Matchbox aircraft boxart - flashin' back!
Ontario, Canada
Joined: September 20, 2013
KitMaker: 352 posts
AeroScale: 115 posts
Posted: Saturday, April 29, 2017 - 07:31 PM UTC
Okay, it’s almost summer, but not quite, and the weather where I am has turned cruddy. It’s a grey, windy, “Blech” day on the “meh” side of staying in bed all day. So, to get everybody pumped back up, I decided to dig out my own sunshine, in the form of some old Matchbox “Sunset Stripe” box art.
I love Matchbox kits, and the addition of the oh-so-80’s street van-esque “sunset stripe” to the boxes only makes these kits better. It’s like they’re trying to be something they’re not, but in the end, it just makes them cooler as relics of a long-gone age.
Check out all the pictures of my stripers at the link below; I hope they photos bring a smile to your face and some warm memories to your mind. If nothing else, they’ll give you a bit of sun on a cloudy day!
https://adamrehorn.wordpress.com/matchbox-planes-sunset-boxes/
Scotland, United Kingdom
Joined: May 11, 2015
KitMaker: 768 posts
AeroScale: 656 posts
Posted: Saturday, April 29, 2017 - 09:00 PM UTC
Ah I remember these well in my past incarnation as a young model maker. I even built that meteor if I recall correctly.
These were my staple kits from a local hobby store where we would drool over the couple of Hasegawa or Fujimi kits that were outside our pocket money range!
Pax & Pallets: Revell 1/48 Dakota
Terrible Teens : Revell 1/48 F15E Strike Eagle
Airfix IV : Airfix 1.72 Vulcan
Ontario, Canada
Joined: September 20, 2013
KitMaker: 352 posts
AeroScale: 115 posts
Posted: Saturday, April 29, 2017 - 11:01 PM UTC
Quoted Text
Ah I remember these well in my past incarnation as a young model maker. I even built that meteor if I recall correctly.
These were my staple kits from a local hobby store where we would drool over the couple of Hasegawa or Fujimi kits that were outside our pocket money range!
I didn't build that many Matchboxes when I was staring out; my version was the Hobbycraft kits that were pocket-money price, vs. other better kits.
I've always been more excited by subject than price or difficulty, and as I've grown to like the more esoteric stuff, Matchbox has really become a great brand for me!
#372
United Kingdom
Joined: March 10, 2010
KitMaker: 2,568 posts
AeroScale: 1,619 posts
Posted: Saturday, April 29, 2017 - 11:48 PM UTC
Gotta love Matchbox!
Got several in the stash and their big A-1E is quickly moving up my to-build pile.
On the bench: 1/72 Mosquito, Lightning F.6, DH.2,
AMT Vulcan Shuttle Surak.
Cyber-Hobby 1:35 Sherman Firefly IC - still stalled.
Illinois, United States
Joined: October 14, 2012
KitMaker: 150 posts
AeroScale: 107 posts
Posted: Tuesday, May 02, 2017 - 04:53 PM UTC
The old kits are great. With a little modeling skill you can build some of the relics into nice representations. I have never shied away from an old kit. I buy them on eBay at great prices, a fraction of what you pay for the latest and greatest Tamiya-Trumpeter etc. I have a YouTube channel dedicated to classic kits, looking into what the kits contain. I mostly shoot the videos for the eBay shoppers so they get an up close look at what some of the old kits actually look like before purchase.
Nice subject.
Merlin
Senior Editor#017
United Kingdom
Joined: June 11, 2003
KitMaker: 17,582 posts
AeroScale: 12,795 posts
Posted: Wednesday, May 03, 2017 - 02:33 AM UTC
Hi there
I well remember the excitement when the first Matchbox kits came out in the early '70s. They were stunning by the standards of the day and we thought "The future is here!". But then they hired the trench-digger to do the panel lines and the rot set in... to the point when Matchbox were hardly missed at the time when they ceased production (sorry, someone's got to say it
)
I wish I'd bought a couple of each of those very first kits at the time, because I'd love to revisit them all these years later.
All the best
Rowan
BEWARE OF THE FEW...
As I grow older, I regret to say that a detestable habit of thinking seems to be getting a hold of me. - H. Rider Haggard
Ontario, Canada
Joined: September 20, 2013
KitMaker: 352 posts
AeroScale: 115 posts
Posted: Wednesday, May 03, 2017 - 05:55 AM UTC
Even with the trenches, I still think the subject matter alone makes the Matchboxes great kits to invest time and trouble on. I mean, a two seat Viggen in 1/72, and for the same price as a combo at Harvey's, more or less? Okay!
They're not as fine or well done as many Hellers, but they're a great starting point, as has been pointed out, and in many cases they don't take a tremendous amount of work to make look half-arsed!
