I built Ann Boleyn for my mother for mothering sunday back in the 70s and she loved it. Pretty certain it is still in the display cupboard and it still looks good. Blue dress 😊
Sometimes just building those kits to the standards of the time when the kit was new is its own reward. For example I dearly love the old Aurora kits. I recently built the 1:48 scale B-25. I used tube glue and only painted the details, just as one would do in 1957 when the kit came out. It was a great and rewarding experience. The Aurora monster models are still pretty good by modern standards. Also the late 50's WWI 1:48 scale fighter series are pretty good by modern standards. The same could be said of many of the 1:48 scale 1960's Hawk aircraft kits.
It's fun building a 20 piece kit from the 60s. Now you get 20 pieces just for one component, like the engine, lol. Also, a good paint job makes it look great, despite it being old.
Nowadays I almost exclusively build ancient kits, the older - the better. I really enjoy the nostalgia and the challenge of making a kit of limited quality look as good as possible just with a careful and intricate paintjob. Another reason is just to "stand out". I see so many perfectly built new kits online and in club meetings or exhibitions that it gets a bit boring and I don´t want to add to this. Two years ago I finished the Airfix Sunderland from 1958 and won our yearly club contest with it, that´s my proudest achievement. 😁
I started building models again in 2020, in the lockdown period. I can only think of a few kits from the 70s or 80s that I decided I wouldn't bother with at all, because of inaccuracy, including a 1:72 Revell Spitfire or the old MPC/Airfix Space: 1999 Eagle Transporter. The gatekeeping in the hobby now is at a very high level, and modelers seemingly feel like they have to dig 100 meters deep into their pockets for all manner of convenience products for weathering, etc. I'm not doing it to compete with anybody, or win prizes, I'm thinking of myself as big brother to 8 year old me that was gifted my first kit in 1975, and I'm trying to do builds that would have impressed the younger version of me.
Same here, got a bit fed up with it at one point because I was comparing my builds with some youtuber but now I'm just do them for the sheer enjoyment.
Plenty of recent reissues if you fancy a nostalgia trip (unfortunately with modern prices) or look out for the forthcoming Universal Monsters kits from a company called X-Plus 😊
I have built an equal amount of Airfix and Matchbox models, and I can tell you that Matchbox models fit together better. I do enjoy building some older kits, mainly older Revell or Monogram, and some of them are better fitting than Airfix. The most recent Airfix kit I have built is the Gloster Meteor /Korean War version. It was mostly a good kit with just a couple issues that were easy to deal with. My favorite kits to build are Tamiya, but I cannot afford them very often.
In 1970 I worked in the Hannants model shop in Lowestoft. I remember these kits well, I remember the little slip in the Airfix kits to send off when things go wrong, which was often with badly formed parts.
The old Aurora X-15 kit looked very unlike the real X-15, but it had a huge ‘cool factor’ , like the mystique of a company trying to push out top secret information through protected back door sources, etc. Yet, even after the real X-15 became known, Aurora continued to market the same inaccurate mold, paired with a more accurate box art. The fact that Aurora did not try to revamp the mold almost made it more special. I got it as a kid. I was a little surprised the model didn’t look like the box art, but I didn’t care. I loved it, and I’d still build that kit if I had one.
Any kit is worth building, it comes down to the individual and what they get out of kits, main thing is the enjoyment you get, whether it’s the building or the painting or accuracy or whatever. I built the Anne Boleyn kit and others in that range and really enjoyed them, for me I like the building, accuracy I don’t care about, end of the day just model for yourself and enjoy it , but all models are worth building for someone.
I loved this one. I'm only looking for the older kits at the moment. I love the nostalgia of building kits from years gone bye. Some of my AMT/ERTL aircraft kits leave me scratching my head but I truly enjoy the challenge.
