Warbird Information Exchange

The rivets on that T-28 will give me forever nightmares.

It has been decades since I built one, I don't remember them being that bad. Looking at unbuilt kits online, I can see what you saying, but I've seen far worse. And on a 1:48 aircraft, the rivets aren't too bad.
At any rate, Monogram was never as bad as Revell...their old 1:72 B-17 comes to mind.

I need to buy an older kit off ebay, a friend has two T-28s, an Air Force NMF A, and a yellow Navy B.
He's promised a flight in the a when its engine comes back from overhaul.

I don't recall if the T-28 has any un-flush rivets, but a friend's T-6 does. Basically, all the wing, horizontal stabilizer and aft fuselage rivets are not flush.
Quite a change from the Mustang and Spitfire I used to work with.

_________________
Remember the vets, the wonderful planes they flew and their sacrifices for a future many of them did not live to see.

Here is the Atlantis reissue of the Douglas D-558-2 Skyrocket, Navy research aircraft.
The Skyrocket is best remembered as the first aircraft to break Mach 2, when Scott Crossfield broke that barrier in November 1953.

Like most kits of the period, it is in "Box scale" which in this case comes out to 1:54.
Atlantis is using the original 1955 release art work which was only used until circa 1961 when it was replaced with the more familiar takeoff illustration. In the '70s, that was replaced with a photo of an assembled kit, however a Revell 1994 reissue reverted to this artwork.

There aren't any alternative colors schemes available if you want to keep it stock as all three aircraft were painted white. It will be interesting to see if the later NACA tail insignia are included, as Atlantis often upgrades the original decal sheets.

However, there is one civil scheme...

You'll have to be older than me to remember the initial broadcasts of the Captain Midnight TV series. The 1954 series made the Skyrocket a TV star. Later when the series was shown in reruns, it was renamed "Jet Jackson" because Ovaltine, the original sponsor, owned the rights to the Captain Midnight name.
So, if your up to some masking fun, you could build the captain's Silver Dart.
Here is a photo of a kit finished as the Silver Dart from Bill Engar's report on the 2019 IPMS Nationals for his fun model review website:
https://www.dembrudders.com/2019-ipmsus ... eport.html

So, if you have an old Comet/Aurora Cessna 310 that you can pretend is Sky King's Songbird and a Revell H-13 painted yellow to represent the Whirlybirds' Bell 47G (N975B), you can relive your Saturday morning TV time.

32416

_________________
Remember the vets, the wonderful planes they flew and their sacrifices for a future many of them did not live to see.

The long promised Atlantis reissue of the popular Revell
Lockheed P2V-7 Neptune is here.
As you'd expect from a 1955 kit, it is in box scale which in this case turns out to be 1:104 (That's the same scale as the Monogram PBY, which was previously reissued by Atlantis. With the two, one could start a nice collection of Navy patrol types).
Like the PBY, it is molded in bright blue plastic. And common with most Revell kits of the time, it features raised rivet detail as well as some (for the NAVY and national insignia) decal placement lines. Both are easily removed with judicious use of fine sand paper.
The rivets aren't as prolific compared with other kits, nor are they as high. There is a good chance a couple of coats of paint could mute them to an appropriate level.

(To avoid confusion, I'll mention that Revell of Germany reboxed the Hasagawa Neptune in 1:72. You do find that kit available online.).

What's fun about the Neptune is many Western countries used it, so paint and decal options are plentiful. It even had a long career as a firebomber, so civil schemes...both U.S. and Canadian, are appropriate.

No doubt one of the reasons Revell chose to model the -7 variant, it featured new axillary jet engines in pods under the wing and a new bubble canopy giving it a distinctive look over earlier variants.
We tend to overlook that the P2V is a genuine warbird, with it first flying in May, 1945. With a different nose, more armament, no MAD boom and without jets, the early versions look considerably different than the later examples.

