Was going through some very old photos and found these.

[Pappy]

In 1949, the F-86 Sabre swept wing fighter jet was put into service. Picture below. I was into building models very heavy at that time. I spotted an old photo of a few model planes that I built. And there it was, an F-86 model and a couple others I built. These photos have to be at least 70 years old and taken with a Brownie camera I probably won selling Pages seeds.

 

[Grampa Don]

At that time, plastic kits were a new thing and most scale models were balsa. The balsa kits were a real challenge. They were basically a few pieces of balsa roughly shaped, some decals, and a paper plan. Is that what yours were?

 

[hawkdon]

Remember these well...think they cost 25 cents a box.....

 

[Grampa Don]

Maybe Pappy's were stick and tissue models.

 

[Pappy]

At that time, plastic kits were a new thing and most scale models were balsa. The balsa kits were a real challenge. They were basically a few pieces of balsa roughly shaped, some decals, and a paper plan. Is that what yours were?

Yes Don. I think the nose on the F-86 was a plastic piece. Balsa wood all the way.

 

[hawkdon]

And with my clumsy hands and all thumbs I broke most of the models before completing them !!!!

 

[Grampa Don]

And with my clumsy hands and all thumbs I broke most of the models before completing them !!!!

But, weren't you proud of the ones you did finish? Sure, we messed some of them up. But, we were developing skills.

I got an Xacto knife set when I was twelve and I learned right away not to pull the blade toward myself. I still have the scar on my left palm.