My father was a fighter pilot and we built lots of Revell kits when I was a kid. I’ll be 76 in a few months but I still recall the first kit that we built together. It was a Grumman F9F Panther. I remember it was always a tough decision for me was to build the models gear down or gear up. I guess we probably did 50/50. Thanks for this video. Brought me back.
I will be 72 in September and grew up making model kits. This was such a part of growing up, reading Tom Swift and Hardy Boys novels and gluing together planes, cars and ships. It was a simpler life then. I even learned to read by looking at comic books. Thanks for the vid, great work.
Outstanding job! I am a 71 year old veteran of the "Golden Age of Plastics", and a Long Islander. My Dad worked for Grumman and I grew up in Bethpage. He took me to see the Blue Angels at Floyd Bennet Field when I was about 5 years old and they were flying F9F-5 Panthers. I was hooked! Bottom line, I am still building models.
Thanks Warren, and greetings from a fellow Long Islander and 'Republic Brat.' I lived in Rockville Centre, and also first saw the Blue Angels (F11F-1 Tigers) flying a show over Coney Island. 'Still building models today as well!
I grew up in Guatemala in 1954 and my favorite trips in the Sixties were to the Hobby Shop in the 5th Avenue on Saturday’s where I stared many of these beautiful models on the shelves and bought several of them after saving many weekend allowances. I bought Revell, Monogram, Hawk (beautiful chrome plated F-5A and P-47D), Aurora, Lindberg Line and Hasegawa models. After that store closed Revell models were sold by Almacenes Paiz in Centro Comercial Montufar. 1/72 WWII fighters cost was the equivalent to $0.85, 1/72 jet fighters $1.85 and those BIG 1/32 WWII fighters $3.10. I got the DWK Spitfire, the Bf109, the Zero, the Flying Tigers P-40, the F4U, F4F and Spad 13. This episode brought me a lot of memories of that wonderful era. Thank you for your wonderful work, Mike. Really appreciate it.
My late brother, Ray had that kid of the USS Ranger with the classic John Steele artwork...I recognized it the instant it showed on the screen...his name was the one I remembered most!!!
“As long as you didn’t forget the ring.” I chuckle with identifying with Mike. My sister got my dad to buy the 1/32 scale Me-109 with that box art and P-38 Lightening for Christmas a while ago. Thanks.
While in the Navy back in 1976 I happened to be in Venice CA one weekend and actually drove past the Revell plant .....being a model maker and especially a Revell fan , it was quite a thrill :)
Mike, you are only three years older than I am, but what I remember about the model kits of that time was the lack of consistent scale. If I wanted a P-51 Mustang, for example, there were many kits available, and since most were the P-51D, you tended to buy by the excitement of the box art. Once, for a gift, I was given THREE versions of this aircraft, and all three were of different scales. As I couldn't display them together in a diorama, as I wanted to, I had one hanging from my bedroom ceiling, (until the string pulled loose from the tape and my Mom stepped on it when coming to vacuum my room. The other two were set up in the same diorama, one on the ground and one in the air as they were technically close enough in size to "fool the eye", though when side by side, they were about three quarters of and inch different in length. Don't ask my at this point, (I'm almost 72), what scales they were or even what brands, (my favorites were Revell and Monogram), but there you go. It was only much later, (to my mind), that scales actually meant something.
The nice thing about 1/32 scale models is that details like riveting and panel lines are more realistic to scale and less over-scaled in cartoonish looking as they are on smaller scales like 1/48 and 1/72
The first models I remember building were Star Trek kits when I was 8, including ships and a tricorder/phaser/communicator kit. The “Black Sheep Squadron” TV show and Midway movie came out when I was about 10, and my WWII kit building started with a Revell F4U Corsair. I can’t even begin to remember all that I built when I was younger, but every now and then I see a kit that I had forgotten, and I realize it was a LOT. I started getting away from aviation when I started riding dirt bikes, but decades later at age 47, I fell back into building when I bought a Tamiya MotoGP bike on a whim. I’m 10 bikes in and have circled back to my roots with a Testors 1/48 SR-71.
...I could drink beer, watch this and listen to you all night long...Revell had that unique display - clear plastic with the ball swivel. Do you remember a Revell 5 kit kit IIRC of the Century Series aircraft with those ball swivel displays?? I had one IIRC around 1957 or so
That Memphis Belle was the first kit I ever built. I loved the B-17, still do. I cut that cover out and it hung on my bedroom wall all through my school years until I went in the military.
Now I finally understand why I spent 80% of my allowance (and then newspaper route earnings) on model airplanes. Gotta have that plane! Outstanding video.
For me, it was Arlington Hobby Crafters, on Glebe rd. in Arlington Virginia. That guy had it all, trains, planes, ships, RC. Many a bike ride to that place in the 60's. Small store, big memories. Bruce
The box art was always exciting , sometimes the actual kit was less so , maybe a lot smaller than you thought . But in my early days constructing kits , it was right into the kit and build it , box tossed aside .Only in later days have I returned to appreciate the box art and are now collecting kits again that I remember building . Being a Brit for me it was mainly Airfix, Revell and Frog were around but anything else was exotic! I have collected the Airfix Cataloges of the time showing all the box art . Excellent film, really takes me back .
Crazy. The 1/32 Corsaid cover at 12:30. I stated at thos thing for hours! A ton of 40yo memories came back, exactly where I was located - at my sister's college dorm.
