discussion Wonwings Diary-a blog with a difference.

[wonwinglo]

The model collection finally sees daylight

Well after almost a year the collection is still undergoing unpacking from the boxes etc,as can be imagined this is a tedious and time consuming job,along the way any repairs are undertaken and the models are checked over and cleaned,amazing how much dust gathers after a few years ?

The small airfield scene is used for model photography complete with hand painted sky background.

 

[wonwinglo]

Wonwings Diary- A few recent models

The Revell Airbus A.380

Who could resist the Bell 47G helicopter ?

Martin Marlin flying boat

Heller Constellation and DC-6 with hand finished markings of little known airlines.

 

[Guest]

Barry I have to gree with U on many points although I have not seen James May video I can attest to the kids of today. Being a scout leader in todays Scouts and having returned to the movement after a 15 year break I was amazed to find that that kids of today can not carry a simple clasp knife (pocket knife) and when I fronted up to my first scout meeting wearing a multi-toll you would have thought that I commited a crime, I was told to remove which I did not, I was told that if I didn't I would be report to the police for carrying an offensive weapon to whixh I produced a letter from the police saying it was and I quote "nothing but simple pair of folding pliers containg a few screw drivers and one knife blade" to this the Group Leader said well then there's nothing we can do. I stayed woth that group for 3 years before moving onto another group where the only challenge I've had was for calling our then Prime Minister Mr. John Howard an uneducated moron and for having a night on the dangers of drugs and a survival night where I showed the scouts a few knives. The kids of today Barry are too wrapped up in cotton wool by their stupid dotting parents especially mothers and the sooner these people realise that the kids of today have got to get dirty and get a little bloody the worse of we'll be. I know this is a little of the track but I had to put in my 2 cents worth anyway on kids.

 

[Guest]

wow barry i love that A380, you have done a great job there.

just wondering...do you plan on getting revells new 1/72 lancaster? i have heard many many good things!

what a collection. that hanger and home-made back drop is great!

 

[Guest]

"The kids of today Barry are too wrapped up in cotton wool by their stupid dotting parents especially mothers and the sooner these people realise that the kids of today have got to get dirty and get a little bloody the worse of we'll be. I know this is a little of the track but I had to put in my 2 cents worth anyway on kids."

.Quote Desert Rat Racer.

I do not believe for a second it is the kids with doting parents that are the worry. It is the kids with parents that don't give a T*** that are the problem.

 

[wonwinglo]

wow barry i love that A380, you have done a great job there.just wondering...do you plan on getting revells new 1/72 lancaster? i have heard many many good things!

what a collection. that hanger and home-made back drop is great!

Thanks RJ,yes any new Lancaster has got to be worth getting,thanks for the heads up will keep my eyes open for it.

 

[wonwinglo]

More new models added to my collection

Revell 1=48th Grumman Tiger

Without a doubt the best Ryan N-Y-P kit available,Revell 'Spirit of St Louis'.

Conversion from a 45 year old model,the Radar test development Dakota brings new life to a tired model.

Piaggio P.108 bomber with 'potatoe stamp' hand printed Italian air force camouflage mottle effect.

 

[Guest]

How on earth did you do the pattern on the Piaggio? It looks fantastic.

 

[wonwinglo]

Painting mottle effects with the humble potatoe



For a long time now I have been trying to find the best way to paint mottle effects onto models,the Italian air force schemes are some of the most difficult to achieve and look realistic,for these experiments I took my old Dakota paint hack and set about an entirely different approach,I cut the patterns into ordinary potatoes and used them like a rubber stamp to replicate the squiggly effect of the camouflage pattern,the potatoe is just used all over the model until the patterns are completed.

To apply the paint to the spud just use a paintbrush and keep adding colour until the entire model is completed.



Here the Piaggio has been base coat painted prior to the addition of the three colours,the idea is low tech but it works well,with a little patience the finished results look convincing.



Being flexible the potatoe takes the curve of the surface well,here you see the technique in use,only the lightest of pressures is needed,experimenting on the wing of that Dakota paid out before I tackled the Piaggio bomber.

 

[wonwinglo]

A few more colourful models

I did this Dakota in ETPS Raspberry ripple colours a few years ago,the same aircraft now flies with the Memorial Flight in a drab finish.

At least one Ford Tri-Motor Tin Goose was in service with the R.A.F this was operated in Scotland during wartime.

B.A.Hawk doing a beat up of the airfield !

 

[Guest]

All of the above post is just fantastic!!!

.I thought you were joking when you mentioned spuds in the original Piaggio post.

.Ingenius solutions once again.

 

[wonwinglo]

From the model collection-Another selection of models

Vultee Vengeance,this is the old Frog model,what a big beast !

F-101 Voodoo U.S.A.F All weather fighter.

The Lockheed F-80 Shooting Star made from the Airfix kit.

