Hobbycraft Canada, a quick review

A quick look at Hobbycraft of Canada which had kits made for it in Korea by Idea Plastics.

[@tgmccoy1556]

Tim McCoy here Gloria's account. Built the Sopwith Camel 1/32 , The DH Beaver, and Otter. Flew the real Otter a bit on a frieght run in the Central valley in California. Back in the 80's. Loved it. Taxiing by the Fex Ex and UPS crew and the look on their faces was priceless.

[@arhassoc]

The CH-114 Labrador is an almost straight lift of the superb Fujimi Vertol 107 Sea Knights. The only difference I can see between the two is the pattern of the quilting on the rear of the cockpit, sadly a rubbish decal sheet, and a price tag about half the Fujimi one!! I have tried, and all parts are interchangable between the two kits, so my Vertol collection is mainly Hobbycraft with other decals! I remember they did a 1/72 Skyraider and a 1/72 Dash 8 and Caribou (or was it a Buffalo? It's too deep in my stash to check at the moment) for transport/civil fans. All very simple, rather Airfix late 60's/ early 70's, but with etched panel lines.

[@bruceboatwright7488]

Maybe someone else mentions this.....their 1/48 scale P-82 twin mustang is/was the only one in that scale. What a struggle/challenge that was. Every part needed work, but in the end it presents well. Bruce

[@vonJaerschky]

On Canada day, no less! Thanks Max!

[@danstinson7507]

Thanks for this one, Max. Living just below the border, I'm surprised this one flew under my radar. I also am a model railroader and am quite familiar with the LifeLike story. Interestingly, I have a Hobbycraft 1:72 "RCAF/UN" DHC Caribou transport in marination that I'm planning on building as an Air America freighter. I also see I need to find the 1:72 Avro Arrow!!

[@occularmalice]

I just scored a copy of an original Hobbycraft Avro Arrow from a private sale (scored as in it cost me $40 CDN). Box and bag is opened but everything is unassembled and there. Can't wait to put this baby together!

[@christophergirard7169]

Max. I recently picked up an Academy T-33 shooting star. “ Limited Edition”. Upon opening the kit, the sprues looked quite familiar. I opened my old Hobbycraft kit to find out they are the same kit. I have seen this on 2-3 other kits Leads me to believe that Academy has acquired some of Hobbycraft’s molds and have produced some kits with them

[@mrains100]

Thanks again! I did rant in an earlier post that Hobbycraft did issue odd ball kits. Two I think I know about were variants of the Messerschmitt flown by Israel and Spain. [ ie: Avia S-199 and the Spanish Hispano Aviacion HA - 1112]. My limited sources tell me that the "Nazi" birds used during the movie "Battle of Britain" were on loan from Spain. I have no life.

[@eravpl]

Fun fact about Hobbycraft's 1/72 F-16: It is a poor copy of Italeri kit (with engine nozzle details removed). The Italeri kit has an issue with the enlarged version of horizontal stabilizers - they are moved forward to keep the trailing edges inline with airbrakes which is incorrect. Hobbycraft engineers apparently noticed that the gap petween the wing and stabilizers is too small, so they... moved the wing forward. ;-)

[@MrCayoCoco]

Not terrible kits, but often very basic, lacking gear well and cockpit detail, and often cloudy clear plastic. Some were better than others for sure. The decals improved greatly over time, and some re-tooling was done, such as the CF 105. The Mig 15 and the F 86 that I built were quite good for the price. The CH 113 is incorrect and incomplete, but has the basic decals. I used a Fujimi KC-107 as a kit bash and scratch built the necessary extras. Combining the two will provide the extra bubble windows needed. After market decals are available thru "canmilair"

[@crazybrit-nasafan]

I have the DH Otter kit but missed out on the CF100 and CF105 kits. Great vid Max. Nice coverage. All the best

[@LupusAries]

Interesting, the Otter and Twotter are my favourite civilian aircraft, any kits that you can recommend? Saw the Revell rebox of the Matchbox kit recently but I'm 7nsure about it and the Otter seems even rarer.

[@crazybrit-nasafan]

@@LupusAries for the Twin Otter the Matchbox/Revell kit is the one I would recommend, I have built a few. You get choice of both types of nose cone and wheel, ski and floatplane options. The Hobbycraft Otter looks pretty good but I have yet to build it, but I have not heard any bad reports on it. If I remember correctly someone on the Unofficial Airfix Modellers forum built one some time back. You could try asking on there if it is a good kit.