Fantastic and insightful, as usual! I have an artistic background as well and can appreciate the detail you point out in these illustrations. Much of the joy I get from airplanes is in the details. There is indeed so much detail in aviation!
Wow Mike!... your presentations are kind of a “Time Machine”. Looking at all those boxes and listening to your explanations, made me time travel to my childhood. You have brought to life many good memories hidden in the corners of my mind. Thank you for your hard and profesional work, it is, and will be a valuable document for future generations of aviation lovers like you and me. Blessings, and you too...”Take Care”.
Thanks for the great comment, and yes, box art was what excited our generation of modelers back in the day! New video on the making of box art coming later today.
That Memphis Belle cover. It was my first big model and that brings back a lot of memories. Thanks! :) I got to have that board game "B-17: Queen of the Skies".
What a fun video. Brings back lots of memories. I was born in 1956 and grew up building models, mostly airplanes. Dad was an Air Force pilot so that was my influence.
You Sir, just added to my scale model collecting a whole new avenue that I always literally saw and loved, but never thought of as a realm all on its own: collecting model kits for the box art! Thanks for sharing all that info and time covering the topic and those talented artists. This is a crazy hobby some of us are drawn to as kids, and most of us don't give up as we age. What a great hobby...history, craftsmanship, engineering, patience, art... We're lucky. Thanks again. Subscribed!
Hi Mike, congratulations for your work in celebrating Aviation! I'm an old timer that built my first Revell airplane model with my dad in 1959 ! As I grew up I became and airline pilot flying 707s, 747s and 737s. I went to school to study four years of Aeronautical Engineering also. I have retired from flying and I became a Lawyer, ha! Cheers, from Buenos Aires, Argentina !
Thanks for your great comment Ricardo, and congratulations on your airline career. We are of the same generation, and building models with our Dads was indeed a wonderful and memorable experience. Best to you in the New Year!
Growing up around Fort Bliss Texas …you would see Nike and Hawks as Gate Guards and occasionally going out on to White Sands on Maneuvers …. Which inspired us kids to build Model Rockets and launch them …and lose some …. Maybe they ended up in the Land of the Lost Estes Rockets and Rc Planes
My Dad worked at Revell from 1956 until 1961, he did the instruction sheets. He later opend Graphic Advertising Design and Revell contracted all their instruction sheet work until the early 70's. My Mom, worked for a company called Romalite that did the moulding for Revell. My mom did the painting for the Revell display models.
Great video. I used to build models back in the '70s and '80s when I was a kid. I'm 50 years old now and I'm still building scale models. It is a great hobby.
I remember those days. I couldn't wait to get home, having spent my meager allowance on the latest Revel or Monogram offering. I was broke but happy. Thank you for sharing the memories....darn it! Someone is cutting onions in here.
Those magical experiences are hard to explain to anyone not of our generation. Saturdays at the hobby shop are my absolute happiest memories - mine in New York was named Hobbyrama!
Sir : you have brought back a lot of memories for me. I'm 62 yrs old. I remember building many of these models. Thanks for sharing your story with us that watch your channel. Outstanding job sir.
I remember these kits back in the late 1950s and early 1960s in the UK. The box art was outstanding, but the kits rarely lived up to the hype and the kits were made to fit the box size. I remember there was something of a backlash and photographs of the actual model began to appear on the boxes. I tended to build Airfix and Frog which were to constant scale, 1/72, 1/96 and 1/144 depending on the size of the aircraft and cheaper than American imports.
I so enjoy your wonderful content. Thank you. Here in the UK, Airfix was the go to for model planes initially for me. There were still some frog kits available too. I learned aircraft recognition from their catalogues. Such genuinely happy memories.
Mike...this is a wonderful trip down memory lane! I built a couple of the models you depicted, and comments brought to mind many of the others. I recalled the Lindberg 'gimmick' models that had movable features (I liked the F8U which lifted the wing into landing/takeoff configuration) and remembered the amount of work I had to do to overcome Aurora's crappy molding. Filing down rivets that would have been six inches tall (in scale) comes to mind. The Me 262 brought to mind a 1/32 scale model (I do not, now, recall the mfg...sorry) diorama of the cover of Blue Oyster Cult's album "Secret Treaties" which featured the song "Me 262"...go figure. I hope you will show more soon. Always enjoy your laid-back coverage of aviation topics, planes and history.
It was the box art that led me to become a computer illustrator of military aircraft after first becoming a pencil and paper draftsman for many years. I first learned how to model in rhinoceros. Then I learned how to do UV Mapping and paint the various texture maps. I still build models but now they are on the computer.
My favorite models in the 60’s were from Monogram. Revell models were second and Aurora models were a distant third. Monogram had a large selection of 1/48 scale WWII planes. They tended to have the best fitting kits, as well as the best instructions. Revell made a lot of very tempting kits, but we didn’t find the quality to be as high.
1/48 Monogram kits were my favorite as well... good detail, and they had good pilot figures (and sometimes other crew). Revell and Testors never had any pilots.
Excellent ! A truly time machine in wonderful memories. Spent lots of time in Hobby Land every weekend, to look at the models, and always tried to get a good one, once in a while. Thank you for these eye candy... God Bless
Wow Mike, you really brought back memories for me, I had a lot of these kits as a kid. And you're right, I bought most of them, based on the box art. Thank you Brother for taking time to bring these videos to us. I hope everyone enjoys them as much as I have.