I think it depends on the type of modeler you are as to whether or not something is worth building. Some modelers don’t like high parts counts, so if you pick up some Dragon tank that has 3 or 4 parts per track link, you might easily look at it and put it to the back of the queue if you can’t find some one piece tracks online. On the other hand, if you are great at assembling and painting but don’t really do scratch building, I can see such a person buying Tamiya’s Panther Ausf A, looking at it, and putting it to the back of the queue, never to be completed. For me, if something has the basic shape right and the fit is not preposterous bad, it is worth building. I have a whole box of styrene sheets, so I can probably fix anything. Tamiya’s Panther Ausf A, is objectively quite poor, but I had a blast building it, and it looks quite handsome in my display cabinet. Regarding box art, I don’t really care about it much. From this video, I gather that a photo of the completed kit would be deemed as uninspiring, but for me, I always liked kit photos because I could get a sense of the kit before purchase. There is no right or wrong answer. The key is to figure out what you most enjoy about building and try and find kits that mesh best with that.
Numerous old Airfix, Frog, etc models from the 1960's up in the loft, so simple and relaxing, some modern kits, like individual tank track links, are enough to give you a nervous breakdown!!!!!
Thanks for covering this topic. I like so many others made model kits in our youth 70s 80s and 60s kits were also available. I stopped making kits around 16 -17 as other interests, education, jobs , family, sports extra. Just stopped me from making time. Now i am approaching my 60s and have started building again. And o boy has the hobby changed . However i picked up the Airfix Hercules kit and thoughly enjoyed the build it's a simple kit but enough of a challenge. And has plenty of scope for improvement a great subject and not many companies covering early civil air transport.
Personally I loved Matchbox kits and built quite a few over the years they were available, I wish I'd stocked up on them. Recently I finished the Airfix CAC Boomerang, a kit I inherited that had sat around in a friend's cupboard for 35 years, nothing like the new Airfix kits but I enjoyed it so much I bought a new release of it released by Airfix as a "Classic Kit". Choice was a bit limited in past years in Boomerangs although there are various brands available now. I also have added Airfix's F80 as well, something of a challenge I suppose for this nearly 70 year old. In my opinion they are worth building, if only to show how kits have improved. I totally agree with you about the box art on that Hurricane.
I like the Matchbox kits. Also Heller Cadett. When I was young, I regularly bought them in our local supermarket as some kind of starter kit with two paint bins, glue and a brush. Almost all my pocket money went into this. Unfortunately now, supermarkets don't have kits any more. Greetings from Germany
Of all the kits I have ever made, my favourite build was the Matchbox Helldiver, that you have there. I loved the folding wings and the two-tone colours. It's also a nice sturdy kit.
In my opinion, all kits were meant to be built. But some old kits are quite rare for one reason or another. A kit collector might have an issue with a rare kit being constructed due to it's rarity.
I purchased many kits I had as a kid in the 60's. That's some nice stuff. My mind was alive with imagination & the nostalgia is mighty strong. Aurora was everything. Even some prizes in cereal boxes were from Aurora.
If I'm building a kit I want the best kit of that subject in that scale. However, being an oldie myself, I sometimes like to build vintage kits (that I built in my youth) for nostalgia reasons. One other thing about old kits. These days most kits tend to be aircraft/ships/military vehicles/cars etc. Back in the 50s/60s/70s kit manufacturers came up with some truly unusual kits that probably wouldn't be produced today. I recently built an old Pyro kit of a human torso, complete with heart/lungs/liver etc.
Having built both Anne Boleyn and Henry VIII, I can thoroughly recommend those two Airfix kits. Fortunately, I did not have a problem with the seams and joins.😊
Just finished an old AMT/Lindberg Line PT 109. With a lot of scratch build it came out looking very nice and detailed. When we were kids, we got what was on Woolworth, K-Mart, etc. shelves and honed our skills. Some of these new models present no challenge. I like it when something is "wrong" with the kit.
I have many old kits here and they were made to be built so at some point i will build them.The only kit i won't be building is the Airfix fort Sahara as it's still sealed in the bag.I have the Ann Boleyn kit here also which should be a fun challenge to do.Subbed🐻🐵☺️👍
have built many old kits curently building a f84f from revell circa year 2000 and a f14a from 1998 both 1/48 still good fun to do and did not cost a fourtune ,I will be doing a more modern kit soon as I want to see how much a modern kit has improved
Remembering these Airfix historical figure kits from years ago I remember that some were better (Oliver Cromwell, Joan of Arc and the Black Prince) than others (Napoleon Bonaparte was very basic with few parts).
