Airfix 1/12 1930 4.5L Bentley Blower.... Is it really THAT rare?

Well, patience pays off!

I scored this kit for under 30 bucks. Now, granted, it's the  MPC re-box of the Airfix kit, but I'm not really into labels that much. I'm just glad I was able to score the kit in the scale that I wanted.

But.......(there's always a big BUT, right?)  I won't be starting it soon. I still have a 1/350 Titanic to finish and then on to my new Polar Lights 1/350 Enterprise. My tastes in kits vary.

Anyway, I felt like I had to complete this thread, and hopefully start and post the Bentley's progress in the near future.

Matt

I've had one of these kits - and some of the parts are extremely finely molded - the Bentley lettering on the engine is......impressive....other bits were a bit soft.  Overall - I'd pay $100 easy for something this big - but I'd want to lace the wheels, detail the interior and the engine bay....and more.

Overall - an impressive kit for its day - but sadly lacking compared to Tamiya's large scale efforts.

Al's Hobby in Elmhurst, Illinois has 'em...........

http://store.alshobbyshop.com/airfix112193045litrebentley.aspx

I jusr saw one at LHS yesterday!

Airfix have re released the kit so there should be plenty around again. UK rrp £99.00  (About $125?)

The older issues of the kit. had a number of plated parts in a matt finish. These are no longer plated but bare plastic. The kit is showing its age now as it was released way back in 1972, and for a kit of its size lacks the complexity that you would expect from a modern kit of this size. That said with a bit of extra work the kit will make a good basis for extra detailing etc. My criticism of the kit in the past is that the Winged B badge on the radiator shell was too low down. Maybe Airfix have corrected this in the newest release of this kit,  Getting a feature like this wrong on a classic car is unforgiveable, as the radiator shell is the 'face' of the car and determines its character. They have taken the trouble modify a mould to change the number plate to suit another short chassis blower. The original car with the UR6571 number plate is now in the Ralph Lauren collection as far as I know. There are some nice pictures of his car on the web for reference. Look at the radiator shell in these pictures and you will quickly see where the badge should be. Perhaps someone who has recently obtained the latest release could verify if the badge position has been corrected or not.

Thanks Don,

Y'know, it never dawned on me to check Airfix's website to see if the Bentley might be a discontinued kit. Usually when I see ultra high prices, I assume that the kit has super details, or it's discontinued and rare. That's what I get for assuming.

Had I checked the website, I would have seen the Bentley (at 99.00 pounds) smack dab in the middle of the 8.00 pound model kits. I guess in this case, as Don pointed out, the scale is what drives the price.

I found an early version of the kit (2 color logo on the box...black and red only) for a fraction of the price. That's the one I'll focus on. Hopefully it's old enough to where it was made when the molds were still somewhat clean.

Thanks for all your input guys ...................  Matt

Prices on old kits depend more on the prices of similar kits today than on the original price of the kit.  Look at the prices of existing 1:12 kits and that explains some of the high price.

Rommelkiste,

Thanks for backing up my initial concerns. This is why I came straight to you guys. A $50 kit... sure, but like you said, lots of cleanup and scratch-building would be in my future. $160 should get me something in the same caliber a Tamiya kit, not a "run-of-the-mill" kit with misaligned pieces, ejector pin marks and flash. I knew I'd be doing some repairs and scratch-building to this kit once it's started, but going double the budget before a drop of glue is used seems silly.  I just need to be patient, scour the inter-web and look for the most attractive deal. It'd be nice if there was a detail kit for this model. It would look incredible if done correctly.

Thanks for your input. Really appreciate it. ...................  Matt

Matt, I have had a chance to look one of these kits over and can offer you my opinion.  Remember, it's just my opinion only and I don't think of myself as a kit expert.  To start, I don't see $100 kit there.  It's nice, but to me it's more of a $50 job or maybe a little more.  It has some nice engraving on some parts and lacks some on others.  The example I looked at also had some flash and lots of parting lines and ejector pin marks.  The plated parts were not that good either.  I did not like the wheels, I think those would need to be laced to look good.  I don't think the kit is that rare.  I think you can still get one from Airfix unless they have dropped it within the last year.  Would I build one?  yes, but I would get ready for some scratch building and lots of cleanup work.  If I drop $100 or more on a kit it should have all the bells and whistles of a Tamiya 1/12 F1 kit and have some PE parts to boot.  I have seen some very fine Airfix kits but I don't think this is their best offering.  I think the tooling is almost 30 years old and it shows.  All the prices I have seen of this kit is in line with what you have found.  If you must have one, just wait and usually one will come up that wont rape your wallet.  Thats just my opinion of the kit and maybe someone else can add some information.  Hope this helps a little.