MAT’S US TRIP REVISITED - WHEN JAMES BOND WENT TO AMERICA

The Airfix 1:32 scale Aston Martin DB5, as modified and issued by MPC for the American market, was one of my acquisitions during my last US trip in April, and especially to the Kane County Toy Fair. I didn’t have a chance to examine the the DB5 fully until my return, but it now deserves a bit more of an explanation.

During the 1960s Airfix and MPC had a tie-in that led to Airfix kits being issued in the US market by MPC, and vice-versa. MPC made mostly cars, so that is what Airfix released for British modellers, including such classic kits as the Mako Shark and Monkeemobile. But for the UK ‘all’ Airfix did was to re-do the box-art using its own logo, while crediting the originators by adding - and this was a rare event - “Created by MPC”.

However Airfix did make - and still does - a much wider range of subjects, and those deemed suitable for the US market were invariably not only re-boxed for the US market, but sometimes had the parts content altered as well. With aircraft, it led to adding figures from the separate Figure Sets. With tanks and military vehicles, some of the Trackside Accessories - which wouldn’t normally fit in with American railroad layouts - were used. For example, the Travelling Crane became a dockside fixture, maybe for lifting seaplanes out of the water.

However, one major problem Airfix had with all its 1:32 scale car kits was that famous subjects such as the DB5 - which was certainly known to a US audience - did not come with features associated with home-grown American car kits from AMT, Jo-Han, MPC, Revell or Monogram. In particular, items such as chrome-plated parts and ‘rubber’ (actually vinyl) tyres were lacking. This led to many modifications for the MPC edition (top picture). Adding vinyl tyres wasn’t straightforward, but what could be done relatively easily (middle picture) was to chrome-plate relevant parts, which is what occurred with this Aston. But that wasn’t all. Racing decals were added, and a scene was printed on the side of the box showing a suitable backdrop, maybe the Pacific Coast Highway. There were even newly-tooled parts to make a stand to hold said background!

Some kits went even further. Although this could be deemed sacrilege, many veteran cars had customised parts added as well. The 1907 Lanchester (bottom) had a blown Chevy V8 engine added, along with racing slicks!

Mat Irvine

MAT'S US DIARY: THE SPOILS OF KANE COUNTY

Mr J thought you’d like to know what I’d bought at the Kane County Toy Fair, so here’s what’s going to be filling my travel bag. In the picture, from top left to bottom right:

The 1971 AMT Corvette that was issued as the ‘yearly’ or ‘annual’ kit, for that year. At Kane County, this benefited from ‘do a deal’, as it came down from $65 to $45.

The kit in bags marked ‘The 20 Mule Team Rolls’ comes from the TV series Death Valley Days, sponsored by the Borax Corporation. This ‘generic western’ was introduced by the ‘Old Ranger’ - picture on the plans - one of whom was Ronald Reagan, and featured different stories each time. This kit is 1:48 scale and includes 20 mules and three wagons.

The Mako Shark was one of General Motors’ major show cars, elements of which were utilised in later Corvettes, such as the one on the left. This kit is built, but may be restorable - and anyway, the box is nice!

The box for the Jo-Han 1961 Rambler is just that - a box - but there is a growing market in mint boxes. Anyway, I have an old kit of this in a tatty box...

The Johnny Lightning ‘Classic Plastics’ are 1:64 scale cars, versions of which were made as AMT kits, and you get a miniature version of the kit box. These aren’t exactly old, but there weren’t exactly expensive either - two for just $5.

I’m not really an aircraft collector, but these 1:28 scale Revell WW1 aircraft have interesting boxes. I already have the Fokker Triplane, so with this one, there’s only one still to get. There was a fourth kit made in later years, but the box is far less interesting.

Mat Irvine