Old Kits...

[John Rixon]

I frequently read posts from members who have built, or are building old kits, and I mean old kits! I now have nothing but total admiration for them, after the last few days. I'm currently waiting for my Tiger's oil rendering to dry off, which is a couple of weeks, so I got a "bargain" Tamiya Hanomag (£11) to keep my brain occupied until the Tiger is ready to finish. Now, I'm pretty handy with a Swann Morton, but my skills and patience have really been put to the test with this model. My main beef is with the axles, heavy with flash which, although a ball-ache, I can manage, but what has really driven me to distraction is the out-of-alignment shoulders on said axles, on which are glued the road wheels. I'd need a watchmaker's lathe to true them up, and even my precision home-made sanding sticks are totally inadequate to remedy this rather crucial issue. When it came to glueing the road wheels onto the axles, I had to be really careful to line them up as best I could, made even more difficult by the fact that the axles are pretty loose due to - yup, you guessed it, being really old mouldings. I'm not hopeful about the outcome - the track is very close in width to the paired wheels, and I'm expecting problems when I put the track on.


My question is, do any of these manufacturers ever admit defeat in this area? I'd rate this kit as suitable only for very experienced modellers, as there are a fair few tiny parts, where the ratio of flash to part must be approaching 50:50!!! It really is a mess, I am determined to finish it, as I want another canvas to try out new (to me, at least) painting techniques on. But If I was in charge, I'd retire this kit and sell off remaining stock at bargain basement price (and no, £11 turned out NOT to be a bargain!!). 1973 is the date on the sprues, so it's had a good innings, but I'll bet a few bods will buy this and have a similar experience of struggling to make it look crisp, but 43 years old is looking like being so far past it's sell-by date.

 

[dubster72]

I wonder if it matters when the kit was produced, as in how far along the production run?


The sprues might have a year, but surely that would indicate the year the production began. I can't imagine that being changed with each passing year.


A few years ago I built the Tamiya Panzer II from 1972 & it went together very well. No flash, crisp detail although fairly large mould seam lines.


Just recently I've built the Trumpeter KV-2 'Big Turret' from 2005. This kit is very well reviewed, but mine was a dog! Poor fitting parts, mould seams you could climb over & ejection pin marks that nearly brought me to tears


I guess you pays your money & hope for the best

 

[Fenlander]

Must admit, I enjoyed my Tamiya Hanomag. Yes it has issues but not insurmountable. I have quite a few old Revell ship kits that would not be anything like a modern Tamiya ship but one day I will build them just for the fun of it.

 

[John Rixon]

Must admit, I enjoyed my Tamiya Hanomag. Yes it has issues but not insurmountable. I have quite a few old Revell ship kits that would not be anything like a modern Tamiya ship but one day I will build them just for the fun of it.
View attachment 146481

Yeah, as you probably know, it was your build that sparked me into getting this, and I will do my best to match yours!

 

[John Rixon]

I wonder if it matters when the kit was produced, as in how far along the production run?
The sprues might have a year, but surely that would indicate the year the production began. I can't imagine that being changed with each passing year.


A few years ago I built the Tamiya Panzer II from 1972 & it went together very well. No flash, crisp detail although fairly large mould seam lines.


Just recently I've built the Trumpeter KV-2 'Big Turret' from 2005. This kit is very well reviewed, but mine was a dog! Poor fitting parts, mould seams you could climb over & ejection pin marks that nearly brought me to tears


I guess you pays your money & hope for the best

Well quite! But I now have a stash! Got a tamiya easy eight waiting in the wings, that's pretty new, and clean as a cats ar....oops, no swearing John...

 

[PaulTRose]

must admit i like old kits for the challenge and the nostalgia

 

[flyjoe180]

I love old kits. Great for developing skills, and problem solving. Unlike a modern kit where everything is nicely rendered and fits with no or little issue. There have been numerous examples over the years of ancient kits being produced to high standards. Some that spring to mind are Tony's former-Eastern Bloc kits, and Mike's old Airfix kits that can easily compete with today's offerings. I've dabbled in the old kits, they're relatively stress free and pleasing when you get a good result.

 

[yak face]

Ive regularly tackled kits that are way older than me John (i was born in 1965), and ive usually got a strange sense of achievement from getting a half decent result out of them. Most makers will keep on producing old toolings as long as they keep selling (as evidenced with the Tamiya Hanomag ) the trouble with this can cause a few problems- 1. the mould will suffer with excessive use and start to get a bit sloppy resulting in mismatched seams ,soft detail etc., 2. the reputation of the maker can be tarnished even though the majority of their products are newer , better toolings -mud sticks! Airfix were guilty of this a few years ago , continuing to peddle ancient toolings that were well past their sell by date ( mig 15 , bf 110 , spit vb ,etc. -there is quite a lot!) but have redeemed themselves with the new toolings that are gradually replacing the old favourites with excellent modern ones. That said , Ive had great fun bashing old kits into shape , sometimes just for the hell of it ,sometimes because its the only option if you want to model a particular subject (dh88 comet , CAC boomerang ,tu 22 blinder etc). There were some superbly tooled kits made in the seventies (albeit with raised detail, but thats to be expected) and if you get one of the older , original mouldings (second hand obviously) then the quality will be better , the only downside is the decals may have suffered. I'm getting all nostalgic now , think I'll have to go and do something on my bang up to date Bronco j10 to bring me round --bashing a 1957 tooled Airfix DH 88 comet , I must have been mad !!!! , tony

 

[stona]

I think having built many older kits (because I'm older!) has given me an advantage when it comes to solving problems with more modern kits that do have issues, like some limited run kits I've built. It also helps when dealing with multi media kits or after market adaptations, particularly resin which is never an exact drop in fit, however hard the casters try.


I've only ever built one entirely resin kit before and it didn't go as well as I'd hoped. I've just ordered another one so we'll see how that goes when I get around to it


Of course, building a kit which is beautifully and cleanly molded and so well engineered that you literally just have to stick it together is fun too. My last kit (the Bf 110) falls into this category and was a most enjoyable build.


Cheers


Steve

 

[tanktrack]

I have a few old kits 1 is the old Saladin kit which I intend to build , I don't see the point in buying the newer kit at £40+ when I have a perfectly good 1 sitting if a bit old

 

[John Rixon]

Well, fair play to you all, I guess my issue is that I am alwys keen to get to the messy bit! Ive got the thing together, pretty much, let's see what I can do with it now?

 

[stona]

I have a few old kits 1 is the old Saladin kit which I intend to build , I don't see the point in buying the newer kit at £40+ when I have a perfectly good 1 sitting if a bit old

And some of the old kits were very accurate in shape as well. Of course some were not


Cheers


Steve

 

[Fenlander]

The 1970 something Tamiya PAK 40 was regarded as the best kit for accuracy in size etc, allegedly even better than the Dragon one. Not sure if that is still the case but to hold such an accolade for 30 years can't be all bad. Must get one.........