I started out trying to relate my opinion on the reasons why someone might want to build older kits. I struggled with putting it into words. Ultimately, I decided that what I had was too long winded and basically restated what everyone who builds already knows, namely we build for ourselves, using our own criteria on what we want to do. So I can only really state my own criteria for building with any real authority. I recognize that I have limited time to build, limited space to display, limited funds to purchase, and limited build session patience. I am looking to have a variety of subjects in my display, but they must be something I am interested in. The kit must be something I can reasonably expect to finish within a few months (if possible). I don't want to build something that is so big that I won't have anywhere to display it. I also consider which kit (or combination of kits) I believe will be the best way for me to get that subject matter. Generally, I prefer to use better kits. I won't build an old kit simply for nostalgia purposes because my building time is too limited to spend time on something like that. If it is the only way to get to something I want, then, I will use the older (or more difficult) kit. My Airfix Hudson build fell into this category.
Very enjoyable watch you took me back to my youth 😊 I still build kits but mostly modern kits, I have 1 old Airfix tornado in my stash , i wish I had more 😔 you have amazing collection , You also you have a new follower 👏👏🏴
I started building mine, I sat in my room and looked at all the models i collected for over 30 years and told myself “if not now, when?” So I started building them and glad I did! That’s why I got into the hobby in the first place,to build! Not to collect!
I have been homeless and all kindsa stuff going on but managed to collect kits over 30yrs too .spread over many safe spots and they are at home with me now. It was always a fact I would make them in my head and I would have second bedroom to make them in,basically I planed my life around them.How many of us started with models in the 70s and ended up working in jobs related to plans,our hands or colours plus picturing things first.Nobody I know is interested in what I do only that I said I would do it and let have another E
The Monogram 1/48 aircraft kits from the 70s are still impressive. 1975 release of the B-17G is the best overall in that scale. I stopped in the early 80s with a 30% built kit. When I came back to the hobby forty years later, the B-17G was completed after I had several modern day kits made. Definitely worth building. Old kits that were designed with kids in mind are the questionable choices for adult modellers to consider if there is a newer alternative. Example of an old model that is not worth building in the attempt to recreate a subject; The Lindberg 1/32 PT109 boat kit versus the 1/35 Italeri PT109 model.
I agree. The B24, B-25, B26, B29 and the P61 were all outstanding kits when first released. In the 70s I built one of the B25, B26, B29 and four, B17s from Monogram.@@potrzebieneuman4702
I remember the Airfix American Indian which was very large. I remember our local toy shop had a fully made one in the window for many years, seemed to me at the time it was enormous.
Some kits are real junk, most are not. I love the old kits, especially the Matchbox. I think I built nearly all of them at one time. Don't recall the Helldiver though. The latest in tooling doesn't always mean a better model. Usually better parts, but not always better fit. But I love to assemble and not need to pay over 100 bucks.
Been building a combat talon had resins upgrades had to put it aside it was fighting me all the way so i got out a old Airfix 1/72 Walrus and the magic came back got it done and made me get that Hercules finished, love the old kits .
I have a reasonable collection of unbuilt kits. Most of these I would build without a single care, but I might struggle with a few which are now worth a lot of money. Generally though I like the extra challenge of making a simple kit look classy - perhaps an old Airfix 1/72 military vehicle for example.
Love old kits, too. One has to be careful, though. Plastic does get old and sometimes brittle as well. One needs to take a lot of care with it while in the process of building. Just a thought.
I built that Blenheim as a kid as well... without difficulties as I remember, probably my best at that time (otherwise I probably wouldn't remember it).
Building old kits for me depends on the subject. I will build an old kit where there is no alternative for an aircraft that I want to add to Mt collection. Thus, I have recently finished a Frog Miles Master III converted to a MKII. It required a fair bit of work to bring it up to modern standards, the kit is 60 years old and mine was a Novo kit from about 1977, For me it was worth it. Oh, and I wasn't bothered by the decals as it was in a different scheme based on photos etc and I home printed the serials and codes.
