Great to see you - tell "all the nice people" (i.e., lurkers) who you are, buddy! (I presume you found us through SMML...?)

Regarding your point, I have no specific info on the original intent behind these particular kits - but, from the toy-like box art originally on most, if not all of them - commonly including even the proverbial apple-cheeked 8-yr-old (boy, of course; complete with buzz-cut hair ) - I would say your view is highly plausible.

And not just pushing ships around on the floor, mind you, but on the shag carpet - the ne plus ultra living surface of the Ozzie-'N-Harriet Era.

(Meanwhile, the Renwal cutaway SSBN, depicting the most horrifically destructive weapons system ever devised, was for somewhat more mature builders - so its box portrayed a beaming fourteen-year-old (complete with short hair BrylCreamed flat to his head, ears flapping in space).)

Great to have you aboard, Ron!

Cheers,

-Matty