Matchbox Model Kit Thread

[dr_gn]

Thought it might be nice to have a thread dedicated to the old Matchbox kits. I built loads of these as a kid, and now my own kids dabble in modelling, I've found that these kits can be picked up for a few £, and are obviously just as quick and easy to build as they always were, so they're ideal for beginners.

Here's a start with the 1:72 Gnat from '72/'73:





1:72 Skyservant form c. '74:



1:32 Spitfire from c.'77:





1:32 Bf109 again from c.'77:





Picked these up from Telford for £8 the pair:



The Skyhawk (c.'76) was immediately claimed by the daughter, and apparently won't be troubled by a paintbrush. The Mig 21 is pretty bad; I'd assumed it was a re-boxing of the original '74 kit, but on closer inspection of the runners, the mouldings were appalling. The reason quickly became apparent:



Still, at least the pilot has a nice comfy chair:



Feel free to post pics of your own Matchbox kits here folks (or the Revell re-boxings)...

[dr_gn]

Yep, there's not much wrong with that Tempest - good example of what can be achieved. IIRC it had the option of a completely different nose with chin intake - typical Matchbox.

Many parts for their larger kits - especially fuselages of the heavy bombers - were in several sections. This was apparently due to the limited capacity of their injection moulding machines. This is the B-17 with the nose and tail chopped off:



I've got a 1:32 Sea Venom and the Revell boxing of the Walrus in the stash.

[dr_gn]

All their biplanes were pretty good, and some still unique in 1:72. The Boeing P12E is on my list of kits to buy. The Siskin went together well too IIRC. They are great blank canvasses for trying out scratchbuilding techniques.

[dr_gn]

The original Skyhawk is a very nice kit, the Chinese Mig21 is absolute trash. Still, it's all good practice:

[dr_gn]

perdu said:

I built loads of them too and they are still on my favourites list

Mind you they weren't ALL good, their Jaguar T2 was far too short and if its front seater had needed to eject he'd have left all of his lower bits behind

In my small pile of ready to builds I have a Buccaneer, Stranraer and a Wessex to convert into a Westland Wessex (again)

And at the Sutton Coldfield Show I found this tucked away in a box on the floor £3, in a bag without a box



The A.W. Siskin which I'm using a: for the simple pleasure of it and b: to try out brushpainting the new Vallejo Model Air silver, aluminium and chrome paints

They are not bad

Oh yes at Telford I found a stall with many bargains, not least of which was a similarly packed (no box but with transfers) Matchbox Hawker Fury


For one pound

Big bargain methinks

b

The Siskin looks good. I remember it went together well. Blue & yellow plastic?

I think we probably went to the same stall at Telford - on the corner of an aisle? That's where the Tamiya Zeros for £9 were at IIRC, and where I got the Mig 21 and Skyhawk.

[dr_gn]

Daughter and I finished the Skyhawk this week:



Straight OOB, no paint, just as Matchbox intended.

[dr_gn]

perdu said:

That worked well, not much refinement needed to help expand a junior modeller's skill repertoire with that one

Tell her Bill says nice

Thanks Bill.

This is WIP for the boy's MiG 21:



He chose the Egyptian AF scheme. I musr say he's getting pretty good at freehand camo. The pilot looks great too.

We're going to mount it over an appropriate base photograph with a motion blur filter applied.

[dr_gn]

telecat said:

Takes me back. These were available in the local Post office and Paper shops at the time and I hated painting. My favourite was the Hawker Fury Biplane. It was such an elegant plane and worked well as a model.

That was one of the first Matchbox kits - still a good one.

[dr_gn]

Eric Mc said:

And still being produced by Revell -

Old stock maybe, but not currently in the Revell catalogue.

[dr_gn]

dr_gn said:

perdu said:

That worked well, not much refinement needed to help expand a junior modeller's skill repertoire with that one

Tell her Bill says nice

Thanks Bill.

This is WIP for the boy's MiG 21:



He chose the Egyptian AF scheme. I musr say he's getting pretty good at freehand camo. The pilot looks great too.

We're going to mount it over an appropriate base photograph with a motion blur filter applied.

So the MIG 21 is done, we stuck the photo on some painted wood and bent some clear rod to mount it on:



It's a terrible kit, but he's done the best he can with it. Unfortunately the decals fragmented even with a coat of Klear before soaking; it's all experience. Next time (probably Huddersfield show next weekend) we'll definitely look for an old original Matchbox kit rather than the later Chinese ones. Still can't beat them for price and simplicity for a beginner.

[dr_gn]

Shortly after the Privateer was first released, I remember Matchbox ran a double page advert in some magazines, with a description of a show winning example and exmples of some of the improvements made to the base kit. It looked pretty good.

[dr_gn]

4321go said:

dr_gn said:

dr_gn said:

perdu said:

That worked well, not much refinement needed to help expand a junior modeller's skill repertoire with that one

Tell her Bill says nice

Thanks Bill.

This is WIP for the boy's MiG 21:



He chose the Egyptian AF scheme. I musr say he's getting pretty good at freehand camo. The pilot looks great too.

We're going to mount it over an appropriate base photograph with a motion blur filter applied.

So the MIG 21 is done, we stuck the photo on some painted wood and bent some clear rod to mount it on:



It's a terrible kit, but he's done the best he can with it. Unfortunately the decals fragmented even with a coat of Klear before soaking; it's all experience. Next time (probably Huddersfield show next weekend) we'll definitely look for an old original Matchbox kit rather than the later Chinese ones. Still can't beat them for price and simplicity for a beginner.

OK, so Dad's a bit of a modelling guru. But, do you know what? I really, really like that!!

Edited by 4321go on Sunday 14th February 15:54

Thanks I'll tell him. Watching/Helping him build these and brush paint them from the box with no aftermarket stuff has made me realise just how relaxing building things can be. I might get something myself and do the same just to remind myself that a model can be built in a couple of evenings without setting up the airbrush.

[dr_gn]

perdu said:

I like how you are getting him (And her too I wager) to see the model as part of a bigger picture

And I like the picture you used too

That looks a treat whizzing above the pyramids


(I hope to see you at Huddy)

Thanks Perdu. Huddersfield eh - fair distance for you. It's usually a nice show, this year is a new venue though. Will be nice to see you again. It will be the usual trio from our side I think. Hopefully we will have a couple of competition entries too, including the MIG 21.