(Gotha) Dreams Really Do Come True...

[Davos522]

Being "of an age"—I was born when Eisenhower was king and cars still had lots of chrome and really big fins—I have a lot of fond memories of the second generation of plastic kits. The first model I built was almost certianly one of the Aurora "Famous Fighters" series, somewhere around 1962: the Nieuport, Albatros, or D.VII (this last with the lurid, now-inconceivable close-up box art of some hapless Oberleutnant being flamed by a yellow & red Camel, IIRC). In any event, my local variety store, W.T. Grants, had a small model department at the end of one of the aisles in the toy department, and whether it was a size issue, or some quirk of the distributors, they never had any of the bigger Aurora kits. I used to literally dream, at eight years old, of finding the Gotha—never the D.H.10, it was always the Gotha—on the shelves. But it never happened. When I got older and started hitting bigger stores in more distant towns I kept hoping, but, somewhere around 1972, finally gave up.

Fast forward a half-century. Needing some paint for my current Nieuport 16 project, I made the trek to one of my nearest big hobby shops, outside Hartford, Connecticut, where I hadn't been for several years. After pawing through their stock of Vallejo, Tamiya, and Alclad paints I wandered through the aircraft section, which generally has a few older Eduard kits (most of which I have in my stash) but not much else by way of Great War types. I did a pretty thorough search, and, finding nothing special, turned the corner and glanced at the end of the aisle facing the very back of the store. And I think my heart literally skipped a beat....



There it was, after literally fifty years of searching.

I didn't end up buying it, against my better judgement. It was fifty dollars, and I actually have Eric Hight and Marty Digmayer's Copper State 1:48 Gotha, which is ten times better a kit... but it still gnawed at me.

I told my son Curt, who was a WWI modeler in his earlier days, and who I hope will rediscover it after the seemingly obligatory mid-youth crisis (he's 37), and when he and I went back to the store last month he actually bought it for me as a surprise; it now occupies a place of honor on the mantlepiece (somewhat to She Who Must Be Obeyed's mystification) as a reminder that... Dreams Really Do Come True.

Sorry for rambling, but this was too good not to share.

Dave V.

[uncletony]

Love it! I'm an old f#@& but I'm too young to remember this one...

[KiwiZac]

What a fantastic story!

[macsporran]

Total empathy here. Dave!

Like you I started on kits way, way, back - late fifties. I was about 4 or 5, but my older brother started getting Airfix kits and of, course I had to have the same! However a soon as we found Aurora (or Playcraft as they were here in Scotland in the UK) "1/4 scale", Airfix was forgotten. A spindly silvery grey RE8, whose wings collapsed couldn't compare with a bigger wine red Fokker Triplane - with black wheels and guns and a base, crew figure and nameplate. Be still my beating heart!
The WWI bug was under the skin, never to depart.

For the next few years I foraged all the dept stores, bicycle shops, newsagents and toy shops, finding exotic Pfalz, Fokker, SPAD etc treasures (in poly bags in UK), then glory be, I found the two-seaters in boxes - Halberstadt, Albatros C.III, Breguet....

But through all of this a phantom remained. On the full-colour wrapper on the bagged kits were shown other releases - specifically THE GOTHA, (and also, another Aurora speciality - The Gold Knight, in the figures series)
These were dreamt of but never seen. On holidays I scoured the towns of England but to no avail.
THE GOTHA was a mythic beast, comparable to our beloved Loch Ness Monster.

Years passed, models gave way to girls, school gave way to University and I got serious about a wee Hebridean lassie that I'd met on a holiday job up in the islands, who came down to live with her sister in Glasgow - so I could get the train through from Edinburgh to be together at weekends. (We're mid 1970s by now.)

The point of all this?
One day I got off train in Glasgow and walked into Woolworths in Argyll Street and there in front of me was a large display overflowing with K&B re-releases of the old Aurora quarter-scale kits. All at 99p! Sopwith Triplanes, Fokker E.Vs, Breguets - and - and GOTHAS!!!! 99p!!!

I hadn't made a model in years but I bought about a dozen, including 3 x Gothas. (in the lovely dark blue plastic peculiar to the KB issue.) Joni wondered why I arrived at her flat with a huge shopping bag, which I was more interested in getting into than her clothing!. Next day I went back and bought some more!
I made the Gotha at my uni flat, (hand painting hex lozenge with Humbrol 'Authentic colours, Napoleonic range')

Still have a photo of that, my modelling renaissance, although sadly no longer the kit (see below)

Many years later (late 1990s) I bought all the Aurora range (cheap as chips back then) on the new-fangled eBay platform - and converted a few into decent replicas. That's when I found the Gotha of course really should be in the same wine red plastic as that original Fokker Triplane all those years ago.

