Though long-gone, I doubt that there are many of you reading this that haven’t at some point or other built an ESCI kit either in their own boxes or latterly, packaged in ones monogrammed with Italeri logos.
19th May 2025
Last night apropos of nothing, I took to my Book of Faces to post an image that I’d found online. I’d actually been out for a late afternoon pint or two, so my mind had wandered a little as a relaxed afternoon had morphed into an evening that prepared for a new week at work, preceded most enjoyably, by three episodes of Andor. So there it was: a small image. A cluster of cartoon penguins. A flood of memories. Distant echoes of a kit range that most of us will have heard of, but many will now know is long-gone: ESCI.
I can’t actually remember where I found the image to be honest or why I was looking for anything to do with this particular kit range. That’s not unusual of course, my scatterbrained approach to the hobby and my willingness to waste immeasurable time hunting for the most random of kits, taking me to places that are as easy to forget, as they are accidental to stumble upon. And stumble upon it I did. Those little penguins, penned so skilfully by Enzo Maio, have steadfastly remained a favourite character from the hobby and reminder of one of the kit ranges that first showed me the future and what would be possible in miniature.
Though long-gone, I doubt that there are many of you reading this that haven’t at some point or other built an ESCI kit either in their own boxes or latterly, packaged in ones monogrammed with Italeri logos. I’ve built a lot of them over the years. My first I seem to recall was the IAI Kfir C/2, purchased from a local newsagent, and occasion made memorable thanks to the lady behind the counter chastising me for saying I din’t like a particular boy in a newspaper article, who she announced was her son. He wasn’t. But the point had been made and lesson learned. But I digress.
The Kfir was not my first 1/48 aircraft (that accolade goes to Monogram’s Zero) but it was my first jet. I’m sure I built it, but don’t recall painting it and certainly don’t recall dealing with the large yellow and black triangular markings that did their level best to hide most of the machine’s attractive camouflage. It was though the first of many ESCI kits, a gateway drug that moved me from the simplistic kits of my youth and on to those that were shall we say, a little more sophisticated.
But perhaps their most important feature, newish to me at the time, were their recessed panel lines. I’d seen them of course on the surface of Matchbox kits, but they were simply no match for the complexity and finesse of those seen on those amazing, Italian, offerings. I remember being stunned by the incredible surface detail seen in the Bo105 and UH-1 kits when they arrived as was I the Mirage F1, as I held it in my hands for the first time. They were to put it bluntly, like something from another planet and for a while, I was hooked.
All was though, not entirely perfect in the ESCI rose garden. The plastic parts, magnificent as they were, were not matched by the decals that came with the kits. Despite being incredibly well-printed and offering beautiful choices for the modeller to enjoy, they had a less than pleasing flat finish and were printed on decal film that seemed to be almost completely lacking in adhesive! I’ve spoken many times to friends about those old decals, wondering if it was actually user error that caused the issues, but in the main, it seems that that was not in fact the case – at least to us! The decals were difficult to use, that lack of adhesion being shall we say, a hindrance on the way to a successfully completed model – at least for a modeller who at the time was not overly possessed with high end tools and techniques!
I still have a great deal of fondness for ESCI’s kit range and have plenty of them in the loft. I still have favourites as well, the Phantoms being uppermost in my thoughts as is the beautiful S-3 Viking. But perhaps it was that little Kfir that reigns supreme in my affections, cheap, easy to build and though now seen as inaccurate, the stepping stone into a range that I’d not experienced before, but that is now such an important part of my personal journey, through this wonderful hobby of ours.
See you tomorrow.
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A pleasant day off!
SPENCER POLLARD'S KIT BOX 
I still have the odd ESCI catalogue from around 1978 approx., if needed !
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Wow! Reading that brought back some memories! I did/do like the ESCI kits and made several back in the day. The one I recall best was their F16, which I converted to a moon based interceptor, which was, I think was one of my best conversions; sadly now long gone, although I do have the odd bit in the spares boxes! I currently have several of their kits in the stash, 2 horse drawn waggons, a diorama thing and a SdKfz11.
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Still have the ESCI 1/48 Hs-129, just need the original house paint colour scheme removed and replaced. Might also add a brass 30mm barrel too…
Loved Airfix and Matchbox but Esco brought a massive hike in aircraft and armour to our little rural New Zealand town, with so many more selections and variations on the same aircraft or vehicle…
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