to add as detail you wanted. I'm glad to have found you. Will visit your channel often. One Question. What is the issue Of the Military Modler with Rommel on it? I have Many but don't have that one. Thanks for sharing those, Kits. So, for now Over and Out.
Good Eye!! June/1975, Vol. 2/MO. 3 😁 I love old kits from the 1960s to 1980s. Most consider them the ugly stepchildren of today's models but they're treasures in their own way!!
@@escaperealityhobbies it was a 1/72 Valentine from some Japanese company which never got famous I think. Bloody tracks bent the bogie wheels. Must have been because I only waited about 5 mins to put them on. Greetings from New Zealand!
Thanks a bunch Big C! :) Just subbed to you as well... I think I might try and go out this weekend to see if I can find some more garage sale or thrift shop model treasures!!! - Tom
My first model F104 star fighter second model Star Trek model my third Patton tank and I took my time building them and I still have them and I'm only 62 years old
Greetings from South Texas ...I'm 65 years young n still making them....lots of memories thanks 😊
I'm glad you enjoyed it! I think most folks our age remember those Monogram models fondly!!! 😉
I didn't take your models for my nail polish revenge! So glad to see that you are reliving your joy and happiness of model building. Keep up the good work!
OK, I believe you... still a MYSTERY! Love you!
Hmmm, seems a rather vague, ambiguous answer from your sister, so funny! That Seaview model was the first one I tried painting too so I know how you felt. I used a royal blue Testor with a brush for the base color and a silver for smaller parts. Surprisingly it didn’t come out too bad for my first try despite some fingerprints on some parts and on my fingers for days. Those little bottles were a pain in the but to open when your ten years old. Lol. One of my first aircraft was right after the Seaview which was the Monogram F4U Corsair which I sprayed gloss black! I also built that P38 Lightning you found,! Of course it was the early 70s I built the first Starship Enterprise and the Klingon ship! I was envious to see the MASH models and that B25 Mitchell! I had forgotten about Kresgee, and have fond memories of the soda fountain counter and the toy and model section got many models there and later from good old KB Toys!! Which was owned by the Kaufman family whom one of the youngest daughters I went to high school with, she was a wonderful person! Great times modeling a skill that taught me patience and attention to detail that influenced my whole life! Something that many of today’s youths need and I hope to share with my now two year old granddaughter who is a brilliant clever very curious adorable little girl demonstrates great concentration figuring things out trying to take things apart such fun!
First model I built by myself was the IMC A-4 Skyhawk with battle damage back in 1967. My father was a former naval pilot and was still interested in aircraft models. He started me with plastic models and eventually on to balsa. Never left the hobby in my 58 years of building scale models.
OMG!!! I remember that and built it! I thank your dad for his service... I'm a 20+ year Naval Vet as well. 😉
my first armor kit i built in 1963. it was the 1/48 scale aurora Panther, with the box art showing german infantry scrambling along side the tank. loved it. bought it at the variety store for $ 1 dollar and 29 cents.
A pure moment of happiness. Thank you so much for sharing this wonderful souvenir of youth. Cheers from France.
Well said!!!! 😉
@@escaperealityhobbies i remember very well a wonderful monogram catalogue of the 70's... It was so....american 🙂. I dreamed in front of these fantastic images and these incredible models of tanks.
What a trip down memory lane. Especially loved seeing the Monogram armor kits.
I'm glad you enjoyed it!!! 😉
The first kit i built was when i was 5 years old back in 1959. i was living in the rocky mountain hamlet of spray lakes, Alberta.,Canada. i couldn't yet read the instructions. it was an aurora models 1/72 scale avro CF-100. but the instructions had arrows to show how the assembly went, so i was good. i built the lindbergh me 109 and spitfire, the aurora me-109, aurora hellcat, the monogram hellcat, helldiver and revell martin mariner. to name a few. the airfix fokker triplane, re-8, albatros DIII...so many more. most of my building occurred in the sixties. i still have the first monogram 1/72 scale b-52, vietnam version, given to me at christmas, 1968. still haven't built it. thanks for your show...just love it.
That's a bunch of awesomeness right there! I enjoyed Lindberg kits even though lots of modelers didn't like them. They were simple and fun. Their ship models were probably the last models I built before going in the Navy. I never built a B-52, any scale... thanks for watching!!! 🤗
@@escaperealityhobbies always will watch your show, now that i have discovered it...xxxjane
@@janehill9764 VERY MUCH appreciated!!!!
@@escaperealityhobbies well, i appreciate you, your comments on models and your show! xxjane
My first model was a Monogram M-48 tank. It was 1964 and I was 5 years old. My dad helped, but I did all the gluing. And yes it didn't come out perfect. I wasn't aloud to paint it. I would eventually build all of Monogram's 1/35th and 1/32nd armor models. I actually have a 1959 Monogram M-48 issue in my stash. The same year I was born. I'm 63 now, and I'm still building models. Great score at the garage sale. Thanks for the great video down memory lane.
I can only DREAM about having all the old Monogram Armor models. It's amazing what some of them are going for now. The "battle" for me is do I build them or use them for display in my hobby room. Models were, after all, made to be built! :)
I built the M48 monogram tank also, great detail cool model
My first kit was in 1966/67 time frame (6/7 years old); was either the Aurora Batmobile, AH-1G Cobra or UH-1B Huey. They all had little figures- I thought that was so neat!
Monogram kits were really great. They weren't particularly accurate, often combining details from several variants on the same model. But they were sturdy, readily available and not very expensive. Some companies made aftermarket cockpits/details which really improve them; still have a Kingfisher with a resin cockpit in the stash; and a Huey with a resin conversion to a UH-1 C gunship.
Still have many of Shep Paine's diorama pamphlets from those kits- B-17, Jeep, B-29, TBD Devastor. Can't find my 1980 copy of the book (think i gave it away) but have the updated version. I may not have actually built any dioramas, but have done many in my head! Maybe one day.....
You sound like a brother from another mother!!! 😊
Yeah, this is 2 years old. Nice stash find!!!!
Dont remember the "exact" first model but the first one I remember for sure was the MPC 28 Lincoln "Gangbusters" model car.
WAY over my head. It had steering wheel that would turn the wheels. Doors that would open. Hood that would open. Seats that would fold down. Of course my gluing skills prevented any of those from working. Cool accessories too. Two figures, tiny guns, boxes, bottles, knives, billy club. Could be built as a cop or gangster car.
Molded in black plastic! Tried to paint it yellow with a paint brush!!!! Never did finish it.
@@kingforaday8725 Whoa! That would be totally over my head as a newbie modeler... but it sounds like a really cool model!!! 👍
I remember building model soldiers from Tamiya in the late 70's. We were all into armymen so having more cooler looking soldiers was fun.
