When I returned to this hobby back in 2012, I had hopes of restoring some models I had been lugging around with me for nearly 50 years. Today I finally finished the last aircraft.
These are not an example of the modeler’s art. They’re mostly kept around for sentimental reasons, the memories they engender and reflection upon how far we’re come.
There is in no particular order:
A Lindberg Me-262 (probably the most complete after 50 years).
Hawk P-51D
Monogram Bf-109
Monogram Dh-98 Mosquito
Monogram Fw-190
Monogram Hawker Hurricane Mk. IIc
Monogram P-47
GAF, your comment,"kept around for sentimental reasons,the memories they engender"pretty much sums up why I returned to this hobby after an absence of so many years. Your restoration project looks amazing to me.
Hmm, I have a whole cupboard full of hastily assembled 1:72 Hasegawa, Airfix and Monogram kits that I completed in my early teens… Maybe 25-30 years on I should follow OP’s lead
Mine were put together with old tube glue, so disassembly was rather easy. Cleaning that off and finding replacement items was the hard part. If you have a few that bring back special memories, then go for it! And it keeps them out of the trash pile (for a little while longer, at least).
How far did you go with your reconditioning? Sounds like you were able to do a full disassembly and strip!
I was using polystyrene cement and Humbrol enamels from Day 1, so I don’t imagine disassembly is realistic for me. Given I generally only applied a single coat without a primer, I might be able to strip paint and decals, sand/fill what my teenage self was too impatient to do and then repaint and apply aftermarket / printed decals. My only concern is finding hot enough to release 20+ year old enamels but not start massacring the underlying plastic…
I stripped everything down as far as I could. There were a few parts I could not disassemble without breaking things, so I left them alone. I thought that if they’ve held up this long, they’ll probably be okay. The only one I didn’t strip down was the Me-262. I just redid a few things and said “good enough”.
Here’s the Mossie disassembled and ready to be worked on.
That’s pretty darn clean! Can you recall what sort of paints you’d used at the time and the solvents applied to get them off? Your stripping efforts would put most of the Las Vegas gentleman’s clubs to shame…
Gary - Very nice work! I am doing much the same thing, rebuilding dioramas I made back in the 1970s and 1980s, while also trying to finish half built kits from that era and also trying to make a dent in the stash I have built after retiring in 2015. I have developed a love of photo-etch and I try to use it in all of my rebuilds, but that slows down the restoration work. There is no doubt that patience, new materials, good reference material and the lessons from FSM is improving my skills…and I like building better models too!
The type of paint? Probably just Testors in the small bottles. There was no other paint available in my area. The Mosquito had just green camo over the grey bare plastic, so it wasn’t tough. I used various methods to remove it, from hot, soapy water to oven cleaner. You can see on the photo above (on the canopy) that some just didn’t want to come off!
That a lot of restoration! Hope it won’t take you 12 year to do them all!
Thanks, Paul! One of the reasons I did some rebuilds was to hone my skills. There are many small details you’ll hardly notice (such as brake lines) that were a challenge. Build and learn!
Wow, that’s nice work on a bunch of oldies (most of which I’ve built numerous times throughout my modeling life).
I actually have 2 big boxes of builds from my childhood in my attic. When I went off to college, my mom got rid of just about everything that I left behind over the next few years. But then several years later, she surprised me with a load of stuff that she had actually kept - some Super 8 movies that I’d made and these boxes of models. In those boxes were a bunch of Monogram and Revell WWII aircraft, some Korean-era jets, a big Revell F-14 that I built after Top Gun came out, and all of my Star Wars builds. None of them are in a condition to restore, but I’ve kept them for the same sentimentality reasons you mention.
I also have added to the boxes when I’ve had more recent builds end up destroyed. A few years ago, I acquired an old Monogram F4F Wildcat, which is notoriously lacking in detail. But I recalled one of those destroyed builds being a Tamiya F4F Wildcat, a much more detailed kit, from which I was able to lift some parts to use in the Monogram kit.
Nothing is entirely useless, you just use it for spare parts!
Are you sure they’re beyond redemption? I must admit, some of mine were pretty far gone, but a strong determination and a willingness to learn kept me going. Of course, they may not be worth it, as there are countless modern models that are far more worthwhile buillding. Still, if the price of models continues to go up…
@GAF It’s been years since I looked in those boxes, but my memory says many were missing parts - stabilizers, props, etc, that I’d have to find a way to replace. With my stash of roughly 200 kits, I have plenty to keep me busy, but there might be a build in those boxes that would be worth the effort. Next time I’m in the attic I’ll take a look.
You might try auctioning them off if they’re that far gone. Just list what they are and say “For Parts”. You’d be surprised at what people sell on Ebay!
I could never bring myself to blow up or otherwise destroy any of the models I built as a kid. I put too much time into them. I could scavenge them for parts, or kitbash them into something else. But I never blew any of them up.
How about 52 years and I even know the exact date!
Abandoned at about 75% complete on June 24, 1972 when my father dragged home a very battered 56 Chevy for my 13th birthday and all my pennies went to that instead of models. OH and I discovered that girls didn’t have cooties about the same time.
Loads of missing parts and a LOT of dust.
