It’s silly to ask if anyone here remembers them - because many undoubtedly do - but I’ve been thinking recently about those old (somewhere between late 60’s and mid-70’s) Revell kits that had two 1/72-scale aircraft - one Allied and one Axis. For example I think the first one I built was the Hurricane and the Me-109. I think there was also one with a Corsair and a Ki-43. I got 2 or 3 of them, and I distinctly remember working on one of them at the kitchen table when I was around 10 or 11 - I had a bad cold and I was miserable, and home from school. But even though I was all stuffed up I could still smell the Testors glue and paints - and the fumes hurt my throat, which was already quite raw from coughing. What a memory, eh?
But I know it was one of these kits I was working on at that moment - anyone remember what the series was called? Anyone by chance still have them? And if you do, I’d love to see some pics, for old times’ sake.
I also had the Omaha Beach set and the El Alamein set (think it was that one), which bring back memories too - but I think those were by Aurora? With the beach barriers and the guy in a life raft (at Omaha?)…you know the ones I mean!
Revell also released some 3-kit sets, too. In about 1969, I got the set that had the F4F, P-39 and Ki-43. I recall there were a couple of other sets, but can’t remember what was in them.
I can remeber 6 of those sets: P51D vs. Ki-84(Frank), F4U-1 vs. Ki-43(Oscar), F4F vs. A6M5(Zero), Tempest vs. Me-109E, Hurricane vs. Fw-190A, and Spitfire Mk II vs. Me-262. There might have been more but those are the ones I remember.
I think it must have been the Hurricane/Fw-190 kit I was building when I was sick - I seem to remember painting a really [censored] camo job on the Hurricane, and a really bright light-blue underside to the Fw-190. All I had for paints was whatever Testor enamels were available at the local Woolworth store - looking back, it seems apparent they were mostly colors meant for car models. Sigh. I think I had the Tempest/Me109 and the Corsair/Oscar kits too - but I can’t remember what kind of nightmarish paint schemes I gave those planes.
I’d love to find one or more on eBay - if they aren’t too expensive I’d take a trip down memory lane.
I’m also pretty sure the pilot figures were attached by securing a hole in their side to a large peg inside the “cockpit”. And now I also remember gettiing paint on the Oscar’s canopy, and soaking it in a bowl of paint thinner to get the paint off. I don’t think I have to describe what I pulled out of that bowl several minutes later… I got some glue on the Corsair canopy, too. It remained intact, even though you couldn’t see through it too well.
E Bay is an excellent source for the old kits, and you can usually get them for a fraction of what they went for “in the day”. I have recently been reliving my childhood by buying all of the models I tried to build as a kid , but couldn’t afford to build due to the limited funds available to a teenager. Now, of course, I have many more resources and funds, but no time… Cruel irony isn’t it? Anyone remember the old monogram 1/48 scale “working models”? There was an Avenger that dropped its torpedo, and helldivers and dauntlesses (is that a word? ) that the bomb cradle swung out or the bay doors opened… Most had retractible landing gear and folding wings…
Check out Ebay as often as you can… Sometimes in the wee hours of the night… I have been amassing a huge collection of these old kits… If I can ever find time to build them!!!
Another Revell “two-planer” was a little bit later, I think. It was a MiG-21 PF vs. an F-4 Phantom, if I recall correctly (1/48 scale). I built the MiG, modifying it to a PFM, then gave it Czechoslovokian markings to replicate a plane that used to be at the Champlin Fighter Museum in Mesa, Arizona. Most of the planes at Champlin are now in Seattle, but the MiG is still in Mesa; it’s now next door at the Commemorative Air Museum at Falcon Airfield. I gave away the Phantom after building the MiG.
I remember Revell three kit “gift sets” that included a F9F cougar, An F-89 Scorpion, and a F-94Starfighter in “box scale” back in the mid 1950s. There was also a race plane set in 1/72 scale that included a P-39 and a P-51 (IIR). Revell did a lot of their kits in “box scale”, but Monogram, Aurora, Hawk, and Linderg generally honored the international scales of 1/72 and 1/48th. I think Airfix and Frog more or less set the standards for 1/72 scale. There were a few other model manufacturers back in the day like Stromberg and Comet. Because tube glue was such a PIA to use we made our own glue with acetone with sprue mixed into it. It works. Revell and Monogram made their own glue and paints back then. I thing Aurora and lindberg did also at one time. Keep in mind these are old memories and may not be exactly accurate.
