Hubert Boillot Posted January 7, 2016 Share Posted January 7, 2016 (edited) I started modelling in the late 60's, with Airfix, Frog and Heller "Musée" kits, all in 1/72. Then came Matchbox, with their fast-paced release of 1/72 kits, molded in garish colors, and still remembered today for their famous "trenches" recessed panel lines. Their range was not only wide, it was full of original subjects, and it was available through a wide array of stores. The tobacconist near where my parents lived soon received regular visits from me, to buy the last Matchbox kit. With my modelling buddies of the Geneva and Savoie area, we have a yearly "challenge" for fun, to be completed for the last meeting of the year, before Christmas. This time, one of us had the opportunity to buy from a retiring gentleman, at a good price, a wide collection of Matchbox kits, some of them in their original boxes of the early 70s. Thus was born the "Matchbox challenge" : to build an OOB 1/72 Matchbox kit of our choice, using what we know today, but without major modifications. I could not resist the nostalgia bout, and the idea of building an OOB kit without any self-imposed pressure, seemed a good way to boost the modelling mojo. I chose three kits : the Hawker Fury (PK1, the first ever Matchbox kit), the Boeing P-12E (PK3, their third kit) and finally the strange looking Vickers Wellesley. The Fury and P-2E were in their original 1972 box. For technical reasons, as we changed the restaurant where our monthly gatherings take place, we decided not to bring our kits of the Matchbox challenge for the Christmas diner, so this will be at the end of this month, and this gave me the extra hours to finish the pesky rigging. I focused on building the Boeing P-12E (you can't get enough yellow wings !). It was actually (as the Fury btw) a nice little kit, with good fitting, fine details and fairly thin trailing edges. The panel lines were fine raised ones. The kit still holds its own some 43 years afetr its first release compared to some modern releases. I just detailed the cockpit, by adding a dashboard, a joystick, a facsimile of the gun-breeches and the tubular structure holding the IP and guns, and finally refining the seat. all the other parts as OOB. I rigged it (aaaargh !) using Uschi's "standard" elastic rigging line. This was the most difficult part of the build : these wires are really small ! I chose one of the in-box schemes, a P-12E of the 27th Pursuit squadron, 1st Pursuit Group, in 1935. One pic I had showed it had a tail skid rather than the kit-supplied tail-wheel, so this one was done with three small pieces of 0,5 mm plastic rod. The decals are from the box. They were a bit old, and by precaution, I added a layer of Microscale decal liquid film on top to keep them together. This did not prevent the underwing "U.S. Army" logo to disintegrate somewhat, but I managed to bring the pieces together. Not sure about the density of the white in the stars and rudder-bars, I masked the white primer to have white disks under the forthcoming decals. It was effective. Et voilà ! A good fun project, that did me a lot of good, first because of the nostalgic content and second by the benefit of stress-free OOB build. Hope you like it. Hubert [/url] Edited January 7, 2016 by MostlyRacers Leaning_Dog, Shaka HI, Mister J and 1 other 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ClumsyDude Posted January 7, 2016 Share Posted January 7, 2016 Wow, Hubert, that's impressive. I was impressed even before I saw the ruler ... Jim Hubert Boillot 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mywifehatesmodels Posted January 7, 2016 Share Posted January 7, 2016 (edited) I built this one as a kid. It didn't look anything like THAT! Great job and thanks for the memories! Edit: There was an old hardware store near where I grew up. In the 1980's, the owner retired and they closed up shop. They put everything on a super sale and I ended up getting a bunch of the old matchbox and other kits (that had probably been in the store for 20 years or more) for just a few dollars. I was in heaven! Even though those kits left a lot to be desired, I didn't care at the time and some of my greatest memories in the hobby came from them. John Edited January 7, 2016 by mywifehatesmodels Hubert Boillot 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 7, 2016 Share Posted January 7, 2016 Wow, Hubert, that's impressive. I was impressed even before I saw the ruler ... Jim Agreed!!....Harv Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LSP_Kevin Posted January 7, 2016 Share Posted January 7, 2016 That looks terrific, Hubert! I had a similar modelling diet to you as a kid, so these kits have great nostalgia value for me, too. I thought Matchbox kits were generally better moulded and better fitting than those from Airfix and Revell at the time. Kev Hubert Boillot 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leaning_Dog Posted January 7, 2016 Share Posted January 7, 2016 Well isn't that a treat? Beautiful build, Hubert! John. Hubert Boillot 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hubert Boillot Posted January 7, 2016 Author Share Posted January 7, 2016 Thanks guys . I realised the pics are a bit blurred. The camera seems to be struggling to focus properly that close to the subject. I'll try to make and post better pics tomorrow. Hubert Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Peterpools Posted January 7, 2016 Share Posted January 7, 2016 Hubert What a gem - just beautifully done. Sure brings back a lot of memories. :thumbsup: Peter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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