[@LupusAries]

@@crazybrit-nasafan Thanks I will try both of that.

[@michaelnaven213]

Yes, I have built some of their kits. They were molds from another kit. With some effort you could have a nice model. Thanks for video, hope you are recovering well. Stay safe and healthy.

[@johnashley-smith4987]

Thanks for this video. I have bought a few Hobby craft kits and even built a couple. Their older kits I have learned to avoid, but some of their later kits weren't too bad for their time. Their decals were crap in the older kits but improved greatly in later releases. The kits they did of Canadian subjects were cool ( being Canadian here) and usually the only game in town at the time. I built one of their 1/48th I-16s in Spanish Civil War markings and a 1/72nd CF-100 " Clunk" . Both were very basic but at least had decent engraved panel lines. The worst thing about Hobby craft kits were their instructions, with awful drawings of assembly steps where it was often difficult to even identify the parts in question! I have to admit it would be a tough sell to get me to ever buy a Hobby craft kit again. It'd have to be nearly free! Thanks again!

[@mode1charlie170]

Thanks from Nova Scotia Max....I was waiting for this one. I have the 1/48 Avro Arrow hanging in my miniature aeronautical museum.......

[@dungtrumpet5490]

Thank you so very much for making this video!!!!!!!!!!! Hobbycraft was one of my favourite kitmakers, with the Arrow, Otter, Expeditor and 1/28th scale Nieuport 17 being among my favourite kits!!!!!!!!!

[@gerryparker1390]

I was hoping for this one. I learned a little more. Their kits never seemed to get a lot of love. Yet for Canadians they covered subjects no one else seemed to be interested in. That is uniquely Canadian aircraft. While the decals were most often very poor the plastic itself was good. ( but not always ) The 1/72 Sabres were sweet. Until Airfix released their latest Sea Fury in 1/48, the HC kit was the one to get.

[@travis_thompson]

I always thought i built the Tamiya FRS.1 Sea harrier as a kid until I saw the box art in this vid, I didnt realise it was a hobbycraft copy. I think I have a CF-100 in the stash currently.

[@user-xm6qb5cg4i]

You are right

[@martinproctor6944]

Thanks for doing this one. It sounded like a real challenge to get information on this company. I kept coming up with stuff for a different, unconnected Hobbycraft that in one instance seemed to be using the same logo. I have a few of their kits. Still have the Bluenose to build. Welcome back.

[@FastSports-ScaleCarGarage]

Max, thanks for making my Canada Day even happier! I have a Hobbycraft Arrow on my work bench, I'd better get at it! Keep 'em coming!

[@maxsmodels]

That is a sought after kit

[@FastSports-ScaleCarGarage]

@@maxsmodels I didn't realize that! Mine is 1/48 scale, it was also issued in 1/72 scale as well!

[@JohnHill-qo3hb]

@@FastSports-ScaleCarGarage Aurora did the CF-100 and the CF-105 first I believe, I had the CF-100, the aircraft's nickname would also apply to the moulding of the model, it was heavy.

[@Corsario-ud1du]

That CH113 Labrador model looks amazing. I´ll start searching for one of those to build. Keep up your good work!

[@joakimkarlsson9255]

Their line of 1/48 scale Bf-109 kits were pretty good. From the early Jumo engined B,C and D models, all the way up to the Avia S-199 and Hispano HA-1112 Buchon. The S-199 and Buchon kits are still the only mainstream kits of those derivates available in that scale.

[@davefost]

Thanks Max! Growing up in the 70's and early 80's, HobbyCraft was a go to for Canadian kits... remember, this is back in the day when aftermarket decals were hard to come by... so Canadian out of the box was great. Five CF-105 Arrows flew as part of the flight-test program... and while HobbyCraft's Arrow had issues, it was available... in 1/72 and 1/48. Same with the CF-100 which was produced in large numbers and served into the 80s. The HobbyCraft reputation amongst my plastic model pals was solid B grade kits that told a Canadian story that wasn't available elsewhere. But as you say, there were some gems in there too from other company's toolings. I still have a handful of their kits in my closet including the 1/48 Arrow, 1/48 F7U Gutless I mean Cutlass, 1/72 Snowbird Tutor, and 1/48 Otter. I think they still have an address a short drive from me and the site is just an industrial unit, if memory serves. The story I had heard at one point was they had molds but margins were higher on trains and were not interested from a business sense in doing aircraft ever again as a result. Please take that with a grain of salt as it's nothing more than something I read on a website years ago. I agree with those below: the Buffalo and Caribou were missed opportunities!! Wish they had done those... I think the 'Bou especially would have been successful with the US Army / Vietnam connection.

