Toys / Toy Collecting

Kit Model Collecting 101

By Hervé St-Louis
November 2, 2008 - 10:09

If comic strips are cousins of comic books, respected and feared by comic book collectors, the gap is even wider for action figure collectors and model makers. Model collecting is a very popular hobby, possibly older and more organized than action figure collecting. Several magazines, Web sites, and specialties exists in model collecting. Often as action figure collectors, we glance over the edge to see what’s going on in the world of model kits. I’ll attempt to provide a brief look at the world of model kits.

Model kit collecting and building, just like action figure collecting is a hobby that practitioner can devote much time to. Like comic strips relationship with comic books, model kits are close cousins of action figure collecting with some overlaps. For example, some of the material we use to fix broken action figures, are the staples of model kits building used by modellers to construct their kits.

I’ve visited all the model shops in my home town of Calgary, which because of its military culture boasts several shops all specialized in their fields. I was on a quest to find a Green Hornet Black Beauty car made by Polar Light, a company that was bought back by a larger one. While the Black Beauty model is nowhere to be found in town, it gave me ample opportunity to discover model kit making.

A little bit of jargon. Model collecting is about miniaturization. Collectors care about collecting objects, props, characters that are miniaturized to various scales. These are similar scales used in action figure collecting. There are scales like 1/48, 1/32 or 1/16. That means that the model has been scaled down to one 1/48th of the actual size of the item is modelled upon. While such scales are sometimes mentioned in action figure collecting, usually, action figure collectors and vendors refer to the size of the action figures in inches or centimetres instead. We talk about 4 ¾, 6 or 12 inches action figures.  An interesting development in the world of model kit collecting is the aging collector base requiring kits to be larger dimensions to accommodate kit builders.




There are several genres in model collecting. Model car collecting, is one of the most popular part of the field. Model cars collecting can either be about collecting plastic do it yourself kits or miniature cars. Car kits are mostly fabricated in plastics. They often come in boxes attached to plastic frames and other parts bagged. The collector has to detach the pieces and build the model up. This is one aspect of model collecting that often differentiates kits makers from action figure collectors. Action figure collectors are not expected to do much assembly of their models, once they purchase them.
 
Pre-assembled miniature cars, can be die-cast or plastic models. Often they come with a pedestal or a transparent plastic box to protect the model from dust. They feature realistic detailing of the dashboard, and often rubber tires, doors and hoods that open, showing the car’s engine.



 
Another popular genre of model collecting are trains. Trains are the best known and often portrayed in popular culture as a guy’s past time. In trains, electric trains roll through complex dioramas where miniature scenery, such as villages, rivers, small forests, and parks are assembled to create a full self-contained universe. I would argue that train collecting is the most prestigious type of model collecting. It is surely one part of the field of model making that involves a lot of arts and craft and even some degree of engineering and customization.


Military collecting is a big subgenres with its own subcategories. In military model collecting, the period and themes are crucial. For example, one could be a collector of ancient wars, like the Punic Wars or specialized in Rome vs. Carthage. Alternatively, one could be more interested in recreating battles or a collector of say Prussian military models from 1815 to 1871. One could be a collector interested in World War 2 tanks or German armies.


 
Within military model collecting, there is battle recreation, which can cover any time period and often involves the creation of dioramas and the use of small soldiers, painted and assembled by the collector or bought as is. Just like train models, shrubs, tree props, canals, and materials for trenches has to be purchased to recreate a full diorama. These dioramas can represent historic battles or what if scenarios. The skill of the model maker is tested here, but at the same time, it offers him a lot of creative space and opportunities to solve problems. Often this involves research of specific battles, to recreate exact scenarios from history, such as say, the Battle of Austerlitz, involving Napoleon Bonaparte.

Kits involving military equipments such as cannons, tanks, planes is another sub genre of military collecting. The process used by vendors to make military equipment kits changed when Japanese vendors changed casting technology in the 1970s, allowing details to being engraved on parts, instead of being casted by expensive plastic moulds.

Again, model makers have to do a lot of research, to get source pictures of real military equipment in order to recreate and paint their models. Several reference books are available showing costumes of military personnel from specific periods and countries. Often model makers will journey to actual sites to witness and photograph “museum pieces” in order to recreate them.




Fantasy models are somewhat closer to regular action figure collecting, although there are many opportunities for enterprising modellers who wish to build their own dioramas involving their favourite mystical creatures and warriors. For example, there are many miniature models based on the World Warcraft universe. Modellers can purchase pewter figures and paint them with many painting kits created just for that.


Motorized planes, cars, helicopters, and boats are another large category of model collecting. Although there is some degree of customization involved, the main thrust of motorized models is to drive and pilot them. To help collectors develop some skills, there are even software simulation of flight and driving, quite similar to video games!



In each of these categories, kit collectors can go wild and deep or just skim the surface.  If one lives in a major market where models are appreciated, one will find several stores specializing in just one aspect while offering a few generic items. Models, of course ,can be ordered at most stores or found on the Internet. One thing that id interesting about kit makers and different from action figure collectors is that the focus in not as much on the hunt and display of a model. Most of the fun is building the kit model and customizing it.

There are many companies that make models and off the shelf props to help kit makers. In our next article in this series, we’ll look at some of them.

Last Updated: August 31, 2023 - 08:12