As a further step to get this campaign legitimized I am posting this information here. The original proposal thread can be found in the Braille Scale Forum and you can see it here.

The following people have confirmed their intentions to join the Matchbox Nostalgia campaign:

EDIT: I have placed a number of the award ribbon beside each persons name that has voted a preference.

sabredog (co-leader)
tornado64
casualmodeler
Andronicus
Sabot
Dangeroo (2)
docdios
tread_geek (co-leader)
Maxiplus
Snowhand
madmax5510
firstcircle
CMOT70
tommytanker
Braille
hincmar
Smartin
Korpse
minas-ithil
Capt_Concussion
woltersk
weathering_one (2)




The proposal and rules that have been agreed to by the majority in the other thread are:

Operational Overview

Campaign to run:Jan. 15/10-May 15/10

More than anything this campaign is a nostalgic group build centring on the 1/76 armour kits of the former Matchbox manufacturer. Many modellers remember these kits from their past with affection and this campaign is a chance to relive part of that history. Your mission is to start and complete a build of either an original Matchbox kit or the Revell re-release of it.

Rules and Regs

1. Either an original Matchbox kit or a Revell re-release of a former Matchbox kit are permissible. Construction may begin on or after the launch date and not prior. If in doubt, please ask in the appropriate forum.

2. Out of box (OOB) builds are encouraged. Deviations from OOB builds should be limited and represent minimal variation from the original.

3. The original bases for these kits must appear with the completed model. Minor embellishments of the bases such as foliage, minor additional terrain features, grasses or soil/dirt are permissible.

4. The modeller is permitted to make minor corrections or additions to enhance the model. These can include but are not limited to clear windshields/windows, antennas, resizing of small oversized pieces (ie-machinegun barrels, grab handles) and external stowage. If in doubt, ask.

5. Use of original decals is encouraged but not mandatory.

6. Enjoy this blast from the past and above all HAVE FUN.

Contest Element

Entrants that complete their build and submit at least one photo of the completed model will be awarded the prestigious campaign ribbon. Multiple submissions are welcomed but only one ribbon per entrant will be awarded on completion of the campaign requirements.

If your Callsign is in the list of participants above there is no need to post a confirmation in this thread.

Cheers,
tread_geek

Edit: Names of extra people added as they express interest.

For all those that expressed interest in this campaign, I have now formally sent in the request. I am informed by the process that it may take two weeks before we might hear further. Everyone keep their fingers crossed.

Cheers,
tread_geek

Hi, I left a post relating to this campaign in the braille scale area. Is this the same campaign? I'd be interested in being part of this and as it's my first campaign is there anything else I need to do?

Thanks,
AJ

Eventually, the campaign will go "live" and there will be a campaign page for it in the Campaigns section. There will be an "Enlist" button that you can use to sign up for the campaign.

Thanks for handling that reply, Gary. Both AJ and Keith W. have been added to the list above. That makes 22 interested parties. Thanks to all who have expressed interest in this proposal.

Cheers,
Jan

This should be a fun campaign everyone. If it is successful then there might be a follow-on Airfix braille scale campaign proposal.

Just a brief update for all interested parties. Today marks two weeks since the campaign proposal was sent in. According to the automated submission process we should have had some word by now. It is my understanding that the Campaign Administrator has been seriously ill and has fallen behind in his work. Since we still have over two months before the campaign starts we'll just have to be patient. If I don't hear anything in another couple of weeks I'll PM or e-mail an inquiry.

Cheers,
Jan

Here we all are! I want to wish the Administrator a swift and full recovery. Under the circumstances I am happy to be patient regarding a decision.

All the best


A

Greetings to all interested parties. I think that we should use this thread in the Campaign Forum exclusively for chatting about this subject. I've added the second banner for the campaign below as well as the candidates for the ribbon award. Your comments/observations are always welcome.



1.

2.

I will post a link in to this thread in the Braille Scale Forum asking people to come here to post questions or comments about this campaign.

