Here is my next build that I am doing for the Japanese Group Build XV. It is the old Revell kit in 1/32nd scale.
This box is in exquisite shape. It looks and feels literally brand new when it is, in fact, just as old as I am. When I received it, it was still wrapped in the original shrinkwrap, although the wrap had split some along a side. No impact to the condition of the box, no crushed corners, no deteriorating print.
Here is what was in this box.
I am a sucker for these old Revell (and Monogram) kits that contained inserts such as this Apollo pamphlet. I have an entire folder full of such things that I keep in my safe, along with the Shep Paine diorama booklets that were included in 70’s-era Monogram releases - my kids are going to go through that some day and wonder what was dad keeping these things for.
But as you can see, there is not a lot in the box. Maybe 30-40 parts total. Having built the 32nd scale Tamiya kit, it is easy to see that this is not even in the same ballpark, but then again, I didn’t expect it to be. These Revell kits were great for their day, but for some reason this is one that I don’t ever recall seeing on hobby shop shelves in the Houston, Texas area when I was a kid. I’ve never before built this release.
So I turn my attention to the parts, and the first thing that stands out to me is the pilot’s seat. Oh, this kit includes the typical two-part pilot figure that has always been basically unacceptable for use. The seat should have several lightening holes in it. Photos of the actual seat don’t match this seat configuration - the back should simply be a piece of metal with no side supports as are molded into this part. I will go ahead and use the kit part, with the modification of drilling the lightening holes [I actually don’t know if those are lightening holes such as you’d find on a structural part of the wing or fuselage, but I’m not sure what else to call these holes, eh, maybe just holes?].
That’s it for now.
