Paul's September Auckland Modellers Fair Kit Haul

Hi Woodsy,

The latest fair in Auckland was very successful for me, with a good haul of kits, die-casts, and books. This fair will be moving to a different venue in 2026, so this was the last event in the present hall.

First up, a look at the kits. Mostly aircraft this time.

The star of the day being this vintage Renwal Ballistic Missile Submarine (with firing Polaris missiles !) in a massive 1/200th scale. With interior detail, and 25 inches long, this would be an impressive model built up, although mine will be staying in its box.

A pair of inter-war racing planes – the Laird Solution Racer by Hawk, moulded in bright orange plastic. The kit comes with a pylon for low-level air racing, which acts as a display stand for the completed model.

The Curtiss Racer by Testors, is an ex-Hawk kit. This started out as the R3C-1 with a normal wheeled undercarriage; but it was later changed to the R3C-2 floatplane - moulded in boring old light grey.

The final, 1978 boxing of the Airfix P-38J Lightning from 1958; an early example of the Heller Spitfire Mk.I fighter; the Smer Tiger Moth from the Czech Republic (an ex-Merit kit, still with moulded in national insignia and serial numbers); an assembled AMT Jaguar XKE (E-Type) in the unusual scale of 1/43rd, which is more commonly used for die-casts; and finally an empty box, for the Panda B-52 Stratofortress bomber in 1/320th scale (ex-Fuji, from Japan).

Finally, two boxes of Bayko building bricks, by the Plimpton Engineering Co. Ltd., of Liverpool. The plastic bricks did not inter-lock in the now common manner, but were assembled on to upright metal rods.

This is not a toy I have ever had before, but it looks like fun. The parts are moulded in red, white, green, and light grey.

There was also a largely complete Airfix Fort Sahara (French Foreign Legion) Playfort. Only a few minor pieces were missing, and these are easily replaced – all the walls were there.

Plus a box of assembled small model railway buildings. 

Die-casts will follow in Part 2.

See anything you like?

Paul Adams from New Zealand

Little Mister Marker...Looey's TV Commercial Japanese Street

Hello Woodsy,

You wanted a story about the model Japanese village I was building for a TVC (television commercial)...

First, the build reminded me of a l situation I was in in the 1980's. There, the builder had had a heart attack in his forties. He rethought his life, bought himself a Harley bike and a leather jacket with the tassels and vowed he was a new man. Then he took on the TVC from Hell, got back into the same old same old, and was dead soon after!

This time, my pal from Superman Returns called me up to say he was building a bunch of miniature set ups and could I help? I was budgeted for 10 days and my work was mostly assembling laser cut carcasses, detailing the surfaces and doing the painting and detailing.

The big rub was, it was being shot in 4K resolution -or maybe 8K...

The lines of communication on this gig were woeful and never improved.

We had to make our own decisions, to stay on schedule then days later, changes would be demanded...

For 4K, my skills amassed over 30 years in the trade would need a massive upgrade. In the old days, I'd squint to get an idea of what would hold up for film resolution.

 As I moved into video production, I had to be much subtler. Now, I have to weather objects to the human eye, as if they were museum grade models.

 I was working on a series of Japanese houses that had to look used, but not grubby. As such I ended up using the barest smudges, as can be seen below the diamond shaped attic window.

There were also twisty problems, like painting graphics and writing on a corrugated roller door.

I couldn't transfer a tracing onto the bumpy surface, so I had to copy everything by eye onto the tops of the ridges and then paint down onto the valleys! The next time I'll make decals!

Just after I'd finished this, we got a shipment of new acrylic paint brush pens from China.

They were a revelation! I started off drawing graffiti all over the New York set, but quickly found they were better for painting figures than traditional brushes that need to be washed out for each colour change. 

I dusted off Superman pre-painted figures for the street dressing. A mark of the changing times, was having to re colour the red trucker caps on some of the figures as they have a different meaning now!

The marker pens were great for hand painting Japanese characters onto 30mm high paper lanterns. I copied the designs from a photo in an eBay listing!

I did everything from turning shiny white Barbie furniture into rococo antiques, to carving two square metres of Japanese paving into foam sheets. Using only a pencil and a lump of rock to bash in the texture, I dry brushed the results for a winning finish!

I don't have any pics of the final set up, as that was beyond my budgeted time. But having been retired for ten years, it was difficult snapping back into 10 hour workdays. 

I managed it, but I was exhausted by each day's end. - at least I didn't have two hours travel time each way to Fox Studios, to worry about after all that work!

