Great topic, Chuck, really starts the memories flowing!
I can well remember my first model. I had an older brother and my folks bought us an Airfix Gladiator and a Spitfire. He pulled rank and claimed the Spit and I got the Gladiator. I reckon I was about 5 so it would have been '58 or '59 and I remember the canopy melted cos I filled it with glue. Some things never change!
This hooked me on models though and all my pocket money went on Airfix kits, either from Woolworths or the local joinery shop who started stocking this new craze.
You used to get a packing slip in the bag in case of any missing parts and on the back was a list of all Airfix kits. I think the Gladiator had about a dozen other models listed and every new kit I got immediately necessitated a look at this to see what else was being released.
My first WWI was either the Camel, Albatros (lovely blue plastic), or the RE8 or F2B. I remember the RE was a pig to get the struts aligned.
Then the local newsagent got the Aurora Playcraft WWI range and suddenly we had black plastic wheels and guns as well as groundcrew, not to mention struts that actually supported the top wing. Nirvana! That was it for me, WWI all the way ever since.
I still did build everything else under the sun, but WWI always had a special place thanks to the Aurora Dr1, Camel, SE, D7 etc. (Never liked the Albatros - looked too bloated compared to the graceful Airfix one!)
S