Western Australia, Australia
Joined: March 21, 2016
KitMaker: 247 posts
AeroScale: 105 posts
Posted: Wednesday, May 03, 2017 - 06:04 AM UTC
England - West Midlands, United Kingdom
Joined: May 25, 2008
KitMaker: 22 posts
AeroScale: 8 posts
Posted: Wednesday, May 03, 2017 - 06:53 PM UTC
Ontario, Canada
Joined: September 20, 2013
KitMaker: 352 posts
AeroScale: 115 posts
Posted: Thursday, May 04, 2017 - 03:37 AM UTC
Yeah, that's a little further back than me, I will admit!
I know they're drastically inferior to the big-money, big-detail wunderkits we see today, but you have to admit there's something viscerally thrilling about holding either an old bagged (or boxed) FROG, Airfix or Matchbox and remembering when that was the height of awesomeness.
Western Australia, Australia
Joined: March 21, 2016
KitMaker: 247 posts
AeroScale: 105 posts
Posted: Thursday, May 04, 2017 - 04:48 AM UTC
Quoted Text
Yeah, that's a little further back than me, I will admit!
I know they're drastically inferior to the big-money, big-detail wunderkits we see today, but you have to admit there's something viscerally thrilling about holding either an old bagged (or boxed) FROG, Airfix or Matchbox and remembering when that was the height of awesomeness.
Oh definitely. I can still starkly remember going into our local newsagent shop after I had enough pocket money saved to buy a bagged Airfix model (although sometimes it was a question of the latest Commando Comics) and getting it home to bash it together in a day.
JPTRR
Managing Editor #051
Tennessee, United States
Joined: December 21, 2002
KitMaker: 7,772 posts
AeroScale: 3,175 posts
Posted: Thursday, May 04, 2017 - 08:11 AM UTC
Loving this thread!
I've got to admit that I can't recall any Matchbox kits I built except for the Henschel HS-126 and SB2C Helldiver. I always wanted the He 115. I do still have some segments from their road set for the Matchbox cars.
If they demand your loyalty, give them integrity; if they demand integrity, give them your loyalty.--Col John Boyd, USAF
“Any plan where you lose your hat is a bad plan.”
Merlin
Senior Editor #017
United Kingdom
Joined: June 11, 2003
KitMaker: 17,582 posts
AeroScale: 12,795 posts
Posted: Friday, May 05, 2017 - 12:34 AM UTC
Hi again
This was one vintage kit that I definitely didn't get first time around. I don't remember ever seeing this in my LHS back in the '60s, but was really pleased to pick up a couple of years ago:
So... a bit of pseudo-nostalgia for what I
might have had - if only I'd seen it at the time.
Quoted Text
I always wanted the He 115.
Fred - I might actually have that buried at the back of a drawer somewhere. I remember getting it around 1980, but I never built it. I've no idea what sort of state it's in, so it might need a little TLC to make it buildable again, but if I find it, I'll send it your way.
All the best
Rowan
BEWARE OF THE FEW...
As I grow older, I regret to say that a detestable habit of thinking seems to be getting a hold of me. - H. Rider Haggard
Illinois, United States
Joined: October 14, 2012
KitMaker: 150 posts
AeroScale: 107 posts
Posted: Thursday, May 11, 2017 - 04:59 PM UTC
Quoted Text
Hi there
I well remember the excitement when the first Matchbox kits came out in the early '70s. They were stunning by the standards of the day and we thought "The future is here!". But then they hired the trench-digger to do the panel lines and the rot set in... to the point when Matchbox were hardly missed at the time when they ceased production (sorry, someone's got to say it )
I wish I'd bought a couple of each of those very first kits at the time, because I'd love to revisit them all these years later.
All the best
Rowan
It's all about nostalgia. if you felt up to the task you could fill those panel lines with some talc and CA and re-scribe them to your desire. It's all about modeling and having fun. I know it seems like added work, but that's what we do as modelers. On that note I want to say, whoever engraved the panel line's on these old matchbox kits must have been hired by 21st Century Toys to scribe their kits.
#372
United Kingdom
Joined: March 10, 2010
KitMaker: 2,568 posts
AeroScale: 1,619 posts
Posted: Thursday, May 11, 2017 - 07:16 PM UTC
Recently got hold of a Hunter T.7 and 1/76 Panzer III.
Decals in the Hunter are well past their use by date, but luckily I have some for a Royal Navy T.8 that will look very on it.
The one I would love to find is the Hawker Siddeley HS125. Maybe Revell might one day reissue it.
On the bench: 1/72 Mosquito, Lightning F.6, DH.2,
AMT Vulcan Shuttle Surak.
Cyber-Hobby 1:35 Sherman Firefly IC - still stalled.
