My ancient history of 1/12 scale modelling

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My ancient history of 1/12 scale modelling

Post by Orso »

Model kits must have been cheaper when I was young.
My F1 interest started in 1974. I was 13 and found a motor magazine in the school library found out about F1 and that we had a Swedish driver.
1975 I bought the 1/12 Tyrrell 003 and it was followed by the Lotus 72D. With the death of Ronnie Peterson my interest of F1 started to fade and after 1980 I didn't build any more of the 1/12 scale kits. By then I had built the
Honda F-1 (RA 273)
Lotus 49 Ford F-1 (I built two, Green + Players Navy Cut)
Lotus 49B Ford F-1
Matra MS11
Ferrari 312B
Lotus 72D (Ford) (I built two, a JPS car and a 72C "look a like". I had found a started/glue bomb Lotus49C that provided parts and decals for it)
Tyrrell Ford F-1 (003)
Texaco M@r!b*r* M23 (I swapped air boxes between the two M23 kits. I wanted them too look like the cars on the few pictures I had)
Yardley McLaren M23
Brabham Martini BT44B
Ferrari 312T
Tyrrell P34
Datsun 240Z Safari Car
Lancia Stratos HF Safari Type - Nitto
1930 Bentley - Airfix
Mercedes-Benz 300 SL - Revell
In the stash there were three more kits:
J.P.S. Mk.III (Lotus 78)
Wolf WR1
Renault RE 20 Turbo but they never got started.

Even as I found some kits very cheap on sale, kits must have been rather cheap for a teenager to be able to buy all those kits in a rather short time span.
Another amazing thing is that had space for the finished kits.
My large scale days are gone. I did buy a Lotus 78 when it was re released but after a couple of years I decided that it was to big and sold it.
Instead I have started collecting F1 cars in 1/20 scale. At first I decided to build all of the Lotus kits and found all of the Tamiya kits. I started to convert the 99T into a 98T but didn't find any inspiration in the kits. The 102's and 107's were in fact unknown cars to me so I sold of these four when Ebbro started to release some cars that I could relate to.
Ronnie died 1978 and I continued follow F1 1979 but what happened after that in F1 is unknown to me. So I build almst only pre-1980 cars. If I will concider a newer car there has to be something special to it. Like a Swedish driver, I like the look of the car or that I will have a purpose for it. I found the Lotus 88 interesting and bought the Ebbro kit but now I'm starting to regret it. A small part of me would like to have a Ferrari SF70H for a size compair with the Lotus 25. It must look like a big truck standing next to the Lotus but another (larger) part of me find the car totally uninteresting and will have big problems finding inspiration building it. It might be a good thing that it is out of production.

OK, an absolutely uninteresting post but it was something that came to mind when i saw the prices of the re releases of 1/12 scale models.
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Re: My ancient history of 1/12 scale modelling

Post by flashman »

Bjorn,
Thank you your post. I found it VERY interesting as my experience with Tamiya's 12th scale kits was very similar to yours, and being nearly the same age as you. I began building their kits in 1972, ultimately building about a dozen of them up through the early 1980's. I also am amazed I was able to afford to buy as many as I did, being so young at the time. I remember in 1973 doing card filing in the office my older sister was employed in for the entire week of Easter school break, and as soon as I received my pay, I immediately used most of it to buy the JPS Lotus 72D kit by mail-order, being my third 12th scale F1 kit. Great memories for me as those were probably the most satisfying models I ever built. :)

Again, thanks much for the enjoyable reminder of the past for me.

