The kit was designed to have a string tied to the wing so you could swing the model in circles around your head. The rudder offset made sure the kit was stable while twirled around. I did that with this kit as a kid.

@TacoTeaser

3 жыл бұрын

Yes, You are right. There was also a triplane with the same characteristics. The kit I had even had a predrilled fire wall for a small gas engine.

@steelscooter

3 жыл бұрын

@@TacoTeaser wouldn't a plastic kit just melt with an engine?

@Andrew-se4tg

3 жыл бұрын

@@steelscooter engine is outside

@TacoTeaser

3 жыл бұрын

@@steelscooter The cowling is left off

@quattobeast

3 жыл бұрын

Very cool, I had never heard of this kind of thing.

I enjoyed seeing these older kits. More please!

When that SE-5 kit was first issued, men who'd flown the plane in combat were still living...

Love the old kits!

Andy I once had an Aurora and Lindbergh kit when I was 8 yrs old. I'm 65 now

@georgelush1998

3 жыл бұрын

Me too. I’m also 65. My dad and I used to build Aurora 1:48 WW I airplane models. All the classics: Fokker Dr. I and D VII, Sopwith Camel and Triplane, Nieuport 17, SE-5a, Bregeut 14, DeHavilland DH4, Albatross D V, and a Pfalz D III. The kits had great box art.

@whiskypapz6666

3 жыл бұрын

The kit parts back in the day were a bit coarse and did not fit perfectly. I used to do a lot of trimming and sanding before I finally got the parts to fit. I had a Gemini 7 spacecraft model in the late 60s which I had assembled when I was a kid.i remember it was from Revell. It was a cool kit

@thomaszaccone3960

3 жыл бұрын

74. I had those kits when I was a kid back in the 1950s. Still remember them. One was a weird vertical take off military plane, atomic cannon, WW1 planes, knights on horseback. Brings back nice memories

@richbsmit

3 жыл бұрын

I’m 66. What I remember about Aurora kits was the huge size of the box, compared to the actual model inside. Also, compared to Revell or Monogram, the quality was less.

@t-mar9275

3 жыл бұрын

The worst thing about the late 1960s Aurora kits were the molded-in placement guides for the decals. The outline was a small, raised ridge, while the interior was typically a pebbled surface. It was almost impossible to get all the air out from underneath the decals, which eventually silvered, got brittle and flaked off. Outside of that, they were simple, reasonable replicas of the real thing, for their era.

Love seeing how far the hobby and manufacturing has come!

Kit manufacturers back then may not have had today's technology (such as photo etch, resin, 3D-printing), but they were very creative in using "traditional "modeling techniques. Does anyone remember those Nichimo or Bandai kits, where you were given a jig and some nylon string to make the spoke wires for the very old Rolls Royce kit? Thanks for sharing those two kits and keep 'em coming!

Another great video, please keep sharing all types of video's, glad you're still well. Take care

I love the box art on these old kits and the review. Thanks Andy. :)

Great video idea. Enjoyed seeing some old school models.

It's great to see these old kits great memories thanks Andy Steve 🇬🇧

I love seeing these old vintage kits being opened and revealed. I started modelling back in the 60's in the UK with Airfix models. It would be great to see some of those on your channel. Keep up the great work Andy and stay safe!

Cool Andy , yes love these classics, keep them coming !!

Great video, brings back old memories . please do more vids like this one. Thanks for the memories.

Awesome Video Andy and YESSSS !!! I Think it Would Be Worth Trying to Repair The Tire and Make 5 Resin Copies For That Kit. AND Yesss Please Do More of These OLD Kit Reviews. Thanks For Sharing n God Bless All.

Love the channel. 10-year-old me could always scrape up 2 quarters - loved receiving Aurora and Revell catalogs in the mail. Alas "they live only in my memories".

Always nice reminiscing, enjoyed.

I just want to see loads of videos on any topic from you Andy! Hello from the UK! Keep safe!

Very nice. I recall having this one, and a Red Fokker DVII. These and the slightly smaller Revell Fokker DR1, Sopwith Camel, and SPAD XIII were real treats back then, especially for a World War I aviation enthusiast growing up in the sixties. Thank you for sharing this.

Love the old kits. Keep 'em coming.