This kit was initially released as a straight -7, however, by 1960 Revell reissued it as one of the four Antarctic research P2V-7LP (LP-2J after 1962) ships. This release retains the "Famous Aircraft Series" box art by Jack Leynnwood. Revell would similarly rebox its long serving H-19 helicopter model in a similar setting with the kit molded in orange.

While you gain neat skis, Revell correctly deleted the top turret, and the large lower radome.
This means if you want to build a regular Neptune you'll have to build the ventral radome. It's basically a large "blob" so it shouldn't be difficult to fashion with putty (I'd use a spare round part...engine or wheel as the base of it and then build it up). In service, most Neptunes did without the dorsal turret, so that won't be a problem. The clear part for the turret is included on the clear parts tree.

In US Navy service, Neptune color schemes ranged from dark blue to blue and white, finally to gray and white.
The colors on the box are correct for the few ski-equipped aircraft.

Another option would be to paint it black as one of the Air Force RB-69s flown by CIA trained Chinese crews from Taiwan for covert missions over the mainland.

Not to be outdone, the U.S Army received several used -5s as SIGINT aircraft (AP-2Es) and sensor dropping armed aircraft (OP-2Es) for use in Vietnam. They require more work to modify, so I'd expect a modeler to use the larger 1:72 kit.

An easier modification would be a firebomber. In use up until fairly recently, the main change would be bobbing the MAD stinger from the aft fuselage.

I was hoping for a reissue of the straight -7 patrol/anti submarine variant, but I suspect Revell irrevocably modified the fuselage for the ski version. Similarly, they modified the molds of their Electra airliner into the P-3 making the airliner variant very expensive on the collector kit market. UPDATE: I've received confirmation from Atlantis that the molds were permanently modified. However, it sounds like you do receive the turret transparency on the clear part sprue. I wonder if someone with an unbuilt original issue could make copies in resin or by 3-D printing?

Looking at an inbuilt old kit online, it has panel lines and very lightly engraved places for the national insignia. Not many rivets. Atlantis typically cleans up old molds so flash shouldn't be too big of an issue.

As a kid in the '60s, I never saw the original standard ASW kit release, but the ski model was always available with it last being released in 1995.
My brother, an excellent builder who later used his modeling skills as an architect, built mine in gloss gull gray with the international orange tail. It certainly looked great on the shelf.

So, out of the box you'll have a colorful Navy aircraft, with a bit of work by adding the radome, you can have a model of the long serving ASW patrol aircraft.

37575

_________________
Remember the vets, the wonderful planes they flew and their sacrifices for a future many of them did not live to see.

Two new kits from Atlantis via Lindberg...
First is the 1/48 Convair FY-1 vertical take off fighter from 1958. It was reissued it in 1987 and 2007. It seems to still be around on the secondary market.

The kit is well detailed, consisting of about 20 pieces, with several being part of the gearing system for the contra-rotating props. The small castor wheels on the tips of the wings and stabilizers "retract" by sliding into the flying surface. There is a seat and pilot instead of the often seen head sticking above a flat surface, common in '50s kits. A 7-piece pilot ladder is also included.

If the shape is familiar, it was also released by Aurora back in the day. That was also in 1:48 and was introduced in 1955. According to Scalemates, it was last released in 1957. No, Lindberg did not buy the Aurora molds, that kit has several differences in the landing gear, tip tanks, and had a flat cockpit with just the pilot's head sticking up.

The FY was a result of a 1947 specification for a fighter that could launch from regular ships giving convoy protection.
Back in WWII, the UK put catapults on merchant ships and launched worn out Hurricanes to protect convoys from German raiders (probably FW-200s). After the mission, the pilot would parachute or ditch the expendable Hurricane. And you think you have a bad job.

It was designed to take off vertically, transition into regular flight and engage the enemy with 4 20mm cannon or 48 FFARs. Top speed was expected to be a surprising 600 mph. Power was from an Allison XT-40, of 5800 hp. The problematic T-40 would also power the Convair R3Y Tradewind flying boat which Atlantis probably has the ex-Revell molds of.
Production models were to be powered by the XT-54 which was a pair of conjoined T-56s (the C-130 engine) of 7500 hp.

