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Matchbox kits...


Andre B

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Lots of nostalgia being spoken of here,

 

I remember growing up on Matchbox kits back in Canada, the toy shop in the shopping centre down the street from where I lived had a great selection of models and the Matchbox kits were what my pocket money could buy.

 

Sometimes, Matchbox kits are still the only game in town for some subjects. Where else will you go for a Noorduyn Norseman or a Twin Otter?

 

Here's an image of some Matchbox kits on the Matchbox/Frog SIG table at the 2017 ModellBrno show:

 

JI2sD1D.jpg

 

 

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  • 7 months later...

I'd love another Lysander, I dearly remember building it first time round.

The tube cement, the tins of enamel paint, working off a tray in front of Gran's telly - Grandad smoked a pipe like Popeye, so no-one noticed any extra odours...

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  • 1 month later...

I remember having the Tempest kit as a kid and wondering why anyone would build any option other than an RAF Tempest V with that lovely big aggressive nose.

So recently when I came across a bargain priced unbuilt kit, what did I build?

 

IMG_3001.jpg 

 

Edited by F1xena
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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 2 weeks later...

Posted on BM elsewhere, but I though I would share my Matchbox Piston Provost here too. Still a Matchbox favourite of mine, this one was built the old skool way, oob and painted with a hairy stick...

 

44021951434_76b392be13_z.jpgIMG_5157 (2)

 

44740372561_cc69dd634a_c.jpgIMG_5160 (2)

 

Edit! Just realised I forgot to add the exhaust! Doh!

 

Steve

Edited by fightersweep
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51 minutes ago, fightersweep said:

Posted on BM elsewhere, but I though I would share my Matchbox Piston Provost here too. Still a Matchbox favourite of mine, this one was built the old skool way, oob and painted with a hairy stick...

 

Edit! Just realised I forgot to add the exhaust! Doh!

 

Steve

 

Hoping someone maybe able to help here actually? Can anyone remember a magazine article about improving the Matchbox Piston Provost? probably mid-late 90's? SAMI perhaps?

I chucked my copy, wishing now I kept this article.

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1 hour ago, phat trev said:

 

Hoping someone maybe able to help here actually? Can anyone remember a magazine article about improving the Matchbox Piston Provost? probably mid-late 90's? SAMI perhaps?

I chucked my copy, wishing now I kept this article.

I've got a Scale Aircraft Modelling issue from that era that has a big feature on Provost colour schemes, but I must have missed the article on improving the kit. I would be interested in seeing that too!

 

Steve

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 12/15/2018 at 9:03 AM, F1xena said:

I remember having the Tempest kit as a kid and wondering why anyone would build any option other than an RAF Tempest V with that lovely big aggressive nose.

So recently when I came across a bargain priced unbuilt kit, what did I build?

 

IMG_3001.jpg 

 

Very attractively done. I have one in IAF uniform myself.  I've also used the kit transfers in accordance with the instructions but one thing I've always wondered about  is the large serial number under the tailplane.  Any pictures I've seen of Indian Tempests with the Chakra marking show smaller serials at the tail and larger ones under the wings, RAF style. Examples include HA552, HA554 and HA595.

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I dearsay it wouldn’t be past Matchbox to have made a mistake with the serial size!

To be honest, I never clicked that it could have been incorrect. 

The decals in my kit were marginal, both in colour and quality. The wax-paper cover sheet had stuck to the decals, and the carrier film was quite badly discoloured, hence the Chakra and fin flash markings being more “brown” than “orange”. 

It would be nice to see the aircraft re-tooled, instead of “yet another Spitfire/Hurricane/Messerschmitt” by one of the mainstream kit companies. 

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On 1/9/2019 at 4:21 PM, phat trev said:

 

Hoping someone maybe able to help here actually? Can anyone remember a magazine article about improving the Matchbox Piston Provost? probably mid-late 90's? SAMI perhaps?

I chucked my copy, wishing now I kept this article.

I think it was Scale Models. I'll have to dig my copies out.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Some observations

 

HS 125:  very fragile canopy windows.  Anyone who can glue it in without breaking it deserves a medal!  New mould please

 

Mig-21  PK-19: inaccurate fuselarge when compared to plans  Was PK-41 any better?  At leat varient "MF" described.

 

F-86A Sabre: Like to read reviews about this that every manufacturer has shied away from.  Why?????  Airfix missed a trick with this varient.

  

Future wish list:  Siskin Provost Wesley Jaguar T2  F-86A.