Fun video, would enjoy seeing more.

There was probably a lot of those SE5s hanging from ceilings, back in the day.

I have around 5 Bandai vintage Pin Point tank kits that I had originally in the 70's. I purchased them as an adult again and built. They are really simple and truly basic compared to modern kits, but they have the cool factor!

Please keep showing these great old kits!

I really enjoyed watching this. Keep on doing it.

Andy, I was lucky to have 2 local hobby shops when I was grpwing up in the 1950s and 1960s. One was primarily model railroading and radio control aircraft, and it kept a good stock of then current items on the shelves. The other one was a Mom and Pop outfit, and they had shelves in the back that I was allowed to prowl around. It was a gold mine of the old and obscure stuff, and I added some very esoteric items to my small home stash. Both stores filled a niche, and did well in the modeling community, even going so far as to send people to the other store if they didn't have what was needed. Both stores are sadly gone now; we're happy to have stores like yours still around, even if we have to mail order.

Didn't read all of the comments so I may not be first to mention this. The red trim piece that was snapped into the body, may have been done at the factory. It was probably used to reinforce the body during shipment. Love looking at old kits, brings back great memories. Keep up the vintage reviews Andy, always entertaining.

Love seeing the old kits. My first kit was an Aurora kit is the USS Nautilus, back in the early 70s. And you're right, that SE5 was an adaption from a U-Control model.

My dad and I put the airplane together back in 1969 I was living Oakland CA my dad stationed in naval supply center I ask dad put in cox airplane engine in the model plane

kool vid , thanx......& thanx L. Cee , for referral to this kool channel and hobby shop....nice Robert J.

I love these vintage kit segments, I would love to see them become a regular feature, with their own intro.

back in the late 70s, I was given an 'old' simple, finished Fokker D.VII that sat on my shelf and was eventually given away. Hadn't thought about it until now. Thanks to you, Andy (and google) - I know it was an Aurora kit now. And yes - 50c in 1973 (Canadian, anyways) could buy me 5 chocolate bars. My first kit a few years later (snap-tite 69 Camaro Zapper) would cost me $2.50 in a local variety store...

Love these old kits Andy.

@AndysHobbyHeadquarters

3 жыл бұрын

Me too! Thanks for watching - Andy

When I was a kid my grandfather gave me some of those old IMAI kits. They were fun to build.

Good memories. Thank you.

I remember when I was a kid, my dad had that 1/19th scale SE-5a. It was an awesome model.

one of my first builds was the 1/48 Monogram AT-6 Texan .... it was a pretty decent kit from 1979 and just before that i built the Matchbox 1/32 Messerschmitt 109 E-3 from 1977 when you think how old the kit is and all the interior details it's still a pretty decent kit

I remember building the old AURORA kit. This brings back a lot of memories

I had found a mpc/general mills tri axle dump trailer kit for $1 at my local flea market. Held onto it until I found a model big rig to go with it. Built both of them ,weathered them up and now they are on display.

Andy I have a 1974 Revell DC-10 . I can't wait for the battle!

the aurora horror film kits were great,you can still get them with polar lights,never seen you build any in your shop.great show andy.

Bought 2 Airfix kits in original bags at IPMS show couple years ago. Westland Whirlwind and Yak 9. At £6 each compared to 10 p originally ( 2 shillings old money)! Made the Westland, can't bring myself to open Yak. The Westland needed a bit of work to fit and new decals but looks OK. Happy days. 🇬🇧🙂

Good stuff. Great content 👌

Andy is feeling nice this week! 4 Uploads!

Agree on the Cox 0.49 engine history here. There was a Fokker DVII and a B-25 bomber, all with the same config. Also a P-51 and probable others too. I loved flying the Stuka and Spitfire when I was, eh, far younger than now. Oh, and prices on EBay for these kits!!! Wow. Wish I saved them.

There is something very special about vintage kits.

Nice video. Keep em coming. If possible, try to find old Tamiya 1/25 tank kits and go through the unboxing and building process. Would love to relive the nostalgia of building a Tamiya 1/25 Jagdpanther.

Please more vids like this Thank you.

