Your favorite find?

Modeling Subjects Aircraft
1

I was in a LHS over the weekend to get a bottle of paint & started to browse around the store. They only had a small airplane section, but I found a 1/72 AIDC Ching-Kuo kit by Kiddyland. I had first heard of this kit back in 2000 (I know because I printed out the page from a now-defunct hobby website & saved it in my “wants” file) & after numerous fruitless Ebay searches had given up hope of ever finding one. Now I finally found one & it was even 1/2 the original asking price!

So what are your favorite finds? A hard-won Ebay bidding war, something from a yard sale, even aftermarket details or decals that let you build that “dream” model?

2

I found them about 3 weeks ago but, just picked them up this last weekend. Been seriously looking for about 2 years. I couldn’t see giving the rediculous Ebay prices.

3 Black Box T-28C cockpit sets!! Gave just a little more, for all 3, than what I saw ONE go for on Ebay awhile back!!! And the thing that is really neat is that I need exactly 3.

3

My favorite find was nine years in the making.

I first had this book in my hands along with another at a local Barnes and Noble in 1998, but decided that I could only afford to buy one at that time, thinking I would come back in a week or two after I got paid to get the other. When I returned, the book was gone. They tried to order another, but it turned out to be out of print. I scoured bookstores off and on over the years, hoping to stumble across it. A few turned up on Evilbay, at an astronomical price of around $150.00 for a book originally selling for $20.00!

Over the years I would think of the book (usually when I was perusing the “other” one I bought that fateful day) and look for it. Still around $150.00 on Evilbay!

A year ago, I bid on and won a set of Moskit exhausts for a '109 I was building. The seller mentioned in an email that he had TONS of parts, resin, PE, decals, and reference books on '109s and '190s. He said he was interested in selling it as a lot to avoid having having to photograph and list everything. And, he gave me his number to call him if I was interested. I did…

I ended up buying a few things from him at a decent price. He also had “the” book I was after, but didn’t know how much it was worth. Being a nice guy, I told him how I had been looking for one for years, but the price was prohibitively expensive. Then, I told him how much they sell for on Ebay. BIG mistake…

He told me he would think about it, and give me a call back in a couple of days with a price. I asked him to PLEASE give me a chance on it before he decided to list it on Ebay. He promised me he would. A couple of days later, still no phone call but an email from Ebay said that a new item had turned up on one of my favorite searches. A book, and guess who was selling it? You guessed it…

For $149.00 no less…

I was FURIOUS! But, I did nothing but watch to see if it sold. Nope. Relisted for $125.00. Still didn’t sell. I waited for that call to offer it to me for sale for around $100.00, watching the clock waiting, and waiting…

It never came. A couple of months later, another book showed up on my search on Evilbay. Starting bid $19.99. I couldn’t bid fast enough! A little scared though, as it was an international seller from Germany. Oh, well I thought. I REALLY want it!

Well, I ended up getting it for $49.00 plus shipping. WOOOHOOO!!! Best part, it came from the personal library of the late General Adolf Galland. Along with a nice letter (I think, it was in German!) and a certificate of authenticity from an established house of antiquities.

The book?

Black 6: The Extraordinary Restoration of a Messerschmitt.

All is good now. [:D]

Sorry for the long story, and thanks for listening!

4

Actually, i had one earlier on this year! Also from Ebay!

My favorite album is The Joshua Tree by U2. Great album! But when i was in high school, my English teacher had a concert poster. Not like the ones you might see reprinted all over the place, but it had a different band photo and the tour list for the fall season. I thought it was the most awesome poster, and i looked all over for it. But alas, to no avail.

About 6 months ago, i just happened to stumble acrossed it. Starting bid was on $9.99, so i jumped on it! Held steady there for the duration of the auction, but for some strange reason, i am constantly plagued by snipers on there! But after the tense last few minutes, i was out $90.00 and a genuine print that was in mint condition!

So now it adorns my home office/study/model room right along with my library, shelves, stereo, and the print of the 3 stooges! While i suppose While i suppose i might be a candidate for “Queer Eye for the Straight Guy”, i think it looks great![:P]

5

A 1:72 Italeri Me-321 Gigant on e-bay for $26. Retails in my local hobby shop for $78…[yeah]

6

AMT 1/48th scale F7F Tigercat, still in the shrink wrap for $12.00 delivered off of ebay- going to look good on the shelf next to my Bearcat.

7

Monogram 1/48 B-24J with a Buy-it-now price of ELEVEN DOLLARS!!!

Also got a 1/48 B-29 for $19 from the same seller!!!

