Monogram Model Kits
Monogram Little Air Force Assortment Gift Set Speedee-Bilt F-84 And Speedee-Bilt F-51 And Superkit F-51 (P-51) And Superkit F-84
Wood Model Kit, Box Condition: Good++
$795
Very rare 1950s gift set. Long before injection molded kit were mass produced in the USA, Monogram created what are widely considered the finest pre-fabricated wooden kits with plastic details. The Speedee-Bilt series were flying models with pre-painted and cut wooden parts with plastic props, cowls, pilots, etc. The Superkits were smaller static models with precarved wooden parts and many plastic details. The kits themselves are rare today, but the gift set is very rare. Monogram issued very few gift sets for injection kits, and even fewer in the early 1950s for the wooden kits. The gift set consists of a special 'Christmas' box with a tray and lift-off top with a cello window. This one contains 2 Superkits (F-84 Thunderjet and F-51 Mustang) and 2 Speedee-Bilts (also the F-84 and F-51). The outer box is intact with the original cello and is in 'very good' displayable condition but is not perfect. It has edge wear, general wear, light staining (visible at the upper left) and two closed split corners. The four kits inside are in mint boxes and have never started. Each is 100% inventoried complete with all parts,decals and instructions present.
Monogram B-24 Liberator Speedee-Bilt - Five Star Super Deluxe Kit, 1/60, H4-495
Wood Model Kit, Box Condition: Good++
$550
Dated 1954. Rare, desirable and very collectible. Classic early multi-media kit with a fantastic internal box presentation. The box top has excellent color and gloss but general wear as shown, two properly repaired (from the inside) split corners and a closed tear (also repaired) on the lower side. Inside, the kit is factory new. All of the factory cardboard presentation material is present and grades from 'mint' to 'excellent++.' Includes numerous plastic parts in red, gray, clear and black, four unopened glass bottle of Mono*Dope that are still good, an unopened tube of MonoGlue still in the original mint box, all prefabricated wooden parts including the amazing Monofoil wing, three sheets of die-cut and factory painted wood (unpunched), colored die-cut cardstock sheet, sandpaper, gun barrel plastic material, decals in amazing 'near mint' condition, 'near mint' instruction book and full size plans and even a miniature Monogram Catalog showing this kit and the entire Speedee-Bilt line for '54. The kit has never been started. It has been carefully inventoried 100% complete with all parts, paperwork, instructions, plans and decals. Amazingly, the celluloid plastic parts range from no warping to very slight warping (on two of the nacelles). This is very rare, as that type of plastic was unstable and warped easily over time. Before injection molded plastic kits were common, Monogram issued the famous 'Speedee-Bilt' and 'Super Kits' which featured injection molded details and precarved wooden parts. Of these, the Speedee-Bilt B-24 and B-17 were the finest. These kits are very rare today due to their relatively high original price of $4.95. This kit must be shipped insured.
Monogram B-24 Liberator Speedee-Bilt - Five Star Super Deluxe Kit, 1/60, H4-495
Wood Model Kit, Box Condition: Exc
$695
Dated 1954. Rare, desirable and very collectible one-and-only issue of this classic early multi-media kit with a fantastic internal box presentation. Includes numerous plastic parts in red, gray, clear and black, four unopened glass bottle of Mono*Dope that are still good, an unopened tube of MonoGlue still in the original mint box, all prefabricated wooden parts including the amazing Monofoil wing, three sheets of die-cut and factory painted wood (intact and unpunched), colored die-cut cardstock sheet, sandpaper, gun barrel plastic material, decals in amazing 'excellent' condition, 'near mint' instruction book and full size plans. Inside, the kit is factory new. All of the factory cardboard presentation material is present and in amazing 'near mint++' condition. The kit has never been started. The small parts in the three lower trays are still factory tape sealed. All other pieces were never sealed and they have been carefully inventoried complete with all parts, paperwork, instructions, plans and decals. The box top is graded well above average as 'excellent.' It has superb color and gloss but moderate edge wear at the center top as shown, a light crease at the lower right, other general wear and a very small factory tape tear on thye upper long side measuring 1/2" by 1/4 inch. Amazingly, the celluloid plastic parts range from no warping to very slight warping. This is very rare, as that type of plastic was unstable and warped easily over time. Before injection molded plastic kits were common, Monogram issued the famous 'Speedee-Bilt' and 'Super Kits' which featured injection molded details and precarved wooden parts. Of these, the Speedee-Bilt B-24 and B-17 were the finest. These kits are very rare today due to their relatively high original price of $4.95 and the fact that plastic kits had just come to the US market a year before and were gaining market share very rapidly. This kit must be shipped insured.