Cheers,
Jan

Personally I like the second banner better. The ribbon I like is the one with the green in it, just my personal opinion. Can anyone make these things or a suggestion? I almost got my hands on an original Monty's caravan but it turned out I was too late.

AJ

I like the second banner with the box arts better. Might even put it into my signature... I also like the green ribbon better. Looking forward to this campaign!

Cheerio!

Thanks for your comments AJ and Stefan. Here's a couple of more banners for people to choose from.





I do not believe that there is any rule that states that you can't use a banner before a campaign has started. The whole idea is to promote interest and advertise the campaign. Even posting in this thread is encouraged as it shows to others that this community is alive and vibrant. I encourage all to share their happy memories of their Matchbox days. As with the thread in the Braille Scale forum, please feel free to post pictures of any previous builds that you might still have around. I will place a number of the award ribbon beside each persons name in the first post of this thread that is their vote for a preference.


Cheers,
Jan

I just wanted to let all interested parties know that Gary Kato has accepted the position of Armorama Campaign Manager. Let us wish him luck in his new position and a speedy recovery for Mark Millard. Gary is currently quite busy in his new roll so lets all be patient while he gets accustomed to his new responsibilities.

Cheers,
Jan

Nice work Jan, they look good.

The most important part of this GB is simplicity. This reflects on how much fun Matchbox kits are to build.

I am a late convert to armour, being more of a dabbler up until about 2 or so years ago. My primary love was (and still is aircraft - though I love building armour models more and more) When I was a teenager I would ride my bike down to the local shopping centre each pocket money day and visit the newsagency. He had a great stand of Matchbox kits there of all types and the average cost was around AU$2.00. I purchased my first matchbox armour kit about that time as I loved the idea of a base included.

That kit was the Wespe and it was great fun to build, though a little tricky to get right. I built a Jagdpanzer a few weeks later of which I still have

Matchbox has always been the basis of the interest I have for our hobby and thus a special place within it for me. Many modellers in the club I belong to that are around my age remember them with fondness and even still collect them as I do. I had one fellow modeller look at me with envy at a recent buy, swap and sell and asked "Where did you get the Halifax from?" I pointed to the stand behind me and said, "Well there is another one there and the prices are great". Before I got a word out past "another", he was gone

Thanks for the compliment on the banners, Mike. I've seen other campaign where they give the participants a choice to pick from and thought we aught to do the same.

While we've restrained the options on this GB (basically OOB with minor enhancements) I can't wait to see what creativity will emerge. If enough people complete the campaign and post pictures I could see a Feature on Matchbox vehicles later on. Hopefully we'll get a nice variety of different kits.




I can't recall the exact date (20+ years?) when I got my first Matchbox kit but I recall that as soon as I saw it I had to have it and it also was the Wespe. At the time I had a thing for artillery and the self propeller artillery. There wasn't much available in Braille scale at the time and I was also into war gaming. After I built the first Wespe I decided that I wanted a battery of them and eventually bought three more. I had an old cheap badger siphon feed air brush that used those propellant cans that would frost over during use. At the time I thought the results were fantastic and several members of the local model group were jealous. I've managed to rummage through my archive and found the second build. It's rather embarrassing to show but we all had to start somewhere. You can see the flaws and omissions (road wheel rubber on hull not painted, no weathering) but hey, that was a long, long time ago.



I've got quite a few older efforts that could do with a "Tank Overhaul" and at least three of the Wespes will be included. I'll leave one in it's original form for nostalgia reasons.

Cheers,
Jan

Hi All,
I too started armor with these little kits as well as the Hasa 1/72nd kits. I started modeling in the early 60's with the little revell kits in 1/72. When Hasa came out with their armor (and Jeep) to go with my A/C I was in tall cotton!! Then matchbox came out with models it was great But I have always wondered Why MB didn't go with 1/72nd for the armor kits? Any of you have any ideas? Istill have many of the MB kits I built when stationmed in Germany in the late 70's especially the jagpanther and Stuart that I was (and still am) proud of!!!
Gdub

Greetings and glad to see others posting. Being a British manufacturer, my guess is that MB was influenced by the fact that Airfix was releasing in 1/76, were still a big name and 1/72 vehicle kits were still rare. Interesting to note that JB Models (English) also adopted 1/76 scale and then there was Fujimi (Japanese) around the same time that also went 1/76.

