If I remember right, plastic car kits came along about a year or two after the airplanes. I remember my first car builds were a Jag 120 and a Ferrari (forget the type). I don’t think either are still in production. I think the AMTs were later than that, so I’d still guess those Hawk/Lindberg 1:48 racing planes are the winners, though the early AMT kits may be the earliest car kits still in production. Sure appreciate Round 2 repopping all those old car kits.
Boy, that is about the same time as those racing planes- it may be a tie! I didn’t get into plastic ships for several years, though I still was building wood ship models in '54 or '55.
The first plastic kits I remember were antique cars made by Revell, the series was called “Highway Pioneers.” The models were of oldies such as Stanley Steamer, Ford Model T, that kind of thing. I think these came out in the mid-50’s.
The Testors R3C dates back to 1946. Looks like it was originally issued with wheels and the floats added later. The Lindberg Stearman and Gato sub kits are both derived from Varney kits, which also date from 1946 but the parts were altered for styrene injection.
Original 1966 AMT Star Trek Model Kits Review by TrekWorks
Yep, Built Them As Well, Liked The Klingon Cruiser Better
Wow, I built that one too. Didn’t realize how old that kit was. I guess my hobby shop didn’t carry plastic models until a bit later!
[quote user=“Retired In Kalifornia”]
I visited my attic again last week for Christmas decorations. (It is awkward to reach from a ladder in a closet and then squeeze thru a space between two joist). And, sure enough, I spotted my AMT Enterprise and Klingon Battlecruiser. They look ok except for a loose engine nacelle on Enterprise. I forgot how old those kits were. Thanks for the memory jog.
I spotted a few really old toys up there including a bunch of Airfix 1/600 ships and “ancient” jets from the cold war including a F4 Skyray (I think?) with a hatch in the fuselage so you could see the engine. No idea whose kit.
Nino
Can you tell what scale? Number of offerings going back to Hawk’s F4D-1 “Triangle Box” kit c.1956, if its this y’all have a rare collector’s item:
This boxed version do remember seeing in stores, read there’s a “hard box” version released c.1959, “soft box” c.1960 onwards:
I’ve built very few Navy never mind any Marine aircraft; the Skyray is one of those “mystery” aircraft been fascinated over decades about but not taken the time to read up on, yet another research effort I should be conducting.
That’s how I understood the question, too, the oldest kit still produced today and available retail, not second-hand or sitting on a forgotten shelf in a small store, etc. I think it’s probably Revell’s Missouri kit, as someone else pointed out. It was first released in 1953. It was modified for motorization in 1954, and then in 1955, the mold was retooled yet again, and sold as the New Jersey. It’s still in production today, as the Missouri. (https://www.revell.com/germany/ships/80-5092.html#.WjVokDdOnIU) After that, it might be Revell’s Franklin D Roosevelt, CV-42, which is still produced and sold today, although it’s as the Midway, and it’s only available for sale at the Midway museum (incl. online), not in any other retail outlet.
If it’s not Revell’s Big Mo, it might be an Airfix aircraft kit, although I think Airfix’ first kit was its 1/72 Spitfire released in 1954. But Airfix has released a new tooling of the Spitfire, hasn’t it? Or maybe Lindberg’s current pops of the old Pyro Table-Top Navy kits, as someone else mentioned (the Essex, North Carolina, Yamato, Shokaku, King George V and the Dorsetshire). But I don’t think those were released yet, in 1953.
Beyond those, is it possible that any of Frog’s old injection-molded kits are still being repopped, by some current manufacturer?
The original Airfix Spitfire far as I know currently isn’t in production though Airfix might had done “collector’s releases” while back, need to check on this. Number of old Monogram kits also were re-released in original box art awhile ago, bought their B-58 kit, bought & built it in 1962 as well.
The “FROG Model Aircraft 1932-1976” book by Richard Lines & Leif Hellström (New Cavendish Books 1989) says NOVO - A British Company - (1976-1981) “acquired” all but the Axis aircraft moulds shipping them off to the Soviet Union where subsequently millions of kits were produced some of which still for sale today.
Even as NOVO was commencing operations several Soviet toy manufacturers most notably Novoexport - a state-owned Enterprise - were producing old FROGs from 1976 till 1989 probably as well up to the dissolution of the Soviet Union on December 26, 1991. The FROG Model Aircraft book (page 196) says they’d produced 2,750,000 as “NOVO” kits though technically they weren’t, couple of these I’d came across whilst building in the early 1990s.
