Looking at this particular forum made me nostalgic about the days when I was still an avid model kit collector.

My first model kit was a 1/72 scale Mitsubishi A6M1 Zero made by Matchbox in 1979. I decided to get one after watching the TV series on the Black Sheep Squadron, which starred Robert Conrad.
This was followed up quickly with a 1/72 F4U1 Corsair, again by Matchbox.
Because of that TV series, I had several Corsairs and Zeroes, the largest being a Revell 1/32 scale F4U4 of Pappy Boyington's personal aircraft.
But the largest I ever built was a B-52, 1/72 scale. That wingspan was really long. Unfortunately, when I hanged it on my ceiling, the string broke! That really hurt.

1960s, Airfix 1/72 Hawker Typhoon in a plastic bag ; the first of many.....

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"Stand by to pull me out of the seat if I get hit" - Guy Gibson

One of my first and largest was a balsa kit for a Fokker VII I don't know what the scale was but the wing span was about 3 feet. I kept it under my bed until one day one of the slats broke crushed the biplane.

I went to plastic models after that. The fumes from the fabric dope on the balsa kits was hard on my brain cells ! I recall they used to sell liquid cement for plastic models and that was pretty strong stuff also.

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I need a bailout of only $500,000

ah back in the 1950's a nice and I forget what scale but overall green Jaguar coupe. Great model I still remember the pride I had in building it with the glass and chrome covered in glue goop..........well it last about 10 days before something was dropped on it and smashed beyond recognition. I was heart broken as a boy. largest kit was a B-24 again forgot what scale, had it in the earlier camo with a Bf 109G following it 3 feet away both a/c models hanging precariously from my ceiling. later years one weekend I was home which was rare both a/c were gone, they had fallen due to ??? unknown causes to me or the parents weren't telling, they were history and my love of modelling left, in part due to that and my future in life

My first was 1:720 (I think) model of the USS Alabama, BB-60, built when I was 10 years old. Not dab one of paint did I use and the glue was very evident about the ship.

The largest was a B-24H with about a 3 foot wingspan I built when I was 14 years old. I had the interiors finished out, also, with crew members at each post. The turrets and guns all moved and the wheels and bomb bay doors would retract and open. I spent weeks working on it and still have it, though it is not in very good shape, although the original workmanship wasn't too grand.

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Best Regards,
JW

I think my first was an Airfix StuGIII and a Crurchill, which I promptly dispatched with firecrackers. My first serious model was at 16, an Airfix Skyraider, at least my first attempt at a model with correct markings and some weathering, instead of the Pink Panthers. This was some 35 years ago, I think.

I ammassed a fine collection of tanks and trucks, in 1:76 scale (1:72 is anathema for me ), lots of conversions and scratch-builts, but one day I got a job as a professional modeller in an enginneering firm, building large (I mean large, up to 12m) models of chemical plants, refineries and such like.

Big mistake!

Eight hours a day gluing bits of plastic killed the taste of gluing little bits of plastic, so after a crisis I sold off the entire collection at cut-rate!

Much later I went into aeromodelling but never had very much time for that as my professinal life was taking me away. So today due to my divorce and the likelyhood of not having a place to keep the stuff, I'm selling out what's left.

But I'm hanging on to my Zinnfiguren!

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My first model was a 1:1250 of the USS Missouri my granpa bought me.

My largest model was a 1:48 P-51 of the 352nd FG

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I honestly can't remember my first kit, it was bound to have been an Airfix spitfire though. I remember a lot of snap together kits but have no idea who made 'em??
A mate of my dad's was a rep for Revell so had a garage full of their stuff, because of his generosity the biggest kits I ever did (badly) were their Apollo rocket & a somewhat weird 1:200th oil rig (which I see is still available!).

First kit I remember really wanting was Tamiya's 1:35th Schwimwagen and that machine-gunner figure set... The figures look terrible now but still fill me with nostalgia, as do Tamiya catalogues & anything by Matchbox.