As I say, just a guess. If you have any pictures of your past work please feel free to show them here. Nothing like pictures to build the excitement and anticipation.

Cheers,
Jan

Hi Jan,
I kinda thought the same thing but with the 1/72nd A/C kits it would seemed to have been better to go with 1/72nd for the armor. I just thought maybe someone here at armorama might know someone who's 2nd cousin twice removed worked at MB during those times and might know!!!!!!
BTW I won an auction for an sdkfz 251 so will be doing it and a priest.
Good Hunting,
Gdub

I built the Wespe a few years back just for the memories...it was my favourite way back when i was 10 years old. When i saw it (in a Revell box) in the LHS, i was overcome by nostalgia and bought it on the spot, took it home and built in over the weekend... which is about 1 1/2 days slower than when i was 10. The lesson is that we get slower as we get older i suppose?

Something that occurs to me after building these old MB kits now is, whilst the vehicles stand no comparison to todays products...strangely some of the figures that came with the vehicles are still okay for 1/76 even now.



Since then i also built the Puma and Sd.Kfz 232 as well, just for fun. I'll probably build more than one of the Revell re-releases for this campaign, and strictly OOB- except for maybe some grass on the bases.

Andrew

@Gdub Congratulations on winning the 251 and the priest, you lucky dog. I've a partly built 251 (about 40% IIRC) so it doesn;t qualify for anything other than the "Tank Overhaul" campaign. A Priest or the 155 self propelled gun have always been on my wish list but I never saw either in my area. Might be forced to try mail order for the Revell reboxing.

As for the scale issue, the only things I can find is that Airfix was the first to produce larger than HO model kits and chose 1/76 as a "compromise" between the various and close British model railroad scales (circa 1960's).

@ CMOT70



Andrew, it took you a weekend because you skills and the desire to practice them are much advanced over a ten year old. IT's not about older and slower but more about older, wiser and more picky.

I have to agree with you that the MB figures were a definite step up from the previous offerings in the scale for the era. Thanks for posting your Wespe and it looks far more decent than my humble submission. I'm sure that I have my base and the parts of it around somewhere (I rarely throw anything out to the bain of my SWMBO). In fact, there better be four bases around somewhere.





The more the merrier. While we use the term minor embellishments in the rules the little extras that one might add to the vehicles or bases they may transform them more than one might think.

One last point for all to ponder. Should we get enough entries and photos there is a good possibility of creating an Matchbox Nostalgia Feature. I've seen this done with previous campaigns so why shouldn't we also indulge.

Cheers,
Jan

Campaign approved! Don't forget to officially enlist over on the campaign page!

Ha! First one to enlist!

now to find a suitable kit... Ah, a reason to go to the hobby store...

Cheerio!

Hello everyone! I'd like to enlist too!

If I may, I'd like to share two (2) Matchbox kits I built this year for a Matchbox GB we had in IPMS Philippines-Bert Anido:





I'll build new kits for the campaign next year. I can't wait to start...

Superb! Thanks Gary

Thank you very much Gary. Okay people, since the campaign is now sanctioned you need to click on the Campaign tab, find the Matchbox Nostalgia Campaign under "Debarkation Zone" in the lower left of that page and click on the campaign's name. You will then go to the enlistment page that gives you all the pertinent information and rules. On the right side of the page you'll see the list of those who have enlisted and above that an "Enlist" button. Click on that button and you are an official member of the first Matchbox Nostalgia Campaign. To help you out just click HERE.

@Stefan- You may have been first to enlist but just remember the old military axion, "never volunteer for anything!"

@ Toby- Welcome and just follow the instructions above. If you have any problems, questions or comments please feel free to ask in this thread. We also appreciate you showing your previous builds with this group. Keep that Nostalgia flowing.

Three cheers for the campaign.


Jan