My mom would hang all my models from the ceiling in my room. She called it the airport. I had so many models. I remember my first 2 models. And OV-1 Mohawk and a B-58 Hustler. Growing up on a Air Force base back in the day was always exciting for my sister and I. Dad was in SAC. Flew B-36s then transferred to B-52s. The days of the base Air Shows were always a highlight of the year. Saw the Thunderbirds so many times that I can't count. First with the F-100s, the one year of the F-105s, back to the Hun. Then the screaming F-4s to the T-38s. And now the F-16s. Revell and Monogram were my favorite model choices.
Very cool. I lived in Bellport from 1955-1957, and heard sonic booms daily from the Grumman F11F-1s and Republic F-105Bs being flight tested high over the Great South Bay.
These are the first time seeing your videos Your site... MAXSMODELS sent me here... Been building models since 1970... but due too family and work I pretty much stopped building , took me a year to build a 1/72 kit... built 4 kits in the last ten months still have a lot too learn and improve upon BUT I’M ENJOYING BUILDING MODELS AGAIN... CHRIS from OHIO
10:25 My great grandparents worked for Fairchild building planes over in Hagerstown during the war and for decades after. A goal of mine is to build many of their aircraft, haven't done it just yet as I still have to improve my skills, all in due time
Memories. My mom would have a fit that I wasn't saving my money but wasting it on models. I got the lecture each time I spent 89 cents. She was of the depression era but never understood these kits were a passion and a career builder. Revell and Monogram kits bought at the base BX led to 9 years in the USAF for me, then an aerospace career spanning 31 years. I built many of the kits you showed and coveted the others I couldn't get (the Neptune oh man, I wanted that so bad). Thanks for the trip down memory lane.
Wonderful story, thanks, and neat that those memorable early model experiences led to your career in aviation and aerospace. Much of my early knowledge about aircraft came from those direction sheets!
Hi Mike, love your presentations. I grew up in Massapequa on LI, graduated from MHS in 1962. Spent a lot of time at Zahn's as we could ride our Bikes there. Did my share of model building and built most of the models you have shown here. Keep up the great work!
Thanks for the comment John, and that certainly was a magical time growing up on Long Island! Zahn's started going downhill when Republic opened to General Aviation in 1966, and scores of aircraft owners suddenly made the leap north of the Southern State. More modeling videos to come!
Oh yeah, those were the days. I was a Revell guy because Monogram, Aurora and most other US brands were not quite available in Germany. Airfix was 2nd class, but they had some nice models too.
Mike, I loved this. I did bios of Jack Leynnwood and John Steel on my channel. Leynnwood's Revell 1/32 scale Spitfire Mk.I is my favorite of all time but that Bf-109G made the list as well. Jack is my favorite box artist. My brother had that Aurora Aero Commander box art on his wall (with many others) for years, In fact it made by 10 favorite box arts list. Great video. If OK with you I will link this video to my next video.
Hi Max, thanks for the nice comment and I'm a big fan of your work. I'd be honored to have any of my model videos linked to your channel - many thanks!
@@maxsmodels Awesome! Thanks ever so much for the great shout-out and link - greatly appreciated and a new box art video is posting tonight also. (You pronounced my name exactly right the first time, by the way.) Best of luck with the coming weather. .
I like how the old Revell model kits included a stand so you could display the aircraft and its natural state and that is flying in my opinion planes look so much better flying than they do sitting on the ground an aircraft sitting on the ground it's just a giant machine however flying in the air is truly beautiful I display all of my models in flight mode.
The Golden Age of Modeling. Now if one wants a military or aviation subject it is probably made in Asia or Eastern Europe and you have to order it on line as there are but a few hobby shops left. The first model I built? Revell 1/48 F9F Cougar...
I’ve been seeking and collecting these models and boxes for 10 years now, I started in my 20s. I loved building plane models which you could still find and buy at Walmart’s and Michael’s in the late 90s-00s. I regained interest as a young adult and have since collected approximately 200 of them. I have probably 90 percent of the ones you’ve shown here with the boxes being in varying conditions. I keep them displayed in my climate controlled shop behind my house with a full scale airport that’s 30 by 50 feet.
I'm a complete sucker for box art. The Memphis Belle and FW-200 from Revell. :-)) My favorite was the He-177 from Airfix. There was something really striking about that one.
great box art after building the kit i always cut out the front of the box and kept that in a box, also spend hours in the toy shop studying all the box art. Was a kind of bad that the finished model never had the aurora of the box art. ;P my favorite box art was that of the black widow, on an airfix box, attacking an japanese airport at dusk.
Great video! I grew up 10 minutes from Zahn’s airport and went several times a year with my Dad. I’m sure that I’ve seen that yellow Cub and I remember a Bell early helicopter in the hanger. Ever go to EastLI Coin and hobby in Massapequa?
Greetings from Argentina! Excellent video!! Very enthusiastic and knowledgeable presentation. SUBSCRIBED!! I would love to see a multi-volume set of books on model kit box art from all these wonderful brands. I also adore the advertisement art from aerospace magazines/Popular Mechanics/Popular Science from the 1950s to the 1970s. The spaceships really thrill me!
Thanks for the nice comment and for subscribing! A great book on model box art is: www.amazon.com/Box-Top-Air-Power-Aviation/dp/0764329642/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=box+top+air+power+thomas+graham&qid=1605557972&s=books&sr=1-1
What a great video! Excellent coverage of the Box Art, and models. I own the Art to the USS Flasher, signed by Leynnwood. Also The Ramrod Car, sold to me as Leynnwood's art, not signed. Has his typical leaning figures doing tasks. I think it's him standing against D Jag in background.
