Originally published Sept. 27, 2006, at GJSentinel.com.
Some guys just seem to be particularly in love with this hobby of ours. Mike Rutherford, 38, of New England has long struck me as one of them. Check out his Web site, which is stuffed not only with pictures of his own kit buildups, but with information about model kits both past and present and plenty of other genre subjects of interest to hobbyists.
Mike’s also a family man; his wife is Melanie, his kids are Michael and Madison.
MIKE RUTHERFORD AND MODEL KITS
Resin the Barbarian: You strike me as someone who truly loves this hobby and has for a long time. How long have you been involved in building kits, and what got you started?
Mike: Hello Todd, and thank you for this opportunity.
What got me started was my Uncle Jonathan, in 1971.
When I was 4 years old and he about 10, he had both the Victim and the Frankenstein “Monster Scenes” kits. We would play with these as toys.
My grandmother had an old birdcage that we would use as a cage for the Monster to put the Victim inside of.
However, I didn’t get a model kit of my very own until a few months later. It was a glow in the dark kit called “Fiend” that was made by a company called Lindberg.
My first Aurora monster kit was the glow version of the “Forgotten Prisoner.”
Between the two of us, my uncle and I, we had most of the Aurora monster line.
If it hadn’t been for him, I truly wouldn’t have known the love of this hobby.
I’m glad that I was able to tell him this before his unforeseen passing this past March.
RtB: Which came first, your love of classic monster subjects or love of model kits?
Mike: Actually, it happened at the same time because I really didn’t know much about the monsters until I was exposed to the Aurora monsters. (Remember, I was only 4 years old.)
Believe it or not, what really hooked me was the box art. I was just obsessed with this art, as a kid and I still am.
RtB: Have you ever NOT been involved in building model kits?
Mike: Yes and no.
There were times when I didn’t build but it wasn’t because I wanted to stop. However, I’ve been involved with the Aurora monsters at some point during each decade.
During the end of the 1970s I was forced to stop building when Aurora closed their doors and there really wasn’t much else available unless I wanted to build cars, spaceships or other vehicles and I truly wanted no part of that.… Read the rest
