A new member from Wales

[Freddy]

Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen.

I have joined you because I am after some advice! I, and my father before me, have been keen plastic kit modellers in the past. As a boy, I was brought up on Airfix, Frog and, to a lesser extent, Revell kits. At first, my father made them for me and then, gradually I took over until, between us, we had amassed a collection of perhaps a hundred or so kits. And, many years later, I still have them - in boxes, deteriorating, gathering dust and becoming increasingly fragile. My father died some years ago and I no longer make kits because my eyesight is not what it was and so concentrating on things close-up is no longer a pleasure. And, of course, the standard of model-making has increased so exponentially over the last couple of decades, my skills have long been left behind.

So, what advice do I ask you for? Quite simply, I want help in disposing of my collection. I had thought of donating them to an air cadet unit - but there isn't one anywhere near where I live. Alternatively, they could go to an an enthusiast who might like them for what they are or, more probably, use them as the basis for updating and improvement. I don't mind what happens, I just don't want to see them thrown away.

The collection is primarily of Airfix models, all built, dating from the early 60s, through the 70s and, gradually diminishing over time into, I suppose the 90s. The standard of construction could be regarded as good by 60s standards, OK by 80s and, hmmm by later standards. There are aircraft of all types, from WWI to contemporary. The accent is on RAF, but not exclusively. One or two are really nice - the early RAF Hercules, for example in its original sand/brown and black camouflage, there is a nice USAF Constellation others are less impressive. By now, most will have suffered from the odd missing propeller or collapsed undercarriage, but, in most cases, the bits will still be in the box.

I live near Llandovery, in rural Wales, so should anyone wish to collect them, that would need to be borne in mind (as would the current lockdown, of course).

Anyway, over to your members for your advice which I shall welcome with pleasure - almost as much as the pleasure I have gained from looking at some of your remarkable modelling as evidenced in these posts.

Best,

Freddy.

[iggie]

Hi Freddy and welcome to the forum

There is a market for built models, with some fetching surprisingly high prices on eBay. The value will be affected by the quality of the build, the subject and original manufacturer of the model. Postage is tricky, as packaging an inherently fragile item is not easy but can be done with careful consideration. You will get more overall selling models individually than as a job lot, but a trader would be more likely to be interested in a whole collection (and more likely to collect as well)

Good luck with whatever you decide to do!

[Gregers]

Hi Freddy and a warm welcome.
One of the members here restors old models. His user name here is Vacant. He may be the best bet for giving the models a good home.

All the best

Greg

[Freddy]

Thank you both, for your welcome and for your advice. Hmm! The idea of selling them on eBay hadn't occurred to me, so now I have another option to consider - though I very much take your point both about quality and also, particularly, about packaging them up. I recently eBayed some old Britains "Eyes Right" bandsmen. I knew that the plastic was brittle, but hugely disappointed to discover that, despite careful packing, only 13 of 25 arrived whole.

But that might be a solution for the Tamiya etc military vehicles.

Of aircraft, though, I have really enjoyed browsing some of the builds - particularly the large RAF aircraft - the Shackleton, for example. I was once lucky enough to go on a sortie in a Shack - fantastic experience - as close as I was ever likely to come to being in a Lancaster! It is such a shame that Airfix can't be persuaded to bring out more large Brits, particularly those of Transport Command - Churchill's York, perhaps, the 1950s/60s fleet: Hastings, Britannia, Argosy, Beverley, Andover - in 1/72 scale, ideally. Even a Belfast, perhaps. But all the major makers seem to skirt round those. I can't remember who it was who made the US Navy Constellation - but it was magnificent. Time for a Nimrod!

Anyway, that's all a bit off-topic. Thanks again

F

[wokka]

Have you thought of looking on https://www.scalemates.com/;, they will tell you which kits of large aircraft are available from which retailer and who makes them.

[Gregers]

Hi Freddy.
A company called Mach 2 do an argosy. And a few other heavy Brit stuff. Their kits are a bit rough and ready as they are limited run though. The Connie was the EC121 by Heller. I have one unbuilt. And as for the Nimrod, Airfix did a 1/72 kit of it. I have a couple of those too.

All the best

Greg

[X12A]

Welcome aboard and good luck with your kits!

[Stuart]

Hi Freddy and welcome to the UAMF - I'm glad to hear that you've enjoyed looking around our forum.

ebay is always a pretty good places to sell old kits, I've been buying and selling on there for a few years with pretty good results. If you want any advice on prices or whatever the guys on here are pretty good for advice. Old built kits is another issue... you could try ebay and sell some as a job lot, or it might even be worth posting up a few pictures of them in the swaps swop section to see if anyone is interested in restoring them (which a lot of us have done over the years) - I would check with the moderators here though as there are a few rules around using that section of the forum for new members.