Thank you Mr. Machat! Further evidence that Ramrod kit is Leynnwood's Art. I follow Jack Leynnwood also, partly because he flew WW II planes. I am an enthusiast and Modeler of WWII Aircraft, and I collect 60's Aurora HO Slot Cars and model kits etc. @@celebratingaviationwithmik9782
Mike :) What took you so long to get on RUclips?? A guy as renowned as yourself in aviation art :) Anyway, Good to have your presence :) At least somebody of an older generation can speak of the days past, and have stories to tell that we all can enjoy without PC, etc. Thx
Hi Mike. There is a Old Aero Commander at Torrance Airport but it's looks a bit shy of airworthy. I haven't been by the airport for about a month but I think it's still there. Your so good that I just subscribed and was late getting to bed..........
Do you know, were they provided with/would they work from photo reference? Getting the perspective just right for some of these would, I imagine, be very difficult without it - unless they got a free model kit to get their own reference!
Great question Zachary, and those box art images were sourced from several areas. Many artists photographed the actual model to get all the angles right (future video coming on that), and the aircraft manufacturers supplied tons of good reference photos to model companies for that purpose as well.
@@celebratingaviationwithmik9782 Thanks for the info! Must have been pretty exciting to get reference for your paintings directly from Lockheed or Grumman, etc. I can't wait to see your next video!
Talking about the Aurora X-15 artwork and the very different kit.... Revell pulled the same stunt when they released a kit of tbe "USS Seawolf nuclear sub. Artwork depicted the Seawolf, with it's very unique bow and sail, but the kit itself was just the same old Nautilus kit (itself a very poorly detailed representation of the real Nautilus). It seemed more important to crank out that kit than to get it properly accurate!
Yes, those are the very reasons the "Truth In Advertising" laws appeared in the mid-1980s, along with photos of the actual models instead of our beloved box art.
My father was a fighter pilot and we built lots of Revell kits when I was a kid. I’ll be 76 in a few months but I still recall the first kit that we built together. It was a Grumman F9F Panther. I remember it was always a tough decision for me was to build the models gear down or gear up. I guess we probably did 50/50. Thanks for this video. Brought me back.
I will be 72 in September and grew up making model kits. This was such a part of growing up, reading Tom Swift and Hardy Boys novels and gluing together planes, cars and ships. It was a simpler life then. I even learned to read by looking at comic books. Thanks for the vid, great work.
The bitter sweet of nostalgia… It gives me great joy and sadness at the same time.
Outstanding job! I am a 71 year old veteran of the "Golden Age of Plastics", and a Long Islander. My Dad worked for Grumman and I grew up in Bethpage. He took me to see the Blue Angels at Floyd Bennet Field when I was about 5 years old and they were flying F9F-5 Panthers. I was hooked! Bottom line, I am still building models.
Thanks Warren, and greetings from a fellow Long Islander and 'Republic Brat.' I lived in Rockville Centre, and also first saw the Blue Angels (F11F-1 Tigers) flying a show over Coney Island. 'Still building models today as well!
Who remembers the Squadron Shop in Hazel Park, Michigan? I LIVED there, practically. Heaven for modelers.
I grew up in Guatemala in 1954 and my favorite trips in the Sixties were to the Hobby Shop in the 5th Avenue on Saturday’s where I stared many of these beautiful models on the shelves and bought several of them after saving many weekend allowances. I bought Revell, Monogram, Hawk (beautiful chrome plated F-5A and P-47D), Aurora, Lindberg Line and Hasegawa models. After that store closed Revell models were sold by Almacenes Paiz in Centro Comercial Montufar. 1/72 WWII fighters cost was the equivalent to $0.85, 1/72 jet fighters $1.85 and those BIG 1/32 WWII fighters $3.10. I got the DWK Spitfire, the Bf109, the Zero, the Flying Tigers P-40, the F4U, F4F and Spad 13.
This episode brought me a lot of memories of that wonderful era.
Thank you for your wonderful work, Mike. Really appreciate it.
Great modeling memories and a neat story, thanks Ricardo!
Oh man I loved the Revell Memphis Belle box art. I bought that kit several times because of the box art alone.
My late brother, Ray had that kid of the USS Ranger with the classic John Steele artwork...I recognized it the instant it showed on the screen...his name was the one I remembered most!!!
“As long as you didn’t forget the ring.” I chuckle with identifying with Mike.
My sister got my dad to buy the 1/32 scale Me-109 with that box art and P-38 Lightening for Christmas a while ago.
Thanks.
While in the Navy back in 1976 I happened to be in Venice CA one weekend and actually drove past the Revell plant .....being a model maker and especially a Revell fan , it was quite a thrill :)
Mike, you are only three years older than I am, but what I remember about the model kits of that time was the lack of consistent scale. If I wanted a P-51 Mustang, for example, there were many kits available, and since most were the P-51D, you tended to buy by the excitement of the box art. Once, for a gift, I was given THREE versions of this aircraft, and all three were of different scales. As I couldn't display them together in a diorama, as I wanted to, I had one hanging from my bedroom ceiling, (until the string pulled loose from the tape and my Mom stepped on it when coming to vacuum my room. The other two were set up in the same diorama, one on the ground and one in the air as they were technically close enough in size to "fool the eye", though when side by side, they were about three quarters of and inch different in length. Don't ask my at this point, (I'm almost 72), what scales they were or even what brands, (my favorites were Revell and Monogram), but there you go. It was only much later, (to my mind), that scales actually meant something.