It's cool that those same molds and models are still around!!!
Stig Svanberg: Very Interesting watching this. Memories comes to my mind.
That's awesome!!! Lots of good memories with the old, classic models... Simpler times! 😉
Great treasure find!
My first model kit was the Monogram 1/48 T-28 Trojan. My Dad was an instructor in the T-28 with VT-5 at Saufley Field in Pensacola. He brought the kit home and we built it together . I think it was 1971-72. I was 7 years old. My next kits were the Snoopy and Red Baron Model kits. Then the Aurora Forgotten Prisoner of Castle Mare'. I just discovered and enjoying your channel !!!!! Thank you !!!
@jetcom1121 All great classic kits. I always loved the Trojan in the red & white trainer colors for the Navy. Thanks for watching!!!
Man, you hit a nostalgia models jackpot, I remember building most of these Monogram kits. Brought back memories.
Glad you enjoyed it!!! Simpler times... 😉
The first model I "helped" my dad build was the 1/48 scale Hawk Westland Lysander when I was 7 years old in 1967. He bought it as a surprise, I say helped because he did all the gluing, I just cut the parts loose from the sprue as he needed them. No paint used since the plastic was green and the picture on the box was of an army green airplane. Of course the plastic was nowhere near the correct color. I remember he misunderstood the directions for the decals, instead of cutting the individual decals out as they were needed, he put the entire sheet of them in the sink full of warm water. I still remember his extreme use of colorful metaphors as he scrambled to get the decals on the model. Around 20 years ago I found the exact same Hawk Lysander kit on ebay, I bought and built it as an homage to my first model, yes, it was the same ugly green as the original kit so I did paint this one, I also did not mess up the decals, the original model wound up with markings only on one side and one wing, the rest were stuck to the sink. The next kit was the Aurora Seaview, then a WWII German Submarine that summer followed by a pair of tiny WWII aircraft, perhaps 1/144 or 1/100 scale, a Corsair and a Zero for christmas the same year. He let me build and decal those models. The next one was an AMT 1967 Chevelle SS 396 when I was either 9 or 10, I still remember the distinct smell of opening an AMT model car kit, nothing else like it.
Great stories Kenneth and an "interesting" way to do decals all at once! The Lyzie was always a neat kit. You can still find them from Testors or Italeri. Cool to see another Seaview builder! It sounds like you build quite a few as a youngster. Are you still building? Thanks for watching and commenting! - Tom
@@escaperealityhobbies Yep, I still build, mostly sci-fi, I built the aurora Seaviwe again 20 or so years ago when Polar lights re-issued it and I built the large one that Moebius released a few years ago. Right now I am doing the 1/25 Caterpillar bulldozer reissue from AMT/Round 2. For some reason they chromed a number of the parts in the kit, there is no chrome anywhere on that bulldozer!
@@kennethlee494 You build some COOL subjects!!!
I'm a bit older than you, however my local Woolworths had a great selection of models. Mostly Monogram and Aurora.
My first build was the Monogram 1/48 Me109 and I was hooked (movable landing gear). You'll love the Hurrican kit you got: workable landing gear and enough ordnance choices to keep you up at night or buy two more kits. My first tank was the Monogram 1/32 Stug'. Monogram lost out with 1/32 scale in armor to Tamiya's 1/35. Have fun is all I can say. I'm just learning the joys of photoetch at 65 and still building.
I miss Woolworths! We had one in St. Pete but it was too far for me to ride my bike. When my mom did take me there, I remember seeing the Aurora Planet of the Apes models and a couple biplane. I think most modelers love the old Monogram 1/32 armor kits for the simplicity AND the Shepherd Paine inserts. 😉
Wow, what a find. I probably built half of those kits from age 9 through age 20 - almost all bought at a Kresge's store or the local drug store. First kit was a 1/48 scale Spitfire by Arfix from a garage sale. Thanks for the walk down memory lane!
Glad you enjoyed it! I was sad when Kresge's went away but then discovered a "real" hobby shop a couple towns away...
First model? Revell X-15. I was five or six. About 1963? Probably cost a buck. My mom had to help. It was a mess. I found the same model in the original box three years ago for 75 times that amount. Bought it, and built it correctly. Sits in my hobby room next to my (same purchase) 1964 Revell Mercury/Gemini capsules atop resin rockets. Built those as a kid too, and they were also a mess! Love finding treasures like those you found.
That's cool! Especially finding it later life and doing it again!!! 👍
Thank you for the trip down memory lane, I remember building many of these kits in my childhood. My first kits were the Monogram P40 Flying Tigers and M4 Screaming Mimi. People today don't remember how popular models were in the 60's and 70's. I remember that our local mom & pop convenient store even had a shelf of kits, and they always had a couple dozen plane and car models for sale.
Thanks for watching Mike and I'm glad you enjoyed it! Modeling is still very popular now, but basically with the 40 and older crowd. Too many things for youngsters to do now. Plus, kids (and a lot of adults) want IMMEDIATE results these days! ;)
@@escaperealityhobbies Believe me I know how popular it is today. I'm on my 3rd go with the hobby, been at it for the last 16 years, but just thinking back to when hobby shops were as common as Game Stops, and every department store had models for sale. My favorite was Woolworth's bargain basement and Airfix and Revell kits for $.79, those were the days.
@@mikedietrich8356 Woolworths was soooo cool! :)
A 1958 SMP Pontiac Bonneville convertible when I was nine in 1959. It was simple and who knew plastic glue fumes were not good for you! I came across the original instructions about 15 years ago with many others I saved for some reason and sold them on ebay for good money. So try to keep as much as possible and don't tell your mom where it is or it will get "cleaned out!".
I'm curious, do you remember the scale or overall size of the model. I know a lot of the old kis were 1/32 or even smaller! Thanks for watching!!! 😉
We had similar childhoods.
Brothers from different mothers!! 😉
Man, that is one lucky find! I hope those Monogram 1/32 scale Armor Series models still have the Shep Paine diorama tip sheets; those literally kept me in the hobby by taking model building to the next level. I don't remember the first model I ever built. (I think it was an Aurora hot rod kit in 1/32 scale.) But I do have a fond memory of those Sturmpanzer 43 and Ostwind Flakpanzer kits, and I have a story about them to tell . . . .
I was 14 years old in the summer of 1974, and I had just helped my dad build a cedar closet downstairs. We put up the frame with 2x4's, fixing them to the basement floor with a .22 cal. stud gun (that dad even let me use a few times.) When finished, dad gave me five whole (1974) dollars and the next day I rode my bike straight to K-Mart and made a beeline for the model kit section to get myself a Monogram 1/32 tank kit. I already had the Panzer IV, the Sturmgeschütz IV, and the Flakpanzer Wirbelwind, so my choice was between the Sturmpanzer and the Ostwind. After about half an hour, I settled on the Ostwind, and went to get in line to pay for it. It was almost my turn when an idea suddenly hit me, and I went back to the model kit section, and swapped the Ostwind for the Sturmpanzer. The line was a lot longer when I got back to it, but I didn't care. I had an idea . . . .
