What's the oldest part in your parts box?

The oldest part is definitely a single, solitary British 1000lb bomb with a

114 tail in white plastic. I'm pretty sure this came out of an Airfix Hawk T1 kit sometime around 1978. It is in excellent condition and there is no reason why I couldn't use it at some point in the future.

The other oldest parts are all from various F-4 kits. The next oldest is the remains of a sprue from a 1/72 Italeri F-4G kit that I built as an F-4F around 1980. The F-4G fin top pod and nose fairing radome are still on the sprue. The Hasegawa F-4G isn't available at the moment, so it has been my intention to use these parts on a Hasegawa F-4E. I suppose I should really transfer them from the spares box to the F-4E kit that is earmarked for the F-4G build. And I really should actually *build* it at some point.

Next oldest... a pair of travel pods still on their sprue from the very old Hasegawa F-4E. These are easily recognisable as they are moulded in that odd glossy blue/grey plastic that Hasegawa used in the 70s. Again, these could be used at some point.

What will probably never be used are the leading edge slats, missile rails and Sidewinders from an Esci F-4E kit. They are moulded in a light tan colour and are quite crude by modern standards, although at the time they were issued they were state of the art.

Oh, and there's a solitary AGM-65 Maverick missile in there as well. I can't say for certain what kit it came from, although a small voice from my memory is telling me that it was the Airfix F-16A.

On May 20, 2:10 am, " WmB" wrote: My parts box is a mess, but for certain contains a few parts (drop tanks etc) from some early 60s Revell kits (found on evil-bay, my own vintage is 1968).

Prop/Spinner from the 1:72ish Bf.109F from Lindberg. Purchased back in

1958, the model cost all of 19=A2.....

That's hard to say, I started my spares stash when I started building nearly forty years ago. Several modelers donated their spare parts to me, so it is nearly impossible to know. I do know that some of the parts go as far back as some of the earliest mass produced styrene kits.

Do we count parts of kits we never finished, but may use the parts left anyway/ I have a mostly completed Battleship Missouri (Sterling) that I still have the fittings parts for. I may never finish it.I bought it and built it up to the state it is currently in when I was about fifteen, which was 55 years ago. Occasionally I still debate whether to finish detailing it. It is getting knocked about, and every year I put off the decision it would get harder to finish because I need to repair the damage it has suffered over these fifty plus years :-(

I,for one, hope you finish it and would love to see pics. If nothing else you can claim the title for longest build time :)

on 5/20/2008 3:10 AM WmB said the following:

I guess a bunch of us that have built model airplanes for the last quarter century have more missiles and bombs left over than the military has in stock.:-) I know I have small parts cabinets with drawers full of them in various plastic colors.

Props, wheels, other odds and ends from Hawk 1/72 aircraft built back in the 1950s that ended up in the parts boxes when I deemed them no longer worthy :-( Still wish that I had kept them intact as some were not all that bad.

I guess that the Skybirds Bessenau hanger would fit the rules here. It has a hard cardboar base with a wire frame and cloth material. I have set it up and displayed it with a handfull of Skybird cast metal soldiers, but the figures were not appropriate for the period of the hanger, so I took down the hanger and put the soldiers into the spares box. Time period would be middle to late 1930s.

Actually, this discussion has prompted me to dig those soldiers out and put them on the shelves. They have a lot of class and look great on the shelves with all of those airplanes.

Tom

Not if you build Hasegawa kits.

Everything counts - I guess a better way of putting it might be parts from a kit that you have some personal attachment to in your past (bought, built or work in progress) - as opposed to the model candy one may have scooped up as an adult collector with an overheated Ebay account.

And as far as bragging rights - I'd have to say the guy with zero leftover parts is someone we might could learn something from.

Not that I believe such a critter exists. ;-)

WmB

Zero leftover parts? Where's the fun in that?

Who else has used pieces from the parts box to assemble/scratch build a new model?

I have an old "SMP" box full of parts from various AMT / SMP original customizing kits from way back when. Hood scoops, continental kits, skirts, etc. I don't have any idea what I would ever do with them but I can't seem to throw them away.

Well... spin up the old Johnny Cash ditty "One Piece at a Time" and make youself a

'49, '50, 51, '52...

WmB

I would but I don't have the "one fin" (:>

But do you have three headlights?

Send them to me I'll know what to do with them! I build customs all the time and am always looking for customizing parts! They reissue kits from the 60's and leave out the best parts!

Mike

messagenews: snipped-for-privacy@d1g2000hsg.googlegroups.com...

Mike,

That box is up in "the archives" right now but when I do a little digging later on this summer, I will make note / pull it out and send it to you no charge.

messagenews: snipped-for-privacy@d1g2000hsg.googlegroups.com...

Cool!!!! Appreciate it muchly!!!! Sending address in email.

Mike