Many of the models kits back in the day were "fit the box scale".
What a memory lane. I remember being at Zahns airport! My dad was an engineer at Republic Aviation and was a pilot as well. Thanks for the memories!
Small world!
The 1/32 Revell kits were my favorites to this day. Thanks for doing this video. Tons of fun.
The nice thing about 1/32 scale models is that details like riveting and panel lines are more realistic to scale and less over-scaled in cartoonish looking as they are on smaller scales like 1/48 and 1/72
The first models I remember building were Star Trek kits when I was 8, including ships and a tricorder/phaser/communicator kit. The “Black Sheep Squadron” TV show and Midway movie came out when I was about 10, and my WWII kit building started with a Revell F4U Corsair. I can’t even begin to remember all that I built when I was younger, but every now and then I see a kit that I had forgotten, and I realize it was a LOT. I started getting away from aviation when I started riding dirt bikes, but decades later at age 47, I fell back into building when I bought a Tamiya MotoGP bike on a whim. I’m 10 bikes in and have circled back to my roots with a Testors 1/48 SR-71.
I've not built a Tamiya motorcycle kit but certainly did admire photos of them in 1970s and 80s Tamiya catalogs, they were impressive looking models.
Built many of those as a child of the 60s. Good times. Great video. Thank you..
...I could drink beer, watch this and listen to you all night long...Revell had that unique display - clear plastic with the ball swivel. Do you remember a Revell 5 kit kit IIRC of the Century Series aircraft with those ball swivel displays?? I had one IIRC around 1957 or so
Box art definitely drew me to kit collecting when I ran out of free time to build...just looking at the great vintage art work gets me emotional.
...excellent work here, my friend!!! great memories for me at 72 years old!!!
That Memphis Belle was the first kit I ever built. I loved the B-17, still do. I cut that cover out and it hung on my bedroom wall all through my school years until I went in the military.
I built this Memphis Belle B-17 as a kid, along with Revell's B-24D, both in 1/72. Had them hung from my ceiling. 😎
Me too. I loved building models of all types. I'll be 72 at the end of this month, 2024.
Fabulous presentation, Mike. Kinda tugged at my heartstrings.
Now I finally understand why I spent 80% of my allowance (and then newspaper route earnings) on model airplanes. Gotta have that plane! Outstanding video.
Thanks for the comment Mark, and agreed on where my allowance went every month back then!
For me, it was Arlington Hobby Crafters, on Glebe rd. in Arlington Virginia. That guy had it all, trains, planes, ships, RC. Many a bike ride to that place in the 60's. Small store, big memories.
Bruce
Neat story - thanks Bruce!
Great memories ! You’re a gift to aviation !
Belated thanks for your kind comment! (Sometimes RUclips comments become buried with others, so apologies for the delay in this reply.)
Such a beautifull box covers. i will be very happy to make big prints and hang them on the wall, really makes me dream about airplanes... beautifull.
The box art was always exciting , sometimes the actual kit was less so , maybe a lot smaller than you thought . But in my early days constructing kits , it was right into the kit and build it , box tossed aside .Only in later days have I returned to appreciate the box art and are now collecting kits again that I remember building . Being a Brit for me it was mainly Airfix, Revell and Frog were around but anything else was exotic! I have collected the Airfix Cataloges of the time showing all the box art . Excellent film, really takes me back .
Thanks Russell - appreciate the comment!
Crazy. The 1/32 Corsaid cover at 12:30. I stated at thos thing for hours! A ton of 40yo memories came back, exactly where I was located - at my sister's college dorm.
Fantastic and insightful, as usual! I have an artistic background as well and can appreciate the detail you point out in these illustrations. Much of the joy I get from airplanes is in the details. There is indeed so much detail in aviation!
Wow Mike!... your presentations are kind of a “Time Machine”. Looking at all those boxes and listening to your explanations, made me time travel to my childhood. You have brought to life many good memories hidden in the corners of my mind. Thank you for your hard and profesional work, it is, and will be a valuable document for future generations of aviation lovers like you and me. Blessings, and you too...”Take Care”.
Thanks Piero - really appreciate the comment!
I came here because of the mention by Max’s Models. Box art is what sucked me in as a kid to buy and build models. Great memories looking at that now.
Thanks for the great comment, and yes, box art was what excited our generation of modelers back in the day! New video on the making of box art coming later today.
That Memphis Belle cover. It was my first big model and that brings back a lot of memories. Thanks! :)
I got to have that board game "B-17: Queen of the Skies".
What a fun video. Brings back lots of memories. I was born in 1956 and grew up building models, mostly airplanes. Dad was an Air Force pilot so that was my influence.
Thanks for the comment! What types of aircraft did your Dad fly in the Air Force?
@@celebratingaviationwithmik9782 He flew the B-47, B-52 and the SR-71. 😊
Another great trip down memory lane.
I checked, at 00:28, and I also still have ALL those kits, and their boxes you show there.!!!
And the catalogue shown at 00:39.!!
You Sir, just added to my scale model collecting a whole new avenue that I always literally saw and loved, but never thought of as a realm all on its own: collecting model kits for the box art!
Thanks for sharing all that info and time covering the topic and those talented artists.
This is a crazy hobby some of us are drawn to as kids, and most of us don't give up as we age. What a great hobby...history, craftsmanship, engineering, patience, art... We're lucky.