 

[wonwinglo]

Wonwings Diary-China Clipper 75th Anniversary Flight

This one will interest Pan-Am Clipper girl in particular-

China Clipper 75th Anniversary Commemorative Flight, World's First Commercial TransoceanicFlight,Announced by San Francisco Aeronautical Society San Francisco April 10, 2008 -- The San Francisco Aeronautical Society, in conjunction with the Pan Am Historical Foundation, is pleased to announce a major event commemorating what is generally regarded as the greatest milestone in commercial aviation history.

November 2010 will mark the 75th anniversary of the famous China Clipper flight which opened the Pacific to the world's first regular transoceanic commercial air service. Today, people cross oceans in airplanes without even a second thought, but, in 1935, that very first commercial transoceanic flight was a mammoth undertaking that presaged modern international travel.

The year is 1935. As Pan American Airways plans its historic attempt to conquer the Pacific, the world is in a deep economic depression. Franklin Roosevelt has just been elected President of the United States and will remain so for an unprecedented four terms. There are only 48 states in the Union. Alaska and Hawaii will not be added for almost 30 years. Prohibition has been repealed and, thanks to Hollywood, New York's Empire State building will forever have King Kong associated with it.

The establishment of the Trans-Pacific route by Pan American Airways, a mere 32 years after the Wright Brothers' Kitty Hawk success, overcame the greatest technological, geographical, and navigational challenges of the day. Their fleet of flying boats captured the world's imagination as they ushered in the age of global air travel.

The China Clipper 75th Anniversary Flight will retrace the Pacific Route that departed San Francisco to reach Hong Kong via Honolulu, Midway, Wake, Guam, and Manila -- albeit with a modern aircraft. VIP functions will be held at each port of call.

A web site, http://www.chinaclipper75.com/, has been created to provide information on the history of the Clippers and the commemorative flight.

The San Francisco Aeronautical Society is a not-for-profit volunteer organization dedicated to preserving the history of aviation.

 

[wonwinglo]

The Junkers Ju.87 Tank Buster

With all of my modelling gear and kits stashed away I just wanted to create something today,so with a sheet of sugar paper and some good old chalks I set about creating this sketch of the Junkers Ju.87 Tank Buster,to a model maker it is no good not having resources to your models,so creativity being paramount here is the end result to share with you all,to remind us of the importance of this awesome weapon here is a little piece about the most famous ace connected with it.

You have to hand it to the bravery of these pilots who flew the Stuka,it was literally a flying tank.

The most successful Stuka pilot was Hans-Ulrich Rudel. Rudel had already completed 1,000 Stuka missions before developing the tactics for "Panzerjagdkommando Weiss", the embryonic tank-killer Stuka unit.

Despite being shot down on at a number of occasions and sustaining frequent injuries (including the loss of a leg), Rudel’s tally included a total of 519 tanks and one Soviet battleship! He ended the war as Germany’s most decorated pilot and the sole recipient of Germany's highest military honour - the "Golden Oak Leaf with Sword and Diamonds to the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross.

 

[wonwinglo]

The 'History of Aviation' museum in miniature

The past few months have been taken up with setting up a unique collection of model aircraft,this is situated on the site of a former disused historic Warwickshire airfield,shuttling a collection of delicate miniature aircraft was no easy task but the job is nearly complete and a lifelong ambition has been achieved to make a permanent display of models in one place.

This is what the local press had to say about the collection on their visit -

'Tucked away in the leafy Warwickshire countryside, is a unique collection of model aircraft that have been built over the past 55 years by one person,the impressive collection which spans the whole history of flight is neatly laid out in rows on gleaming white tables which run the whole length of the building,a tiny model of the Wright biplane is placed alongside a model of the new Airbus A380 showing the progress made by mankind in his quest to fly faster and longer distances by air.

So who is behind this bewildering and unique array of tiny models ? well we met up with the creator,a former aircraft engineer, who is a self confessed aviation nut in his well equipped workshop at the same location a few yards away from the museum,in his hands was a new model being fashioned from scraps of wood, salvaged from the floor of a local pattern makers workshop in exchange for sweeping the floor ! Barry makes his models from anything that he can get his hands on besides building from detailed plastic and metal kits as well which are stacked on shelves,lined up were the blanks of models under construction each with cardboard patterns neatly cut out alongside,even the tiny propellers are made by hand and set up in an homemade jig that he made,in metal filing cabinets there are thousands of folders crammed with reference material such as plans,photographs and detailed sketches that he has made himself when visiting airfields and museums,you need plenty of reference material in this line he grins.

Lets take you to see the museum he says,carefully laying down his latest model on the workbench and we go around the corner to another building a short walking distance away,when the door is opened you are confronted with the remarkable sight of thousands of small aircraft models,'how many are there,I ask him ?' well at the last count which was several years ago I topped the 4,000 mark,but there are only 3,000 on show due to space restraints,I have another 16,000 pieces still in boxes under the tables,these cover manufacturers works models,identification models produced for the services and some lovely limited editions as well,the collection is without a doubt the largest in the UK but is unverified due to the Guinness book of records wanting a two person count to get a mention,including one from someone like a vicar to warrant entry in their compendium ! nobody in their right mind would spend hours doing that he says whilst he squeezes another model on the table shuffling a few others to make room !