AussieReg
Associate Editor #007
Victoria, Australia
Joined: June 09, 2009
KitMaker: 8,156 posts
AeroScale: 3,756 posts
Posted: Friday, May 12, 2017 - 04:32 AM UTC
Quoted Text
Loving this thread!
I've got to admit that I can't recall any Matchbox kits I built except for the Henschel HS-126 and SB2C Helldiver. I always wanted the He 115. I do still have some segments from their road set for the Matchbox cars.
I built the He115 a few years back, a fun kit and builds up quite nicely.
Great thread, lots of memories revived from my early years in the hobby.
Cheers, D
ON the bench
Revell 1/24 '53 Corvette (building as '54)
Revell 1/24 BMW 507 Coupe and Cabrio
Italeri 1/48 Me262 B-1a/U1 Nightfighter
Monogram 1/24 '57 Chevy Nomad
Dragon 1/350 USS Frank Knox DD-742
JPTRR
Managing Editor #051
Tennessee, United States
Joined: December 21, 2002
KitMaker: 7,772 posts
AeroScale: 3,175 posts
Posted: Friday, May 12, 2017 - 07:20 AM UTC
Quoted Text
This was one vintage kit that I definitely didn't get first time around...
So... a bit of pseudo-nostalgia
Hi Rowan,
Pyro kits are very nice. they are not Tamigawa-esque but they are still pleasant and fun models. Pyro passed to Life-Like and thence to Lindberg, IIRC.
I have built the Gladiator, Bulldog and Flycatcher. I painted your's overall Duck Egg Blue because I was in the phase of "what-if" cool looks. Here's my Bulldog:
from the review. I actually have it out downstairs for building 'soon'.I'd be happy to take on the He 115! Thank you.
If they demand your loyalty, give them integrity; if they demand integrity, give them your loyalty.--Col John Boyd, USAF
“Any plan where you lose your hat is a bad plan.”
JPTRR
Managing Editor #051
Tennessee, United States
Joined: December 21, 2002
KitMaker: 7,772 posts
AeroScale: 3,175 posts
Posted: Friday, May 12, 2017 - 07:21 AM UTC
Damian,
Your He 115 looks fffiiiinnnee!
If they demand your loyalty, give them integrity; if they demand integrity, give them your loyalty.--Col John Boyd, USAF
“Any plan where you lose your hat is a bad plan.”
New Jersey, United States
Joined: December 08, 2003
KitMaker: 2,864 posts
AeroScale: 64 posts
Posted: Friday, May 12, 2017 - 11:18 AM UTC
Lots of great memories in those box tops of getting out to the LHS to look at the new releases. I grew up in the transition from bagged Airfix to the blister cards. I can still remember the day the British pound was devalued and the price of Airfix and Matchbox cut nearly in half.
I can also recall Life-like kits along with Hawk and Aurora making up the majority of 1/48 aircraft.
The past ten years or so I decided to go back and build a lot of the aircraft I turned my nose up at because I mostly stuck to armor as a kid. I just got two ancient 1965 vintage Airfix B-25 and a Frog airlines B-25 along with a Revell England (remember when there was such a thing?) reissue of the Frog TA-152.
"The only thing a man should take seriously is the fact that nothing should be taken seriously."
Samuel Butler, Victorian satirist
Steve Willoughby
tatbaqui
News Reporter #040
Metro Manila, Philippines
Joined: May 06, 2007
KitMaker: 2,713 posts
AeroScale: 65 posts
Posted: Friday, May 12, 2017 - 03:50 PM UTC
This thread is surely a trip down memory lane. The very first kit I built was the Matchbox Ju 87. It has gone thru several incarnations as it was a test bed when I first started putting on paint. I think I still have it somewhere boxed up together will all the other Matchbox kits. That He 115 looks cool -- I did one as well. Yeah I believe it was my second build.
Ontario, Canada
Joined: September 20, 2013
KitMaker: 352 posts
AeroScale: 115 posts
Posted: Friday, May 12, 2017 - 04:55 PM UTC
It's so cool to get a chance to take a trip down memory lane, eh?
I remember we used to be able to get models all over the place, not just at the LHS. Zellers, K-Mart, Woolco... even the Bay had them. They weren't anything special, but Monogram, Revell, Matchbox and Hobbycraft were all represented.
As for that 115, that is a nice piece of work indeed! I've never built that one. I do have a Heyford in my stack I've got an itch to build, though!
New Jersey, United States
Joined: December 08, 2003
KitMaker: 2,864 posts
AeroScale: 64 posts
Posted: Saturday, May 13, 2017 - 03:03 AM UTC
Quoted Text
It's so cool to get a chance to take a trip down memory lane, eh?
