A trip down memory lane, courtesy of Revell! (ancient B-52 and B-57 kit pix)

Modeling Subjects Aircraft
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Howdy, folks! [:D]
One of the many local shops near my apartment here in downtown Osaka specializes in old kits, and it always takes evey ounce of willpower I can muster to avoid leaving the place with an armload of kits. They have literally every kit I’ve ever seen, let alone built! Well, pretty close, anyway. Suffice it to say, they have lots of stuff.

Today, however, the willpower was low…and when I ran across these two old kits, I was so overcome with a flood of happy modelling memories and emotions that no amount of willpower could stay my wallet! These two kits hold a very special place in my heart as some of the earliest models I recall having, back when I lived on Selfridge Air Force base in the late 60’s.

Here they are:
Revell “Jet Commando” B-52 Stratofortress

Revell “Strategic Air Power Series” Martin B-57B Intruder

The B-52 kit is dated 1967, and the B-57 1968, which is right about when I started getting (but not quite building! I was only four!) models.
I recall that the B-57 was particulalry sturdy, withstanding all sorts of rowdyness.
I had several of the B-52 kits, spanning into the era when I actually painted my aircraft. I recall trying a silver and gray and white SAC paint scheme on one (all brushed, of course), and even stuck a Genie missile under each wing (from a 1/72 F-101) as surrogate Hounddog missiles.

These two kits represent a big part of what I can remember as some of my earliest days of modelling, and as such are priceless treasures to me. Luckily, they were fairly cheap: about $30 USD for the B-57 and only $15 USD for the B-52 (which was still in the original shrink wrap!). I’ve seen them for much cheaper on ebay and elsewhere, but those were good prices for Japan. (The collector’s market here in Japan craves old Revell stuff!)

Hopefully some of you will look at these pix and recall the fond memories of building these old stalwarts, too.

Now all I need to find is that ol’ 1/144 (I think) Aurora C-141 Starlifter, and the Big Three of my early aviation modelling resurrection will be complete![;)]

Check out the shop, called Hobby Kansuke, here:
http://www.kansuke.net/index.html

It’s all in Japanese, but just click around and enjoy!

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Gee… I must have bought that B-52 kit when I was a kid… Memory lane indeed!

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Missed them both, passed through Japan on my way to another far distant Asian country in 1968. Still like to look at those old kits though.

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I built the B-57 eons ago, but never had the B-52. My memory fails me, but were these the old Box-Scale kits? Just curious, but do they have any of the really old Monogram Speedee-Built kits? These were supposedlyi flyable model kits comprising of balsa & some injection molded detail pieces. Thanks for the post.

Regards, Rick

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I think these wre indeed the “box scale” kits. Both boxes are exactly the same size, with the B-57 looking close to 1/72 and the B-52 being about 1/187, I believe.

Monogram Speedee-Built kits? Don’t recall seeing any …do you recall which subjects there were? Does it say Speedee-Built on the box? I’ll drop in again and check. And probably buy more nostalgia! [;)]

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The Speedee Built kits were from the 1950’s and had a wide range of subjects. They were about 1/48 scale or slightly larger. I can’t recall them all, but I remember building a P-47D Bubbletop, a Comet Air Racer, a F9F Panther & a B-24. Although they were supposed to flying models, they were really only suited to static display. They started me on my life long love affair with Aircraft modeling & started Monogram in the Scale Aircraft kit business.

Regards, Rick

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I am a bit older than you, Brian, and I remember those old Revell box-scale kits from the '60s, when I was in elementary school. They had the greatest paintings on the box tops (“Suitable for framing,” of course, but I never heard of anyone actually doing it.), and those paintings dang near cried out: “Adventure awaits you in this box!” So when I got a dollar, I bought a Revell kit. If I only had 59 cents, I bought an Aurora fighter or a little Hawk kit. I’d say you made a pretty good haul.
Last year, somebody who doesn’t build, know or care anything about models gave me a pristine Revell/Italeri Panzer IV H tank kit that has exactly the same box art style as your Canberra, and it’s copyrighted 1977. Though the shrink-wrap’s gone, not one part has fallen from the many sprues. In fact, the parts are from molds that look surprisingly modern. I don’t collect kits, and I don’t build armor, so it just sits gathering dust, another forgotten relic.
TOM

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I added a link to that cool shop, but I’ll put it down here, too:
http://www.kansuke.net/index.html
It’s all in Japanese, but just click around and enjoy!
If you have any questions. let me know! I can translate for you.