War films - inspiration for models when we were kids

[Stokesy44]

Saw a post like this on the FB page and thought, what do the forum guys think?

What war films did you see when you were younger that inspired you to make model kits? On FB the thread morphed into 'what war films do you like and why' but that's just as interesting to me so no harm no foul, say what you like!

I'll start the ball rolling on the original question, my favourite as a kid was 1969's The Battle of Britain, it was on TV a lot when I was young so that was perfect indoctrination for me. I got the soundtrack (on vinyl!) for my birthday and the video of the film some years later. As for kits, it made me want to build Spitfires, Hurricanes, Me109s, Stukas, Heinkels, everything! At the time, the pinnacle of aircraft kits were the Airfix 1/24 range. I built all 4 from the movie (Spit, Hurricane 109 and much later, the Stuka) and can still remember the joy of seeing the Me109 kit in the boot of my Dad's car when he surprised me one evening. We didn't have a huge amount of money so this was a very big deal for me.

Aah, fond memories.

[bfrd]

Not as a kid...

I just watched a documentary film on Amazon Prime called The Hawker Hurricane. Your book made me want to research the plane more, and now I have one on my wish list. A 109 will make the list as soon as I pick one.

Surprisingly enough, it was a movie that got me back into model making as an adult. Several months ago I watched a movie called "Mr. Destiny". The main character in the movie was making a model and it just made me want to build one too!

[Stokesy44]

Not as a kid...

I just watched a documentary film on Amazon Prime called The Hawker Hurricane. Your book made me want to research the plane more, and now I have one on my wish list. A 109 will make the list as soon as I pick one.

Surprisingly enough, it was a movie that got me back into model making as an adult. Several months ago I watched a movie called "Mr. Destiny". The main character in the movie was making a model and it just made me want to build one too!

I did the same thing when i was writing it

[TheNordus]

I personally got my start on World War 2 stuff on the Playstation 1 with Medal of Honor before I was old enough to understand what "save" meant, but I think what really sparked my interest was when we got our first decent PC and Medal of Honor Allied Assault. I've been into World War 2 ever since. I remember loving Saving Private Ryan when it came on TV and taping it and watching it over and over. Band of Brothers used to be something of a holy grail to me during middle school because I couldn't get my hands on it but I'd seen parts and it looked amazing to me. Of course the easiest access I had was for Finnish War movies about the winter- and continuation war, which served to heighten my interest into reading about WW2. I think I have to admit that I only really got interested in tanks "properly" when I started playing World of Tanks around 2011. Unfortunately I didn't find any Tank kits locally until about 3 years ago when a buy-and-sell type of store had some in stock, but by then I was so into tanks I jumped at the chance.

[Kevthemodeller]

my favourite as a kid was 1969's The Battle of Britain, it was on TV a lot when I was young so that was perfect indoctrination for me. I got the soundtrack (on vinyl!) for my birthday and the video of the film some years later. As for kits, it made me want to build Spitfires, Hurricanes, Me109s, Stukas, Heinkels, everything! At the time, the pinnacle of aircraft kits were the Airfix 1/24 range. I built all 4 from the movie (Spit, Hurricane 109 and much later, the Stuka) and can still remember the joy of seeing the Me109 kit in the boot of my Dad's car when he surprised me one evening. We didn't have a huge amount of money so this was a very big deal for me.

Aah, fond memories.

Same here plus 633 Sqn, very inspirational But I think the film that really did it for me certainly armour was Battle of the Bulge and a bit later Kelly's Heroes. My all time favorite is The Blue Max, I had just about every WW1 aircraft kit that was available at the time, then I had a ship building spree due to Sink the Bismark, Battle of the River Plate, Above Us the Waves, We dive at dawn, In Which We Serve and The Cruel Sea.

I could go on and on

[Twokidsnosleep]

Going to show my age here
As a wee lad I remember watching Bridge Over The River Kwai and of course The Battle of Britain on TV only as no video or anything in the early 70's
My first model kit was a Spitfire bought to shut me up during a 350km car trip from Vancouver to Kamloops...I lost pretty much every part in the back seat over the trip, oh well I made lots of cool machine gun noises to entertain everyone

[Matthaus]

Where Eagles Dare, I have always wanted to recreate the Ju52 at the beginning. It looks just great in the winter camo.

[Tomcat64]

Hmmm interesting question, I don't actually recall the movies influencing my kit choice but I guess they must have done in some way. 633 Squadron was definitely the source of my love of the Mosquito, and another one worth a mention is the classic Dam Busters - I really hope Peter Jackson manages to work out the technical difficulties he's been having with the remake of that one. But yes Battle of Britain, Angels one-five (Hello Septic calling) and the various naval ones already mentioned all played a part in my upbringing. Tenuous link - my Grandad was a fireman in London during the blitz and later him and some of his crewmates helped out with the wave effects in the studio for "The Cruel Sea".

Bridge over the River Kwai as mentioned by Scott and The Longest Day were two more that sprang to mind from that era.

Relevant to the current Space SIG is sitting glued to the TV during the Apollo missions - that was definitely an influence on some of the kits I built - although back then I was a little more forgiving of the flaws and inaccuracies!

I was a voracious kit builder when I was a lad and basically chose what I thought was a cool subject from the limited supply in the shops in the village where I grew up - it was only later that I'd start to research some of the vehicles that they represented.

