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Blazer · October 28th, 2009, 10:34 AM

This is James May, one of the three presenters of "Top gear". May is an avid collector of scale models, whether it being airplanes, cars or trains.

Now in today's world with internet, I-phones and Mp3 players, May wanted to find out if scale models still have a rellevence with today's youth. So he took one of the best known airfix models...

...and had it made just a tad bigger (look at the upper picture.)...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/8327914.stm

His one off model has now entered the Guinness book of world records and has found a home in a Royal Air Force museum.

PennyCentury · October 28th, 2009, 11:03 AM

Frank says "the canopy was probably scratched on the full size 'kit' too".

BritishBluesBoy · October 28th, 2009, 11:10 AM

James May is a world class nutter and I think he's great!

Big John · October 28th, 2009, 11:15 AM

Watched it last night on BBC and it's a great programme, the real point of it was to get kids engaged with practical and thought provoking skills through play and it seemed to work pretty well on a bunch of kids used to sitting and watching a screen of some description as their means of recreation.
There are one or two very genuinely touching moments like when he got to handle the controls of a 2 seat Spitfire for real and finally when the full size model was rolled out in front of an audience including some veteran Spitfire pilots, maybe it's a 'Geezer' thing but I was touched too, he was describing my childhood.

BoogerRooger · October 28th, 2009, 11:35 AM

That took me back! Airfix is a 'toy' I've always kept a real affection for, and I didn't realise just how much I learnt from it untill that prog. Good stuff.

Telemaniac · October 28th, 2009, 01:36 PM

Didn't see programme as currently away but who can forget building the Airfix model of JE-J, Jimmy Johnson's Mark IX Spitfire? I reckon I can still differentiate most of the versions of the Spitfire, Me109, Fw190, Hurricane, Mosquito, etc., and recognised a Grumman Gosling last week, purely based on my Airfix days from the early 1960s . . . . ahhh, the days before colour TV and computers . . .

djdeacon · October 28th, 2009, 01:37 PM

I wouldn't want to be the one who has to remove the casting flash with a nail file....unless it was a really BIG nail file....

Blazer · October 28th, 2009, 02:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by djdeacon

I wouldn't want to be the one who has to remove the casting flash with a nail file....unless it was a really BIG nail file....

They used one of THESE for that.

brewwagon · October 28th, 2009, 03:20 PM

all the burnt and blown up plastic models of my youth have surely added to ozone depletion

bw

Teleblooz · October 28th, 2009, 03:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Telemaniac

I reckon I can still differentiate most of the versions of the Spitfire, Me109, Fw190, Hurricane, Mosquito, etc., and recognised a Grumman Gosling last week, purely based on my Airfix days from the early 1960s . . . . ahhh, the days before colour TV and computers . . .

Ditto, except for me it was the Revell kits.

BTW, Top Gear is one of the funniest shows on TV. BBC America runs back episodes for hours at a stretch, at least a couple of days a week.

musicalmartin · October 28th, 2009, 04:00 PM

I remember helping my Dad make the very first Airfix kit . a Ferguson tractor . .My dad died when I was 11 so it would be around 1953 maybe earlier .I also built that spitfire when it first came out .It was silver at first if I remember.We used to buy them at Woolworths store .They always had Airfix new release kits first.Halcyon days from long a go .I used to blow them up with what are now terrorist substances when I was older.
.

Big John · October 28th, 2009, 04:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Teleblooz

Ditto, except for me it was the Revell kits.

BTW, Top Gear is one of the funniest shows on TV. BBC America runs back episodes for hours at a stretch, at least a couple of days a week.

Yeah, same here, and Monogram, I graduated to the Revell dragster models ......... oh I remember Don Garlits, Gene Snows 'Snowman' funny car and what would now be a beautifully simple Honda 250 drag bike, then about that time I had a guitar lesson at school and bang !! ...... the rest is infamy !

It's not part of 'TopGear' BTW, JM is doing a series on kid's toys.

When I got out of hospital in '07 I took it up again briefly to get some co-ordination back in my fingers and arms and made a couple of halftrack vehicles.

Steve G · October 28th, 2009, 04:39 PM

John those are great, I think Im going to have to dust off my dioramas!

DustyDave · October 28th, 2009, 04:44 PM

[/quote]

Nice relicing job, Big John

Octave Doctor · October 29th, 2009, 02:29 AM

There's still a couple stores locally who carry a large stock of model kits. I've got three or four kits I've bought over the last couple years at yard sales, things I couldn't find when I was a teenager.

I never considered the idea of a Ferguson tractor for a model kit, most American farm machinery models were sold as die cast ready made toys, much like Tonkas--but we did have a TO-30 in the barn. A righteous machine.

