Best Christmas Gift Model Kit - Thoughts?

[Rauhbatz]

As we wind into the holidays Im sure us WIXer's starting thinking of Christmas past...especially models.

I would say the Monogram Clear Mustang was the best gift kit ever but I got that for my birthday...

Had to be the trio of Aurora Spad 13, Fokker D-7 & Albatross....growing up in Ohio I was busy all Christmas building those birds...

Close runner up was the french R-100 dirigible with the mooring mast..my Dad had to take a special trip to Hall's Hobby downtown for the only one available in Central Ohio

[The Inspector]

MONOGRAMS AIR POWER set

[Second Air Force]

My favorite "Christmas model" is probably the BIG Saturn V kit. It was almost as tall as I was!

My most remembered gift has to be a number of B-17 books that I received over the years--all of which I still use frequently.

Scott

[mazdaP5]

I got a monogram Battle of Britain set when I was 11 or 12. Had a 1/48 me-109 and Hurricane.
That was a pretty cool gift.

A few years later, I got like, 8 1/72 B-24's. Hung them all from my ceiling in formation, was a lot of fun.

[the330thbg]

MONOGRAMS AIR POWER set

LOL!!!!! That would be an impressive gift!

[spookythecat]

I remember getting the Monogram B-29 when I was a kid. It was in the Big, Bad & Beautiful boxing.

It's still hanging in my parents basement in Oshkosh painted up as FIFI

[Steve Nelson]

I got the Monogram 1/48 B-17G for Christmas in 1975 (I was 11.) That pretty much kicked off my obsession with aircraft in general and WWII Warbirds in particular.

SN

[Rauhbatz]

I did have a Mongram Saturn 5 as a birthday gift one year...what a kit! Werner Van Braun would be proud to have such a monumental bit of engineering in a model kit.

[Second Air Force]

I did have a Mongram Saturn 5 as a birthday gift one year...what a kit! Werner Van Braun would be proud to have such a monumental bit of engineering in a model kit.

Agreed!

I still unearth parts of that monster in my spare parts boxes from time-to-time. I loved the folding legs on the LEM.

[Rauhbatz]

If you see someone on grainy security camera footage robbing banks or convenience stores wearing either a CAF Dixie Wing P-51 or SBD cap its me trying to acquire the funding for the Monogram Air Power set!

http://www.oldmodelkits.com/index.php?d ... chtext=air power

[The Inspector]

Anyone remember the MONOGRAM Willy Lay space ships from the late 50's? Like a 2 stage shuttle/booster or the space wheel station.

[Rauhbatz]

Hit the same website I put in above....search for Monogram, Space & Missiles and enter Ley in the text box...

I found 4 of those kits out there; passenger rocket, TV orbiter & space taxi.

Those were the days...wish the US could get back to being the leader in this industry....I feel sad going by the old North American plant here in Columbus and seeing it as a processing center for health claims.


http://www.oldmodelkits.com/index.php

[the330thbg]

http://www.oldmodelkits.com/index.php

Good GRIEF.., those are EXPEN$IVE!!

Go to EPay.., much better deal$.

For the WOW factor.., definately do one of the Monogram 70's Giants!

My son and I over the summer built a 1/72 Spitfire and a old Aurora B-29 kit. He enjoyed it OK.., but I hate to sound like an old 'phart' but kids these days are wired a bit differently. Different stimulus factors. He does not play with them like I used to as he has soooo many other toys. He gets bored with them and is also frightened by their brittleness. I explained.., you just glue back on the piece you broke off.., but he rarely if ever picks them up to play with them. Different mind set and different priorities.

[Rauhbatz]

Indeed...I also see a lot of hobby shops closing or consolidating as more modern alternatives are available' e.g. warbird battle software.

I know for certain based on some research I encountered during one of my MBA program courses that people who built models as a youth became great fighter pilots, engineers or project managers. By building models they grew their mental ability to see how the interconnected picture would arrive at a desired result; anyone who has built LS kits with all Japanese instructions would appreciate this!

What I fear (and pick up any edition of the Economist to see validation of this observation) is that we are losing that ability by having readily available instant alternatives to model building. I think its great that you at least exposed your kids to building models; I wish more parents would do that as it is building more skills & imagination beyond the dreams that you are Eddie Rickenbacker, Richard Bong, James Jabara or Robin Olds....

Maybe I need to propose to electronic gaming companies we need an Aircraft Designer game....build it and then see how it flies.

[The Inspector]

Unfortunately, from Kindergarten on our schooling system is gearing kids towards only being able to be dexterous on a computer keyboard because working with your hands is so 'old time'. Perhaps that's one reason we've become a nation of service industry drones. A teenager almost can't find an old car that he or she can work on to get the mechanical feel and challenges of changing a camshaft or starting with an 'beater' that they can turn into a respectable vehicle because of all the blockages put up with smog proofing and emissions compliant requirements for any newer car and the paucity of available and decently priced replacement parts for older cars. You can't even tune up a new car without several thousands of dollars of manufacturers specific computers.

Kids don't have any desire (or ability) to work with their hands anymore because it's bred out of them by parents who want every kid to be a lawyer or Doctor, or MBA and never get your fingers dirty. I ran into that mindset a lot while trying to turn young people into 787 mechanics, they have no ability to 'turn things over' in their heads because all they know is 'use the game controller to do it' they are incapable of figuring even the most basic things out.

You cannot text a car or airplane together, unfortunately plastic for kits is getting out of sight, I just bought a REVELL KURTIS Midget kit( pretty small) , pretty basic and not too many parts, cost? $24.00 just the kit, then there's aftermarket stuff, paint, decals,etc. it's about the same as buying the latest copy of 'DRAGON CRUSHER 3D' for the X BOX, and fewer parts to deal with and it's all about 'instant gratification ' isn't it? It's the arrival, not the trip.

And that $395.00 for the AIRPOWER set is collectors only prices for people who will put that kit in a plastic bag in a sealed box and place it in dark storage until they can sell it to another collector who would never build it either, like guys who trailer a classic car around instead of drive them-