Of course the hard part would be landing, the pilot would have to slowly throttle back and land backwards. That might be a trick on a pitching rolling ship. All without the aid of even a backup camera.

After tethered test flights in the huge airship hangar at Moffat Field, it did test work at the Convair factory at San Diego. On Nov. 3, 1954, it actually did a complete vertical takeoff and landing, the first time a fixed wing aircraft accomplished that. The Convair test pilot received the Harmon Trophy for that feat.

Only one of the three prototypes flew before the project was cancelled. A surviving aircraft is in the NASM.
Lockheed made a similar fighter, but it only flew conventionally with a set of intricate ad hoc landing gear.

Back to the model..not many choices for markings, unless you want to do a fantasy operational scheme. In the late '50s that would have been gray over white. If you wanted to get really wild, you could imagine helicopters had never been invented and they flew off river boats in Vietnam.

The model would be a neat to illustrate the advancement of VTOL flight along side a AV-8 and F-35B.

The second aircraft us one you probably recognize, the SAAB J35 Draken fighter produced from 1955-74, with 600+ produced for Sweden and several export customers. It was the first "double delta" jet and the first Mach Two fighter from Western Europe.

This kit originated with Adams, and appeared as a Lindberg kit the following year. It was last released in a box with later markings in 2007. This release uses the original Adams artwork.

As a kit, it was modeled by Revell in 1:72 in 1957, a kit which was in the Revell catalog for most of the '60s-70s.
This 1:48 kit has retractable landing gear, and a weird rocket tube under the fuselage which actually fires rockets via a rubber band powered mechanism. Additionally, there are under wing rockets which seemed to be standard on '50s fighter kits...correctly or not.

They were operated in a variety of color schemes, no word on what decals Atlantis might include.
There were, and perhaps still are, some civil ships as well, so lots of marking possibilities for this.

Given its age limitations and working features, it's probably best as a fun nostalgia build or as a model toy with its operating features. Serious modelers would prefer the Hasagawa kit in 1:48th.

66175

_________________
Remember the vets, the wonderful planes they flew and their sacrifices for a future many of them did not live to see.

Yesterday I was checking the current Revell catalog and was reminded that some old kits are still being sold, even if not technically a "reissue" because they have never been unavailable.

While perhaps not as exciting as Atlantis opening up the King Tut's tomb of Aurora, Lindbergh, Revell and Monogram kits from 50-70 years ago, these kits are still vintage.

Specifically, I'm referring to the nice 1:48 Vought F4U Corsair, which is alive and well and in the current Revell catalog. It dates to 1963...it's so old my brother built one for me when I was a kid.
While not quite up to modern standards it's a very nice kit, well detailed for its time. And as a product of its time, it has some working features Monogram was famous for...retracting gear and folding wings. The original box art is shown below, note its emphasis on its "Working Action Model" features. And try to overlook the fact that the Corsair is shown in a WWII south Pacific scene...love the palm trees...but is wearing post 1947 markings.

Today, we don't look at models the same way they were seen back then. Then, they were after I school projects for boys when they weren't at scout meetings or mowing neighbor's lawns for a quarter. They'd build them and some, would undoubtedly play dogfight with friends.
I always liked the workable features, not for playing but for study. Imagine a time when warbird Information was difficult to come by. No internet, one magazine (Air Classics), and few books. I recall having to go to a bookstore to special order a book from the UK. It took six weeks. Given that, having retractable gear on a kit was useful so I could see a type with and without gear. Some, like the Cirsair, provided details of interesting features, the way the wheels swindled during retraction and the way the tail hook extended. I recall my dad using my Airfix C-47' to explain how he did a wheel landing with the ones he flew. The moveable control surfaces illustrated how planes flew.
So, more educational than a toy.

The Corsair was in the Monogram catalog for decades and even appeared briefly under the Monogram Mattel banner in 1970. I'm sure Revell would have put Baa Baa Black Sheep/Black Sheep Squadron artwork on it in 1977, but that was well before the Revell Monogram merger...(instead Revell put the license on its 1:32 F4U).

