And so we start

You may find it interesting that in 1966, at the age of 4, I got a locomotive made of steel plate. With a lot of patience which was remarked upon even at this age , I managed to take the locomotive apart even that night, so it lay in pieces under the Christmas tree.
A few years later I was the lucky owner of a Piko electric train the size of TT, so I was able to devote myself to my growing model building desires. Gradually we added a lot more new pieces and the result was a nice, rich rail set. A new phase of my creativity began when I was 13 with the building of an electric guitar; I also made after my jobs different electric units later.


The beginnings

I was about 15 when I travelled to see my cousin - with no anicipation - in the countryside. He was working on something and he gave me lots of catalogues (Robbe, Symprop, Multiplex, Graupner). I saw a radio control model for the first time in my life, and by the time he arrived home that afternoon I was completely dazzled by it. In the same afternoon we went to the lake and I was allowed to try the wonder-toy out. A week later there was an FSR competition in Szeged (in eastern Hungary) where I got to learn the depth of the whole thing. It was early in the morning, there was not much going on, and Istvan introduced me to a clever young man: "I am Vilmos Kudlik" , he introduced himself modestly. At that moment I could not even think that I was going to become one of the  constructors of the most famous Graupner Model Company). This was the legendary M7 Moki 'era' at that time. So I was pretty much 'infected'! My first model was a smaller sized Kudlik Magic, for which I managed to get a 2,5 cc Enya engine and a Robbe-Futaba AM Remote Control with 2 channels, on my first travel to Vienna in 1982. The model turned out to be very good, and with my cousin's help I installed a 3.5 cc Webra into it, and thus it seemed to be worth participating in a FSR competition in Budapest.



And so the bird takes wings

There was a classic, model building magazine, edited by György Prohaszka which we read enthusiastically, we also regularly published in later editions of this magazine. We also had the chance at that time to order such magazines as the 'Modellbau Heute' from East Germany and the Czech 'Modelar' magazine. I also frequented the National Technical and Documentation Centre with a friend of mine, where we looked into a volume of the 'Model Airplane News' magazine. This is how we were able to follow the national and international trends. Before that time I had not really started making models seriously, I did something different; I played soccer for 6 years. It helped me to play in a team and in front of an audience, I also learned to lose, which was important too. So, if I wanted to make a joke about it I could say that later on with modeling it was easier to appear in the newspaper 'National Sports'(after some weekend games).

Hard working years

Several years later and after a lot of effort, painful learning and new model-boats I had my first real success. The first place in the first-level in FSR 3,5 class; the first National Championship in the FSR 6.5 in 1987, and the first gold medals in the F1-V European Championship in Malmö in 1991. After a countless number of working hours spent with constructing while listening to music and after a lot of practice,I was able to achieve several national and international successes. During these hard-working years my younger brother also grew up. He also showed great talent and together we strived at stubborn, and sometimes almost fanatic but meaningful activity. At the same time we were also interested in flying and auto-driving, but they were rather drills to get more routine in constructing, to enlarge our understanding of the world of form, or simply just for relaxation. Zoltan is a proud family father today (just like our father was) and one the most prominent personalities in the Hungarian and International FSR field. (He is an U.I.M. FSR-3,5 and Naviga FSR-O 3,5 World Champion, also he was a dealer of CMB, Rossi and Novarossi)


Lights and shadows

We were able to get moral and even financial support in the former MHSZ (Hungarian Defense Association for Young People) times, this means we could bus-travel or fly to several countries in order to represent Hungary. The participation in these international events gave us the opportunity to develop deep friendships and to get to know a new way of life,develop a good attitude and to get some routine. Besides, we always had time to take a look at the towns we visited and to return home with nice memories and photos together with the medals. Unfortunately, I had to cope with disappointments at times, for example when I could only participate in the FSR World Championship in 1992 in Sweden as an active fan. The reason for that was that at that time the committee of experts had not decided fairly and so my registration with the help of my later sponsor was dispatch in too late. Oh yeah, I also survived earlier a masculine rite of passage, not to mention the several bathings, of which even the Romans could be envious. Still, I can consider myself a lucky man, because I was doing something that I was interested in.

Our club, the BKV MSE led by Laszló Molnár also gave us every possible support necessary for successful participation. Of course, they knew that not just ricinus-oil but also a good deal of titanium running in our veins, actually in many of us in the team. Before we organised the traditional BKV Cup in his memory at centre of Budapest.
After the first invitation to Schrems we developed a very friendly relationship with the Austrian team. This meant meeting these people here and there later on as well, and these meetings were not only about modelling competitions. All in all, everybody learnt what a real friendship is like.

