I hope that this has not been a topic of discussion, but I’m always curious about such things. I’m also curious how you came by it. Christmas, something to keep you out of the parents hair, birthday or lawn mowing money?
Mine was an Auroa Spad…
Christmas 1974 …I cracked…it was another school Christmas party and again for the second year in a row I ended up with a pair of those cheap toy binoculars…after 45 minutes worth of sales pitch I managed to convince the Prinicipal’s son that he couldn’t live without those binocs…(shameless…I know)…I skulked away with my booty, went home and was in heaven…thus…Hi, I’m Steve and I’m a modelholic.
I built a Revell Hurricane in nightfighter kit recently… but the kit itself was manufactured in 1982!! it was’nt a reboxed version… The guy at the hobby store actually held on to the kit that long!! Another one was a 1986 make of B25 by airfix… have yet to make it though…
The oldest kit I built would be the Monogram P-51B in 72nd #6788 Its a kit from the 60’s that my uncle gave me for my birthday once…Molded in all green! I have since aquired a few more of the exact same kit from the same time period…I still like the kit! Simple? Yes but it brings a lot of memories with it…and was a fun build.
I have the others just in case…havent really planned on building them though I might. Just kinda a reminder of what started it all…
Difficult to say… I must have built most of Airfix Series 1 kit at one time or another, and some of those are indeed old! My first ever kit was Airfix Me-109G, in its blister pack, costing at the time some 20 Belgian Francs (that would be 50 US cents in today’s money). That was in 1974… Gosh I’m going to hit 30 years of continuous scale modeling next year!
I also remember building some Frog, Hawk, Glencoe, Lindberg and Revell kits that must have been designed years before I was even born… In my loft, I have Lindberg’s XB-70, a kit designed in 1963, although my ‘copy’ is of the re-release of '69. That’s possibly the oldest kit I have now to build. As far as completed models, that I still have around, then it would have to be Airfix’s Mk I WWI tank, probably from the '60s (and still a great looking model!)…
You kids!
I have a 1979 Eagle I’m building for a group theme on another site (Hey Chris).
I also have a 1977 Monogram HU16E still in wrap with a whopping price of $2.69!!
I have a HAWK U2 kit with a copyright date of 1965 on the instructions, and my pride and joy: An HH52A ( photo on the box shows guns sticking out of the fuel tank area and the words: Vietnam gun ship!! on the box) From the RINGO TOY Company From 1964.
I am actually working slowly on the '52. The raised rivets and thick decal placement lines have to be sanded off. An as it is sort of a PROMO model, with decals for the words SIKORSKY on the side I have a lot of work to do.
Happily, I have a copy of the book HH52A in US and Japanese service. Found Many of the people I knew and flew with listed as reference for the book and got in contact with them once again.
Hmmm…hard to say! Of models that I still have, perhaps Aurora’s Godzilla, from the mid-60’s. I had a lot of ancient Aurora aircraft that may date back to the 50’s, but unfortunately I don’t have them anymore.
The oldest unbuilt (but definitely gonna be built!) kit I have is a Renwal “General Patton II” (M47) kit in approximately 1/32 scale (look bigger than that to me). I believe that kit came out in the 60’s.
Since there’s really no point in detailing that baby up, I plan to do 'er straight OOB.
People seem to be interpreting the topic differently, so I’ll try to cover them all. I can’t remember for sure but the first kit I built must have been the Star Trek Enterprise back in the 70’s. The oldest surviving build I have is either the Eagle Lunar Lander Monogram 1/48) or the General Patton figure. Oldest model is probably this primitive Gee Bee model (1/72, no idea what manufacturer). Most models I built as a kid are long gone (mercifully).
The oldest model I built has to be a little Revell Mariner, I don’t know the exact scale of the model nor the year, but I am sure it is old, somebody know the release year of this kit?
The oldest kit I have right now on the shelf is the old Monogram B-26 Invader with the premolded national markings on the fuselage and wing surfaces. I also have several of the old Revell 1/72 scale fighters from the 60’s as well as some of the Monogram early 70’s releases in the same scale.
I have got a frog shackleton that i have been working on for years and a fairey 111F and barracuda (also frog) that need re-building, i bought the last two at a flea market for £2 each and neither are complete along with a fairey delta (complete) and gloster E28/39, (less undercarrage)for £4 each. i also have a frog wildcat and blackburn shark that i am going to build that i have had for about 18 years. Greg
Here they are…This is the P-51B that I recieved as my first kit
And heres the second kit I recieved one year later from the same uncle as my birthday present
I have since aquired 3 of the P-51’s and 2 of the P-40’s of the same exact kit…The original ones I built never survived the first move…Im hoping to build 1 or 2 of these someday…just without the glue fingerprints(gotta love testors tube glue!) and actually paint the plane instead of leaving it the molded color! LOL
I have a matchbox Handly Halafax, don’t know the year though. I know it is old because it sat in someones collection, the box got coverd in crust, re-shrink wrapped, and sold at my local hobby store for $12.00. I built a academy avenger (1/72) from 1982, but don’t care because it is the third crappiest kit I have ever built (see my thred on Testors).
I recently picked up a really old looking Hawk kit from someone who goes to alot of flea markets. P-47-D No indication of a date that I could find on the box - so I don’t know how old it is, but the box art, instructions, and decals look ancient. Does anyone know when Hawk went out of business/got bought out or met some other fate ?
The model was in great shape and the surface detail was really crisp. Other than that - there was very little detail in the cockpit and the wheel wells are such that you’d have to take the wheels and the struts off in order to close the gear doors.
She’s still pretty though ! I Need to make a choice on aftermarket decals - that and weathering are all that’s left !