Far as I know none of the post WWII FROG plastics are currently in production. The FROG Model Aircraft book said the “Soviet” molds were not well cared for even in the 1980s so guessing going on near 30 years later they’ve been “recycled”, are land fill, or a lucky couple in the hands of an old model mold collector.
Interesting about the Midway. $ 29.99 on the museum store site.
Think I paid about $ 50.00 for the 1995 boxing.
All forsomething that cost $ 2.49 new.
Revell’s 1/232 USS Olympia was kitted in 1959. Squadron reissued this kit in 2012 under their Encore line with two levels of aftermarket add on bits. Not currently listed by Squadron but I’m sure there are a few still out there and many more hunkered down in stashes waiting to be built (I’ve got one).
Lindberg’s 1/240 Olympia is of similar age and is currently in listed in Round 2’s current catalog.
Lindberg’s 1/48 PT-17 “Stearman” dates back to a 1946 kit from a company I’ve never even heard of, Varney. Not sure if it is currently on the shelves but it has been re-issued within the last 5-10 years.
Oldest kit I’ve built is an Airfix RE-8 which they first released in 1958 (mine was a later re-issue). The kit left something to be desired, but I’ve built worse kits that were much younger.
Actually not true, I built that Revell Monogram USS Missouri when I was a kid, probably around 1978-79. So the RE-8 is the second oldest kit I’ve built by a couple of years.
I’ve built quite a few Monogram kits from the 1960s. Most of them still hold up pretty well today, they really had their act together at Monogram.
I lean toward the Hawk 'cause the box looks familiar. However, My F4D has an engine and you can open a “hatch” and see the engine as I recall. I will be “reviewing” my attic collection again in the near future. I might have a gold mine up there.
The 1st kit I remember building by myself was the old Lindberg 1/900 Missouri. I still have 1 turret from it. I painted it poorly. My dad used Gasoline to remove the paint and that melted the Plastic. I kinda switched to tanks after that. In my browsing the attic I located my JSIII , M26 and German Panther, all by Aurora I think. When did Aurora release those? I also saw my Tiger II up there. I thought No one had a kit of the King Tiger. ( This was back in the 60’s). I think this was also an Aurora kit and I was really surprised to see it in Peoples Drug Store. I bought it right away but was 2 cents short because of tax. The lady in line ahead of me gave me the money. Great Times .
Nino
Varney Scale Models (1936-1960) founded by Gordon Varney in Chicago, IL was an early HO Scale railroad train model manufacturer noted for above average detail & quality.
Varney also produced scale auto models some “pantographed” from National Products pot metal promotional models notably the 1949 Ford F-1 Pickup, Panel & Stake Trucks & 1953 Customline Fordor Sedan in 1954, memories of latter my possibly having “owned” & played with in the mid-1950s.
According to CollectAir.org, Varney’s 1/48th yellow cellulose acetate PT-17 Kaydet in 1946 is credited, but not entirely undisputed, as having been the first “all-plastic” scale model on the U.S. market well as the first advertised in model magazines, a full page ad appearing in the May 1946 edition of Air Trails.
The CollectAir image below shows what appears to be a modern PT-17 reproduction of the Varney kit. I’d question the literature as having been produced before 1950, maybe later 1950s:
Cover Of The May 1946 Air Trails Edition
The Varney 1/48th Scale PT-17 Kaydet Model
Full-Page Advertisement Appeared In
Credited As The First U.S.A. Sales Ad
Of An All-Plastic Scale Model
I wonder how many people buy the CV-41 kit at the museum, only to disciover it very little resembles the ship as it is today.
Another older kit is the 1957 Revell USCGC Eastwind. Re-released by Revell of Germany in 2009 as the USCGC Burton Island. It’s still available.
The USCGC Campbell was also released at about the same time, later re-released as the USCGC Roger Taney, but I don’t think it has been for sale new for a while.
Here’s a nice exchange from the archive about those ships.
http://cs.finescale.com/fsm/modeling_subjects/f/7/t/118561.aspx
I’m sure Revell’s much more recent PT-17 would be preferable, but kind of neat that one of the very first kits made is still out there on the shelves.
I build 1/72 so haven’t personally looked at the Varney / Lindberg kit, but it gets decent reviews from those who have. They must have done something right for the kit to still be worth a look 71 years later.
Good Point! That Revell kit is dated and has little resemblance to the Museum ship docked in San Diego. I did not buy a kit at the gift shop but went and got the Arii 1/800 kit while still available in the US stores. It is at least a bit closer to the USS Midway Museum ship . I could never afford the very accurate Orange Hobby kit.
Post-Soviet Union, at least one of those old Frog molds was in Zvezda’s catalog, the Tempest. I built it back around 2000 or so.