Tasman Models
I got aware of Tasman Models
plastic kits in October 2009 browsing John
Burns PAK-20
[1] .Burns lists about 50 kits, many of them
variants of a single type. The following
kits aroused my special interest: Airspeed
Consul, Airspeed Envoy, Avro Anson, Miles
Aerovan, and Nord 1001 Penguin.
John Burns quotes the
following background to this New Zealand
company:
"Rex Barker started this short run,
injection-molded kit company in the late
1980´s. In the early 1990´s this became the
"parent" for several New Zealand plastic kit
outfits. Included were Tasman,
Falcon,Ventura, Kiwi Wings, Southern Cross
and Upgrade".
John Burns quotes
Tasman Models as not
producing in his guide from 2003 I found out
lately in an internet search that
Tasman kits are in production again at JAYS
Model Kits.
http://www.jaysmodelkits.com/jaysmk/
JAYS purchased the company and its
subsidiaries (Kiwi Wings, Upgrade) in 2012
from the then owner Rex Barker [ 2 ].
Whereas I found the CT4A Airtrainer
and various issues of the Oxford, Dragon
Rapide and CAC Boomerang in online auctions
I desperately searched for the favoured kits
listed above with no success. No wonder as I
learned as well lately they never actually
made it off the drawing board and so never
went into production. Someone picked up on
an announcement that Rex Barker made for
future releases, but these kits never got
made [ 2 ].
Sources
[ 1 ] Burns,
John W.:PAK-20. Plastic Aircraft Kits ofthe
Twentieth Century (And Beyond). 1st Edition
2003. Published by the author.
[2] Personal information from John Stone
owner of JAYS Model Kits, New Zealand.
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Picture 1 :
CT4A
Airtrainer .Pictures of parts,
decals and instruction sheet can be found
here. I
started this page on Tasman in
09.11.2009 to the
courtesy of Allen who provided me these
pictures.
Picture 2
Upgrade D.H. Dragon Rapide civil
markings
Picture
3 Tasman Airspeed Oxford Post WW II
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