The smell of model glue. Anyone else build sweet models?

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SXTY82@reddit

I do. 50 some years on and there is a model of a CB750 partially done on my work bench. Summer is close so it may sit there for a few months.

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Smell memory unlocked! I grew up super poor but my single mom fee my curiosity in science and the like with model kits. I’ve had a career an an engineer because of her selfless acts for her children…and that sweet ‘57 Chevy I painted flames on.,

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sipperphoto@reddit

I used to love models. I thought about putting one together a couple years ago and then saw how much models were... Damn... like $25!

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Either_Mirror_6536@reddit

How many model builders went on to be plumbers or irrigation installers because of the glue? 😂😅😅😅

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imtoowhiteandnerdy@reddit

Am I crazy remembering that this stuff smelled like oranges?

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clarkieawesome@reddit

The citrus based glue did.

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CorgiCommercial8962@reddit

Made the mistake of making one in the basement one winter. Came out of there quite high. Ventilation kids.

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clarkieawesome@reddit

Same.

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cricket_bacon@reddit

Had a kid in my Scout troop who was a total pyro. He would carry a tube of modeling glue in his pocket, along with a lighter. Then he would just squirt a little dab of modeling glue on something and then light it on fire.

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ObligationMurky8716@reddit

I liked rubber cement for that.

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cricket_bacon@reddit

I think the key part is that the modeling glue came in a tube that could easily fit into your pocket. Rubber cement did not have the same convenient form factor.

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ObligationMurky8716@reddit

True

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ggibby@reddit

Totally. Also did not hesitate to drop them in the trash on a visit during college.

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TheJokersChild@reddit

All the cars. Building was so much more fun than painting and getting the details right. You'd be astonished at what they do over in r/modelcars.

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fallcreekprepper@reddit

I had quite a collection of model cars, planes, boats, etc... that I put together between the ages of like 9 until I was 18 or so. I used to hang the planes and helicopters from my bedroom ceiling using thin fishing line, and I built some shelves in woodshop to display my cars and such.

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BitBrain@reddit

Model cars. They weren't perfect, but I had fun.

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ONROSREPUS@reddit

Same. I had a helluva time painting. I didn't paint a lot of mine because I was so bad at it.

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TheJokersChild@reddit

Painting was the worst. Brushes, markers, sprays...nothing looked right.

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BitBrain@reddit

I got better when I discovered spray paint. Took me a long time to learn multiple thin coats > one thick coat.

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Blue-cheese-dressing@reddit

That “do not use in enclosed spaces” was real. I about passed out one winter day over Christmas break putting together a B17 model in my bedroom as a pre-teen.

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syzygialchaos@reddit

I still have a dozen unbuilt model kits, but all my paint turned and I don’t know where to go anymore for the good shit.

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SnarkMasterRay@reddit

Are you talking 70s and 80s good shit or the more modern good shit? Amazon killed off most of the model shops, but there are still Hobby Towns and Hobby Lobbys if you like to look before buy. There are a couple of online retailers that specialize such as https://squadron.com/ or https://www.hannants.co.uk/ and the old big Plastic Model Society clubs are online at https://ipmsusa.org/ and https://ipmsuk.org/ where you can look up to see if there is a local chapter.

There's also a lot of subreddits such as /r/Scalemodel/, /r/modelmakers/, /r/ModelShips/, /r/SciFiModels/ .... it's nowhere near as large as it was, but still quite vibrant.

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Von_Quixote@reddit

See - Robert Williams: Patrick Has a Glue Dream, 1989

https://movieposters.ha.com/itm/movie-posters/original-art/patrick-has-a-glue-dream-78-300-by-robert-williams-1989-rolled-very-fine-near-mint-hand-signed-and-numbered-limited-edition-art-print/a/162321-53014.s?ic4=GalleryView-Thumbnail-071515#

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Mobile_Aioli_6252@reddit

Stuck my fingers together pretty good

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ArcanumAntares@reddit

RIP Testors. I experienced hundreds of hours of builds using their glue, paints and assorted chemical treatments. Great stuff.

