Revell 1/32 F-14, Can a model I built 35 years ago be saved?

[blackjet604 1]

As I reach age 50 there are a lot of things that have changed.  The largest difference from the 15 me to the 50 is I left model building a long time ago.  In high school.  Occasionally I would look at FSM on the Barnes and noble stand and marvel at all the new stuff that people have to build today.  The 1/32 scale He-219 and P-61 began to call out to me.  Specifically after a visit to the Udvar Hazy center to see the real things.  However I have no business building anymore, and couldn’t really justify the expense if I wasn’t going to make a place in the house for them.  I did decide to see if I had any of my old skills however and began finding the remnants of the kits I had built all those years ago.  Interestingly the F-14, perhaps the greatest of all of the circa 1970-2000 era fighters called out loudest.  In the day I had attempted to “catch” the Tamiya kit at $50.00 with a $16.00 Revell kit.  I liked what I did.  But after multiple moves it was sadly missing many parts and coming apart....it was sad.   Can an old kit be rebuilt...?

[MikeMaben 5,932]

Sure...depending.

"Coming apart" is not a problem. What's missing ?

 

 

[blackjet604 1]

Now really trying to figure out how to upload the photos....I did not expect the new program required...working on that!

[ScottsGT 3,108]

A few of us have some old parts layin around.  Post up some photos.  An old Revell F-14 I built as a “young adult” about 25 years ago helped out another member a while back seeking a canopy.  My old build had suffered a rough life of falling from a ceiling at one time.   

[LSP_K2 21,502]

If it's missing any truly "needed" parts, try the trader board here. If that doesn't pan out, the old Revell Tomcats can be had for a reasonable price, if you shop around. Good luck with it.

[Tnarg 1,390]

In a lot of ways, this matches many people's motivation to build. We had fun as young lads and now we are old(er) and a bit gray, we can recapture that wonder we felt when we slapped the kit together in a day... except we then get stuck in AMS (advanced modeler syndrome) and want to keep upgrading the details.  Find the old kit on ebay and build it again if you can't sort out the missing parts. Whatever you do, have fun.

 

Tnarg

[LSP_Kevin 28,202]

I'm a great believer in saving old models and rebuilding them to a higher standard. One of my own favourite builds features just such an exercise using the Revell Zero.

 

Before:

 

 

 

During:

 

 

After:

 

 

 

 

You can check out the build thread for all the gory details:

 

 

Kev

 

 

[dennismcc 4,110]

Did the same sort of thing a few years back, we moved out of the country for 10 years, when I got back I looked in my display cabinet and was a bit disappointed in a few of the builds as my modelling had moved on a bit in 10 years, however rather than scrapping them I decided to give them a make over, new details, new paint and new decals. It was a very enjoyable experience.

 

Cheers

 

Dennis

[ssculptor 3,874]

Excellent concept, rebuilding our elderly built kits. 

My intention, however, is to modify them because I am living in the lost country of Vulgaria and have become their chief designer. Vulgaria, a lost country of the Balkans,  has their own specific needs in terms of design so I will keep busy. 

Vulgaria's offical motto: "You can't get there from here and if you could you would never be able to find your way out." 

Stephen

[Royboy 984]

In the circle of my modelling friends, we are continually updating, or as we call it, re-imagining, some of our kits! 

It's great fun and truly amazing the difference in appearances of those models over the years of owning them.

Great example from Kevin here, I'd encourage more people to do it rather then consigning them to the storage areas or even the bin!

Good luck with the F-14!!