Cameron
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Re: My ancient history of 1/12 scale modelling

Post by JamesB »

WOW!!! not uninteresting at all :D
In fact, it's more your history about "ALL" F1 modeling as you also tell about 1/20.. it's a nice story and I like the way you sum up the interests, thrills and motivations.
I think it'd be good for everyone of us to have this synthesis ability. I think lots of us have disperse interests, bith in subjects and scales.
I also like this motivation "to comapare size between Lotus 25 and Ferrari SF70", because sometimes it's a tiny detail about the model that makes us want it. Then the thing is if that thrill keeps going or not..
Really nice, thanks for sharing! Really

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Re: My ancient history of 1/12 scale modelling

Post by Flinstone »

An interesting thought about affordability of kits you have raised. I remember buying my first Tamiya Tyrrell for £5.99 and Scale Models magazine was 25p per copy. So the kit was 24 times the price of the magazine. Today a modelling magazine is about £5 and a 1/12 re-issue Tamiya kit is in the £120 mark, so not a lot has changed, provided of course that you buy new and not wait for the collector price increase!
However, back then you could not buy extra detail sets and decals, so the opportunity to spend more has definitely increased.
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Re: My ancient history of 1/12 scale modelling

Post by JamesB »

If it´s about affordability, well I´d say the price difference was like 4 times to one, I mean the 1/12 to 1/20 price ratio. And that was in a place close to Spain where prices were quite cheaper than at home. I did not even try to buy a 1/12 at home. Nevertheless (bar a Heller RE20 I bought at just 2.5 times the price of a Tamiya 1/20) I stuck to the 1/20 till 13 years after starting modeling F1. And it was just the Protar 126C2. It took me other 6 years to get more 1/12s... abd that was already from Hobby Link.
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Re: My ancient history of 1/12 scale modelling

Post by Orso »

I went back and looked in my old Tamiya catalogues and in the 1978 issue I found a price list. The BT44 was 123 SEK and in todays value it would be 511 SEK. The price of the 2021 reissue is 1012 SEK that is almost the double. I also had a look at a Swedish hobby magazine. In 1978 the price was 7.25 SEK which in todays value would be 30.11 SEK. The price of the magazine today is 99 SEK.
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Re: My ancient history of 1/12 scale modelling

Post by daveyman »

I enjoyed reading your post, it's started a nice discussion too.
My first 1/12 kit was the Honda, it just showed up in my local model shop when I was in there with my dad. Had to buy it, it was the first time I'd seen a 1/12 scale.
I've now gone thru and rebought nearly all of them but don't know when I'll ever build them.

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Re: My ancient history of 1/12 scale modelling

Post by stubeck »

Orso wrote: Tue Jul 13, 2021 3:00 pm I went back and looked in my old Tamiya catalogues and in the 1978 issue I found a price list. The BT44 was 123 SEK and in todays value it would be 511 SEK. The price of the 2021 reissue is 1012 SEK that is almost the double. I also had a look at a Swedish hobby magazine. In 1978 the price was 7.25 SEK which in todays value would be 30.11 SEK. The price of the magazine today is 99 SEK.
I wonder how much of that is licensing. Star Wars really changed everyones thoughts on selling image rights versus seeing it as something that didn't have value. I also wonder how much of the increased cost is because of fixing any molds they would have had.

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Re: My ancient history of 1/12 scale modelling

Post by SBEST »

stubeck wrote: Fri Jul 16, 2021 11:04 am
Orso wrote: Tue Jul 13, 2021 3:00 pm I went back and looked in my old Tamiya catalogues and in the 1978 issue I found a price list. The BT44 was 123 SEK and in todays value it would be 511 SEK. The price of the 2021 reissue is 1012 SEK that is almost the double. I also had a look at a Swedish hobby magazine. In 1978 the price was 7.25 SEK which in todays value would be 30.11 SEK. The price of the magazine today is 99 SEK.
I wonder how much of that is licensing. Star Wars really changed everyones thoughts on selling image rights versus seeing it as something that didn't have value. I also wonder how much of the increased cost is because of fixing any molds they would have had.
Interesting. Had not even thought of it like that.


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Re: My ancient history of 1/12 scale modelling

Post by ClassicF1 »

I'm a tad older but my 1/12 history is very similar. I have a theory that 1/12 MFH kit prices have raised the price bar on older kits. I know the materials and detail/quality are different but over £600 for a kit makes a 70's era Tamiya at £150-200 look like a bargain.
Those mounds must have amortised their cost years ago and although they are great quality their prices should be under £100 each.
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