Great video as always Andy! I built the original as a kid.... Not certain now... It's been 50+ years, but it might have been rubber-band powered. Stay Well and thanks from your friends in Colorado✌

I bought an F-4 a couple years back that had the receipt, 1983, in the box. I looked up the Hobby Shop and they were still open in California. Pretty cool. These models are some I’ve never seen before especially the scale.

I built two of the Aurora “screwdriver” kits around 1972. They were molded in red. Both were Fokker Biplanes and they did have a firewall that was made to accept a Cox .049 engine if I remember correctly. Back in those days I owned nearly every Cox Airplane and Buggy made. We also built many Estes Rockets, etc. It was a fun time to grow up for sure.

Great idea Andy. Love the S.E.5a. The Hurricane of WW1! A cool name for a plane that actually stands for Scout Experimental 5a. Very weird scale but Id buy it :-) Keep up the great work

Hi Andy, the SE5 had a 2blade prop, your kit has a 4blade prop, which could be yet another indication that it was a motorised model. Great old kits. Thanks for the upload, all the way from Capetown SA.

I love the old but in this case the new technology makes modeling so much easier.

I built this kit when it first came out. Also the Fokker D7 as well. At that time we never looked at the detail or took any notice of the rudder or wings. We just thought of it as a BIG airplane and put it on display when built. The kits sold in Canada were molded in Rexdale, Ontario and had English/French instructions. I believe the Canadian price for the catalogue was $ 1.00. Thanks for sharing a walk down memory lane.

i love the old ones !

That Excalibur is certainly worth reviving the tires ....hope you are successful. 🙂🇨🇦

I collect 60s era plastic toys, and the molding and detail was far superior to what is made today. I'm talking about playset toys from Marx, Timmee, Auburn, etc. I know it's not the same as model kits, but they could do some really quality plastic molding back in those days when I was growing up. 😊

The vintage kits had some VERY cool art work !!!! 👍 👍 👌 👌 👍 👍

Old kits and detail.... Ive seen some very early british kits. Three lengths of wood and a drawing of what the plane looked like to base your carving on!

These are fun, good idea

I use Scalemates a lot! Regards from Brazil!

Yes please Andy

Yes, these Aurora 1/19th scale screwdriver aircraft kits were originally designed to be Cox .049 engine powered and control line kits ...but those plans fell flat and they decided to just make them as large scale kits. These Aurora 1/19 kits go for top dollar on EBay. I had the 1/19 Fokker DR-7 back in the early 70’s. I remember it being a refreshing change from having to glue a kit together. I recall they also did a P-40 and a B-25 in the large scale screwdriver assembly kits.

I just saw on your site that you have the 1/350 Massachusetts. I got one directly from Battleship Cove when I was there a couple years ago, and another one from HobbyLinc last year that I have yet to build. I just may get yet another from you.

With the tires you have to be careful, if you wanna cast them. The silicone could react to the rubber and not harden... you can get around that by simply spraying some acrylic paint on the tire... love your channel... keep it up

Built that SE5A back in the late 60's/early 70's. Would love to find another one.

Andy, I would love to see you do another smaller submarine model and diorama/vignette feature.

Yes that is exactly what the deal is with that plane from Aurora 👌👍

@ 6:13 the firewall has a hole configuration for 049 Cox engine. Mine weighs in at 233g or 8 1/4 oz without the plastic engine covers and prop. I never tried flying mine because it does seem heavy compared to the balsa kits I built and so it still has no wear and tear just the decals flaked off.

I love old model kits

Hi Andy I know Cox made a plastic control line Sopwith camel in the 60s. It also had the crooked rudder built in. Maybe that’s a good starting point ?. Here in the UK we had Keil Kraft that had similar control line /u line aircraft

and yes, more vintage videos would be great.

I have an Italeri Katyusha kit, which I've had since I was 21 (I'm now nearly 58), the kit comes with rubber tyres, I opened it up a while ago and some of the wheels had been sitting on the sprue for the rims. The tyres have deformed some of the rims quite badly, so my intention is to use "Blu-Stuff" to make a mould to make a replacement out of one of the surviving rims.

Adding parts from model kits to the models used in films is so common that they have a name for them. They are called "greeblies".

I loved the old Aurora WW1 aircraft as a kid too. Glencoe reissued some, and some of the Hawk series - can you still get Glencoe? So many happy memories.

