[MR RACING]

Lindberg carries kits that are
direct descendant's of early plastic model kits
here's excerpt from Old Plastic Model Kits history article
'In 1944 Varney produced a wood, cardstock and metal PT boat kit'
which was redone by O-lin which became Lindberg
Kit #70886
which you can buy today

 

[MR RACING]

here's link to model history articles
http://www.oldmodelkits.com/blog/category/plastic-model-kit-history/
quote 'At the end of the war, Varney introduced an LST'
and here's the modern day lindberg kit 70865
anybody build these kits recently or build the originals?

 

[MR RACING]

another quote from article
'In 1946 Varney followed these with a U.S. Fleet Submarine '
here's the lindberg kit #70885
these kits are made in USA
any model building tips?

 

[coldwater]

I don't know a thing about these particular kits, but I can't begin to tell you the hours I spent as a kid building models. I must have put a thousand miles on my bicycle, riding down to Pauls hardware and sporting goods in the center of the little town I lived in, to buy a new kit every time I had an extra $1.50 in my pocket. Honestly, some of the most fun I have ever had in my life, was sitting at the desk in my room, hours on end, building a new model. I can still remember opening that desk drawer where all my "tools" were kept, like the tweezers I stole from the medicine cabinet, the single edge razor blades. And that smell of the old Testors model glue, which always seemed to be dried up when you needed it! And those piles of little Testors paint bottles and paint brushes, some of them usually upside down, spilled out, and stuck to the bottom of the drawer . What a shame that kids just don't use their minds and imaginations, and put their hands to building things any more. I hadn't thought about that in years. Thanks for reminding me!

 

[MR RACING]

we skipped 2 kits in article they were Hawk
Curtis R3C-1 racer and Stinson Voyager
quote from article:
'The first O-lin airplane model was one not many people know about, a P-80B that would live decades into the future as Lindberg’s F-80C.'
here's the present day kit #70552

 

[MR RACING]

ok here's one we skipped by accident
quote:'In 1946 Varney followed these with a U.S. Fleet Submarine and Stearman PT-17'
current Lindberg kit 72582

 

[Steamguy]

I don't know a thing about these particular kits, but I can't begin to tell you the hours I spent as a kid building models. <SNIP>

I also spent many hours building models as a kid. Probably thousands of hours. In the late 50's to mid-60's, the Lindberg kits were not very good. At all. You couldn't count on anything fitting together right. I spent a lot of time scraping, filing, and hand-fitting those old "Lindberg Line" kits together; Lindberg Line kits were where I learned to use an X-Acto Mitre Box. You needed one to cut stuff up and make it fit back together right. And you had to have a really good fine file, and I had the use of a great one ... until my dad found out where his diamond point file went!

If you found what you were looking for in Revell, you were golden. The Revell kits were really well-engineered. Hopefully Lindberg is up to that quality, now.

When my folks sold our old house, I left behind a 4x8 sheet of plywood suspended in the basement as a shelf, just filled to the top with all kinds of models.

If you wanted a Craftsman type kit, you bought a Hubley metal model. I remember building a '30 Packard that took the better part of six months to finish, because all the parts were cast from pewter and WOW was it a challenge. But it was beeyoooteeful when it was done. I still have it packed away somewhere.

Good memories.

 

[bontai Joe]

Holy cow, I have no idea as to how many models I built. I built cars, airplanes, trucks, boats and whatever else caught my eye, even a couple of motorcycles. Built a LOT or Aurora and Revelle, and some other companies that I've since forgotten. I did one metal car. Boy that was tough, I think I was really too young to appreciate the patience needed for that one.

And Coldwater, your description of the tools and paints was dead on! I STILL to this day have an old cigar box filled with a couple of dozen bottles of Testors paints. Stuff has to be every bit of 40 years old, I wonder if it's dust inside thos bottles? And out of all the models I built I don't have a single one to show for all those hours spent cutting, filing, gluing and painting.

On another forum, I remember a fella was looking for plastic models of farm tractors that he wanted to put together. He and I did a lot of looking and it seems the only thing available are the diecast metal toys already finished.

 

[MR RACING]

thank you coldwater
we have this now so things
are a little more organized

 

[MR RACING]

quote from article:
'February of 1951 at the New York Toy Fair that Sol spotted Precision Specialties 1/32 scale acetate automobile kits or “Highway Pioneers” '
here's Lindberg #72134
which is available today and about 8 other 1/32 car kits
we picked this one because we have one

 

[MR RACING]

quote from article:Hawk added four classic racers in 1948, all molded in acetate - the Gee Bee, Howard Ike, Laird Solution and the Supermarine S6B.
here's the Lindberg kit of the Laird
and the have the Gee Bee kit

 

[MR RACING]

Lindberg has series of classic cars 1/24 scale
http://www.lindberg-models.com/
may be Highway Pioneer 1/24 scale
this one's Mercedes SSK Kit #72326
also have '48 Lincoln Continental, Cord, Auburn and Bugatti Royal
pic's are of classic Mercedes
we built a long time ago

 

[MR RACING]

ok back to the article
quote:'Hawk made the switch to polystyrene in 1949 for the F-84 and Lockheed Constellation.'
Lloyd controls Hawk & Lindberg
guess they're saving F-84 molds
Lindberg Kit 70553
F-86 A

 

[windowgoblin]

I have built several as a kid too.I still collect them and built several over the past few years.The Lindberg kits were always poor quality with the exception of a few kits.Revell and mpc were good kits amt is decent.no matter what kit or brand there is a ton of work to them to make them fit and look right or customize.I wish I had some of those old kits from the 50's and 60's you guys talk about,they are the Holy Grail kits now.I have over 200 in my collection in boxes and several also built,but none of those old kits.

 

[MR RACING]

window goblin
here's a holy grail type kit
'Westinghouse Atomic Power Plant'
anyhow we're happy with classic
reissues from AMT & Revell
Lindberg has been chugging
along keeping kits in production
we appreciate that

 

[Kbeitz]

My models was all metal....

 

[MR RACING]

kbeitz
do you have one of these sets?
A. C. Gilbert U-238 Atomic Energy Lab
it included real radioactive material
ahh! to be a kid in the 50's

 

[Rcardo292]

Model building is a great hobby, tried to get my son into it but he wasn't interested. I have spent countless hours with my friends building them.
I remember one summer we sat almost everyday building these wild rat rod and custom machine from a huge box of parts my mom scored at a garage sale. Anyone else really get into the detailing like hand painting the interior ,
making plug wires from heavy thread ?

Remember this one?

 

[MR RACING]

thank you rich
nice job on the bus kit
window goblin is way into kit building
like interiors and wiring
we like the reissues like this

 

[windowgoblin]

I like the reissues too,I have some.I like the muscle cars and drag cars the most.That old revell kit looks cool.and the erector sets were awesome,no plastic parts too break.worth a few bucks these days.