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Nostalgia, it's not what it used to be...


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2 hours ago, Ventora3300 said:

Tony, I could gaze at your photos of the model displays all day - that's what a real model shop looks like although no kids sticky fingers please, no doubt. I fell into a model shop in Frome, of all places, which had this sort of level of concentration of kits.

I completely empathise with your 'build the model' view because that it really where I am at at the moment - trying to do much better than my original builds of 40+ years ago.

Also, the kits left in original plastic with just some 'detailing' in paints really seems like a good idea for an impatient modeller - get it finished then take time to enhance some details to make the model come alive - thought for the future.

Best of luck.

Mike

I'm doing a similar thing, trying to recreate my old collection. Only this time more nicely built and with the addition of kits I wanted but couldn't have.

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11 minutes ago, old thumper said:

I'm doing a similar thing, trying to recreate my old collection. Only this time more nicely built and with the addition of kits I wanted but couldn't have.

That's exactly how my modelling has gone over the last few years...and I'm having a blast doing it! I can almost remember when and where I bought most of my kits as a kid. Sad eh?

 

The problem comes with the second part: "the addition of kits I wanted but couldn't have". The sole reason I now have a massive stash of vintage kits. I wanted nearly all of them!

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Hi ,re your plans to turn your shed into a modelling room ,do you intend to line the walls ?This is my shed where i store my models,and the models are getting dusty and covered with cobwebs ,thinking of taking the shelves down and lining the whole inside with hardboard painted white .lCATJiM.jpgeJQyFlH.jpg

tm9g8sw.jpg

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1 hour ago, old thumper said:

I'm doing a similar thing, trying to recreate my old collection. Only this time more nicely built and with the addition of kits I wanted but couldn't have.

I noticed! I think I gave my original (relatively small) collection away to a younger cousin - never seen again. Why....???

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33 minutes ago, cocky05d said:

Hi ,re your plans to turn your shed into a modelling room ,do you intend to line the walls ?This is my shed where i store my models,and the models are getting dusty and covered with cobwebs ,thinking of taking the shelves down and lining the whole inside with hardboard painted white .

 

The Model shed is going to be built from scratch. The walls will be fully insulated along with the roof and it will be a weathertight structure. I'm building another shed at  the moment that's going to be a garden room, and that's been the prototype for the model shed. It's all timber built and as warm as toast.

There's room for a 16x20 shed, which is OK with the 30sq. m. allowed before planning is needed. I've committed the Planning Portal website to memory, making sure I can build what I want. It can't happen before next year at the earliest though.

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50 minutes ago, Ventora3300 said:

I noticed! I think I gave my original (relatively small) collection away to a younger cousin - never seen again. Why....???

 

1 hour ago, fightersweep said:

That's exactly how my modelling has gone over the last few years...and I'm having a blast doing it! I can almost remember when and where I bought most of my kits as a kid. Sad eh?

 

The problem comes with the second part: "the addition of kits I wanted but couldn't have". The sole reason I now have a massive stash of vintage kits. I wanted nearly all of them!

 I'm glad I'm not the only one.

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1 hour ago, old thumper said:

 

 I'm glad I'm not the only one.

It's comforting to know there are others with a similar take on modelling. Perhaps we should start a club with Tony?

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5 hours ago, TonyW said:

The Model shed is going to be built from scratch. The walls will be fully insulated along with the roof and it will be a weathertight structure. I'm building another shed at  the moment that's going to be a garden room, and that's been the prototype for the model shed. It's all timber built and as warm as toast.

There's room for a 16x20 shed, which is OK with the 30sq. m. allowed before planning is needed. I've committed the Planning Portal website to memory, making sure I can build what I want. It can't happen before next year at the earliest though.

Hi ,what kind of timber are you going to use ?there is  a 10x8 shed on my allotment ,my nephew used to have it and he is letting me have it when 

he moves all his crap out .

Planning to store my dioramas in there ,if i ever get round to finishing them .