When a new kit costs three times what an older one does, and to 'improve' the modern one with aftermarket parts means we throw away half the kit, then starting with an older kit means saving money, updating it to match modern drawings is an interesting exercise, and my scratch-building skills do not atrophy. That said, most unmade older kits that carry a decent resale value could be sold to finance the ones we do build. Example: have numerous kits not built, sell them, buy Misterkit Gloster Javelin, use my research to update and accurise the simple FROG parts and mark in a few missing panels, minimal updating, perhaps an aftermarket canopy, scratch-build a cockpit to show through the canopy. Maybe transfers if the Misterkits ones are too thin. Some parts from the spares box. £20 maybe.
I can't recall a model not worth building. I have had a few fight me tooth and nail however. The only kit I never finished was a 1/48 scale Monogram F-16A. As I recall it required way more putty than I could hadle and I gave the incomplete aircraft to my boys to play with. I have sold many kits, but only because my interest changed or I just needed to downsize. I done have enough space to display all the unbuilt kits I have.
Yes defenatly it's worth building, no mater how old the kit is, it gives you the joy, and making specialy a kit of poor quality, speak out, because you take it as a challenge to make something nice out of that poor quality kit, " hay let the good times roll" and enjoy every minute of your creations! Take care people! God bless ❤
When the decals are so old they are called 'transfers' or 'decalcomania', they usually don't survive. I've ( whisper it ), copied them with a scanner, cleaned up the colours, and reprinted them on transfer paper. As long as you keep track of the true size of the transfer sheet, it works well.
Is it worth building? The answer depends on what one wants. It is worth as much as the value it brings to the potential builder. The old Airfix Blenheim (yours has the pc version of the original 'telling a story' Roy Cross artwork) I built (badly) in the 1970s and now have it again in the Airfix VC set. It is definitely a challenge, but I will build it as the set was a gift from my son a while ago (and I always build gifts). The Airfix Super Mystere I also built back then. I loved the design of the real thing and recall seeing it in a 1960s French TV series (The Aeronauts?). I built it again recently and finished it as a what-if in Syrian markings. The old Airfix Hurricane - it's okay. Another one from the Airfix VC set, but a quick build. I built the more recent Airfix (Sea) Hurricane IIC, bought because of the box art, which is the scheme I finished it in. My favourite 1/72 Hurricane is the Zvezda 'snap-fit' - a surprisingly detailed kit supplied with separate RAF and Soviet pilots. Sure, more recent and likely, but not necessarily, more accurate kits of all those are available, but i) nostalgia, and ii) the simplicity of parts, steer me towards the older kits. An example is the Saab Viggen. I have the Special Hobby 1/72 kit, but it is a lot of work with many small parts. I still prefer the Heller offering, which although sold as the JA-37 version, includes optional noses, cockpits and tails for all the other versions including the 2-seater. It is a quick build and looks like a VIggen. I'm happy as it has allowed me to build many schemes fairly quickly. (I no longer have the eyesight, manual dexterity or patience to faff around sticking multiple small parts together to make one bigger part.) Mostly now I buy Heller, Frog, Airfix, Revell, LS, Hasegawa models of +50 years vintage. My only 1/32 'Spitfire is the old Revell Seafire H294 from 1969. It was a pure nostalgia build of a kit I remembered in a shop window in the early 1970s and never being able to afford. I had so much pleasure building it last year - and that is important. Another is the Frog issue of the Nakajima Rita/Renzan bomber, which I used to continuously nag my beloved mother to buy me. She never did. The box art was almost impressionistic, but it stuck in my mind. Another thing I miss from the 1960s generation of kits is the 'exploded view' instructions which guided us step by step, with parts (mainly) numbered sequentially and with an explanation of what every part was. I do appreciate the downside to that compared to the close-in detail of eg current Airfix instructions. Those big Airfix figures were all about the painting. I had The Black Prince, but at a time when painting that armour was beyond me to do it justice. I suspect Anne Boleyn is the same and a steady brush will bring rewards. Great video, which really made me think (as you can see).
