Building Older Kits ?

I like some of the old Airfix stuff, but the real nostalgia for me is Matchbox kits, they really bring back some memories for me.

They were real easy, no real hang ups in construction and they were great for the shorter attention spans of younger modelers, plus they were also cheap enough that you didn't have a fit if you screwed up on them.

Fond memory makers:

Matchbox 1/72 F-101 Voodoo
Matchbox 1/72 EE Lightning series
Matchbox 1/72 EE Canberra PR.9
Matchbox 1/72 Bae Hawk 200

Airfix 1/72 EE Lightning F.3
Airfix 1/72 Sepecat Jaguar
Airfix 1/72 Bristol Blenhiem IV

Heller 1/72 SAAB 29 Tunnan
Heller 1/72 Gloster Javelin T.3

A real happy memory maker for me was Revell/Crown 1/144 B-52 Stratofortress. Real simple, real fun and about what you expected for the money.

About old kits not supposed to be built: thats like wine collectors saying not to drink such and such a vintage because of its rarity. You only live once and the guy who stomped those grapes wanted you to drink it and savour it not put it on display like some collector's plate or porcelain doll. The model manufacturers
don't do what they do for you to stick the kit in the back of some closet and not do so much as remove the shrink wrap.

Build the kit, drink the wine (yes, in that order. I've seen it the other way around and its just bad news)

Live, live, live!!!

Right now I'm working on an old Monogram B-26. I'm even using the decals as best as I can. I'm building 'Flak-Bait" for my clubs next theme: That 70's Kit.

I build what I like or have interests in. If I like a kit that was mfg'd in the 60's, I'll build it no dout about it.
I have always heared that the box(excellent cond) is worth more than the kit itself. Its good if you have both(it may up the price a lil) but the box art is what there after. I may be wrong but the people that I have meet say the box itself is valuable.
Flaps up,Mike

Great to hear you guys are happy to tackle a classic - collecting has taken off in the UK a fair bit in recent years with some nice books adding interest - maybe i need to buy a 'tamagawaskit' and see if it gets built - somehow if its old i am happier - one recent Matchbox kit a F9F Panther is displayed with its M stand, a little gem in its US Marines colour , and an Airfix WWI Dog fight double is near completion - Generally collectors are looking for mint box with kit intact and i tend to go for the sruffier boxes they've left behind, building is were the fun is for me tho i admit some kit value's make you think twice........
And decals are often a problem agreed

Yes, I enjoy building some older kits. I'm re-doing (I did one when I was a kid in the 70's) a Monogram Navy Grumman F3F-3 (the one with the folding up landing gear). Allthough I'm debating on making the landing gear solid, filling in the slots where the gears protrude thru the side.

As for the value of a classic kit being much higher unbuild in the box, Yes, it makes sense. However, if it's your money. You have every right to do with it what you want. The only one who suffers is you. So, Have fun and build one, you spend your money as you want and should have the right to enjoy it as you want.
After all the things were made to be built, right?

Tim H.

I'm not as "experienced" as some of the members here so I don't have the luxury of looking back at the so-called "classic kits" but even the kits that I've had sitting on my shelf for awhile - they were all purchased for building. If it is a subject that I am interested in, it wouldn't matter how old, or new, the kit was, it was made to be built.
As far as sellers stipulating that the kit is not to be built - Don't sell it then. If you decide that you want to sell it, then you give up all your "rights" to that model. If you don't want it to be built, then keep it in your own closet. That just seems rather silly to me.

Ray

I'm a collector but I caught this illness by hording old kits I want to build. Collecting is very big with me but building comes first. Having said that I do have quite a few kits that are too valuable to me to build. Almost all my kits are for sale and if someone wants to plunk down $100.00 for an old kit and build it more power to them! Some old boxes are collectable but most collectors are "kit collectors" not box collectors. They are just buying the box to replace a missing or damaged one. If the kit is worth $50.00 mint and you only have the box for it someone will give a couple bucks for it. Box only, kit with no box, and build ups are worth only a fraction of the mint book value.