Good luck with your building.

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Let's kick the weekend off with a few period builds...

 

An Airfix, first issue G91, complete with pointed nose. Humbrol silver, brush painted and early transfers. (Decals were later)

 

airfix_1369.jpg

 

A Frog Canberra, rattle can silver with a clear coat over that. Just about as simple as it gets. The early Frog stands are a thing of beauty.

 

FROG_Canberra.jpg

 

And a few boxed kits.  The 0/400 has been daring me to build it for years now. I've opened the box, looked at the struts and the size of the thing, and promptly put it all back! At some point I'll get a builder kit and have a go. To possibly ruin this mint copy seems wrong to the collector side of me.

 

sellers723_zps72739e9c.jpg

 

 

Tony.

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  • 5 weeks later...

I managed to get into the fiasco that is Photobucket and get some of my pictures back over the weekend. Here's a few to be getting on with...

 

One for the Paint and Glue Perverts, Humbrol Camouflage Colours! These sets were cutting edge modelling to me when they first came out.

 

sellers015_-_Copy.jpg

 

Who remembers the Airfix soldiers? I used to spend ages studying the Airfix catalogues, trying to decide which ones I needed. Fast forward to now and I'm re-creating the bases as they were in the catalogues.

 

 IMG_2987_-_Copy.jpg

 

The Control Tower disappeared from the catalogues in the mid sixties only to reappear years later. I've built this one in the original header scheme. it's a work in progress model, awaiting finishing.  The later cammo version would look good as well.

 

ebay099.jpg

 

The Beaufighter in the above picture was available for donkeys years in one box or another. I must have built a dozen over the years and still have a few to this day.

 

IMG_2991_-_Copy.jpg

beau.jpg

 

 

The collector in me needed to track down the different variants. The T3 Charles Oats box is the one I remember as a kid.

 

More to follow...

 

Tony.

 

 

Edited by TonyW
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Tonight's instalment goes back to Airfix T3 kits,

 

Copyofsellers528.jpg

 

room_1_-_Copy.jpg

 

Finding these pictures again is a bittersweet thing, the room is gone, all that is left are the photographs. A bit like the kits themselves, all history now.

 

 

 

After drying my eyes a bit, after getting a bit of nostalgic dust in them, I got back on track with this little lot....

 

IMG_5385_-_Copy.jpg

 

Trailblazers!!  One of FROG's better ideas., Anyone here built any?

 

Tony.

Edited by TonyW
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  • 3 weeks later...

New here and just seen this thread.

 

Blimey Tony, I've never seen anything like it!

 

I love your "shop", just as they used to look in the old days.

 

Obviously a labour of love and brilliant to see for people of "a certain age".

 

Great stuff mate and thanks for sharing it all with us. :yes:

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A couple more from the vaults.

 

With the prospect of a new mold B25 coming from Airfix, it's nice to take a look back at where they started. The box artwork sold it for me as a kid. Which version to build though? The box top glass nose or the one full to the brim with extra weaponry? This time around, I went for the boxtop version. I also have the gun one built up somewhere. 

The Dornier 217 has always been a favourite as well.

 

sellers1011.jpg

 

sellers930.jpg

 

sellers993.jpg

 

Edited by TonyW
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On 11/27/2017 at 8:41 PM, TonyW said:

Anyone here built any?

I do remember building a Whittle jet in the dim and distant.

Yellow plastic so that was probably the FROG model.

For years I had a couple of the wheels kicking around in the spares box.

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What a beautiful thread, thank you Tony. 

Sometimes I can get so nostalgic about the 70s/old days that it hurts.

As a few chaps have mentioned above I love the paint rack. It's odd how something random can trigger memories. 

Also for me its about seeing the covers of the boxes as much as buying and building models. Me and my mates would spend hours looking through Airfix catalogues. I love the Beaufighter box, love it.