Edited by MigModeller
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On ‎2‎/‎10‎/‎2019 at 6:22 PM, MigModeller said:

Some observations

 

HS 125:  very fragile canopy windows.  Anyone who can glue it in without breaking it deserves a medal!  New mould please

 

Mig-21  PK-19: inaccurate fuselarge when compared to plans  Was PK-41 any better?  At leat varient "MF" described.

 

F-86A Sabre: Like to read reviews about this that every manufacturer has shied away from.  Why?????  Airfix missed a trick with this varient.

  

Future wish list:  Siskin Provost Wesley Jaguar T2  F-86A.

It's a Long time since I had a look at my MiGs, but the only possible changes I remember are maybe a somewhat beefed-up spine (but still nowhere near MF, IIRC) and a new canopy.

Not every manufacturer has shied away from an A, there was one by Lindberg in 1/48 in the Dark Ages. But I confess I have a very soft spot for those Lindberg kits... I probabl yshould get one, many of them were very acceptable in shape. One Review of the MB I remember was in German mag Modell Magazin ca. 1984, where the author completely tore it to pieces. which likely was down to the fact that the author's objective was a Sabre VI... The kit is very crude, very similar in style to the J29 and G.91 and rather unlike the fairly delicate Provost that came not Long before it. (But I guess you knew that anyway...)

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42 minutes ago, tempestfan said:

It's a Long time since I had a look at my MiGs, but the only possible changes I remember are maybe a somewhat beefed-up spine (but still nowhere near MF, IIRC) and a new canopy.

Not every manufacturer has shied away from an A, there was one by Lindberg in 1/48 in the Dark Ages. But I confess I have a very soft spot for those Lindberg kits... I probabl yshould get one, many of them were very acceptable in shape. One Review of the MB I remember was in German mag Modell Magazin ca. 1984, where the author completely tore it to pieces. which likely was down to the fact that the author's objective was a Sabre VI... The kit is very crude, very similar in style to the J29 and G.91 and rather unlike the fairly delicate Provost that came not Long before it. (But I guess you knew that anyway...)

 

The two incarnations of the MiG-21 had very different fuselages and some other parts were changed.

The original PK-19 represented something like a late PF.. I say something like because the fuselage was very inaccurate. I remember converting this kit to a more proper Mig-21 shape following an article on a local modelling magazine and this involved chopping the fuselage and removing 10 mm or so..  Canopy and tail also reflected the version they tried to represent.

The later PK-41 was meant to represent an MF and was much better, not too accurate but not as wrong as the previous kit. IIRC the fuselage lacked the bulges for the wheels or they were too small. Of course nobody would use this kit as a basis for a MiG21MF model today.. even then the KP kit was a much more accurate representation of an MF but was not easily available everywhere

IIRC the sprue with wings and horizontal taiplanes remained the same and these parts were not too accurate either

The MF came with some interesting decals, but the Finnish markings were actually for a Bis, reason why I applied the Egyptian ones on my model. The Finnish roundels were also not very nice but the rest of the markings were useable and I remember using them a few years later when I converted a KP kit into a Bis.. those were the days when building the various variants of this famous fighter required a lot of work.

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I‘d have to find the box(es) with MB kits first to make more well-informed statements, but there are a couple of WIP‘s around here with sprue shots that do not suggest „very“ different fuselages. The MF even carries over the (c) 1973 engraving in the port fuselage half. The wheel bulges seem similar on both, being indicated by an oddly-shaped trench and with rather little bulging.

 I started backdating a KP kit to a PFM-SPS more than 25 years ago and can confirm it is much better than the MB, according to the 4+ book. I also had a look at both MB incarnations then and discounted them.

Edited by tempestfan
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  • 2 months later...
On 2/23/2019 at 11:10 PM, Ham Hands said:

(I am looking at many models ATM :) )

I look at a lot of my models too. I just wish I actually built some of them! 🤣

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On 2/23/2017 at 1:21 PM, Giorgio N said:

And then there are some for which the seller would have to pay me to take them, like the F-16 and the A-7

I hear what you're saying about the F-16 Giorgio however, some modellers do consider the A-7s fuselage to be an accurate representation. 

 

Have a look at the following link: https://www.blindbatnews.com/2014/06/kit-bashing-172-scale-comparison-a-7-corsair-2-fujimi-esci-matchbox-hobby-boss-mystery-of-annoying-parting-lines-on-canopies-solved/31480

 

Would like to know if you agree or not with the writer's point of view on the specific matter.

 

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