# What was the first model you ever glued together?



## CJTORINO (Jan 20, 2003)

And do you still have it?
The reason I ask, had to go digging thru a few hundred boxes, looking for a model that has apparently gone into the 'twilight zone',
and I Stumbled upon one of my very first builds...........
a Johan 1/25 scale Chrysler Turbine Car. boy, I did not possess much as far as skills when this one was slapped together.
I can remember this as being a very challenging kit about 36 years ago or so..
Lots of moving parts:


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## Zorro (Jun 22, 1999)

Aurora Frankenstein. "She Loves You" and "The Shoop Shoop Song" were in heavy rotation on my transistor radio - which should give you some idea of how long ago that was. Frankie got tossed a few years later, but I've still got my original G.I. Joe from 1964.


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## scotpens (Sep 6, 2003)

How old were you when you built that Chrysler Turbine? Doesn't look bad at all for a beginner. That kit is still a challenging build 40 year later! It had very advanced engineering for its time, with the parts breakdown being basically like the real thing instead of the one-piece body, simplified chassis and tub interior of most car kits in the '60s.

I built my first model at age 7. It was an Aurora Cunningham sports car, quickly followed by their MG-TC. All my early modeling efforts are long gone, casualties of several moves and lots of staged crash-and-burn scenes in the back yard!


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## Steven Coffey (Jan 5, 2005)

Mine was a Klingon Battle cruiser. I was 7 years old. It was so bad it deserved the firecrackers that soon blew it up!


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## superduty455 (Jun 21, 2000)

Chuck, that turbine car looks great for your first build. You had skills alright.


I actually glued my first kit together after my dad died in 83. IT was the Monogram 70 Dodge Challenger with the metal glow body and some turtle wax. The only thing I remember painting was the hood flat black.
I don't have it anymore though. I think Mom threw it out when I moved out.

I am fortunate enough though to be able to keep my boys first glue kits. They know Dad won't throw them out!

Chris


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## Zombie_61 (Apr 21, 2004)

The Forgotten Prisoner of Castel-Mare, "Fright'ning Lightning" version, 1969. Still one of my all-time favorite kits.


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## terryr (Feb 11, 2001)

Glue them together? I've been using tape. 
It makes such perfect sense now!


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## Carson Dyle (May 7, 2003)

Aurora's Pan-Am Space Clipper.


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## CJTORINO (Jan 20, 2003)

superduty455 said:


> Chuck, that turbine car looks great for your first build. You had skills alright.
> Chris


Thanks Chris, remember, 1970 was a long time ago.......Before video games,
rental movies and all the distractions of today.
Heck, we only had two television stations to watch. So most of my spare time as a 8 year old were spent building this kit. it sure set a high standard for all the kits I would build in the future.


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## frankenstyrene (Oct 5, 2006)

Monogram repop of Godzilla, around '80. That caused me to bug Dad into getting me squarebox Mummy and Hunchback for about $10 each from some guy out east...had been wanting them since the last time I saw them (about '74, age 6). Then '83 came. Was walking thru Wal-Mart's model aisle and guess what I found (cue "Hallelujah Chorus"). And here I am.


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## Guest (Oct 10, 2006)

Airfix bagged 1/72 Bolton Paul Defiant. First kit i ever glued together and my first ever kit build infact.
Also my first encounter with metal tube glue with the breakoff tip that used to invariably spit some glue out and almost immediately my first experiance with glue thumbprints on the sides of fuselages 

Not forgetting glue fogged canopies, suddenly non-spinning propellers...


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## dgtrekker (Jul 23, 2001)

18" Starship Enterprise, which my brother destroyed a few weeks later.


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## ilbasso (Jun 7, 2006)

I think it was a 1964 Mustang. The first I remember clearly was a MIG. I made several flyable paper models in the 1963-1965 timeframe.


