Archive for the ‘Plastic Model Kit History’ Category

A Pigeon Called Doolittle

Tuesday, May 6th, 2008

By Jan R. Bussie As much as any nine year old boy could, I loved the seemingly endless days of summer fun while living at Koontz Lake. The sad days of the war years were coming to an end and there was a marked improvement in the post-war economic outlook. ...

Modeling in a Vacuum

Sunday, January 13th, 2008

by Jan R. Bussie As a young boy I was fascinated by the WW2 war news coming out of Europe. The bravery of the bombers and fast fighters pilots made them my heroes both then and now. In an effort to emulate these men I would fly my balsa glider in ...

The HO Scale Model Railroading Revolution of the 1940s

Sunday, January 13th, 2008

Late 1940s assembled wood/metal HO craftsman kit In the 1950s, “Consumerism” revolutionized the United States economy and social life. Two main items pushed the consumerist movement: discretionary income and free time. There had always been leisure time, but the activities that filled it varied. In the ...

A Brief History of Revell Plastic Model Kits

Tuesday, September 4th, 2007

In the early 1940s, Lou Glasser, a California entrepreneur, founded an injection molding company. Precision Specialties performed contract work for other manufactures. In the early 1950s Gowland and Gowland designed the famous 1/16 scale "Highway Pioneers" line of 34 cars, which were the first mass-produced plastic automotive kits. ...

A Brief History Of Monogram Plastic Model Kits

Tuesday, September 4th, 2007

The name Monogram is synonymous with quality in model kits. The founders, Jack Besser and Bob Reder, had a clear vision of what constitutes an excellent model kit and how to transform that into mass production. Not surprisingly, Monogram proved to be a profitable company for many years. Early ...

A Brief History of Aurora Plastic Model Kits

Tuesday, September 4th, 2007

Aurora was one of the most prolific names in American Modeling from 1952 to 1977. The line was very diverse and included aircraft, ships, tanks, missiles, figures (monster and many others), science fiction, automotive, animals, guns, totem poles, HO train items, electronic kits, "Coppersmith" sets, prehistoric scenes and more. The ...