Blast from the Past By Steve Perry

With the dinner dishes washed and put away, the dining table was covered with newspaper and out would come the current kits under construction and the boxes full of small Testors paint bottles. My Stepfather and I would sit down to an evening of modeling; a tube of glue, an emory board, a few cheap brushes and toothpicks for painting details completed the scene. That was the kind of good times that have kept me modeling all my life. That is how models are ment to be enjoyed. That was 43 years ago.

The modeling fare was Revell Warbirds series, Airfix kits in 1/72 and UPC kits of WWII fighters in HO scale. The UPC kits were of Japanese manufacture and went for a whopping 29 cents at the local hobby shop. With my dollar a week allowance I could get 3 if I kept my eyes open for a few empty pop bottles to cash in and cover the tax.

All the models I made during that era have long disappeared and I had assumed the same fate for the ones Robert built. After he passed away late last year, I was helping my Mother sort through his things when I opened a shoe box. Low and behold there was his collection of UPC models, as dust free as the day they were finished. The decals had yellowed some because we didn't know about sealing them with Glosscote or Future, and a few small parts had been knocked off, but otherwise they were pristine.

By today's standards the kits were poor and the construction and finish would not get a second look from a contest judge, but for sentimential reasons they are among the most valued models in my display case.

Ten years or so ago Robert gave me some un-built kits and among them were several UPC kits. I built the Zero, gave away the P-38 to a friend and I started the Bf One-Oh-Thingie. The Stuka and the George are still un-built and sealed in the plastic bags inside the boxes.

Funny how a few crumby kits provided some of the best modeling I've ever had......then again maybe it wasn't the kits at all.