Sunday, August 18, 2013

My First Memory of Model Building



I remember when I was about five or six years old, my father sitting at a card table that he set up in the living room. I said, What are you doing daddy? He replied, that he was going to build a model ship. I was fascinated at the concept, even though I had no idea what a model was at the time. I gazed in wonder as he open the box to reveal all the parts. I was amazed as he started gluing the ship's hull together. I thought it was the coolest thing I'd ever seen! Everything was going along just fine and the model ship was coming to life before my very eyes. I really enjoyed talking to my father as he worked on this model. Then  one evening, things took a turn for the worst as he attempted to attach the rigging. He became frustrated, and then mad and then he got up and left the table. When he returned he seemed ready to try it again. After a couple minutes his frustration returned. The next thing I know he was cussing at that model ship and then he threw it in the trash can and that was the end of that!
Unfortunately for my father, he picked a kit that was too hard for him and sadly, he never built another model again. To this day, I have never built a model ship! I turned to model cars and trucks as the subject manner that I enjoy building. The valuable lesson I learned from that day was to start out with an easy model and work you way up to the harder kits as your skills improve. When you do that you will build confidence to try harder kits and you will fall in love with the hobby! Model building is supposed to be an enjoyable diversion from the stress of daily living. Keep it simple and have fun! Go ahead and start building!!


The oldest model in my collection, 1970 Plymouth GTX

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