Sorry for the ramble, but your story, Dave, struck a hugely resounding chord here. I hope your Gotha still has that fabulous Aurora smell when you open the box! Open box often, smell parts and fondle plastic, then guiltily put back in hiding place until next time!
Sandy

PS As mentioned above I also liked the Aurora Knights but could never find the fable GOLD KNIGHT OF NICE. Recently, only a few years ago, I saw some Revell (Germany) re-issues of the Knights - with the Gold guy, at the time, only 28GBP (Now it is much dearer I fear.) Anyway like your Gotha I had to fulfill the childhood itch and now they all sit on a shelf in the cabinet!)

[rhwinter]

Wonderful stories - about US, aren't they?
So here I go: I have a few repeating dreams, one of them finding me in one of the (even back then: few) brick and mortar model-shops of my boyhood (1970ies) in Passau, Bavaria („Kragleder“, located in the vaulted cellar of a medieval house!), where I FINALLY find all those ever hardtofind kits of some esoteric japanese WW2 aircraft of some more esoteric japanese model-companies - surrounded by those kits I am excited, aroused, struck with awe and amazement - and I wake up feeling happy! It's not that I have been a huge fan of japanese Aircraft, but in those days when there were „only“ (*SIGH*) Airfix, Revell or Matchbox kits available, a mate of mine had a Fujimi (or so) catalogue, which we scanned (by eyesight, then) regularely - and I must have been heavily impressed by the depicted box-art… (I have another repeating dream, me finding some esoteric live-LP‘s of WINGS-concerts. But that's a different story…😁)
Thanks for your empathy 😊,
Richard

[lcarroll]

    Brings back so many wonderful childhood memories for me as well, what great stories here! I believe what I miss most are the real "brick and mortar" Hobby Shops and chain variety stores like Woolworths, Kresgies, Metropolitan etc. that marketed our little treasures, particularly the former. For me places that are now long gone like the landmark "BC Shaver Hobbies" in Victoria British Columbia Canada still provide a pleasant jolt back to simpler and happier times and safe place where you could lean your bicycle on the building, enter a whole new world and an hour later your bike was still there!
It was a two floor treasure house that never failed to thrill a young heart and the memories are endless. I used to "ferret" away Kits I wanted but hadn't yet saved the price of on back shelves or behind stacked boxes on display ....... such a clever but devious little devil I was! For me it was the Aurora Fokker DVII that was the holy grail; and that's how I finally got one! About ten years ago I visited there and swear some of the kits and decal sets etc. that I sifted through were there when I was a kid. Sadly the business folded a few years later but, like Sandy, I still have a Monogram "Repop" of that D VII and I will never build it; it's somehow more precious in the box!
Cheers,
Lance

[Davos522]

What a great bunch of stories! I'm really happy my post triggered such a flood of memories...

Tony, not sure if you've ever seen an Aurora kit, but by today's standards (not to mention your particular level of accuracy!) they left... somewhat to be desired, shall we say? The markings were molded proud of the surface so you couldn't mistake where the decals went, the guns were simple tubes with maybe a flared muzzle, and on and on. But it's all relative, it was still a glorious feeling to finish one!

Zac, glad you enjoyed it. The experience really made me reflect on the nature of unfulfilled desires, and how a simple thing like this was capable of melting fifty years away in a heartbeat and resurrecting that 12-year old self...

Sandy, that little memoir was priceless... and I remember the Gold Knight well, although oddly I never remember seeing any of those guys (I did build all the first-run movie monster series, though, before they went off the rails and started in with the "Mad Scientist" S&M stuff). And yes, that Aurora smell! I remember opening those boxes, breaking the shrink-wrap and thinking "Wow, the air inside here is as old as I am!" Some university was actually looking for old sealed packaging like that, in order to compare the air-quality of the 1950s with that of modern times... scary thought, that. And I remember that claret-colored red plastic in the Triplane as well, I may be mistaken but it seems to me that they shot the Breguet with that color too. I sent off for an Aurora catalog around 1969, and used to pore over it for hours.

Richard, I'm glad to see I'm not the only one whose love of modeling has invaded their dream-life! Finding a long-desired kit is one of the great joys in life... the Japanese kits finally started turning up in my local hobby shop in the late 1960s and early 70s, I remember the first one I ever bought was a 1:72 Hasegawa Heinkel HE-51B on floats, which I remember being beautifully molded.

And Lance, the store I found the Gotha in sounds a lot like the one you describe, it's a towering, 1880s brick building that used to be the factory where Bon Ami scouring powder was produced for decades. It's two floors as well, although they recently moved most of the stock to the ground floor, and the entire rear of the upper storey is taken up with the largest model RR layout in New England.

And finally, here's the box art for the original Aurora D.VII, can you imagine the uproar packaging like this would create today???



Dave V.

[Brad Cancian]

What a great thread!

