Testors High

My room had plastic models everywhere. It was the 70’s and I was 12 years old and plastic model building was my favorite hobby. There were models on my window sill, on my dresser and night stand. Submarines, Jets, Planes, Cars, Tanks, Spaceships and the prize of my collection, the Aurora Monster series. This included the Wolfman, Dracula, The Creature from the Black Lagoon and The Hunchback of Notre Dame. The only problem I had with this hobby was the simple fact that I sucked at making models. They never quite turned out like the glossy finished images on the box. I never took the time needed to construct a showpiece plastic model. I rushed the build to get the entire model completed in a day. Skipping over instructions and gluing part “A” to part “C” when it should have been glued to part “B”. Before the glue dried, I would pull off the piece and stick it in the right place. The amount of model glue used was phenomenal. The glue was called Testors. Come to think of it, that might have been the only brand available in the States. It was the only model glue I bought. I would make sure to buy a new tube of Testors plastic cement with every new model I purchased. Way too much glue. One tube to one model kit was definitely not the recommended amount of glue. My models where covered in the stuff. Cement would be all over my fingers as I tried to stick the clear plastic canopy of the F-14 Tomcat to it’s fuselage. My fingerprints in the dried plastic cement seemed to be my trademark, my signature on every model I ever made. Every plastic windshield on every car, jet and spaceship was completely fogged and imprinted. Even if I did spend the time to paint the interior of the model and the figure of the pilot, it would never be seen. I wish I could say that my paint work was grade “A” but that sucked as well. Of course, Testors model paint was used on all of my work. This was very thick gloss enamel paint and if there were small details on the model, they would never be seen. I slathered the paint on like I was icing a cake. Very thick and very sloppy. I guess all of this didn’t matter that much to me. My room was filled with models. My ceiling alone had over 20 models of aircraft and spaceships swinging from fishing line. Every time I finished a piece, it was hung up for display. When my friends would come into my room, eventually the Starship Enterprise or a Fighter Jet would end up smashing against my closet door from an overly excited gesture that teenage boys are known for. I didn’t care if a model was broken. I had spent so little time making it that it wasn’t a huge loss. In the back of my mind I saw an open space in the ceiling that a new, maybe better model could be displayed. I would sometimes make room myself by taking a model down and burning it in the back yard. Lighting plastic models on fire was another past-time of mine. Lighting a plastic battleship on fire and floating it down to the sewer drain was a treat. I became aware of my addiction after I stopped burning my models and just burned plastic model cement. I would squirt out a line of glue that snaked around the backyard, then I would light it. Once, I snaked the path of glue right into an ant hill. How awful is that, but to me as a 12 year old monster, I loved it. I realized that it was the smell that made me want to assemble these models. The glue, the paint, the turpentine, all of these vapors filled my room, and my door was always shut. On my record player was spinning Pink Floyd’s Dark side of the Moon as I opened the box to another project with a brand new tube of cement and a tool box full of Testors paint.

One of my favorite kits. I bought this kit 3 times before I got it right.

I loved kits that had chromed parts. If you didn’t scape the chrome off the side to be glued, the bits would just fall apart. That happened on my first go with this kit. The second kit turned out better but on this attempt I over-glued the front end making the propeller’s spinner useless. The third go of this kit was a success and turned out to be one of the best model builds I had ever done.

Recently I found this kit on eBay and I was able to relive the construction and high this model gave me many years ago.