I was looking through one of my model catalogs and came across Maquette models, who, despite the French sounding name, are from Russia. Does anyone know their story? Their aircraft models are quite cheap. Of course, I’ve proven the motto, “You get what you pay for” more than once, but some of their unusual British aircraft make me wonder if they are just reissueing old Airfix kits. The Fairey Delta kit reminds me of one I built as a kid. The manufacturer escapes me, but I want to say it was Airfix. I remember thinking it was a crude model even then, despite with my professional quality bare-metal finish of several thick, brushed on layers of Testors silver, expertly weathered with multiple fingerprints when I picked it up 30 minutes later to admire its slick lines. I wouldn’t mind having another go at it just for old times sake.
Some of them are reissues of old Frog/Novo kits such as the Wellington and MS 406.
Maquette has a lot of different kits from very different sources, this means te quality can vary greatly. You can’t really say Maquette makes bad/good/fair kits, it all depends on the source of the mold.
The Fairey Delta you are describing is probably an old Frog kit.Great for a trip down memory lane or to test your modeling abilities.
I purchased three kits of the Maquette SA-2 Guideline SAM, hoping that they would be a re-issue of the old Airfix kit. They were not. They are a much less detailed model with the missile and launcher, but not the truck/transporter. Still a reasonable kit at a MUCH lower price than the Airfix kit which is a collector’s item usually selling for exorbitant prices.
Darwin, O.F. [alien]
Toss Heller into that mix of Airfix/Frog/Novo as well. I have only built the Yak-3. Very cheap…and disappointing.
The story goes that the molds of the Airfix SA-2 were destroyed (fire, a sinking ship, or something of the magnitude) Therefore they a vey rare collector items.