63 returned and left it a few times for thing more fun. At the time. Girls, beer, motorcycles. The usual suspects. Had a few years crashing rc airplanes into trees, buildings, cars...sorry dad. Moved onto Rc boats for a while. Then cars . Then back to plastic .
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My father introduced me to modelling when he gave me a poly-bagged Airfix 1/72 Messerschmitt Bf109G to make. It had been released the previous year (1965) and I was so excited to make it that I gave it a collapsible undercarriage thanks to an excess of glue! My father walked out on the family the following year but I had caught the modelling bug by then. In 1975, I told the schools careers officer that I wanted to make models for Airfix and I was told not to be silly! Little did I know then that I would achieve that ambition thirty years later!
In 1976, I joined the Royal Navy and was based in Portsmouth. By then, my modelling days were long past with interest in beer and girls dominating. However, I still popped into Modeltoys in Fratton Road regularly and maintained my interest in modelling by getting Airfix Magazine and Scale Models until 1978 when I joined my first ship, HMS Antrim. I was engaged a year later and I married in 1980, had two children, and eventually left the Navy in 1989.
In 2004, I was in Commercial Road, Portsmouth and saw a Beatties store which had Airfix models in the window. I was surprised that they were still running and I asked my son if he would like a model to make. He wasn't interested at all, so I bought a boxing of the Airfix Tiger and Sherman Tanks. I went online to check out Airfix and was pleased to learn that they had a forum.
I joined the forum and before I had finished a kit of my own, Airfix asked me to make a 1/400 Scharnhorst for SMW 2005. I didn't let on that I hadn't built a kit for 28 years or so but the kit turned out fine and Airfix asked me to make another four 1/400 kits for the London Toy Fair in February 2006. I made a few more models for them but when Humbrol went bust, the Airfix forum disappeared at the same time. Within 24 hours of that, I had created The Airfix Tribute Forum which I have now been running for 17 years.
I continued to make models for Airfix to show at Telford and other occasions. In 2014 when the Royal Navy commissioned Airfix to scratch-build a 1/350 model of HMS Queen Elizabeth for her naming ceremony, the late Darrell Burge asked me to make it and which is now kept in the HMS Queen Elizabeth Wardroom. In 2019, I was asked to scratch-build a 1/350 model of HMS Prince of Wales to be kept in the Hornby Visitor Centre. I don't build models for Airfix now and concentrate on adding models to my Shelf of Doom although I am managing to complete a respectable number as well.
BTW, I am average age - 64!
DaveDaveCov - Founder of The Airfix Tribute Forum 2006Comment
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As to where the next generation is coming from…..most of us don’t keep this going with the same intensity right from childhood through to old age. We tend to go off forming relationships and procreating. As the family gets older and time and money becomes more available, we tend to look for other things to fill our leisure time. This means most modellers get serious about the hobby around their forties, or perhaps when they retire, so that’s where the next “generation” will come from. There will therefore be a constant stream of old gits joining us even older gits…..Comment
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At 77 I've been modeling since I was old enough to see the top of the bench, about 70 years. My dad was a model railroader and an older brother did plastic models of all sorts since I can remember till his later teen years. There was a short break when in 10th grade as dad's business went bust & I had to get work and later when a new father at 19 working one full time & two part time jobs to make rent. Even when I had no bench time, I was a regular at the LHSs for model RR or ROCO items for the stash. Kept dabbling in both 1/87 RR & military modeling for the years before retirement. Once retired I attacked the accumulated stash in earnest with most of the result evident on here.Comment
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Steve, I was on SM1 staff at HMS Dolphin in 1985/6 when I was a PO Writer. I used to get the PAS boat from HMS Vernon each morning and return in the evening. Unfortunately, if I had to work late I missed the PAS boat and had to take the long walk around to the Gosport Ferry.
DaveDaveCov - Founder of The Airfix Tribute Forum 2006Comment
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I'm an oldie. 71, only returned to modelling this year after No1 son bought me a Airfix kit at Crimbo!! Since then I have recaptured the bug but not as much as I would like. (SWIMBO has too many 'Oh you can do that' jobs on her unwritten list!!!!:rolling:
Started modelling when I was a teenager but joining the RN at 15 focused my attention elsewhere. Wine, women and song. After that, Wife, kids and dogs took over until I finally retired at 68. Got bored working!!!!
