Has anyone seen or know of a maker of the Atomic Annie? Maybe we should or could get Tamiya or another fine model maker to produce one. Any help locating one would be great. Thanks!
Here is a pic of this 240MM beast!
Revell released the kit as part of the History Makers line. It was an old reissue of a Renwal(?) kit from the 1960s. The Revell release was during the early 1980s. They were on the shelves when I started college in 1982-83 school year.
It was a 1/32 scale kit but was originally listed as 3/8"=1’ (which works out to 1/32).
Certainly was Renwal Major Rob.
Yeah, those were the days. Renwal did some kits of some unusual subjects, at least unusual by today’s standards. Quality was typical of the time, innaccurate, simplistic…but still heaps of fun[:p]
Every once in awhile, you can find one of the old “Annie” kits on evilbay, but the price for them usually tops $200.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3152987361&category=2588
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3153661355&category=1191
Looks like some good buys on these two.
demono69
When I was a kid, the “serious” big kid modelers had the M41 Walker Bulldog, M42 Twin Forty and M47 Patton by Renwal. They had much neater features than the Lindburg and Aurora kits that I had as a “little” kid.
I do have a couple of Ontos and M42 Dusters now.
Mail Call (History Channel) did a small segment on Atomic Annie last night. Pretty Neat.
They also talked about the “Davey Crockett”. It was another atomic weapon, which was made to be fired from a jeep!
I had an Atomic Annie when I was a kid, along with all of the other Renwal kits. Annie, sadly, fell off the shelf and became spare parts. I used to display it (her) with her tube at max QE (elevation)… that’s what made it tip over onto the floor when it was bumped[:(]. Oh well.
I wish SOMEBODY would reissue ALL of the old Renwal kits. I know Matchbox had some of the molds (M41, M47, M42), but I’d like to see ALL of them![:D] I have a Matchbox M47 on the shelf waiting to be made. It’s exactly the same as the Renwal kit, but the tracks are a softer silver vinyl, rather than that hard stuff Renwal used.
No, they’re NOT anywhere near accurate by today’s standards, but they’re sure cool. 1/32 scale.
Ron[:)]
BTW the original Atomic Annie can be viewed at the Artillery Museum at Fort Sill at any time. It’s just the carriage, no tractors.
Actually, Revell owns the molds but reissued some of the kits in Matchbox boxes after the real Matchbox folded. Revell issued the M41, M42, M47, M50 Ontos, Hawk misslie, Mace Missile & Terracruiser, Atomic Annie, and possibly others in the 80s. The Matchbox kits were issued in the mid 90s and if you look at the box sides, they were produced by Revell AG (aka Revell of Germany).
I had the Mace Missile when I was stationed in Germany, that was a big kit. Think of a 1/32 scale jet sitting on a large tractor trailer combination.
Whoops, forgot one: the self propelled howitzer called the “Big Shot” was reissued by Revell’s History Makers in the 80s as well. I’ve got this one and the reissue was molded in tan.
If I remember correctly, the ol’ girl sits at the FT Sill Artillery park.
You might be able to get on and get the reference pics you want, or have someone you know in the military get you some from there.
AAAAAhhh, Good ol’ Ft Sill.
I have a Revell History Maker kit of the Atomic Cannon. I thought it might be a collectors item but did not know it was worth $200.00. Anyone interested?
I didn’t know Revell had the molds and reissued the kits in the Matchbox box box box… Go figurr. There’s an artillery park at Sill now? Wow! When I was down there (1975), they had the museum and you could climb all over the stuff… which was great on the M7, Stuart and LVT!
My hat’s off to both of you for the info![bow]
Ron
(had to play with that little bowing smiley dude!)
I would still like to seem them all reissued… even the 1/40 scale M4A? Sherman! You know, the one with the late M4 hull, M4A3 back deck, 75mm gun and E8 suspension!
Ron
That Sherman kit was an original Revell kit and not an ex-Renwal kit. I have an unbuilt one. Revell reissued it at the same time (and in the same type of box) as the Renwal M50 Ontos, Revell M56 Scorpion, Renwal 5 ton Military Wrecker, Renwal M47 Patton, Renwal M42 Duster, and Renwal M41 Walker Bulldog. The box tops showed a photo of the built kit on a pile of dirt. I picked up most of thses kits when I was in college and still have some of them.
Although Revell listed the kit as 1/40, it is closer to 1/35. That Sherman was a big mix of variants. My Modeler’s Guide to the Sherman describes it as: “…composite hull HVSS 75mm gun tank. Probably in 1/36 scale…”. I plan on using the MP Models HVSS tracks to replace the kit tracks and running gear. The hull detail is soft, but looks decent for a 40+ year old kit.
Thanks for all the info on the Atomic Annie, not sure I if I’m ready to plop down $200 for a older kit that likely doesn’t fit together all that well and lacks the detail of the releases today. Sure buy a few of models for that amount of fundage (I stock up when Hobby Lobby runs their 1/2 sales.) Wouls be nice to have one reissued in 1/35 scale. Perhaps only in my dreams, until I break down and dump cash on a vintage one.
Hey Major,
I worded that sort of poorly, I knew the Sherman was originally a Revell product. Did you ever try making the one with the gearbox in it for motorization? I’ll tell you, as a seven year old, that one drove me nuts! I was glad when they issued it without the gear box, only axles.
To make that one into a good composite hull Sherman, you’d have to recontour the hull quite a bit forward, if I recall correctly, because the casting curvature goes back along the turret instead of terminating behind the driver’s compartment as it should.
ALSO! Do you remember the I believe they were 1/20 scale Tamiya kits of the Sherman, MkIII, Sturmgeschutz and ‘Big Shot’ M40 howitzer? I think they used the Revell kit for a pattern… just enlarged it, added motors etc. ? Expensive kits at $15!
I’d like to see the Renwal Skysweeper (anti-aircraft gun) and Nike missle too! Those were all FUN kits! … especially for kids.
Ron.
I believe she’s @ Aberdeen…Unless there’s 2 of her…
There’s some pics in my webshot’s stuff
Since we’re talking about “wish they’d…” kits,
When I was a kid (7 or 8), my Mom bought and put together (she was VERY good at assembling and painting) a set of missles somebody had out. Probably Revell or Monogram (for you younger folk, they used to be separate comapnies!!) It had a flat base that was probably about 5 x 8 inches or so and had 10 to 15 missles mounted on it. I don’t remember them all, needless to say, but I remember they were arranged from small to large, front to back and included a Nike, Snark (or Bomarc), a Thor and an Atlas for the biggest one. I’ve seen something similar, recently, but it didn’t have the same, or as many, missles and went up to the Titan or so.
I really wish I could find one of those guys, or a reissue. Just a trip down Nostalgia Lane!!
Bill