I'd like to take another shot at that old Revell Skyraider with all the working parts!

Woody - I have a few that I plan on building (or restoring is a better word). I picked up a Revell Electra (American Airlines) on ebay that was already assembled. It came with original "Dodgers" box and decal sheet. I disassembled the model and plan on rebuilding it with those decals (if 40+ year old decals will still work). I also have a mint condition Dodgers Electra. Similar situation with the 50's Monogram "Airpower" set. I have one from my KCC days, kit is excellent, but the box is in poor condition. About three years ago, I picked up another Airpower set on ebay. This time, the airplanes were assembled, but the box was near mint. Someone gave me a spare set of the decals as well. I look upon these situations as being able to have my cake and eat it too!

'Collectible' kits may be rare, but in my opinion they were still made to be built. I have a couple of 'rare' kits (at least by my definition). I've chosen to not build them right now, but only because I'm working at building up my skills before I tackle them. I have a 'vision' in mind and just want to be confident that I can build it into the result that I want. Not for anyone else, just for me.

M.

Bubbamoosecat , I think it is a win-win situation to rebuild old assembled kits. They are like orphans looking for a good home, as a matter of fact that's what I call the started kits I've gotten along with purchased collections. To have mint examples to go with your rare built kits, sounds like icing on the cake. If I come across an old Revell Skyraider I'll let you know. I do have a couple Esci 1/48 Skyraiders (AD-6 and A-1H). I'll try to dig through some more dusty boxes for that Revell kit.

Its interesting to see that building is the main focus,and that many of us have older kits that we're prepared to assemble, even built oldies being rebuilt - i admire the skill it must take to reverse the process !
Often current or re-issues of older kits can be found to build but with these the newer they are the older the mould and luckily vice versa - perhaps we've discovered a type of time travel here !
Of course some names have long gone from the shelves......
Monogram seems to be a US name from the past, now merged ? i have a 1:48 Hurricane of theirs from 94' which seems retro packaged, so perhaps to some extent the company's themselves know that the past can be alluring to many of us - Frog and Airfix have been the subject of two excellent books published in the UK covering their kit history - Has there been any in the states written for say Revell or Aurora or others maybe ? - i have some old Revell catalogues but would love to see a book written.
From your posts i can see that rather than two camps there is a wide centre
ground which is good, i've started reviewing one or two oldies and was curious how relevent these may be amonst new releases..........

Here's a book for you "Remembering Revell Model Kits". Also has a price guide included. I'll include the authers email. I strongly suggest that anyone interested in building, collecting, or just the history of old kits joins Kit Collector Clearinghouse. The email for the book is <graham_s@popmail.firn.edu>

Excellent, thanks Woody, thats a new one to ' look forward ' to !

I'd like another go around with Revell's old 1959 Ford Galaxie Skyliner.
Lee

Woody, I'm watching one of those Revell Skyraiders on ebay now. Sitting at $9.99 right now and the auction ends Monday I think.

I hope you win it bubbamoosecat! I got a He-100 and a Dewoitine D 510 from ebay today! Yup I'm going to build um! How did you come up with the handle bubbamoosecat was that a Grumman product? Hee Hee

I am not into the collecting that entails "only looking at". I buy to build, or open, or shoot, or drive...you get the picture. I bought a nice WWII Walther P-38 and a few of the collectors that I know were horrified because I took it out to see how it would shoot. I also open packets of baseball cards and would drive a Shelby Mustang if I could. As for old models, about the oldest one that I have as of now is only from the mid- to late-80's

Jerry

I heard that, coldwar68. I have a number of old Revell, Monogram and Hawk kits that I bought way back when,and I intend to build them all. Doesn't matter to me that some people consider them as collector's items. I have a number of National Match-grade firearms that I shoot regularly (or as regularly as time allows). I would no more think about locking them away just "to look at" than I would buy older kits to shelve and say "look what I have". I respect the idea that some folks enjoy that, but that's not me. Buy it, build it, buy some more! -Ed :0)

A bit off topic but I too love classic firearms. I just bought an old S&W Model 29 with 4" barrel and target sight. Original box, literature, and cleaning rod. Mint and unfired until next weekend! I'm a colt man but have always had a thing for S&W magnums.