Another kit in the catalog,while not quite as old, is the former Matchbox Twin Otter, which first was issued in 1983...some 42 years ago. Of course that is very easy to understand since it is the only mass market, readily available kit of that venerable type...which like the kit, came back into production for a second life.

I'm not criticising Revell for this, just pointing out some of the current kits available aren't too much younger than the old kits we normally discuss. It seems that Revell has kept most of the old scale kits from Monogram (witness the 1:48 T-28 reissue), selling just the odd or box scale offerings to Atlantis. That means there are still plenty of interesting old kits we might receive from Revell. I'd love to see the 1:48 Piper Tri-Pacer and Cessna 180 come back. Also, the complete Monogram WWII Navy collection....SB2C, SBD, TBF/M, F4F, F6F as well as the Corsair.

And Revell is not alone, many Hasagawa kits date to the '70s.
And Airfix is still turning out kits from molds old enough to draw Social Security. However to their credit, they have been replacing many ancient kits with new tooling...recent examples are their 1:72 B-17, Lancaster, B-24 in both H and D variants, and very welcome C-47.
Revell too, has replaced its early '60s vintage 1:72 B-17 with a new tool.

I really should buy a new Airfix C-47, but I have an inbuilt original issue with the too wide of fuselage and their cloudy decals (compared to American decals, they were bad even when new), that might be a lot more fun.

74570

_________________
Remember the vets, the wonderful planes they flew and their sacrifices for a future many of them did not live to see.

Another reissue by Revell via an unexpected source.
Mega Hobbies is, as the name implies, a large online hobby store.
The have prevailed upon Revell to run a batch of its 1:110 scale Jupiter C rocket for sale exclusively through them...though I have been told you can find them online via resellers.

The kit first appeared in 1958, shortly after the type was used to launch America's first satellite, Explorer I, on January 31, 1958.
The kit is impressive with a detailed gantry and launch platform that dwarfs the missile itself.
It was reissued in 1984 as part of Revell's "History Makers" series, and again in 2006.
The 1984 edition has, like the other kits in the History Makers series, a photo of a completed kit on the box, which in this case is helpful in showing the elaborate launch complex.

Interestingly, the kit is the same scale as the better known (and recently reissued by Atlantis) Atlas/Mercury John Glenn Friendship 7, kit.
Revell also released a 1:110 kit of the Thor IRBM in 1958. It has a more modest launch tower, but comes with a fuel truck and trailer.
In 1983, Revell paired the Thor and Jupiter (apparently not the "C" version) as another History Makers release.

If you are interested in the history of spaceflight, this would be an important addition to your model shelf. It would look great next to the Atlas Mercury...the two kits representing the arguably two most famous early American space flights (as Glenn's flight seems to be better remembered than the two prior Mercury sub-orbital flights).

95825

_________________
Remember the vets, the wonderful planes they flew and their sacrifices for a future many of them did not live to see.

As previously mentioned, Atlantis has reissued the Aurora C-141A kit from 1969. Like the similar sized airliners in the Aurora catalog, it is scaled at 1:108.
It hasn't been available since Aurora's demise in the early '70s, so it will be new to most of you.
Atlantis has used the artwork from the Canadian release, which is similar to the American artwork except it had a background scene of it taking off in front of a pretty rudimentary control tower.

For years, it was the only Starlifter available in any scale, Scalemates indicates the next kit, the 1:200 Dragon,/DML/Italeri/Testors/Cyber Hobby kit didn't arrive until 1988, nearly 20 years later.
Anigrand, Roden and A&A have produced kits in 1:144.
Anigrand, Jetmads and Combat Models have issued 1:72 kits. Anigrand's is resin, so it might be best left to experienced builders. There were also a couple of 1: 72nd vaccuform kits offered.