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ChoiceD@reddit

RIP? Testor's products are still sold.

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ArcanumAntares@reddit

Wow, I had no idea. I got out of the hobby a long time ago. I haven't seen their stuff anywhere in years, and a while back I saw an old Testors production facility that was closed up in r/AbandonedPorn. I just figured they were done.

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hillside@reddit

I never had the Crayola 64 pack at school but I had the Testors blue and white carrousel for my models. Life was good.

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ArcanumAntares@reddit

Orange carousel FTW!

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ceazzzzz@reddit

I built a Space Shuttle model, and then blew it up with bottle rockets on the 4th of July.

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Smoking0311@reddit

In the basement what could go wrong

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handsomeape95@reddit

Coupled with a bunch of open paint bottles and cigarette smoke.

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Smoking0311@reddit

😂

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Apprehensive-Call568@reddit

I used modeling glue as napalm with my GI Joe and Star Wars figures. I also built some sweet models

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handsomeape95@reddit

I used to get the styrofoam packaging from meat and make a bridge setup for my GI Joes. I used the model glue as an "acid" to make holes in the styrofoam bridge. Used to pretend COBRA set up and acid trap to collapse the bridge. I'm sure that concoction of testers glue breaking down styrofoam did wonders for me.

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House_of_Mirrors@reddit

I can smell that image. I used to build models of classic cars with that glue, the blue variant of that glue, and the needle applicator bottle.

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badpuffthaikitty@reddit

Go to hobby shop. Grab a model off the shelf. Grab some Testors paint from the shelf. Go to check out counter and ask for the hidden tube of glue they didn’t advertise. Maybe it was the paper bag in my pocket.

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No-Estimate999@reddit

Fighter jets and helicopters! Used to hang them from the ceiling with fishing line.

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AlexPistachio@reddit

OMG, me too! I painted the bottom of the B-17 (Monogram 1:48 scale) dark gray. At night, that thing disappeared against my ceiling. Wow, you unlocked memories!

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Zestyclose-Smell-788@reddit

All the gun turrets on that B-17...

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KurtStation68@reddit

My model ny myself was an F104, second was a hot rod with a monster (based off a comic I believe). Multiple through the years. 15 years ago I tried to build a realistic wooden boat (Italian company) of an America's Cup - failed miserably in spectacular fashion.

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Zestyclose-Smell-788@reddit

I built that F-104!

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ImCaffeinated_Chris@reddit

So many jet models! Had them hanging from the ceiling. I loved building them and wanted to be a fighter pilot.

I ended up hanging them from trees and shooting them with BB gun 🤣

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Zestyclose-Smell-788@reddit

Yeah...blowing up your models you spent so much time on was definitely a thing

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Wolffraven@reddit

Many cars, planes, military vehicles, ships and figures. The blue tube smelt citrusy.

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diggstown@reddit

I picked the wrong week to stop sniffing glue.

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aran_maybe@reddit

I dunno. Maybe?

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CaliMassNC@reddit

Ah, the reason I can’t do math!

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Jakes-buddy-1307@reddit

My fingers were constantly stuck together…

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remarkablewhitebored@reddit

Only thing that I remember with this glue is (as maybe 16 year olds) my Best Friend met two girls from another town, one of whom he was way into (think bad girl type, leather jacket, tough as nails). I think I was there to keep her friend occupied (I was not into her at all). Well, after a walk around the neighbourhood, we cut through a local Mall - well when they saw the craft/hobby store they suggested picking up some glue for funsies. I noped out of there so fast at that point... Never saw those girls again.

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Budget-Procedure-427@reddit

Went through countless tubes of this stuff in my model building days.

