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Corru... I mean Building with the Niece and Nephews


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Well, I'm back from my trip down to Florida again. I had a great time watching my older sister graduate from college, she had been working so long to get her Bachelor's Degree in Elementary Education. For an early Mother's day, I spent a few days working; crossing off the list of repairs that my mother's house needed. In between that time, I spent it with my nephew Patrick helping him complete a model F-18 Blue Angel he'd been building for his girlfriend.

While showing him some new techniques, my six-year-old niece Eleana (pronounced "Ell-lay-na) came in and wanted to help build Patrick's plane. Patrick let her help, and she enjoyed it so much that she wanted her own plane to build. So that night, we went out to a local craft shop (there are no hobby shops in his town) and picked up a Snap-Tite 57 Chevy car for her, as well as a Snap-Tite F-14 Tomcat. I also picked up a Snap-Tite Fire Engine for her twin brother Marcus. While I was buying all these models (and some extra tools for Patrick), I figured I deserved to get something for myself. They had a Revell Snap-Tite Black Diamond Pirate Ship that I picked up to build for myself once I finished the Fire Truck for Marcus.

So, the next morning, we all spread some newspapers on the dining room table and started to work on our respective projects.

Eleana wanted a purple car, so I had gotten a purple spray paint and spray painted her car the night before. She spent the rest of the day building it with me occasionally helping her. Patrick continued to work on his F-18 and I built Marcus' truck.

Here we are all together around the table:

Build_Party_I.jpg

Marcus is autistic so he wasn't able to build the truck for himself, so I did it. He did put his own stickers on it though:

Marcus_Firetruck_I.jpg

Here's Patrick working intently on his model:

Patrick_Blue_Angels_I.jpg

I got a few shots of Eleana building her car; she wanted her picture taken a lot, the little ham!

Here she is working on the chassis:

Eleana_Car_I.jpg

Then she was snapping in the headlights later:

Eleana_Car_II.jpg

Now for her "glamour' pose with her new car!

Eleana_Car_III.jpg

Later she put her own stickers on her car, and then she wanted to paint a white heart on the hood. So I folded a Post-it note in half, cut out the shape of a heart and taped it down as best I could to the hood. Here she is painting the heart on her car:

Eleana_Car_IV.jpg

Later on, she assembled her F-14 Tomcat (I helped a little with the wings) and then she painted it all white all over before applying the stickers to it. Here is the proud new owner of a new Tomcat:

Eleana_Plane_I.jpg


While all this was going on, I painted up and then assembled most of my Pirate Ship here:

Pirate_Ship_I.jpg

Pirate_Ship_II.jpg

If you look closely, you'll see where I dry-brushed a little gold on the cannons to give them a bit more of a 'bronzed' look. I haven't snapped the masts in place yet because I want to put the sails on first:

Pirate_Ship_IV.jpg

Pirate_Ship_III.jpg

After that, I'll snap them down and fasten everything together. Then for fun, I might just rig it!



That was one of the most enjoyable parts of my recent vacation. I may have more pics from then to post later, I'll have to look. I hope you enjoyed seeing this as much as I did experiencing it.

Thanks for looking in.

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Outstanding !!! Great photos. Looks like they had a blast. You're a good man for doing this. Keep up the good work.

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Way to go Duke. It just shows that a little attention goes a long ways. Since they are related to you, I suspect that they will continue to build models. In any case, they have an experience that they will recall and be able to fall back on in future years. Our two grandsons spent some time with us the summer before last and they spent time building some 40K gaming figures. They learned to use an airbrush and to dry brush in addition to the normal glueing and painting. Once they get tired of computers for a while, I expect that they will get back to some modeling.

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Thanks guys! I had a blast modeling with them. Patrick and Eleana both said it was the best part of my visit. I do hope that they all stay with it. I'm pretty sure Patrick will, he's hooked; especially after seeing some of the techniques I showed him.

 

Thanks Clare, you must have replied while I was still typing. I will also look back on that experience as something special. It is always great to share an experience like that doing something I love with family I love. I'm glad to hear that your grandsons have learned so much and will most likely come back to the hobby, especially after having learned those new techniques.

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Hi, Mark,

 

I noticed the common modelers' precision adjustment tool in the first photo that all of us have used at one time or another to "persuade" snap fit parts to actually snap fit. Sometimes the purpose of that tool is also used as the final instrument of completing work on a model, especially one you did not like.

 

Great job with the kids. My youngest grandsons are still too little to build a model, but the do get creative with LEGO pieces.

 

Ed

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Thanks Ed! Yeah, that precision tool was actually rarely used fortunately. I'm also glad to hear your grandsons and yourself enjoy a good Lego build time. Legos is a good start; Eleana and Marcus both built with Legos also, I think that's partly why Eleana did so well on her car.

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  • 11 months later...

That's awesome Mark!! It's great to see folks passing this hobby down the chain.emotion-21.gif

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Awesome!!! I'm working on my nephew now. That could go either way though as he's 16 years old and just bought his first 1:1 scale truck. :smiley24:

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