Apollo Lunar Module
My
first model was built in 1967 or 1968. I was seven or eight years old
and in a magazine there was an advertisement for a plastic model
of the Apollo lunar lander. I got my parents to agree to give me the required dime and 2 cents of postage.
I filled out the form, taped the dime to the card and I mailed away for
the kit. Then, just like Ralphie in A Christmas Story,
I waited and waited and ...... waited
for what seemed like an eternity for the kit to arrive and when it did I
was so excited to build it out but glue was required. Model cement. I
had mucilage and while I attempted to make it work - it didn't. The mucilage simply dried while I held the pieces in place then peeled off the joints
in little crusty shards. Putting this model together required real model cement. Airplane glue! There was none of that in the house so I had to go
outside and get some change from my father to go to Nicholl's Variety
and get some airplane glue.
Asking my father for the cost of airplane cement was hard enough but that was compounded by the fact that my father
happened to be at the top of a 20 foot ladder painting the siding on the
gable end of the house when I asked him. He was not too pleased to be
disturbed while balancing a can of paint in one hand and a brush in the
other but he managed to climb down the ladder
and gave me a quarter so I could go off to the store and he could go
back to his balancing on a rather unsteady ladder. That afternoon, as I happily built the lunar lander, I
became a plastic modeller and I have enjoyed the hobby ever since.
Stephen Obermeyer, 2014
1923 t-bucket the Rodfather
It was just before the summer of 1973. I was to turn 10years old.
I
had gone over to my best friends place because after school and
weekends we were working in his dad's body shop, cleaning up, sanding
cars for a big $2.50 an hour.
I got to my buddies place and he was showing me some of the model
cars his brother got him involved in building. I thought that was the
coolest thing ever.
So
we worked away and talked about models,,, his dad had all kinds of car
mags in the shop.. so we worked and dreamed and I was hooked,,, I was
becoming a car guy.
His dad had paid us and I ran right to the local drug store and
purchased my first model. It was a 1923 Ford t- bucket called the Rodfather.
Armed with my first kit and some paint and glue but with no guidance I set out to build my model.
I painted the motor as shown on the box.
Being all of
10 years old, my thinking was one model one tube of glue. You shouldn't
have any glue left over when the model is finished.
Most of the chrome washed off because of amount of glue. You
couldn't see through the windshield for fingerprints covered in glue.
Forty some years later and I`m sure that, that model is still together. I wish I still had it.
That experience has fueled my love for models and cars..
I
worked for my buddy's dad for year. Went to college to get my papers
for auto body repair and more than 40 yrs later I still love to build models,
compete in contests and visit with the friends I have met over the years.
Rob Russell, 2014