[@michaelhintz5870]

OMG!!!! I haven't heard Bob and Doug in years!!!!!! Another Great Video!!!

[@brianbell463]

Hobbycraft kitsets are available in New Zealand. The quality is reasonably good although they do lack details in some areas esp. interior details. They appear to be similar in many details to Academy kitsets.

[@modelermark172]

I've built my share of Hobbycraft kits. Having missed the Aurora CF-100 and CF-105, I was glad to finally have them from Hobbycraft in true 1/72 scale. I also liked their MiG-17 and Arado AR-234 Blitz series of models in 1/48 scale. These were fun kits to build, though I always found the instruction sheets a big vague. Overall, they were good, solid kits.

[@davehopwood2068]

Still have their 1/72 Otter waiting for conversion to turbo prop. Had the Arrow kit for many years and sold it a couple of years back. It was huge in 1/48! Also had a couple of the Sea Fury's back in the day. Glad to see you're recovering nicely Max. Thanks from the Great White North, eh!

[@THROTTLEPOWER]

Another great video Max !

[@Blowinshiddup]

I built a ton of these kits back in the day. Over a hundred CH-113 Labradors. They were cheap and workable, that was about it. They just don't really measure up to a lot of today's stuff, but they are still in most cases the only models of some Canadian subjects. Just wish they'd done the CC115 Buffalo to go with the Caribou.

[@DansModelBench]

Hobby Craft kits were sold in Australia in the late 80's early 90's and I also saw the odd Idea branded kit too. I've still got a few in the stash. I believe at least some of the old molds are used by Academy these days.

[@lancerevell5979]

I have several of their kits, mostly 1/48 aircraft. Some are still squirreled away unbuilt.

[@garfieldsmith332]

Just reading thru the responses and your video is well appreciated by us Canadians; especially fans of A.V. Roe (Avro). Anything to do with the CF-105 Arrow is treasured by us. I am fortunate to have the 2 Hobbycraft kits but also a couple of hard cover books on te Arrow, and one dedicated to the Iroquois engine. In addition 2 of the limited edition die cast Avro Arrows. All of this was produced for the Canadian market and thus produced in low volumes and are all out of manufacture/print With the growing interest in Avro over the years the price of these items has risen sharply. It is about time someone re-issued the kits or made new detailed ones. Well we can only hope.

[@estorey1465]

good job Eh! in time for our canada day July 1, I enjoy your videos!

[@jimervin387]

Let's hear it for Chinada er Canada. I'm one of the natives who has no pride in a country which can't even make it's own videos anymore.

[@davidnickels3325]

THeir last kits as far as I know were their 1/32 P-51/A36 kits (blown up copies of the Accurate Miniatures 1/48 models) and a 1/32 Sea fury. They also reboxed some Trumpeter kits before seemingly getting out of the kit business. Many of their kits are now sold by Academy

[@douglascorlett7890]

Thanks. I was researching Hobbycraft today. This helped : )

[@roddumouchel5956]

The Arrow, CF-100 Canuck are still very much in demand here in the Great White North. Would be nice if someone else would start to produce them.

[@edwarddillon4950]

Good stuff again Max. I had about a dozen of these kits plus a rare 1/48 CF 100 and 1/48 Snow Bird Tuduor ,Stupid me l gave them all away . I think I have actually A couple left .I'll have to go check.

[@michaelroach4219]

This site is awesome!It makes me want to build a model.I wonder why.

[@guillermopelaez5859]

This was a particular company I was curious about... Thanks!!! I do have in my stash the Arado AR-234B elite series (incl. photoetch), two A-4 Falklands/Malvinas (UK/AR) and a Vampire, all 1/48... they need some work but look just fine, and as you said, quite cheap for what is delivered in the box...I bought them two in Spain, one in the US and the other in the UK...Din't know they had reboxing from Hasegawa and Tamiya...!

[@davidgreen5099]

i have the 234 too. and the "flying banana" helo.

[@guillermopelaez5859]

@@davidgreen5099 the 234 was probably the first kit I bought that included PE in the box...! and the decal sheet for the A-4s are quite good to be honest... I am very happy with these kits and the overall price quality I paid for. Cheers!

