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Consideration when buying OOP kits advice


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Hello all,

I read on the Net that over time of use, the tooling decrease in sharpness of the quality with flashes becoming more evident. If that is so, if one buys an OOP kit like I did ( Monogram F-80 released in 1977), would be smart to choose the earliest releases rather then the later ones? For example is it better to get the 1977 version rather than the later reboxed by Hasegawa? Dai 

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Yes.  Earlier boxings of kits will generally have better quality castings.  Be prepared to get aftermarket decals, though, as the don't necessarily age well and in many cases will be unusable.

 

The exceptions to "earlier is better" are kits where the original kit had errors that were corrected in later issues (the Tamiya 1/48 Meteor and Bf-109E, and Trumpeter 1/32 Wildcat come to mind where the originals were inaccurate and the molds were updated/changed to make the kits more accurate).  

 

The other exception would be where a later release has different parts specific to a particular version of the airplane not included in the original kit (Monogram's Promodeler B-17 and P-39 kits come to mind; both have parts for versions that were not part of the original moldings).  

 

So, if you want a standard P-80, the earlier the boxing (release date), the better.  As a bonus, in addition to the molds being new, the quality of the plastic used at the time was better as well IMO, so you have a much crisper molding to work with, as well as likely better overall fit.

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1 hour ago, Joe Hegedus said:

Yes.  Earlier boxings of kits will generally have better quality castings.  Be prepared to get aftermarket decals, though, as the don't necessarily age well and in many cases will be unusable.

 

The exceptions to "earlier is better" are kits where the original kit had errors that were corrected in later issues (the Tamiya 1/48 Meteor and Bf-109E, and Trumpeter 1/32 Wildcat come to mind where the originals were inaccurate and the molds were updated/changed to make the kits more accurate).  

 

The other exception would be where a later release has different parts specific to a particular version of the airplane not included in the original kit (Monogram's Promodeler B-17 and P-39 kits come to mind; both have parts for versions that were not part of the original moldings).  

 

So, if you want a standard P-80, the earlier the boxing (release date), the better.  As a bonus, in addition to the molds being new, the quality of the plastic used at the time was better as well IMO, so you have a much crisper molding to work with, as well as likely better overall fit.

That are my thoughts exactly and confirmed by you. Before the end of Monogram they took some earlier releases and modified them into Pro Modeler releases with recessed panel lines. I rarely use kit issued decals as I find the after market decals are better quality. Dai 

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2 hours ago, Lucio Martino said:

I do agree about moulding loosing sharpness, but with the passing of time, styrene doesn't get worst, doesn't become brittle and weak ?

Agreed. It does just like old OOP decals. Dai 

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6 hours ago, Lucio Martino said:

I do agree about moulding loosing sharpness, but with the passing of time, styrene doesn't get worst, doesn't become brittle and weak ?

I'm not a materials engineer, but I think it may have to do with the specific formulation and also the conditions the material has been stored under.  My experience has been mixed; I've had some old Otaki kits that almost crumbled taking parts off the sprue, and others that have been fine.  Other manufacturers' haven't been quite as extreme as that, but again it varies for kits of a similar age.  

 

The old (like from the 60's/early 70's) Monogram plastic was somewhat on the harder side, so just because of that it would be a bit more brittle, but it did a marvelous job of holding crips details.  I'm thinking of the early issues of things like the P-47s, P-51B, P-51D, B-17, and most of the other kits from that era (up til about 1980 or so, when they pretty much started molding everything in the medium gray styrene).

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FWIW,

 

As far as cracking and splintering go, I've only had one set of decals which I couldn't save by using a couple of coats of Microscale Liquid Decal film, applied with a brush.  Also, only a couple have failed to respond to being placed in a ziploc bag and taped to the inside of a sunny window for a few days when badly yellowed.  That does not,, however, address issues sometimes found on older decals as out-of-register, wrong colors, or just bogus markings! Worst thing seems to be if they somehow get severely curled, before you can treat them!

 

Ed

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