A few kits I put together years ago.

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Tanker

My first Chrysler
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This Panther was built when I was either fifteen or sixteen. It's a Bandai 1/24th scale kit that had some pretty outstanding detail for its day, which was 1970's. It has some damage now from the move to Pittsburgh, as do just about all of my kits, but it's nothing that can't be repaired. Fortunately all the missing pieces are still here. In spite of it's age I think it still presents pretty well against some much newer kits that have better detail.
Panther G (1).jpg


Panther G (3).jpg

This next one is a Russian T-62 That I built the year the iron curtain fell. It's a Tamiya kit built strait out of the box with the exception of the dust cover on the main guns mantlet. The molded plastic one that came with the kit looked pretty bad so I covered it in fabric so it would look more authentic. Again, missing pieces due to the move.
T-62 (3).jpg


T-62 (1).jpg

This last one is another Tamiya kit that I built not long after I got out of the Army, which would be around 84. I was feeling a bit nostalgic and built a copy of the tank I used to crew. Like the tank in my avatar it's an M60A1, and like the others it needs a bit of repair. This kit has the smoke grenade launchers mounted on either side of the turret which my tank didn't have, and it also sports the older aluminum road wheels. Everyone hated those stupid things so when the new steel replacements came along we were pretty eager to swap them out. By the time I left the army all of them had been replaced on mine, but no one made a kit with steel wheels back then so I was stuck with aluminum. That isn't true any more as there are now several kits available showing steel. Because why not, I added the obligatory two by four between the headlights that every M60 I ever saw on post had. It made climbing up onto the tank much easier to do.
M60A1 (1).jpg


M60A1 (4).jpg
 
Nice work, I always liked military equipment models especially tanks. 65'
 
Fantastic detail! I wish I had my airplane models from when I was a kid but my mother would run her duster over them and rip all the parts off them in like 2 weeks. My brothers and I swear she did it on purpose...oh well.
 
Thanks for the compliments guys. I used to be an avid model builder back in the seventies and eighties, but I just gradually stopped. Not on purpose, it just sort of seemed to happen on its own. My favorite kits were Bandai for tanks and Monogram for aircraft. I never really got into cars. That Bandai Panther and its 1/24th scale counterparts represented a major investment for the company that didn't really pay off for them, so they eventually pulled the plug on their WWII stuff. Tamiya dominated the WWII vehicle kit market to the point that Badai couldn't get enough of a foothold to matter. It's unfortunate because many of their 1/48th scale offerings were really nicely detailed. Meanwhile Tamiya's 1/35th scale kits from the seventies were absolute garbage. I built one once and even though I put a lot of effort into it and it looked nice, there was something decidedly off about it that I couldn't put my finger on. Then I stumbled across an article in a modeling magazine that explained everything. It seems Tamiya had been tweeking the dimensions of their tank kits so that batteries and motors would fit inside. By the mid eighties they had come to their senses and repented of their evil ways and a new series of retooled kits began to hit the shelves that were spot on. So I could finaly buy Tamiya kits with a clear conscience, which was nice since Bandai had thrown in the towel. Anyways, even though I stopped building, I never really stopped buying, so now I have a sizable backlog of kits that want building. Somehow I don't think I'm alone in that regard.
 
Thanks for the compliments guys. I used to be an avid model builder back in the seventies and eighties, but I just gradually stopped. Not on purpose, it just sort of seemed to happen on its own. My favorite kits were Bandai for tanks and Monogram for aircraft. I never really got into cars. That Bandai Panther and its 1/24th scale counterparts represented a major investment for the company that didn't really pay off for them, so they eventually pulled the plug on their WWII stuff. Tamiya dominated the WWII vehicle kit market to the point that Badai couldn't get enough of a foothold to matter. It's unfortunate because many of their 1/48th scale offerings were really nicely detailed. Meanwhile Tamiya's 1/35th scale kits from the seventies were absolute garbage. I built one once and even though I put a lot of effort into it and it looked nice, there was something decidedly off about it that I couldn't put my finger on. Then I stumbled across an article in a modeling magazine that explained everything. It seems Tamiya had been tweeking the dimensions of their tank kits so that batteries and motors would fit inside. By the mid eighties they had come to their senses and repented of their evil ways and a new series of retooled kits began to hit the shelves that were spot on. So I could finaly buy Tamiya kits with a clear conscience, which was nice since Bandai had thrown in the towel. Anyways, even though I stopped building, I never really stopped buying, so now I have a sizable backlog of kits that want building. Somehow I don't think I'm alone in that regard.
I never honed my skills to your level, but I went through a bunch of models as a kid, then came back to models in my 20's, and put some time into them to make them look ok. Never did much with detailing, wish I would have got some resin kits when that part of the hobby was at its peak! I had a few hundred models at one point, but sold a bunch to a guy who built models with his father and his son. Thought that was cool three generations built kits together, they got a great deal too, $2/kit. I sold off a bunch the last few years and kept the Mopars that had some connection to me, and the big rig and airplane kits. Going I see if I can't put a few together this winter and reignite the fire for building again.
 