[Twokidsnosleep]

I taught the kids the whistle song from the Bridge Over River Kwai and drove my wife nuts on this huge hike she forced on us one vacation
On the way back they learned the "Hitler has only got one Ball" song as we were not allowed to whistle
Fun times, slept alone the rest of that trip

[Stokesy44]

I taught the kids the whistle song from the Bridge Over River Kwai and drove my wife nuts on this huge hike she forced on us one vacation
On the way back they learned the "Hitler has only got one Ball" song as we were not allowed to whistle
Fun times, slept alone the rest of that trip

Classic!

[Stokesy44]

I loved the Longest Day, it started off my fascination with D-Day. I love the moment when the General dismisses his aide and goes back to his card game, the scene then cuts to the ships at sea. Shivers!

The battle scenes seem tame when compared to Saving Private Ryan and Band of Brothers now but its still a fantastic movie. The scope and the ensemble cast, very much like a Bridge Too far, gives some sense of scale to what's going on.

I saw Private Ryan at the Empire Leicester Square on the day it opened, it is probably the most incredible film experience I have ever had. I remember seeing it a second time at my local cinema and experiencing a very real sense of fear as the film started, knowing what was coming with the Omaha beach scenes. Phenomenal filmmaking. Its not everyone's cup of tea but the level of achievement on show still astounds me today. The music is beautiful too.

[digger303]

I Love a good war film , but not one influenced me into building anything.
What did was when I was about 10 I used to love getting those tiny train kits in the cereal packets. There was only 2 halves to the mold and the wheels. They were great little kits and that's where my kit building began.
Why did I decide to model WW2 stuff...mainly because of the many interesting subjects and how some subjects so quickly evolved during the war. Plus historically I have a mild interest in that period.

[PrivatePublic]

Films and TV shows never really influenced my building habits, but games and interesting historical stories most certainly have. From the games side of things I think it mostly stems from developing an attachment to a given vehicle/aircraft/ship/whatever when I enjoy playing it. Games like War Thunder, World of Warships, Medal of Honour, Company of Heroes etc. When I spend time learning to appreciate something I develop a desire to build it.

As for the stories, reading about the exploits of a given person/group and their hunk of metal is also very inspiring. The kind of stuff I read a lot in boys adventure books as a child but that which is historical fact and yet even more amazing than any fiction.

[Twokidsnosleep]

Let's not forget the Star Wars saga, those movies had a big influence more so for adulthood build topics with me

[Stokesy44]

Films and TV shows never really influenced my building habits, but games and interesting historical stories most certainly have. From the games side of things I think it mostly stems from developing an attachment to a given vehicle/aircraft/ship/whatever when I enjoy playing it. Games like War Thunder, World of Warships, Medal of Honour, Company of Heroes etc. When I spend time learning to appreciate something I develop a desire to build it.

As for the stories, reading about the exploits of a given person/group and their hunk of metal is also very inspiring. The kind of stuff I read a lot in boys adventure books as a child but that which is historical fact and yet even more amazing than any fiction.

Interesting that you mention games. Its a generational thing I guess. If Call of Duty had been around in my teens I would have mainlined all that stuff and been influenced accordingly. I also completely agree with how books and stories have an impact too. I still have my original copy of Eagle Day by Richard Collier on the Battle of Britain. I've read better books from an analysis / technical point of view but nothing has come close to how that book drew me into that world.

[Stokesy44]

Let's not forget the Star Wars saga, those movies had a big influence more so for adulthood build topics with me

Definitely, Star Trek and BSG too.

[Lysus]

I was a cartoon nerd (surprise, I know) so space ships and whatnot were king. Add Star Wars and Trek and it's a straight line to wanting to build kits. That being said, my first kits were all WWII and that was due to:

Baa Baa Black Sheep
Flying Tigers
Tora! Tora! Tora!
Twelve O'clock High
Victory at Sea

But it really came to a head with this:

[youtube]n_Jbo-GKeak[/youtube]

I don't know if anyone remembers Spielberg's Amazing Stories, but S1E5 "The Mission" was about a B-17 crew who discovers that their belly gunner is trapped in his turret after a bombing run and their landing gear are destroyed. It starred Kevin Costner and Kiefer Sutherland among others. The action occurs early in the episode and you spend the rest of the hour wondering what will happen to the the poor kid. Suspenseful but not without Spielberg's charm.

A few weeks later I had the old Monogram B-17G in hand, ready to slap olive drab on it with a little brush.



By the way, you can watch it from the Internet Archive (Episode 5, The Mission): https://archive.org/details/AmazingStories

[Twokidsnosleep]

Ahh yes, Baa Baa Black sheep....forgot that one
Definitely built a Corsair as a kid with a kit from that show
Was a favourite for sure, loved the theme music/intro sounds

[shortCummins]

Where Eagles Dare, I have always wanted to recreate the Ju52 at the beginning. It looks just great in the winter camo.

me to

[Stokesy44]

A few weeks later I had the old Monogram B-17G in hand, ready to slap olive drab on it with a little brush.

I would sell my kids (if I had any) if someone released a new tool Fort or Lanc in 1/48 but no one ever does

[CharleyGnarlyP290]

Like Kevthemodeller posted above, Battle of the Bulge and Kelly's Heroes were a serious inspiration. Oddly enough, I had never seen Kelly's Heroes, but my best friend at the time (and fellow modeler) told me so much about it that I felt as if I'd seen it. Battle of the Bulge was probably my favorite, though. Any time it was on, he would stay the night at my house, or vice versa, and we would watch it like it was a new flick. We didn't give one hoot about accuracy, or any of that stuff. Next day we were at the bench building away.