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## the Dabbler (Feb 17, 2005)

Circa 1960, I was 20. It was a Palmer Brontosaurus skeleton followed by the Palmer Mastadon. Somewhere between four kids, and a nasty divorce they are no longer of this world. HOWever, I have found those same models on eBait and have them on my shelf to do in the future.
Nothing after that until the '90's when I spied the repops of Luminators, which I painted instead of leaving "stock". I then found Hobby Talk and was doomed !!

PS. CJ, that was a great job for a kid's first try !!

PPS. In my random search before finding Hobby Talk I stumbled somehow on to a Bob Shasteen who eMailed me and directed me to Polar Lights and Monsters in Motion. Haven't heard from him since. ( that I know of, unless he's on here ?)


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## Steve244 (Jul 22, 2001)

CJTORINO said:


> And do you still have it?
> The reason I ask, had to go digging thru a few hundred boxes, looking for a model that has apparently gone into the 'twilight zone',
> and I Stumbled upon one of my very first builds...........
> a Johan 1/25 scale Chrysler Turbine Car. boy, I did not possess much as far as skills when this one was slapped together.
> ...


That was certainly one of my first. I have two in my stash (later issue, white plastic, but not the crummy curbside promo issue). I was also infatuated with the IMC Ford GT which had a level of detail on par with the Johan Turbine. I've got one of the original issue IMC's. Time to build...

First kit was a Plymouth Valiant snap together, don't remember what the first glue kit....bong bong bong bong.... it was one of those spherical Hawk satellites with the clear top and bottom.

OK what's my prize?


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## John P (Sep 1, 1999)

I'll never be able to recall exactly, but the earliest model I remember having was a small scale F-102 kit (Revell? Aurora? Box Scale?) that I took into Kindergarten one day for show and tell. That would be in 1962.


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## GlennME (Aug 4, 2001)

Raytheon said:


> Airfix bagged 1/72 Bolton Paul Defiant. First kit i ever glued together and my first ever kit build infact.
> Also my first encounter with metal tube glue with the breakoff tip that used to invariably spit some glue out and almost immediately my first experiance with glue thumbprints on the sides of fuselages
> 
> Not forgetting glue fogged canopies, suddenly non-spinning propellers...


 Another Airfix inductee here. My first model was the 1/72 Spitfire. I was about eight at the time, which makes it 1962. Your early experiences with tubes of glue were remarkably like mine.


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## Dave Hussey (Nov 20, 1998)

I think it may have been the Aurora Seaview. And despite the comments on another thread, I painted it a really bright shade of medium blue!!

Huzz


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## beck (Oct 22, 2003)

very nice BU there CJ . 
my first kit that i actually did the building on was ( as with many of us monster guys ) Aurora's Frankenstein . i was about 7 or 8 . 
but i was hooked on models before that because my uncles were into it . cars, planes etc . in the 60's models were what guys did instead of video games . 
hb


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## AFILMDUDE (Nov 27, 2000)

It was an Aurora Godzilla - which I didn't paint but kept in its natural fucia color scheme.


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## nx-o1troubles (Jul 20, 2006)

The first one I did was the Enterprise B with my dad. He did most of te work, but I did enough to become interested in the hobby. The next one I did was a space shuttle, which looked awful and I didn't keep it too long for that reason.

Your car is awesome by the way, I see no flaws.


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## normlbd (Nov 2, 2001)

Aurora Frankenstein in 1965:
http://photos.hobbytalk.com/showphoto.php/photo/14718/cat/509


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## Seaview (Feb 18, 2004)

Age 8, Aurora Lost In Space Family with Cyclops (my mom or dad didn't want to spring the extra fifty cents for the kit that included the Chariot). My brother got the Aurora TV Batmobile that same Christmas morning.


