A few things that I am sure about though are that I would have glued it together with tube glue, none of the parts would have been cut from the runners each being unceremoniously snapped away and that it would have ended up as a glued-encrusted mess only fit for the bin.
2nd February 2025.
Quick question: what was the very first kit you built. Do you even remember it, or is that memory lost to the mists of time like a sugar mouse in the rain?
Mine, if my creaking memory serves me correctly (highly unlikely) was the Airfix Scammell tank transporter. I have no idea when this was (certainly no later than 1975) or indeed, who bought it for me. A few things that I am sure about though are that I would have glued it together with tube glue, none of the parts would have been cut from the runners each being unceremoniously snapped away and that it would have ended up as a glued-encrusted mess only fit for the bin. Oh, and that I loved it and the journey so much, I’ve never stopped building models, from that day. One simple Airfix kit; one enduring, lifelong passion.
So what brought on this wistful journey into the dusty recesses of my mind? A discussion about my first record player, that’s what.
Building models and listening to music are often comfortable bedfellows (as indeed is proven most days on here with daily list of enjoyed albums) but I hadn’t really planned to connect those two rather disparate dots, until I was reminded of my first turntable and how it often provided a soundtrack to my modelling as a child. And for anyone wondering what this piece of enduring audio tech was, that was the Fidelity UA10, a turntable and speaker combo that I’m sure is a rather more pleasant memory, than it was a source of high quality musical reproduction! Still, much like that Scammell, it began a lifetime of listening to music, so I figured I would share that memory with you, if only to shoehorn in the one about the Scammell, my glue-encrusted fingers and one of my favourite Marillion songs!
Today has been another mixed bag, though I did manage a little modelling-related nonsense, albeit in passing. The morning began with me gatecrashing a weekly get-together that my wife and her bestie have on a Sunday. Involving a coffee that I queued an inordinate amount of time for when Costa’s staff decided that online orders were rather more pressing than the actual line of increasingly exasperated customers who were quickly starting to lose both patience and their desire for a coffee. Fortunately, my hot chocolate was just that, its attraction only tempered by that extended wait and my missing out on the gossip that Liz and her mate were no-doubt sharing.
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Whilst they happily gassed away, I was able to sneak out for a quick browse around the local Hobbycraft. Though having a kit department, I actually went over to hunt for some masking film for my new Silhouette cutter, which proved a rather fruitless task. Despite an almost complete lack of phone signal (not unusual in these places which seem to shield phones from connection to the outside world, to an almost military degree) I was able to locate some online so moved on from that task, to taking a look at the kits.
Hobbycraft aren’t the most reliable of sources for all things plastic, nor are they the cheapest. In fact, such were the elevated prices in our branch, I talked myself out of everything though I was very tempted by the new Academy Panzer I. Looking in the box, it looked to be a wonderful little kit that I was sure would look great once made up. The figures in particular were very impressive, being a real step in the right direction.
Looking at the box, I was sure than the £30 price tag seemed a little high so left it alone, deciding instead to check on the interwebz for some alternative sources that might save me some money. You can imagine my annoyance when I discovered that this was indeed the price – give or take a few pence – and that I would save absolutely nothing by shopping elsewhere. I’m hoping it will still be there when I go back up at some future date…
As for purchases, I walked away with two tubes of Winsor & Newton oil paint (Titanium White and Ivory Black) and two rolls of double-sided tape, which is a win of sorts. I still wish I’d bought that Panzer I, mind you…
STOP PRESS!
Flippin’ ‘eck, it’s all happening today!
Whilst writing this, I discovered that Jadlam Racing have the Panzer I in stock and are selling it as part of their clearance sale for £25 with free postage! Saving myself £5 on the normal retail price, I’ve placed an ordered and will bring you some more details of this lovely little kit, next week. If you are interested in the kit and would like to purchase one, here’s a link to follow:
https://www.jadlamracingmodels.com/academy-13556-wwii-german-panzer-i-ausf-b-motorcycle-1-35-model-kit/
See you tomorrow.
