Chitty Chitty Bang Bang kits??

[Babelfish]

Very OT this one (hence in the Lounge) but I know some members dabble in plastic kits so the question is this:

Does anyone know of any plastic model KITS of the aforementioned car??

NOT repeat NOT interested in die-cast Corgi toys or similar stuff.

Asking for a friend (no, I really am!)

- Steve

 

[NRG]

I remember Aurora did one way back in the 1960’s when I was growing up.

 

[valiant]

Yes, Aurora 1/25 and Midori 1/24 scale ones...

 

[Babelfish]

Thanks for the heads-up fellas. I've followed this up with a bit of googling and it appears that the Aurora kit is ultra-rare and goes for stupid money (one's currently on sale on Facebook for 335 British). The Midori (a brand I'd never even heard of before) likewise. The Aurora first appeared in 1968 to tie in with the movie release, and it's unclear if the Midori is a reboxing of that kit or a completely different one (I suspect the former).

Reason I ask was because I went to a gig last night and was chatting to a pal of mine who I don't see very often but have known for years. Turns out that he's into building model cars (this was news to me) and knowing that I'm into modelling he asked me if I knew of any CCBB kits out there because he fancies building one but hasn't been been able to find any. I told him I had no idea because it's not my area of interest, but I'd ask you lot on here!

So I'm going to pass the info on, and what he does with it is then up to him. I guess it depends on how badly he wants one.

- Steve

 

[theBaron]

For anyone who's interested in scale models but isn't aware of this resource, the wiki Scalemates is a good one for reference. If it has a drawback, it is that it is a wiki, it is maintained by the members. So the info is only as up-to-date as what they post. But it's generally very good.
This thread made me curious, because I didn't know anyone ever kitted Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang. So I searched on Scalemates and found an entry each for the Aurora and Midori kits. According to the info people have posted, the kits are unrelated.
This is the article on the Midori kit:

https://www.scalemates.com/kits/midori-chitty-chitty-bang-bang-1910--1452482

As far as the Aurora kit goes, I suspect that the molds didn't make it through the company's "going-out-of-business" sale when it closed. Monogram never rereleased it, if they had the molds. Perhaps the molds were part of the sale, but were damaged in the train derailment in upstate New York, that damaged many of the molds. After the wreckage was cleaned up and the shipments eventually reached Illinois, Monogram triaged them. Those molds that were too badly damaged to repair, or not of sufficient quality for Monogram to re-tool them and re-release the kits, were sold for their scrap value. The ones Monogram considered up to their quality were retooled as necessary and entered Monogram's catalog-then the Revell/Monogram catalog, when Odyssey Partners merged the two companies, and eventually the successors when Hobbico's bankruptcy rang down the curtain on those classic American brands.

There are some sellers of classic kits online; Rare Plane Detective is one that comes to mind immediately. Otherwise, it's a matter of time and visiting shows and watching online auctions and sales for a reasonable sale. Not quite a fit for your immediate purpose, but that's all I can think of, off the top of my head.

I'll have to see if I can find any sales or auctions, too.

I hope that helps!

Prost!
Brad

 

[Babelfish]

Thanks Brad. I'd never heard of Rare Plane Detective before. According to what I read during my own research, the mould for that particular kit wasn't in fact one of those involved in the infamous train wreck. And it appears from that Scalemates link you posted that the Aurora kit and the Midori are two entirely different kits.

- Steve