Kits are made to be built, not stuck in a box in a cupboard. I've spent the last year building the kits that my father gave me that he bought or was given in the mid 70's. Most of them have had issues - rubber tyres melted onto the plastic, broken parts, badly moulded parts, massive ejector pin marks and sink holes, fragile decals. They have all come out looking pretty good. I had to buy aftermarket decals for one. I am having massive problems with paint on all of the Revell plastic, but I struggle on with them. They have spent about 50 years stuck in a cupboard. What is the point of keeping them in the boxes? Eventually they may be worth some money, but probably not in my lifetime. I despair at all these modellers with hundreds of kits that they never intend to build. What a waste.
I’m picking up frog kits,old Airfix and matchbox from a shop for £12 by the coast from collections from passed away people,in ten years there will be less people who build ,let alone buy them,so make away before they get recycled
9:38 This Hasegawa model has an added historcal interest as it's of the still-experimental YF-16. This means dates from that window between the flight of the prototype and the adoption of the F-16. Also, I always liked the quality of Hasegawa kits.
It's hit and miss. I had an Airfix P47 in a job lot. It was so far gone I ended up just throwing it away (warped beyond any hope of recovery, and some broken pieces). And I remember an old Airfix Buccaneer where the fit was so bad it again wasn't worth the effort to try and build. On the other hand, I have an Airfix Stirling that turned out rather well. I also make a lot of older Sci-Fi kits that have had issues, but at least with them you have more wiggle room to address problems like seams and poor fit.
I've been building models for quite a long time, and over the years, I have changed my approach a bit. Nowadays, building old and new and in between gives me a wide perspective of how technology progressed, besides the nostalgia reasons. Also I'm a old school believing that if kit doesn't have particular detail, I scratchbuilt the item. And I've seen quite a bit of models up to "modern standards", whatever it might be, made from old kits. As for standard, it's only as high as you set it for yourself. Happy modeling. I suppose that after all, the question "Is it worth building". I believe that is an individual choice and how much ,and how detailed one wants the finished model to be?
As a kid i never understood that a different looking kit box or maker for that reason could very well mean the very same kit was hiding inside. Expecially true for Revell/Matchbox. I mean how could they do that? I remember once i bought a Hasegawa HS 129 and it turned out to be the Italeri tooling. Oh my what disbelief i was in back then. As i kid i hated the Matchbox kits because of their crude nature with trenchline panel lines. Now, as an adult i simply love them for what they are. The Nostalgia Is Real ! I have to disagree with you regarding the Airfix "blueprint" boxes like that Avro Anson. You can`t really call it a box art, now can you?! It`s just a picture of a finished model. Those are by far my favourite Airfix kits to both collect and to build and to me those boxes are VERY inspiring.
You can also build an average kit much quicker because you aren't as worried about making mistakes. At the moment I'm still trying to get all the blunders out of my system before I treat myself to expensive kits.
I built Anne Boleyn plus Henry the 8th and the other wives about 20 years ago and put in a box frame for my wife as this is her favourite part of history. I remember they were a challenge to build and hard to find
I built the Anne Boleyn and gave it to my mum as a birthday present when I was about 14. I used oil paints to do the face and hands. She loved it, put it on the mantelpiece, where it stayed for at least 30 years. Bits would fall off when she tried to dust it but I glued them back on each time. I think it was the most appreciated present I ever gave her.
I build some old kits knowing they won't be as good as subsequent releases. I get a bit of a nostaliga kick, and the result is usually quite passable. BUT, if the old kit needs a gallon of putty, is rivetted like an old iron bridge, or is grossly inaccurate, no way. I will put a bit more time in adding detail, but no correcting fundamental errors. It's a bit like I enjoy driving an old car, but I'd rather drive an E30 BMW than a Morris Marina.
@@deonjansenOld Heller kits are fine too, that Airfix blenheim i enjoyed too , the fact is some of the older kits have the overall aircraft shape more right than these computer tooled ones!
I spent some years as a wargames pro-painter. Always had extras left after commissions, due to pack size vs unit size (the hotdog vs bread roll type dilemma) so my lead mountain is massive. Will get round to sorting it one day. Different field but similar problem. Some (by modern collectors standard) very early fantasy minis (not my usual stuff) - don't even know how I acquired them that appear to be worth quite a bit will move these on to where they are appreciated.
