Spitfire!

[deerslayer]

Anybody build plastic model planes as a kid or still do?  I dug a model Spitfire out of the closet and my daughter and I built it.  Plastic model planes, especially 1/48 scale WWII fighters, are an old friend.  I never had the skill or patience of the folks who built the planes on the box, but I still enjoyed it.  When I was maybe 10 or 11, I quit throwing them together just to play with and tried to make them look presentable.  This one looks pretty good from five feet away, lol.  I did find out that I can’t wear contacts or glasses to do the little detailed stuff.  Also, the pieces didn’t fit for crap.  I read that a lot of the molds for Revell/Monogram are 60+ years old though.  This one said made in China.  I could be wrong, but I don’t think that used to be the case.  

[Garufa]

Yes indeed.  Built a bunch of WWII plane models when I was a kid.  It was my “hobby” even though I generally sucked at it...no patience and inadequate tools and paints.  I did put together a few really nice ones though.

That Spitfire looks great.

I’ve got a Memphis Belle kit languishing in the garage right now I need to get back into.

Edited August 10, 2020 by Garufa

[OLDNEWBIE]

Used to slap them together as a kid then blow them up with firecrackers for some reason. It was a neighborhood activity blowing things up with firecrackers. I'm 56 and feel so sad for kids glued to a screen all day and not doing anything exciting. Or even get excited over something as frivolous as blowing up plastic models.

[Garufa]

Just now, OLDNEWBIE said:

Used to slap them together as a kid then blow them up with firecrackers for some reason. It was a neighborhood activity blowing things up with firecrackers. I'm 56 and feel so sad for kids glued to a screen all day and not doing anything exciting. Or even get excited over something as frivolous as blowing up plastic models.

Sometimes we would build the models with firecrackers inside.  

[gary_boom]

Built models as a kid and got into woodworking as an adult. I built a couple of wooden boats from model kits.

[deerslayer]

19 minutes ago, Garufa said:

Yes indeed.  Built a bunch of WWII plane models when I was a kid.  It was my “hobby” even though I generally sucked at it...no patience and inadequate tools and paints.  I did put together a few really nice ones though.

That Spitfire looks great.

I’ve got a Memphis Belle kit languishing in the garage right now I need to get back into.

Build it!

My all-time favorite model was a 1/48 PT-17 Stearman biplane.  It was one of the first I tried to make look nice.  I painted it Army Air Force colors (blue fuselage/yellow wings/red and white striped rudder).  I skipped the red and white rudder decals and painted the stripes myself.  I was so proud of it I displayed it on a shelf in our living room.  Big mistake.  I went out of town with my parents and my big sister stayed at home and had a friend over while we were gone.  When I got home, I found pieces of my Stearman under the couch.  It looked like it had taken a direct hit of FLAK.  To this day, she still won't tell me what happened to it.    

[deerslayer]

32 minutes ago, OLDNEWBIE said:

Used to slap them together as a kid then blow them up with firecrackers for some reason. It was a neighborhood activity blowing things up with firecrackers. I'm 56 and feel so sad for kids glued to a screen all day and not doing anything exciting. Or even get excited over something as frivolous as blowing up plastic models.

I'm 48 and blowing up stuff with firecrackers was a civic duty where I grew up.

[hipower]

I think boys and firecracker demolitions was a rite of passage for most of older guys. lol

I've done my share of blowing up models with them as well. Used to like weighting the nose down with modeling clay, so it would look like flying when I tied a string to it and twirled it around.  Then of course had to put the firecrackers or the occasional M80 on them. 

Remember the old wooden gliders we used to get for a nickel and then a dime? Center the M80 them and launch them off into oblivion. lol

Then there's the story I've told before...mudball hand grenades and firecrackers stuck into them.  Ah...those were the days of our youth. Wish we could all go back there for a while.