Having pandered to unrealistic and unworkable demands, from people who wouldn't listen to three veteran's combined 90 years of on-set experience, I'm glad to be out of the game again.

From now on, the only unrealistic and unworkable demands I'll be pandering to, will be my own!

Back to my puppets!

Looey

Oz

The Convair US XFY-1 Pogo Fighter Kits

Hi Woodsy

The Convair XFY-1 Pogo was a US Navy experimental Vertical Take-Off and Landing fighter of the 1950s. It was powered by a single Allison YT40-A-6 turbo-prop engine, driving a six-bladed contra-prop (two three-bladed units rotating in opposite directions to cancel out torque).

The first vertical flight was made on 1st August 1954. The idea was that it could operate from escort ships, to protect convoys, without tying up aircraft carriers on such duties. The planned armament was four 20mm cannon, or unguided rockets.

The aircraft proved difficult to fly, and landing was a problem with the unconventional design. The programme was eventually cancelled, but the prototype still survives.

There have been several kits of the Pogo, including kits by Aurora and Lindberg from the 1950s. Both were 1/48th scale.

This is the 1/72nd scale KP kit from the Czech Republic. No.33 in the KP series. According to Scalemates it was released in 1993, and has been re-boxed several times.

I recently found this example in a model shop, on a shelf of older, second-hand kits, and snapped it up. It is moulded in light grey plastic, with a two-part canopy in clear plastic, and decals for the prototype.

There was also a 2021 version of the kit "In Services", which included fictional markings for operational aircraft in service with the US Marine Corps, Royal Navy, and Japan Air Self Defence Force. A Japanese aircraft adorning the box top.

I look forward to building this model once I get a few other projects finished off. It certainly fits in to the Wow Plane category.

Five photographs - three of my kit; and two of the "In Services" version from Worthpoint.

Is this a kit or a plane you know?

Paul Adams from New Zealand

Paul's AIP Thunderbird 1 Kit

Hi Woodsy

         On my most recent visit to a model shop, I spotted two of the new AIP (Adventures in Plastic)/Aoshima Thunderbirds kits. Thunderbird 1 and FAB 1.

I recall seeing the Lincoln International motorised kits in the shops way back in the 1960s, but Mum would not get them – they needed to be assembled she explained. Yes, I knew that, they were kits.

So I missed out, but now two of the AIP kits were before me. A bit expensive, but I could not resist.

Thunderbird 1 came home with me, and FAB 1 has been put aside. The shop only had one example of each, so it was a case of grab it now, or miss out.

The kit is moulded in silver-grey plastic, and fully assembled it will probably stand around nine inches tall. It can be assembled in flight mode, or on its landing gear. Wheels or skis are provided.

There is a decal sheet, for the markings. All the parts come packed in re-sealable plastic bags, which is a nice touch.

All the AIP kits come in great boxes, done like a 1960s TV set, with the subject in the centre of the TV screen. I am really looking forward to finally getting to work on a Thunderbirds model, once some other projects have been finished off.

Four photographs

Paul Adams from New Zealand

Aerial Jeeps by Paul Adams

Hi Woodsy

The ITC, later Glencoe, kit of the Piasecki VZ-8P Aerial-Jeep has been mentioned before on Moonbase Central. I recently came across some photos of the kit, and noticed a few odd things about the box art.

First up, the artist managed to get the colours of the US national insignia on the fin wrong. How do you do that - working only from a black and white photo, and knowing nothing about aircraft markings ?

The Star and Bar (post 1947 version) is shown as blue and white only. The central stripe in the side bars should be red, not blue, matching the stripes of the US flag.

However, the decal sheet in the kit is correct.

Next, the tank supporting the group of US infantrymen is a British Centurion. Six road wheels per side, the shape of the side plates over the tracks, and the angular stowage box on the side of the turret, all confirm it is a Centurion.

Why a British tank like this?

The artwork was later changed. The actual Aerial-Jeep image stays the same – and the national insignia is still the wrong colour – but the crew figures have been revised.

The crewman who was previously firing a rifle, is now looking through a pair of binoculars, and the others have also been slightly changed. The background painting is also different, and those now look to be US tanks in action.

This version is a lot rarer than the 'Centurion' box, at least judging from the listings for the Aerial Jeep on Worthpoint. Both box styles were numbered No.3674-98, and sold for 98 cents.

The address on the box is ITC, Hollis, New York. It does not appear the Aerial Jeep was re-issued by Ringo Toys in the 1960s, although they released many other ex-ITC kits.

