My first model was a Christmas present from my uncle, a Revell P47 Thunderbolt. http://oldmodelkits.com/index.php?detai ... lt-H613-60 I remember the difficulty with the checker-board transfer on the nose. The model wasn't painted.
My first Airfix kit was the Beam Engine, another present from my parents who wanted gifts to be educational.
Currently on the workbench is Airfix's new tool Harrier GR1. The new Airfix releases are good and at excellent prices.
Jon
PS: I'm undecided about the re-released Vanguard and Comet 4 as they are kits from the early 60s which need a lot of extra work to make a good model by today's standards. It can be done but it's a different ballgame.
Original Spitire in pale blue plastic, sort of a Mk1 but with 4 bombs under the wings, 2 shillings in a plastic bag from Woolies, no paint. The first of the many. My first plastic kit was an F-100 by Aurora, assembled with balsa cement which meant I had to assemble it quite a few times until some kind person introduced me to poly cement.
I really liked the packaging that Harry Bassett mentions. The 2/- price and Woolies were the same for me. "My" shop was in Ruislip.
Totally agree, it was fully expected that series 1 would be completed on the day you bought them. We then "christened" them by attaching long threads, and generally a weight such as a steel nut. Out in the garden, you "flew" them in a circle around yourself like those motorised flying wings on control lines, hopefully making a safe landing without destroying your day's work.
Matchbox kits were multi coloured to save painting for youngsters...yeah right. They did the Red Arrows Gnat in Red and Yellow. Quite a few Airfix kits were in that light blue plastic.
Alex
I always had a soft spot for the Anson. Despite several box changes thery always showed the slanted windscreen on the box and the model was the steep winscreen version.
Jon
The Vanguard is quite buildable a makes a good model with not too much work. The comet has serious shape and fit issues and £4 more than the Vanguard.
Joe
Still got that BOAC Stratocruiser to build?
Garry
"In the world of virtual reality things are not always what they seem."
Jon.M wrote:My first model was a Christmas present from my uncle, a Revell P47 Thunderbolt. http://oldmodelkits.com/index.php?detai ... lt-H613-60 I remember the difficulty with the checker-board transfer on the nose. The model wasn't painted.
I remember that one ! I think it came in dark green plastic, and had a sliding canopy. I'm sure it carried the letters MX-E ; that's stuck in my mind for some reason. Or it could be the Airfix P-47D I'm thinking of
I thought that the Thunderbolt was probably the Airfix kit until seeing a similar thread on the Airfix Tribute Forum. Then I found that image of the box which stuck in my memory along with the engine cowling decal. It was definitely green plastic, I don't remember the sliding canopy but I'm sure you're right. The same uncle also bought me the Revell Mercury and Gemini capsule kit. I don't know where he got the Revell kits from as they were much less common than Airfix.
Thanks Garry I may well give the Vanguard a look. There's a build of it in the latest Airfix Magazine by Mike Grant who's something of a master at updating old Airfix kits.
Joe, I've got a Miniscale Stratocruiser in my stash. Pan Am colours though.