If you ever feel the desire to have a go again, poor eyesight not withstanding (and we all suffer from that) we here at the UAMF are proud to report that we have no standards! We even build Starfix kits! Seriously, any level of building here is welcome and we're always on hand to help - there are some very knowledgeable builders here that don't mind sharing their knowhow. If poor eyesight is the issue there are various magnifiers that can be used - a lot of us here use them.

Best of luck to you chap! (and feel free to mooch about the forum and comment - you don't have to actively be building anything!)

[Freddy]

Thank you all for your warm welcome. Sorry I haven't replied more promptly but... I've been up to my eyes selling kits on eBay! I took your advice, starting with my old 1/35 scale models and they just went like hot cakes - I was flabbergasted. I had no idea they had any value at all. It isn't as though they are particularly well made - certainly they stand no comparison with what people are managing to turn out nowadays. I stopped modelling pre-airbrush (I bought one, a Testors in about 1990, but never used it) and some of the effects people are achieving now are extraordinary - and I love the improvement in dioramas, particularly the use of resin for water.

Anyway. I dragged all the models out - literally hundreds of them - and started sorting through them. I sold several of the larger aeroplanes, which is good as they have been the most difficult to store. Fortunately most arrived with no damage, though one had its box crushed so did suffer, but, even then, the new owner said he was confident he could repair it.

And that leads me to my next question which is, what glue do people recommend for plastic kits nowadays? As part of the selling process I started doing some repairs - tailwheels, props and oleo legs, mainly, of course. I bought some Humbrol polystyrene cement, such as I would have used years ago, but it seemed to be useless - it took ages to stick and even then had no strength. (I know that older plastic gets harder and working in my chilly garage doesn't help) but I presume it has been weakened over the years to make it less toxic if sniffed, but, watching a U-Tube video the other evening of a chap building a lovely Dakota, I am sure he was using something altogether better.

I have been topping up my model-making stuff. My son has bought me a sort of Star Wars storm trooper hat which has a light on it and a number of different magnifying glasses and it is brilliant, so I am tempted to start afresh. I will begin by re-vamping one or two of my old favourites and see how it goes. I might even try out airbrushing (I've had a go on an old Dinky Toy and I was rather pleased with the result).

So, thanks all round. I have made a bit of money based on your advice and also got the interest in doing some modelling again. But, blimey, aren't kits expensive now - I thought Series 1 were supposed to be 2/- each! (Mind you, they aren't yet as expensive as model trains - they're all coming in at around £150 each now! Makes for an expensive hobby.

[iggie]

If you think series 1 kits are pricey, have a look at the Hong Kong Models 1/32 Lancaster, or any of the now out of production Wingnut Wings WW1 aircraft!

As for glues, I use Tamiya Extra Thin (quick set) for anything plastic, except clear parts when I use Krystal Klear (pva really) and resin/PE for which I use foam-safe super glue
Glad the ebay advice worked out for you!

[splash]

Welcome I’m glad you managed to sell some of you models.

I agree with Jim’s advice, Tamiya Thin Liquid Glue is far better than the tube glue you and your father probably used, you just join the two parts together and run a small drop of Tamiya Glue into the joint using the brush supplied in the bottle, you will find the very thin glue just runs along the join, due to capillary action.

Regards Splash

[Freddy]

Thank you , Tamiya Thin it will be. We always used "Britfix 99" (66 was for balsa wood as I remember) - it eventually became Humbrol, but Airfix kits always came with a tiny lozenge of glue - rather similar in shape and size to a cod liver oil capsule! But, we always thought Airfix glue was stringier!

Another very basic question, if I may, what do people use for masking windows and canopies so they can use an airbrush? There used to be some sort of pink stuff which looked like windolene, but I've never used it.

[Gregers]

Hi Freddy. That pink stuff is/was called maskol. I personally haven't used it for years as I never got on with it but others do use it quite successfully, so its probably just me being a bit useless. For masking tape I use Tamia tape. They do several widths and I find it very useful. I don't like advertising where I work on the open forum as it probably contravenes some rule or something but look in the online retailers section on here for who they are. Follow any of the links to the website and have a search around for what you need.
Hope this helps.

All the best

Greg

[iggie]

As with Greg, tape for masking for me as I tried Maskol once and hated it
Tamiya also make a white tape which is designed for gentle curves rather than straight edges; best to have both
I would recommend Tiger Hobbies because Greg can't

[Freddy]

Thanks, both. I spent a good portion of yesterday evening just looking at the Hannants site - at the enormous choice of models available now. It was interesting to see so much British WWII armour available now (and pre and post-war come to that), but, still not quite sa comprehensively covered as the Wehmacht - I'm not sure there is a single prototype even of theirs which hasn't been modelled! But, I was struck by a 1/72 scale kit of a Vickers Viking. That might be fun. Hmmm I can see myself having another bash at modelling in the not too distant future.

Cheers all, F