[Raoul]

My boyhood friend and I were, shall we say somewhat troublesome. We looked up the recipe for black powder. Talked his mom into a trip to Rexall drug where we bought saltpeter and sulfur. Used some charcoal and brewed up a batch of credible black powder. Then we took a can of Mountain Dew (before the era of poptops) punched a hole in the center of the top and drained out the soda. Let it dry and filled it with our homebrew powder. Used a sparkler for the fuse, lit it and watched. It sputtered for a bit and then the powder really caught fire. The can went about 20 feet high and exploded. We were grounded for a couple of months...lol 

[Jeb48]

Yea a friend and I were into making black powder and our own bombs. We were reasonably careful. We got some dynamite fuse somewhere. Great fun till some stupid older kids got hold of real dynamite and were throwing partial sticks in peoples front yards. We stopped our hobby immediately we didn't want to be blamed for what they were doing if someone caught us with our homemade bombs. I had about a quart of powder made when we retired so I powered it in a pan in the alley and had a big flash in the pan as our retirement party.

[Dirtshooter]

1 hour ago, hipower said:

Then there's the story I've told before...mudball hand grenades and firecrackers stuck into them.  Ah...those were the days of our youth. Wish we could all go back there for a while.

My old boss came home from work one evening and his wife said "do you know what your son did today"? And then told him Zach thru his demilled hand grenade thru the window, and my boss said it must have been a heck of a battle when you have to toss a grenade into you own barracks. I don't think she found that amusing.

[Grayfox54]

I built a bunch of models as a kid. Got pretty good at it too. 

I was mostly into hot rods, but the occasional plane, tank or ship got in there as well.   

Firecrackers were cool. But did ya ever sink a ship with a BB gun? 

[No_0ne]

Some of us still like building airplanes ...

 

[jpx2rk]

I still wonder thru the model airplane aisle at Hobby Lobby when I take the wife there for a yarn run.  P51 Mustang is my favorite, built several of them as a kid.  Like the P38 Lightning as well, an odd looking plane but still cool IMO.  I've thought of getting one to do but don't really have a place now to leave it out as I work on it.

[peejman]

12 hours ago, Garufa said:

Yes indeed.  Built a bunch of WWII plane models when I was a kid.  It was my “hobby” even though I generally sucked at it...no patience and inadequate tools and paints.  I did put together a few really nice ones though.

That Spitfire looks great.

I’ve got a Memphis Belle kit languishing in the garage right now I need to get back into.

This was me as well. My parents still had several and my boys found them and destroyed what was left a few years ago.

Now they've gotten their own kits so I'm trying to show them a right way to put them together so they look decent. Teach them a little patience and craftsmanship along the way. 

A good friend of mine built some fantastic models.  Airbrushed oil stains and dirt, little diorama displays, the whole bit.

And yeah, those tiny parts sure are a lot harder to see now.... 

 

7 hours ago, No_0ne said:

Some of us still like building airplanes ...

 

Do tell...?  

[Defender]

12 hours ago, hipower said:

I think boys and firecracker demolitions was a rite of passage for most of older guys. lol

I've done my share of blowing up models with them as well. Used to like weighting the nose down with modeling clay, so it would look like flying when I tied a string to it and twirled it around.  Then of course had to put the firecrackers or the occasional M80 on them. 

Remember the old wooden gliders we used to get for a nickel and then a dime? Center the M80 them and launch them off into oblivion. lol

Then there's the story I've told before...mudball hand grenades and firecrackers stuck into them.  Ah...those were the days of our youth. Wish we could all go back there for a while.

I did that!  Also some future terrorist kid friend of mine figured out  we could take the really small Christmas ornament balls, put a mixture of gas and dish soap in them, and make napalm for our little men army wars.  One time, my cousin and i went to a strip mine and 'liberated a stick of dynamite and a blasting cap and some fusecord.  from the storage facility, which oddly enough was an old school bus.  We knew it was dangerous but I dont think we realized just how dangerous until we blew something up.  He had an old wooden go cart that he had built, all wood except for the axles and wheels.  He didnt play with it anymore so we decided to experiment on that. Of course this was at his house in the country.  We used just the one stick of dynamite. you'd be surprised what one stick of dynamite will do. We only ever found one wheel.  The explosion also took out most of the branches of one tree in the woods right behind his house where the cart was sitting.