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## ilbasso (Jun 7, 2006)

Just remembered - it was Godzilla


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## Zorro (Jun 22, 1999)

normlbd said:


> Aurora Frankenstein in 1965:
> http://photos.hobbytalk.com/showphoto.php/photo/14718/cat/509


Nothing says "The Sixties" quite like a gloss painted Frankie!:thumbsup:


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## Y3a (Jan 18, 2001)

Very first was a little Yamato battleship. 59 cents in 1963. Did 3 small ships. ('63)
Then tried a Balsa&Tissue Stuka. Sterling or Comet or somesuch. ('64)


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## Guy Schlicter (May 3, 2004)

my first was the Original Enterprise from AMT.I followed no instructions,use a full tube of glue,the warp drive nacelles sagged big time.I assembled it this way,I put the parts wherever they looked good.I lost the decals so I drew them on with a pencil,pretty bad for a 7 year old.Those were the Days!Guy S.


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## Rebel Rocker (Jan 26, 2000)

Frankenstein, which my father brought home for me in '64! Wish I still had it. Just one more lifelong passion I can thank my father for!! I still remember the morning I walked into the living room and found "Meet the Beatles" propped up on the piano! THAT I still have (though I don't think it will play anymore!). 

Yeah, still remember building that kit at the table in our tiny kitchen! 


Wayne


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## Captain Han Solo (Apr 5, 2002)

The Amt original Enterprise. My Father actually did the build up. It was the first issue with the lights. My Father Threaded the lights through the hull. He really did his best on it. He was no model builder. Being a kid , I decided I didnt like the lights and pulled them out of the ship to my Father's dismay! Oh the good old days.


Regards, Mark


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## Mark McGovern (Apr 25, 1999)

My first model was Aurora's B-26 Martin Marauder, in 1962 or '63 when I would've been 7 or 8. Dear Old Dad helped me build it - _helped, _mind you, because he wanted to introduce my brother and I to the hobby. It didn't gel, though.

That Christmas our neighbors gave my brother Frankenstein and I got The Mummy and that's when THE LIGHTS CAME _ON!! _I don't recall ever having heard much about the classic movie monsters before that time, but from that Christmas on I became immersed in the "Monster Craze" of the sixties. And I haven't come up yet.

Earlier this year, Dad and I picked up repops of the B-26 in the Vendors Room at an IPMS show. So yeah, in a way, I do have that old kit. This time, though, I'm going to finish it.
Good thread, CJ. :thumbsup:


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## ochronosis (Dec 29, 2005)

Another Airfix kit from me! It was the "Dam Buster", Bouncing Bomb version of the Avro Lancaster 1/72 scale. I was so proud that I had managed to build a kit all on my own, without the help of my dad. I think I was about 8 years old at the time, mid 70's. Sadly it no longer exsists as it was knocked from the shelf by my younger cousin and smashed beyond repair  Since then I have built three different versions of the Lancaster. Nowerdays I tend to build Polar Lights and Aurora kits.

ochronosis - UK


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## Tireman (Oct 26, 2006)

The first model I ever built was a jet-plane! I had no idea you could paint these back then! After that the first model that got me going was Aurora`s Wolfman 1966 which I still have, along with all the rest of the Aurora Monsters of Universal originals. It was so exciting to get a new model every few months and painting them as scary as possible! Thanks for bringing back those wonderful memories...sniff!
Raymond
Tireman


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## Dracula (Jun 5, 2005)

For me it was the Auroa Dracula tht was purchased from Satlers Department store in Buffalo NY. That started me in the hobby back in the 60,s. those were the day when less then a dollar could buy so much joy.


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## irvfrbsh (Oct 29, 2006)

Aurora Hulk. My parents were so freaked out over stories of glue sniffing, they only let me have Elmers Glue to put it together! That was a tough build with Elmers! My Grandfather found it in his basement in the 80's and sent it to me. Fell apart with getting bounced around during shipping. Rebuilt it in the late 80's and kept looking for more Aurora. Too funny.


