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Rare
Birds!
Over
recent years the sheer variety of obscure kits that have been produced has
amazed me. With so many rarities out there, I thought it would be useful to
profile some of them here on the site. Whilst not currently available, we do
recommend keeping an eye on
Ebay if there is
a subject you are particularly looking for.
If
any readers have any rare and unusual kits that we could profile here, please
drop me a
line!
Marui
Aircraft Series No.3
1:36 Piper Cherokee 140
 
 
Found,
like No.2 Fuji FA200 Aero Subaru featured further down the page, on Ebay
Germany - this kit looks very good. Comments that I made about the Aero Subaru
apply to this as well.
Again,
a very neat product...
Staggerwings
Unlimited
Beechcraft Staggerwing
A
real rarity these days, and one of only two kits of this aeroplane that we are
aware of in 1:32 scale - the other being the resin kit by Scratchbuilders,
now, sadly, out of production. A re-pop of what we believe are old ITC moulds,
this version is long out of production - but it does crop up on Ebay from time
to time, which is where this example was sourced.
I'm
sure it's not standard to have the parts removed from the sprues as standard,
but that's how this one arrived - the parts breakdown being shown below. This
is very basic, as can be seen, and it looks like it featured motorisation at
some time in the past. Looks buildable though, and certainly doesn't look too
bad shape wise.
   
FM Models 1/32 Boomerang!
Another
rarity covered by Forrest Cox - read his review here:
The FM
Models, 1/32 Boomerang was released in 1993.
I received my first order of one kit directly from FM Models.
Within just a couple of months you could no longer order directly but I
did find a hobby store in Australia who indicated he could get them.
I ordered two additional kits and it took another 6 months to get them.
When they finally arrived I ordered two more and was told FM Models was
out of business.
From this exchange it
appears FM Models was in business for close to a year.
I have no idea how many of these kits were produced.
I’ve often wondered what happened to the vacuform molds, as you will
see in this review they were top quality female molds producing some of the
best vacuform I have ever seen. To
this day I have been unsuccessful in locating any residual trace of FM Models.
It would be very interesting to know what became of them.
The kit is a
multimedia and designed for advanced modelers.
You get 19 resin castings containing some 28 parts.
White
metal parts total 31, rubber tires, two canopy sets, decals, instructions, 3
view drawings, cutaway drawing, reference list, a photo sheet and a scale
paper copy of the instrument panel.
The resin parts are
molded in green resin. The backing
on most of them is about 1/8” thick.
The
resin does not have many visible bubbles or imperfections.
The parts are shown as molded in the next photograph.
Included are:
Engine block
Engine front cover
Cockpit bracing
Control Column Mount
Seat
Switch panel
Oleo Struts
Gun Sight Ring
Instrument Panel and Paper Gauge Sheet
Cockpit Side Console
Engine Air Scoop
Exhaust Pipe
Prop Blades
Prop Hub
Gun Barrels
Control Column Linkage Support
Control Column Linkage
Seat Support Frame
Instrument Panel Support Frame
Tail Wheel Faring
 
White metal parts are
medium/high quality, the rubber tires are cool.
Some have slag that needs to be removed and some are duplicates of
resin parts.
You get:
14 Cylinder Heads
2 Gun Barrels
2 Main Wheel Struts
2 Main Wheel Casters
Rear Wheel Caster
Control Column
Control Column Grip
Rudder Pedal Set
Control Column Linkage
2 Internal Wheel Hubs
2 External Wheel Hubs
3 Rubber Tires
Clear parts are really hard to see in photographs, the
ones included in this kit are clear and nicely formed.
They have the canopy framing cast into the clear parts for ease of
painting. There are also clear
parts for leading edges of the wing to cover camera and/or landing lights.
You get two sets in case you mess one up.
The instruction book
is pretty straight forward and leads you through the construction process
starting with the cockpit. Small
detail drawings and templates are provided for the scratch building that is
required. Many of the flat parts
such as wheel covers and backing plates must be made from scratch.
Some of the parts such
as the gun sight are drawn in a 3D view and you are simply directed to build
this from card or your spares box.
The really great part
about the kit is the vacuform parts.
They
are cast from two female molds. This
means that the detail from the mold remains on the outside of the aircraft.
Things like fine recessed panel lines and raised fabric supports are
all included in great detail. The
close-ups of the vacuform parts don’t accurately show the detail that is
really there. A great job of mold
making and it shows in the excellent parts.
  
  
The FM Models, 1/32
Boomerang is truly rare and recommended highly for experienced modelers.
Forrest
Revell/Takara
Kawanishi N1K1-Ja 'George'
One
of the 'Holy Grails' of the 32nd scale modeller with an interest in WWII
subjects - this kit has not, to our knowledge, been available since the early
80's...
These
kits do occasionally appear on Ebay - but command high prices. We thought it
would be useful for potential bidders to see what the kit is all about! I have
two in my personal collection - one part build, one not touched - I've
included pictures of both here.
   
