Old school. VERY old...Airfix Lysander

[locomotive]

Ready set go!



It was on the shelf and I wanted a quick build. And to see if these old kits were really as bad as I remembered.

58 minutes later....


And you know what?
They ARE as bad as I remember!
Absolutely awful!
I mean, how did we ever manage to build anything resembling an aircraft??
Will paint it tomorrow.
And then quite possibly fill it with lighter fluid and blow it up.

 

[BarleyBop]

I wish there were an easy way to post a video!

 

[locomotive]

I suppose we were more easily satisfied when we were 10?

 

[Tommergun]

Nice box art!

 

[Rob]

Box art is probably what sold that plane. Although it's a cool looking plane. Throw some paint on it. It should look all right

 

[locomotive]

I'm sure I've got some illegal Chinese firecrackers somewhere....

 

[Edbert]

Box art is probably what sold that plane. Although it's a cool looking plane. Throw some paint on it. It should look all right

Mix in some soda, as a gap filler!

 

[Jakko]

I wish there were an easy way to post a video!

Upload it to YouTube and post the URL in your message.

 

[Chuck Beemans]

I suppose we were more easily satisfied when we were 10?

Most definitely. And quite happy with a plane entirely brush painted in Testors enamel.

 

[the Baron]

I don't think they're all that bad. For today's standards, I'd say rather they present more of a challenge.

 

[BarleyBop]

quite happy

... little bottles all lined up, an open jar of turpentine, the sharp smell of newsprint covering the old card table... and an admonishment to baby brother to stay clear!

I don't think they're all that bad. For today's standards, I'd say rather they present more of a challenge.

... not much different than some of the resin and 3D printed kits I've tackled recently...

 

[locomotive]

I don't think they're all that bad. For today's standards, I'd say rather they present more of a challenge.

That's just being diplomatic.

 

[locomotive]

... not much different than some of the resin and 3D printed kits I've tackled recently...

Are we going backwards? Just as polystyrene was new, is it the same situation now?

 

[the Baron]

That's just being diplomatic.

Nope. It's what I believe. I leave the kit-bashing to the HyperScalers.

 

[Glenn S]

I have an affinity for the old kits. Many of the new kits are truly incredible, but I expect nothing less when computer assisted designing and computer milling machines are used to make the moulds.
It's almost hard to remember that the old moulds were made by skilled craftsmen, by hand.
Also, as a guy who likes to scratch build the detail into a kit, I find the super detailed kits of today to be kind of boring. They have almost turned into a paint by numbers like exercise. I enjoy the challenge of doing the research, and then taking a basic kit and scratch building it into something with a lot more detail. I love the challenge.
The below is custom landing gear area for a 1/48 French Mirage IIi, as well as a scratch made cockpit for the same kit. Regrettably, almost none of the cockpit is visible when the canopy was installed. This kit was from the "previously owned" shelf at the hobby store and cost me $10.

 

[BarleyBop]

I enjoy the challenge of doing the research, and then taking a basic kit and scratch building it into something with a lot more detail

Now that's what I'm talking about!
Not everyone's cuppa tea, but the groove I'm falling into, no regrets.
"Ask not what the kit will do for you, but what you can do with the kit!" - sorry, couldn't resist

 

[the Baron]

Yeah, I don't know if you, BarleyBop, and you, Glenn S, are the same age as I am. I was born in 1964, and I grew up on Monogram, Revell, Aurora, Airfix, and Lindberg. And I remember when Monogram's multi-engined aircraft models were released in the 70s, and Shep Paine's "Tips" brochures were included. Those were a revelation! Shep showed techniques that a modeler of average skill could use to add detail to a kit, and how to build dioramas for something more interesting than a shelf display.

My modeling hiatus started in 1982 when I graduated high school. I got back into the hobby after I graduated from college, first through casting and painting metal figures around 1986, and then getting back into scale modeling in the mid-90s. I was amazed to see how much scratchingbuilding had been replaced with aftermarket for many modelers. I though to myself, "We used to scratchbuild those details!" Now, I'm not knocking aftermarket. I recognize that it increases how much a modeler might enjoy the hobby. And it ensures a certain consistency of result. Products like AK's catalog do the same thing, especially for new modelers. But for guys like us, we learned how to do those things through trial and error, and through contact with other modelers.

So I have a soft spot for the old kits. I build new kits, too; the general level of quality available to us today is higher than it's ever been. But I don't turn my nose up at an Airfix TBD, for example.

But to each, his own.

Best regards,
Brad

 

[Edbert]

I was born in 1964

My modeling hiatus started in 1982 when I graduated high school.

Exact same dates here, both of those, just sayin'.

I took a break in 1979 or so, I got a driver's license, a job, and a girlfriend that year. So not only no time for models but no budget either. Picked the hobby up again around 1990 and built some stuff until around 1999, when the career got cranking and the kids got older. Just picked it up again in 2024.

 

[jtk]

Same dates here! (including high school graduation in 82.) I got back into it in the 90s. I ended up wanting to get more input, so I joined the local IPMS - IPMS-Seattle. I eventually became their webbie and over the years it has become a huge site with a couple of gigs worth of pictures on it. I was doing ok with my output of models until someone convinced me to judge at a model show, and now I take forever to build a kit because I don't want to do what I've seen done wrong when judging. So now I still make these same mistakes but more slowly!

 

[Edbert]

Crazy, what are the odds that three of use were born in 64 and graduated in 82?

I'm going to be a judge at our local (IPMS-Austin) show this year for the exact same reason that you stated.