Edited August 11, 2020 by Defender

[E4 No More]

13 hours ago, OLDNEWBIE said:

Used to slap them together as a kid then blow them up with firecrackers for some reason. It was a neighborhood activity blowing things up with firecrackers. I'm 56 and feel so sad for kids glued to a screen all day and not doing anything exciting. Or even get excited over something as frivolous as blowing up plastic models.

I use to build airplanes, tanks, and ships, (mostly ships), and then lay them out in the back yard to shoot them with a BB gun to pretend a battle was taking place.

[E4 No More]

15 hours ago, hipower said:

I think boys and firecracker demolitions was a rite of passage for most of older guys. lol

I've done my share of blowing up models with them as well. Used to like weighting the nose down with modeling clay, so it would look like flying when I tied a string to it and twirled it around.  Then of course had to put the firecrackers or the occasional M80 on them. 

Remember the old wooden gliders we used to get for a nickel and then a dime? Center the M80 them and launch them off into oblivion. lol

Then there's the story I've told before...mudball hand grenades and firecrackers stuck into them.  Ah...those were the days of our youth. Wish we could all go back there for a while.

I use to take used smoke balls, scrape out the center, and fill them with firecracker powder with a waterproof fuse to make my own cherry-bombs. Then I'd use them in my backyard battlefield to destroy the Germans.

Edited August 11, 2020 by E4 No More

[bersaguy]

I was never into planes but I think I built about 25 WWII War ships and my favorite was the USS Arizona because it was still at the bottom at Pearl Harbor. I think that might be why I joined the Navy when it came time to serve. I was proud of the replica of the PT109 I made also. Don't know what ever happened to my collection when we moved south. 

[Garufa]

1 hour ago, bersaguy said:

I was never into planes but I think I built about 25 WWII War ships and my favorite was the USS Arizona because it was still at the bottom at Pearl Harbor. I think that might be why I joined the Navy when it came time to serve. I was proud of the replica of the PT109 I made also. Don't know what ever happened to my collection when we moved south. 

I built a couple of PT-109's over the years.  The first met a glorious fate.  There was an ancient abandoned pool in the lot behind my house growing up.  We were often there up to no good.  One day that PT-109 had some bottle rockets attached to the stern then lowered into the water.  Shot about half-way across the pool before being blown up.  Good times.

[No_0ne]

6 hours ago, peejman said:

Do tell...?  

It is, or rather hoepfully it someday will be, a Vans Aircraft RV-10.  A four-place, fixed gear plane with a Lycoming IO-540 engine.  Vans Aircraft is the manufacturer of the most popular line of kit aircraft in the world, with currently over 10k flying examples.  Here's a pic or two of some finished RV-10's ...

[tacops]

What's sad is everybody is talking past tense about blowing s-it up with firecrackers.  Guys, you ain't too old to have fun.

[jpx2rk]

1 hour ago, No_0ne said:

It is, or rather hoepfully it someday will be, a Vans Aircraft RV-10.  A four-place, fixed gear plane with a Lycoming IO-540 engine.  Vans Aircraft is the manufacturer of the most popular line of kit aircraft in the world, with currently over 10k flying examples.  Here's a pic or two of some finished RV-10's ...

Will you install all of the electronics, etc., or get someone to do that?  Hope you get it done soon, and post some pics.  You know we like pictures.  LOL

[Erich]

2 hours ago, No_0ne said:

It is, or rather hoepfully it someday will be, a Vans Aircraft RV-10.  A four-place, fixed gear plane with a Lycoming IO-540 engine.  Vans Aircraft is the manufacturer of the most popular line of kit aircraft in the world, with currently over 10k flying examples.  Here's a pic or two of some finished RV-10's ...

 

 

That is really cool. Great project.

But where do you put the firecrackers??  

Edited August 11, 2020 by Erich

[Erich]

I hope they never do a study of how many brain cells the average kid sacrificed to Tester's model glue. I think I could rank pretty darn high. And I dont mean just on fumes. 

I think I put over 100 models together back then. My favorite Spitfire was the Cox glow plug plane. Remember those. Wish I still had it.