Once I got home - even before I tore the wrapper off the kit - I dove into the trash can to dig out as many of the spent .22 cal. short round casings that I could find before the trashmen could come for them. Dad then cut me a square of plywood for my base, and I proceeded to build a diorama of the Sturmpanzer surrounded by spent cartridges! I didn't care that they weren't exactly 1/32nd scale 150mm shell casings. To my Ninth Grade Eyes, they looked great!
Enjoy your vintage kits, and thanks for posting this!
Awesome story, awesome comments!!! Yup, EVERY ONE of them has the Sheperd Paine inserts! I'd pay $10 each just for those! The Flakpanzers were the two I was most interested in... Something just neat about the look. I have no idea if I'm actually going to build these some day or just keep the boxes on display. If I do build them, I'd want to build them the way they look on the boxes, not with all the ultra-modern/realistic looks we have now. Are you still building models? - Tom
@@escaperealityhobbies Yes, I am. I'm 62 and retired, now. But my main problem is lack of space to display newly finished models. As for dioramas, I have recently adopted methods used by wargamers to make buildings out of carved XPS insulation foam and thick cardstock, rather than out of thin plywood or using aftermarket plaster or resin buildings along the traditional Paine / Verlinden / Letterman methods. These buildings are less expensive, easier to construct, and durable enough to withstand rigorous game play - and more than strong enough for traditional static display models.
That said, I do owe a debt of gratitude to Shep Paine for inspiring me to remain in the hobby through the encouragement of his tip sheets. Sadly, I never got to meet the man, himself. But one day, I was at a local hobby shop (that unfortunately doesn't exist, anymore) in the early 1980's and got to meet Francois Verlinden. I was also a member of IPMS Gateway Chapter, and learned a lot from fellow member, Bob Letterman; The Master of the Large Dioramas, himself. Sadly, Mr. Letterman passed away earlier this year, but as with Shep Paine, his influence and contribution to the hobby cannot be underestimated.
Again, enjoy building your fantastic find!
Yes, Verlinden was another pioneer!!! Took Shep's work just a bit farther. I tried to pick up a few of his models when they were on auction... I missed out by just a few bucks... :( I'm going to start making buildings myself for tabletop games and the methods you mentioned will be in use. If there's a will, there's a way you'll find space for your models. Right now, I'm just trying to figure out space in my Hobby Room just so I can move around! Take care, Tom
@@escaperealityhobbies As a final aside, I have one of those Monogram 1/32nd scale M3 Grant Tanks - one of the hardest to find these days in the series. My plan is to build it using the provided "test vehicle" decal option (something I've never seen done with one of these kits) and pair it in a diorama with the Airfix 1/32nd scale Monty's Humber kit. As for the figures, detail parts and decals included to make the American Lee the British Grant, my plan is to combine these with a Monogram 1/32nd scale Sherman Calliope that was recently reissued to build a Monogram "Phantom Kit" of the British Sherman Mk. I; something Monogram should have done back in the day, but didn't. As an added bonus, the kit suspension may be used "as-is" for a early British Sherman and not updated as per Shep Paine to accurize it for the Sherman Calliope or Hedgehog versions.
Again, have fun building those old kits. In addition to the M3 Grant, that Ostwind Flakpanzer is also very hard to find. My suggestion is to build them in dioramas "Old School" style, using plywood for the base and buildings with Celluclay groundwork instead of XPS foam, with NOTHING aftermarket added. Happy Modeling!
@@modelermark172 I agree, I've seen the Lee at model shows over the years but no the Grant...
Monogram 1:48 Ju 87G-1 Stuka #6840 1975 . Completely painted with light blue belly and camo top frame. Hung it from fishing line from my light over my bed. Showed it to my Aunt and Uncle where I was living, little response. No surprise, they had little interest in my hobbies. Models, comics, bubble gum cards, etc. I loved that kit and cleaned it every week until leaving home after collage. I forgot it and moved on to other kits, but asked in 2011 before my aunt passed away what happened to it. They had moved twice and couldn't remember what happened to it. Not really interested in rebuilding it now, my memories are good enough for now.
Classic fun model! As I got older, I used to shoot rubber bands at some of my "bad" models hanging from the ceiling... Shame on me!!! 😉
Greetings from the UK - I'm so envious of your garage sales and thrift stores having model kits - we don't have garage sales over here and its almost unheard of to find more than the occasional mini kit at a charity shop or a boot sale. That aside, my first kits were Airfix and Matchbox tanks but the most memorable kits were Aurora monsters, prehistoric scenes and the TV scifi. Cost me a small fortune buying them all again!!!!!!
Who no garage sales? Something the UK doesn't allow or are they taxed? That's a bummer! I love ALL the old Matchbox kits. No, not detailed but they looked the part, were easy to do... and their subjects were ones that no one else would do!!! Some of the first Aurora Models I did (other than the Seaview) were the Planet of the Apes models. Keep looking in the charity shops... you might be surprised what you find!!! - Tom
That's "Why no.... not Who. ;)
The first model that I built was a 1970 Chevelle, and I believe it was in 1970. I got it as a birthday present along with a tube of glue, one paint brush and a bottle of red paint.
How long did it take you to build? 😉
@@escaperealityhobbies I don't remember, but I'm sure it was only a couple of hours. Now it can take weeks or even months, if I do finish. I can lose interest at times and a kit will get put back in the box to be finished who knows when.
I LIKED THE CLASSIC BOX ART…
That’s what sold the kits…
Love the classic box art. Then the Politically Correct folks got involved and removed any war activity from the boxes. Apparently, those battle scenes corrupted us as kids! ;>) Take care - Tom
Well played sir,... well played 😉 Monogram's SBD Dauntless, first kit. I can still see it ☺
I'm glad you enjoyed it! I think I built every single engined fighter Monogram made when I was young.
Ok now that you revealed your the luckiest kid in town. I had all of the tank kits but one the Brummbar I know that's not the name but that's what I heard as a kid. I found one in a K mart when I was about 14 and I was broke I begged my dad for it but no was no back then and you didn't whine about it. Or else. Could you open it at least to show what I never got to see. That was my unicorn. And thanks for the walk back through my childhood. Lucky and 45 DOLLARS!!!!! 💥 BOOM 💥 go's my brain.