The Atlantis kit, as befits its time and origin, is pretty basic. Empty wheel wells and closed doors. So unless you're handy at detailing, it is best viewed as a desk-model.
Like the Aurora jetliner kits which were released in different liveries, There are no decal placement lines to worry about.

The instructions are printed on glossy paper, the reverse side features full color diagrams for both decal options.

The good news is Atlantis has greatly improved.the decal sheet. Back in the day, Aurora gave one set of markings (some I have seen online were terribly out of register).
Famously, the number on the nose of the aircraft did not match the tail number...take a close look at the Aurora/Atlantis boxart.
Not only has that been corrected, a second set of numbers is included as are variations of the Military Airlift Command emblem. Also, yellow outline crew doors, aft doors with windows, galley windows and hatches are provided, as ls an American flag.
In addition to the box example 63-8077 (which sadly was lost in a crash in the late '70s) markings are included for 65-0249 of the 60th MAW.with the later style nose number which incorporates the unit. Finally, a large stand decal is included, perfectly sized for the Atlsntis newer version of the "Revelling" stand (sold via their website).

I was asked to provide input on the decals, which for any model fan is quite an honor.
While this will work for a natural metal example, with a bit of work you could produce a later white over gray scheme which was used until the introduction of the dark Euro 1 camouflage in the '80s.
Likewise, you could come up with a red cross to make the famous "Hanoi Taxi" which repatriated POWs from North Vietnam in 1973.

97425

_________________
Remember the vets, the wonderful planes they flew and their sacrifices for a future many of them did not live to see.

Back on October 20, 2020 (see page two of this thread) I posted the reply I received from Atlantis about whether they had any of the molds for the extensive Aurora 1:48 collection of WWI aircraft kits.

Disappointingly, they said the only mold they had was for the Fokker Dr. I triplane. It was a long time fixture in Auroras catalog, its popularity enhanced by being the mount of the Red Baron, who became famous fifty years after his 1918 death by being the adversary of Snoopy in the Peanuts comic strip.

Well, they have just announced the release of that kit in the colors of WWI ace Lieutenant Josef Jacobs, the forth highest German ace with 48 victories. His ship was black with winged demon on the fuselage. He was the most successful ace in the Dr. 1.

The kit was first issued in 1956 and remained in their catalog until 1976. The final issue box proclaimed easier wing assembly, but I have not been able to compare the changes. The Scalemates site only shows the early instruction sheet.

I was somewhat surprised by the markings. considering the "go to" scheme for Dr. 1s is usually the all red scheme most famously used by Baron Manfred von Richthofen. It's hard to think of another type so closely associated with one paint scheme, the closest might be various variants of the Curtiss P-40 wearing "sharks mouth" markings. All previous Aurora releases were of red aircraft.

I don't have any information of any alternate decals in the kit, but fans of the Red Baron could still paint their model red and use the black crosses that come in the kit.

While not as famous as Richthofen, Jacobs was no slouch, being awarded the coveted Pour le Mérite, the "Blue Max", in addition to the Iron Cross.
He survived the war, briefly fought communists in the Baltic, and opened an aircraft repair and manufacturing business. He was made a major in the reformed Luftwaffe reserves, but refused to join the Nazi party. When Göring wanted to take over his business, he moved it to the Netherlands. He was active in auto and bobsled racing, passing way at 84 in 1978.
Kudos to Atlantis for coming up with an attractive alternate scheme.

While the Dr. 1 was highly maneuverable, its production life was short and its reputation tainted by a series of wing failures traced to improper construction. Also, it was considered slow compared to other fighters. It was produced for less than a year and only 320 examples were built. By the summer of 1918, it was being replaced by the superior Fokker D. VII. In addition to Richthofen, several other noteworthy German aces flew the Triplane, including Udet, Voss, and Lothar von Richthofen, Manfred's younger brother.