Lovely to pick out a few boxes on the wall. In particular the Short Stirling and the 1/24th scale planes. My mate once got the Mustang for his birthday, I was so jealous.

Many thanks again Tony and best wishes, Martin

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On 27/11/2017 at 10:39 AM, TonyW said:

I managed to get into the fiasco that is Photobucket and get some of my pictures back over the weekend. Here's a few to be getting on with...

 

One for the Paint and Glue Perverts, Humbrol Camouflage Colours! These sets were cutting edge modelling to me when they first came out.

 

sellers015_-_Copy.jpg

 

Who remembers the Airfix soldiers? I used to spend ages studying the Airfix catalogues, trying to decide which ones I needed. Fast forward to now and I'm re-creating the bases as they were in the catalogues.

 

 IMG_2987_-_Copy.jpg

 

The Control Tower disappeared from the catalogues in the mid sixties only to reappear years later. I've built this one in the original header scheme. it's a work in progress model, awaiting finishing.  The later cammo version would look good as well.

 

ebay099.jpg

 

The Beaufighter in the above picture was available for donkeys years in one box or another. I must have built a dozen over the years and still have a few to this day.

 

IMG_2991_-_Copy.jpg

beau.jpg

 

 

The collector in me needed to track down the different variants. The T3 Charles Oats box is the one I remember as a kid.

 

More to follow...

 

Tony.

 

 

Authentic Colours - still got some! As you say, cutting edge at the time. They also did railway colours. 

 

Pete

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The Humbrol Authentics came to me in good nick. That's not always the case.

A job lot of early Humbrol tins arrived a bit worse for wear recently. A bit of rubbing down of the rusty bare metal areas and a re-spray of the lid on this can of silver paint got it looking ship shape again. Only another fifteen tins to go, and I can think about using them in some kind of display.

 

IMG_2985.jpg

 

I doubt my sanity sometimes. Posting pictures of restored paint tins is a first class example of that...

 

Tony.

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On 26 October 2017 at 2:12 AM, Crossiant Oliver said:

Lucky you guys grew up in the heyday of hobby kits and shops. I'm 15 and live right smack in Central Los Angeles and the closest hobby store is 4 miles away and is a 20 minute drive with all the traffic here. I expect that you guys walked to your hobby stores. 

When I was a kid, my local newsagent (a five minute walk) had a good selection of model kits. There were Airfix, Revell and, later, Matchbox.

 I think the first kit I ever bought from there was a Revell 1/32 Fw 190D-9. I was too young to make it myself, probably only five or six, so my Dad made it and my Mum, who was rather a good artist, painted it. The Dora has since become one of my favourite aeroplanes.

 I lived on the outskirts of St Neots, which was just a small town in the 1970s. The town centre has Woolworth's, which sold a huge array or Airfix kits (and later a few Novo kits). There was the Toyman in the old arcade, and he sold a reasonable range of different manufacturers. Sometimes you'd see something exotic, such as a Hasegawa or Italeri kit.

Scott's Sports had a small area at the back which has mostly Revell kits. That shop stopped selling kits either in the late 70s or early 80s, but another shop, Fishers, started selling Matchbox kits at really good prices soon after.

 

 Further afield, Huntingdon, a neighbouring town, had Sports Amd Fashions and despite the title, had s pretty good model department. There was another shop on the corner of Chequers Court which sold the likes of Fujimi and Hasegawa, but it's name escapes me for now.

 

 Bedford was well served with Bryan Scale Models,  Goldings and, best of all, Gasgoines. The latter two were both hardware shops which had a model department, but Gasgoines was by far the best of the bunch. The model department was stacked floor to ceiling with kits.

 

 Cambridge was a bit further away, but had Ren Models and later R&D models. Ren Models started my collection of Gloy paints, as the had a big, wire bin which was full of heavily discounted Gloy Authentic paints. I must have spent a fortune at R&D and was gutted when I went there for the last time and it had gone.

 

These days there is very little in the way of nearby shops which sell kits, and certainly no specialist model shops in any nearby town that I know of. I very much miss that.

