CabDriver Posted February 19 Share Posted February 19 I was thinking today about how, in literature, they have the ‘canon’ - a list of books that are considered must-reads and important works that have stood the test of time. That got me to thinking…what are the must-build classic kits that a builder attempting to know kit history and consider themselves ‘well read’ should build in their lifetime? Not necessarily just easy to build kits that fall together, or kits that we personally could build often, but ones that are important somehow to the landscape of scale modeling? I’m thinking, say, the Red Baron (probably one of the best selling kits of all time), or maybe the Revell 32 Fords, or the AMT 40 Ford or the old Revell double kits or…. 🤷♂️ I’d be interested to know which kits people here consider to be not just GOOD kits, but CLASSICS? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stitchdup Posted February 19 Share Posted February 19 The tamiya bug has to be in the list. If you ever want to buld a custom bug the tamiya is by far the best to start with. You can build it out of the box for a nice stock build, but it also has enough detail for those of us that want something more and the floorpan is the best for doing body swaps as it doesn't include the arches on the pan like the revell does. Its also useful if you want to full detail a gunze ghia as the chassis fit is just the same as the tamiya ghia. it could also be used under a palmer kit if you wanted to call it a kit car For the split bus kits I would go for the hasegawa just because i prefer the one piece body and it has more aftermarket available for it. Slamming it is as easy as raising the chassis mounts on the body and trimming the seat bases beach buggys I would go for the blackbox 3d printed street buggy. the kit ones are nice but the street buggy has engine and chassis options which in effect make the one kit into a nine engine variation if you mix and match parts and has 2 suspension options revell mk1 golf. nothing much to be said, it blow every other mk1 kit out of the water and with the aftermarket options you can use it to full detail the tamiya kamai racecar fujimi mk2 golf. I just prefer the fujimi to the revell. I know the revell should be a better kit but it kinda looks stretched or tall to me. the fujimi looks more right in the body from a visual perspective and it doesn't have stretched front seat bases. I know people have measured both and the revell is closer to being right scaled but the fujimi still looks more right to me. tamiya nissan skyline r32 and 72 skyline kits. the skyline is a important car just because of its race heritage and cult status in the tuning world. these are good kits that build up nice italeri ford escort mk2 rally car. old kit thats showing its age but if you just want one rally car on your shelf it should be the one thats still being raced hard today. any pre war car kit by heller. everybody should build a heller kit at some point just because of the different way they go together. revell snapper tractors. once together nobody will know its a snapper. look great on the shelf and if you buy 2 you and your grandkids can build the same model together. they include stickers and decals heller massey ferguson te20. the best tractor kit by far. sure the autoart ones have more parts but the fergie was sold everywhere. there is nobody alive today thats food production didn't involve a fergie at some point. a jeep kit needs to be included. if it wasn't for the jeep land rover wouldn't have had something to copy 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
atomicholiday Posted February 19 Share Posted February 19 (edited) My vote would be for just about any of the 70's era Monogram 1/24 scale car kits. Many of them are iconic and should be on this list. Some of the more iconic examples are the California Street Vette, any of their tri-five Chevys, and of course, the '69 Camaro. The Camaro in particular is a "must build" in my opinion. Everyone has an opinion about this one, both good and bad. No, it's not the most accurate representation, but it is definitely a fun kit to put together, and in recent years it seems to have overcome a lot of the negative hype surrounding it and is starting to be respected and loved for what it is. A great nostalgia build. Love it or hate it, just build it and see for yourself. Edited February 19 by atomicholiday 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NOBLNG Posted February 19 Share Posted February 19 I don’t know if this kit qualifies as a “classic”. But I think everyone should build one. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobss396 Posted February 19 Share Posted February 19 Yeah, I'm old. I'd revert back to the AMT Trophy Series kits. '40 Ford coupe '34 Ford pickup '36 Ford coupe '49 Ford and Mercury '53 Ford pickup '32 Ford kits I'm sure I am forgetting a few. 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike 1017 Posted February 19 Share Posted February 19 Thames, Austin, and a Willys Gassers Mike 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fat Brian Posted February 19 Share Posted February 19 Unfortunately, a lot of "classic" model kits don't hold up today. I took a shot at the Monogram Bad Man kit last year and halfway through I was wondering why I was subjecting myself to building such a bad kit when good 55 chevys exist. I feel like kits of that vein need a high dose of nostalgia for the builder to tolerate their shortcomings. 3 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carsntrucks4you Posted February 19 Share Posted February 19 1st issue of Revell's VW Microbus from 1957 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike C. Posted February 19 Share Posted February 19 Defiantly the 1/16 off road Revell Chevy truck with bike. I also have a 1/16 Revell CJ78 Jeep with RM Suzuki. All of the early 80 1/12 Motocross bikes including 2 Baja Huskys. 2 Monogram square body Blazers and some others.... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ace-Garageguy Posted February 19 Share Posted February 19 6 hours ago, atomicholiday said: The Camaro in particular is a "must build" in my opinion. No offence to you, but to me, that looks as misshapen and odd as anything Palmer or Premier ever put out. Come to think if it...everyone ought to build some of those P&P gems just to put in perspective how GOOD some of the more recent kits are in comparison. 3 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