I remember we used to be able to get models all over the place, not just at the LHS. Zellers, K-Mart, Woolco... even the Bay had them. They weren't anything special, but Monogram, Revell, Matchbox and Hobbycraft were all represented.
As for that 115, that is a nice piece of work indeed! I've never built that one. I do have a Heyford in my stack I've got an itch to build, though!
Did you know that Kresge was one original importer of Bandai in the 1970s? The boxes actually had the S.S.Kresge logo on them and were also available in K-mart (which owned Kresge at the time) and Tiny Tots. There was also Britts (discount store owned by J.J. Newbury) which featured the whole Airfix line long before I saw it anywhere else. They also had Hawk kits which were so much better than the Aurora aircraft one could get in the drugstore.
Two Guys had the Matchbox line once they got the AMT distributorship going in the USA. At one point they had all the Matchbox/AMT half price. It was great once upon a time when discount retailers handled model kits and would do sales and mark-downs. I got all my Life-like armor that way and my first Matchbox kits the B-26, wellington, He-111 and A-20. All got sold off but ten-fifteen years ago I went out, got the A-20 and Wellington and built them as my first forays into old aircraft kits.
Matchbox kits fit so well compared to their contemporaries and for me trenches are preferable to rivetitus (an inflammation of the skin of model aircraft evidenced as a break out of over-scale ball rivets all over the model, often in neat little rows that have little to no basis in reality)
"The only thing a man should take seriously is the fact that nothing should be taken seriously."
Samuel Butler, Victorian satirist
Steve Willoughby
#372
United Kingdom
Joined: March 10, 2010
KitMaker: 2,568 posts
AeroScale: 1,619 posts
Posted: Saturday, May 13, 2017 - 05:07 AM UTC
Quoted Text
It's so cool to get a chance to take a trip down memory lane, eh?
I remember we used to be able to get models all over the place, not just at the LHS. Zellers, K-Mart, Woolco... even the Bay had them. They weren't anything special, but Monogram, Revell, Matchbox and Hobbycraft were all represented.
As for that 115, that is a nice piece of work indeed! I've never built that one. I do have a Heyford in my stack I've got an itch to build, though!
The Heyford reminds me that Matchbox did some truly unique kits, that being of them. And who else has ever kitted a Stranraer, Do18, Siskin and Seafox at any scale?
Here's a few of mine I grabbed out of some packing boxes this afternoon. Apologies for the poor quality of some of the boxes. I've bought those cheap at a few shows over the last couple of years. If you don't mind a bit of damage you can pick them up very cheaply. I plan on building them so not too fussed about it.
I have a few others knocking about somewhere including a Heyford, Wellesley, Halifax, Phantom, F-101 and a single seat Mirage. Also most of the 1/76 armour range and a few of the ships. And of course some of the Revell reissues.
Despite their flaws and simplification, they are fantastic kits that usually build easily and quickly. Great to get your mojo back after a long and drawn out modern kit.
How about another Matchbox campaign build later in the year?
On the bench: 1/72 Mosquito, Lightning F.6, DH.2,
AMT Vulcan Shuttle Surak.
Cyber-Hobby 1:35 Sherman Firefly IC - still stalled.
Ontario, Canada
Joined: September 20, 2013
KitMaker: 352 posts
AeroScale: 115 posts
Posted: Saturday, May 13, 2017 - 06:16 PM UTC
Oh man! I've never seen the OH-58D! I didn't know they did that! I'm so on the hunt for that, now!
A lot of my Matchbox boxes are a bit beaten for the same reason, but hey, who cares! you get the bulk of the art and a neat kit inside, it's ALL good!
I have a bunch more of the "white boxed" Matchboxes. I'll have to dig them out at some point.
I have the Voodoo. RF-101B??? Really? Who else would kit that awful disaster!?
I think I'm in for an M'box campaign. I have an itch to build my Skyservant...
#372
United Kingdom
Joined: March 10, 2010
KitMaker: 2,568 posts
AeroScale: 1,619 posts
Posted: Saturday, May 13, 2017 - 06:40 PM UTC
Quoted Text
Oh man! I've never seen the OH-58D! I didn't know they did that! I'm so on the hunt for that, now!
A lot of my Matchbox boxes are a bit beaten for the same reason, but hey, who cares! you get the bulk of the art and a neat kit inside, it's ALL good!
I have a bunch more of the "white boxed" Matchboxes. I'll have to dig them out at some point.
I have the Voodoo. RF-101B??? Really? Who else would kit that awful disaster!?
I think I'm in for an M'box campaign. I have an itch to build my Skyservant...
Revell have recently reissued the OH-58D. Worth tracking one down.
On the bench: 1/72 Mosquito, Lightning F.6, DH.2,
AMT Vulcan Shuttle Surak.
Cyber-Hobby 1:35 Sherman Firefly IC - still stalled.
