I received a couple of eBay purchases last night, both coming from the same seller. One was a bundle of decals and the other was a big pile of various parts, which I bought mainly as there were quite a few Aeroclub props and engines amongst the bits and bobs.
What I found most intriguing were these:
It's a huge number of beautifully made wooden cowlings, spinners, wheels and other parts. I haven't shown all the cowlings, but I estimate there must be several hundred in total. Some are marked (I can see Beaufort, Ensign, Warwick and Hastings amongst them) but most aren't. The photos don't really show how exquisite these are in the flesh. There's also a few vacform or plunge mould canopy formers, including a Bf 109, what looks like a Lincoln "bay window" and possibly a Bristol 138.
According to the seller, these belonged to a professional model maker who had passed away. I can't help but wonder who he was and what these parts actually are. Are they masters for castings, or are they used on the models? The lots came from the Manchester area and many of the Aeroclub items have The Model Shop, Manchester price labels.
If anyone has an inkling as to what exactly I have here, I'd love to hear it!
Cheers,
Mark.