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How do?

So clocked this via BBC News. It's a (registered, so properly proper) Charity called Models for Heroes.

And for our Colonial Chums, there's the charity that inspired Models for Heroes, Models for Troops.

These sound like truly wonderful ideas if you ask me. And you sort of, arguably, did by reading this thread (yes it's tenuous, I'm running with it all the same).

Me? I for one have two or three Star Wars kits gathering dust which I'll be packaging up and posting off tonight. Because they're not doing me any good. And who knows, maybe, just maybe, they'll make a real difference to someone's life.

I'd urge all those who can to have a sniff around our piles and piles of odds and sods, bits and kits. See if there's anything suitable to be donated

Thanks for sharing this, I wasn't aware of this charity.

I am interested in donating some kits but don't have any (non-gaming) model kits on hand. Looking over the Models for Troops guidelines this stood out:

The latest kits are wonderful but not always the best as many contain metal, resin, and photo-etch parts that require glues beyond the acrylic based accepted by the VA hospitals. Also, please keep in mind that micro scale kits (1/72 and smaller) may pose an issue with those suffering from dexterity or vision issues.

So, what kits would be a good choice to avoid the issues mentioned above?

Could go to Target and take a look for the Star Wars kits? A lot of those are Snap-Tites by Revell, usually in 1:48 or so.

 DarkTraveler777 wrote:

So, what kits would be a good choice to avoid the issues mentioned above?

Damn near anything by Hasegawa, a lot of Tamiya stuff, Revell and Revell of Germany. Some Tamiya stuff in my experience does come with photo-etched parts, but they are spot on with saying this in the description, so easy to avoid. . . and of those 3 major brands, I can't recall personally ever seeing resin options.

For kits/scale, I'd look at 1:24, 1:25, and 1:20 scale cars. Planes, if they aren't 1:72 will usually be 1:48 scale, and military vehicles (tanks, APCs, artillery, etc) will usually be around the 1:32 or 1:48 scale range.

I’ve no idea what’s available in The Former Colonies, but anything along the lines of Revell’s beginner kits seem a safe bet.

Remember the aim is distract and refocus the mind. Fiddly bits are fine, intricacy (by our standards, natch) maybe not.

If you’re really not sure, a donation of paints, brushes and glue may well be things largely overlooked? As well as suitable clippers to remove the gubbins from the sprue?

Strikes me that this is a very easy charity to donate to. The amount of money is Nerds spend on models is quite staggering. Adding on the odd beginner model kit to be posted to these charities won’t exactly break the bank?

 Ensis Ferrae wrote:

Damn near anything by Hasegawa, a lot of Tamiya stuff, Revell and Revell of Germany. Some Tamiya stuff in my experience does come with photo-etched parts, but they are spot on with saying this in the description, so easy to avoid. . . and of those 3 major brands, I can't recall personally ever seeing resin options.

For kits/scale, I'd look at 1:24, 1:25, and 1:20 scale cars. Planes, if they aren't 1:72 will usually be 1:48 scale, and military vehicles (tanks, APCs, artillery, etc) will usually be around the 1:32 or 1:48 scale range.

Thanks! I was thinking Revell, as that is what I used to build as a kid. I'll hit the local Michael's and see what they have.

Kanluwen's idea for hitting Target is a good one too.

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:
If you’re really not sure, a donation of paints, brushes and glue may well be things largely overlooked? As well as suitable clippers to remove the gubbins from the sprue?

I plan on sending some clippers, glue and some Exacto items for sure. Have a lot of that stuff still in the package at home.

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:
I’ve no idea what’s available in The Former Colonies, but anything along the lines of Revell’s beginner kits seem a safe bet.

For the scale models these charities are undoubtedly after, I can VERY easily get Tamiya, Hasegawa, Revell, AirFix, Italeri, Academy, AMT, and more beyond that.

I'm sure these charities can use "beginner" (snap tite, etc) kits, but I'd say that if you see a kit that looks "cool" even if its rated level 3 or 4 or 5, and want to donate it, I'm sure these guys will put it to good use.

Great to see the BBC getting behind this!

For those looking to donate please check with them before hand about supplies outside kits as some common stuff they are leery of, like scalpel type knifes and solvents.

I've sent them an email to ask what sorts of Hobby Supplies they need on a regular basis - as their Amazon wishlist isn't showing up at the moment.

Quite happy to make this a fairly regular donation myself.




Automatically Appended Next Post:
Got a response

In short, they prefer acrylics, and want Vallejo and Tamiya.

Brush wise, they want Brushes of larger width for larger surface areas are needed, preferrably with wider handles for gripping.

I’m guessing much the same will hold true for Models for Troops

Link to Models for Heroes Amazon wishlist -

https://www.amazon.co.uk/hz/wishlist/ls/NBPS69VTEXQ9