Build those oldies but goodies! By Al Superczynski

Some of you may know that I moderate a Yahoo! group for IPMS/USA members. I also get a lot of email from other modelers, and hang out on a number of modeling websites. Recently a common thread emerged from among all of these disparate sources - the idea of actually building kits that have their origins in the early years of plastic modeling. I've covered quite a few of those old kits since I first "penned" this column, mostly from the viewpoint of the collector.

I have no qualms about building these golden oldies but the mere thought of nipping their parts from the sprues can be enough to cause mass apoplexy among die-hard collectors! Not to worry since many of these old warriors are still around in bright new packaging, so why not toss one or more of them together just for the pure fun of it?

There are a ton of airplane kits still available that first saw the light of day in the 50s and 60s. Revell-Monogram keeps pumping out many of their old 1/48 scale fighters in one guise or another, Testors repops many of the old Hawk kits like the P-51D shown here, in this case built from an original Hawk issue (even their Italian partner, Italeri, gets in the act sometimes), Lindberg often reissues its oldies, and some of the Aurora tooling still shows up from Revell-Monogram and Revell AG occasionally. Glencoe reissues kits from various manufacturers and most of them seem to sit around gathering dust. Among others, they've released the 1/96 scale Viscount and a 1/125 CV-880 from old Hawk tooling, having cleaned up the molds and added very nice modern decals of aftermarket quality. The Viscount pictured here was built from an original Hawk kit and the model still holds its own 30 years after I finished what was already then a rare kit.

Across the pond Airfix and Heller, especially the former, usually have some of their oldest kits in production, while much of the Frog range is available at one time or another from Eastern Europe and the former USSR. These are all kits that many modelers my age grew up with and I remember them fondly and well, along with the ten cent tubes of Revell Type "S" cement, and Testors gloss enamels at the same price. Ah, the days of innocence before we developed AMS - halcyon days when we would finish a model in a few hours, then save our pennies until we could afford another 29 cent kit from Aurora, Comet, or Lindberg!

Other genres of modeling aren't quite as well-served but both Revell and Monogram have reissued many of their older car, ship, and armor kits, many of which can be found languishing on the shelves of local hobby shops. Pictured here are the SSP reissue of Monogram's positively ancient '32 Ford roadster hot rod and the Badman '55 Chevy which was based on the original 1/24 scale customizing kit that could be built as a factory stock, racing, or custom hardtop or convertible. Both are out of production again now but easy to find and inexpensive.

Lindberg constantly cycles through its tooling and releases old cars, ships, and armor in new boxes fairly regularly. The oldies are out there so why not put away your references, airbrushes, aftermarket parts & decals and just have some good old-fashioned fun like we did way back when?

Here's how Scott Kruize describes the Nieuport 17 pictured at the top of this article: "1st build: 1963; rebuilt in 2000. I actually had to PAINT it this time, to cover the Testors light gray plastic of the Testors reissue, and trimmed it with red, white and green. Back then, I only put a little brown on the propellor and pilot, and some silver and black on the landing gear and gun. The Hawk original was molded in green to match its box art! How about that realistic thread rigging? Back then, I used some fuzzy black cotton from my mother's sewing box. This time my own sewing box had some much more modern high-tech stuff: gray polyester!"

Looks pretty darned good to me and I wouldn't mind having it on my shelf! It would never pass muster at a normal contest but Scott advises me that IPMS Seattle has a special class coming up at its next show for just such models (an idea I wholeheartedly endorse).

Next month I'll present a list of currently and/or easily available golden oldies but while I'm working mine up I'd like some input from my readers as well to be sure I end up with a well-rounded and representative selection of kits. Put on your thinking caps and email me with suggestions - pics of box art or built kits would be especially welcome.

Till then, "Build what YOU like, the way YOU want to", and think about a quick build of an oldie for nostalgia's sake and a change of pace.

Be sure to visit Al's Place while you're surfing the 'Net!