When ot comes to Matchbox i have yet to build a bad one...on all the ones i have built the fit of the parts was fantastic and absloutley no filler required on any of them....not saying all their kits are like that...just the ones i have built and i actually have 1 of those T-2 Buckeye kits on my work bench.
The only Matchbox kit that I never finished was the Dornier Skyservant. I was having so much trouble with the fuselage and wing joins. Having just crapy old Humbrol putty to fix it up, I just couldn't get them looking nice. I threw it out eventually. I wish I'd hung onto the old kits that I gave up on. I'd be able to fix them up now and get them looking great. I think the only other ones I trashed were an old Frog Gloster Meteor which I was hand painting silver, and it was just horrible, and the Airfix Tirpitz, which I had been building as a teenager then I tried to finish it off in my 30's. It was coming along nicely then I knocked a jar of turps all over it while I was painting it. I couldn't be bothered trying to restore it. I've now got the HMS Hood and Bismarck from my father's stash, so I will build them as a memorial to the Tirpitz.
early airfix lightning is a nostalgic build but far better kits now , the fuselage was much too narrow , but still looks like a lightning and worth building
The Airfix range of historical figures was quite large at one point. They were King Henry VIII, King Charles I, Oliver Cromwell, Julius Ceaser, Joan of Arc, Richard I, Beefeater, Coldstream Guard, Lifeguard Trumpeter, Queen Elizabeth I, Anne Boleyn, Black Prince, Napoleon, Queen Victoria, Mounted Bengal Lancer. Boy Scout, Mounted Showjumper. They also did a range of Napoleonic figures, But I think they were 1/48th scale and not 1/12th. I think possibly the model of the Black Prince was the hardest to paint if you want it done well. There maybe more that I do not know about.
Could you suggest some good places to look to find the older kits. I am not expecting to find everything on my wish list, but there are some things I would have loved (and planned) to get as a 10 yo but never did, for one thing there was the, "I'l get it later," attitude, "They'll be around forever," I told myself. And now... some years later, I have thought about finding them if there is a possibility they are available. Cheers
Ive been building kits for 50 years, honestly, I get more satisfaction building older kits and updating them, over spending ridiculous prices for modern kits that are not much of a challenge to build
@@MikeSchubert-on6fh Well welcome Mike, glad to have you aboard. and please post pics of your models and projects on the facebook page. glad to find you again
I am nostalgic. I want to rebuild some of the kits I made in the late 70’s or some of the kits that my father built. I am not interested in modern stuff myself.
The oldest thing I’ve built was an HGUC Z’Gock, with the Guntank not far behind. I’ve been wondering about trying to get my hands on a 90s-era kit like the Abigor or something.
1st run on Anne Boleyn was 1974 - 1980, started off in a plain white box, last seen with Henry VIII in a Humbrol double set 20+ years ago, Hornby have only issued the 3 London Icon figures from that series I think, fit is likely to be ambiguous for those, the 1:1 Birds and Dinosaurs at least compared to engineered subjects, the 54mm series are said to be far better on those terms.
My biggest issue with older kits, especially Italeri from the 70's/early 80's, is the plastic itself. I don't know if the plastic was so brittle when the kits were new or if it has deteriorated over time. I have built a couple from that era recently and any long thin parts just fall to pieces just trying to get them off the sprue. Another thing I have noticed with old Italeri kits is that they have areas of melted plastic, not like they were taken from the mold too soon and the plastic has warped, it looks more like the kit parts were touched in certain places with a piece of red hot metal. As to old aircraft kits give me a Matchbox any day over an old Airfix kit.
I think one key aspect is the time, I have some waterline models (ships) from different eras and the old molds from Aoshima is more or less very poor but some Hasegawa and Tamiya are at least tolerable. However when the new generation of kits started to came out I have bought these instead including some new makers like PitRoad + new offerings from the old Japanese brands. So I have some old kits where the time and effort is not worth it. On the other hand the better of the old waterline models f.e. Yubari and Taiho are easier to build so if time and skill are less developed these are maybe better starter kits. If you have limited space where to put the ready made kits is also a factor, where perhaps building fewer but better kits are the preferred choice. It is difficult as I am also getting older and newer kits might be too difficult for me in a couple of years who knows?
