Back to my past...

[dave]

hi,
   for Christmas i was given by my grandaughter amongst a few other gifts a Airfix Spitfire mk1a, priced approx. £10, now this took me back about 70yrs, when as a young lad the aviation bug had bite me, i used to get a kit every now and then. they came in a cellophane bag and cost 2 shillings(10p), then as i got older i progressed to twins ie Mosquito's, Ju.88's, He111, etc, then the big 4engine jobs B.17, Stirling, Lancaster (now around £40).
   These all were arranged on dressing tables /bookcase in my bedroom, but dear old mum had to dust them! so i hung them via cotton from the ceiling that was all well till my uncle came to visit and while putting his shirt on caused the Luftwaffe to lose half its fleet... so if this weather continues as it is i might SWMBO allowing this week sometime, my only worry is,  the bits were small back then but now with chubby fingers etc. but the bulldog spirit (Walkers) will prevail...
regards, all take care in the New Year...
                                                              dave...

[christoff]

All the kits I built as a youngster succumbed to nasty accidents involving fireworks, was all very spectacular at the time, but looking at the price of some of those kits now was it worth it....Damn right it was, can you imagine the look on the neighbour's faces now as a well beyond middle aged man sets about blowing up plastic airplane kits in the back garden..

Chris.

[graham]

Growing up in Reading as I did, there was a fantastic model shop near the town centre although its name has long since eluded me. They sold every make you could think of - Airfix, Revell, Frog, Tamiya plus lots more I don't recall, but it was a kid's dream come true. Being the sixties, I was more interested in the jets of the era and distinctly remember buying and building a Lightning, Javelin, Sea Vixen, P1127, Hunter and others. Like dave, they tended to be dangled from the ceiling on cotton until such a time that the cotton broke or a model inadvertantly got whacked.

Airfix (?) also made some huge kits during this era, I remember the USS Forrestal carrier, the Saturn V rocket ( which once built, stood about three feet tall) and a B-29. I had the Saturn V bought for me by my uncle for my birthday and I spent the next couple of weeks building it. It was very detailed, with separate Command Module, Lunar Excursion Module and all the other stuff.

Chris, reading about the demise of your kits had me laughing my head off and I'm still sniggering now....

[keefyboy]

Happy New Year folks. As a kid I must have been totally crackers - or at least my parents probably thought so! They allowed me to paint an entire airfield on one side of my bedroom wall. This included a runway that ran the entire length of the bedroom wall - probably about 16 feet. I then added taxiways and dispersals - all painted grey with green for the grass. I even built a hangar out of balsawood that I somehow managed to stick on the wall - although how I managed that completely escapes me!! It was a military airfield and I recall having several Airfix Hunters on the pan though how I managed to stick those on the wall is beyond me. I suspect that my dad who was an engineer at Battersea power station probably gave me a helping hand - I really can't remember!

Like you guys I had numerous Airfix kits hanging from the ceiling and I seem to recall they were all in some sort of approach pattern to my airfield. I used to get all my kits from a brilliant shop called Russ at Clapham Junction - sadly no longer there. Bye the way - Clapham Junction is a part of Battersea which itself is now a part of Wandsworth. If history is correct - Battersea was a poor rundown area back in the day and rather than call it Battersea Junction - they chose to name it Clapham which was about a mile away but was a much posher area.

Anyhow, once I discovered girls, the airfield quickly disappeard and all the walls were painted bright orange with black woodwork!

My apologies for any typing errors as I'm still trying to get my head round this new laptop that I treated myself to on black Friday - the keys are not all in the same place!
Cheers
Keith

[chrisj]

Happy New Year to All . You've gone and dun it again ! Nostalgia ! like most I too used to build those Airfix kits . They came in Polly bags at two bob a go . Trouble was , at that time I only got two shillings pocket money so it was a kit one week and any glue or paint the next ! ( For young uns two bob is ten pence !) . Now days I see some of these kits in the shops and the price is a real shocker . The larger aircraft like Lancaster or Halifax are now megga cash . I did see a Vulcan a week or so back , 1/48th I think , you need a mortgage to buy it . Early eighties my parents had a clean out of their loft . I had to repossess over two hundred mainly built kits including a Frog Shackleton . As I was living in a RAF married quarter and moving about , I could not keep them . So I gave them to a local enthusiast who must of thought I was bonkers ( I now have a good idea of what they were worth ) From what I see in our local model shop/toy shop these are not available now . Also the TV program on Airfix gave an in sight into how these kits are designed . Personally I was not impressed . Some time back I bought the Airfix TSR2 and started building it during Lock Down . I was not impressed is to put it mildly . Fat fingers , duff eyes do not help but the kit left a lot to be desired . Oh , just remembered - Yes , Penny Bangers did have quite an effect on the kits . I tried this method to spice up photos of the kits - long lost photos . Oh well . Time to rest those grey cells . Chrisj

[graham]

Your post chris just remiinded me of a few other kits I built including the TSR2, Fairey Rotordyne, Seahawk, Fairey Delta and so on. My brother was as equally into building the kits but his preferences were WW11 machines and I remember sharing ceiling space with his Hurricane, Spitfire, Messerschmitt 262, Boulton Paul Defiant and many others. For anyone walking in to the bedroom we shared, it must have been a job dodging the "low flying aircraft" and although they were dangling high enough for us two not to hit them, I remember my Dad clocking himself a few times!

[dave]

hi again,
i remember attempting a couple of bi-planes Swordfish and a Brisfit i think, but i had trouble setting the wings right so i steered clear of them. My only venture away from 1/72 was again i think a Revell or Frog of a Stuka 1/48? and that was a Christmas present... Also one year my star present was a 1/72 Spitfire in a built up ground stance press a switch and the prop whirled, i used some batteries on that!
I only did WW2, as the modern? jets had no bits and bumps similar to why trainspotting was really only steam as you could see thingys and whatsits moving, diesels and electrics were like plain boxes.
Well gotta go and shake this memory mode my daughter bought her mother a new fangled carpet sweeper, and she's said its time i got passed out on it?
regards,
dave...

[graham]

Like so many members here, I started off with trains but for some reason, never made any models of them. Was this because they weren't available, did Revell and Airfix produce model kits of diesel and electric locos, I honestly can't remember.

[chrisj]

The 'Old ' Airfix did produce a range of other items but I think not so many as the aircraft . There were army items such as the 25lb gun and jeep , A few WWII tanks and old ships but I am not sure about trains . From the tv program about Airfix I got the impression that in the UK they design the model but it is made in China . The factory shown is ( I think ) located at Margate or there abouts , and is very big but not used other than for their museum of railway carriages among other items . They also include Hornby , Humbrol and Scalectric and possibly other brands . Oh , just remembered - Corgi for their di-cast models . It could be that the Hornby trains includes what was Tri-ang So it is strange that so many brands which were in competition with each other years ago , are now all basically , one . Chrisj