Rootbeerdude

Thanks for the kind words, y’all! It’s rewarding to receive praise for a kit that had spent years on the shelf of doom!

Who doesn’t love this kit? It was the talk of the town (my town, at any rate) when it came out in 1974. I built it then and thought it was great! So, I decided to build it again… but maybe clean it up a bit. Here’s the kit out of the box (minus the figures and bags). Although I used the kit figures and bags, I actually started with the mid-nineties Tamiya Jeep and took off from there. I used Italaeri jerry cans, Eduard and Verlinden photo-etched pieces, Verlinden bags and rolls as well as some civilian tires from… Ah, I’ve forgotten… Legend, maybe? 🤷‍♂️ This has been an on again, off again project since 2005… it was even on the shelf of doom for a while. Anyway, hope you like it!

Here’s my stab at some shadow boxes. I’ve no available wall space, so these were photographed on my coffee table. I am happy with the way this turned out, but since most of my enjoyment is in the assembly of a model, I would have enjoyed it more had I actually BUILT the kit! 😜

Because I wanted to provide depth, I decided to mount the panted spruces above the back surface of the shadow box. I drilled small holes through the sprues and through the backing of the shadow box, then pushed pins through from the back. Then I superglued the sprues onto the pins. Pretty straightforward. After that, I boxed everything up! All done! Now I just need to find some wall space! This was fun, but my favorite part of a build is the assembly. So while I like the outcome, I didn’t get as much enjoyment out of this had I actually BUILT the model!

That’s fantastic! I love how the wood in the bridge contrasts with the o.d. structure. Like a biplane or ship model, the rigging really brings the model to life! Matchbox produced some real gems…. Your example shows what can be done with this kit.

I painted everything according to the instructions. For the metal portions of the fuselage, landing gear, struts, radiator and prop spinner, I used alclad. Great stuff, but the finish is not durable… One must be careful when handling. I then applied the kit decals. I have always had good luck with Matchbox decals, and the kit decals went on without difficulty, despite being close to 50 years old! 🙂 if ever there was an out of the box build, this is it! Or is it? It’s not really a build. 🤷‍♂️ I then laid out the sprues on the back face of the shadow box to plan the presentation… I had to figure out if I wanted to include the stand. I kinda like it!

I’ve seen how some modelers have painted the parts while still on the sprues, and then displayed them in shadow boxes. That strikes me as a great idea! I like how the model can be a decorative element that can also add visual interest to a room. So I decided to give it a go! Most of the efforts I have seen have everything displayed in one shadow box. I decided to break things into three boxes so that each box represents a portion of the kit. Because each box will have fewer parts in it, more can be seen. Less is more. 🙂 I went to my local craft store and bought three appropriately sized shadow boxes and also bought black frame mats with white edges. I believe the mats really make a difference because they provide a finished look, as well as direct the eye to the subject inside the frame. So… Here’s a pic of the shadow box with the mat installed. Kit box is added to provide scale.

I’ve actually finished this build, but because we are discouraged from posting in progress pics in the Ready for Inspection area, I’ll create a build post here. 🙂 Who hasn’t built at least one Matchbox kit? They were cheerful well-engineered, beautifully packaged and colourful (colorful on this side of the pond). I’d also say they were cheap, but in the states, they were a little pricier than their alternatives from Revell and MPC (American made Airfix). In my experience, the earliest Matchbox kits ALWAYS fit beautifully, and built up well. Later ones… well… some were better than others. Depending on the range, Matchbox would offer two or three sets of markings and parts. As a kid, I was flabbergasted by the Hawker Tempest… the engine options allowed for what appeared to be two completely different aircraft! I also like that Matchbox released some pretty esoteric subjects. Saab Tunan, Vickers Wellesley, Supermarine Stranraer, anyone? Detail was generally pretty basic, but no worse than their contemporaries. And there were some releases that still hold their own, including the subject of my post, the first Matchbox plastic kit, the Hawker Fury (PK-1). Yeah, okay… I like their Lysander, too.

Nice job! I love the old Monogram kits!

Fantastic job with this old dog! I built this kit a few times and loved it! This kit was from the days when models were toys more than replicas. I salute your skills whipping this one into shape!