Luckiest "big" kid! :) I'm glad this brought back some hopefully "good" memories, other than dad ditching you and scaring you for life! ;) Needless to say, SW Florida has a lot of elderly (which I'm almost there....) in it and they have some great garage/yard sale items. I've only found one more car model missing parts. I'll keep looking!!!
Hello. I came across your channel today. Liked & subscribed immediately 👍 I am less than a month from turning 58. My first kit was the Monogram Hawker Hurricane, built in the early summer of 1976. I "borrowed" my kid sister's Tempera water color paints and coated in some shade of blue. Of course by late afternoon the paint peeled completely off! My eyes teared up some when you showed the Hurricane & Zero kits. Just as I remember them on the shelf of my local 5 & 10 store where I bought them! Great memories came flooding back when you showed the models you bought at the garage sale. I remember building just about all of them. A real treasure-trove of memories! Thanks for posting and I will be tuning in from now on.
Thanks Jim and I'm so, so glad this brought back some great memories for you! We sound like brothers from a different mothers! Plus, looks like we had very similar experiences. Take a look at my Episode 9 video... that will probably bring back EVEN MORE memories and please vote for the two you'd like to see built! Thanks for subscribing!!!! - Tom
@@escaperealityhobbies Sure will Tom. I am starting from the beginning with your first video. I like your modest, relaxed, funny & honest style. Very enjoyable to watch. Keep 'em coming! 👍
@@jimaltergott9326 Thanks a bunch Jim, very kind! I just hope I can make this channel work. I love hobbies, but it would be nice to make a few hundred a month (eventually) on CZcams to pay for them!!! :)
I started building model kits when I was about 9, which was in 1976. I belonged to a club that sent me a model once a month for about a year. If I remember correctly they were Revell and Mongram kits. They were mostly WW2 aircraft, with a couple of cars and ships. Don't know what they cost as my mom paid for them. I also used to buy kits at Woolworths.
I always wanted to join one of those clubs... Mom said too much!!! 🤨 I think I picked up a model or two from Woolworths as well... it was just a long way from home. Thanks for watching!!!
Shepard Payne was unbelievable.Every monogram kit I couldnt wait to open the kit to see the diorama pictures.I have the huge book about dioramas written by Payne that has all of his stuff along with explanations about them.
That's an outstanding book! He was so much more than "just" a modeler!!!
I just purchased through e bay the Hedge Hog kit from Monogram I built this kit when I was ten and it changed hands a few times. the kit then I payed 10.00. The seller had it listed for 70.00 with dollar exchange from Canadian to American plus shipping is now 114.00 so you got a great deal its too bad she didnt know what she had . Thanks for giving her the extra by the way
Hi James and thanks for watching!!!!! Yeah, pretty darn crazy what the original ones are going for now. Especially since Revell-Monogram (USA) when into bankruptcy... Unfortunately, the folks that bought their remaining holdings destroyed/scrapped many of their original molds!!! Boo-hoo-hoo... :( The same lady had another yard sale and I picked up a couple Milton Bradley & Parker Brothers games from the 1960s! :)
I don't remember my first kit, but at nearly 70 yrs old I think I can be forgiven. I'm going to say it was an airfix model, the cheap ones that came in a plastic bag with a cardboard header. It was probably a spitfire or similar, but I was only about 10 yrs old.
Those plastic bag and hanging card Airfix kits are classics. I still have a couple sealed ones, biplanes... and everything is yellowed in them but I appreciate them!
One of my first completed models was that Sherman Hedge Hog when in junior high.
Awesome, awesome! It's still a fun model! - Tom
i remember all those kits! what a find! so want them!
Check out the models I found at the Thrift store. 🤗 I went out last weekend up in Sarasota and found another dozen or so kits - that will be the subject of my next video...
My first model I built was the Cougar military jet by Revell....loved it!!
Cool subject! Of course I'm biased being a Retired Navy Chief... 😉
Thank you for your inclusion of Shep Paine's works of art and his involvement with Monogram. At 22.59 of your video there is a still of Shep's "Eve of Essling" diorama. Many mounted Historex plastic models are featured. If you have ever built and painted a Historex kit you realize they are detailed and accurate, the tough part is making them look "human", as they come off as stiff store fashion manikins. Shep was able to relax them into reality and tells how to do it in one of the Historex catalogs. I still have that catalog and 3 or 4 Historex kits somewhere.
In the early 70's I saw the Movie Waterloo with Rod Steiger as Napoleon, bought a few Airfix 1:32 kit figures. Over time I purchased more Napoleonics of various scales in metal, plastic, and resin. Also painted a lot of Stadden 80mm musician figures. I had always liked car models but viewing them at contests left me with " nice paint jobs and details but the chrome was toylike". After painting figures where the game is to take this sculpted lump and make it come alive, building a toy car was not going to happen. Then the game changer"Alclad" metalizers where you now are in control of scale chrome. And about 400 stashed automotive kits await me...............................cheers eh!
Shep did indeed make things come alive! Another great is Francois Verlinden. I "almost" won a couple of his models in an auction years ago... missed out by just $3!!! The nice thing about car models is you don't need to weather them. Chrome was always my issue building cars, I never could get the "foil stuff" to lay just right...
Hi from the U.K. A modeller since the 1950s, I got out of building kits in the 1990s, but I’ve got a couple of Monogram Big Deuce kits put by. My best find recently was a boxed unbuilt Monogram Sizzler dragster kit from 1961. Although I built Drag Racing and Hot Rod kits from the early 60s onwards, this was one model that I never had. Do I build it, or leave it unbuilt. All of the parts were carefully wrapped in the box, and the rubber tyres were in their own little sealed bag. This kit brings back many happy memories of my childhood.
A lot of those car kits from the 60s are soooo hard to find! Do with it with what makes you happy!!!!
Very admirable for you to give her $60. Great buy!
Actually... $75! :) It didn't feel right to give her what she wanted or even $60. :)
@@escaperealityhobbies Well even more admirable.
Five partial models for five bucks at a garage sale. They went into the tub in the shop marked "Nerf Ship". They were missing lots of parts, but will find new life as my sci-fi hyperspatial, transmogrified, interglactic space ship!
EXACTLY!!!!! You can always find a use for them!
i so loved monogram armor! i built my first one in 1970. it was the panzerkampfwagen IV. i built the sturmgeschutz IV a year later. both were 1/32 scale.
They were smart to use the Panzer IV as the base model so they could do several subjects!
