I was at the LHS today and found a cardboard box filled with all sorts of old models being sold for 5, 10 and 15 dollars a piece. Rumaging though the old 5 dollar ones I found an old Hasegawa A6M2 Zero. The story behind these models is that they used to be owned by a retired engineer who liked collecting model kits. He never built the models, he only collected them, opened them up, examined the quality and wrote down comments on their accuracy. He also trimmed them off the sprue, so he could test their fit better. Worthless for collectors, but a potential gold mine for anyone who wants to build some of the older kits.

This particular kit surprised me, as when I test fit the fuselage and wing pieces together they seem to fit almost perfectly. It is only missing the pilot, and the underwing fuel tank. The interior detail is nearly nonexistent, and the pit is a mere tub, so much scratchwork will need to be done to make it acceptable. Not sure about how good the decals are, I will probably go for aftermarket, when I get around to it.

Last but not least, I have a small scrap of paper with the old (deceased) engineers comments. Nothing really in depth, but nice to have. He said that after the exhast stubs are glued on that they should be beveled, and pointed out some sinkholes, thats all. The shop owner told me that the man had over 3000 kits that the store acquired after he died, of which 1000 have been sold already. If there are any modelers in the Sacramento area, I can give directions to where the store is.

And now, the pictures!

Michael,

Very cool thread and story. As a new modeler, I like seeing the older kits get some focus. My LHS has had quite a few kits come in from an estate sale. Mostly Revell and Airfix. The real surprise was the ORIGINAL Star Wars Millennium Falcon. I was still sucking my thumb and wetting my bed when it was issued Sadly most of them had been started, and not that well either.

-Derek

Well thats not a pretty picture.