Thanks again. Subscribed!
Hi Mike, congratulations for your work in celebrating Aviation! I'm an old timer that built my first Revell airplane model with my dad in 1959 ! As I grew up I became and airline pilot flying 707s, 747s and 737s. I went to school to study four years of Aeronautical Engineering also. I have retired from flying and I became a Lawyer, ha! Cheers, from Buenos Aires, Argentina !
Thanks for your great comment Ricardo, and congratulations on your airline career. We are of the same generation, and building models with our Dads was indeed a wonderful and memorable experience. Best to you in the New Year!
@@celebratingaviationwithmik9782 You are the best MIke and keep up the good work celebrating Aviation!
Growing up around Fort Bliss Texas …you would see Nike and Hawks as Gate Guards and occasionally going out on to White Sands on Maneuvers …. Which inspired us kids to build Model Rockets and launch them …and lose some …. Maybe they ended up in the Land of the Lost Estes Rockets and Rc Planes
My Dad worked at Revell from 1956 until 1961, he did the instruction sheets. He later opend Graphic Advertising Design and Revell contracted all their instruction sheet work until the early 70's. My Mom, worked for a company called Romalite that did the moulding for Revell. My mom did the painting for the Revell display models.
Great comment, thanks!
Great video. I used to build models back in the '70s and '80s when I was a kid. I'm 50 years old now and I'm still building scale models. It is a great hobby.
Thanks for the comment, and yes, for any of us who grew-up in that magical era, it was a great time for model building!
Hey I lusted over and built tons of them in the 70's too!
I remember those days. I couldn't wait to get home, having spent my meager allowance on the latest Revel or Monogram offering. I was broke but happy. Thank you for sharing the memories....darn it! Someone is cutting onions in here.
Those magical experiences are hard to explain to anyone not of our generation. Saturdays at the hobby shop are my absolute happiest memories - mine in New York was named Hobbyrama!
Sir : you have brought back a lot of memories for me. I'm 62 yrs old. I remember building many of these models. Thanks for sharing your story with us that watch your channel. Outstanding job sir.
Thanks Edward - really appreciate the comment and 'glad you're enjoying the programs.
I remember these kits back in the late 1950s and early 1960s in the UK. The box art was outstanding, but the kits rarely lived up to the hype and the kits were made to fit the box size. I remember there was something of a backlash and photographs of the actual model began to appear on the boxes. I tended to build Airfix and Frog which were to constant scale, 1/72, 1/96 and 1/144 depending on the size of the aircraft and cheaper than American imports.
I so enjoy your wonderful content. Thank you. Here in the UK, Airfix was the go to for model planes initially for me. There were still some frog kits available too. I learned aircraft recognition from their catalogues. Such genuinely happy memories.
Appreciate the comment, thanks!
Mike...this is a wonderful trip down memory lane! I built a couple of the models you depicted, and comments brought to mind many of the others. I recalled the Lindberg 'gimmick' models that had movable features (I liked the F8U which lifted the wing into landing/takeoff configuration) and remembered the amount of work I had to do to overcome Aurora's crappy molding. Filing down rivets that would have been six inches tall (in scale) comes to mind. The Me 262 brought to mind a 1/32 scale model (I do not, now, recall the mfg...sorry) diorama of the cover of Blue Oyster Cult's album "Secret Treaties" which featured the song "Me 262"...go figure.
I hope you will show more soon. Always enjoy your laid-back coverage of aviation topics, planes and history.
It was the box art that led me to become a computer illustrator of military aircraft after first becoming a pencil and paper draftsman for many years. I first learned how to model in rhinoceros. Then I learned how to do UV Mapping and paint the various texture maps. I still build models but now they are on the computer.
Wow, I just saw this. Memories, Good Ones.
My favorite models in the 60’s were from Monogram. Revell models were second and Aurora models were a distant third. Monogram had a large selection of 1/48 scale WWII planes. They tended to have the best fitting kits, as well as the best instructions. Revell made a lot of very tempting kits, but we didn’t find the quality to be as high.
1/48 Monogram kits were my favorite as well... good detail, and they had good pilot figures (and sometimes other crew). Revell and Testors never had any pilots.
...between my brothers and I we built most ifvthe Monogram WW II Navy aircraft...my late brother. Tim built the Avenger withbtbe folding wings...
Mike,your an amazing person.
My 1st model was a B 47 and my dad helped me build it.🇨🇦🇺🇸
Many thanks!
A nice walk down memory lane.
Thanks for the comment and 'glad you liked the video!
Brought back a lot of memories! Thank you!
Thanks Michael - appreciate the comment!
A cool trip down memory lane!!!!!!!!
Thanks for sharing so many memories!!! Love your videos!!!!
Appreciate the comment, thanks!
Excellent ! A truly time machine in wonderful memories. Spent lots of time in Hobby Land every weekend, to look at the models, and always tried to get a good one, once in a while. Thank you for these eye candy... God Bless
Thanks for the nice comment Roland - greatly appreciated!
Just found you via Max.
Bright future, indeed.
Gracias.
Thanks for the nice comment - greatly appreciated!
Very nice presentation! I have most of items that are shown. The box art rules!
Wow Mike, you really brought back memories for me, I had a lot of these kits as a kid. And you're right, I bought most of them, based on the box art. Thank you Brother for taking time to bring these videos to us. I hope everyone enjoys them as much as I have.
Thanks Rick, appreciate the comment and we'll be posting new vintage model videos every Wednesday.