That sounds pretty nice! I am with you on the Colts, I used to own a 1911. I just bought a Springfield Armory 1911...it shoots very nice and is one heck of a lot tighter than my old 1911. Good Shooting and stay safe.

Jerry

The latest posts in this thread suggest I shouldn't feel too guilty about what I really want to do with a pair of apparently unfired 4" bbl. Webley Mark IVs next time I get to a range. But back on topic....If you want to really see what can be done with old, supposedly "obsolete" kits, take a look at the Carl Knable aircraft portfolio in Great Scale Modeling 2003. Some of the scales are a bit odd--apparently the old "box" scales (e.g., 1/128 Revell Super G Constellation and 1/87 B-57 Canberra)--but wow! what models.

I know, hats off to Mr.Knable!

Two that really got my attention were his Airfix F-86D and The Italeri RF-84 Thunderflash.

I've built them both and neither are an easy task if you want to get them right, particularly the Airfix kit.

As Mr. Knable shows, old kits aren't necessarily dead, just sleeping a bit sounder than most :-)

Note: I still have nightmare's about Airfix's old 1/72 F-104 Starfighter. In spite of good skills, its nearly impossible to get right.

I've been building models off and on since the late '50s and I can't think of one I've built in the past that if it was on my shelf today I wouldn't open and start construction. I built them for fun and enjoyment back then and do it now for the same reason. As long as I'm able, I'll build, regardless of when the kit came out. Some times I think it just boils down to the old adage, "Those who can, do. Those who can't, collect."

Rick

Thats a good point about various scales from yesteryear, 1:96 was used by Frog for a Lancaster and a Victor amonst others, i recently found a 1983 Revell issue HP Victor in 1:96 and have not been able to confirm its origin, any clues ?

Rick I believe the "old adage" is - Those who can, do. Those who can't teach. Your version is also unfair, if that's any consolation. Both practices, teaching and collecting, pass something on to others. If these passtimes are not your cup of tea, please don't knock those of us who believe in preservation. I am a collector who will build an old rare kit, but some are too old and rare for even me!

Woody,

Sorry about that, didn't mean to offend you or anybody else here. Yeah, you're right when it comes to passing something on to others. If it weren't for collectors, museums would be empty buildings and that would be a terrible loss to us all. I think my problem is actually with the word "collectable". Lately it is a label put on everything that somebody wants to make money on. You can't even get a toy from a cereal box that isn't a "collectable" nowadays.

Again, I apologize to you and the other collectors out there, whether you choose to build the kits or not.

Rick

Rick your right. If you slap the word collectable on an old product, then the only thing that is different is the inflated price tag! Didn't mean to come off as jerk, I just think there is value to preserving things from our past.

Just last December, I finished a 1960's MPC kit of a 1932 Chrysler Imperial. I even added some scratchbuilt detailing such as spark plug wires and a real wood dashboard face. Another vintage kit (a Johan 1934 Mercedes Roadster) supplied chrome spoke wheels for the Chrysler, as the Chrysler kit's spoke wheels were molded in gray. I tried making real wire wheels per a 1995 article in FSM but I found it too much time and trouble and silver chrome paint looked HORRIBLE, so I robbed Johan's Mercedes kit. (That sound you just heard is all the vintage kit collectors cringing at once.)

Now we've wandered off into guns! I am currently rebuilding a couple of old 'merit' kits, They date from the 50's/60's and, I think were British made. They even have the decal positions moulded in, thats how old!. I've finished the Walrus & I'm halfway through the Swordfish. I've corrected most of the faults, & things are looking good. Someone else built them originally, or rather, he threw them together. I've found it very satisfying to see something good appear out of something so rough. And all it's cost is time, filler, plastic card & paint.
So yes, building / rebuilding older kits gets my vote, it's cheap!