Hi Steve - this kit is new. Only released a few years back and the parts are pretty well formed and fit well.
Painting back In the day was generally with Humbrol or
Airfix enamels which covered pretty well and didn’t need primer - no acrylics about back then.
Glue was the tube stuff - it was all we had so you got used to it and the stringy mess it could create.
Kits originally for me were obtained at birthdays and Christmas
Later on I could normally only afford Matchbox 1/76 kits from local supermarket on my pocket money.
Tamiya kits were the stuff of dreams and way out of reach
Weathering - there was non of that nonsense. Paint it green or sand, do the wheels/tracks then stick it on the shelf.
I did used to borrow
Airfix modelling guide books (most of which I now own) on an almost permanent basis from the local library - they gave plans and info that allowed you to convert standard
Airfix kits into different versions or scratch build entirely different vehicles by repurposing things such as wheels, chassis etc, tarps from glue soaked tissues
Francois Verlinden and Shep Paine changed everything for me when they introduced me to dry brushing and pastel chalk weathering but that was probably late 70’s early 80’s