My mom would hang all my models from the ceiling in my room. She called it the airport. I had so many models. I remember my first 2 models. And OV-1 Mohawk and a B-58 Hustler. Growing up on a Air Force base back in the day was always exciting for my sister and I. Dad was in SAC. Flew B-36s then transferred to B-52s. The days of the base Air Shows were always a highlight of the year. Saw the Thunderbirds so many times that I can't count. First with the F-100s, the one year of the F-105s, back to the Hun. Then the screaming F-4s to the T-38s. And now the F-16s. Revell and Monogram were my favorite model choices.
Great comment, thanks! You definitely lived the dream, and a proud salute to your Father for his service in the B-36 and B-52.
After Grumman closed I worked at Brookhaven Airport much further east in Suffolk County. And yes, it was fun!
Very cool. I lived in Bellport from 1955-1957, and heard sonic booms daily from the Grumman F11F-1s and Republic F-105Bs being flight tested high over the Great South Bay.
GREAT job my friend....and GREAT memories!! Thanks!
Appreciate that, and thanks for watching!
These are the first time seeing your videos
Your site... MAXSMODELS sent me here...
Been building models since 1970...
but due too family and work I pretty much stopped building , took me a year to build a 1/72 kit... built 4 kits in the last ten months
still have a lot too learn and improve upon
BUT I’M ENJOYING BUILDING MODELS AGAIN... CHRIS from OHIO
So glad you're back into modeling, and thanks for the great comment! Max is one super guy!
I use to Draw B-17 in school. Had some of these models.
Wonderful. Please keeps these coming!
Thanks Alex - really means a lot! Posting my experiences as an artist for Lodela (Revell of Mexico) tomorrow morning.
10:25 My great grandparents worked for Fairchild building planes over in Hagerstown during the war and for decades after. A goal of mine is to build many of their aircraft, haven't done it just yet as I still have to improve my skills, all in due time
Memories. My mom would have a fit that I wasn't saving my money but wasting it on models. I got the lecture each time I spent 89 cents. She was of the depression era but never understood these kits were a passion and a career builder.
Revell and Monogram kits bought at the base BX led to 9 years in the USAF for me, then an aerospace career spanning 31 years.
I built many of the kits you showed and coveted the others I couldn't get (the Neptune oh man, I wanted that so bad). Thanks for the trip down memory lane.
Wonderful story, thanks, and neat that those memorable early model experiences led to your career in aviation and aerospace. Much of my early knowledge about aircraft came from those direction sheets!
How I wish I had them right now, 😎 awesome video 📸.
Greetings from Maracaibo Venezuela.
Thank you!
What a great video. Takes me back many decades. Thanks!
Appreciate the comment, thanks!
Hi Mike, love your presentations. I grew up in Massapequa on LI, graduated from MHS in 1962. Spent a lot of time at Zahn's as we could ride our Bikes there. Did my share of model building and built most of the models you have shown here. Keep up the great work!
Thanks for the comment John, and that certainly was a magical time growing up on Long Island! Zahn's started going downhill when Republic opened to General Aviation in 1966, and scores of aircraft owners suddenly made the leap north of the Southern State. More modeling videos to come!
I STILL HAVE ALL THESE MODELS, SOME EVEN IN THE BOX, AND ALL THE CATALOGS.!!!
BTW:
I ALSO KEPT ALL THE BOXES.!!!
Great perspective Mike, I know I took a lot of cues from boxart when I started photographing airplanes in flight. Really enjoy your presentstion
Thanks Brian, and yes, those images have impacted my artwork for many years as well. Appreciate the comment!
Oh yeah, those were the days. I was a Revell guy because Monogram, Aurora and most other US brands were not quite available in Germany. Airfix was 2nd class, but they had some nice models too.
Im so glad i found your channel!
Thank you for all your hard work.
Glad to have you aboard!
I loved Roy Cross Airfix box art
Good point, and yes, Roy's artwork was certainly a trademark of the Airfix kits.
Mike, I loved this. I did bios of Jack Leynnwood and John Steel on my channel. Leynnwood's Revell 1/32 scale Spitfire Mk.I is my favorite of all time but that Bf-109G made the list as well. Jack is my favorite box artist. My brother had that Aurora Aero Commander box art on his wall (with many others) for years, In fact it made by 10 favorite box arts list. Great video. If OK with you I will link this video to my next video.
Hi Max, thanks for the nice comment and I'm a big fan of your work. I'd be honored to have any of my model videos linked to your channel - many thanks!
@@celebratingaviationwithmik9782 Thank you sir, working on it now. Will send a link when I am done.
@@maxsmodels Awesome! Thanks ever so much for the great shout-out and link - greatly appreciated and a new box art video is posting tonight also. (You pronounced my name exactly right the first time, by the way.) Best of luck with the coming weather. .
@@celebratingaviationwithmik9782 Thanks, I have a life jacket and a flare gun 😁
Thank you Mike
Great video and commentary
I like how the old Revell model kits included a stand so you could display the aircraft and its natural state and that is flying in my opinion planes look so much better flying than they do sitting on the ground an aircraft sitting on the ground it's just a giant machine however flying in the air is truly beautiful I display all of my models in flight mode.
LOL Master Modeler certificate....I could not wait to get mine. Dad put it in black frame and i hung it over my bench.
Excellent presentation Mike. Look forward to more like this.
Thanks Glenn, and thanks for contributing to the project!