[@Denn48]

They also re-released a bunch of Trumpeter 1/32 kit's from around 2001 - 2009.

[@garfieldsmith332]

The odd kit shows up in hobby stores now and then. The only interest I ever had in them was when they released the Avro Arrow. It was a hot item when they released it as many of us had the Aurora and had not seen one released by any other manufacturer. kit . It was also released later in 1/48 scale. Both kits were re-released with new box cover art. Apparently there was an error with the first 1/72 release and it was corrected for the re-release.

[@carmium]

I wanted an older float plane for an O scale railroad diorama, and what did I find but the Hobbycraft Noorduyn Norseman! Perfect subject! Until I opened the kit. What a piece of junk! What little interior it had was extremely crude - at 1/48! The cowling was the wrong shape, the wingtips ditto, the wings so over-scalloped with fabric effect that World War 1 would have been embarrassed by them! I was so overwhelmed by the fixes required that I finally tossed it! As a Canadian, I had real hopes for a while...

[@datamek]

Academy is producing few aircraft models in 1:48 from old hobbycraft molds: P40, P35, I16, Bf109D, Peashooter.

[@joeshmoe9978]

I had some of their airplane kits, but didn't think that they were very good.

[@johnnoble01]

Just building a Mig 25 from them at the moment. Old kit I got cheap at my local model shop. Looks like a reboxed Hasegawa kit.

[@goose5253]

I’ve built a seafire (carrier borne spitfire) from them and the plastic was horrible, but it didn’t have any major fit issues, with the only fit issues being in the wings.

[@MidoriMan]

I tried to build the Ar-234 from Hobbycraft last year. It was not one of their best. The fuselage join was bad enough that larger raised details like the loop antenna mount had to be sanded off and scratchbuilt. I'm hoping the other kits in my backlog are of better quality.

[@mode1charlie170]

My only Hobby Craft kit was the 1/48 CF-105......its one of my most coveted models...

[@dogjunker]

Trumpeter also supplied a1:32 F105 . I bought a hobbycraft 1:32 f105 fo $40 Canadian It has basic decals. The sprue trees have trumpeter copyrights on the sprues.

[@scorpio5289]

I managed to purchase all their B36 kits in the different variations.All are 1/144 scale.Pretty nice kits.Only other B36 I know of is monogram in 1/72.

[@arhassoc]

I wish I had managed to get a B-36, I particularly fancied the Ficon version with the 1-144 RF-84 T'flash and XF-85 Goblin, two super kits in their own right!

[@tinmansscalemodels]

Pretty sure there's a 1/48 B36 too

[@flyswryan]

Tinman's scale models There is! I have one in my stash. I can’t recall who put it out, I’ll have to check.

[@joeshmoe9978]

@@arhassoc a 1/144 Goblin must have been the size of a raison.

[@scorpio5289]

@@flyswryan I saw one on Ebay.Way over my hobby budget.I do know its a very limited model.

[@SaturnCanuck]

Max, thanks for this -- being as I asked. A great Canada Day gift. I had the Arrow and was a nice kit, good decals and nice detail. Fit and finish needed some work, but all-in-all a good kit.

[@gustavoantonelli]

Hobbycraft kits were available in Argentina for some time. Most of them in 1/48. I thought that the only 1/72 kit of the Skymaster was the LS one.

[@plasticplaypen1214]

My Minicraft experience was their 1/144 KC-135R. Fought me most of the way but still turned out decent. I’d upload a photo if I could

[@p40f20]

You seem to have missed out on Academy stealing some of Hobbycraft's molds and selling them as their own kits. Hobbycraft had placed full page ads in modeling magazines telling us what Academy had done, and not to buy these kits from the stolen molds. I think it was not too long after that they stopped selling model kits. Academy is still today selling these former Hobbycraft kits.

[@maxsmodels]

I am shocked, SHOCKED I SAY, that a company would re-box another company's product and claim the credit for themselves. 🤣😜

[@BigLisaFan]

@@maxsmodels Welcome to the world of big business I guess. Sooner or later molds get switched around. Look at Peerless, same kit only under Italeri's branding.

[@garfieldsmith332]

@@maxsmodels :-).. "I am shocked, Rick; SHOCKED, to find gambling going on in your back room".

[@dalecomer5951]

It seems like a game of musical chairs with the molds.

