What was the first "Special Hobby" 1/48 WW1 kit?..........

[Allan31]

It's fun (for me anyway...) to build the first kit from any given manufacturer and see in todays light how far they have progressed.

Eduard, who is now heralded as one of the best makers of WW1 kits in 1/48 had its humble beginnings starting with kit #8001, the S.S. D.III.



And Roden started with kit #402, the Sopwith 1-1/2 Strutter.



Blue Max started their celabrated line with the Fokker Dr.1, kit #BM101



Someday I would like to do a GB of all these first kits but need to nail down what kit was the first for Special Hobby. Any thoughts?

[Flute]

Lloyd C.V, I think. I was just rereading some Windsocks and it was mentioned in the Jan/Feb 2003 issue, vol 19 no. 1.

Paul.

[Dirigible-Al]

I shouldn't imagine there are many of those BM dr1s left unbuilt.
Alan.

[RAGIII]

Not sure about first but they did the SPAD VII and Pfalz DIIIa  pretty early on. Actually a Pfalz DXII)
RAGIII

[Flute]

>Not sure about first but they did the SPAD VII and Pfalz DIIIa  pretty early on.
RAGIII<

Pfalz D.XII, not D.IIIa.

Paul.

[RAGIII]

>Not sure about first but they did the SPAD VII and Pfalz DIIIa  pretty early on.
RAGIII<

Pfalz D.XII, not D.IIIa.

Paul.

Yep, I was just coming back to edit that 
RAGIII

[Flute]

>Yep, I was just coming back to edit that 
RAGIII<

Not that I wouldn't have been happy to have another take on it after Blue Max and Eduard. You can never have too many Pfalzes, whatever the number. So to speak.

Paul.

[Allan31]

If anyone is interested, I spent a couple of days tracking this down. It was much more difficult than I thought.
I found myself at the "scalemates" website and discovered the Lloyd C.V is kit number 48013.
After scrolling and scrolling and using various filters, I discovered the SPAD VII, kit number 48009 is the earliest WW1 kit.

48009 Spad VII
48010 Spad VII (new decals)
48011 Sopwith Tabloid
48012 Sopwith Schneider (new parts)
48013 Lloyd C.V

All the above are "new tool" in 2002 and the earliest I can find as no other WW1, 1/48 scale kits seem to be listed before 2002.

So, it seems to me we have a winner for the first ever "Special Hobby" WW1 kit, the SPAD VII.



So my little GB for the first WW1 kits from the companies we now have admired for years are:

Eduard:            SS D.III
Roden:             Sopwith 1-1/2 Strutter
Blue Max:         Fokker Dr.1
Special Hobby:  SPAD VII

If I'm missing a company or kit, please chime in and let me know.

[KiwiZac]

Perhaps Wingnut Wings? Or is that not quite in the spirit of the theme?

[Allan31]

I was keeping it to 1/48 scale as those first Aurora kits in 1956 is what got many of us started with WW1 aircraft models.
Many later companies such as Revell and Monogram just re-popped the original Aurora WW1 kits.

[Flute]

If you'd consider resin, and can find one, maybe an early Copper State Modellers kit? IIRC the first kit was the Dornier D.I. Nice, simple little kit of an oddball subject, I've built one, although the fuselage halves were rather porous in nature.

Paul.

[Allan31]

Thanks Paul, my new hobby is tracking one of these down for my stash.....

[Tim Mixon]

Allan,
JMTG Pfalz E.1,
 Gavia models,
HR,
Jadar Hobbies,
I?m sure there are many more OOP 1/48 companies out there.  They might be very difficult to find though.

Tim

[Flute]

>Jadar Hobbies,
I?m sure there are many more OOP 1/48 companies out there.  They might be very difficult to find though.

Tim<

Just to avoid confusion, although it may only be me that's confused just having returned from 20 hours straight playing the flute, the 1/48th company was Jager miniatures, as opposed to Jadar  the  shop and brand (some 1/72nd resin kits, very nice, and they carry the Part PE line, amongst other stuff). Jager did the first decent 1/48th Fokker D.VII kits. followed by other German subjects, and also had a previous line of figures. They do, rarely turn up on Ebay, and the two I've seen have resisted warpage.

Paul.