TODAY’S MUSIC CHOICES
Only one album today as I was out and about so I chose something mellow!
Kool & The Gang: Something Special.
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Hi Spencer, Throw another shrimp (and Spitfire book) on the barbie for me, as I have several 1/32 Spitfire kits…
On my Tamiya 1/35 Leopard 2A6 I sprayed the base NATO green then brush painted the brown and black with…
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This seat is a true work of beauty. This is a most wonderful and inspiring build.
Uggh … Airfix! Give me more Apple!
SPENCER POLLARD'S KIT BOX 
Remember my first kits really well (I got given 2 at the same time for a birthday) the 1/72 Airfix Mosquito and the 1/72 Airfix Invader. Thus would have been mid 70s too.
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My first kit, the Airfix Lancaster ‘S’ for Surgar coming into land with the outer port engine on fire. I was 11 1967.
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Koop and the Gang- that’s a bit more like it!
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my first kit was the Airfix Supermarine S6B. It was the era of the plastic bag. I did manage. Aquire another a few years ago and still wonder why I was attracted to it – certainly not by the pre-Cross artwork.
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My first Mig 15 airfix kit in a poly bag
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First kit! Airfix Spitfire on a polythene bag. Two bob (I think) from Woolies in the mid 1950s. Happy days! 😃
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My first kit? An Airfix Freedom Fighter in a poly bag. That would’uve been around 1970; my dad had sent down the shop for some fags and said I could by something, expecting a comic, I guess! The reason I got it was that my art mistress, (Miss Cook, beehive hair, and always wore brown, iirc), let boys bring kits in to class to make. The day I took mine in, the headmistress came round, asked what we were doing and stopped it! I was hooked though.
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My first kit, was tamiya’s first Harrier kit, it’s either that or Monograms Me-262.
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I go back a little farther than most of you. My first kit was the Lindberg JU 88 in whatever box scale it was. My father got it for me in the late 1950s- early 1960s. It was way too advanced for a 9/10 year old and with my tube of Testor’s glue none of the working features worked. Idid manage to get the decals on after much effort. Neither before or since have I been so proud of something I had done. Much to my mother’s chagrin as she considered “childish”, I continued with building with my father as a co-conspirator. When we discovered Hobby Shops (there were as many as 6 in New Orleans then),we went to Hub Hobby and I had no idea that these places existed. After a feverish search, I settled fo a Monogram Albatross. The guy in the life raft was irrestible. Sixty years later I’m still at it. Now it’s my wife who sighs every time I bring a new model home. By the way, Hub Hobby is still with us going strong.
JohnDaniel
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At 84, I go back to a few months after the Battle of Britain….. My first kit, built with my grandfather, was a Strombecker wood Convair 202 twin-engine airliner. I remember that we forgot to mix the paint so the first coat was definitely a stain. The second coat, suitably mixed well, covered the wood completely, with American Airlines decals finishing up. Other kits we built together included the B-24J Liberator (which one of my brothers attempted to”fly” down a flight of stairs) and a “Pioneer” early 19th century American steam locomotive. My first plastic kits were the ancient (but so am I) Aurora 1/48 ME 109J(?) and Japanese Zero. It’s been pretty much uphill from there for the most part…..
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Jeez your grandad like mine must have been born in the 1800s yet somehow I am 30 years younger than you ( I think it’s because my mam was the youngest of long line of kids ) Are you still building ? What are you on right now ?
