An Aviation Enthusiast´s Kit Collection

Hobby-Time Introduction Way back in 2004 I acquired the Hobby-Time Bell XV-3 Convertilplane (picture 1) in an auction as one of my first off the beaten track kit and put it on my website as single entry for the Hobby-Time brand. I did not care any more about this manufacturer. Some years later I acquired the Hobby-Time vacuform Super Sarbre in an auction just out of curiosity - may be it was a bargain (picture 2). This kit went as well in my archive without any more attention. In 2012 I bought the McDonnell Demon, another vacuform kit, from a private seller as part of a big lot, but again I immediately stored it in my archive. On my research on the french premium Sunil kits in 2013 the brand Hobby-Time emerged again. Some kits of this range alledgedly were based on Hobby-Time moulds (like the Invader, picture 5). This time the brand Hobby-Time got a meaning for me and I opened this page. History Western Coil & Electric Company started kit production with a seies of non flying solid balsa scale models in the late 1940's under the brand Hobby-Time (Picture 3). These models contained a few plastic parts, mainly the display stand and canopy. Sometime in the 1950s production was switched to all-plastic "box-scale" kits. Apart from the Bell XV-3, which has a larger box the fighters and bombers all used the same box size. Hobby-Time also released three vacuformed scale kits in approximately 1/48 scale. They could be assembled alternatively as flying or static models (picture 2). Produktion of kits ended around 1968-69. Plasticos Star (Costa Rica) re-issued kits 1001-1004, 1101-1104 and 1201-1204 in he the 1980's. Sources for historical data see [ 1 ] My Collection Emhpasis of my collecting efforts is to aquire the Hobby-Time kits which have alledgedly been reissued by Lindberg and Sunil in order to confirm the Hobby-Time origin. But I would add other copies of the "box-scale" series kits should I run into them. I would like to aquire the vacuform Douglas Skyray to complement the series of three vacuform kits. I do not plan in the moment to aquire more of the wooden kits. I bought the XB-51 (picture 3) and a XB-47 only to have examples for documenting the Hobby-Time history. The Hobby-Time kits in my collection are compiled in a list, which is supplemented by kits I'm still looking for.		Hobby-Time Picture 1 : Hobby-Time Bell XV-3 Convertiplane. © cjk Picture 2 : Hobby-Time North American F-100A Super Sabre. vacuform flying kit .© cjk Picture 3 : Hobby-Time Martin XB-51 "Panther" solid balsa kit. Kit No. 285. Parts . © cjk Picture 4 : Hobby-Time Messerschmtt Me 109 box with cellophane cover. Cello on Boxend © cjk
Picture 6 : Hobby-Time Republic P-47D Thunerbolt in plastic bag. ©cjk ( No larger resolution provided).		Picture 5 : Hobby-Time Douglas B-26 Invader . Sturdy box with wrap-around boxart. © cjk