8

hey everybody ive been very lucy to have a hole in the wall lhs that always seems to have all of the oop 1/48 scale pro modeller luftwaffe kits (and a few others) a few weeks back i scored a triple play with these kits the dornier do217e5, the me410b1, and the focke-wulf ta154 moskito all for a… are you ready for this 55.00 dollars and all in 1/48 scale im in styrene heaven, well not yet i still gotta find time to build them along with my growing fleet of luftwaffe kits in 1/48 scale later dave

9

It is probably a mint condition Revell H-282 F-102 kit with ground equipment. The box is flawless, and all of the parts are still in their cardboard partitions. I built one in 1958 when it was issued, and had picked up another kit some time past that was all there but no box. The model is unbuildable by today’s standards, but I have such fond memories of the first one that I don’t care. The perfect definition of as “Jones”, I guess.

10

I found a 1/48 Tamiya Lancaster from an estate sale for…$15…yep I said $15. Still in sealed bags in an opened (slightly dusty) box in good condition.[:)]

11

I won a Monogram B-29 for $10 on Ebay and the seller delivered it (he was passing through town a few days after the auction ended). I only bid on that kit to combine shipping after I won another kit I really wanted from the same seller.

I’ve scored so many great deals on Ebay I can’t pick one that is the best. It takes patience to get the best deals though.

Probably the best sale I ever made was to decide to part with my Swallow 1/32 scale A6M2 Zero a week before Tamiya announced that they were coming out with an all new kit. I got over $100 for that old pice of junk. About a year later I managed to win a Tamiya A6M2 for around $50.

Bill

12

I was in my favorite LHS last week and stumbled on a Swallow manufactured KI-84 for less than $15. A Google search came up with one like if for $65. Before I leave Taiwan I am going to have to raid this guys back room for any other dusty treasures.

13

I stumbled on a yard sale find, 15 kits, all pro modeler, tamiya and hobbycraft in scales of 1/32, 1/48, and 1/72. I got all 15 kits for $20.00

It included a ME 410 with resin and photo etch in 1/48

1/32 Hase BF 109

HElldiver, Stuka, 3 different Corsairs, FW 190, 109, (2) several in 1/72 and more.

What a steal!!

Ric

14

One of my favorite finds was a Hasegawa limited edition 1/48th A6M8 Zero in a little shop in a small village in Germany. (The A6M8 was the last development of the Zero before the end of WW2, only two were built) The guy sells mostly housewares but has a small section in the back with models and supplies. I’d never seen the A6M8 version before, but a little internet research showed it was Hase’s A6M5 with a pack of resin pieces for the A6M8 added. I bought it at 30 euros back before the dollar started its current slide toward worthlessness. I’ve only seen one other on ebay since, and it sold for over $80 before shipping.

15

Couple of weeks ago at my local hobby shop, he had bought a bunch of kits from a local estate, picked up an Aurora Neiuport and Halberstadt cl2. Haven’t seen these kita since i was a kid.

16

When I modeled as as a kid / teen before I lost interest, I had always wanted a 1/72 XB-70. Living in the middle of nowhere without the existence of the Internet (22 years ago), I didn’t even know if such a kit existed.

Anyway with my return to the hobby, the first thing I wanted was an XB-70, I got a reasonably priced, perfect condition AMT/Ertl 1/72 XB-70 of Ebay, delivered to my door within a week of deciding to start to model again.

Delighted I am.

17

Best one for me was one of my favorite local hobby shops was going out of business but I was completely unaware. Me and my wife just happended to be in the area and I stopped by to find one heck of a sale! I ended up with:

Academy 1/72 P-47D bubble top

Dragon 1/72 M1A1

(For the wife)Revell kustom chopper

8 Jars of Model master enamels

1 jar model master decal set

1 jar of model master metalizer sealant

all for $32.00

not bad at all, it was kinda sad though, Allthough with all the plundering I was doing I didnt realize how sad until after I had calmed down

18

I’m kind of an eclectic record collector, and usually it’s in acoustic jazz. One day my brotherinlaw and I were scrounging thru the cut outs in a record shop on the north side of Indy, and came accross the Gerry Mullegan LP that wasn’t marked as a cut out. I bought it for a dollar, and when I got hom I noticed that there was writting on it in green ink. It read “Real Nice C.B.!” The C.B. was Chet Baker, and it seems that he stopped in that shop once and signed several LP’s. This was the last one, and it wasn’t for sale. Baker was the trumpet player with Mullegan, and is often considered to have been Miles Davis’ equal back in the day.

I also found a copy of Jonnie Johnson’s “wing leader” for $3.49 autographed! My dad found a book in a used book shop for two dollars once that was printed in 1892 documenting each and every Congessional Medal Of Honor Winner. On the inside cover there are about forty autographs of some of the winners. My brother keeps it in his safe, and I never knew about it till he showed it to me a couple months ago. He also has a book autographed by R.E. Lee, but have not seen it.

gary