Profile Aircraft Kits from the 1970's - Anyone got info on them?

You're thinking of MPC Profile Series. Here's one on ebay:

Here's a start. MPC made them, and most, if not all, were Airfix re- pops. I guess (though could be wrong) that the major difference was that the included decals for three different aircraft, different units or aces. I have a few in my stash and wind up using them as a basis when I do a kitbash. Word of note, the aforementioned decals are typical MPC - they usually (by this point in time) tend to fall off the backing when handled. As they are the main selling point for the kit, well, you catch my point.

some of them had silly "fantasy" decals which was a bizzare idea.

Not the "Profiles" series. The fantasy decals were included in the regular MPC/Airfix issues, along with the chrome-plated "customizing" parts. I have a bunch of those as well. It was bizarre, the customizing sprue included a 3-blade prop with a removable spinner even in the jet kits.

i have/had the airfix/mpc ee Lightning with crazy decals and IIRC some extra wierd plastic bits.

Here are some off the top of my head: Wellington P-39 P-38 SH-3 F-4 F4U F4F P-51D A-7 F-111 P-61 B-29 B-24 B-17 Lancaster Spitfire Hurricane (I think) OS2U (I think)

I have most, if not all of them, as I bought up a bunch from eBay over the years for collecting. The Profile Series was among my first model kits I built in the early '70s. They're all Airfix molds & yes, the decals are crappy & the USCG SH-3 is incorrect, period.

Ah, also, the Wellington box was yellow & the SH-3 box was light blue. I don't recall if the others were anything but white, & the premise was that they were tied in to profiles seen in the Aircraft Profile line of booklets of the early '70s.

eBay showed a B-26 Marauder with a yellow box as well.

Remember the MPC ones where they were all printed on one sheet of decal film and had to be individually cut out of it? Those were fun. At least they were better than those Airfix ones that would shatter when you tried to slide off the backing sheet.

Pat

Yep, forgot the B-26.They also did: A-26 P-47 SBD He 111 Stuka (I think) FW 190D (I think) B-25 (Not only decal options, but all 3 noses, too) Ju 52 P-40 (I think)

At least the instructions said to cut as close to the edge of the marking as possible.

I always was trying to track down off of which kit each of those particular parts was from; one of them was a British style vented exhaust pipe and others British style bombs that looked like they came off of a WW II British medium bomber kit. Then there were the rockets that looked like they came off of a Hawker Typhoon, a direction-finding loop and "football", and some other parts I don't remember. I was digging around for a photo of those parts on the web and found three of the Profile kits; the Ju-88A4, He-177, and A-26B/C:

Pat

They did that one; I had it.

Pat

Forgot the Ju 88 & He 177. Just remembered the DC-3/C-47 & PBY.

I remember doing the Lanc, B-25, B-17, B-24 & B-29, DC-3/C-47, P-51, P-39, Ju 52, He 177 & A-26, A-7, F-4 & F-111 & SH-3. The Lanc got done as the prototype, B-25 OD & gray, B-17 the same, maybe some tan camo. I remember its decals were opaque. P-51 was Lou IV, Ju 52 had that squiggle camo, P-39 was camo'd, B-24 & B-29 were silver, C-47 was the AC-47, He 177 had the green camo w/gray splotches, A-26 was OD & silver & the PBY got done in the overall blue postwar SAR scheme. The F-4, F-111 & A-7 got SEA camo, the SH-3 got the blue scheme. I remember doing the P-38, but I can't recall the scheme.

On Oct 6, 9:03 pm, Pat Flannery wrote:

and the halibag, too.

didn't they do those fanatsy abortions, too?

As I remember the MPC decs they were stiff as boards, wouldn't settle onto the model and within 6 months flaked off. Those which I bought and built received decals from Micro/Superscale or anything better. Aside from that, most of the kits included markings that were inappropriate for the version represented by the kit. (shades or Revell re-issues!)

Bill Banaszak, MFE Sr.