My good friend Nearsighted John has finally convinced me to start posting my builds on Britmodeler… I’ve been consuming the content here for some time now, and now it’s time to contribute. 🙂 I like building old kits out of the box because I like the challenge. Depending on the kit, one can get models that look (almost) as good a newer kits. Well, maybe… As long as you don’t put them side by side. 😜 I think there’s a relatively new IPMS category called “Classic Builds” just for people like me. With that introduction, I present my build of the Monogram 1/48 Hawker Typhoon. This kit was tooled in 1967 and released in 1968. Most people forget that at the time, Monogram was the premier kit manufacturer in the world. And with good reason. Although their catalog was small, they continued to raise the bar, both in terms of accuracy, molding and fit. This model is a good example of the state of the art in the late 1960s. This is 100% out of the box. All rivets and panel lines are raised. Typical of Monogram, all panel lines matched when the parts were assembled. On that subject, parts fit was excellent, and no putty was used. The only gap was on the underside where the wing joined the rear fuselage. I filled that with styrene and sanded flush. I painted this bird with Tamiya acrylics and weathered with oils. I did make one modification. The rockets were molded with the fins in the wrong position. So, I cut them off and repositioned them. That’s it! In my “library”, I found a copy of the Profile publication for the typhoon from 1967. It’s obvious Monogram used this as their reference for the markings on their kit.🙂

Thanks for the kind words, y’all! In response to Nearsighted John’s prompts, here is the skinny: I bought this kit as a throwaway to learn how to get a good finish. I got this kit for almost nothing because it had been started… the OHV engine was botched, but I didn’t mind because the kit came with two engines, and I was interested in the other, a 4 cam power plant. The chrome had been partially stripped off several parts, but the thick clear paint undercoat was still in place, so I soaked the parts in brake fluid for a couple weeks, and then in bleach for a couple more. That took everything down to the bare plastic. 🙂 As for the paint, The finish took time, but was remarkably easy. It was all done using Tamiya lacquer straight out of the rattle can (!). After filling gaps with putty, I sanded the body panels smooth and then primed with Mr. Surfacer 1000. I let that dry a week and rubbed everything smooth with automotive rubbing compound (Turtle Wax brand). I then sprayed on several coats of Tamiya rattle can white lacquer as a primer coat to ensure the top color would be brilliant. Before spraying the color coat. I rubbed down the white with Meguair’s polishing compound (from this point forward, I didn’t use rubbing compound because that’s far too aggressive). I then shot the body with several coats of Tamiya TS-15 blue lacquer using the rattle can. I let the paint cure for several days, and rubbed the paint until smooth using the Meguiar’s polishing compound. I then applied the decals. After cleaning off any decal adhesive and water spots, I shot the body with several coats of Tamiya clear lacquer (rattle can again). I let the clear coat cure for a week, and again rubbed everything down with the polishing compound. The finish turned out as smooth as glass. It was that easy! Not too shabby for a throw away! In the past, I’ve shied away from automotive subjects because I had trouble with the finishes... I was surprised that this finish turned out as well as I could have hoped. After this build, I think I’ll try some more cars or motorcycles.🙂

My first post here… This is the 1968 Olsonite Eagle. This car was driven by Denny Hulme to a 4th place finish at the 1968 Indy 500. This car used the Ford 4 cam Indy engine. Hulme’s teammate, Dan Gurney, came in 2nd driving another Eagle, but that car was powered by the “stock block” production based OHV engine. First place was won by Bobby Unser driving yet another Eagle. However, Unser’s car was powered by an Offy engine. It’s interesting that of the three, the car with the oldest engine design came in first, and the car with the most sophisticated engine, was behind the other two. Go figure. So, who or what was Olsonite? Well… in 1968, Olsonite was the trade name for one of America’s most successful brands of…. Toilet seats! This model was built from the 1/25 scale MPC kit. The kit had the option to build Gurney’s car (#48) or Hulme’s car (#42). I like the 4 cam race engine, so Hulme’s car it is! This model is almost out of the box (AOOTB). I broke the windscreen trying to thin and polish it, so I replaced it with a vacuum formed unit. I also used metal tubing for the rear axle to make it stronger. No details or enhancements were added. It’s a really lousy kit (seriously lousy)! But like most things, if you exert some effort, good results can be obtained.🙂 The highlight of the kit (to me, at least) is (are?) the exhaust headers… they are molded in one piece (tail pieces were separate). I had to trim, file and otherwise clean them up, but I think they look great!