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My grandfather was born in 1881, my grandmother in 1887. I am still butchering styrene, but I have retinal damage to my right eye, so close-up 3D vision is pretty much gone – I plan to be an ‘Impressionist’ in my modeling….. I gave away my gorgeous RFM M4A3E8 Sherman with the full interior because I knew I’d never be able to paint the interior details….. Currently, I am twitting Steve Zaloga, by working on accurizing and detailing ancient (older than most of the people on this site now) armor kits from my long-lost and misspent youth….. Steve has rather strongly over the years suggested I drop my obsession with these old warriors, but now that I am in my twilight years as a modeler, I say “Pshaw, I’m in…..” I have compared the old 1/32 Monogram M4 and M4A1 Sherman kits and find that they have a few problems in shape but are very much salvageable with some TLC. I have the new massive “Son of Sherman” book in my computer for instant reference wherever I am (don’t have to lug 5 pounds of books around with me), and can look up any Sherman I want to build. I found tracks to replace the ghastly kit bands, so off to the races. Even found a source for some interior detail, which I will need for the open-top M10 and M36 tank destroyers I’m doing from the even older Tamiya 1/32 kits from the late 1960s. (Yes, they are a tad (3/32″ – 3 scale inches) too narrow, but otherwise not bad, so again, off to the races. I have decided to limit my oeuvre by modeling armor in only 1/32 and 1/48 scales, including many of the older 1960s and ’70s Tamiya kits that were 1/32 or 1/33 actual scale. With the odd Japanese kits and the old Airfix 1/32 stuff from the 1970s, that will limit me to about 20-25 kits to consider in the larger “corn-fed” scale. 🙂
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my first kit was a bagged Airfix 1/72 Me-262 put together by tube glue in the mid 1070’s. This was soon followed a a complex build which was a Lindbergh 1/72 Ju-88. I haven’t looked back since.
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Hi Spencer, my first kit was the Airfix Petlyakov PE2, I think it must have been the late 1960s but I have been hooked ever since.
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Careful now Spencer , some of the modelling community become very precious when people discuss prices of kits .I can see their viewpoint but unless you’re very well heeled it’s an issue / factor .I remember in an old Airfix magazine article on vacforms the writer conceded that the sanding process was tiresome but suggested you just ‘throw on some LPs ‘ .Impresume he had one of those fancy ‘multi stacker’ record players at the time .My 18 year old daughter got a vinyl ‘set up ‘ for Christmas ( the Bluetooth seems like cheating but wires under the carpet / behind skirting it’s etc isn’t missed !)
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My first *re-kit* was an Airfix Lysander in 1956. Dad built it for me and I decided (with encouragement from older brother) to see how far it would fly….with the inevitable results. Dad took the “you broke it, you fix it” approach, so with a deal of help, I re-built my first Airfix kit. Most Saturdays thereafter involved a trip to Woolworths to squander my two bob pocket money on a new kit. My favourite from that era was their then-new Anson, in the early sixties. A great model for its time, and I can’t wait to have a crack at the new one.
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I actually started making card models for my Dad, but that’s a different story. My first “kit” was a Keil Kraft Balsa FW-190. For the life of me I can’t remember what my first plastic kit was, but I suspect it was probably the Airfix SdKfz 234/4 in 1:76.
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I think eyesight and modellers’ average age is definitely an issue for many ( myself included to a certain degree ) but I guess we can all find some aspect of the process to enjoy.
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It was the Revell Titanic. My aunt and uncle bought it for me as a Christmas present. I brush painted the hull and deck with Testors enamels. Was it the best looking thing, no, but all things considered I still +\- 35 years later think my work would have held up even though it’s long gone having fallen victim to multiple house moves.
Stephen
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At some risk of giving my age away, my first kit was the now immortal Airfix blue plastic Supermarine Spitfire BT ○ K. This would have been in 1954 or ’55. I painted it using watercolour paint – seemingly endless task, but I got there in the end, and to me it looked the bees knees.
Anyway, it sparked something in my already aeroplane addled brain because here I am some 70 years later still bashing away at the plastic.
By the way, I don’t use watercolours anymore.
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Fairly confident the first kit I built was the Matchbox F86 Sabre. What a lovely introduction to the hobby; I fear next up were Fujimi Jagdpanzers with some terrible suspension units and tracks foiling my 8 year old fingers completely.
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My first was a Hawk 1/48 scale P-51 Mustang. Had all of 9 parts.
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