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## rat salad (Oct 18, 2004)

Monster Scenes - Vampirella
The year was 1971 and my Mom was working nights at a really big department store called Korvettes here in Baltimore back then. Some nights my Dad and I would ride up to visit her while she worked (I think she sold Hoover vacuums there). Anyway, I'd always drag my Dad into the toy department. It's all kinda fuzzy cause it was so long ago and I was only 8 years-old. But I musta seen the monsters on the boxes and had to have them. It was the Aurora Monster Scenes. We got home that night and I called my Mom before she left work. I asked her if she could buy me one of those monster models. She said "Yes" and brought me home Vampirella. I remember asking my Mom to paint her face because I found it too difficult to paint that tiny. After that at least once a week my Mom got a phone call at work asking for a monster model. I had the entire series of Monster Scenes back then. All of it. My favorite was the hanging cage and putting the Victim in it with Dr. Deadly poking her......LOL! Sadly I later destroyed it all with BB-guns, fire and firecrackers.........kids. I later built most of the Aurora Monsters before I got into WWII planes and then quit models when I was around 12.....and then built the Mummy years later when Polar Lights hit, and it started all over again.


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## fluke (Feb 27, 2001)

I like the thread header....like sum of us had a choice...I never saw any 'snap' kits till the late seventies or so. hehehehe.

My first kit was a 1/72 WWII scale Navy Hell cat.


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## lisfan (Feb 15, 1999)

i believe it was an AMT red alert chevelle. i was so proud. today i have many models, some i plan on building right this time. but never any time. im planning on doing some this winter for sure . to many honey do projects on the house. lots of ideas but you need to be in the right frame of mind .one of the last models i had built was b-17 flying fortress which i sold to my cousin. he blew it up !!!!! took six months building that sucker . never got over that. it was awesome. gonna build them all again. i was never good at figures but i do admire you guys on the board . you do great work.


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## butch101 (Jun 27, 2006)

back in the 90s... a corvette Indy if I'm not mistaken...

Butch


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## toyroy (Jul 17, 2005)

Can't remember for sure, but it may have been a 1/72 Wildcat fighter. I remember building that several times. I just grooved on building that kit!


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## ChrisW (Jan 1, 1970)

It was either a Gee Bee R-2 or a Mitsubishi Zero.

First monster was the Wolf Man - I've told the story a few times here on the boards.


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## Captain Han Solo (Apr 5, 2002)

I believe it may have been the original Aurora release of the Bat Plane. I used Soooo Much glue on the wings The mounting tabs melted! When it did dry, the wings drooped.Ah, the gool ol days.


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## NTRPRZ (Feb 23, 1999)

*AMT's 1949 Mercury*

Yep, my first was AMT's 1949 Mercury, about 1963.

My Mom, who is an artist, bought it for me coming back from a trip. I remember painting it solid black. I know I added many more AMT cars to my collection; I guess they all got tossed (along with my Aurora stuff) when I joined the AF.

Fortunately the Merc has been reissued several times, and I have managed to find an original box and instructions, so it's almost like I've got the real thing.


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## xsavoie (Jun 29, 1999)

It all started with my brother building airplane kits in 1968,I guess.When I saw the kits in his Aurora catalogue,I was amazed to see,you guess what,the Monster kits of course.I went downtown and bought the Wolf Man.Continued with the Monsters,then Superheroes,etc.Kept it for quite a few years before throwing it away.Still building some kits from time to time.


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## machine shop to (Dec 10, 2005)

My first memories of model building involve a yellow P-51, probably 1/72 scale and a Douglas SBD, same scale. These would have been built in 1964-1965 area, I was 5 or 6 at the time.

to(m)


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## solid (Aug 25, 2006)

Way out there in 1953, A Hawk P-51D. The machine cut balsa wood fuselage was so well cut that with very little sanding you would get an exact "hard P-51" shape. The only plastic parts were the propeller, landing gear and wheels. The cockpit was clear plastic too. I wish I still had it. I remember also getting the F-86 and the Mig-15. No TV where I lived so I spent my nights building my models very slowly and as best as I could. I still make about 10 solid models (Mahogany wood now) a year...........