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rbrumble@reddit

Oh yeah, my Dad had a bunch of model cars he'd built and when I was pretty small he bought me some model cars to put together. I like following the instructions and making something with my hands. When I was around 10 all my modelling was science fiction based, the droids from Star Wars, the TIE fighter, the Star Trek bridge set, the moonbase from Space: 1999 (a very tiny Eagle from this set is sitting on my desklight beside me rn), etc. One birthday I received the three ship set (Enterprise, Klingon Battlecruiser, Romulan Bird of Prey) from the TOS Star Trek, I thought I'd won the lottery. When I was 13, I bought an Estes model rocket kit and got into that hobby pretty hard.

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ValleyGirlHusband@reddit

I was bummed when they switched to the blue tube with the funny smell

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docdeathray@reddit

So many Tamiya USA WWII planes and tanks when I was a kid.

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texicali74@reddit

gif

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msguider@reddit

My first was a f-18 hornet. My last was a Revell Robotech changer "NEBO". Never finished. Buyer's remorse.

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AtomicHurricaneBob@reddit

The new glue isn't as fun. I stopped building models.

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Mysterions@reddit

Yes! There was a time when I was obsessed with building model airplanes and listening to Beach Boys tapes. I'm pretty sure one of my uncles still has one.

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flying_data@reddit

I still build models every once in a while. Brings back memories and keeps me away from social media!

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dfjdejulio@reddit

Dinosaurs and spaceships here.

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walter_grimsley@reddit

I hyper focused on building model cars and planes to a somewhat unhealthy degree in high school. One of the earliest clues to my possible location on the spectrum

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lorem_opossum@reddit

I was in the model of the month club. Probably how I learned a bit of patience. I’d want to rip open the box right away but my dad always wanted to paint and sand pieces before putting them together so it usually took awhile before we could get started. I loved those mini paint jars too.

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Ok_Industry3016@reddit

I can smell it on the screen!

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vengefultacos@reddit

Yeah. My ceiling was festooned with airplanes hung on string, including a bf109 attacking a b25 bomber with a p51 on its tail. Also did car and ships. My best memory was making a PT-109 model that my dad helped me make radio controlled.

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OneFortyEighthScale@reddit

Yes, I’ve built quite a few!

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Ok-Mathematician8461@reddit

Airfix glue and Humbrol paint for me.

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watchwatertilitboils@reddit

Turns out, it's all about the paint

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overmonk@reddit

I don't have depth perception so assembling these was always messy for me, but I always had a vision of the finished product and I never got very close to it aside from general shape.

I did shit-tons of the snap-together ones.

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hootwonder@reddit

Every once and awhile I’ll grab a model rocket and mess around

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MoonJr77@reddit

while I dont use this glue anymore, I still biild models.

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its-dodo-baby-1234@reddit

When I was in uni working in a chem lab with various solvents, I was doing some work with toluene and the smell was strangely familiar. I realized it was the exact smell of the model glue I had spent hours using building models as a child . So I guess we were all unknowingly huffing a neurotoxic solvent as kids . But my Lamborghini countach model was sweet .

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WeekendLegitimate615@reddit

Yes quite a few, it was a lot of fun.

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CountHonorius@reddit

Imagine walking out of the hobby shop with your airplane glue in pocket, living your best life, only to have a cop stop you and say: "you better be building models with that"

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No-Jump-9601@reddit

I was that kid who ended up with more parts glued to my fingers than the model itself.

Don’t even ask about my model painting skills.

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DiverDownChunder@reddit

I loved it until CA was better and more affordable. Once Zap came out I never used this type of glue again.

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CombatRedRover@reddit

Until I found out girls smelled nice, that was what I spentost of my time doing.
If you miss making models, buy a 3d printer.

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Aware_Impression_736@reddit

Polystyrene kits are still readily available.

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CombatRedRover@reddit

3d printing takes it to a whole different level, especially when you remix the models yourself.

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Aware_Impression_736@reddit

I only build kits that can be assembled with Tamiya Extra Thin cement. Cyanoacrylates suck. Round2 MPC makes super accurate Space:1999 and Star Trek kits. I'm rigid. I only build licensed canon models, no modifications save for aftermarket decals and Aztek Dummy masks.