I get caught up with picking up an older Hasegawa kit, like that F-16 and want to jam in a new resin cockpit which was not designed for that kit. I also look at the Matchbox and older Airfix and think how wrong some are shaped etc. and think why not buy he good one? Then I see the prices and I also see what some people want for the old kits which should never exceed $10 of whatever currency you live in. You can build a squadron in a week or spend a week building just the cockpit.
Of kits that I have bought that may not have been worth building, I have a MiniHobby Models USS Arizona in 1/700 from 2001 that may fall into that category. The detail and everything is okay, but somehow they badly misplaced turrets 1 and 2, leaving way two much space between the two. The spacing issue is something that would be quite noticeable on the finished model. I think I know how I might fix the problem by moving turret 1 aft a bit, although it will be a bit tricky to pull off. I probably will do so rather than binning the kit, but this kit is pretty borderline. Another kit that may not have been worth building is Tamiya’s Grant Tank in 1/35 from the early 1970s. Overall the detail is good and the moldings are crisp, but there are several major errors. The turret is significantly oversized and poorly shaped. The road wheels have six spokes rather than five. And the tracks are not only the wrong style but are molded such that the link connectors do not connect the links together. These are not technical “rivet counter” sorts of errors, but ones that stand out if you look at a photo of a Grant and then look at the model. Scratch building or modifying one or two road wheels may not have been a deal breaker, but to do twelve of them would not have been enjoyable. I finally broke down and bought some aftermarket road wheels and some correct tracks, and resigned myself to scratch building a new turret or going Frankenstein on the kit turret, but considering the cost of the aftermarket parts, I probably would have been as well off to consign the kit to the spares box, and just buy a decent newer Grant.
I find myself asking the very same question, your topic here is very important and extremely valid for all of us. Should one invest further funds into a kit and expend paint etc. (?) especially if a new rendition of the subject is soon to be released. At times I have found myself at odds, buying a kit because it was the only one available of my favorite subject. Only to discover how poor it was and having to invest further to bring it into a tolerable state, terribly frustrating indeed..........
i almost never get a newer kit of an old kit i already have. I do spend a lot on models, but if i bought new quality kits all the time i would really be in financial trouble. I try and be frugal with spendings
There's an assumption this old modeller has seen , that all 'newer' models are 'better'. Even if the new one is one month 'newer'. Updating or improving older kits is enjoyable, skilful, is how this old man recalls doing it most of my life, and costs much less. Some older kits have gone through three, or even more, complete updates of how they are painted, for example. Most Luftwaffe subjects, for example, or the Revell Spitifre that was to be painted with railroad modeller's paints in 'sand' and 'spinach'. Paint has become more accurate, and better researched, much like measuring real aircraft has improved models. Real planes scanned with a 3D laser set-up tends to reveal their actual shape, rather than a mould-makers approximation based upon an aircraft builder's general arrangement drawing, made during a war, which is deliberately inaccurate to defeat spies, etc.
@@stevetheduck1425 I have a Story to share, when I was a kid (I am 68 now) I bought a Monogram 1/72 scale Bf 110E kit no. 6812. I was so thrilled with the box art I just had to buy it, considering the period of time it was produced it was a very nice kit. Over the years I bought several more, it has been more then 40 yrs. since I had one those kits and after watching this video I have considered buying another. It was a great little kit and well worth upgrading a bit, strange I am really excited about working on it despite its age. I know that there are far better ones out there now but this is the one for me! Another kit I really loved when I was young was the Monogram 1/48 scale FW-190 with all the under wing weapon choices which came out around the same time as the 110E. Happy modeling!!!!.........
@@deonjansen Hello, I have to personally thank you for "broadening my Horizon"! As a result of watching your latest video yesterday, I decided to buy a (circa 70s) Monogram kit no. 6812 1/72 scale ME 110E. I built this when I was a kid (I am now 68 yrs.) I love that kit and fell in love with the box art. Considering the kit`s age, it was very well done and to me it is well worth a bit of up-grading. I am truly grateful for you and your videos which have stirred up a lot of memories of the past that I have forgotten. I owe you great thanks for changing my outlook for the better, thank you Sir. thank you.............
