Way back when it was first released I scaped together my pocket money and money from my bicycle delivery job and purchased the nice, shiny new Matchbox release, the 1/72 Handley-Page Heyford.
That was well over 30 years ago and it travelled with me all over the place until just the other week I took the hard decision to dispose of the old model. It was broken and battered, bits missing or broken etc, and I disposed of it while I cleaned up the bookcases in my hobby room.
With that in mind I have decided that my first entry in this years KoTS GB will be that exact same kit I bought all those years ago. I picked one up on EvilBay a few years ago and I will be able to judge if my modelling skills have improved over the intervening period.
Will try and add some pictures this evening.
Cheers and good luck to all,
Warren

Warren,

I was getting concerned by your absence; let me be the first to say, "now that's something completely different and nice to see you back"! I would have thought you'd be on your third or forth build by now!
I swear, if I could find an Aurora Hellcat, my first plastic kit,(9 pieces as I recall, 10 if you include the decal sheet to be applied over the raised markings!) I'd buy it just for old times sake regardless of price.
Seriously tho, nice touch; look forward to your build.

Cheers,
Lance

Thanks Lance.
I am being held up by a ship project, the Hasegawa 1/350 USS Gambier Bay.
I will look at starting the Heyford while I am waiting for parts of the GBay to dry.
We have a long time to go so no rush..
I remember a few Otaki kits I built while visiting my Aunt and Uncle in Melbourne back in the 1970s. Weird scale B-29 and B-24. I still have the instructions at home. I doubt I would find them again.

Warren its good to see you back with us and with a great subject!

Hi Boss!
Have been having a fling with some big ships.. Lots of parts and PE.. much fun!
The Heyford will be a nice break. Not much brush painting with the Heyford but lots with the ships.
I have quite a few unusual subjects I may get to before the deadline.. Might even have a stab at the HP 0/400 in my stash. Have wanted to build one since one of my friend's Father did about 40 years ago.
I feel a Wellesley calling if I can find one.
Ve vill see...

Hello again.
I got the kit out when I got home and it was still in its Chinese shrinkwrap. Yes it is a Chinese moulding of the original and I was a bit worried...

When I removed the lid I was prepared for problems but at first glance even though nothing was in plastic bags etc only one part had removed itself from the sprue over all the years and moves it has been through, the bottom of the fuselage..

I was prepared for a flash monster, but was pleasantly surprised at the quality of the parts. Probably better than the originals. Even the decals look very good!

Now this is supposed to be a three colour kit and I remember that the original was green, brown and black. The chinese appear to think that the clear parts are also a colour, although there is a slight difference between the greens I wouldn't call it three colour..
Oh well. Much better than I anticipated!
Lets see how we go. Still a bit away from starting the build, but it looks like it may be fun!

Hi Warren

Wow, interesting choice of subject – I do like these "interim" bombers. I remember me and my brother building one of these in the early 80s. As I recall it came together well and stood on display on my brothers desk of drawers for several years.

Looking forward to your build.

Best Regards

Mikael

Thanks Mikael.
Hopefully it will come out half as good as most of the entries I saw in KoTS 2011.
Cheers
Warren

Now that is a kit I would like to build, that and the old Airfix HP42. I'll be watching with bated breath

How about the Airfix O/400 Andrew? I have one of those in the stash as well..

Yes I'd go for that, it's just the thought of rigging it
I'd put it in a class with the Felixstowe and DH2 that would probably drive me up the wall. Actually if I finish the Polikarpov with plenty of time I have a Dragon Rapide in the stash, hmm

Hello Warren:

This will be an interesting build to follow. It is really an odd looking airplane and will be neat to see it progress.

Best

Mark

Looking forward to seeing you do the do on this. Chinese plastic looks... ummm fun

Keith

That's easy mate, don't rig it! In 1/72 the wires would be so incredibly thin I don't think anything that is scale thickness could be used as rigging.. although if you trained your pet spider you may get it done.. Dragon Rapide.. I think I had one of those somewhere as well.. and I have a 1/32 Tiger Moth that would fit in as well.. and two, yes two ICM TB-3s.

Thanks for the encouragement Mark and Keith.

Now if I can just finish my USS Gambier Bay in the next few months I will get started..

I think I am regressing!
I have been going through Ebay and have found HEAPS of subjects from the 1920s and 30s that I never got around to building when I was younger. And as they are all 1/72 there won't be space considerations like with my 1/32 behemoths..
So, I have so far bought about 10 kits off Ebay.. Most under $10. One I particularly remember was the Airfix Grumman Duck. I just never got around to building it. Another was the Matchbox Helldiver SBC-4 (the biplane one). I got one of those AND the Heller version for under $15!! That's less than a set of brass barrels for my ships.
Looks like I am going back to 1/72 for a while.

I am having trouble finding any info on the specific aircraft I am building, K3498 (not K3489) from 99SQN.
Has anyone out there got any information on this particular aircraft?
Cheers
Warren

Hi Warren, the Grumman Duck is still available from Airfix but the one I haven't seen for years is the Gosling (widgeon). I really liked that aircraft.

Hi Andrew.
I snapped up a Duck on Ebay and I saw a Widgeon there as well.. As I said I am regressing... 1/32 WNW kits back to 1/72 Airfix kits from the 60's and 70's.

Airfix were my introductkon to modelling and for many years my main source of kit, despite their shortcomings. Sometimes it is nice to go back to your roots, besides who else did a Bristol Bulldog,HP 42, O/400, Gosling, Commonwealth Boomerang, DH Comet, Sopwith 2F1 Camel, RE8, DH4, and many more less obvious types, even though some of them were terrible kits

Agree 100% Andrew.
Airfix was the only game in town when I first started. Revell and Monogram just didn't have the types of aircraft in 1/72 I wanted to build. Hasegawa and Tamiya didn't even appear until the late 1970s and they were too expensive. Then along cam Matchbox and Heller and they stirred the kit market up immensely.
This will be a trip down memory lane to a simpler time in my modelling life.

We're already having a Matchbox campaign. I wonder what the response would be to an "Ancient Airfix" campaign? Out of the box, and the kit must be pre-1974 tooling.

Andrew, the gosling has been released again. USD$7.46 or so..

I'll look out for that. I like Jessie's suggestion of a vintage Airfix campaign. That could get very nostalgic.

Okay , something not quit right here Warren , your not done yet ! Are you feeling alright ?


Looking forward to seeing how this ones turns out .


Terri

Warren,
I'm looking forward to following your thread my friend. Excellent choice too and one seldom built up.
Highest Regards,
Gregory Jouette