October 28th, 2009, 10:34 AM	#1 (permalink)
Blazer Friend of Leo's Join Date: Dec 2003 Posts: 4,829	Here's one for all people who love doing scale models This is James May, one of the three presenters of "Top gear". May is an avid collector of scale models, whether it being airplanes, cars or trains. Now in today's world with internet, I-phones and Mp3 players, May wanted to find out if scale models still have a rellevence with today's youth. So he took one of the best known airfix models... ...and had it made just a tad bigger (look at the upper picture.)... http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/8327914.stm His one off model has now entered the Guinness book of world records and has found a home in a Royal Air Force museum. __________________ "I reject your reality and subsitute my own." - Adam Savage, Mythbusters

October 28th, 2009, 11:03 AM	#2 (permalink)
PennyCentury Tele-Holic Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: New Hampshire Posts: 857	Frank says "the canopy was probably scratched on the full size 'kit' too". __________________ Now with whole-grain Telecaster goodness! I see my body as an instrument, rather than an ornament. ~Alanis Morissette

October 28th, 2009, 11:10 AM	#3 (permalink)
BritishBluesBoy Poster Extraordinaire Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Brooklyn, NY Posts: 6,511 62 Photos	James May is a world class nutter and I think he's great! __________________ BBB.

October 28th, 2009, 11:15 AM	#4 (permalink)
Big John Poster Extraordinaire Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Suffolk UK Posts: 6,680 39 Photos	Watched it last night on BBC and it's a great programme, the real point of it was to get kids engaged with practical and thought provoking skills through play and it seemed to work pretty well on a bunch of kids used to sitting and watching a screen of some description as their means of recreation. There are one or two very genuinely touching moments like when he got to handle the controls of a 2 seat Spitfire for real and finally when the full size model was rolled out in front of an audience including some veteran Spitfire pilots, maybe it's a 'Geezer' thing but I was touched too, he was describing my childhood. __________________ If you are going to be a bear, be a grizzly !!

October 28th, 2009, 11:35 AM	#5 (permalink)
BoogerRooger Tele-Meister Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Thames Delta Age: 48 Posts: 415	That took me back! Airfix is a 'toy' I've always kept a real affection for, and I didn't realise just how much I learnt from it untill that prog. Good stuff. __________________ A solid, functional piece of equipment. Like a Sten gun.

October 28th, 2009, 01:36 PM	#6 (permalink)
Telemaniac Tele-Afflicted Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Wokingham, England Age: 57 Posts: 1,403 2 Photos	Didn't see programme as currently away but who can forget building the Airfix model of JE-J, Jimmy Johnson's Mark IX Spitfire? I reckon I can still differentiate most of the versions of the Spitfire, Me109, Fw190, Hurricane, Mosquito, etc., and recognised a Grumman Gosling last week, purely based on my Airfix days from the early 1960s . . . . ahhh, the days before colour TV and computers . . . __________________ Growing old is mandatory . . . growing up is optional

October 28th, 2009, 01:37 PM	#7 (permalink)
djdeacon Tele-Meister Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Toronto, Canada Age: 50 Posts: 306	I wouldn't want to be the one who has to remove the casting flash with a nail file....unless it was a really BIG nail file.... __________________ "If you make a mistake, play it twice, so the audience thinks it's intentional" Visit the Deacons on the web at http://djdeacon.spaces.live.com

October 28th, 2009, 03:20 PM	#9 (permalink)
brewwagon Tele-Afflicted Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: the delta bc Posts: 1,075	all the burnt and blown up plastic models of my youth have surely added to ozone depletion bw __________________ Music an art form whose medium is sound.

October 28th, 2009, 04:00 PM	#11 (permalink)
musicalmartin Tele-Afflicted Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: UK Age: 61 Posts: 1,156	I remember helping my Dad make the very first Airfix kit . a Ferguson tractor . .My dad died when I was 11 so it would be around 1953 maybe earlier .I also built that spitfire when it first came out .It was silver at first if I remember.We used to buy them at Woolworths store .They always had Airfix new release kits first.Halcyon days from long a go .I used to blow them up with what are now terrorist substances when I was older. .

October 28th, 2009, 04:39 PM	#13 (permalink)
Steve G Friend of Leo's Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: LeeK (England) Age: 33 Posts: 2,451 64 Photos	John those are great, I think Im going to have to dust off my dioramas! __________________ "He was a drinkin' man with a guitar problem..." http://www.myspace.com/stevegiddings http://www.myspace.com/hiandlonesome

October 28th, 2009, 04:44 PM	#14 (permalink)
DustyDave Tele-Holic Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Santa Fe, NM Posts: 689 3 Photos	[/quote] Nice relicing job, Big John __________________ "If it ain't broken, don't fix it."- my dad, the engineer.

October 29th, 2009, 02:29 AM	#15 (permalink)
Octave Doctor Tele-Meister Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Morgantown, WV. Posts: 282	There's still a couple stores locally who carry a large stock of model kits. I've got three or four kits I've bought over the last couple years at yard sales, things I couldn't find when I was a teenager. I never considered the idea of a Ferguson tractor for a model kit, most American farm machinery models were sold as die cast ready made toys, much like Tonkas--but we did have a TO-30 in the barn. A righteous machine.

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