Oldest available kits

General Discussion General Modeling Discussion
1

Recently finished an old Lindberg JN-4 Jennie kit a friend picked up at an auction, and gave to me.

It is an interesting experience to build a really old kit now and then, to see the great progress that has occurred in kit manufacturing. This got me wondering, what is the oldest kits still on the shelf at hobby shops.

The oldest kits I see are the Lindberg 1:48 racing planes. I built my first one, the Gee Bee in either 1953 or 1954. I believe they were marketed then by Hawk, but they are the exact same kit. Anyone else have an idea of oldest kit still on hobby shop shelves?

2

The oldest ones we see here are the early Airfix kits that have been re-boxed. I have seen the Stirling on the shelves and that dates from 66.

3

Do you mean oldest kit still being manufactured ( but possibly under a new name )

Or… oldest kit still sitting on the store shelf for the past 40 years… and still has a $1.99 price tag on it?

4

Picked up the Mono 1/48 Mosquito awhile back, stamped 1966 on a horizontal stab. Could be built as a F/B, Bomber or night fighter. Molded in gray, black, and clear. Suprisingly has recessed panel lines. Decent fit and not much flash.

5

I have unassembled borax 20 mule team that my dad bought in 1965.

6

You’re going to get real tired of looking the south end of northbound mules by the time you get done with that one.[^o)]

7

LOL! That there is funny.

I’m not sure if you are referring to the molds or the actual boxing. That Revell BB-39 kit goes back to 1961 and every Michaels I’ve ever been in still seems to sell it.

The Revell 1/535 Missouri goes all the way back to 1953, I’m sure there’s still some new box originals around.

Personally, not counting some really old wood ship model kits, and a lot of old railroad stuff, I have some Airfix aircraft kits in plastic bags with cardboard stapled tops.

8

“Oldest Available” to me means what’s for sale this moment, i.e. eBay or similar Internet auction sites mostly. Decade ago or so for example somebody had a pre-WWII FROG Penguin kit for sale on eBay, condition was terrible as you’d expect but it was available.

I’d really be interested to know which injected styrene plastic models have been in continuous production the longest, info on that hopefully is somewhere on the Web, wouln’t be surprised if they’re AMT autos.

9

That Revell Missouri I believe is their oldest kit (1953) and it’s still in their catalogue.

10

This from Thomas Graham’s “Remembering Revell Model Kits 2**nd** Edition” Schiffer Publishing 2004:

Modern Ships Page 148

HM-30 USS Missouri with Motor 1954 1/535

Gray plastic. Metal prop shafts. Electric motor, adjustable rudder. This kit was made from a second Missouri mold that had only very minor changes from the first mold. The most notable changes are a new more robust rudder and two bulges in the hull around the rudder where the propeller shafts come out. Also issued as H-309 in 1955. This mold is used to produce the non-motorized H-301 Missouri kits after 1955 when the original H-301 mold was converted to the H-316 New Jersey. Box art by Kishady.

H-301 USS Missouri 1953-61 1/535

Gray plastic. Paper signal flag sheet. First released in a narrow box; then in a standard flat box with new art. This may be Revell’s all time best seller. In 1955 the mold used to produce this kit was revised and turned into the H-316 New Jersey. The mold formerly used to manufacture the HM-30 motorized Missouri was thereafter used to make the H-301 non-motor Missouri kits. Bulone model sculptor: Second flat box art by Eidson. Reissued as: HNF-6 Admiral’s Fleet (1954); H-300 Missouri (1961); H-352 Wisconsin (1968); H-301 Missouri (1974).

11

Now superseded by the recent new-tool kit, Airfix’s old Beaufighter was from somewhere around 1957/8. I wouldn’t be too surprised if there’s a few of these still lurking on a dusty shelf in a hobby shop somewhere.

12

1958 per Arthur Ward’s Airfix - Celebrating 50 Years Of The Greatest Plastic Kits In The World (HarperCollins Publishers 1999) Page 178. Built the kit unpainted late 1964 or early 1965 probably another early 1980s painted this time, memory isn’t 100% clear. I’d also built the FROG kit c.1984-85, could be built as NF1, F6C or TF10 did the latter, was nice build.

13

DXidn’t know about that one so just checked and it was last realeased in 2008, so there will certainly be some of those out there some where.

14

I remember building the old Eagle Wall & Pyro Table Top Navy ships and sailing ships that had been manufactured in the 1950’s and have been remarketed by Lindberg. I bought the Lindberg releases and built them all just as an exercise in nostalgia, building them all in one weekend.

Bill

15

Hi Don ;

I have found an old re-release of the 1/72 Spitfire Mk 11 . It’s the only Brit plane I didn’t have that is a fighter . T.B.

16

Hi Bill ;

Yeah , I believe that is dead on . I just wish REVELL of Germany would get ahold of it , Correct it and then I might buy one ! Happy Holidays to you and your Family . T.B.

17

Hi;

I would say Revell’s Missouri and some of the Airfix Bagged kits . Happy Holidays ! T.B.

18

Well, it’s not the '50s of course but as far as I know AMT/Ertil’s Enterprise kit with some changes has been in production pretty much constantly since it was introduced in '67 or so when Star Trek was still it’s original run.

19

Revell “History Makers” M48a0 AVLB I Built this in 20111

The box strapline of “A classic kit from over 5 decades of modelling history” means © 1959, with 1982 & 2009 releases, of which this build is an example.

20

I meant oldest kit still manufactured, but I guess if you build an old one sitting on a shelf for that long, you’d still appreciate the changes in today’s kits.