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What to do with old completed kits?


Anteater

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I've got a large box full of old Tamiya/AMT/Hasegawa 1/24 car kits I built about 30 years ago, all completed to a passable but not particularly notable standard. At present they are all just packed away and haven't seen the light of day this century. I'm stuck with knowing what to do about them.

 

Obviously the fun of our hobby is found in the building but I've seen a few threads of rebuilds of kits that are out of production, which makes me think there must be some value in the stuff I have boxed away. I'm not talking a high monetary value here, but rather a practical value whereby people could make use of the kits or parts for nominal money. I've decided to salvage a few myself but I'll have many more that aren't doing any good sitting in a cardboard box.

 

So is there any interest in taking on old projects, either for restoration or just breaking for spares? Would there be more interest broken into specific spares, or as complete items?

 

Just to be clear, I wouldn't be doing anything until after lockdown is lifted.

 

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Gifting built models to 5 to 10+ year olds is rewarding. Kids or grandkids of yours or friends can get inspired to build their own. Those that love cars enjoy drawing them. My 7 year old grandson is excited to receive some of my old models. He is past the Lego stage and eager for zoomy modern sports and race cars.

You'd be surprised how good it can make YOU feel.

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Built stuff definitely has a use and can have a new future. 
Ive rescued these 2, left hand one was a completed glue bomb which nearly fell apart when you touched it, all put together with glue on painted surfaces. 
Right hand one was a badly painted shell with most parts to finish it. Both have been stripped back, cleaned up, primed and repainted and will live on :)

 

 

Chargers

 

As long as parts can be cleaned up and recommissioned, given a fresh lick of paint, a restoration is as much fun as a new build 

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I use my old builds to experiment on with weathering, I stole some parts every now - especially wheels.  I missuse them as paint mule or as test dummies before going ahead with a new technique on an ongoing build. Usually they don't end up on the shelf for too long. I used some to practice polishing (need to practice more!) and how to get rid of different paints.

I have a box with knocked models in it just for these purposes.

 

A few I have even sold, but there's no money to be made with that. Usually it wouldn't even cover the kit cost, so I don't really bother trying that.

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Go through the boxes and see if there is anything that you want to keep.

Lump the rest into groups of two or three by make (Porsche etc) or type (sports/saloon etc).

Stick them on here at ten quid per group of two or three (this includes postage, a light shoebox full is about 3 pound fifty).

Any money made can be invested in new kits or donated to a charity.

Everybody wins!

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I for myself got nearly all models on the display...untill they start to fall apart...

for my opion its good to keep the old things just to keep your progress in vison. Of course older models might look odd sometimes, but somehow they show me how I'm working on my skills and also on my style

Cheers

Marco F

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3 hours ago, Pete in Lincs said:

Go through the boxes and see if there is anything that you want to keep.

Lump the rest into groups of two or three by make (Porsche etc) or type (sports/saloon etc).

Stick them on here at ten quid per group of two or three (this includes postage, a light shoebox full is about 3 pound fifty).

Any money made can be invested in new kits or donated to a charity.

Everybody wins!

 

Some good ideas here but Pete suggests what I'm leaning towards. I haven't got space to keep everything and all costs have been amortised over 30 years so I don't expect to get my money back, so to speak. It's more about finding a use for stuff rather than just adding to landfill.

 

 

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Built up plastic kits unfortunately will never attract the sort of money that top end limited run resins or white metal models will fetch. There are some really good suggestions already posted on this thread that just about sums up the options. IPMS has a Models For Heroes activity whereby made up models are sold on for military veterans charities.

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I have a glass display cabinet for my old , completed models . It’s always a talking point when we have visitors. My 1:43 die cast collection is in their too . 
 Gary . 
49887466856_7d5e11cc7c_c_d.jpg

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