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BuckyGoldman@reddit

I liked sniffing this glue so much, i even used it on Snap Tite models.

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B_Williams_4010@reddit

I used to build tanks but I really didn't have the patience for it. Testors also made a non-toxic version of that glue that came in a green-and-white tube that didn't work worth a shit; might as well use Elmer's.

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Waffuru@reddit

I was a miniature painter. Acrylic paints are the smell for me. XD The best were the Polly-S paints, the fantasy line. I had to use Loctite to glue those minis together because testors didn't work on lead, the smell of that stuff wasn't great x.x

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brokenmcnugget@reddit

sweet models with little gluey finger prints all over them and crooked decals.

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atomlowe@reddit

The best smel..... sticking stuff ever!

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rexifelis@reddit

I hated the blue glue. It never held as good as the orange. And those wonderful headaches! Ah, memories

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AcanthocephalaDue715@reddit

The smell didn’t hit right either

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AcanthocephalaDue715@reddit

Hell yeah! I wanna build some more model airliners but they’re hard to find and expensive

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blitzermf54@reddit

I still have a bunch of the ones I built.

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Ok_Potential9293@reddit

Yupper duppers🤣🤣🤣😎

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Puzzled-Locksmith-42@reddit

Instantly smelled this.

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Jolly_Grocery329@reddit

Oh heck yeah! My brother and I went on a Mad Max craze and mounted guns and all sort of stuff to our model cars. We used to put that glue on the cars and light it on fire for realistic bullet and RPG damage. Good times.

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exactad147357@reddit

The 90s batmobile, took it over many sweet jumps

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Lanky_Ad8283@reddit

The 6 foot long model of USS JFK nearly put me in rehab. No idea how many tubes of glue that was.

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litefytr@reddit

Working on a reproduction of my FILs avanti studebaker

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Samwhys_gamgee@reddit

gif

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NetworkingForFun@reddit

I can smell this one and immediately could smell the blue tube after.

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RonPossible@reddit

Still do!

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Brixmis51@reddit

Yeah, bought loads of airfix kits. Was never very good at painting them though. Started buying various kits again a few years back - including a rather epic lun-class ekranoplan, and now theyre all boxed up in the garage awaiting the time when ive finally got enough spare time to build them.

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mtinmd@reddit

I built a lot of them as a kid. Mostly planes.

The two favorites were the SR-71 and a Hindenberg I built with my dad. The models were cool but the better part was thaf we loved doing things like that together.

They finished the attic and turned it into my bedroom. I had planes hanging from the ceiling and on shelves throughout.

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soonerwolf@reddit

Biggest model I built was the 1/48 scale B-36 Peacemaker. Think Monogram was the company that made it.

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AlexPistachio@reddit

I remember that model! I built one too. A damn crack went between the two halves of the fuselage almost the entire length. It frustrated the hell out of 11-year-old me.

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Aware_Impression_736@reddit

Two turning, two burning, two smoking, two choking, and two unaccounted for.

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ChiliSama@reddit

Yes…. Ships, planes, cars, whatever. Back in the 70s-80s if I could just get a couple of bucks together I’d bike to the store, grab a 1/72 kit, and be busy for hours.

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ihatepickingnames_@reddit

I always got glue all over them and never had paint to cover it up so they looked like crap.

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seagulledge@reddit

So much time spent getting the glue off my fingers. I did have paint, but not patient enough for coats to dry. Just a big mess.

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theprofessorofrandom@reddit

Cars, semis, aircraft. I wamt to get into it again, but spare money is the issue right now. Die-cast models are high, and the plastic kits are getting ridiculous as well.

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ShookMyHeadAndSmiled@reddit

Got back into building and flying model rockets during the pandemic. They're still fun.

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Msteele315@reddit

Yes. I did a lot of cars and planes. Typical stuff.

But now im hooked on Warhammer models. Its a super fun hobby.

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Anonymo123@reddit

I dabble in 40k but use a different glue and love the smell of it lol

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Nazz1968@reddit

I had a whole air force of 1/72 scale WW2 aircraft. The fumes from blue label Testors glue were not as bad as the orange label tube in the picture.