His search for rare models has taken him across the world in correspondence to doctors,kings and accountants,and university professors who share his passion for small model aircraft,but as he points out the internet has made life a lot easier in swopping and exchanging information to enhance his ever bulging collection.

This is the first time that many of the models have been out of their boxes he told me,previously they have endured been moved from house to house and once more taking up three rooms of his last residence some 15 miles away from where the collection now lives,but this is the final move for the models he says,wherever we go they stay put ! we shook hands and I left for the office thinking about what I had seen ? one thing is for sure and that is you will not find anyone more enthusiastic than Barry for his passions,I doubt whether he will ever stop building or collecting,and best of luck to him.'

Well since these photographs were taken more display space has been created,it is very much ongoing and improving whats on display.

 

[wonwinglo]

The 'History of Aviation' museum in miniature-Part 2

More pictures from the collection.

 

[wonwinglo]

The History of aviation museum collection on the move

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The collection has been dismantled awaiting new premises,this decision was made after more space was needed to display a further 3,000 models,fortunately a new unit has been found and arrangements made to move in shortly,whilst the dis-assembly after such a short period of time was time consuming it was considered worthwhile for the long term future of the collection,more pictures to follow when everything is set up again soon.

 

[wonwinglo]

Wonwing is back again after a long break,during that time I have been very busy building models and moving house and workshop more times than I care to mention,but finally I have now settled into my new workshop situated in the countryside which is a joy to work in,it is an old airfield fire station in two sections accessible via a side door,each section is 24 feet long by 18 foot wide,acess for bigger items ( more later on this ! ) is via shutter overhead doors that roll up conveniently,in the summer months it is a pleasure to open those doors and sit outside making parts for my models or real aeroplane,there is your clue I have just let it out,yes I am currently in the process of rebuilding and restoring a rare vintage aircraft called the Tawney Owl,the Tawney Owl is a twin boom pusher powered originally with a Porsche aero engine,the aircraft is the only one in the world and I am very proud of my part in rebuilding it from the ground up,the fuselage vanished a long while ago,the story behind that would fill a book so we will not go there,I just set to and drew up a new fuselage and then built it ! I have buckets of spare parts that are being incorporated into it as I go along,as I have progressed I kept a photo diary of each stage of the construction and so far the project has consumed over 900 man hours,well thats it for now I will post a few pictures just to get the feel of what I have been doing,building,teaching the youngsters and giving my talks on aviation as well,but I will be back ! so see you then.

Wonwinglo.

 

[wonwinglo]

Avro Lancaster super detailed Part Works gains momentum.

The Lancaster was issued some months ago and since that time I have assembled the model up to issue 50 then pausing as more parts became available,the reason for the pause was to gather together more of the substantial framework pieces in order to install the smaller detailed parts more easily,it soon becomes apparent that the issue of parts does not follow a logical sequence for building the model,I started a Google group that has successfully seen through the build of those initial parts and this appraisal is based on those instructions with some updates added as well,what will be useful to others building the Lancaster is the large amount of new material that has come to light in that time especially regarding internal detail.

Make no mistake this really is a lovely model but does require care in assembly but is a challenge to the real model builder who enjoys wood and other traditional materials to work with,the stringers are represented with hundreds of narrow nylon strips that are inserted into slots in the various formers and fixed with adhesive.

For full additional instructions on building this nose section please refer to the illustrations below as pictures speak greater than words,these are additional to those supplied with the part works and a lot clearer optically.

There is only one issue at this first stage in the construction and a suggestion as to how this can be overcome,this concerns item#12 a small lower longeron which is just too short and needs attention which is easily extended with a piece of scrap material that holds the parts in place on the wooden membrane.Please note that these instructions are independent of Hachette and has no connection to them whatsoever,it has been created to assist model builders with this exciting project and bring the model to completion with further hints and tips plus additional parts that will be scratchbuilt along the way,an example of this is the outboard fuel tanks which have been omitted by Hachette, but fear not as already new fuel tanks have been made up and documented for inserting into the outer panels utilising a few simple modifications.

For those who want to build something a little bit different and special then there can be nothing better than the Lancaster as a subject,the Merlin engines,pipework,retracting undercarriage and cockpit detail are well within the scope of this model.

 

[wonwinglo]

Some of these models are close on 50 years old and apart from a bit of a dust removal have not been touched,from experience models made from polystyrene usually go brittle with age as the polymers and oils dry out in the material,I gues that it is all down to storage but a lot of modellers only build and do not keep their models so this is not important to them ? the whole problems with loft storage is the changes in temperature.

Wonwinglo