[@maxsmodels]

@@dalecomer5951 pretty much

[@veshalicacastilloguzman6628]

I have built several 1/48 Hobbycraft kits. They are cheap although the parts tend to be kind of blunt and rounded, and this lack of crispness is not good for the small details. But I build most of my aircraft models in-flight, a so these models work great as long as they have a good outline. Some of their kits are very nice: P-26 (their best 1/48 kit IMO), P-35, P-36A, P-36M, J-3 Cub. Most are good enough for the type of building I do: T-33, Beaver, Otter, Hurricane, Sea Fury, MS.406, Ha1112, I-16, La-7, P-59, MiG-17, CT-141, F7U. Pretty bad: Ar234 (I ended up trashing it), Do17 (horrible fuselage shape), Vampire (although once you fix the wing dihedral it's fine).

[@laszloharsanyi8320]

Glad to see you back on track. Regarding Hobbycraft: I'm surprised when checked that even though their kits were in the mainstream in the 80s-90s, I didn't build any from them. Probably because I was a WWII plane builder and their offer was limited on this field.

[@JJ-cf7nb]

Looks like some of the molds (1/72 Dash 8 and F-18)are now being used by a Manufacturer named Kitech out of China.

[@arhassoc]

I have a Dash 8 in the stash, but have wanted another....must look out for the very cheap Kitech copy!

[@harryandreou769]

Most of my hobbycraft kits are in Academy boxes and aren't bad at all although some decals are thick and difficult to get them to adhere or conform to curves

[@alexx86hater]

Their Banshee is a good kit and currently being reissued by Academy. I-16 is accurate for some types and while outshined by ICM cost only a fraction of it (at least in US), also is reissued by Academy. B-47 is the only game in town in 144 scale (quite nice model which is a perfect pair for Minicraft's 144 KC-97 for refueling diorama) and guess what Korean company reissued it few years back.

[@janandd1]

I've got that B-47...

[@model-man7802]

I had all the me109s the Ar234s,ju88s and I cant remember the rest.

[@user-xm6qb5cg4i]

ju88s is OEM Order from Revell. dvdprime.com/g2/bbs/board.php?bo_table=figure&wr_id=89953

[@LupusAries]

Were the 109s good? As it is my favourite among the WW2 Fighters those rare early versions sound interesting.

[@kellybreen5526]

I also think they were the first to offer Second World War Russian fighters - the I-16, La5-7 in 1/48th scale. They also seemed to be one of the first to put photo etched metal in their kits. The Hurricane comes to mind. For a long time the Hobbycraft Banshee was the best, and no one has yet done the Otter, Beaver, CF-100, CF-105 or Tudor in injection plastic. The Clunk and Arrow are available in 1/72 and 1/48. The Ju-87 is the Monogram kit with pretty worn tooling. I don't know if it is real Monogram or a pirate. The quality of some of their kits makes me suspicious that they did pirate some tooling. But other kits are pretty good. They did the Ju-88 in several versions as well as the Do-17 in 1/48th scale and were the only game in town but then Monogram came out with their JU-88 and a Do-215 which were much better. Same thing seems to have happened with their A-4. The industry is pretty competitive and if you are not first you are last. When it was kids building models price was an issue. Now that it is old men generally building models it is all about accuracy and detail. After the Airfix Seafury came out you can't give the Hobbycraft Seafury away - but it was the only 1/48th injected model for at least 20 years.

[@tinmansscalemodels]

They also did the Caribou in 1/72

[@user-xm6qb5cg4i]

In case of ju87, it was said that the mold was repaired once at the Idea Factory visit.

[@p40f20]

Airfix did a Beaver.

[@billballbuster7186]

Bought a few of these kits over the years, not impressed with the quality but they did have some unique subjects such as 1/48 DH Vampire F MkI etc

[@reigels]

That was one nice Beaver! No. Seriously the kit was sharp.

[@Banner_Bearer_of_Eternity]

Thanks Max!

[@maxsmodels]

my pleasure

[@richardklug822]

I bought 3 of their kits (Arado 234, F7U Cutlass, Sopwith Camel) but never got around to building them. Sold off the first 2 at shows. Remember their having pretty good outlines and fit, but only basic details. Kept the Camel...only 1/32 game in town until WnW kits arrived.

[@MartintheTinman]

Academy has a 1/32 Camel

[@richardklug822]

@@MartintheTinman According to the Scalemates database, the Academy one is a re-release of the original Hobbycraft kit.

[@paulbervid1610]

Very good. Great song.

