USS Constellation - Great Beginner's Kit
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Every modeler father wants to pass on and enjoy the hobby with his kids. Well, I gave it a shot about in 2008 but unfortunately it didn't take with my oldest. Turns out her passions are volleyball and clarinet. 5 years later (2013) my youngest, 6, comes into the workshop while I'm at the bench…."Aaahhhmmmm booooorrrred." I flashed back 5 years and said, "open that cabinet..."
Long story short, we spent the next two and a half hours building the kit her sister gave up on after 10 minutes 5 years earlier. I was proud then actually amazed at how attentive, patient, and focused she is for her age. I hadn't realized it before, but she had obviously been paying attention while I was modeling.
Well, I was prepared for it to be a flash in the pan, but the next morning before my foot hit the bottom stair she comes bounding down the hall, "Are we gonna work on my model today?" And down to the workshop we went where she masked and applied her second round of colors. Next three days, same thing, her idea to go down and keep working until it was complete.
Best Christmas present I could have received and she didn't even know it.
A few words about the kit, the Monogram/Revell USS Constellation. It's a darn nice little kit. It's perfect for this situation, i.e., teaching kids/first-timers. It has "sub-assemblies," e.g., the hull and elevator mechanism (clever yet simple diagonal lever system so when #1 is up, #4 is down & vise versa) and the tower. The kit requires multiple colors over large areas, so enables using spray cans and requires drying waiting times and masking as well as hand brushing the antennae and props. The sticker "decals" are very good for what they are, but this kit could look much better with the deck markings actually painted and it has nice raised detail on the deck that would be ideal for teaching washes, shading, and weathering, etc. As it was, I taught her the black stripe decal trick… she slid it on the line between the gray and red hull sections to cover/hide her masking mistakes.
The planes are also quite nice. Good representations of A-4s, F-4s, and A-3s. They all sit on their tri-peg landing gear, and in fact, they're balanced so they only do so when all the sprue nubs are removed cleanly, so that was more practice for her sanding stick work.
Thanks for indulging me bragging on my kid. Long live this wonderful hobby. And I highly recommend this great little kit!!