Aurora was a leader in producing kits of WWI aircraft with an impressive range of German and allied types, including some pretty obscure designs. . In addition to the Dr. 1, its German line up included the Fokker D.VII, D. VIII and Eindekker monoplanes, Albatros, Pfalz, Halberstadt fighters and the Gotha bomber.
Allied types were the SPAD XIII, Sopwith Camel and Triplane, SE. 5, Nieuport 11 and 28, Bristol F2B "Brisfit", Breguet 14, DH. 4 observation/bomber as well as the twin engined DH. 10 bomber. And a sole American design...the Curtiss Jenny trainer.

While seemingly on a open cockpit roll, Aurora also offered postwar Being F4B and P-12s, the P-26 monoplane, the Curtiss P-6 ,Douglas M2 mailplane, and the De Havilland Tiger Moth WWII trainer.

The kits were well detailed, often coming with a molded piece of ground and accompanied by a figure of a pilot or a mechanic or two. I received a D. VIII kit as a present as a kit, it was very finely detailed, with crisp details and thin wings.

All were released a few times, some with new box art were among the final Aurora offerings in 1976.
Also, many of the molds were reworked by K&B, and sold in the '80s. Some of the kits are rare, others are found fairly easily an offered at reasonable prices online or at shows. Given the he number of un-built survivors, it makes one think.Aurora must have made a bunch of them.

I give Aurora a lot of credit for this range, they illustrate there was more to the firm than their simple blue Spitfires, yellow Zeros, and red Bf-109s.

Happily, the molds for the Aurora Jenny has also survived and have been recently released by Glencoe (See the August 2022 post. Hopefully you can find the kit, I havent.).

One anecdotal historical footnote...many years ago I read that Charles Shultz, the creator of the Peanuts, got the idea of the Snoopy vs. the Red Baron series when his son built a model of a Sopwith Camel. Now, I have no idea what kit the boy was building; it could of been the large scale Revell kit (1:28, released in 1957), or perhaps a somewhat rare in the U.S., Airfix 1:72 import. It might have been a wood and tissue flying model.

But I'd like to think it was one of the inexpensive and readily available Aurora kits that prompted that bit of pop culture.

101450

_________________
Remember the vets, the wonderful planes they flew and their sacrifices for a future many of them did not live to see.

Not much new in old aircraft models being reissued, but since you're on WIX, you'll have heard of the "X-planes" series of research aircraft. Well, Atlantis has come out with a kit of one of the more obscure members of the "X" projects family.

Most famously, the X-1, X-2 and X-15s explored the challenges of high speed. The X-5 tested the variable sweep wings concept. The X-24 and X-25 were modest home built designs looked at for possible military uses....an amphibian patrol plane and rescue rotorcraft respectively. Other X-planes, the X-14, 19 and 22, explored turbine VTOL concepts.

With the coming of the space age, some...the X-7 through 12 were not manned vehicles, rather rocket programs.
The later X-17 was another rocket. Simply, it was a small 3-stage rocket designed to hurl ICBM reentry warhead testing shapes into space.
Lockheed produced three quarter scale and three half scale rockets before producing 7 development (prototype) examples.
Finally, they produced 26 X-17s..of which 24 were launched.
There had three stages, the first powered by Thickol booster producing 8185 pounds of thrust. The second stage consisted of three smaller XM-19 Thickol rockets in a cluster, finally the third stage was a single XM-19.

The program was conducted qickly, with the first contracts being awarded in early 1955 and the final flight occurring in mid 1957.
It was considered a success as much data was acquired about high-Mach effects. Some of the shapes tested on X-17s were used on American first-generation ICBMs.

The kit was released just once, in 1957. That year was, as history buff will recall, the year that the space race went into overdrive. Revell was probably sure that any rocket or space kit would be a hit.

Like Revell's impressive line of rockets and armored vehicle kits of the period, it's molded in 1:40 scale.
Other Revell missiles included the little known Talos, Terrier, Dart, Little John and LaCrosse, Corporal {with transporter/launch truck..reissued in 1986 and 2010), the long serving and successful Hawk SAM, as well as the previously reissued NIKE SAM.