@Cmndr Roy Fokker Agreed Roy, and I built many of those. The great action box art on those kits was in a class by itself!
Great video Mike. Really enjoyed it and looking forward to future releases.
Thanks for watching, and much more to come!
The Golden Age of Modeling. Now if one wants a military or aviation subject it is probably made in Asia or Eastern Europe and you have to order it on line as there are but a few hobby shops left.
The first model I built? Revell 1/48 F9F Cougar...
I’ve been seeking and collecting these models and boxes for 10 years now, I started in my 20s. I loved building plane models which you could still find and buy at Walmart’s and Michael’s in the late 90s-00s. I regained interest as a young adult and have since collected approximately 200 of them. I have probably 90 percent of the ones you’ve shown here with the boxes being in varying conditions. I keep them displayed in my climate controlled shop behind my house with a full scale airport that’s 30 by 50 feet.
Great comment, and thanks for keeping vintage modeling alive and relevant!
You’ve saved all the right stuff, even from when you were a kid.
I'm a complete sucker for box art. The Memphis Belle and FW-200 from Revell. :-)) My favorite was the He-177 from Airfix. There was something really striking about that one.
Great video. Here in norway we had Airfix kits in the late 60s. Some Revell too, but mostly Airfix. I built quite a few of those. Good times.
Love it! Thanks Mike!
Thanks, Tony, and appreciate your subscribing!
Excellent video!! 👍🏻👌🏻👏🏻🏆🥇
Many thanks!
great box art after building the kit i always cut out the front of the box and kept that in a box, also spend hours in the toy shop studying all the box art. Was a kind of bad that the finished model never had the aurora of the box art. ;P my favorite box art was that of the black widow, on an airfix box, attacking an japanese airport at dusk.
Did that very same thing!
Great video! I grew up 10 minutes from Zahn’s airport and went several times a year with my Dad. I’m sure that I’ve seen that yellow Cub and I remember a Bell early helicopter in the hanger. Ever go to EastLI Coin and hobby in Massapequa?
Never went to that hobby shop in Massapequa, but found a few favorites in Hempstead, Freeport, and my hometown of Rockville Centre.
Colonial Photo and Hobby, Orlando, Fl. The store is still there in business!
Great to hear! Classic hobby shops still in business today are now time capsules of another generation.
Greetings from Argentina!
Excellent video!!
Very enthusiastic and knowledgeable presentation. SUBSCRIBED!!
I would love to see a multi-volume set of books on model kit box art from all these wonderful brands.
I also adore the advertisement art from aerospace magazines/Popular Mechanics/Popular Science from the 1950s to the 1970s. The spaceships really thrill me!
Thanks for the nice comment and for subscribing! A great book on model box art is: www.amazon.com/Box-Top-Air-Power-Aviation/dp/0764329642/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=box+top+air+power+thomas+graham&qid=1605557972&s=books&sr=1-1
What a great video! Excellent coverage of the Box Art, and models. I own the Art to the USS Flasher, signed by Leynnwood. Also The Ramrod Car, sold to me as Leynnwood's art, not signed. Has his typical leaning figures doing tasks. I think it's him standing against D Jag in background.
Thanks Daniel, and 'glad you liked it. Wonderful that you own those two Leynnwood pieces!
Thank you Mr. Machat! Further evidence that Ramrod kit is Leynnwood's Art. I follow Jack Leynnwood also, partly because he flew WW II planes. I am an enthusiast and Modeler of WWII Aircraft, and I collect 60's Aurora HO Slot Cars and model kits etc. @@celebratingaviationwithmik9782
I was a helmsman on the USS ranger.
Stanley Pell ? In '66 I was a lineboy for Sig Uyldert.....Well remember the fuel truck / crash fire rescue truck.....What a place?!
Small world!
Loved this video!
Thanks, and glad you liked it!!
Mike :) What took you so long to get on RUclips?? A guy as renowned as yourself in aviation art :) Anyway, Good to have your presence :) At least somebody of an older generation can speak of the days past, and have stories to tell that we all can enjoy without PC, etc. Thx
Belated thanks for your great comment - really appreciate the kind words!
Hi Mike. There is a Old Aero Commander at Torrance Airport but it's looks a bit shy of airworthy. I haven't been by the airport for about a month but I think it's still there. Your so good that I just subscribed and was late getting to bed..........
Thanks for subscribing!
...I had that Memphis Belle kit!!!
Do you know, were they provided with/would they work from photo reference? Getting the perspective just right for some of these would, I imagine, be very difficult without it - unless they got a free model kit to get their own reference!
Great question Zachary, and those box art images were sourced from several areas. Many artists photographed the actual model to get all the angles right (future video coming on that), and the aircraft manufacturers supplied tons of good reference photos to model companies for that purpose as well.
@@celebratingaviationwithmik9782 Thanks for the info! Must have been pretty exciting to get reference for your paintings directly from Lockheed or Grumman, etc. I can't wait to see your next video!
Very cool!!
Talking about the Aurora X-15 artwork and the very different kit....
Revell pulled the same stunt when they released a kit of tbe "USS Seawolf nuclear sub. Artwork depicted the Seawolf, with it's very unique bow and sail, but the kit itself was just the same old Nautilus kit (itself a very poorly detailed representation of the real Nautilus). It seemed more important to crank out that kit than to get it properly accurate!
Yes, those are the very reasons the "Truth In Advertising" laws appeared in the mid-1980s, along with photos of the actual models instead of our beloved box art.