Model Kits that you remember

[73north]

This is the brand-new Catalogue just released - among the NEW ships
are the long awaited 1/350 WW2 Royal Navy ' County Class ' for the first time ever
in injected plastic - which will be HMS Cornwall and Kent
along with the German WW1/2 Schleswig-Holstein Pre-Dreadnought
and the release hopefully this year of HMS Exeter and York -
note - this is the Box-Art which will be used for the Trumpeter 1/350 HMS Exeter
if you want to see some great art-work constructed go to - https://www.facebook.com/ddg39hobart/
I also see the Regia Navia ( Italian Navy ) Vittorio Veneto has been announced
and for my good friend Palo 5 - the 1/350 Russian Destroyer Tashkent !
anyway to see the full list click on the 3 images ( and please enjoy yourself )

[BlueMax]

My dad worked at the Aberdeen Proving Grounds as a Public Affairs Officer during the 1950's and part of his job was to assist Model companies to get the blueprints declassified so that the companies could make military models. He worked with most of the major model companies,by the time I was growing up in the 1960's he worked primarily with Monogram.

I remember getting a Monogram catalog each quarter and picking out models. Then a couple weeks later UPS would arrive with a big box filled with models. My dad and I would make some of them, but he would always keep some models in his closet to give to my Cub Scout Pack and later my Boy Scout Troop, so that the kids that did some well would get a little extra reward.

In the mid-60's Monogram also made slot cars and tracks. I can remember my dad getting a Road America (Figure-8) track as a Christmas present from Monogram. I still have that track, plus more that I've added through the years, setup in my bonus room.

I also remember making the 1/72 Boeing B-52 model and hanging that from my bedroom ceiling.

While I was his high school my sister married a Naval Officer and he wound up of the USS Nimitz as the Reactor Control Officer as part of the commission crew. We got to attend the commissioning and a couple of month later we got to sail out to sea for a dependents cruise. After that i wrote a letter to my dad/s friend at Monogram asking them to make a model of the Nimitz. It took a couple years, but they finally did after the movie "The Final Countdown" came out and Mr R at Monogram sent me a Nimitz Model as a "Thank you" present for encouraging them to make the model. After the "Gulf of Sidra Incident" in 1981 (where 2 F-14's from the Nimitz shot down 2 Mig's from Libya) Monogram which had exclusive rights to the Nimitz model and also had an F-14 model packaged the two together to commemorate the incident.

Thanks for letting share this. It brings back some very good memories about my Dad.

[Baresfan]

There's a 1/4 scale motorized transparent Porsche 911 engine kit that has just become available. I picked one up as a Christmas present to myself and it will be a snowy week project this winter. A friend who gets Christophorus magazine from Porsche gave me his latest issue and it's amazing what some German hobbyists have done with these kits. One builder even fabricated special bearings so that his engine can turn at 3,000 RPM. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dhUSFLT_zsc

[Edmond]

Interesting that some of us share a passion for modelling as well as vintage erotica, what? I wonder how many of us may know each other from various modelling forums masquerading under different names? 73 North has already linked to ARC - I wonder if anyone is on any others such as Hyperscale, LSP etc...

Edmond

[73north]

Hi Edmond
I am on Aircraft Resource Center , that's totally correct -
I think if you like Vintage Erotica - you already are a smart guy , as the old magazines quality is frankly far superior to what's out there now -
and Female Models and Plastic Modelling - obvious connection ( beauty )

okay , I finally got my back-pay !
( my time-sheet finally got delivered 10 days late after being posted 17 December 2016 - so a long wait to get paid with Holiday breaks )
so this is my reward - I raided the Pontos ( South Korean ) super-detail set
for the HMS Prince of Wales kit by Tamiya ( 1/350 scale ) -
and here it is , deck ventilators x twenty -
and I ' liberated ' from it- the Ensign and Jack Staff's ( Flag Poles )
as well - for my 1/350 scale Trumpeter HMS Repulse kit

if you see my previous post ( last month ) - the difference is staggering
between the turned brass and the plastic deck ventilators ( or Royal Navy mushroom vents ) .
This is what Trumpeter provide on the Sprue ( They are numbered 5 )

I could have tried to have used the 1/350 Imperial Japanese Navy Mushroom vents by Alliance or Rainbow Models -
but they don't look the same !




anyway , I think you will like the close-up photos ( taken today )

[73north]

Aoshima new tool and brand new kit in 1/700 -
of HMS Exeter - Battle of Java Sea 1942 ( Kit comes out in April 2018 ) -

It’s a strange one. Whilst it’s historically correct, it hardly shows the kit in a positive light. I’d have thought they would have shown it sailing on top of the water rather than sinking into it.
I ask the question of why Aoshima depitcts allied ships that are always on fire and why IJN always look glorious
It wouldn’t prevent me buying the kit though.
However , I can’t think of any other manufacturer making a kit with a similar box art!

note - Aoshima did a weird kit box art showing very little of HMS Exeter , except a small area of the hull sinking below the waves - very odd and not normal for box art for models ....By all means include the destroyer in the box art if it's included in the kit, but make Exeter the main subject, surely?
I was wondering what people in the UK and the USA especially thought of it.
have shown the picture to several Japanese friends here, some of whom are modelers. The general consensus is that it’s a) a very badly painted picture, b) doesn’t show the subject of the kit in any sort of light at all and c) doesn’t really appeal to the Japanese market either! A definite case of “why bother...” !

[brk549]

Japanese don't like to lose,especially a war.

[Dr Pepper]

Originally Posted by brk549

Japanese don't like to lose,especially a war.

And certainly don't like to be reminded about actual historical events-as the history curriculum in Japanese schools will demonstrate-sanitised beyond any historical accuracy....

[BustyWomenLovr]

Originally Posted by 73north

and Female Models and Plastic Modelling - obvious connection ( beauty )

I like my airplanes like my women - "area ruled"... ;-)

[BustyWomenLovr]

Anyone try a Wingnuts Wings 1/32nd scale World War One kit?
They look freaking awesome in the box and built, but I have not tried one yet.