[@janandd1]

Hi from Nova Scotia !

[@maxsmodels]

hello

[@av8tor261]

I've built a few Hobbycraft kits only because I wanted RCAF aircraft. I don't consider Hobbycraft a "model kit" company by any means. Hobbycraft is more of a "distributor" or "re-packager" of kits manufactured by other companies. Simply marketing and I don't see anything wrong with that.

[@mafmaf6417]

Their kits were cheap and simple to build, great for beginners. No interior details, who cares you cannot see most of it anyway. It never seces to amaze me when companies make kits that have all kinds of interior detail when in most cases it will not be seen and are expensive as hell. We need more companies like Hobby Craft to attract young people to the hobby again.

[@shnorth888]

Hobbycrafts relationship to Life Like trains goes back to late 70's early 80's. They became the Canadian distributor for Life Like. In the 80's Life Like started to do runs of rolling stock painted for various Canadian railways for exclusive distribution by Hobbycraft of Canada under the name Life Like Canada. This was mostly Life Like's higher end Proto 1000 and 2000 line along with the basic entry level line of rolling stock. in the late 90's Hobbycraft approached Life Like about doing some unique Canadian and U.S. locomotives that Life Like did not offer in the HO scale Proto 1000/2000 line and also some N scale models I believe. This included the ALCO RS-11, RS-3, unique Canadian MLW - ALCO RS-10, RS-18, Fairbanks Morse C-Liner and Canadian newsprint boxcars. The tolling for these was owned by Hobbycraft not Life Like. When Life Likes parent decided to exit the model train business they sold that along with the tolling they owned to Walthers. Walthers chose not to partner with Hobbycraft and Hobbycraft took their tolling and created a new company called True Line Trains. TLT also introduced some more new locomotives to the range plus adding various Canadian prototype freight cars and cabooses and distributing special runs of cars made by Atlas. What done TLT in was an expensive CN 4-8-4 steam loco that turned out not to be a good runner and they had to sell these at a loss plus the company wasn't ran very good either and got into financial problems. They ended up liquidating the company and most if not all the tooling has been acquired by Atlas who have since re-introduce some of the models.

[@hikokibert]

I made a few of their kits. My experience was good surface detail and fit with poor interior detail and pretty bad decals.

[@pastorrich7436]

How fitting. Bob and Doug are in orbit AND here at Max Models. A coincidence? Hmmm...No. But it sounds good and fits with the nonsense of strange brew. (Strange brew...Could that be an illusion to mixed media or multi-media kits?) I digress. Good show Max! The Hobbycraft 1:48 CL-41/CT-114 Tutor goes for a very pretty Canadian penny with a couple on eBay for over $70 now. I have a Canuck that I got at my childhood LHS on my last trip out west -- which has been started but lives on the shelf of, "I think I'll get back to that someday."

[@paulthibeault1886]

I worked at a hobby store, in Toronto, on and off throughout the eighties and don't remember any Hobbycraft branded kits. We sold everything from plastic kits to RC vehicles, model rockets, slot cars to darts, and kites. Hobbycraft was pretty much the Canadian distributor for everyone from AMC to Tamiya. All our orders seemed to come from them.

[@Wild-Dad]

Which hobby store? I worked at Northstar and was a constant customer of Keith's, Underground Modeler, Wheels and Wings, Hornet Hobbies, Mr. Gateway's Ark, and just about all the Liesure Worlds. Northstar always carried Hobbycraft stuff.

[@paulthibeault1886]

@@Wild-Dad I worked at Rexdale Hobby at Islington and 401.

[@Wild-Dad]

@@paulthibeault1886 - sorry, I forgot about Rexdale. That was a great little place. I liked how you had all the models on the movable panels. Too bad it's now just one big Wallymart. I forget the owner's name (won't forget his face) and he ended up in Barrie. I don't know if he still has a store.

[@garfieldsmith332]

Hobbycraft may have imported some Tamiya. Tamiya was first imported into Canada by Triang and then Borgfeldt. However there were lots of stores importing Tamiya direct from either Japan or a U.S. Distributor. Borgfeldt apparently went to court over these importers as they had become the "official licensed importer for Tamiya".

[@garfieldsmith332]

@@Wild-Dad I remember all those Leisure Worlds. Too bad they went belly up. First the corporate stores, then a few years later the independent franchise stores.

[@gordonshumway8030]

I seem to have recognized some of the old IHobicraft IDEA molds under Zhendefu / Kitech ..