The switch to photos of the actual models was a legal requirement - not a marketing ploy. Basically, the story or myth was that some boy was upset that the model didn't look like the picture on the box and his mom apparently complained to the FTC who felt the artwork was false advertising and so all American model manufacturers had to switch to photos of the models. Also, my first model was the Revell USS Fletcher destroyer, built when I was six years old and I had a painting "whoops" - after painting the hull bottom red - with actual model paint! - I set it down on the nightstand in my bedroom and of course when it dried to stuck to the wood! Boy, did my mom give me hell. That was in 1957. I don't recall what my first plane was, but my first tank was Revell's M4 Sherman, a few years after the Fletcher. I built over 700 models in the ten years between 6 and 16. Back then most models were less than a dollar and some less than 50 cents. When I was 10 I started getting an allowance of $3 a week from my dad (it went up to $5 a week a few years later) and I also started working doing the usual jobs teenagers do like lawn mowing, so I was actually quite "rich" and bought and built at least one and often two models a week, sometimes more. I have now increased my model building quantity to almost a thousand, but most are long gone, destroyed as teenagers often do in various ways, or thrown away when we moved and just couldn't take all of them with me.
Wow!!! That's crazy!!! I guess what I read was kind of a tweak of that story about "seeing the model better". Sounds like today, one person complains and everyone scramble to appease them at the expense of everyone else! :( I think I may have done the same thing when I build the Fletcher, painting the hull, but I put mine on newspaper. Since the paper stuck, my neighbor suggested I paint the newspaper blue to simulate waves. 700 MODELS - that's AMAZING!!! - Tom
I too have found some great old models at yard/garage sales. Some very rare ones too in like brand new condition. Glad to see you offer the lady more then what she was asking. She obviously didn’t know anything about models. Very good video. I like!
That awesome! I enjoy the hunt!! It's neat to find old stuff, but the decals are not always good. Still easy to replace them if needed. Personally, I like finding the odd stuff but anything that reminds me of my childhood is nice. At one time, I had just about every Matchbox plane ever made. Then, when I went in the Navy.... Mom cleaned house!!! :(
thanks for the history! I've built some of those monogram armor kits, but never thought about box art.
I'll probably build at least a couple of them... Just to show how simple, but enjoyable, these models used to be. The nice thing, the Sheperd Paine inserts are in each one of them along with the B-26 model! Yay-woo!!!
Hi Tom, I just found your channel and subscribed. Great video and great story. Your probably 4 to 5 years older than me but we pretty much had a lot in common growing up. granted, your in FL and I was in CA, so K-Mart was where most of my kits came from back then. Second, OMG!!! What a cool score!!!! Those are some amazing kits and worth a lot more than what you paid. Also, I thought it was really nice of you to offer her a more reasonable amount for them than what she originally priced them at.
To answer your question, I vaguely remember the first kit I built with my dad but I was probably 3 to 5 years old at the time but, it was a war bird of some sort. I know it had two engines but that is where the memory fades. Best guess it may have been a P-38. The ones I definitely remember, as some of my first, were the old funny car snap-tite kits. That said, I have been building most of my life, except for the 20+ year break I took, I just got back into the hobby a couple of years ago.
I'm looking forward to checking out the rest of your videos and future content. Have a great day. -David
Hi David! Thanks for the kind words and nice to meet another modeler! Wow, 3?!! That's a young'n to start modeling! I built a couple of the Snap-Tite Funny Cars as well....loved 'em! I look at the old Monogram armor kits I scored (they ALL have the Sheperd Paine inserts!) and ask myself will I build them or just look at them!!! Thanks for subbing!!! Tom
My friends neighbor passed away, he was a navy vet, and left an apartment full of unbuilt model kits- all high end top brand names ... My eyes are going, my model making days are over, and id really like an older antique car, anybody got cash or trade? These are mostly ww2 to gulf war ships, armor, and planes... Many navy and pacific ww2 japanese. Several big models like a giant fletcher class destroyer, the indianapolis, the hornet with B-25s,. And the arizona. Too many brands and types to list, took me 3 full carloads floor to roof... Enough to fill 2 closets! I was saving them for my retirement, but like i said, my eyes are going. Im into Studebaker cars, but open to anything old,
Sorry to hear about your friends loss... :( I think a lot of us modelers will be leaving kits behind!
My first platic model was the aurora 'me109.molded in bugandy plastic.did not paint. A gift from my grandparents! Rest their souls.i was 8 years old at the time. Hooked ever since! Enjoying your channel.new subscriber! Please have more of these!
That's soooo cool! I remember that color with a biplane or two I had from Aurora... I wonder why they chose that color? It was a sort of metallic/burgundy finish if I remember correctly. I really appreciate you subscribing... spread the word! :) Tom
You are very welcome.also do you remember the other aurora fighters: the black fulk wolf: blue p38: yellow zero:dark blue f4f hellcat?
@@bernardschnupp5842 I think I remember the yellow Zero... :) The burgundy plastic will be what I ALWAYS remember though... :)
I BOUGHT HIS FIRST BOOK. " HOW TO BUILD DIORAMA'S". THE DETAIL ON HOW HE DID THING'S WAS AMAZING. I'VE BEEN BUILDING MODEL'S AND DIORAMA'S FOR 50 YEAR'S NOW, AND I NEVER LOOKED BACK. GREAT HOBBY.
Great Hobby indeed! That book was amazing and I'm sure it's still a favorite of most modelers!!!
I absolutely love the B-36 bomber. So your revell kit is cool
Thank you! I finally found some more models this past 4th of July weekend!!! It had been like 24 garage sales and ZERO since the video. Nothing huge, but some really cool oldies. I'm planning on doing another shorter video. - Tom
@@escaperealityhobbies due to my work schedule I dont get to hit up too many yard sales.
@@fattywithafirearm I get it...your day will come!
@@escaperealityhobbies I work nights so yeah my day will come.
First time seeing this MAY 27th 2022…
I enjoyed watching this… my first kit was the AURORA 1/48 P - 40…
1968…
Been building models since…well on n off… just got back into it…
MONOGRAM, REVELL, AURORA then TAMIYA and anything else that caught my eye… still build the old stuff…
ENJOYED WATCHING THIS
CHRIS from OHIO
Thanks Chris! Do you remember the color of the plastic of the P-40? I remember they molded a lot of stuff in the burgundy plastic! :) I think I'm going to start up building again with either an older Monogram/Revell kit or possibly Airfix or Matchbox. Matchbox was never detailed, but they had some GREAT subjects!!!! - Tom
So glad your video popped up on my You Tube! I think we are close in age, I'm 58 as I write this. I had a very similar start with model building and one of my very first models was the Seaview! I know early on I built the Flying Sub and The Spindrift from the Land of the Giants TV show as well in the late 60's and early 70's. I spent a lot of my allowance and birthday money on the Universal Monster's kits produced by Aurora as well. Those older Monogram models you scored really brought back a lot of memories for me! I bought and built a lot of those models but they are sadly all gone now (I wish I had kept them), but I did save all those Sheperd Paine inserts from those kits. Your video inspired me to go dig them out. It was a great trip down memory lane thank you!