Another kit was the earlier Aerojet Aerobee (great name!), sounding rocket.
Unlike many early rockets and missiles which were produced as kits but didn't have a long career(most of them...Dart, Snark, etc) the Aerobee has the distinction of a very long operational life with over one thousand missiles being launched between 1947 and 1985.
In terms of importance, it could easily share a display case with models of other famous/important missiles. The Revell kit featured a towable movable launcher. It was released in 1958 and again in 1996.

Also in 1:40, Revell brought out a X-5 research plane and their best known kit in that scale, an impressive Douglas AD/A-1 Skyraider. The kit premiered in 1959, just a couple of years after priduction of the type ended. Like many Revell kits of the time it had several working features including retractable landing gear, dive brakes, and moveable control surfaces. The molds were dusted off in the '60s due to the type's service in Vietnam and last reissued in 1994. I hope Atlantis has those molds, but considering the date of its last issue, I'll bet they are with the new Revell.

Today, 1:40 scale is pretty much of an orphan.

Some competing military vehicle kits in period were done in the more common 1:48 scale...notably Aurora's tank series, several of which h have been reissued by Atlantis.
Renewal did a series of armor in 1:32; the Hawk SAM, "Sky Sweeper" AAA, and the large "Atomic Cannon" with two tractors which was last released in 2011 by Revell/Renwal.

Monogram did a series of four military vehicles in 1:35..two, a WWII MB/GPW Jeep (Scalemates lists the initial release as 1:32 scale) and a 1950s 2 1/2 ton truck, were most recently released under the Revell banner with a M.A.SH. TV series license along with a new tool Bell H-13H (47G2A) helicopter. Never mind that variant was produced after the Korean War...but so was the truck.
In Revell's defence, left over WWII Jeeps were used in Korea although they were superseded by the 1950s designs of the M38 (akin to a CJ-3A ) and M38A1 (predecessor to the round fender CJ-5).
Oh well..

Eventually, the industry standard of 1:35th prevailed for armor, vehicle and helicopter kits.
I would assume that Renewal 1:32 kits could fit in a 1:35 collection, it seems close enough to me, but I know folks who won't mix 1:24 and 1:25 model cars.

Still it would be great to see more of the Revell armor/missile kits released since several were subjects not modelled elsewhere. I'd love to see the High Speed tractor which was paired with the 155mm artillery piece. Also, the MB/GPW Jeep with trailer.

So, here we have an obscure kit of an obscure spacecraft...sounds like a great subject for Atlantic.
It will be interesting to see if these are bought as nostalgia builds by people who missed out on the original, or by younger model makers looking for something different.

133700

_________________
Remember the vets, the wonderful planes they flew and their sacrifices for a future many of them did not live to see.

I think I had a Centuri model rocket for it, she flew good and straight...

Phil

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A man's got to know his limitations.

You mean you attached a model rocket motor to one of these kits?

Not being a rocketry model guy, I wouldn't have thought there wouldn't be enough fin to fly straight.
But that's the fun of models, trying new stuff.

_________________
Remember the vets, the wonderful planes they flew and their sacrifices for a future many of them did not live to see.

No, Centuri was like Estes model rocket..

Phil

_________________
A man's got to know his limitations.

I never got into model rocketry, a friend did and had a lot of fun.
He even used the Estes camera rockets. Something I had never heard of.
The basic science of an Estes probably isn't much different than the X-17.
I have read that they were delivered fully fueled, so I'm guessing solid propellant.

_________________
Remember the vets, the wonderful planes they flew and their sacrifices for a future many of them did not live to see.

Welcome to 2026! Hope everyone has good year.

I received my weekly email from Atlantis a couple of days ago, they promise lots of vintage reissues in the coming year, so lets hope they'll be fun stuff.
I have a long list of vintage Revell and Monogram kits I'd like to see which they might have, we'll just have to wait and see.

For many, one of the "Holy Grail" of old kits is the 1959 Monogram Air Power set.

