You wrote:
>> I wonder if Monogram still makes WW1 planes and how one finds out what's
>> available. I hesitate getting too much involved in the game, but it would be
>> great to relive some of the fun from my past.
>> By the way, to the best of my recollection, the Mongram kits included a Spad,
Camel, Sopwith Triplane ("Black Moriah"), two or three different Neuports, a
Bristol, SE5, three Fokkers (D7, Tri, Mono), a Pfalz, Albatross, and a Gotha
bomber. There were certainly more than these, but that's all I came into contact
with.
Actually, it was Aurora that originally made the Camel and the other kits you
recall. They weren't very accurate but who knew? They LOOKED right and they were
molded in some really cool colors.
Aurora made a Nieuport 11 (olive), Sopwith Camel (olive), SE-5a (olive), Albatros
D.III? (dark green), Fokker Dr. I (tranlucent burgundy!), Fokker D.VII (med.
green), SPAD XIII (olive), Nieuport 28 (off-white), Pfalz D.III (lt. gray), DH-4
(olive?), JN-4D (? - never had it), Gotha G.V (translucent burgundy), Fokker
E.III (tan?), Halberstadt CL.II (lt. gray), Breguet XIV (dark green), Albatros
C.III (light yellow?), and (best of all) Fokker D.VIII (translucent green!!!)
The first WWI kits, released in the mid-50s, sold for 69 cents originally. Later
the price was raised to 79 cents.
You can still find them for sale in kit collectors newsletters: Lencraft and Paul
Milam come to mind. Expect to pay anywhere from $10 for the most common (Nieuport
11) to close to $100 (or maybe over) for the rarest (SPAD XIII, Halberstadt
CL.II, Breguet XIV).
Aurora went out of business in 1976. In 1977, Monogram bought Aurora's molds and
released retooled and slightly improved kits of the Camel, SE-5a and Fokker D.VII
in the mid?-80s. I don't know whether Monogram still produces the kits but there
are a ton of them around and you should be able to get them for $5 - 7 each.
Good luck!
Tom Eisenhour
Austin, Texas
t_eisen@ix.netcom.com