That's awesome Samuel! I'm glad it brought back fun memories for you!!! I think I might have the Monogram release of the Flying Sub buried in my stash somewhere... The Monster kits were great. I built the Mummy kit (the Monogram or Revell reissue) a couple years ago and posted it on my Instagram account (same name as my channel). Smart to keep those Sheperd Paine inserts. Some of those are going to $20+ now. He truly inspired "our" generation. Yup, I'm 58 too, just a couple weeks from 59. We're brothers from different mothers!!! - Tom
I like the sense of
humor in your videos 😄🐺.
A little bit keeps me in check and hopefully it gives a smile or two to everyone else! 😊
@@escaperealityhobbies
It certainly brightens my day a little!! :D.
The first episide where your tripod fell over was great xD. Love the skits you make :P.
@@blackwolfll6105 What's humorous is... that actually happened (why I said Sh*t) but I decided to keep it in the video! :)
I built a B-47 (maybe Monogram) when I was 10-12ish, with my grandpa. It was mostly him, but I helped. And I later learned it was one of the aircraft he flew in the USAF. Great find! I hear that there a are people around here that look down on yard sales, but I feel lucky to know the treasures you can find and I’m not too cool to stop.
Oh very true... It's amazing what you can find in garage sales. Rich to poor, all folks like the hunt. I believe both Monogram and Revell made a small scale B-47. Hasegawa made a 1/72nd scale one. :)
First model I built was the Airfix BF109 it was the bag type with the header containing the instructions. I was in primary school at the time 1966 (UK) around eight years of age and our class teacher Mrs Booth bought all the boys an Airfix kit. It was built straight from the bag in one evening and wasn't painted. I've gone from aircraft to ships to military vehicles and that's where I've stayed. This kit started me off in the world of model making and now at the age of sixty four I'm still at it, my skills have vastly improved since those early days and I still get a thrill from buying kits
I WISH I had teachers like that! It's great the "thrill" is still with you!!! - Tom
I'm getting back into the hobby after an ~ 20-25 year hiatus. Paine's dioramas still impress me after all these years. So sorry to hear of his passing. And 👍 on your garage sale haul. I'm hoping to find even a fraction of that this summer.
Welcome back! Keep and eye out, you'll be surprised on what you find. Finding all that stuff really got my juices going to build models again. Talk about a memory bomb going off seeing all those kits from the 70s! I actually found two old white boxed Monogram kits (B-25 Mitchell & B-26 Invader) in a thrift store in Sarasota. Sealed!!! - Take care, Tom
What's on your modeling desk? :)
@@escaperealityhobbies, finishing a Tamiya Panzer II Aus F in desert colors. Waiting to be built are a Hurricane Mk. IA, P-40B, and A6M2 Zero in 1/72 from Airfix; an A-7A Corsair II in 1/72 from Hasegawa; a Klingon Bird of Prey from AMT; and a Babylon 5 Starfury from Revell/Monogram. The two Sci-fi kits were actually sitting in the basement for many years. The others were all recent acquisitions.
The old Panzer II or the new one? You have quite a to build listing piling up! :)
@@escaperealityhobbies, the one from, I believe, 1971 or 72. Just sprayed the undercoat of German Grey a few hours ago. Will probably do the Desert Tan tomorrow. Using an inexpensive Master double action airbrush and Tamiya acrylics.
I was about ten. It was a stuka plane. My dad said he and I would build it when he got home from work. I was like you, couldn't wait. It was a mess but he said that it looked good when he got home. Oh, and we had to be home when the street lights came on. Simpler time for sure.
I think that's the first Stuka mentioned! Always an ugly but cool (in a weird way) plane. Yeah, dad should have known better than to make us wait!!! ;) Simpler time indeed... - Tom
My first kit was the Revell Dave Deal Bug Bomb VW. I was 6 and the year was 1971. Been a plastic and glue slinger ever since.
Oooooooeeeee! I'd love to have that now!!! :)
Ive been looking on eBay for years. They occasionally come up but Im not trying to pay 400.00 for42 plastic parts in a box. There are never any deals even on rebuilders.
@@NitroModelsAndComics Yup... totally agree!
Perhaps some day Ill catch someone sleeping and nab one. Alas, I have more kits than Ill ever build so not a biggie.
Great models, cool vid!!!
Appreciate it! Just NEED to build one or two now, right?! :) Just subbed to your channel - very impressive! - Tom
@@escaperealityhobbies 👍👍
The Monogram kits were the prize of my model building years in the 70s. The 1/48 scale P-51B will always be the best bang for your buck kit of all time. Easy enough for a kid, but detailed and accurate enough to leave open the door to detailing and modifying it further. Second is the 1/48 Monogram F-4C/D/J. If limited to two model kits I could have the rest of my days, it would be stacks of those as they could keep me going forever 🙂. Dan
Thanks for commenting Dan! I'll always have a special place for Monogram kits. I prefer them to the uber-detailed kits of today!!! 👍
Are you still building Monogram kits?
@@escaperealityhobbies I have all kinds of them in my stash. Many of the P51Bs and the F4s. The 1/48 Navy kits such as the SBD F4F F6F and others in the stash. Back in the day the ping pong table made a great flight deck for adventures with those 😀. Those Monogram kits feed the kid still in me. The more recent and detailed kits are more expensive and more geared to detail rivit counter folks. That’s not me 😀
Great video. My first model was, if I remember correctly, the Avia B-35 from the KP company sometime in 1978. Greetings Aleš 😎👍
Thank you!!! I think a HAVE one of those in my stash. The model is sound but the decals have since turned "golden"... Not the good type of gold though. What do you mostly build? I'm really tempted to just do old kits that were made before 1980. No, not much detail compared today, but simpler... and I might like the challenge!!! :)
Just subscribe to you and look forward to watching your videos! - Tom
@@escaperealityhobbies I'm also building mainly old kits. So now I'm finishing the Ford T kit, which is a relatively new kit, but if you look at my canal, you'll see my really very old buildings. Exactly as you say these buildings are the real modeling challenge and it is with them that my building passion is awakened.
@@escaperealityhobbies Thank you so much Tom for supporting my channel. I will also be watching your videos with great interest. Have a nice evening. Aleš
@ Well said!!!
My first model was an original issue Revell PT-212 when I was in the first grade: 1953. That was followed by the B-36, Missouri and FDR ...
Rick, those are some AWESOME models!
My very first model I built was the HMS Victory. I built it as a ship wreaked ship like in the Disney movie Swiss family Robinson.
WOW!!! That is a seriously ambitious model for your first one! Impressive young Skywalker! 😉
You lucky dog....I'm happy for you.
Yup! All these goodies definitely put a smile on my face!!!
My very first one was an Airfix 1/72 scale Mig 21.