Found one of my first ever childhood attempts at painting 1:35th blokes last year (below), rare survivor of the bangers and meths, I'm still not much better at figures .:

Adam,

What nationality/era was this figure, US? Looks a lot like a Lewis gun and the helmet bares a resemblance to steel pot of US forces.

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Best Regards,
JW

Jeff,
That would be a soldier from the Tamiya 1/35th scale Russian Infantry.
Armed with a DP-LMG.

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He just didn't look right to be US, but I couldn't tell from the pic what he was holding with that circular-magazined weapon, plus I wasn't aware that the US infantry used Lewis guns in the Second World War to any significant degree, so that was thowing me. Didn't think about it being a Soviet weapon.
Plus the uniform color looked greener than was I thought Soviet forces wore. I guess I was incorrect

Thanks for the clarification, Owen.

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Best Regards,
JW

this is actually getting to be a funny thread boyz.............. the kits you mention are dating all of you ....

plastic what was that ? wood yes, plastic a rarity, metal for certain

First ever kit was bought for me in early 1970s when we were on holiday in Wales.
My brother built it for me.

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My first model i can remeber was the Airfix Cutty Sark in a plastic bag, mum got narky because i spilled a tin full of enamel paint on the carpet, but the largest model i have built i the Monogram B-36 Peacemaker, man that was an epic build and it was a fantastic plane to build, but my largest model i own is a static 1/16th Tamiya King Tiger, it is a beast.

...and my first really BIG kit was a Revell Skyraider in 1/32 scale, with lots of bombs and rockets and 'operating' parts ie wings which kept drooping and flaps which never would stay up......

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"Stand by to pull me out of the seat if I get hit" - Guy Gibson

Catalina 1:72 when I was some 7 years old. I still have it even if it has gone through some major battles during these years....

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..an Airfix 'Dogfight doubles' boxing - Me 262 vs Mosquito around 1972-3 I guess....went on to complete an Airfix Harrier in 24th scale....I must have had around 100 completed kits, not on string, but on glass shelves in my room, until the day disaster struck....the loss left me scared for life..

I well remember my Airfix Stirling ( with lowered undercart ) breaking its string and landing on the bedroom floor - to become another one consumed by flames at the bottom of the garden.....

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"Stand by to pull me out of the seat if I get hit" - Guy Gibson

Supermarine Spitfire by Airfix, i can't remember the scale but it was huge.

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Regards
John

"It is always wise to look ahead, but difficult to look further than you can see" - Winston Churchill

First kit - 1/72 Mosquito by Airfix

Largest - 1/72 Avro Vulcan

Still modelling. Lots of stuff. It is one of those hobby's when it bites it bites well.

Ross

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Thoughts on Military History
Cornish Scale Modellers
Ross' Military Modelling and Art

Can't remember for sure but, I believe it was a Spad XIII. Eddie Rickenbacker you know.
1/72 for sure

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There's one way to find out if a man is honest-ask him. If he says "Yes", you know he's a crook. Groucho Marx

Lol! I never thought about that angle.
Looking at all your posts, I decided to check all my old stuff and I found that I still have three kits, a P-38 Lightning 1/72 scale Revell, a snap-on kit SR-71 Blackbird from Monogram, and a Tamiya Missouri kit still unassembled! I still have to double check if all the parts are still intact after all these years.

My first-A German Gun Battery from a D-Day set
Largest-1/32 scale Mk III Crusader (I like to stick to small)

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First model? I have no idea. I probably built my first model in the early 60's. Largest? Probably wasn't a kit but one of the scratch built ships I have done. Those are typically 1/200 to 1/350 in scale (occasionally larger) and could be up to about four feet long.
The last one was about three feet long and was the USS Rendova. Made that one for a retiring judge that had served many years ago on her.

Well i know this ain't wwii related but i am doing a Warhammer 40,000 chapter and i am theming it on the LSSAH so far i have completed one squad and halfway into the next squad, i think it will take me about three to four years to complete this task.