My first model in 15 years

Here is the first model I've built in far too many years, the 1/24-scale Monogram 1926 Mack Bulldog Tanker:

This is an older Monogram kit, one they occasionally re-release. I happened to spot it on a store shelf while browsing for something entirely different and decided it had to come home with me. It's a decent enough kit that builds into an attractive model. The build itself is pretty straightforward and easy. It definitely shows its age, though, as the parts are very low on detail and the molds are showing wear. Still, it's a unique subject and one that I've wanted to build for a long time. My brother built a version of this sometime in the late-1970s or early-1980s, the stakebed version. I'd still like to come across one of those.

I really wish Revell-Monogram would rework the molds for this and some of their other classic autos ("Museum Pieces" series) and put them back in their catalog.

Welcome!

When I was a very young boy in the mid-1960s I loved to watch my older brother as he built model kits. I was fascinated to see ships, planes, tanks and cars appear from what to me was a box of indecipherable plastic bits. It wasn't too long before I was building my first kit. That hobby has been a lifelong love, although there have been breaks along the way.

This blog is a record of my recent re-entry into the hobby after a long absence. Posting won't be prolific - being retired and on disability doesn't leave much spare change for hobbies - but I'll do my best to update when I can. Kits will be reviewed before, during and after builds. I won't pull punches about flaws, nor will praise be lacking where it is due. In a way this could be considered a blog on modeling with a modest budget, where the modeler demands the best he can get for his money.

The first few entries will cover kits that I've already built, as I didn't think to start this blog before undertaking their assembly. I promise to try and be much more diligent in the future!