Three rare kits in 1/72

[enathan]

Three rare kits were recently marked off my 1/72 wish list.
 
First was the RVHP Austin AFT-3 Osprey, a British triplane prototype. Long on my list, I found one on a Dutch auction site for €14.95 (one was lately sold on Ebay for €130). The site requested a European phone number so I asked Andreas for help and he very willingly stepped in, bought the kit, had it sent to Germany and then to Israel, and voila. Thanks again, Andreas!

Next came a truly rare marvel, the Skybirds 86 kit of the Friedrichshafen G.II bomber. One just popped up on Ebay and I've managed to buy it for £16.76, with an outrageous Ebay shipping fee of £45. The courier had also managed to lose the parcel... long story.

The Meikraft Lloyd 40.15 kit was produced in small numbers and is now very sought after. It's a fascinating AuH triplane prototype and the kit usually sells for more than $200. I've bought mine on Ebay for $64.

[DaddyO]

Interesting bunch, but really love the Lloyd 

Paul

[Davos522]

Great finds! Oddly enough my No 1 Son just bought the Lloyd kit when he and I went to a hobby shop in Connecticut last month (along with a Hi-Tech Snipe). I'd missed it when we were pawing through the shelves looking for WWI kits, and he brought it over and said "I've never even heard of this one... it's so weird I've gotta get it." Neither of us had any idea it was so scarce, he paid $19.99!

Dave V.

[enathan]

Hi Dave, I've read about your son's purchase of the Lloyd kit, and shortly after when it appeared on Ebay I decided to go for it.
To be honest, I've never thought much of the kit itself as its quality is not very good, but the subject is one of the weirdest/most interesting WWI aircraft.
It looks like a good candidate for a re-issue by AVIS... with its biplane brother, the 40.16.

[Davos522]

Another weird one! And also one that I've never heard of... in the thirty years I was collecting my WWI library (about 1970 to 2000) there really wasn't much available on Austro-Hungarian aeroplanes, Dr. Martin O'Connor's books had just come out when I drifted away into other interests. I see I've got a lot of catching up to do!

Dave V.