Model Forum / General / Models / May 2008

The oldest part is definitely a single, solitary British 1000lb bomb with a
114 tail in white plastic. I'm pretty sure this came out of an Airfix Hawk
T1 kit sometime around 1978. It is in excellent condition and there is no
reason why I couldn't use it at some point in the future.

The other oldest parts are all from various F-4 kits.  The next oldest is
the remains of a sprue from a 1/72 Italeri F-4G kit that I built as an F-4F
around 1980. The F-4G fin top pod and nose fairing radome are still on the
sprue. The Hasegawa F-4G isn't available at the moment, so it has been my
intention to use these parts on a Hasegawa F-4E. I suppose I should really
transfer them from the spares box to the F-4E kit that is earmarked for the
F-4G build. And I really should actually *build* it at some point.

Next oldest...  a pair of travel pods still on their sprue from the very old
Hasegawa F-4E. These are easily recognisable as they are moulded in that odd
glossy blue/grey plastic that Hasegawa used in the 70s. Again, these could
be used at some point.

What will probably never be used are the leading edge slats, missile rails
and Sidewinders from an Esci F-4E kit. They are moulded in a light tan
colour and are quite crude by modern standards, although at the time they
were issued they were state of the art.

Oh, and there's a solitary AGM-65 Maverick missile in there as well. I can't
say for certain what kit it came from, although a small voice from my memory
is telling me that it was the Airfix F-16A.

My parts box is a mess, but for certain contains a few parts (drop
tanks etc) from some early 60s Revell kits (found on evil-bay, my own
vintage is 1968).

Prop/Spinner from the 1:72ish Bf.109F from Lindberg. Purchased back in
1958, the model cost all of 19¢.....

That's hard to say, I started my spares stash when I started building
nearly forty years ago. Several modelers donated their spare parts to
me, so it is nearly impossible to know. I do know that some of the
parts go as far back as some of the earliest mass produced styrene
kits.

Do we count parts of kits we never finished, but may use the parts
left anyway/ I have a mostly completed Battleship Missouri (Sterling)
that I still have the fittings parts for. I may never finish it.I
bought it and built it up to the state it is currently in when I was
about fifteen, which was 55 years ago. Occasionally I still debate
whether to finish detailing it. It is getting knocked about, and every
year I put off the decision it would get harder to finish because I
need to repair the damage it has suffered over these fifty plus
years :-(

on 5/20/2008 3:10 AM  WmB said the following:

I guess a bunch of us that have built model airplanes for the last
quarter century have more missiles and bombs left over than the military
has in stock.:-)
I know I have small parts cabinets with drawers full of them in various
plastic colors.

The nose piece from my first Aurora F-94C.  I built the kit in 1957 and
I don't recall when I tore it apart or why.  Nothing remains here of its
companion F-100A.  
Around 1966 I found another one that had been 'upgraded' with two sets
of three missiles to hang under the wings.  (Those were not present in
my original kit.)  I built that one then and rebuilt it about 20 years
ago for my last hobby show display.

Bill Banaszak, MFE Sr.

Probably the collection of 1/32 engines from Lindberg auto kits along with
the windscreen from their 1/32 Bug eyed Sprite; from the late 50's(?) early
'60s. And I have no idea why I kept the windscreen :-)

The oldest spares I can identify come from very late 1950's and early
1960's kits that I scrapped in the late 1960's.  Most are useless but
I can't bear to sling them out.  What bothers me more is the fact that
the oldest kits in my stash were bought in 1966 and 1967.

Gordon McLaughlin