I just happened across one of these 2-plane kits tonight on the Bay. They were apparently called “Flying Deuces” - presumably because there were 2 aces in the box.
This is the Revell Hurricane/Focke Wulf kit - the one I was building that day long ago. This one’s BIN at $17; I’ll pass on this one and keep looking.
claudez - I remember those fondly as well - I built the Dauntless at least twice and the Avenger once. I even put a small stone in the nose of the SBD’s main bomb so it would fall nose-first. The Dauntless had a sizeable lever sticking out of the bottom of the fuselage, and the Avenger had a pin on one of the bomb-bay doors. Not the most historically accurate kits, I must say - but fun. The Dauntless dive brakes opened as well - but I was never able to get those little tabs to fit the right way so they would open all at once. I have the Helldiver kit too, but I’m in no hurry to build that one as I have a special fondness for aircraft from earlier in the war. Along the lines of the Monogram ‘working models’ - I mentioned elsewhere that one of the first kits I ever received was the 1/32 P-51D with retractable landing gear, dropping bombs and spinning propeller. My father helped me put it together - using epoxy - and made me glue the bombs and landing gear in place. It was a model and NOT a toy. I guess he didn’t want me ruining it by playing with it until parts came off. I’ll build that one again some day - the way I wanted it. There was one on sale on eBay recently, but the box was open and besides the lower wing half having been snapped in half and crudely glued back together, there were several key parts missing. Worst of all, the seller wanted $20 or more for this incomplete kit - and was getting numerous bids!!! Go figure - either spare parts or noobs who don’t read past the one-line description. Expensive spare parts, though.
Those two sets you remember were from Aurora all right. The “Omaha Beach” set was actually called “Anzio Beach” and the “El Alamien” was in reality the “Rat Patrol” set. Both were wonderful for kids, complete with soldiers, vehicles and various scenic accessories (I remember the “Rat Patrol” kit had sand dunes and palm trees!) Lots of play value after minimal assembly.
They both command top dollar these days on eBay unfortunately.
I also remember those Revell two pack kits. I had the Me-262/Spitfire kit. It was the first time I ever saw a five bladed prop on an airplane and being a kid I just figured Revell got it wrong and proceeded to remove two of the blades in order to “fix” it. Of course the spacing was then way off, and being a somewhat anal type of kid, I became frustrated and wound up ditching the Spitfire, but I did finish the 262!
I had forgotten this thread - maybe a month or two after I started it I found an auction on eBay offering all seven of the Revell “Dueling Aces” kits - still shrink-wrapped! I managed to nab it for an almost reasonable sum and the package arrived very securely packed. For the record, they were (as labeled on the boxes):
F4U-1 Corsair vs. Nakajima Hayabusa
Hawker Hurricane vs. Focke-Wulf Fw-190
P-47 Thunderbolt vs. Kawasaki Hien
Messerschmitt Bf109 vs. Tempest V
Zero vs. Wildcat
P-51 Mustang vs. Ki-84-1a Hayate
Spitfire Mk II vs. Me-262
I notice two things about the ‘match-ups’: 1) they don’t always seem to be even - It makes more sense to see a Spit II versus the Bf-109 and the Tempest vs. the Me-262, for example. and 2) the randomness with which they describe the aircraft - you go from the vagueness of “Zereo vs. Wildcat” to the specifically designated Kawasaki Ki-84-1a. And the Hurricane going up against the Fw-190 is a Mk.I - which never would have seen a Focke-Wulf in combat, let alone be able to do anything about it. All of which kindles my fondness for the good old days, when all that mattered was putting an airplane together - the head-to-head matchups were up to you to decide. And if a Hurricane came out the victor versus an Me-262 … well, that’s just because the good guy always wins.
Those are my favorite kits of all time. I always bought the singles and have been collecting them again when ever I find them. My very first was the “Tony” and my Mom wouldn"t buy it as it was “JAP” and my Mom and Dad were from the Greatest Generation! and still (1963ish) didn’t buy jap!!! But I got it and that started a lifelong addictiion… Anyone have the F4F in the series? Good Hunting, G.W.