Not as old as these puppies, but still good nostalgia just thinking about it.
I enjoy the simplicity of the old kits. I think most folks have good memories about their early modeling days! 😉
First model? Actually 2, Airfix's MiG 15 and fiat G 91; it was 1960 and I was 8 years old. I was in town with Mum, we were in Woolworths (remember them?), in the UK they were the place to get Airfix models, mostly the series 1, hung up on a rack - Heaven!
Remember Woolworths well! :) I have the MiG-15 (the MPC version - Airfix) in my stash now! Do you have any of the Old Airfix "On Card" models still in our collection? - Tom
Yes, I do remember and have a picture of me holding it. 1965, I was a lotus blue body and plastic axles. The rear fenders cover the wheels half way. It rolled and I loved that model and I'm still building.
That's pretty darn cool! I wish I had photos of me when I was young with my toys. I think I might have one of me wearing a Batman outfit or a dinosaur costume for Halloween... Never stop doing what you enjoying doing!
We had a Kresge here in New Bedford Mass. I bought tons of Tom Daniel kits there. Average price was 1.50 each. Great memories.
I'm surprised how many folks have never heard of Kresge. Tom Daniels kits were awesome! Other than the Snap-Tite ones, I think my first full-size one was the Tarantula... :)
My first TD kit was Bad Medicine. I think I have built almost all of them over the years. Such simple fun they are.
@@NitroModelsAndComics Wasn't that the "purple" one with the skeleton?
Yer darned tootin thats the one. I built anorher one about 5 years ago. My TD shelf has a lot od reissues and quite a few oeiginals.
You lucky guy. I'm jelious.. lol 😆
My very first model was the HMS Victory by Heller (I think) I was 5 years old in 1966.
My first armor tank was a Panzer IV dessert 2 in 1 kit (either by Itelari or Monogram.)
WOW! The HMS Victory is quite a challenging kit for a first model... That's impressive!!! :)
Airfix Vickers Vanguard, a Christmas gift; second was a FROG Me262 which I finished with oil paints from a paint-by-numbers set. Next was a MiL2, a Mil 6, and Antonov An12 cub. More Christmas gifts - they were Eastern European or Russian kits in a weird brittle
Styrene, I honestly don’t recall the producer.
Those are totally cool models.
First kit was around 1964 or 1965, my dad and I began to build a Stuka (don’t recall scale) while doing laundry at laundromat. We later finished the build at home. I was 10 yrs old when I attempted my first model jet kits of a F4D Skyray and a F8 Crusader. 55 plus years later still building model kits.
The Stuka is an interesting first kit!! It's awesome that you're still building. I'll be starting up soon again with all the kits I've found. It would be ashame to just have them sit there!!! 😉
I seem to remember the first kit I "attempted" to build was a Palmer Ford Galaxie (?). It was an exchange gift from the elementary school christmas party. I brought it home and
started fitting parts together. Of course, if anyone remembers these terrible Palmer kits, you will remember that the bodies are multiple pieces and very fiddly. I became frustrated
in a very short time and let out a string of foul language that would make a sailor blush ! My mother quickly ran into the room - slapped my mouth - gathered up the parts and
chucked them into the trash. Eventually, I was able to build kits like Beer Wagon, S'cool Bus, and a few other Tom Daniels designs. I slowly got better and better.
Well THAT'S an interesting first experience!!! 😉 What scale were the Palmer kits?
@@escaperealityhobbies They were on the smaller size - maybe 1/32. Those kits were really basic. No engines, hard plastic wheels, etc.
The first model plane for me was the 1975 boxing of the 1/48 Monogram P-51 Mustang. The first model car was a Monogram 1/24 Porsche race car.
Oooh... those lovely white boxes... and great memories!!! 🤗
My first model was a Revell F 104 C Starfighter 1/48 in 1983 .
Cool looking plane! Did you paint it? :)
HSP was a master of the chalks, I always thought he used a larger scale to build his box art, there was inconsistent differences with the 1/32 models in the box, minor, but inconsistent. Nice video.
You know... I never really thought about him using chalks and pastels but he did indeed use a lot for weathering from what I remember. Figures seem like they would be hard to control. Thanks for pointing that out and watching the video! - Tom
Aurora Messerschmitt 109, I recall the plastic was dark red. I was about 5. My dad of course assisted.
That's impressive for a 5 year old! I think that's the one thing everyone remembers about the old Aurora kits - that dark red/burgundy plastic!!! :)
Awesome find
I was most excited about the old Monogram tanks... 😉
a Boeing P-12 biplane. it was a ridiculously tiny scale like 1/148th. it was about 3 Inches long. I was way too young and it was a gluey mess. I envy your haul!
I remember most of the P-12s had a really cool paint scheme of olive drab, red and yellow! I can't remember the name of the one that had the eagle feet on the landing gear...
Dang nice score!!
Thank yee Thank yee! I'm getting the itch to go out and try a few garage sales or thrift stores this weekend. Last few weekends Mother Nature has NOT cooperated!!! :)
I think the first one I built was an Airfix Series 1 Westland Whirlwind, bagged, bought from the local post office for the princely sum of 1/3d (about 6p) in around 1965 or so.
Excellent! I never built that one... not sure why. It looked like it would have been an excellent aircraft but it never lived up to other aircraft of that time. I think there is one still flying! - Tom
@@escaperealityhobbies I got it because it had TWO engines - wow, it was absolutely dreadful in hindsight, it fitted where it touched sort of thing.
I saw the Monogram 1/48 Mitsubishi Zero type 52, that was one of my first bought two models in 1979. The other one was Airfix 1/72 P-51D. What a nice memory !
Yeah... the modeling memories of the 70s and 80s are awesome! Thanks for watching!!!!
I just stumbled upon this video...almost the same modeling history as myself! We too had a Kresge's in Davenport, Iowa that was my go to for model purchases! And mostly the Thom Daniels/Monogram vehicles. Thanks for the ride down memory lane and congrats on your once in a lifetime garage sale purchase. Great video.
That's awesome David!!! I'm glad it brought back some good memories! Not a lot of folks remember Kresge's. This weekend...I found another 10 models at a garage sale and thrift store.
First one was a Matchbox 1/72 Fairey swordfish
I've ALWAYS loved that aircraft. The old obsolete aircraft that could get the job done! Plus... it's both ugly and cool looking at the same time! 😉
My first model was the 53 corvette I was 9 years old.
That sounds like it could have been challenging for a 9-year old! :) Do you remember the model maker? - Tom
Wow!!!! I see a lot of kits from my childhood (single digit ages), as well as several kits I never built but wanted to.
First kit I can remember building was Mongram’s amphibious weasel.