I never honed my skills to your level, but I went through a bunch of models as a kid, then came back to models in my 20's, and put some time into them to make them look ok. Never did much with detailing, wish I would have got some resin kits when that part of the hobby was at its peak! I had a few hundred models at one point, but sold a bunch to a guy who built models with his father and his son. Thought that was cool three generations built kits together, they got a great deal too, $2/kit. I sold off a bunch the last few years and kept the Mopars that had some connection to me, and the big rig and airplane kits. Going I see if I can't put a few together this winter and reignite the fire for building again.
I wish more young guys would get into model building, especially kids. The hobby taught me patience and attention to detail. Then there was the added bonus of the vehicle history that always seemed to be a standard part of the instruction sheet. They usually provided just enough information to make me want to hit the books and learn more. I also found that once I had finished a model I knew its profile frontwards, backwards, sideways and upside down. This came in handy in the military when we had friend or foe training sessions using flash cards with silhouettes. If a flash card came up with a vehicle I had built a model of I could identify it in a split second. Like you I'm finally going to start building again. In recent years a number of really highly detailed kits of some of my favorite WWII era tanks have come on the market complete with detailed interiors. That was just too much for me to resist(interiors is what Bandai kits were known for) so I bought a few. One might even say a few too many, but only time will tell if I went overboard or not.
 
I thought I'd post this last photo because it's tragic, and a little bit funny at the same time. After they arrived from Los Angeles I carefully unboxed the models and placed them on the dining room table, figuring I'd look for a place to put them later on when I had time. We don't really use that table for much so I didn't think there'd be a problem. When I got home from work the next day they were gone, so I asked my wife where they went. She informed me that she'd put them all on some shelves out in the garage. The picture below is what I found, and there are a couple of other piles just like this. To be fair, these were all built long before we met and I haven't built a single model since then, so she has no idea how much time and effort went into their completion. When I saw this I was upset and frustrated, but I also had to laugh at the situation. I haven't moved or disturbed any of them since they were piled up like this. I figure the damage is done and moving them only risks more damage. Until I find a proper place for them they'll just stay like this. I'm just wondering if anyone else has had this kind of trouble with people that just don't seem to know any better? The story ACME SS tells above reminded me of this.
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I'm just wondering if anyone else has had this kind of trouble with people that just don't seem to know any better? The story ACME SS tells above reminded me of this.

Not with models since the ones that I'd built years before had since deteriorated and were gone when my wife and I got married.
My frustration was over my drag racing trophies that all ended up in a box in a closet, and the original Lionel train set box that was disposed of while I was at work one day. The Lionel set had been a Christmas present when I was 3 years old (my dad was an engineer for Union Pacific). The train set was had been moved to a "newer, better and more sturdy box". She had no idea about the value of the original set packaging or the sentimental value. My dad passed when I was 7 years old.
 
Not with models since the ones that I'd built years before had since deteriorated and were gone when my wife and I got married.
My frustration was over my drag racing trophies that all ended up in a box in a closet, and the original Lionel train set box that was disposed of while I was at work one day. The Lionel set had been a Christmas present when I was 3 years old (my dad was an engineer for Union Pacific). The train set was had been moved to a "newer, better and more sturdy box". She had no idea about the value of the original set packaging or the sentimental value. My dad passed when I was 7 years old.
Wow. That had to hurt. I'm really sorry to hear about a loss like that. I totally understand sentimental value.
 
Not with models since the ones that I'd built years before had since deteriorated and were gone when my wife and I got married.
My frustration was over my drag racing trophies that all ended up in a box in a closet, and the original Lionel train set box that was disposed of while I was at work one day. The Lionel set had been a Christmas present when I was 3 years old (my dad was an engineer for Union Pacific). The train set was had been moved to a "newer, better and more sturdy box". She had no idea about the value of the original set packaging or the sentimental value. My dad passed when I was 7 years old.
i would of been pissed about that .
 
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