[@aidi58]

Those were poor copies of the Hobbycraft kits. I tried their Do 17 and it was a total failure.

[@normanlong2191]

Thanks a million Maximillion ! I know a few Canadians and as they criticise my Australian accent which is perfect English and has no weird pronunciations by the way ,so i give them hell about the way they pronounce the word ‘out’ …….hope your hip is getting better , can ya do handstands or backward flips with Pyke yet mate ?

[@maxsmodels]

short walks without the cane so far

[@JMChladek]

HC kits pretty much are no more, which is a shame as a good portion of their unique stuff has never been repopped. As I gather from my research, the relationship with Idea could be rocky at times. One example was when Academy issued some HC kits in their boxes. Only problem is HC didn't give permission to do that. So it caused a rift until things got resolved. One of my recent builds was a HC kit of a 1/72 Bell X-1. I built it as the "Russian Parasite Fighter" from the John Wayne film "Jet Pilot". It turned out pretty well too.

[@rosshemmings9384]

I found a "revised' version of their Avro Arrow kits and being Canadian I was thrilled silly to have found it...until I went to start it. Their instruction sheets are unique to say the least. The parts for every step are are different colours supposedly to help ID the parts. Pictures look as if they were taken from the next room as in not a clear view. But the absolute worst was how they ID parts. Each tree has a letter to help(?) locate the parts but when you go to find the part as numbered on the tree it doesn't jive with the part numbers on the instructions. It took me over an hour to got each part on each tree trying to match it up to numbers and what the parts looked like on the instructions. The kit consists of 56 parts, 3 I couldn't find a similar part anywhere in the instructions, 43 were given different number in the instructions and quite often they had left/right parts wrong. Really a shame as the parts looks well made

[@vmoney9106]

The price those kits go for is amazing, considering the quality. That and the Tudor. If a company were to release modern versions of those two kits, they'd have a customer in each Canadian modeler.

[@maxsmodels]

I am confident you can do it!

[@scottfabel7492]

I used to have that "Great White North" album on vinyl. "Eh!"

[@xtalvt]

Awesome, Eh! Just getting caught up on your videos .... putting up a workshop before the snow flies (which can be in a week or two here in VT). Another great job! As a former Canadian, I still have a soft spot in my heart for the Arrow. I just spend the most money I ever have on the 1/48 model (found a seller online) ... $100 Canadian ... which is like $2 US (kidding). For anyone who is interested, here is a good article about the Arrow by the BBC www.bbc.com/future/article/20200615-the-record-breaking-jet-which-still-haunts-a-country

[@tinmansscalemodels]

I can't believe that you missed the Caribou

[@maxsmodels]

I'm a nob.

[@kennethsooley9938]

Thank you from Ottawa!

[@maxsmodels]

welcome

[@conradkenneth5216]

Greetings from the international space station!

[@robertholmes1895]

do a trumpeter history

[@maxsmodels]

on the list

[@kennethkwilinski4899]

I remember that movie.

[@anthonyw.5305]

Wow!! Talk about coincidence, I just so happen to be nearly finished building a Hobbycraft I-16 and Hawker Sea Fury in 1:48 scale. On the Sea Fury, I was debating Canadian or British markings. I think you just helped me make my decision, eh?

[@Grimhilde7]

one uniquely and VERY CANADIAN aircraft i,m surprised they didn,t make was the magnificent Canadair CP-107 Argus maritime recon/sub-hunter. i suppose a 1/72 kit would have been pretty big but even 1/144 would have been alright.

[@occularmalice]

Great choice of music. I have an Arrow model from them as the store was just down the street from me at the time. I'm in Calgary now (got the model when I was in Toronto) but the last Hobbycraft store shut down awhile ago here. There is a store called PM Hobbycraft which is still functioning (and pretty nice). I'll head up and have a chat with them to see if they're an offshoot or related in some way to the original Hobbycraft. Here's their website: www.pmhobbycraft.ca/

[@barrysteinlage6888]

Was the Otter an incarnation of the WW2 Stinson L series?

[@jimmbbo]

No... The Otter is larger than the largest single engine Stinson and was designed as a larger STOL airplane doing the same job as the Beaver

[@maxsmodels]

Nope, it was all DeHavilland

[@steyraug2457]

Ive been trying to find an Avro Arrow from hobbycraft since I’ve started this damned hobby

[@gorrammit]

They’ve become hard to find. I’m hopeful someone will make a much more detailed kit of the Arrow especially seeing all the new companies popping up with obscure modeling subjects

[@whirlybird3189]

Who remembers the buy 2 get 1 free stickers? I think that was the deal.

