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Model Forum / General / Models / January 2006Question for the old farts - Curtiss R3C Racer
I seem to recall seeing somewhere that the Testors R3C Curtiss Racer is the oldest plastic kit still in production. Is this correct?  SignatureM Stanley Webmaster: Pelikan Model Club www.percongrp.com/pelikan.htm . > I seem to recall seeing somewhere that the Testors R3C Curtiss Racer is the > oldest plastic kit still in production. Is this correct? [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > > . I think the Lindberg USS Gato sub may claim to be older but its a convoluted story and IIRC is only based on the earlier molding. > I think the Lindberg USS Gato sub may claim to be older but its a > convoluted story and IIRC is only based on the earlier molding. According to Fine Scale Modeler's on-going articles about antique kits (article #59), the USS Gato started life in 1945 as Varney's "Fleet Sub" (saw ads for these in old "Air Trails" magazines from that time period. According to the article, Lindberg took over the molds in 1951. Lindberg's kit used the older Varney mold for the smaller parts and fabricated a new hull (the original was solid (?)). HTH, > > I think the Lindberg USS Gato sub may claim to be older but its a > > convoluted story and IIRC is only based on the earlier molding. [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > fabricated a new hull (the original was solid (?)). > HTH, I remember the Varney kit. The hull was a solid black bakelite casting. Bill Shuey (giving my age away) I dunno, AMT/Ertl just reissued, for the umpteenth time, the old AMT 1932 Ford Coupe kit, which dates back to the summer of 1959, and if the Gowland & Gowland Highway Pioneers car kits are still being molded in Europe, some of those tools go back to 1951-53. Art Anderson >I seem to recall seeing somewhere that the Testors R3C Curtiss Racer is the >oldest plastic kit still in production. Is this correct? > I seem to recall seeing somewhere that the Testors R3C Curtiss Racer is the > oldest plastic kit still in production. Is this correct? [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > > . I believe the old Hawk (Testors) Supermarine Racer kit is older. The first plastic kit I can recall was the Allyn Lockheed P-80 kit. This pre dated the Lindberg kit. No cockpit, just a molded pilot head on one fuselage half. Bill Shuey >> I seem to recall seeing somewhere that the Testors R3C Curtiss Racer is the >> oldest plastic kit still in production. Is this correct? > I believe the old Hawk (Testors) Supermarine Racer kit is older. Don't think so. I don't have one of course but 'cording to John Burns' book, the plans on the earliest issue of the Curtiss racer are dated 1946. That considerably predates the Supermarine kit. Moreover, the original run of Hawk kits began with the kit number 600 - which was the kit number assigned to the Curtiss racer with wheels. The Supermarine S6B didn't show up until number 618 - which was, admittedly, a lower number than the float-plane version of the Curtiss R3C which was kit number 620. Cheers, I think the Testors (ex-Hawk) F2H-2 Banshee is older, but those molds were updated about 1958 with landing gear and bombs and rockets. I had one that consisted of about 11 parts (navy blue with a green tinted cockpit and stand) in the early 1950s. Cookie Sewell |
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