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dpulchra@reddit

My friend's older brothers used to sniff this glue. 👃🏻

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dcamnc4143@reddit

We used to get high as a kite off testors stuff. We had no idea what "high" was as little kids, but I remember getting super lightheaded. We'd have to go outside to get away from it occasionally.

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Medusa17251@reddit

Rose, there’s a Messerschmidt all over the table.

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Good_Nyborg@reddit

Wasn't until I was \~13 years old that I got told I needed an adult to buy modeling glue. Whole conversation left me baffled...

Why do I need an adult to buy glue now?

Because some people buy it to sniff it.

Why would they buy it to sniff it?!

Because it gets them high.

Why do they want to get high?!?

Because it gets them high.

Well that's stupid.

I really loved those days when I thought no one really had a reason to get high when they could be building models instead.

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Top-Order-2878@reddit

I could smell that picture as soon as is saw it.

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TheNolaCatLady@reddit

Me too! 😂

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troisarbres@reddit

My favourite was model rockets. I loved launching those things! And the other great smell was the sulphur smell from the fuses! I loved seeing the rocket launched into the sky and crossing my fingers that the parachute would deploy!

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Prize_Push5070@reddit

The bushes behind my junior high used to have a lot of those bottles in them. Who knew people built models in the bushes. Lots of rags in that bush too.

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Ok_Entrepreneur_8509@reddit

Since I got into 3D printing last year, I have jumped whole heartedly back into making models. It's so great to not have your heart broken when you accidentally break that one, delicate piece in half. You can just reprint it!
There are tons of free or cheap 3d models you can download, and getting a decent printer is not that expensive anymore. If you loved model making back then, you will probably love 3d printing now.

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L1VEW1RE@reddit

Revel tanks and battleships

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Spare-Good-5372@reddit

Tons of them. My parents had a subscription for me to Wheels and Wings, and they sent model kits to build. Had dozens of them.

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Fotmasta@reddit

Built a little train depot with my little brother… on his BED. At midnight. Got stoned on the glue and we were both giggling so loud it woke up Mom.

Then, trouble.

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Rattlehead71@reddit (OP)

Sounds like a wonderful memory. I'm the youngest kid and remember my two older brothers building models - that's how I learned. We would all get stoned off the glue, but that was just a side benefit lol

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fuzzyedges1974@reddit

I miss building models. They just sorta disappeared from the stores over time. Back in the day, nearly every department store had a whole aisle dedicated to model building. I got pretty good at it by the time I was in my teens.

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flagrantstickfoul@reddit

I don’t know how many brain cells I lost just from working with model glue and testors. No wonder I never got any good at it. 9 years old and high, and fuck that shit was expensive. I could have had brains plus other toys

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Malarkey5150@reddit

I built tons of models. When I got bored, I'd spread the glue on two cars, light them on fire and crash them. The melted plastic would fuse them together. Luckily I didn't burn the house down.

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phoonie98@reddit

I loved building models. I had a whole testers kit with dozens of paint jars, brushes and glues. Maybe I’ll get back into it when I retire

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RedCliff73@reddit

I got really good at it. I had an airbrush and everything.

Then I discovered weed

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IcemanYVR@reddit

Sniffing that glue then transitioning to weed? Easy stretch to make.

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I-eat-late@reddit

Dozens of them as a kid

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canuckEnoch@reddit

I still do!

Got a Pak 40 German anti-tank gun and tractor on the go right now!

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LoveIsTheAnswer-@reddit

Didn't make them as a kid. I was always playing outside. But maybe 20 years ago someone had bought a friend of mine a munsters car model. It was for her grandfather who wanted it made, but didn't want to do it himself. She asked me if I would make it for him and i spent maybe 2 hours gluing the pieces together. Maybe it took a little longer. But it's actually a very relaxing experience. You can go so far as to cut sand the glue, paint it. Make it look amazing.

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