The VZ-8P was later re-issued by Glencoe Models, but the name had been changed to Piasecki VZ-8P Airgeep. I assume so they did not have to pay to use the Jeep name ?

There were two styles of box art, with either a large or small version of the Airgeep in flight. Oddly, these have different kit numbers.

The large image is 05202, while the small image is 05203. In addition to the three original crewmen, at least some versions of this kit included a small bag of six one-piece US Army figures.

Eight Photographs from Worthpoint

Paul Adams from New Zealand

Monogram's Final Countdown Model Set by Paul A

Hi Woodsy,

On Max's Models Livestream 199, the film The Final Countdown (1980) came up. Which reminded me of the Monogram Final Countdown set.

'On maneuvers in the Pacific in 1980, the nuclear carrier USS Nimitz disappears...and reappears December 7, 1941...off Pearl Harbor'. The Nimitz, and her Air Wing, travel back in time to the day before the Pearl Harbor attack...and prepare to launch a strike against the Japanese fleet.

Modern Tomcat jets do battle with WW2 Zero fighters (guess who wins that one), but the ship returns to the present day before she can change history. Actually filmed aboard the Nimitz, there is plenty of air action in the film.

As a tie-in to the movie, Monogram Models put two of their existing kits in to a box, and labelled it as 'From the movie The Final Countdown'. The kits were the USS Nimitz aircraft carrier in 1/825th scale; and the Grumman F-14 Tomcat naval fighter in 1/72nd.

The box art is based on the movie poster, and shows a Tomcat launching from one of the bow catapults. According to Monogram Models by Thomas Graham, the original poster was by Revell artist Jack Leynnwood.

Stills from the movie run down the right side of the box, in a film strip. In the lower left-hand corner is a photograph of the two models.

The set was Monogram kit number 6032. It was released in 1980, but it was not available for very long.

Two photographs from Worthpoint.

Do you like it?

Paul Adams from New Zealand

Terranova47's Auto Gyro

Hello Woodsy

Having finished the Flying Jeep I realized that I now had three auto gyros, a somewhat eccentric form of aircraft.

Here they are:

On the left; The Flying Jeep/Hafner Rotarbuggy which didn't get beyond experimental stage. 1940's built in 1/32 scale.

In the foreground; The Cierva C.30 Rota. 1930's. A licensed built version appeared in Doc Savage stories. Over 100 built. Model 1/72 scale

On the right: The McDonald XV-1 Convertiplane 1950's. Two built, this updated the auto gyro idea by also powering the rotor to lift the craft eliminating a long run before the pusher propeller created enough speed for the rotor to provide lift. 

Here shown in Spacefleet colours as per a Frank Hampson reference sketch for Dan Dare. Model approximately 1/48 scale.

Terranova47

USA

Kevin's Moebius Seaview Build

Hi,

I've recently completed this Moebius kit of Seaview. Great model but stupidly big!

Dive, dive!

Kevin

UK

Rob's Boeing Bomarc Missile Model

Woodsy,

Here is my most recent model kit build, Boeing’s Bomarc IM-99 surface-to-air guided missile, first tested in 1952, put into production in 1957, and made obsolete shortly thereafter by the new threat of high-speed ICBM missiles.

Originally a 1958 Revell kit, this is the 2023 Atlantis Models reissue.

The launch platform was the fun part!

Hope you like it.

Rob C

USA

Aurora Sealab III Re-issue

Hi Woodsy

Doll and Hobby Georgia is another small company reproducing vintage Aurora plastic kits, which have been unavailable for decades.

 Their latest project is the U.S. Navy Sealab III kit - the real Sealab being an underwater base for divers and undersea exploration.

Aurora kit number 721 was only available 1970-71. It was to 1/93rd scale, and was moulded in orange plastic, with a green base.

It had interior detail, and optional clear or opaque hull halves. There were also two scuba divers.

According to Scalemates, the only releases have been by Aurora in 1970; a resin copy by Masterpiece Models (J & S Technologies LLC) in 2017; and now a plastic version from Doll and Hobby Georgia in 2025. 

This video by CultTVman, the man behind D&HG, takes a detailed look at the kit, and its production from new moulds.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PRFzEYunE-Y

The new version comes moulded entirely in yellow plastic, and has over 150 parts, including four divers. Really interesting.

If you want one, it is a pretty expensive kit at $80 or $90 US, but that is still going to be a lot cheaper than a vintage Aurora model. 

The box art is the same as the original Aurora model, except that the U.S. Navy title has been removed.

Paul Adams from New Zealand