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8 hours ago, lasermonkey said:

When I was a kid, my local newsagent (a five minute walk) had a good selection of model kits. There were Airfix, Revell and, later, Matchbox.

 I think the first kit I ever bought from there was a Revell 1/32 Fw 190D-9. I was too young to make it myself, probably only five or six, so my Dad made it and my Mum, who was rather a good artist, painted it. The Dora has since become one of my favourite aeroplanes.

 I lived on the outskirts of St Neots, which was just a small town in the 1970s. The town centre has Woolworth's, which sold a huge array or Airfix kits (and later a few Novo kits). There was the Toyman in the old arcade, and he sold a reasonable range of different manufacturers. Sometimes you'd see something exotic, such as a Hasegawa or Italeri kit.

Scott's Sports had a small area at the back which has mostly Revell kits. That shop stopped selling kits either in the late 70s or early 80s, but another shop, Fishers, started selling Matchbox kits at really good prices soon after.

 

 Further afield, Huntingdon, a neighbouring town, had Sports Amd Fashions and despite the title, had s pretty good model department. There was another shop on the corner of Chequers Court which sold the likes of Fujimi and Hasegawa, but it's name escapes me for now.

 

 Bedford was well served with Bryan Scale Models,  Goldings and, best of all, Gasgoines. The latter two were both hardware shops which had a model department, but Gasgoines was by far the best of the bunch. The model department was stacked floor to ceiling with kits.

 

 Cambridge was a bit further away, but had Ren Models and later R&D models. Ren Models started my collection of Gloy paints, as the had a big, wire bin which was full of heavily discounted Gloy Authentic paints. I must have spent a fortune at R&D and was gutted when I went there for the last time and it had gone.

 

These days there is very little in the way of nearby shops which sell kits, and certainly no specialist model shops in any nearby town that I know of. I very much miss that.

Hey @lasermonkey , nice reminiscences.

 

I think many of us pine for the old days when kits were available in local shops as well of course at Woolies where many of mine came from.

 

BTW I  like your avatar and see you are a Jazzmaster fan :D. Got a few guitars here too. 

Edited by Neil.C
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Interesting to read a few of you guys saying how you miss the local model shops or suppliers experience. While I do miss going into a shop and browsing I do enjoy these days getting a parcel delivered. I think, for me anyway, that has an appeal of its own and can make me feel like a young lad again - all excited on the day it's supposed to arrive. 

The soldiers that Tony mentioned above are the one thing I have kept from those days. Still have hundreds of the 1/72 scale and quite a lot of 1/32. They have to be the most used and wonderful toy of my youth. Not too much choice in them days - Airfix and then we all got excited when Matchbox released theirs. I once bought some WW2 Indian troops by Atlantic on holiday in Devon and couldn't believe how good they were and so rare. These days there so much more choice and I bet not many little lads know about them. Oh well, their loss.

Cheers, Martin

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Here's one that only just fits in an aircraft thread, the one and only  Freddy Flame Out!!

 

Air_freddie.jpg

 

The sixties counter culture stuff was on a roll over in the USA in the sixties and Airfix fancied a slice to serve to the UK market. A deal was struck with Hawk and a pair of their Weird Oh kits were reboxed and released over here. The rest of the range were selling like crazy in the states at the time.The companion kit to Freddy was Daddy, the Way Out Suburbanite. The pair of them pretty much bombed in the UK market, along with Airfix's own pitiful attempt at the genre, Ton Up Tony.

All three are extremely rare these days although the Hawk kits have been re-released a few times in different boxes. Ton Up Tony only got one issue and it's probably best that way, it's a pretty poor cash in. Freddy and Daddy are built up re-issues, the kits in the boxes are untouched.

 

Here's the other two, I hope they don't ruffle too many feathers :smile:

 

Air_daddie.jpg

 

Ton_Up.jpg

Edited by TonyW
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