Procopius Posted May 23, 2015 Share Posted May 23, 2015 ROYAL AIR FORCE 1939-1945: FIGHTER COMMAND. © IWM (CH 9234)IWM Non Commercial Licence "Flight Lieutenant J G Eadie, Medical Officer at No 11 Group headquarters at Uxbridge, photographed with part of his miniature air force, 16 April 1943." 21 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beard Posted May 24, 2015 Share Posted May 24, 2015 What a fantastic photo. Thanks for sharing it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stew Dapple Posted May 24, 2015 Share Posted May 24, 2015 Those look like really nice models too; I wonder what they were made of, and painted with? Cheers, Stew 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Procopius Posted May 24, 2015 Author Share Posted May 24, 2015 Those look like really nice models too; I wonder what they were made of, and painted with? Cheers, Stew I was wondering the same things myself! He seems to have achieved results comparable to a rather skilled modeller today, while (presumably) far more limited in the tools available to him. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
occa Posted May 24, 2015 Share Posted May 24, 2015 Notice how many of the upperwing roundels have a significantly lighter tone in their blue part? ... and not only the black ACs ... the Wellington and one of the Spits have that too in strong contrast to the Mossie for example The model painters must have known something Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graham Boak Posted May 24, 2015 Share Posted May 24, 2015 (edited) The models are almost certainly made from Balsa. They could have been carved from solid, working from plans, but some kits were available with some partially-preformed shapes for the wings and fuselages, and details such as formed acetate transparencies. There are a number of photos showing upper wing roundels with the blue noticeably faded than the red, or the blue on the sides - I suspect the modellers were using the Mk.1 eyeball for such details. Edited May 24, 2015 by Graham Boak Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dambuster Posted May 24, 2015 Share Posted May 24, 2015 Obeche was also used. Peter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graham Boak Posted May 24, 2015 Share Posted May 24, 2015 Or indeed whatever easily-workable wood they could get their hands on in wartime. Balsa would indeed have been difficult to find commercially, but modellers did get inventive about such matters.. I don't think any of the models are from the prewar bakelite plastic Frog Penguins, but perhaps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
noelh Posted May 25, 2015 Share Posted May 25, 2015 Are they in fact Frog Penguin kits? They're clearly 1/72nd scale. Nicely detailed too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Humm Posted May 25, 2015 Share Posted May 25, 2015 Most of them can't be Penguins. The Penguin Blenheim and Wellington were produced pre-war and were Mark Is, while the Blenheim in the photo is a Mark IV and the Wellington appears to be a Mark III, and Penguin kits of the Mosquito and Beaufighter didn't come out until 1946. There were solid wood kits produced during the war - the 1943 volume of Aircraft of the Fighting Powers has adverts for CMA kits in 1/48 scale and Tru-Scale in 1/72. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stew Dapple Posted May 25, 2015 Share Posted May 25, 2015 ..."Flight Lieutenant J G Eadie, Medical Officer at No 11 Group headquarters at Uxbridge, photographed with part of his miniature air force, 16 April 1943." Whatever they were made of, he did a really good job on them - it's a shame we will never see the rest of his miniature air force too. Cheers, Stew Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Procopius Posted May 25, 2015 Author Share Posted May 25, 2015 Yes, I tried searching to find out what happened to Eadie (a member of the FRCS and a LCRP, per the Air Force List) after the war, but no dice. I like to think he lived a pleasantly eccentric life as a physician somewhere, but I suppose we'll never know, more's the pity. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stew Dapple Posted May 25, 2015 Share Posted May 25, 2015 Yes, I tried searching to find out what happened to Eadie (a member of the FRCS and a LCRP, per the Air Force List) after the war, but no dice. I like to think he lived a pleasantly eccentric life as a physician somewhere, but I suppose we'll never know, more's the pity. Haha, I tried that too with similar results... but let's hope that prototypical modeller lived a long and happy life Cheers, Stew Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JasonC Posted May 25, 2015 Share Posted May 25, 2015 I took some guesses at a first name. If you google "Dr John Eadie Colne" the first few links point to a GP of roughly the right time frame. It seems the gent in question had rather dapper dress sense and a liking for fast cars. J. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Procopius Posted May 25, 2015 Author Share Posted May 25, 2015 I took some guesses at a first name. If you google "Dr John Eadie Colne" the first few links point to a GP of roughly the right time frame. It seems the gent in question had rather dapper dress sense and a liking for fast cars. J. So it would seem! This seems at least probable to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dambuster Posted May 25, 2015 Share Posted May 25, 2015 Although my father was too young for WW2, he did his national service in the RAF in the late forties and wrangled himself a position as an aircraft recognition instructor. It seems that he spent the best part of two years making models, watching films, writing to aircraft manufacturers for freeby advertising brochures, oh and occasionally teaching. He still has a number of models displayed on shelves and was making them out of wood right up to the sixties. Next time I see him I'll see if I can get some photos to post here if anyone is interested. Peter 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Procopius Posted May 25, 2015 Author Share Posted May 25, 2015 Next time I see him I'll see if I can get some photos to post here if anyone is interested. Yes please! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Aero Posted May 25, 2015 Share Posted May 25, 2015 Solids from balsa, yellow Pine or Obeche. Dopes were cellulose Gloss. Balsa cement in tubes or you made your own by putting nitrate photo film in cellulose thinners to thicken it. There were many ranges of kits Skycraft, Skyleada, Skybirds, Chingford Model Aerodrome, Adastral. etc. Penguin made a range of part shaped balsa models, I have a Barracuda in a case at the side of me now. With a range of celluloid canopies from The Model Shop Newcastle. Punched metal props or cast ones from different companies ranges of transfers (decals) including letters. It was far from the dark ages. Plans in Aeromodeller every month or Aircraft of the Fighting Powers. You just had to work a bit more to produce your model. John 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WildeSau75 Posted May 26, 2015 Share Posted May 26, 2015 Although my father was too young for WW2, he did his national service in the RAF in the late forties and wrangled himself a position as an aircraft recognition instructor. It seems that he spent the best part of two years making models, watching films, writing to aircraft manufacturers for freeby advertising brochures, oh and occasionally teaching. He still has a number of models displayed on shelves and was making them out of wood right up to the sixties. Next time I see him I'll see if I can get some photos to post here if anyone is interested. Peter Sure! Would love to see more of that. Cheers, Michael Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stew Dapple Posted May 26, 2015 Share Posted May 26, 2015 Although my father was too young for WW2, he did his national service in the RAF in the late forties and wrangled himself a position as an aircraft recognition instructor. It seems that he spent the best part of two years making models, watching films, writing to aircraft manufacturers for freeby advertising brochures, oh and occasionally teaching. He still has a number of models displayed on shelves and was making them out of wood right up to the sixties. Next time I see him I'll see if I can get some photos to post here if anyone is interested. Peter I'd like to see those too, Peter, thanks Cheers, Stew Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hurricane Rosie Posted July 11, 2017 Share Posted July 11, 2017 Someone forwarded this to me, the RAF gentleman in the photograph was my father ! 15 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JPuente54 Posted July 11, 2017 Share Posted July 11, 2017 A lovely collection of such beautiful models! This gentleman definitely had great skills! He was a man truly deserving of the title of "Master Modeler". I'd love to see the rest of his collection, too. John Aero, thanks for the bit of history of what they had to make their models. It does appear that modelers had a good selection of materials to build, and finish their models. Just more work to achieve the end product. Maybe we complain a bit too much when we talk about the kits available today? Procopius, where did you find the photo? Hurricane Rosie, tell us more about you dad, please. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew Jones Posted July 11, 2017 Share Posted July 11, 2017 I remember seeing a similar collection some years ago , also made by a serving RAF airman , they were carved from solid wood with canopies carved from solid pieces of perspex from real aircraft canopies. Paints came from RAF stocks and could therefore be considered authentic. I often wonder where these models are today. Andrew 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brewerjerry Posted July 11, 2017 Share Posted July 11, 2017 Hi Nice link Ideal work for him getting the colours correct just go to stores or the paint shop and for accuracy the dispersal bays cheers jerry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don149 Posted July 11, 2017 Share Posted July 11, 2017 My favourite wooden kits in the war years were made by a firm called Airyda . They were in ramin , an almost knot free medium hardness wood . All carpenters know it well . Many kit makers , including Frog,often included glass tubes about two inches long with a cork in either end containing real dope ! , it didn`t have a long shelf life . I built a couple of the Penguin Spit 12s (which were not Bakelite ) and have still got the instruction sheet . I remember their Mosquito 6 with the oval rockets and a canopy so thick it would have withstood a hit from a Flak 88 . The only cockpit detail was a little plastic bucket seat on the end of a stem which was cut to length to suit the particular model . There was a firm that put out a short transfer sheet with about five instrument panels on . All the Penquin models had retractable undercarts , though rather rickerty , but the Mossie and P38 Lightning didn`t have u/c doors ! . Just think what that firm started . I built the Frog wooden kits of the Beau and Wellington but can`t remember which wood they used , but do remember they included the dope and plastic props from the Penquins , but it wasn`t balsa . 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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