wannsee

Deleted - Already covered a few months ago in chat. Please read the pinned thread

Having had a chance to go through my Revell collection in the last few days, I discovered my Rotodyne (A Revell GB kit) but more interesting was the “stamp” in the box and invitation to join the Master Modellers Club, for the sum of two shillings ( 2/-). That has got me thinking, how many people remember the club? It was very modern thinking by Revell to suggest a consumer panel. Did this ever meet, and were suggestions acted on? I know that a similar club existed in the United States and was successful. I look forward to your replies……

I totally agree, Steve. The canopy for the the Wildcat is wafer thin. I just checked my example and can see how easy it would snap. It would be interesting to know how high the demand for spares was. I have a couple of ME109's and the later ones have a one piece canopy.

And what's more, you can frame the box art 😀 Martin

There seems to be a lot of the MilSlides boxed version at the moment, a quick search on Ebay UK will show a lot of sellers offering them, from £4.99 to £20.00. Just a thought where have they all come from? One seller is showing over ten in stock !

Yes I agree, The Fokker DV11 had a crude header card, A lot of Polikarpov's are on Ebay at the moment, but they are boxed

Gentlemen, Here is my very sad looking Vulcan and stable mate of the Valiant. Again it is a piece of modelling history, and a very rare kit. The mould to the best of my knowledge has been destroyed although I investigated it some time ago and I did get a clue it ended up in the Soviet Union from a Russian newspaper article. Various theories abound including the moulds being lost at sea, scrapped in New Zealand or Calais. The V Bombers, Rotodyne and most of the 1/96 scale models are missing. I have covered this on my web site frogmodelaircraft.co.uk which you may be familiar with. Of course if anybody else has any information I would be very pleased to receive it. I will cover it in more detail in my book Merton to Moscow that I am currently writing. Back to the model, as you can see it has not had a good life, The cockpit glazing is missing, the wheel wells have be filled with what looks like polyfiller and both the nose and tail are damaged. My plan of action is to try and refill the wheel wells and re-scribe them. The nose and tail should be relatively easy to deal with using milliput. The glazing is a different matter and I would welcome any advice on that one. Trying to keep it original as possible I propose to spray it overall white and then mount it on a spare stand I have. So over to you…….

I am leaning towards, leaving it as is. Maybe just a quick wash and then mount it on its stand as a bit of social history. I will of course post photos. I also have a Airfix BT-K spitfire in a much worse state and it will need model strip then a re-build. I also have 2 halves of a Frog Vulcan which again would need a full restoration, including glazing which sadly is missing. Any thoughts anybody? Maybe I will have a "Home for retired Models" 😀

They did, or at least the early ones did. The P47 was a big beast.

Thank you for that, I totally agree opening canopy's did matter back then. It was state of the art in those days. For me it was the Brian Knight artwork and the fact you could frame the box tops. I remember my late Father would frame them for me before hanging them on my bedroom wall, My Mother used to complain about having to dust them, for some reason I never hung them from the ceiling, the models that is ! Another odd model was the ME 109 (one of Revells better one's) the canopy opened the correct way, but later releases had a one piece canopy. I also liked the revell instruction sheets and history of the model. The FW190 also was interesting in that the tail had a cross on it rather than the swastika. Thanks one and all for a trip down memory lane. I am using this lock down to do some serious work on my book "Merton to Moscow" bringing the Frog story up to date.

Thanks for that, lets see what other people say !

Sitting here in my modelling den in Southern Poland, I was thinking what our hobby was like 50 plus years ago (yes I can remember) and my thoughts turned to a Frog 1/96 Valiant I have in my collection. It is as built by a boy in the late 50’s or early 60’s. It has literally been thrown together, huge gaps, flash everywhere And the paint job is well I will let you decide! Even the decals, or transfers as we called them then are just thrown on and the stand decal is under the fuselage ! During that time before computers, play stations and mobile phones Plastic model kits were the in thing and a lot of pocket money was spent on them. I suspect a huge amount of them ended up like the Valiant I have. Now my question is : Should I leave the Valiant as is as a part of our hobbies history or restore it to a better condition? After all it is 60 years old ! My personal preference is to put it on to it’s original stand and leave it as part of social history. Your thoughts on this would be very welcome, I also have a Airfix BT-K in the same condition but he will be restored ! Martin

And here is another interesting Kit, the 1/72 Polikarpov 1-16, first issued by Revell GB in 1964. Not one of Revell's best moulds, it would take a heroic modeller to get it right. For the collector its a nice one for the collection. This example issued in 1987 exclusive to MilSlides * is interesting as the box retains the Brian Knight artwork, the instructions are the original 1960's but state printed by Revell gmbh in Germany and a new set of decals are included. The box sides are also in German and show © Revell Inc and the German address in Bünde together with © Revell 1964/1987 It is moulded in the original green plastic and one of the wings still has Revell GB Ltd © moulded on the inside ! So was this model produced in Potters-Bar or had the mould already gone to Germany? Ebay recently have had quite a few of these on sale for around £5, I know I have some! * Milslides did have a deal with Revell in the 80's for exclusive models including the 1/32 Beaufighter which I have in my collection

No, a very valid point. I have tried Companies house and no records appear. I am going to try to find historic records. Thanks for your feedback Martin

A strange one ! Does anyone remember Revell in plastic bags? Unlike Airfix and Frog the instruction sheet is in the bag and not printed on the header. This D V11 has a blank header and just the artwork on it. I have not seen any other examples of this. Odd to say the least ! One small point of interest is the model number H9632 is printed on the artwork

Getting interesting !! "Revell of UK Limited" does indeed exist in Tring, oddly it was formed in 2019 and is mainly concerned with R/C models. It is owned by Revell gmbh but sadly does not have any info on the previous Revell UK Ltd. My investigations will continue Martin

I certainly did. I contacted Revell, who are now based in Germany and had an email exchange with their PR agency, who said they had no information about the UK operation but did suggest I contact a John Embleton who worked at Potters-Bar and would know all about it. I asked them for his contact details but was told they do not have any! So does anybody know John? I have also tried Potters-Bar library also with no luck. I am sure the information is out there !! Martin

One point of interest the box art was very English as well as the wonderful art of the late Brian Knight, with his iconic style. I understand that when Revell GB ceased operations the moulds were transfered to Germany. Like Frog many of the moulds still survive and are in use by Revell to this day.

Thank you ! Maidstone house has indeed been re-developed. In my collection of small frame boxes, 60% are marked made in Great Britain whilst others just say Revell Inc california. Also instruction sheets vary with some saying Litho in GB. I agree about the exchange control thought. Also were the tools made in the UK? I am trying to find records but unlike Frog I cannot find anything at the moment The hunt continues

Gentlemen, As the webmaster of Frog Model Aircraft which I am sure you know, I am looking for some history of Revell GB so as to put a page on my site. A lot of great kits were produced in the UK including the "Small Frame Box series" plus a lot of classics including the Rotodyne. I have the current Revell history books but scant mention is made to the UK operation. Does anyone know the history and details of the factory at potters bar? Many thanks in advance Martin

Gentlemen, The VC10 K3 is now being shipped, please see http://www.frogmodelaircraft.co.uk/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=18&t=328for some more images of this super Kit, it even includes paint masks. With three choices of VC10 Roden have produced a fantastic tribute to this iconic Aircraft Enjoy

And here are some more views of this great Kit from Roden http://www.frogmodelaircraft.co.uk/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=18&t=328 Enjoy

And if anybody would like a copy of the beautiful art work of the VC10's please let me know.....Dependent on interest the may well be available Martin