Oh! Thanks Jim R for mentioning Stornaway! I have been trying to forget the place!! Spent many cr@ppy weeks up there flying out of the airport looking for sneaky submarines, (not necessarily ours). Pubs shut on Sundays!!! Unforgivable!!!Comment
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57, child modeller badly lots of glue and never a clear canopy returned briefly in the 80’s after spotting a couple of Tamiya bikes i was laid up after a bad bike accident and this seemed like an ideal time filler although only slightly better at it than in earlier years, work wife family, all took over diy and garden duties long shifts no time, after reading all the other comments this seems to be a running theme ..2010 i had heart surgery and was give a minimum of 4 months recover wow, i needed something so back i came built up my stash as its easier to buy than build but like most as the family has grown and moved on i have more time and funds so i do enjoy it more and dare i say i think I'm getting better at it, not great but better, i don't need to justify the costs i don't drink or smoke anymore and i don't play golf, But i do get great satisfaction from completing a build and my goal since the early Tamiya bike kits has been to complete the full Tamiya listings i‘m A bit short but not by much
i do like the other kits and have always been interested in modelling Loved going to shows and dreaming of having the skills to do those build,
Stornaway 4 months least said the better,
simonWhy is common sense not so common?Comment
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Must have been in 3rd or 4th grade (8 or 9 yrs old) when I built my first 32 Ford roadster. I had an older brother in high school that showed me how to channel the body over the frame rails and chopped the radiator to get it into the weeds. The bug had bit and I was hooked....all lawn mowing money was dedicated to the acquisition of my next victim. As a young teen I had a friend that was into HO scale railroading and we made frequent visits to the local Hobby Shop where I discovered ROCO Minitanks........by the hundreds! I was instantly taken by their small size and acute attention to detail. Yep, I started collecting then and there. By the time I graduated Highschool I had amassed a fair sized collection. They were stored away while I was in the Service and then came home did college, girls, cars, all that stuff and finally settled down.....found the collection while rooting around in the attic for some other hobby stuff (HO Railroad stuff) The kids were quite young and liked their Christmas tree trains. Still intrigued by these little guys, I set them aside and determined to haunt a few Hobby Shops and see if they were still available.....Surprise Surprise! ROCO had indeed expanded their line and other makers had joined in as well. I have been collecting ever since and set up a small space in the garage for my modeling efforts, deciding then and there I was going to try and make the most realistic and accurate models I could. Well the collecting has outstripped the modeling on a scale of about 10 to 1.....I admit I'll never get tham all built but it sure is fun trying! Thanks to Paul and a few others on the Forum I'm happy to say I'm ONLY 73 :tongue-out3: :tears-of-joy::tears-of-joy::thumb2:Comment
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I have fond memories of my childhood ( that's strange considering I can't remember what I did yesterday!), but one thing I remember clearly was if you couldn't go outside with your mates, there was b****r all else to do in the house! A lot of you will remember the days when there were only two - yes, count them - two TV channels! That may be why a lot of us started modelling.
It helped that kits back then were reasonably cheap - my pocket money allowed me to buy a 1/72 Airfix kit every week, although I begrudged the fact that I had to buy glue every month or so! (Paint? Don't be silly! I was only interested in sticking bits of plastic together!). I also remember being gobsmacked when Monogram and Revell appeared on the scene with their larger scales and more esoteric subjects - not that I could afford to buy them, but a boy can dream can't he? Those kits, along with the bigger Airfix stuff - I remember drooling over their Stirling kit for months - were for birthdays and Xmas.
I know Airfix started expanding their range quite early, but I also remember standing in front of the display in my local sweet shop - the only place I could get to that sold models - and seeing just the kits I'd already built. It was quite a treat when new kits appeared, but I remember the disappointment when the new kits weren't WWII stuff so held no interest for me.
The good old days? You can keep them! Look what's on the shelves today. And look just how many shelves there are. Maybe it isn't a schoolboy hobby any more, but it's sure a nice hobby for grown up kids like us! :smiling:Comment
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I'm 61 and like most of the fine folk on here my dad got me into modelling I remember him building the old Airfix Trident for my brother when I was still in single figures. As with most I started with the series 1 Airfix kits in the bag bought from Woolies, if memory serves it was the Folland Gnat and had them hanging from the bedroom ceiling. I then progressed on to the again Airfix 1/32 vehicles, until I discovered Tamyia. There was a break from modelling for 20 years during my time in the military. When I left I picked up the hobby again.Comment
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