Hello all. These are my last two for the year. They are from the Sweet 2 in 1 kit of the A5M4, backdated to the A5M2a version.
They have a much-modified fuselage to give them the narrow cross section. Plus the cowling and dorsal area was rebuilt and new windshield and slipper tanks were made. The undercarriage was reshaped too, and the engine was modified to represent the earlier version. It was meant to be a quick project, but unfortunately got out of hand
They are beautiful models and seeing them triggered a long forgotten fact. I remembered that somewhere in my garage loft I had a small open top box of some models that I had made when I was at school. They had been stored in garage lofts etc for more than 60 years. When I found them they were almost invisible under a thick layer of dust and other indescribable debris.
In those far off days my models were built from 3view drawings mainly found in the Observers books of aircraft and occasionally in magazines. I calculated the scale to be approximately 1/165th, I would also sometimes redraw the plan/drawing to obtain this scale.
I realise that I shouldn't be doing this but anyway here's my 60plus year old 1/165th scale balsa wood A5M2.
Terry that's fantastic. What a wonderful thing to have!
I think my first was a V-1 carved from a wooden dowel and a iron nail on top for the engine. I still recall it from time to time, nearly 50 years on.
Terry - Brilliant that you still have it - and I note that even then you had a taste for a subject off the mainstream !
My first model was a Kleeware (Comet?) Douglas SkyKnight. Box scale (about 1/96 I suspect) with the markings engraved on the dark blue plastic. I wish I still had that. An unsuspecting great-aunt brought it for my 7th or 8th Xmas, been modelling ever since. I have to confess with some shame that follow on model attempts even 'pre cut' in balsa were not the success your wood jobs have been so I went the Airfix / Frog / Aurora route.............
I remember my parents wishing they'd never got me started too
My first was the Airfix Hawker Siddeley Trident, back in 1973 if I remember rightly (I only recently twigged that it was probably 1/144 as well). I was going on 5 years old and my father decided it was something we could do together. He quickly lost interest however when he discovered there was no glue in the box. But I persevered, and stuck the main assemblies together with chewing gum. I found if I put the aeroplane in the freezer every half an hour, the chewing gum would harden up sufficiently to allow me to play with the model for nearly ten minutes before it thawed out.
My very first model was motor picket boat, it was carved from a single piece of wood. My uncle carved it for me (he was a sea cadet), I was playing with it on a bomb site, when I stupidly placed it in the mouth of an old lorry fuel tank, I lost my grip on it and needless to say it was never seen again.
The first kit I attempted to build was a rubber powered Kiel Kraft ME109, to call it banana shaped is understating it. Needless to say it never flew, nor did any of the other multitude of kits that I subsequently built, other than into the ground that is.
We live and learn, or do we?
Terry