   
 
Not
a lot I can add to the photos really - the kit looks accurate in shape,
surface detail is a mixture of very finely raised lines and rivets, and raised
panels with some recessed lines. Not state of the art these days - but given
that it's a twenty year old kit, it stands up extremely well.
   
  
Why
two? I'd like to do the Floatplane predecessor - the Kawanishi N1K1 Kyofu
'Rex'. If anyone out there has a Scratchbuilders conversion they'd like to
part with, please drop me a line!
Aerodynamix
Buccaneer!
Ah...
The legend! And just to prove it did exist - here's the proof, courtesy of
John Wilkes collection...
   
   
Tokyo
Marui Aircraft Series No.2 Fuji FA200 Aero Subaru
Another
Ebay find - this kit is actually 1:36, but we won't hold that against it -
especially as there is such a lack of civil aircraft kits in our favourite
scale!
This
looks rather good in the box - neatly engraved panel lines, very fine raised
rivets and very clean moulding in white styrene. The kit is designed to be
motorised, but my kit seems to be missing it's electric motor. The kit also
features a neat display stand, movable flaps, opening canopy and movable
reclining seats!
Even
more intriguingly, there are three other kits illustrated on the box side - a
Cessna 172 Skyhawk, a Piper PA-28 Cherokee and a Cessna 172 Floatplane.
Everything
is in Japanese, although an 'English' notes sheet is also included. Not sure
how widely these were distributed outside Japan, but this is the only one I've
ever seen. This example came to me via Germany.
The
manufacturer title on the box - 'Tokyo Marui Prastic Model Co' did make me
smile! Did anyone notice the Spitfire typo a few years back by Hasegawa? It
was labeled as I. R. Greed rather than the correct I. R. Gleed :-)
Still, far better than any attempt I could make in Japanese!
Overall,
a very neat product...
Escadrille
Model Co Junkers D1
Another
rarity from from my collection. A resin, photo etch and white metal kit of the
pioneering Junkers design from the First Work War.
This
is a very high quality product that I believe was limited to a run of 200. The
corrugated skinning is particularly well done. I found mine on Ebay and paid a
'healthy' sum for it. Now, if I could find the now out of print Windsock
Datafile I'd be busy building!
Essdale
Models Macchi MC-72
Another
rarity from my personal collection. This is a resin and white metal kit of the
famous Macchi MC-72 Schnieder Cup racer, the first of two such subjects
produced by this company, the second being the Supermarine S5. It is believed
that these kits are no longer available - a great pity as they are good kits
of a pair of very interesting subjects.
Essdale
Models Supermarine S5
This
is a resin and white metal kit of the famous Supermarine S5 Schnieder Cup
racer, issued as the second kit in the range by Essdale models.
The
kit is slightly higher quality than the MC-72 and is moulded in a grey resin.
Having seen several built up, the end result is very good - take a look at Ted
Taylor's
article
here for a look.
Lets
hope these subjects see light of day one again!
NKR
Models Zlin Z-XIII
Another
rarity from my personal collection. This is a simple resin kit of a very
elegant pre-war Czech aeroplane, cast in a somewhat soapy 'pink' resin. Not
sure what, if anything, else was produced in this scale by this manufacturer,
but the kit number is an intriguing 32105 - so I presume there were others?
NKR
Models Piper J-3C Cub - 32107
Courtesy
of Jack Gryskiewicz, we have a further example of NKRs work.
This
is also made out of "pinky"-resin and vacform parts, of which the
two fuselage halves are vacformed in clear plastic (probably to avoid any
difficulties installing the clear cockpit window panels in case the fuselage
was vacformed in "normal" polystyrene.!!) As you can see there are a
lot of rod like smaller parts, to build up the reinforcement for the
main wing and stabilators (just as the real aircraft) and the rigging system
for the floats. Cockpit interior is presented by simple resin floor panel and
chair parts and a instrument panel. Also included are engine cylinder parts
and prop. Jack bought this kit a couple of years ago at an IPMS meeting -
thanks for letting us know about it Jack!
RT
1102 Schnieder SG38 Glider
German
training glider of the late thirties and WWII period. This one's a real rarity
and I'll rely on the picture to speak a thousand words in this case. I've only
ever seen this kit once - so I bought it! That was about 10 years ago in a
traders 'bargain bin' at the IPMS UK National Championships for the princely
sum of £5. I have no knowledge of the company (West German), or any of the
other subjects covered (the kit is numbered 1102) - if anyone has any info -
I'd love to know! The only thing I've done to it so far is separate the
ailerons.
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