Resurrecting an Old Ghost

Propping up a Phantom

Once in a while, I need to unwind and take a break from my job of building models for clients. I decided to do that in the last few days. Doing so allows me to just build something without restrictions or expectations from someone else. Make something just to have some fun and clear the cobwebs out of my psyche so I have a clearer head for when I do the next job. Thus, I decided to take a couple of days off to build an ancient “Matchbox” kit to satisfy that desire.

As some of you may know, “Matchbox” brand kits are considered to be “non-serious” models by dedicated hobbyists who look to companies like Tamiya and the like for the standard in plastic model kit quality. Considered far too crude by many, especially today, these kits were manufactured from the early 1970s to the mid-1980s or so in England. As a kid growing up, I loved these kits. They were lovingly molded in two or three colours of injected styrene which meant you could build an attractive model without the need for paint, which was great for kids like me just learning to glue an airplane together with minimal effort and were dirt cheap back in the “good ole days” when they were made. They were instrumental in my love of plastic model kits, and as of late, I’ve been collecting some when I can find them. Unfortunately, they usually go for insanely inflated prices now as they stopped being produced decades ago. Matchbox also seemed to have a knack for making models of normally American planes dressed in British or foreign liveries when those opportunities arose. Such is the case with this one.

This is a model of an FGR2 Phantom (most people think of the Phantom jet as an F-4) as used by the British in the early 1980s in the Falklands by the 23rd squadron at Stanley. The kit, measuring a mere 9-1/2 inches long when finished, came with multiple ordnance options… I simply chose the configurations that seemed most visually appealing to me. Purists will argue that I got the ordnance loading wrong and that I also got the colours wrong. Yep, that’s most likely true, as I was just using the box paint guide and the 40-year-old printing isn’t likely an accurate representation of these things. But as I said, I was building this as escapism… just for fun. I just wanted an “aura” of the real aircraft since the finished model was not one to be scrutinized anyway. You know, the “crudity of the kit cuz it’s just a Matchbox” thing. It’s going to sit on my shelf until I decide to give it to a friend or something like that.

Frankly, with a little paint and maybe a bit too much weathering to disguise some flaws, these old kits can look pretty darned good sitting on a shelf if not scrutinized. It’s definitely NOT my best work, but I wasn’t going for commercial excellence here. What do you think? Here are a couple more pictures of the finished model.

Don’t look too close. It’s an “arm’s length” miniature.