I dont see why Revell/Monogram get the bad raps that they do, some or most of the best builds I have seen came from these kits. 90% of my own builds are Revell and Monogram kits and believe it or no I prefer them to them over Tamiya, Hasagawa and the likes.
Revell’s 1/48 P-38J Lightening
Revell’s 1/48 P-51D Mustang
Revell’s 1/48 P-51B the newly tooled kit
Even Revell’s Old CAF 1/48 TBM Avenger
Monogram’s 1/48 ME 262A-1A
Now if only Hans von Hammer would show me the Monogram Fan Clubs secret handshake so I can join up.
I think it comes from a few modelers that either A: Never built one and only read what some kit-snob had said in a review or forum, or Two: built only one or two of the old Monogram “Navy gals” with the dime-thin wheels and retractable gear/folding wings/dropping bombs that were called, “Working Features!” on the box and declared all further Monogram kits to be “toy-like” and suitable only for young modelers, and thus “inferior” to the kits done by “serious” modelers…
A third possiblity (and the one I think is the truth), is that couple guys sunk fifty or sixty bucks-worth of AM parts into a fifty or sixty-buck imported kit and got slaughtered at a contest by a Gizmologist with his 12.00 Revellogram kit and a well-stocked parts-bin … [H]
Yeah Hans I think the third possibility about uncovers the truth [Y]
What I can say is I feel a heightened sense of accomplishment after building a Revellogram kit over the few Tamiya kits I have built. In fact the Tamiya kits seem to find their way to the back of the shelf once finished.
Yup I am a confirmed Revell addict, aint it great ? [8-|]
THAT one’s funny, right there, 17… Only thing that kinda detracts from it is the “Under New Management” sign… I would’ve made it look like it was painted on say, an “ammo crate” or “wing panel” or the like, and used a brush…
Pilot, I love you dio! That’s a great idea for the display!
Lot of great additions to the thread, really great work, guys!
And regarding the thin wheels in the old Monogram TBF and F6F kits, do what I did–saw them in half and thicken them up with some styrene, then chuck them into your Dremel and sand 'em smooth. A little putty, and you’ve got nice wheels, at a fraction of the cost of a True Details set [;)]
Looking thru this thread it’s really cool to see the wide variety and to think of the span of years the Revell/Monogram kits have covered. I remember the Dauntless kit with the working dive flaps and dropping bomb! Now those action features are passe’ Raised detail or not I love these kits!
A few pics of some I’ve done over the last few years (re-releases). I still look for Monogram kits first. They fit a teenager’s budget quite well back in the day, and had lots of detail. My dad still has some he’s built back in the 70s; I’ll have to dig up some pics on them. He wants to refinish them, but I love them as is.
Wow! Lookit you! You built the same 1/48 B-24 as I did, and I’ll bet you did it with Bare-metal Foil. I based mine on my father’s own B-24, luckily of which one photo survived. I can’t figure out how to upload photos here but there’s a whole page of pics at http://montrealfood.com/leadinglady.html. I’m a very newbie-type modeller (and I just landed a Trumpeter 1/24 BF-109, so I’m going to be hassling you guys no end!) but all the love in the world (and you’ll need it if you’re using Bare-metal foil) went into this thing. Glad to see someone else put some love in this beast!
WOW Tonbo that is one sweet B-24 and foiled no less. You call your self a newbie ?? I dont think so, thats some beautiful foil work and as you said yourself isnt an easy task.
I gotta show off my favorite Revell kit to build the 1/48 P-61 Black Widow. I have 3 more in the stash.
If I can build an acceptable P-61 anyone here can. I have seen a few of them turned into pure art by builders much better than I am here. The canopy can be a problem but is quite fixable with a bit of work. I think the detail in this kit out weighs the few problems it has. How many twin boom kits really fit well at the wing ? And how many canopy fit troubles do we see on most of the kits we build ? Its a good kit.
Exactly. I’ve often wondered why some of the people who build a kit and complain about any work beyond shake ‘n’’ bake don’t just give up scale modeling and collect die cast instead. Pay someone else to do it, if building it is too much work.
That’s the whole point for me, building these old Monogram and Revell kits. They build up nicely, out of the box, but they also provide such a great opportunity to exercise and improve our detailing skills.
And I still like re-enacting the Battle of Midway with my SBD [:D]
Personally, I really enjoy the engineering that goes into a well-sorted build. Especially the ones where you go in thinking “there’s no way this is going to work”, and then everything somehow slots right into place. Zvezda’s La-5 springs to mind.
But I also enjoy the old Revellogram kits in context. Injection molding wasn’t as refined back then as it is today, and the way I see it, it’s kind of like working on an old car. It has its pitfalls and limitations, but they’re part of the charm.
The thing that drives me up the wall is coming across modern kits with sloppy engineering. Of the top of my head, Academy’s Lightning is a great example. Despite decades of advancement and all kinds of opportunities to improve things, the cockpit is pretty much indistinguishable from the old Monogram kit, and several pieces have to be attached edge-to-edge with no lips or keys or location tabs. And even then, the fit isn’t all that great. The whole kit just felt sloppy.