So here I go: I have a few repeating dreams, one of them finding me in one of the (even back then: few) brick and mortar model-shops of my boyhood (1970ies) in Passau, Bavaria („Kragleder“, located in the vaulted cellar of a medieval house!), where I FINALLY find all those ever hardtofind kits of some esoteric japanese WW2 aircraft of some more esoteric japanese model-companies - surrounded by those kits I am excited, aroused, struck with awe and amazement - and I wake up feeling happy!

Richard - your dream struck a chord with me also, I have a similar dream every now and then. Where I grew up (country Victoria, Australia, in the mid 80s and 90s), there was only one place in my small town that sold models - the local toy store (Toyworld, for those Aussies amongst us). It was a small store, locally owned, but right up in the back corner was a good range of model kits - I distinctly remember lots of those classic "blueprint" Airfix boxes, plenty of Acedemy, Revell, even some Tamiya and Hasegawa (oh what exotic kits they were!). It was here I cut my teeth on WW1 models, after watching "The Blue Max" and "Von Richtofen and Brown", hired from the local video tape store (remember those?), and playing the old Microprose "Knights of the sky" game on my 386 PC... I got hold of some of the Airfix Vintage Series WW1 kits, and some of the old Academy kits (the Camel and SPAD), and built those up. Such good fun. Mr Hoffman ran the place - I still remember his name and face - I think he smiled every time I came in as he knew he'd be making some money that day... The toy store was there until the early 2000s (a couple of years after I left home and ventured out into the big wide world), but it's gone now, after Mr Hoffman retired. Even so, I have vivid dreams every now and then of going back into that store, sifting through the kits, and finding new and old treasures. Like you, I also wake up happy

I also remember our next local model retailer was an hour's drive away, at a chain store (called Target here in Aus); they also used to stock model kits (alas no more), including Revell and even Monogram kits. I remember splashing out on one trip with my parents, buying both the Revell Fokker Dr1 and D.VII kits with my meagre pocket money, saved up dutifully from doing chores. I fondled the plastic in the back of the car all the way home, and couldn't wait to get glue to the bright red plastic of the Dr1 - what a day that was! 

Later, as I got into my teens, I remember buying kits from more exotic destinations whilst away on holidays - here I discovered the SMER and Esci series of WW1 kits, and the (then new) DML / Dragon "wonder" kits (well they were to me; i'd never seen photo etch before). More purchases made I have fond memories of tackling the DML fokker Triplane and D.VIII, in particular. Then, on one trip, I discovered the Eduard range, and snapped up their Albatros, having my first go at a "proper" wood grain fuselage (or so I thought...).

I did find some old photographs of some of my builds as a teenager in the mid 90s - nothing special but still makes me smile...









I've also found myself going back and collecting the old boxings of these kits that I built as a youngster / teen. I won't build them, but i'll hold onto them as a reminder of those times past.




Here's some related threads -

https://forum.ww1aircraftmodels.com/index.php?topic=11373.0
https://forum.ww1aircraftmodels.com/index.php?topic=13711.0



Cheers,

BC

[rhwinter]

Thank you Brad and Dave and all 😊. Quite a heartwarming experience…
(I tried to post a pic here, but no success 😢)

[Davos522]

Great story, and love the pics... it seems you were good even in those days, Brad!

Dutch

[Edgar]

Some kits from  CSM stash

[macsporran]

Edgar, from memory I think the only one you're missing in one form or other is the Curtiss Jenny.
I remember when I was collecting them in the nineties, the Jenny was one of the most difficult to find - although the Lindberg kit was a better model, so it didn't matter too much to the builder. There was a 'Barnstorming Double' release of the Jenny and the DH4, but the famous Aurora train crash destroyed the moulds for both, so they became very rare, for collectors, as they never came out in KB, Revell or Monogram boxes..
Sandy

[Brad Cancian]

A wonderful collection Edgar!

I have also tried to collect a few 'sets' here and there also







Cheers,

BC

[Edgar]

Thanks for sharing
To continue my first message, here are some of the Out of Production (rare) models from our collection)

[Davos522]

Brad, your collection is absolutely amazing. I can't imagine the patience & dedication it took to assemble it... I built all those Revell kits, and 7 of the Airfix , and still have several of the DML/Dragon releases unbuilt.

Edgar, your collection is likewise breathtaking... and as Sandy noted, the Aurora Jenny was always a rara avis, I grew up in the Golden Age of Aurora in the 1960s and don't ever remember seeing one. But here's part of my stash I thought you might appreciate seeing:











I've mentioned before here on the Forum that I used to do the Copper State website back at the turn of the century, and this is most of my collection that remains (I obviously used some of the boxtops to begin figuring out color schemes!)... many fond memories of my friendship with Eric.

All best,

Dave V.