Modelair Museum Gallery

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This page was most recently updated Friday, July 21, 2006

Here in the gallery we will share pictures of models which have visited the Modelair Museum, have been donated or have been built and displayed here. Until I post more pictures of the "in house" models, this gallery will also include pictures of models emailed as j-peg attachments to atc@aeroknow.com If you have more models than you can display where you live and would like to find a good home for them, consider donating them to the Modelair Museum. Please write if that sounds like a good idea.

Pictures have been thumbnailed for faster loading. Click on any for the larger picture and "Back" to return to this page.

Monogram Speedee-Built Models Live Again
Pictures below are thumbnailed. Click on any for a larger view; "Back" to return to this page.

Complete kit reproductions include this Stearman PT-17.

Ron Anderson is reproducing the classic Monogram SpeedeeBuilt kits and has added some new ones including a Globe Swift and Fairchild PT-19. For more info about kits and costs, write andersonrw@verizon.net

Ron built this new production P-40. Nice craftsmanship here, aye?

The Ercoupe has an new plastic cowl, an improvement over the original.

These three pictures recall the infamous and purely fictional Messersaki, built and photographed by Hibbonsnuffridge@aol.com

Astute modelers will recognize elements of a Messerschmitt Me-262, Gloster Meteor (tail) and Kawasaki Ki-64 (canopy). If I missed any, tell me about it.

As long as visitors know models like this are "creative non-fiction" a.k.a. FICTION, AeroKnow applauds the initiative, good eyes and humor evident in creations like this. For examples of my efforts in this line of thinking, visit my USAF Museum page by clicking here

"Hib" explains, "The Japanese twin-engined 'Tonbo' (Dragonfly, if I got the translation right) jet fighter is a 'what-if' project based on what would have been needed to thwart B-29 raids on the home islands." Needed were: 1. high speed to dodge P-51s; 2. long range to permit interception before the raiders reached the islands and to permit extended time to engage the formations (hence a larger airframe to accommodate the needed fuel); 3. a primary weapon with enough range to minimize exposure to B-29s' defensive armament; 4. jettisonable rocket assist under the fuselage to permit takeoff at high gross weight.

asf


Michael Luke of Springfield brought one of the most impressive models I've ever seen over to the collection a few years ago. I was so impressed, I asked his permission to photograph it, and the results you see here.	The Aurora 1/48 scale kit of the Gotha G.IV is almost as famous as the full-scale design which bombed London during World War I. Michael extensively modified the kit and included all the rigging details. If I remember right, the insigna and markings were hand painted.	This underside view shows much of the underside of the fuselage as it appeared on the full-scale machine. There was no bottom to most of it so the rear-facing gunner could have a reasonable field of defensive fire. Note that the tires are accurately depicted as gray-colored, not black. Modern tires are dyed black.	Here Michael examines his exceptional craftsmanship. He's a devotee of World War I aircraft. Interest in World War II is confined to those flown by Japan and Germany. We've not had the pleasure of his company at Abe Lincoln's Air Force meetings.

Jim from Vermont sent the first model gallery pic for publication here, a fine rendering of a Turkish Air Force Morane Saulnier M.S.406 from the Hobby Craft 1/48 scale kit. Jim replaced the kit canopy with a vac from Squadron/Signal; scratch-built a laminated instrument panel and added masking tape seatbelts. Nice effort, don't you think?	This Aurora Fokker Dr.1 was built by Job Conger about 20 years ago and photographed after it sat on a shelf for four years. I don't have the talent requisite to do justice to 1/48 and larger World War I models -- I AM considering specializing in aircraft with 350 or fewer rigging wires, but that limits my selection to Dr.1s and D.VIIs until someone kits a Dornier D.I in 1/48. In the meantime we welcome donations of built 1/48 and larger World War I aircraft models for permanent display in the Modelair Museum.	Here's an example of what extreme "pinching" can do to a model. I am a major fan of the artwork of Chris Wren and Hank Caruso, and hope you agree that it's okay for a normally conscientious historian and modeler to have some fun with reworking images.	Here's the conventional view of the Driedekker. Pictures of Job Conger's models were taken with a Sony Mavica digital camera and processed using Corel Photopaint 9. The green background is a flannel blanke hung from a wall, draped over the top of a low book case. Natural lighting from a nearby window is used in all of his model aircraft pictures.

This is a solarized version of the Dr.	Conventional view.	A rendition in the slightly psychedelic mode.

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Last modified: July 21, 2006