It consisted of a collection of 18 1:240 models of most of the aircraft in the then current USAF inventory...B-47, 52, 57, 58 and 66.
The C-130 and 135 along with a bit of a surprise, a SA-16 Albatross.
Not surprisingly, fighters made up the largest contingent with both old and new types: F-84F, 86, 89, 94, 100,101,102,104,105. Finally, the ubiquitous trainer of the era, the T-33.

Unfortunately, they neglected.to include the transport work horse of the era, the Douglas C-124...and the long serving C-47. My guess is they wanted to concentrate on the exciting combat types that appealed to model builders. As usual, helicopters are got the short end of the straw. The Sikorsky H-19 and Paisecki H-21 were still in use and would have complemented the Albatross in the rescue section.
It's probably no coincidence that Monogram had already done a kit of the Albatross, so they had drawings available. That might explain that somewhat surprising inclusion.

They purposely left out the B-36 which was retired a couple of years before, but they missed that the F-94 would be retired by mid-1959, about the time the kit would be hitting the shelves.
The F-106, the newest of the "Century Series" was still a year or so away from being operational, it would have been a welcome addition. The C-141 and USAF F-4s were still a few years away.

The kit was only released once, several years before I was old enough to begin building.
I had heard about the kit, and growing up on USAF bases of the period, I had seen most of the aircraft in the flesh.

At the risk of sounding like an old guy, I need to remind readers that in the days before the internet, you could hear about old its from folks older than you but not actually see them unless you went to a model show or a Toy and Model sale(which have pretty much become a victim of internet auctions).

To make a long story short, about 20 years ago, I bit a leather large caliber bullet and bout an inbuilt Air Power set off the internet for a silly price. I was able to justify it by amortizing the 18 aircraft over the hefty price of the kit.
By a weird coincidence, A year or so later, I went into a "antique" store I passed on my way home from work. I had never been there and asked the proprietor if she had any model kits. She Saud she had just received one...it was an untouched Air Power set. I cautiously asked the price. $30. I paid without question. I felt like I just robbed a bank.
So now I had two rare kits, and seeing the amount of detail required to do them justice, had no way of building them.

I eventually met Bill Engar, an award winning model builder and columnist for the IPMS Journal.
I asked him if he would build one for me and if so, he could keep the other.

So, you can read his thorough review of the kit here:

https://www.dembrudders.com/monogram-ai ... -1959.html

His review shows everything...the various unassembled kits, the instructions, decals and even the neat book Monogram included in the kit to help builders learn about the U.S. Air Force..and hopefully become the pilots of tomorrow. He even includes shots of the enclosed Monogram catalog.
As he has not yet finished the build (he had to take time off to move...twice...and do real life stuff like work) a friend provided great detailed shots of his completed kit.

Finally, Bill addresses the tantalizing prospect of the kit someday returning.
He is an unofficial advisor to Atlantis (he has built a kit for the box art) and is friendly with the firm's leadership.

They took notice of his YouTube video numbers (70,000+) and are seriously considering a reissue.
Unfortunately, they confirmed Monogram or Monogram/Revell lost or scrapped the molds a few decades ago, but with modern technology, it is possible...but expensive..to reproduce them.
Oddly, one MAJOR problem cones from an unexpected source. Atlantis has told Bill that one aircraft manufacturer has threatened to veto a design license if an aircraft from a competitor is part of the kit. (I have purposely omitted the names to protect the guilty).
Now, licenses for kits are a way of life, (even airlines want cash if a model company uses their livery...something they used to welcome for the publicity).
Since the aircraft producers were paid by the government for their designs, a harmless use like models (as opposed to spare parts or patents/designs) should be seen as public domain?

I think I know a way to get the firms to play ball...by having the USAF...their big customer...politely "Knock some heads together"
I've offered my help in getting that done. A career in the service, especially my time at AFMC HQ (T the organization which works with contractors) gives me some insight on what doors to knock on.

Enjoy Bill's well illustrated review...which has a link to the YouTube video.
Hopefully model fans can bring this kit back to the shelves.

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Remember the vets, the wonderful planes they flew and their sacrifices for a future many of them did not live to see.