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## snowman66 (Oct 27, 2006)

*Mine was a 1929 Model A truck*

And no I don't still have it. I gave it to my baby brother and when he got married his daughter trashed it. Built several models since then.Some original and some from scrap.


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## Zathros (Dec 21, 2000)

1966 Aurora Hulk..I kept looking at the instruction sheet ..and wondering:Why my built up had seams and thiers didnt???( well..I was 6 years old..)


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## S4Simon (Dec 24, 2006)

One of the things I can remember very well. Must have been 6 or 7. The old man bought me a 1/72 JU88 Tank Buster - I reckon it was an airfix kit, but can't find any decent images on the net. Back in the early seventies. Must have used the whole tube of glue cos I remember there was glue everywhere. Couldn't wait to get the wings on so that I could go out the front and fly the plane around the yard. Wings were showing signs of severe droop. 

Been on a spending spree recently and bought a couple of Tamiya 1/350 ships, a Revell 1/12 Ferrari F2002 and a number of Tamiya 1/24 Ferrari kits. Just need the time to sit down and build them now. 

Searching around the old man's cupboards recently and found a nice boxed 1/4 scale Chrysler Slant Six motor (Revell). Must be an early one as it was made in 1961. A wonderful kit, fully motorized with lights and bags of metal components. I can't find anything on the net about it so must be in the very rare category.


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## Da Queen (Mar 11, 2005)

Wolfman by Polar Lights. Glued his arms on backwards which gave Wolfie a rather "unique" pose. Fortunately, Dave M was around to perform the corrective surgery.

Hugs!
Da Queen


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## Lee Staton (May 13, 2000)

Mine was a Weird-Ohs kit I talked my mom into buying for me at the supermarket (yes kids, they really did have a few models at IGA Food Stores back then). It was 1964 and I was 7. The kit was Davey, the dude on the motorcycle, and since I didn't know better I tried gluing it with Elmer's white glue! My parents helped me find a tube of Testor's cement, and then I went on a tear buying and building every Weird-Ohs kit!

The first model I ever painted (if you can call it that) was Daddy, the business man Weird-Oh. I got one of those 5 bottle Testor sets and I knew so little I didn't clean the brush right between colors so, not only was it sloppy, the colors were all polluted by the time I was done.

It's one of the reasons I enjoy watching you dads out there teaching your kids. Mine didn't do such things, so I learned by trial and *lots* of error. Thankfully, models only cost 98 cents and it was considered cheap, even back then. So we could afford to build a kit badly a couple of times while we learned. The scary part is realizing what all of those Aurora kits I trashed would be worth right now!!

Lee


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## Cappy D (Jun 19, 2004)

My very first model was an original Aurora Batman. My father bought it for me when I was 4, and of course couldn't resist helping me build and paint it. Too bad it ended up in the trash! 

I built a number of the aurora heroes with Dad's help after that, but the modeling bug really didn't bite hard until my father brought home a 1/32 Revell Spitfire that he wanted to build himself. It was like the proverbial "light from above" shining down on the box as I held it in my hands!

-Cappy D.


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## CarCrazyDiecast (Jan 11, 2007)

scotpens said:


> I built my first model at age 7. It was an Aurora Cunningham sports car, quickly followed by their MG-TC. All my early modeling efforts are long gone, casualties of several moves and lots of staged crash-and-burn scenes in the back yard!




After discovering a cardboard box of really old plastic models that I built in the 50s, I cleaned off all the dust and grime and I think I found an Aurora Cunningham.

*And is this an Aurora model of a Cunningham?*

Was the Cunningham an American or British made car?

I really appreciate your comments. On another forum a person thought it to be an MGa or an MGB. But I sort of remember, hey it's been about 50 years ago since I built this, it being a Cunningham as I painted a "C" on the steering wheel hub. So am I correct?




















*And while were at it, what model 1952 Ferrari is this without a windshield?*



























THANKS so much!!!!!!!! My first post here! See my Indy car post too.


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