Monogram Speedee Bilt B-25 Mitchell - Wood and Plastic Model Aircraft, H-1
Wood and Plastic Model Kit, Box Condition: Good
$369
Rare early Monogram kit from the early 1950s. Fantastically well detailed and presented multi-media kit with 34 injection molded clear, red, black and gray acetate and 57 die cut or shaped balsa parts including the famous Monofoil pre-formed wing. This example has never been started and is inventoried 100% complete with all parts, glue, dope, decals, sand paper, plans and instruction book. It still has all of the correct internal display cardboard as shown. NOTE: the decals are only in 'good' condition and have some damage as shown. Please note that this kit must be shipped insured. This is the first large-scale non-flying scale Speedee-Bilt model, the B-25 Mitchell. Before there were plastic models, there were wooden aircraft kits. These usually came in two types - solid and stick and tissue. The solid models were static and usually contained a few blocks of balsa and sometimes a detail part or two. These "Make Wood Look Like Plane" models required a very high level of skill in carving and finishing. The stick and tissue variety were slightly easier to build and provided the ultimate thrill - they could fly when complete with rubber power (and later with free-flight gas and eventually RC). They still required a great deal of skill, so manufacturers sought ways to make model building more accessible to everyone. One idea was pre-carving and/or prefabrication. This raised prices, naturally. Many manufacturers launched lines of 'easy' to build flying models but only Monogram succeeded in making an entire line at an affordable price that would actual fly. Monogram, however, wanted to make true scale models that could still be assembled easily. So they created the four large and highly detailed non-flying scale Speedee-Bilt bombers - the B-25, B-26, B-24 and B-17. The kits were a tremendous success and sold well in the early to mid 1950s.
Monogram Speedee-Bilt Long Midget - ex Midget Mustang - Flying Scale Model, G6-100
Wood Model Kit, Box Condition: VG+
$135
Formerly released as the Midget Mustang. Scale flying rubber powered wooden model. Before there were plastic models, there were wooden aircraft kits. These usually came in two types - solid and stick and tissue. The solid models were static and usually contained a few blocks of balsa and sometimes a detail part or two. These "Make Wood Look Like Plane" models required a very high level of skill in carving and finishing. The stick and tissue variety were slightly easier to build and provided the ultimate thrill - they could fly when complete with rubber power (and later with free-flight gas and eventually RC). They still required a great deal of skill, so manufacturers sought ways to make model building more accessible to everyone. One idea was pre-carving and/or prefabrication. This raised prices, naturally. Many manufacturers launched lines of 'easy' to build flying models but only Monogram succeeded in making an entire line at an affordable price that would actual fly. The original "Speedee-Bilt" kits were in one-piece two-color boxes. In the early 1950s, shortly before plastic kits were available, Monogram changed to the 'hardbox' with a lithographic slick glued to the top as this kit. Speedee-Bilt kits contained die cut and pre painted wooden parts, completely formed airfoil wings, carved wheels and numerous plastic details like cowlings, pilot, missiles, prop and more. Assembly was by detailed full size plans. Never started. Inventoried 100% complete with all parts, decals and instructions present