atomicholiday Posted February 19 Share Posted February 19 1 hour ago, Ace-Garageguy said: No offence to you, but to me, that looks as misshapen and odd as anything Palmer or Premier ever put out No offense taken at all. Your comment just provides an example of what I mean about the Monogram kit. It’s one of those models that you either love or hate.👍 It’s all nostalgia for me. I built a few as a kid and plan to do another over the next 1-2 years for comparison. And maybe relive a little of my youth.😁 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Posted February 19 Share Posted February 19 When those reissued 1/24 scale Camaros turned up at Ollie's, they dried up fast. Sometimes it's not about how good the kit is, that one seems to have been built by a lot of people over the years. Some of those people want to take another swing at one. Same goes for the Monogram '66 Malibu. I know a guy who buys collections of built models, if he finds a collection from someone who was an active builder in the late Seventies through about 1990, that collection will invariably have at least one each of those Malibus and Camaros. And an AMT '64 Impala, and probably an Old Pro Nova and Red Alert Chevelle too. Anyone who is into Fifties American cars, or Chevrolets in general, should wrestle with one of the Revell opening-everything Tri-Five Chevies. The '57 hardtop is "easiest", followed by the '55. The '57 Nomad and '56 sedan should only be attempted by someone who has successfully built at least one of the "easier" ones. 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daddyfink Posted February 19 Share Posted February 19 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carmak Posted February 19 Share Posted February 19 7 hours ago, bobss396 said: Yeah, I'm old. I'd revert back to the AMT Trophy Series kits. '40 Ford coupe '34 Ford pickup '36 Ford coupe '49 Ford and Mercury '53 Ford pickup '32 Ford kits I'm sure I am forgetting a few. This is a good list of the kits everybody built during the first golden era of model cars. As a vintage survivor collector / restorer I am always looking for collections from the late 50's to the late 60's, there are always a few of these kits there in collections from this era. All I would add is: * Amt Model A (double kit) * Amt Model T (double kit) 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StevenGuthmiller Posted February 19 Share Posted February 19 The AMT 1956 and ‘57 Ford Fairlanes, and the AMT 1958 Chevy Impala. Steve 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tabbysdaddy Posted February 19 Share Posted February 19 The Camaro is one of my builts, back when I was 50/50 on painting bodies so I liked molded in color. I did get another from Ollie's so I can paint it this time. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smitty Posted February 20 Share Posted February 20 (edited) The Johan Chrysler Turbine Car comes to mind. It represents a bit of a bench mark I’d say. A very ambitious undertaking by Johan for its time because of its high level of detail-and i found it to be a challenging kit to build. Edited February 20 by Smitty Photo added 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JollySipper Posted February 20 Share Posted February 20 I kinda think that the Monogram '37 Ford coupe and variants fall into the 'must build at least one' column. I've built three of the coupes myself. The time they were tooled in was a good time for autos in general, so there's those cool contemporary parts from the time......... 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ace-Garageguy Posted February 20 Share Posted February 20 If you really really want to go all vintage nostalgia, start-a-whittlin'... 3 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1972coronet Posted February 20 Share Posted February 20 Definitely anything by Palmer (et alia). Beyond that, the balsa wood airplanes are a must. Sea Monkeys . 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slusher Posted February 20 Share Posted February 20 (edited) Here is two I enjoyed a young teen" I sure need another shot at the Mustang but I built the Thunderbird 20 years ago from Walmart.. pictures are from EBay".. Edited February 20 by slusher Spelling 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bills72sj Posted February 20 Share Posted February 20 The 59 Fairlane with the retractable top. Revell 57 Nomad. (It intimidates me every time I open the box) 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redscampi Posted February 20 Share Posted February 20 To go down a slightly different path...some kits I built (or wanted to build) when I was young that were iconic for me. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
atomicholiday Posted February 20 Share Posted February 20 6 hours ago, Ace-Garageguy said: If you really really want to go all vintage nostalgia, start-a-whittlin'... Oh my... where's my chainsaw? Is there photo etch available for this kit? Seriously, there's a part of me that would be tempted. @CabDriver - great idea for a thread. I'm really enjoying seeing everyone's suggestions. Some are really taking me back to the beginnings of my model building days. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobss396 Posted February 20 Share Posted February 20 (edited) 23 hours ago, Fat Brian said: Unfortunately, a lot of "classic" model kits don't hold up today. I took a shot at the Monogram Bad Man kit last year and halfway through I was wondering why I was subjecting myself to building such a bad kit when good 55 chevys exist. I feel like kits of that vein need a high dose of nostalgia for the builder to tolerate their shortcomings. I recently bought one... it may have been boss when I was 14, but sure not cutting it with me now. Edit: I was supposed to do a '55 Chevy gasser build-off with my brother, he initially was in but bailed on me. I was going to give him some 3D printed stuff if he wanted it. We both agreed on the AMT kit. I'm going to pitch it as a group project at our next club meeting. Edited February 20 by bobss396 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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