What's the oldest kit in your stash?

[TheRealMrEd]

I think the olddest kit I have in the stash is an Aurora Hiller X-18 -- last time I built one of these was in 1972. Or, might be the old Visible V-8, or the Airfix 1/72 TBM , last built around the same time, and the oldest built model still on hand...

Ed

 

[Airframes]

That Frog Spitfire brings back memories - built about three, "in flight" in a formation hanging from the ceiling, and moulded my own canopies for them. I remember they didn't have wheel wells, just etched outlines, to be painted black if "wheels down " !

 

[s1chris]

Maybe a silly question.

But do you ever think the value of these older kits will increase?
Collectors items?

Is it foolish to build them (enjoyment aside) when they could fetch a pretty penny one day?

Personally, I'll build anything I buy.
But just a thought as I guess there's a side to model kits other than builders.

 

[Airframes]

There is a large market for "kit collectors", even for just the empty boxes.
Older, "vintage" kits can fetch silly prices where collectors are involved (similar, I guess, to stamp or art collectors), and even relatively new kits, currently temporarily withdrawn, but will be e-released in a couple of years, are sold for stupidly inflated prices.
It sometimes annoys me, if I need a particular kit for a commission build, for example, probably the only one of it;s type around, and then find that what's really worth, say £10 or £15, is advertised for four, five, six times that price, or more, on auction sites and second-hand kit dealers, due to its "collectability".
I want to build the bl**dy thing, not stick it in the attic !!!

 

[fubar57]

That's cute. That only puts you in the mentality deranged category. Now to be a full-on psychopath you're going to have to pump up those numbers.

Jan must have a special category all to himself

 

[Airframes]

It's a Swettish thing ............... Mowdel in de stovel, kits in de Kupbord .............. Ah, Beer !!!

 

[Barry Bromley]

I have around 1,500 boxed kits most in collector grade, dating from 1942. The oldest is a wooden block ( you have to carve the fuselage) kit based on the aircraft recognition models used by the ground forces. I've got some pretty rare US and British kits and a Russian attempt at a Spitfire from around 1960 with one of the worst examples of box art I have ever seen!

 

[J4F-2]

The oldest one I can think of offhand is a Frog Short Sealand. (Image found on line, mine is out in the garage)

 

[s1chris]

I have around 1,500 boxed kits most in collector grade, dating from 1942. The oldest is a wooden block ( you have to carve the fuselage) kit based on the aircraft recognition models used by the ground forces. I've got some pretty rare US and British kits and a Russian attempt at a Spitfire from around 1960 with one of the worst examples of box art I have ever seen!

That's a an impressive amount.
I imagine displaying them all in a viewable way is a challenge.

The wooden block kit sounds fun. Not least because as a child I've have had to of been let loose with a carving knife to make it.

 

[mozit]

Mine's this Aurora 707 Clipper, pretty sure it's the 1958 boxing with white text in English in the logo. The 1961 release didn't have the white text.
Stash around 1500 land, sea and air from WW1 - current.

 

[Lucky13]

Same age as me....51!

 

[Lucky13]

Now for something completely different....I bet you Terry, are young enough to remember these....

The guy who found it said...."I found this in an old box of stuff, the paint looks like it's still good after a good shake up. This is very old indeed...."

 

[Airframes]

Yep, I remember those !
They were cr@p, so I used Humbrol (in the 'tartan' tins in those days), and still do .............. even though they've been 'up and down' in quality over recent years.

 

[Lucky13]

L

Yep, I remember those !
They were cr@p, so I used Humbrol (in the 'tartan' tins in those days), and still do .............. even though they've been 'up and down' in quality over recent years.

First one I've seen!

 

[Lucky13]

 

[Dinger]

I have these. Probably a few more someplace incl. some Airfix bagged kits. An Airlines Percival Proctor, Monogram Avenger original boxing.
I remember exactly where and when I bought that Spitfire kit:

WOW! - Henschel 129 is 1966, Aurora D-VIII is 1959, as is the Frog Spitfire - The F-86D wins at 1956!

 

[36feet10inches]

Maybe a silly question.

But do you ever think the value of these older kits will increase?
Collectors items?

Is it foolish to build them (enjoyment aside) when they could fetch a pretty penny one day?

Personally, I'll build anything I buy.
But just a thought as I guess there's a side to model kits other than builders.

Old stuff has its appeal to old(er) folks I think. Possibly a nostalgia thing. I'm very outdoorsy and vintage Karrimor and Berghaus rucksacks from the 70s and 80s are very much in demand (apparently there's a Karrimor rucksack collectors' club in Malaysia or something daft). I got hold of a mint condition Berghaus day sack from the very early years of the company for a fiver on ebay, so suspiciously new looking that I asked Berghaus if they had done some kind of reissue, but no they looked at my photos and confirmed it's the real deal. And I will never use it.

 

[miguel batista]

My older kit is a Airfix´s Stuka, from the 60´s.

 

[Dinger]

My older kit is a Airfix´s Stuka, from the 60´s.View attachment 582471

Might be older than that my friend - Scalemates has that particular packaging as 1959!
Junkers Ju 87B, Airfix 1395 (1959)

 

[Airframes]

Yep, one of their early (ish ) kits.
I well remember the bagged kits of that period. Every Saturday, off to Woolworths - turn right just inside the entrance, and there was the model counter, with the bagged Airfix kits on a 'peg board', at 2 Shillings each (10 Pence), and the larger, boxed kits below.
The 'Stuka' was one of the first I built back then.