Oldmodelkits.com

Plastic Model Kits: model airplane kits, Revell, Monogram, Aurora

Plastic model kits for sale. Models by Revell, Aurora, Monogram, Hasegawa, Tamiya, Hawk and more. Rare and vintage airplane models, R/C, ship models and car models. Over 6000 different kits in stock. All-plastic model kits got their start in 1936 when FROG in England produced the first in a series of kits known as 'Frog-Penguins.' Frog had previously made flying models, so this was a reference to the 'birds' that will not fly. The line was successful and expanded, but WWII ended production. After the war, Frog resumed production and soon had competition from Airfix and others. In America, Frog's progress had been noted. In 1946 two US companies released all-plastic models -- Varney's tenite/plastic U.S. Fleet Submarine and Stearman PT-17 trainer and Hawk's Curtiss R3C-1 in black acetate plastic. The kits met with a very cold reception at hobby shops that were not sure what to do with them. Predictably, existing modeling experts were very negative on the kits because of the lack of carving and '…real skill' needed to make the model. Gordon Varney was discouraged enough gave up on plastic model kits and sell the molds in about 1947 to O-Lin. Meanwhile Hawk, already firmly entrenched in the model business with their line of wooden kits, approached toy stores with the plastic line and had more luck. O-Lin's first kit was the P-80B Shooting Star in 1947. O-Lin, of which little is known, was at least partially owned by Paul Lindberg, who was known for his stick-and-tissue flying aircraft designs. In 1948 Hawk was encouraged enough to expand the 1/48 scale line to four racing aircraft. For 1949 Hawk began using polystyrene plastic and added the Lockheed Constellation and F-84. In 1948/49 O-lin added the Piper Cub, Republic Seabee and six small racers. Sales continued to improve but slowly. At this time they modified the old Varney molds for the PT-17 and Fleet Sub and modified the wood-and-plastic PT Boat and LST to make them all plastic kits. But by 1951 the Mates brothers (owners of Hawk) could see that plastic kits were the future and discontinued all wooden models. This was a very early decision, but Hawk had always been on the cutting edge. But so far, proper marketing had escaped Hawk and O-Lin. But the solution was just around the corner. In 1951, Gowland & Gowland were displaying 1/32 scale model cars that were to become the 'Highway Miniatures' series. Sol & Lou Kramer (formerly of Burd Models) and Lew Glaser (of Precision Specialties, soon to be Revell) were impressed and thought they could be a hit with the proper marketing approach. Going directly to department and variety stores, the line was picked up by Woolworths and the rest is history. People of all ages found them fun and easy to build – and the mold presses ran 24 hours a day to keep up with demand. New cars were introduced as fast as possible and national ad campaigns were run. The modern Hobby Industry had been born. It did not take long for Glaser to see the future and Revell soon concentrated solely on plastic model kits, producing the famous 'Pre-S' and 'S' kit lines with world-renowned box artwork. Manufactures such as Strombecker and Monogram jumped on the band wagon and Aurora Plastics, which had made toys, switched to models. According to surveys at the time by Boy's Life magazine, model building was the #1 hobby of young boys. Male adults were bitten by the bug also! The late 1950s was the 'Age Of Boxart' for model kits. In this time, the finest commercial artist were commissioned to produce box art for model kits. Revell S kits (so known for their box-side advertisements to use Revell S Glue) and Aurora are among the best brands for superb box artwork. During this time, manufacturers expanded kit lines rapidly and models appeared everywhere - not just in hobby shops, but in grocery stores, toy stores, 5 & 10s, camera shops, pharmacies and much more The 1960s were no less optimistic. Revell produced some excellent box art with the 'Famous Artist Series' and Aurora was using Jo Kotula (well known for his covers on Model Airplane News magazine) and John Steel among others. Kit lines expanded rapidly for aircraft, ship, car and military models. Buyers were equally enthusiastic. Monogram, never known for it's box art, continued to turn our some of the finest quality models - many of which are still in production to this day. Some of the standouts are the 1/32 Phantom Mustang P-51, Phantom Huey UH-1, B-52 Stratofortress with Jet Sound and the super detailed line of 1/8 cars such as the Big T Big Deuce, Big Tub, Big Drag, Jaguar XKE and 1965 Corvette. Monogram's line of 1/24 cars had unprecedented quality and detail. In the late 1960s Revell popularized 1/32 scale by releasing a very nice series of WWII aircraft. Never had such a line been available in such a large scale, the reactions were very positive. Revell's 1/72 line of aircraft was rapidly expanded with great improvements over the earlier S kits. Revell continued to use the 'series' approach to releases through much of the 1960s. But there were storm clouds on the horizon. Aurora began suffering reduced sales. Their product line was dated, and the detail generally low. Aurora was always first to market at an affordable price. This was a good practice when plastic modeling was new, but builders were demanding more detail and better scale fidelity. Aurora's new molds were much improved but there were too few of them. In the early 1970s sales remained positive but not for long. Other interests were competing with models. Companies that could not provide enough quality product, such as Aurora, suffered greatly and could not stay in business. Through the 1980s and 1990s many established manufactures in America and Europe closed up shop or took part in a large number of mergers and ownership changes. Manufacturers were hesitant to cut large numbers of molds due to the expenses. But some excellent kits were released and older kits improved. During these years, short run technology came into it's own. Between vacuum forming, resin casting and small injection molding machines, avid modelers and small businesses took up the slack from the big manufactures and flourished. Suddenly, kits were available that we never dreamed of back in the day. This created much new interest for the hobby. In the 2000s, things have turned around in a very positive sense. CAD and mold cutting technology has improved and modeling interest is significant. There have been so many new manufactures and kits released that it is difficult to keep track! Once again the future of modeling looks excellent.

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