fjaweijfopi4j48 Posted November 14, 2018 Share Posted November 14, 2018 A convoluted build from 4 years ago of a very philosophical plane. Long ago I saw a scratchbuilt model of the Capelis built by Jim Lund that sparked my interest and led me to contact Mike Herrill of Execuform to see if he was willing to pull vac copies from the wood masters I carved, in order to create a sort of kit for me to work from. He pulled the copies and so this project could see the light of day. The main reference was the Skyways magazine article on the Capelis found on the October 1995 issue (#36) But first, what was the Capelis? Some scholars state that occidental culture as we know it was born in Greece, a well of knowledge that still today feeds psychology, philosophy, mythology and modeling (just remember the great Greek philosopher, modeler and olive pitter Styrenides (V century B.S.). The Capelis started as a transport project of the Capelis Corporation, whose president, of course, was no other than Socrates Capelis. The Greek community backed the project and by 1933 the plane was ready. Modern for the time (all metal construction) sported nevertheless a forward leaning canopy and a biplane tail, which some say was an outdated feature, but nobody will dare to deny that confers the plane its remarkable aesthetics (aesthetics as a science, by the way, is another Greek legacy). Things weren’t peachy, though, an after some inauspicious beginnings the whole thing was prematurely and unfortunately dropped. But the Capelis kept going, this time re-incarnated as a movie prop. It endured some modifications and went on for many movies bathing on the golden glory of Hollywood, featuring in many films, the most famous, arguably, being “Five Came Back”, with –among many other movie stars- Lucille Ball, and “Flying Tigers” with John Wayne. The above-mentioned masters were very simple, on the vein of those vacuformed kits that provide the general shapes. Details, accessories, decals and the like are provided by the modeler, as well as surface detail. Once I got my vacuformed parts from Mike, I started building the model. There were some minor and major modifications done to the Capelis over time. This model represents the plane as it flew, with its forward-raking canopy. Another nose was later mastered to allow the building of the movie versions, which has a more conventional canopy arrangement. Another copy -from my masters- by Execuform was built and presented at Telford by another modeller, where you may have seen it, this and the past year. As a mythological metallic bird coming from Mount Olympus, the Capelis extends its wings over the modeling world. See you soon. 21 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fjaweijfopi4j48 Posted November 14, 2018 Author Share Posted November 14, 2018 (edited) Stills from the movie "Five came back" from 1939 (at that time with modified nose) https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0031314/mediaviewer/rm685978112 https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0031314/mediaviewer/rm669200896 https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0031314/mediaviewer/rm3705811456 In "Flying Tigers": Edited November 14, 2018 by Moa 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cngaero Posted November 14, 2018 Share Posted November 14, 2018 Great background story to this ungainly beastie, but it's very appealing to the eye. It's built to your usual exceptionally high standards and very nicely displayed. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul J Posted November 14, 2018 Share Posted November 14, 2018 Another weird and wonderful from your stable! And another nicely produced model. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John_W Posted November 14, 2018 Share Posted November 14, 2018 Nice build. Designed by a comitee was it? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roberto Posted November 14, 2018 Share Posted November 14, 2018 What a project! Great work. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Courageous Posted November 15, 2018 Share Posted November 15, 2018 Great job. Are their any advantages of marking the vacform inside or outside before cutting out? Stuart 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John R Posted November 15, 2018 Share Posted November 15, 2018 Gorgeous! You don't do things the easy way do you? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fjaweijfopi4j48 Posted November 15, 2018 Author Share Posted November 15, 2018 10 hours ago, Courageous said: Are their any advantages of marking the vacform inside or outside before cutting out? Stuart Hi Stuart Sometimes the parts' outlines are more defined inside and sometimes outside: 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogsbody Posted November 16, 2018 Share Posted November 16, 2018 Another unusual beauty. Your hobby space must be ankle-deep in styrene dust. Chris 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spad57 Posted November 16, 2018 Share Posted November 16, 2018 Moa, Another awesome project my friend. Very impressive modeling indeed from wood work to vacuforming to finish. Well Done and Congratulations. Highest Regards, Gregory Jouette 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now