Mat Irvine discusses
When two or more modellers gather together, besides arguing as to whose round it is, one topic of discussion that occasionally comes up is: “What’s the largest kit?” Mind you, then there’s usually further discussion as to what you mean by: “large?” Maybe the maximum length in one dimension, or the overall bulk, possibly the number of parts, even the box size...
Towering Saturn V from Revell inspires memories of the Apollo program.
Space mega-kits
However, the Monogram Full Stack Space Shuttle in 1:72 scale, although standing shorter than the 1:96 Saturn V, certainly has more ‘bulk’, as do both 1:144 scale kits of the International Space Station, from Revell-Germany and the Intermountain Railway Company.
Airfix 1:24 scale Mosquito engine, ready for paint and finishing.
Aircraft
Monogram’s 1:72 scale Convair B-36 has the largest wingspan of any static kit, though in terms of overall size and complexity, you’d be hard pushed to beat the Airfix 1:24 scale de Havilland Mosquito.
Number of parts
Regarding the number of components, nothing come close to the Merit International 1:35 scale Dora German railway gun. It has a mere 2500 parts and a very large box - but then so did the Renwal Visible Chassis as its box did, after all, contain a complete automobile chassis in 1:4 scale. This one is also a contender for ‘bulk’, as are the 1:4 scale engines from both Renwal and Revell.
Classic see-inside model from Renwal.
Mercedes-Benz engine from Pocher (above), 1:8 scale road-ripper (below) from Monogram.
Vehicular giants
Which leads us onto vehicles. The largest common scale in use for car kits is 1:8 - mostly used by Monogram - but it’s also the scale for the multi-material Pocher cars, and occasionally by Bandai in Japan. These are all pretty large, but we now have new vehicle contenders, such as the Dragon SAS Desert Raider jeep - and this is even bigger, to 1:6 scale!
