***C'est magnifique!!!*** Heller Classic GB 2025 Chat

[2996 Victor]

9 minutes ago, Nick McV said:

Would this be eligible? Heller never did any 1/48 scale WW2 planes that I can see. This was originally a "Heller Humbrol" kit issued in 1983, according to Scalemates. I'd like to build it for my tractor-mad grandson.

 

I used to be into tractors too, but I'm not that fussed about them now.

 

I'm an ex-tractor fan.

 

I'll get me coat...

 

Nick

Hi Nick,

 

Yes, this is definitely eligible - first issued before the 31st December 1985 cut off date.

 

Nowt wrong with a good tractor - I'd love a Fergie T20 (a real one!) though the Heller kit might be a good substitute. 

 

Cheers,

Mark

[Nick McV]

4 minutes ago, 2996 Victor said:

Yes, this is definitely eligible - first issued before the 31st December 1985 cut off date.

Well, I'm in then! The same kit is available as a red-and-white Massey Ferguson, which was "the" tractor when I was a lad. I may go for that one.  

[Redstaff]

Stick me down for number 60 then 

It's about time I had a stab at seeing how bad the 1/24th Heller Bentley 4.5L blower actually is

It's a new boxing, but the original kit is from 1978, so I assume that's eligible  

 

Ian  

[2996 Victor]

37 minutes ago, Redstaff said:

Stick me down for number 60 then 

It's about time I had a stab at seeing how bad the 1/24th Heller Bentley 4.5L blower actually is

It's a new boxing, but the original kit is from 1978, so I assume that's eligible  

 

Ian  

Hi Ian,

great to have you along! The Blower 4-1/2L Bentley will be an excellent subject and it's definitely eligible!

Cheers,

Mark

[klr]

On 11/20/2024 at 9:49 PM, Enzo the Magnificent said:

 

It's simple.   I have no life. 

 

But I do have a spreadsheet.

I have many spreadsheets, including for my collections of kits, paints, books and music, as well as another recording my daily weight and steps (I'm not bothered about all the other nonsense you can record using today's smart tech).

 

In Heller GB-related news, I'm looking at an ever-growing stack of "possibles/probables". Starting the GB in the deepest, darkest depths of mid-January is good for me. There will be a bias towards Heller kits that I have not built before, but there's a couple of reasons for that. One is that a goodly proportion of the Heller kits I built in my youth were amongst those sold off by Heller years ago, and are no longer readily available. Conversely, most of the rest have been repackaged, often with new and expanded decal sheets, and I have a great many of those.

[PLC1966]

Okay, much as it goes against the grain to get involved in anything that involves Les Bleus, I enjoyed the Airfix GB the other week and will have a crack at this.  

 

I have just made a decent buy on a certain auction site, so I got a Heller Vampire for this GB, an Airfix Vampire which will go into the Twin Boom GB and a Premiere Sea Venom which will be put into the Lesser Known Classic GB.  All for £12 which is nobody can moan about.

 

So that is it, count me in.

 

[2996 Victor]

10 hours ago, PLC1966 said:

Okay, much as it goes against the grain to get involved in anything that involves Les Bleus, I enjoyed the Airfix GB the other week and will have a crack at this.  

 

I have just made a decent buy on a certain auction site, so I got a Heller Vampire for this GB, an Airfix Vampire which will go into the Twin Boom GB and a Premiere Sea Venom which will be put into the Lesser Known Classic GB. All for £12 which is nobody can moan about.

 

So that's it, count me in.

 

Excellent! Glad to have you along. The Vampire is a great subject, too!

 

Cheers,

Mark

[Nick McV]

The 1/24 Massey Ferguson is on my Christmas list... let's see if I've been naughty or nice this year... 🎅

[TonyW]

A bit of shed sorting has been going on here. Much chaos has been un-chaosed and during that, a few Heller kits dug out for the GB.

 

 

These three will get me into the swing of things, and I'm looking forward to the starting date already.

The great big 707 box had room enough inside it for the other two boxes! If nothing else, it's keeping things a bit more orderly until the off.

 

Tony.

[2996 Victor]

2 hours ago, TonyW said:

A bit of shed sorting has been going on here. Much chaos has been un-chaosed and during that, a few Heller kits dug out for the GB.

 

 

These three will get me into the swing of things, and I'm looking forward to the starting date already.

The great big 707 box had room enough inside it for the other two boxes! If nothing else, it's keeping things a bit more orderly until the off.

 

Tony.