What I have found online is that Cox actually sold the SE-5 as a control line flying model. Must have been a collaboration between Cox and Aurora with the model.

Hi Andy. Great Video! FYI. Pronunciation of maker of Excalibur is: E-Mah-E. Imai Kagaku Co. Ltd. Kagaku means “Science” I think Imai was a scientific/hi-tech toy manufacturer of 60s.

Very cool

The Aurora large scale SE5A, Fokker D-7, and B-25 Mitchell were originally sold by K&B (then a subsidiary of Aurora) as ready-to-fly u-control planes like the Cox planes. They were powered by a K&B Tornado 0.60 engine. While they were more detailed than the Cox and Wenmac planes, they were more expensive and weren't very successful and were then sold as display kits. I built the D-7 in the mid-60's and the firewall had mounting holes for the K&B engine and the Cox 0.49 engine. The lower wing had a post for the elevator control bellcrank and the elevator had flexible rubber hinges. I originally built it as a display model and later converted it to u-control. It flew like your basic brick on a string, but it flew.

I had that SE5 kit as a kid, i remember the size and the fact it was screwed together, great memory Andy thanks for showing it , i don't remember it having any string or instructions for swinging it around , were there any others in the series or was it a one off?

That Excalibur kit looks great, I kinda want one

Some cool stuff!

Andy, in order to counteract the the prop torque, the neutral position of the rudder was off centre, so maybe that is an absolutely correct representation!

This kit was originally a control line ready to fly model powered with a Tornado .049 engine made by K & B. Aurora was competition for Cox Thimble Drome who also made ready to fly control line models. Aurora released a lot of different aircraft including B-25, a P-47, Fokker DVII and several more. After some years in production Aurora decided to sell them as kits with no engine and this SE5 is an example of these models

I bought a 1/32 scale Lindberg PT 109 Back in the Summer of 1980. I still have that boat. Even after 40 years. I paid $65 for it back then.

I had the SE5. It was huge.

Last October I bought 1/12 Porsche Turbo released by Entex in 1978? Three of the tires were fine but the fourth melted in the blister pack.

Yes, the hinges are to make the elevator go up or down using the two cables and a bellcrank.. The "decals" are vinyl because if they were water slide, the engine fuel would ruin them. The propeller was molded in nylon because they had to be almost indestructible.

I think your correct on it being a optional "Cox" gas engine control line flying kit. Both kits are really cool I hope you make video on completing both kits! PS: Its a shame the tires deteriorated maybe use modern R/C car tires & wheels?

You are right when you comment about the rudder towards the right. This was necessary because control line models were controlled by two lines, the model flew in circles around the pilot and the control handle could make the model go up or down. The right rudder was to keep the lines tight, otherwise control was completely lost. Control line model aircraft is still very popular worldwide and international contests are held for several different types like aerobatics, speed, combat, scale and several other. Just check KZread.

Yes please

A fella in my neighborhood owns 2 Excaliburs. Pretty cool cars. There is a website where some guy has figured out what kit each of the repurposed parts on the Falcon comes from, so you can build one exactly like the original. he is either a model kit savant, or spent alot of time decoding the thing.

I had the SE5 and Fokker D7. So cool and Huge back in the day. Love to have one again. When they come up rarely on eBay people ask ridiculous prices for them. There is listing now for $589 for Se5. I can get a nice 1/4 scale RC kit for that price. For the car, make a CAD model of tire and resin 3D print it. Or 3D print a mold.. That would save the model, but not sure its worth the effort.

There was also a P-40 in the screwdriver kit series, I built that one.

Guys who grew up in the sixties in U.K. Australia , New Zealand, remember a character called Biggles, who flew a Sopwith Camel of RFC 226 Sqn, who had a keen rivalry with 56 Sqn who flew SE5a biplanes lead by a character called Wilks.

I enjoy building old kits and trying to improve them to today's standards.

As well as twirling it above your head so it would go in circles, its possible the rudder was bent to give the model a little character as well, when displayed.

3d print a support for that inside of the tyre basically a blank wheel then cast like you said

@pawelkrupowicz2539

3 жыл бұрын

Why not just 3d print whole tires? Of course someone would have to draw them first in CAD, but it's not rocket science.

I also have several Italeri kits from the 60's