AdrianMF Posted January 4, 2016 Share Posted January 4, 2016 Hello All,As part of my garage clearing and stash organising (260-odd, if you are wondering), I came across some old-old models of my Dad's, from WWII.Here's a "Grace Airplanes" kit, including "everything you need to build the model", including paint, bamboo, and pins:You even get spare wood!Here's a Hudson:I also have an "Airlines" kit. This seems to be a bit more basic, shown here next to the new Airfix Defiant to show that things have progressed a leetle bit:Not a scrap of balsa in sight! Presumably it was all going into 1:1 Mosquitoes at the time.Paint of the day was based on a cellulose dope formula:One of them was even liquid! The brown, after a lot of stirring, came out quite well:Although then, as now, nobody quite agreed about Sky:My Dad had got quite a long way through a Havoc build:So I thought I would continue it in keeping with the spirit of the build. It was going to need crew - these fellows are carved from a lollipop stick. Any similarity to Captain Pugwash characters is accidental!Although the plunge-formed canopies from the time (on the right) are still very usable, I made a new plug from balsa to fit the model better and vac-formed some new ones (on the left):Detail was limited to a pair of Brownings, from wood and pins:I painted the whole airframe black from a tube of acrylic and applied the decals. The fuselage decals went on perfectly! I knew I was going to have trouble when the wing and tail decals started drifting into pieces on the sheet. I applied them by placing my thumb on the decal and pulling the paper out from underneath. I teased the various broken bits back into position and touched up the missing bits. I am unable to say how well they conformed into panel lines...A coat of matt varnish and done! It was quite nostalgic to take part in a posthumous joint build, so here's to my Dad:Thanks for looking,Adrian 23 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
S5 modeller Posted January 4, 2016 Share Posted January 4, 2016 Well done, a nice legacy build. Amazing how basic those old kits were, and we moan about slightly ill fitting plastic parts. A fitting tribute to your dad. Matt 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old thumper Posted January 4, 2016 Share Posted January 4, 2016 It turned out very well. I have only ever seen this type of kit after being made, so it is very interesting for me to see the original box and unmade parts. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TonyTiger66 Posted January 4, 2016 Share Posted January 4, 2016 It looks superb. A lovely vintage look to it and very nicely finished after many decades. Wonder if you're tempted to build the others? Lovely tribute to your dad, Tony 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markjames68 Posted January 4, 2016 Share Posted January 4, 2016 First class bit of nostalgia!! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darby Posted January 4, 2016 Share Posted January 4, 2016 I think we've become spoilt over the years. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wyverns4 Posted January 4, 2016 Share Posted January 4, 2016 Nice legacy build!Though the three part spinner for the Defiant looks a bit scary! Christian, exiled to africa 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
malpaso Posted January 4, 2016 Share Posted January 4, 2016 Cool. I have a Grace B17 to build. I only identified the make after a couple of years by the style of the writing on it. I also have another makers Whirlwind kit as well as several built "solids" to restore, including some Skybirds. At one time I had possibly the only known Frog Penguin Series 9 Dakota (in the world!) but passed it on to the chap running frogpenguin_dot_com. Frog made wood kits for three months in the winter 1945/46 so the whole wooden series 9 is pretty rare. It's good fun working on the wooden models, gives a great sense of achievement even if the shape and detail are a bit old-fashioned. Cheers Will 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdrianMF Posted January 5, 2016 Author Share Posted January 5, 2016 Thanks all for the comments. It was indeed a different world in those days, and the paint was a *lot* smellier! I have kept the unmade Boston kit and a couple of paint pots for pure nostalgia. I won't be making any more of them as the wood is quite knotty and hard to carve. I simply can't justify the effort of finishing them to an acceptable standard when I have so many other pressing and/or enjoyable demands on my time. And the original objective was to de-clutter the garage! That said, I do have a "shelf of doom" scratch-built Fairey Long Range Monoplane (thread in this forum if you are interested) in balsa wood that I intend to resume when I get a moment this year. And Will, good luck with your B-17! I think you can take a slice of the credit for Airfix announcing their new-tool Fortress! Thanks, Adrian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
59North Posted January 5, 2016 Share Posted January 5, 2016 So extremely interesting and educational... The old paints; wooden models; I never knew about this. Thanks to your dad for preserving these, and thanks to your efforts in restoration and presentation. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gbondoni Posted January 5, 2016 Share Posted January 5, 2016 Wow... the completed kit looks amazing, and such a nice tribute to your dad! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stew Dapple Posted January 5, 2016 Share Posted January 5, 2016 That was a fascinating insight into a bygone age Adrian, thank you - the end result was quite impressive too, I'm sure your Dad would have approved Cheers, Stew 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old thumper Posted January 5, 2016 Share Posted January 5, 2016 I am sure that a WW2 related museum would like them if you no longer want them. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sgt.Squarehead Posted January 6, 2016 Share Posted January 6, 2016 :wow: :wow: That build is so cool, on so many levels.....Just fantastic! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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