General question

[PR19_Kit]

In 'The Loft' I have a VAST collection of all sorts of stuff, kits, vacforms, conversion kits, partly completed kits, partly completed kits I NEVER want to see again in my life, and kits I never want to see in my life again even though I haven't started them. At my advanced age it's pretty clear there isn't enough of my time left to build this lot even if I wanted to, so some have to go, either in the bin or to other deserving causes.

The question is, is there a market for vacform, resin, or any other form of conversion kit for aircraft that can now be bought in styrene, and probably a lot better moulded to boot? For instance, I have a number of the old Airmodel and Falcon vacform conversions that have long been overtaken by technology, the Airmodel B-50 and the Falcon F-105G are examples.

On the other hand I have some real rarities, the Uniqueform PB4Y-2 Privateer vacform conversion for the B-24 for a start. I may not want to get rid of that exact one, but it's a suitable example.

Is it worth making a proper list of these (it could go on and on.......) or should I just trash the lot?

[pyro-manic]

I'd say make a list according to category - do a vacform kit list, a resin kit list, a conversion/detail set list, etc. There will always be people interested in things, no matter how old and obscure. Collectors, kitbashers and masochists spring to mind!

At the very least, don't throw them out - give them away! Somebody will always be able to get some use out of an old kit.

[rallymodeller]

Make sure you post 'em up here first. 

[The Rat]

Trust me Kit, there's no money in 'em at all, you're best to just ship the whole lot off to me and I'll dispose of the stuff. I have a license to do that.

Honest. 

[Jeffry Fontaine]

Trust me Kit, there's no money in 'em at all, you're best to just ship the whole lot off to me and I'll dispose of the stuff. I have a license to do that.

Honest. 

You are a sly one Mister Rat...

[PR19_Kit]

Trust me Kit, there's no money in 'em at all, you're best to just ship the whole lot off to me and I'll dispose of the stuff. I have a license to do that.

For some reason I have extreme doubts about that statement. Not sure why, but there's just a little something that doesn't quite ring true......................

I spent hours last night ploughing through box after box of stuff that I have NO idea why I ever bought in the first place! I mean, a vacform Yak-1000? The darn thing never even flew, for goodness sake..............

And that's just one of them!

[NARSES2]

Kit - someone out there will buy anything if the price is right. Some will be collectors but others will be modellers who still like doing things the old fashioned way, others will just put it in the stash to be able to say "oh I have a Gromit Conversions set for the XF-105 second version prototype with the fangly dangly add ons (techno speak)) 

An interesting point though is that you probably have a very large slice of modelling history there, especially in the development of the cottage industry.

[Aircav]

You could always put them on Ebay

[PR19_Kit]

Narses,

I hadn't thought of the historical aspect but you're dead right there I suppose. Perhaps I should open a museum instead? 

I've been doing some more digging this morning and found things a) that I never knew I had and b) I never even knew existed, even though I've obviously bought them at some stage!.

Did you know that Modeldecal made injected styrene conversions for the SHAR FRS1 and the Harrier T2, both designed to work with the Airfix GR1? The T2 is the best way of doing this I've ever seen, but who needs an FRS1 conversion now?

I also have a Merlin Huck Starter in white metal, for crying out loud! I've only ever built one biplane in my whole life so why would I have bought that?

As for selling on eBay, that's the last resort I think, buying there is OK, selling's a whole new ballgame for me.

[Weaver]

Whiffers who want bits of planes for their own projects rather than whole kits might be interested in the obsolete conversions if the price is right. I for one baulk at buying a brand new £10 kit because I need a canopy a radome and two missiles off it.

To take an entirely random example, that FRS.1 conversion could be applied to an F.8 to make a Paladin without buying and trashing a whole Sea Harrier kit.......

[Gary]

I'll pay you three dollars and a popsicle stick painted blue for the lot!

Seriously, I love mucking about with resin stuff and often the vac stuff has bits that just can't be duplicated. For instance, removed panels are so much easier to with vac. I've searched for years to get my mitts on an XP 67 Moonbat, that I could afford and still search.

Now that being all said and good, I am kinda serious about knowing what you have. I have been thinking about sponsoring a vacuform training session with my club and sponsoring a build. One of the guys is talented with the stuff and has offered to show a bunch how to do it. So buying a bunch of kits and making them available to the club would work out great for me. In as far as I am concerned, I love fiddling about with resin. I don't get to build as much as I want these last few months, but my time is coming and I'd love to see a posted list. I may even buy a bunch from ya.

One trick, have an idea about cost to mail the things. It really helps folks make up their minds.

[B777LR]

Trust me Kit, there's no money in 'em at all, you're best to just ship the whole lot off to me and I'll dispose of the stuff. I have a license to do that.

For some reason I have extreme doubts about that statement. Not sure why, but there's just a little something that doesn't quite ring true......................

Last time Rat got hold of 1000 unbuilt kits, he sent them off to Afganistan onboard a C-17

[Jeffry Fontaine]

I also have a Merlin Huck Starter in white metal, for crying out loud! I've only ever built one biplane in my whole life so why would I have bought that?

Kit,

You might want to offer that thing to Brian da Basher since he has a penchant for spats, four wings and such, that Huck Starter unit would be an ideal accessory for some of his projects, something that he could stage with the model for scale appreciation. 

[PR19_Kit]

My wife Mary said 'Why don't you have a look at all the decals too? There must be a few hundred there and you'll never manage to use them all'.

Was she ever right! 

I've just spent all afternoon going through my military decals, all 700 + of them! The first pass netted about 50 sheets I have NO chance of using (all the WWII Luftwaffe stuff for a start) so it looks like we could have the odd list posted here in the next few days.....

That doesn't mean I will build enough models to use the other 650 sheets, that was just the first pass.

[Gary]

Oh my good lord...

The number for my credit card is 6459 5932 4385 3484 Ex date 10-10

Bwaahahahahaha I'm going simply mad here!

Next you'll be saying you live in Halifax and just want to clear out space for your odd sock collection!