The mysterious MilMod

I hope my readers had a good Christmas and got the gifts they wanted. I'm a difficult person to buy for so the majority of my presents were model kits from myself to add to my ever-growing stash, including a couple that are particularly unusual and not at all well documented. I thought it was worth writing something to shed a little more light on the mysterious little-known firm of MilMod, whose approach to kit production is rather individual to say the least. 

The model kit market in 1/76 scale just hasn't been the same since the demise of BW Models on proprietor Barry Wright's well-deserved retirement a few years ago. The moulds for the huge range were sold in batches to various other firms and while some former BW kits have reappeared, others have yet to emerge and their fate currently remains unknown. Thanks to a bit of detective work, some have now been traced to MilMod, with several already available and others scheduled for release next year. I had never heard of MilMod before and they seem to keep a very low profile, so who are they and what are their kits like?

Best. Kit. Ever.

Having previously described the worst model kit I have ever had the misfortune to encounter, here to redress the balance is a fine example from the other end of the quality spectrum, illustrating just how high the standards can be when things are done right, but something equally obscure and unusual.

What might have been if the Minix bus was 1/76 scale.

Kit review: BW Models RB44

BW Models kit BW324, Reynolds Boughton RB44 fire appliance in 1/76 scale (now Mid Devon Models MDM026)

The model vehicle industry in the UK is full of small cottage industry manufacturers whose products are relatively little-known but cover a wide range of interesting subjects. One such example was BW Models, who sadly closed down on the proprietor's retirement last year, having built up a vast range of over 300 different kits of civilian emergency and post-war 'softskin' military vehicles. Some of the moulds have been sold in batches to various other cottage industry firms and this particular kit is one of those recently reintroduced by a new entrant to the market, Mid Devon Models. Although many kit producers have now turned to resin casting, BW Models continued to favour the traditional white metal approach, and this is the first metal kit I have built for a while.

Worst. Kit. Ever.

Nowadays modellers really are spoiled by the choice and quality of the kits available to them. Professional resin casting is reaching ever-higher standards and when done right even DIY casting can produce high-quality results. Here however I present an interesting example from the other end of the scale...

My eBay saved search for bus kits mostly seems to return either ancient whitemetal kits that sellers believe to automatically be valuable because of their age or fairly recent resins going for utterly ridiculous amounts that far exceed their new prices, but something interesting suddenly popped up one day - not only was I not aware of the model's existence, it was made by a manufacturer I had never heard of either. A surprising lack of interest allowed me to secure it for the starting bid, so here it is for your delectation.

Don't be fooled by the attractive packaging - this is definitely the model's best feature!