Appearings in the Media


I had the chance to appear in different newspaper and magazine articles and TV interviews, for example in the live afternoon-program called "Window". We had to wait backstage and without being told anything (just like before a race). we had to answer direct questions. I remember how I said good-bye in the end:
"We are glad to have made model building popular". l guess there were about 3 million people watching this program. I could also mention the programme on RTL called " What, how much, for how much".
So there were some challenges, I can tell you!




Sir Player

A few years ago we got an invitation from the ministry of the Interior who -in the company of Pál Schmitt (President of Committee Olympic) - gave us a small commemorative item at a reception party. It was a nice Seiko standing watch which rings every quarter of an hour the Big Ben Westminster, accompanied by a unique certificate. I think this is the thing of which I am the most modest because we received this kind of acknowledgement for our work and maybe for our culture-



Double or quits

It was in 1993 when I prepared with full steam for the big challenge, the F1-V World Championship in Wendlingen-Germany. Perhaps we would succeed in getting a grip on the Chinese up. In category 15 I built two new models to double my chances, so to say. I built a CMB 13 cc engine into a light and smaller size 6.5 hull; i.e. a newly improved 15 cc Idro (sponsored by Mr. Gualtiero Picco) one came into a well tried out 15 hull, but apparently a more robust plant than the previous P 80. The first trials did not show much hope but the later ones did. Then summer arrived with a lot of sunshine and the level of the water in the lake where we trained decreased. It almost got under the critical half meter.

As we all know, each coin has two sides, and as always, we came and the rocket buried itself after a few routine circles in the mud. We had to go in and get it out, then go home, take it apart, clean the engine, check it and then put it together again. There is also no other lake and the competition approaches. Then starting it all over again, escaping into victory, as it were. In the National Championship prior to the World Championship we still could come up with an encouraging result but under the next and last tries it turned out that the Piccos crankcase cracked and we could not be welded.

So I called to Stuttgart confirming that we will go to the World Championship and we would need a spare-part. "Kein Problem, es geht ('Not a problem, it's all right')." Our way led directly to the Gundert. After repeated tunings and constructing we tried to waken up the lost hopes now on the venue of the race. Training also at dawn (like at home but because of the lack of wind) but this is just "like water off a ducks back". The expected result did not come. At the last round a light wind was blowing and the "She" looked encouraging.

Obviously, this was the time when we thought, we had to pull ourselves together. I truly feel that it is a miracle that I could take the first 5 buoys literally 'sharp and veryclose'. After the first curve on the right the "balanstic" - which already has seen better and worse times like katapult flying 4-5 meters then disappearing with a 'knife-figure' in the rippling, crystal-clear water. After a short break when the red hull emerged again, the audience started to clap. I felt came little satisfaction that, at least I could third which put a smile on my face. While I was on my way to the depot where we overviewed the situation , my future colleague Peter Schmidt (he was before also the leader of M section of 'NAVIGA' i.e. International Boat Organisation) came up to me and said: "I am glad to have seen you competing! Would you feel like working for Graupner?"

Herr Tóth-

Year and a half was a short time, but it would take too long to talk about it. One thing is for sure, they treated me as an true equal colleague on equal terms.
My first job was the building of an Azimut Atlantic Challenger sample-kit. The result was really nice. After that I got an independent and rather complex task, l had to construct a Mega Dragstar Mono-2 racing boat into a popular series. With Egon Will's unselfish help (the floating part of the boat comes originally from him) I could find the necessary sizes and it behaved well actually in the first competitions. Considering that the next World Championship was in 1995, my brother also felt like building such a cool speedy machine, which was quite unique class here at that time. He improved it at home and I developed it in Germany on this ominous lake in Wendlingen. Sometimes we shared thoughts and when we had the opportunity to train at home we ran almost always side by side together. And then back to the quiet West...

The time for actions came and maybe with God's help I can succeed in finishing the race on the windy Lake at a crazy speed (two years later I could repeat it at the Mono-3 with the prototype of the Triton, where Egon was luckier and over took me by two seconds.) I admit that I had been programmed for it a long time ago and my dream came true. I became World Champion.


But because the steamboat keeps rolling

Another candle on the pink cake was - so to say - when l had to rescue our "steamboat" called Daytona Beach out of the ice-cold river Neckar before the big toy-exhibition in Nuernberg during a video recording.



"This website is dedicated to my living memory of my Dad whose presence has always been - and so will be - the power of inspiration for me." 

2001.

Print

Toys'Port · Rákóczi út 83. H-2131 Göd · Europe · Phone:+36 27 330 938 · info@toys-port.hu