[@luislealsantos]

They also sold in Europe, Portugal, Spain and UK as I know. poor tooling mostly although cheaper than similar from other brands.

[@JohnneeD1]

A day after Canada Day! Thanks!

[@OMEGATECH]

I just watched this video in 3B, beauty eh!!

[@BigLisaFan]

Yeah. 3 beers it looked good, eh! Beauty, anyone for a Timme's?

[@OMEGATECH]

@@BigLisaFan take off! eh I'm full

[@maxsmodels]

yeah eh!?

[@CAPNMAC82]

Cool topic. Shame the graphics are so pixelated.. ¿C'est la vie, eh?

[@Slickboot21]

I love Doug and Dave. No wait... It's Bob and Dave. I'm hosin'! It's Bob and Doug! Mostly I love SuperDog. What an actor, eh?!

[@maxsmodels]

Superdog, you mean Hosehead? 😜🤣

[@flyswryan]

Bob & Doug McKenzie? If you mess up their names, don’t watch Letterkenny: you’re head will be spinning, eh?

[@Wild-Dad]

Yes - a Canadian subject on Canada Day! Their head office in Canada was in the Region of York's city of Vaughan, just a mile or so north of the northern boundary of Toronto. It's all one big urban area now, been that way for decades. I used to go up there regularly to pick up model kit donations for our area model contest, TORCAN. I've sent you the info on the original release that HC did of the Arrow which they fixed on the revised moulds they did in 72nd and 48th scale. I'll send some photos of the puzzles - they were direct copies of the model box art. I'll put them on the Facebook page. They were all aircraft as far as I know, I dont think they went into armour and I know there were no car or ship models. Ok - the McKenzie Brothers - havevyou ever seen "Strange Brew"??? Oh Max, there are so many more CDN bands/music to choose from - Gordon Lightfoot, Rush, Brian Adams, Walk off the Stage, Justin Bieber (ok we'll leave him alone - LOL), and many, many more...

[@maxsmodels]

I think Strange Brew was the first Canadian movie I had ever seen. I thought the way they talked was a joke until I spent an afternoon in the US Airways Express operations center at Toronto Airport. Every third word from the ramp rats was nob or hoser. I loved it.

[@Wild-Dad]

@@maxsmodels - 😂😂😂😂 🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦 👍👍👍👍 Well, we all dont quite talk all that way - mostly the younger kids. The rest of us just say "eh", "aboot" for about, colour, neighbour, "Zed" for Zee, etc... LOL

[@Wild-Dad]

@@maxsmodels - actually, I bet you've seen CDN movies and never realized it. As an example Stargate, BSG, and Star Trek Discovery were/are done here in Canada. STD is filmed here in TO and BSG and Stargate were filmed in Vanvouver BC.

[@garfieldsmith332]

Back then it was called Rexdale.

[@garfieldsmith332]

@@Wild-Dad Short Circuit 2, Police Academy, Starship Invasions, and parts of Silver Streak; all film in and around Toronto.

[@PatGilliland]

Thanks Eh!

[@nealstyles8992]

Thanks from the Great White North, eh?

[@luisarreola9420]

First time that I give the first like.

[@hobbyaddict9908]

Yesterday (July 1st) would have been perfect to have posted this as it was Canada Day, our version of July 4th in the US.

[@LB-oz9hv]

They were pretty horrible kits, however they did produce models of Canadian subjects that nobody else had. Even as a kid these models were a bit of a disappointment, they liked using large boxes that were mostly empty and a bit misleading as to the size of the models. Im not sure if it was just a Canadian thing but the models representing Canadian subjects were rather overpriced up here.

[@JoeUrbanYYC]

I'm curious if it would be worth buying old stock and then just using the included Canadian decals with a higher quality kit of the same basic airframe.

[@LB-oz9hv]

@@JoeUrbanYYC there is actually a very good selection of aftermarket decals for Canadian aircraft available on line in 1:72 and 1:48.

[@dalecomer5951]

When Max uttered the words "distinctly Canadian" I thought, "Then he should somehow find a way to work Bob and Doug into this video!" Who says i'm not psychic? Max smax it again.

[@martinproctor6944]

I must admit though that I was expecting Take Off to the Great White North.