“IF WE KNEW THEN WHAT WE KNOW NOW”

Welcome to what will be the first of many columns celebrating the awesome artwork that graced the model boxtops of our youth. Since you are reading these words, several things are fairly evident. First, you own a computer; significant in that my former writings were previously contained only in printed magazines once sold on newsstands (remember those?). Second, you undoubtedly know what the “S” in Revell “S” Kits stands for, and you also undoubtedly built kits during the ‘golden age’ of modeling in the ‘Fabulous ‘Fifties’ and ‘Supersonic ‘Sixties’. I’ll bet you even remember the very first model you ever built and who gave it to you.

Years ago, while addressing the annual gathering of the American Society of Aviation Artists, I asked that very question to a room filled with 60 artists and model builders, asking for a show of hands if anyone remembered. It was instantaneous – 60 hands went up immediately and smiles lit up the room as warm memories came flooding back. I also mentioned to that devoted group that if we’d only known then what we know now about collecting model kits as a hobby, we all would have bought three of every single kit we ever had. One to build, of course; one to stash away in a hermetically-sealed vault as a future collectible, and one to light on fire with Duco Cement and throw off the roof of the garage!

The unusual concept of embracing box art as its own nostalgic entity revolves around the simple adage that “you can’t tell a book by its cover”. Nothing was more accurate than that statement when it came to plastic model kits, for despite the quality of the actual model, those magnificent images created a life of their own. The effect was heightened even further when the kits were viewed all grouped together on the shelf of your favorite local hobby shop (or Woolworth’s, or Rexall Drug store for that matter). In the days before dreaded ‘Truth in Advertising’ laws took effect creating the need for photos of buildups to replace our beloved artwork, box art did more than just show you what kind of airplane awaited assembly after you got home. Those images virtually put us right into the scene, and in our vivid 12-year-old imaginations we became part of the action.

We were the launch officers running from the impending exhaust blast, ready to fire that Nike missile to protect the city on the distant horizon from aerial attack. We were the guy in the parka standing on the edge of that bulldozer in Antarctica watching the P2V Neptune taking off in blowing snow. We were standing on the wing of that FJ Fury turning final (from a right-hand pattern, no less!) to land aboard the USS Ranger, staring over the pilot’s shoulder so clearly visible just inside the open canopy. And we also didn’t care if there were the correct number of rivets on an engine cowling – those illustrations just had to be accurate because after all, they were on the cover! Look closely at many of those images today, however, and your adult eye will find an amazing array of visual tricks, all employed with great effect to make us kids look at the box, pick it up, spend our hard-earned 98 cents-plus-tax, and then take it home. (Hint: What is the pilot of Revell’s original B-58 Hustler “S” kit standing on as he boards the jet bomber?)

It was also a fascinating experience to observe the difference in illustrational styles employed by the various model companies, and even amongst the artists themselves. Jack Leynnwood – “King of the Cover Artists” – produced more than 600 pieces of box art in a stellar career that spanned two decades, painting aircraft, ships, cars, and even motorcycles for Revell and Aurora. Despite subtle changes in the milieu, Jack never varied from the gleaming metal, blazing jet exhausts, and screaming perspectives that defined his great artwork. Compare Leynnwood’s style to the lush and colorful wet-into-wet backgrounds of Jo Kotula, famed cover artist for Model Airplane News Magazine, and creator of so many wonderful covers for Aurora in the late-1950s and early-1960s. Add in Monogram’s scenic covers, Lindberg’s more stylized airbrush art, or Renwal’s high-tech-looking ‘Blue Print Series’ and you get a good idea of the exciting and eye-watering visual texture leaping from all those hobby shop shelves during that time period. (I believe we now call this “sensory overload”.)

So please join me in the months ahead as we continue to explore the wonderful world of model boxtop artwork. I look forward to contributing to the Boxart Den with the very best in stories and articles about plastic modeling and the wondrous box art we all remember so well. Who knows, we all may just make some new friends along the way.