Excellent, Tony, those absolutely great!

 

Cheers, 

Mark

[Mjwomack]

4 hours ago, TonyW said:

The great big 707 box had room enough inside it for the other two boxes! If nothing else,

We often think of oversize packaging as a new thing, but it isn't really!

 

Quite the collection on offer there, but it's the Ferrari that's caught my eye in particular.

[TonyW]

22 minutes ago, Mjwomack said:

We often think of oversize packaging as a new thing, but it isn't really!

 

Quite the collection on offer there, but it's the Ferrari that's caught my eye in particular.

 

It's a nice kit. It's been started and then stripped down again as it was a bit of a glue bomb. An unbuilt one would be a far better starting point but these things are getting harder to find now. If I can get a decent rebuild out of it I'll be very happy.

The car itself came from @Mike Dean He does that a lot. 

I've also rediscovered a Mercedes Gullwing that didn't get built during the last Heller GB. Maybe it will get lucky this time? It's now in the 707 Tardis box, awaiting its fate.

[Mjwomack]

1 hour ago, TonyW said:

The car itself came from @Mike Dean He does that a lot. 

 

Acht, you're just trying to make him blush. BUT it is one of the many great things about BM and especially GBs, I've been a recipient of such generosity and given a bit as well. The trouble is my stash isn't big enough to have stuff peeps want. I conclude that a big stash is a civic duty.

[MrB17]

I got the humongous 707 as a gift earlier this year, amongst other Heller kits. I would like to do it for the GB, it’s huge but not overly complicated. It would be OOB, but I can’t decide on Air France or BOAC. I’m going to err on the side of caution this year and commit to one at a time (yeah right 😆).

Also got the Air France DC-6.

Looking forward to 2025! Maybe next year we could have a Drone GB hahaha.

 

Cheers

 

Jeff

[Zephyr91]

On 07/12/2024 at 21:25, MrB17 said:

but I can’t decide on Air France or BOAC.

Half and half?   Seen that done before.

[MrB17]

On 12/7/2024 at 4:21 AM, TonyW said:

The great big 707 box had room enough inside it for the other two boxes!

I have very limited space, so I usually desprue my kits and put the small bits in a large ziplock bag. It does have some disadvantages though, reselling a kit in that state is not only difficult, but also not going to get as much for it if I decide to sell it. On the other hand, because of that I tend to keep most of my kits for myself. 😀 If all of the kits in my closet were in original boxes, they would fill my small hobby room to the ceiling! I do keep some nice boxes, but they often have many more kits inside, all bagged and desprued with a sticky note on the outside listing the contents. The 707 box is a monster, so it went to the recycling bin. I repurposed a stand up oscillating fan box and it contains my Heller 707, DC-6, 2 Monogram B-52’s and a Monogram B-36. We modellers are an interesting sort aren’t we. My wife has been clueless about this for over 45 years. 😏 Probably why we’ve made it this far 😅

 

Cheers

 

Jeff

[TonyW]

As if storing the 707 box isn't bad enough, the finished kit is a whopper as well. The 1/72 Constellations I have are pretty big and are space eaters in storage. The 707 will give me sleepless nights I think.  I'll be doing mine with detachable wings to give me at least a chance of being able to store it.

How to display the finished model is a separate problem I'm ignoring until I build it.

[2996 Victor]

1 hour ago, TonyW said:

As if storing the 707 box isn't bad enough, the finished kit is a whopper as well. The 1/72 Constellations I have are pretty big and are space eaters in storage. The 707 will give me sleepless nights I think.  I'll be doing mine with detachable wings to give me at least a chance of being able to store it.

How to display the finished model is a separate problem I'm ignoring until I build it.

You could always model the little-known navalised version with folding wings?  

 

Cheers,

Mark

[MrB17]

7 hours ago, TonyW said:

How to display the finished model is a separate problem I'm ignoring until I build it.

My big multi engine kits are ceiling dwellers, gives the spiders a playground. If only I could train them to do rigging!

 

Cheers

 

Jeff

[Mjwomack]

6 hours ago, 2996 Victor said:

The 1/72 Constellations I have are pretty big

I've reaiised this (don't rush me), have peered at mine a couple of times and after a diet of smaller scales it's a monster. Generally I get bored with my models not long after I've built them so storage isn't such an issue but it will be a vicious cull to make room for this one for sure.