That's a neat model to be your first model! Glad this video brought back some -hopefully- good memories!!! :) - Tom
@@escaperealityhobbies definitely brought back some good memories. I’ve even bought at least 1 kit (Monogram B-29) to do a good job on it as an adult as opposed to childhood.
@@kudukilla Now THAT'S a big-un!!! You need a second mortgage on your house to display it!!! :)
My first? A Local (NZ)toy company's (Lincoln Toys) rebox of the early Mongram Spitfire IX about 1966. (I think- I didn't pay much attention to what year it was.)
A classic first model! Thanks for watching!!!
Loved the video, my first model was a B26 Mitchell. I was probably 12 . I'm 55 now and just getting back into it. mainly with Star Wars
Thanks Paul! Hopefully it brought back some good memories! By chance do you remember what B-26 it was? Monogram, Airfix, Matchbox? Welcome back to the hobby. I myself took about a 25 year break, busy with it for a few years, then another 10 year break. It's time for me to get building!!! - Tom P.S. - Going to do more garage/yard sales this weekend and maybe score some more treasures!!!!
I should add... Or maybe it was the Revell or Frog model! ;)
I'm not sure who produced the model kit, I do remember that it was Snap together kit. I mistakenly called it a B26 Mitchell it was the "B 25 Mitchell "my second model was a John Deere backhoe.
@@paulgertsch7105 Well that's quite a difference between the two!! 😉
Hey Tom! Lamplight_painter_d here. This video also took me back to memory lane. I never got to build any of the smaller planes until college but my very first airplane kit was the Revell B-24 Liberator that my Dad bought me when I was 6. He pretty much built it after I kept getting glue on the table but he at least helped me out with it before firing me from the assembly line. 😆 Little did I know that building models would later lead me to start wargaming. Now I just crave building and painting miniatures and miniature vehicles. You can say model building was the cause of my hobby addiction now. 😆 Great video! Thanks for sharing!
Thanks for watching! Did you get any severance pay after being fired?!!!! :) I think it's very true about model building at any early age leading towards other miniature and wargaming hobbies. I'll probably get into Flames of War or Bolt Action as those two fill soooo many interests for me - history, models, gaming, etc. What wargames are you into? - Tom
@@escaperealityhobbies Alas, no severance pay. 😆 As for what games I play, here's the list after I quit playing 40K in 2003 (in order of addiction 😆) :
Flames of War
Gear Krieg
Bloodbowl
Heavy Gear
Bolt Action
Black Powder
Across the Dead Earth
Regimental Fire and Fury
Victus
Star Wars Legion
and a smattering of Skirmish games that my friends have me play just to keep me in the hobby. 😆
"In order of addiction...." CLASSIC response!!! :) I have five of the games you have listed, NEVER played one of them... It's a matter of time but I need to build/paint things, learn them... and most importantly... find some folks that will play!
@@escaperealityhobbies Finding people to play is the hardest thing to do these days. I'm doing the same right now. Solo gaming gets boring after the third turn. 😆 Well good luck, brother! I'd offer my time to play with you but I'm stuck out here in CA. But if you're ever in the neighborhood of Stockton, just send me a notice on Instagram and I'll get my dice warmed up. 😆
Same to you... In Englewood, FL... SW Florida. :)
first model built, good god that was almost 50 years ago. let's see it would have been Revell's P51D 1975ish time frame. would be doing Revell and Monogram for next couple years. till i bought my first MRC Tamyia kit which was the early version Tiger 1. haven't built Revell or Monogram since.
Yeah, tough to go back to something that doesn't fit as well as a Tamiya kit. Still, gotta love the old stuff! Thanks for watching!!! - Tom
great video!
Glad you enjoyed it Sean! Hopefully it brought you some fun-filled memories!!! - Tom
Incredible haul! Interesting and well researched model history!
I'm thrilled you liked it!!! :) Granted, it was much longer than I wanted it to be but I think I got caught up in my own memories!!! The 1970s was an awesome time to grow up in. Still the old fashioned values but mixed with modern stuff just around the corner! It definitely got me wanting to dive into model building again!!! Thanks again! - Tom
First was a charger that Elvis raced in one of his movies I was 9yrs old got it from k mart
That's freak'n cool! I've never heard of that!!! Do you remember approximately what year that was? (When you got the model) - Tom
First model. Aurora Cessna T-37. 8 years old in 1958.
That's a cool aircraft Jim! Was it in 1/48th like other Aurora models? - Tom
@@escaperealityhobbies Thats correct. Built many thousand models since. Been trying to remember the name of the hobby shop in north St. Pete. in the 1970s.
It had a huge, control line, RC B-36 hanging from the ceiling.
My First kit? Airfix triumph herald built aged 9/10
That's a cool kit! I wish I had the REAL car!!! :)
@@escaperealityhobbies my neighbour in England used to have the wagon version. 😁😁
I share emails with Tom Daniel (TD) and did a bio on him. He is still going at age 85.
That's awesome! Does he make any model show appearances? I'm really digging your new hobby space!!!
What a Blessing for a devoted Hobbyist. I built Many of those Kits in the 80s. I have found a few on eBay in the past 5 years. The force Was with you. Those Models are Gold. They gave you a chance to add as detail you wanted. I'm glad to have found you. Will visit your channel often. One Question. What is the issue Of the Military Modler with Rommel on it? I have Many but don't have that one. Thanks for sharing those, Kits. So, for now Over and Out.
Good Eye!! June/1975, Vol. 2/MO. 3 😁 I love old kits from the 1960s to 1980s. Most consider them the ugly stepchildren of today's models but they're treasures in their own way!!
Loved the video. Your description of your first model build was so similar to mine! Subbed.
Thanks John! Greatly appreciate it. What type of "absolutely stunning" model did you build for your first one?! ;) - Tom
@@escaperealityhobbies it was a 1/72 Valentine from some Japanese company which never got famous I think. Bloody tracks bent the bogie wheels. Must have been because I only waited about 5 mins to put them on. Greetings from New Zealand!
@@johnwilliamson9982 Yeah... tracks that are too tight that bend the wheels aren't good! 🤪 NZ... Beautiful country!!!
😱😱😱😱. What an awesome buy. Thanks for sharing Tommy. Enjoy the builds. Just found your channel and subbed to ya. Have a great weekend.
Thanks a bunch Big C! :) Just subbed to you as well... I think I might try and go out this weekend to see if I can find some more garage sale or thrift shop model treasures!!! - Tom
@@escaperealityhobbies my pleasure Tommy. Thank you very much. Cool good luck buddy.
I think it was the Skipjack submarine when i was 6 in 1959
That's cool! Do you remember the model manufacturer? Aurora? 😉
My first model F104 star fighter second model Star Trek model my third Patton tank and I took my time building them and I still have them and I'm only 62 years old
Awesome selection of models and so cool that you still have them!!!