Airfix Kits

[Dave]

I just finished watching the James May programme where he creates a 1:1 scale model of a spitfire in a airfix style way.

It brought memories back of when I was 13-14 when I had no friends and I spent my days making airfix models because I was obsessed with planes (in my nerdy type way).
The first kit I got was either a Handley Page Hampden or a Supermarine Spitfire I can't remember, but I do remember taking pride in the building. But ****ed the painting up because I'm crap.

So have you made airfix? Can you remember your first one?

 

[Ian]

I was given an airfix kit as a birthday present when I was about 12.

I opened it up, sniffed the glue and then went climbing trees with a friend.

Nah, they never did anything for me but I did enjoy the smell of the glue.

 

[peep]

I never did airfix models or anything along those lines. Furthest I got was Knex lol.

 

[yinyang]

I have back in the days of my youth. Good and fun, if you are in the mood for them as some of the harder ones (i know i sounds like a geek now) were tricky, they were rated from 1-4 on how hard one would be to build. But yes, there was a sense of satisfaction when one kit was finished and painted, not much, but some sense of satisfaction.

 

[Hixee]

I did! Airfix was great. You could spend a whole afternoon putting the kit together AND you could get high of the glue at the same time. The smell of the glue is where the memories are for me.

I don't have any idea what my first kit was, but my most memorable have been a Ferrari F1 car and a Harrier.

Thinking back on it, it was probably one of the nerdiest things going. I did used to do them with my brother though, so I wasn't that much of a loner.

 

[kimahri]

I think I had some. I got some model rockets with I was into space. I made my dad make them or me. They might have been a different comapny or somthing but the same idea yeah?

 

[jokerman]

I used to love them. I think I may have some unfinished ones in my cupboard still. I remember the first one I ever made was a red arrows plane (can't remeber the name, but not a new BAE Hawk). The best one I ever made was probably my Supermarine Spitfire, or Eurofighter Typhoon.

I rememebr once I sat in a small room for 3 hours making a Lancaster Bomber for the Battle of Britain set. The amount of glue needed for such a big plane was too much and without realising it, I probably inhaled way too many fumes. I felt a little sick, but not bad afterwards.

 

[furie]

I remember the first one I ever bought, I was about 8 and - like James May - saved up pocket money to get one from the local Newagent.

It was some kind of destroyer, or something - big boat.

The picture on the front was so exciting and it looked all huge and excellent. I had all these plans to put my Star Wars figures into it and sale it in the local ponds (that within a months of me buying the kit were filled in and made into a bypass :roll: ).

I remember keenly the excitement of getting it home and opening it up - and the abject disappointment to find that the finished model would be around 15cm long.

I started, but it was far too small and fiddly for 8 year old hands. The glue got everywhere and I had tiny gun emplacements (I think there were about 20 of the little buggers, about the size of a match head each) stuck to the sofa and table.

I was so desperate though for it not to be disappointing and I tried and tried and gave it to my dad - who I thought (as most 8 year olds do) was incredible and could do everything.

He worked through the night while I slept to build this for me. I came down all excited the following morning to find my dad in a foul mood after spending until about 2 a.m. trying to fix on the gun emplacements and flag poles (like needles).

The end result was like something that had crawled out of Dr Frankenstein's abortion bucket. The hull didn't fit, the gun emplacements were all uneven and half melted by over application of glue. The were bits of kitchen roll stuck to it where my dad had tried to wipe of excess glue and it had stuck.

It was the first, and last, Airfix model my dad ever attempted. I also gave up... For a few years.

When I was around 12 and looking to replace toys (but not yet confident enough to replace them with girls), I turned back to Airfix.

I probably made about five or six I think - mostly WWII fighter planes (I do actually officially love WWII fighters from all sides). I certainly remember building a Hurricane, Junkers 88 and a Lancaster bomber (that was fiddly as it had moving gun ports and the messy glued "steamed up" the clear windows).

I never painted them first either, as I'm officially crap at painting smooth surfaces (I also have an inability to draw straight lines with a ruler, or circles with a set of compasses). But I did put on the transfers - badly.

Well, it kept me occupied one summer holiday pre-teens. I still have my "craft board" actually. It's think with glue and paint (I moved on to painting role-playing figures much later, I can paint those, they're not flat). I used it to put down on a table to give me a surface that didn't matter how messy it got, it if it got knife marks in it.

Wow, there we go. Do you know what? I'd actually completely forgotten about those few models I'd done when I was younger until this topic started. I always remember the Battleship, but not the planes. I wonder if they're still in a box in the loft? I'll have to ask my folks.

 

[Emmett]

When I was younger I attempted to do a few of them with my dad but we never ended up finishing them off or getting them done right.

I remember we had a huge Air France 747 lying around half done and I always wanted to finish it off but never got around to it.

The last time I completed one was during one of my summer holidays from school which helped pass the time. It was one of the old DTM Mercedes.