[JOCKNEY]

On 15/12/2024 at 20:30, MrB17 said:

I have very limited space, so I usually desprue my kits and put the small bits in a large ziplock bag. It does have some disadvantages though, reselling a kit in that state is not only difficult, but also not going to get as much for it if I decide to sell it. On the other hand, because of that I tend to keep most of my kits for myself. 😀 If all of the kits in my closet were in original boxes, they would fill my small hobby room to the ceiling! I do keep some nice boxes, but they often have many more kits inside, all bagged and desprued with a sticky note on the outside listing the contents. The 707 box is a monster, so it went to the recycling bin. I repurposed a stand up oscillating fan box and it contains my Heller 707, DC-6, 2 Monogram B-52’s and a Monogram B-36. We modellers are an interesting sort aren’t we. My wife has been clueless about this for over 45 years. 😏 Probably why we’ve made it this far 😅

 

Cheers

 

Jeff

 

I think I've bought some of your kits Jeff !

 

I've got a few completely sprue-less kits of loose parts in zip lock bags, one of which is a Heller Bloch 210, which might make an appearance in this GB.

 

I've also got some of the original boxed Heller bombers which I'll enjoy teasing @TonyW with the condition of the boxes 

 

Cheers Pat 

[MrB17]

12 minutes ago, JOCKNEY said:

think I've bought some of your kits Jeff !

Hi Pat, I have 36 1/48 scale B-17’s all completely desprued, If we ever have another STGB B-17 build, I might consider donating them to the cause. Believe me I don’t need the instructions for those. Need any more proof that I’m mad? Muhahaha!
I’ve never had a Bloch 510, or any of those bombers, but I do envy you having those. Try building them without the instructions for an added thrill! Amaze your friends! Be the first on your block! 

There was a Potez 540 used as a flying darkroom by the US, it retained all of the French markings and camouflage, with a crossed French and US Flag on the sides of the fuselage. Apparently they didn’t want the French thinking it was a war prize, hence the French markings. It was featured in the Squadron book Air Force Colors Vol. 2. The guy in the photo reminds me of Radar from M*A*S*H. I wouldn’t mind building that one!

If I could find a Heller Arc en Ceil for a reasonable price, that would be cool. But nothing under $100 Cdn, so far. The excitement builds! Or is it the build is the excitement!

 

Cheers

 

Jeff

[TonyW]

9 hours ago, MrB17 said:

Hi Pat, I have 36 1/48 scale B-17’s all completely desprued,

 

Cheers

 

Jeff

 

Well done! Give that man a coconut.

36 kits is probably more than Revell/Monogram hold in stock at any one time. 

[MrB17]

7 hours ago, TonyW said:

36 kits is probably more than Revell/Monogram hold in stock at any one time.

Yeah, I think I need a few coconuts, dropped on my head!

 

In going through my stash, I only have 6 Heller Candidates, 707, DC-6, Connie, Ju 52, Bentley, Citroen 15 Six. I didn’t realize that the Eiffel Tower kit was a 90’s release, so doesn’t qualify for the 85 cutoff, however it would make a good backdrop!

After I quit painting airplanes, I worked in a hobby shop for 9 years. The B-17’s were mostly purchased at cost from Hobbico, one case at a time, a few were picked up at swap meets. I don’t think they had that many in stock at any given time. They immediately got desprued and put into 2 large plastic storage bins for the fuselage and wings, the rest in a shallow one, a couple in original boxes. 30 are Monogram G’s, the rest Revell F’s, 3 Koster conversions, and a pile of aftermarket. They are all on the left. The propane torch is in case we get invaded hahaha.
It’s interesting how much the sprue gates have enlarged over the years. The original issue Monogram kits have very small gates on the large parts, around 1/16” and could easily be removed with snippers, the newer ones are well over 1/4” and had to be sawn off!

 

 I really do like the yellow Heller boxes, they stand out like a sore thumb, a good move by their graphic designers. Airfix’s red boxes are nice as well, but as you can see the Heller ones are the ones that jump out. Down to the right is the repurposed box with the Heller 707, DC-6, Connie, a couple of B-52’s and a B-36. 
 

At some point in 25, a lot of this will be going. Not all are desprued, especially the rare ones.

 

The Heller GB is getting top priority this year, anything else will be a bonus if I have the time.

 

707, DC-6, Connie and Ju 52 for sure, the auto’s possibly.

 

Cheers

 

Jeff

[2996 Victor]

That's an impressive stash there, Jeff, lots of great subjects. I should think the Citroen 15 in front of the Eiffel Tower would be an excellent vignette

 

Cheers, 

Mark