scale modelers?
I was unable to find a subforum that seemed appropriate for this. I'd originally posted it in General Discussion, but a couple of people suggested the Lounge. (I've never posted here before.) If there’s something I missed, please let me know and accept my apology.
My primary hobby is birding, but in bad weather, I sometimes make scale model aircraft. Most of the models I’ve built have been First World War era biplanes, but I’ve started moving into other historical periods. I’m building an F-100D Super Sabre right now, partly in honor of my father, who was in Vietnam early in the conflict (1963 or 1964), albeit as a translator in the Navy.
Anyway – I semi-completed this one last month:
This is a P-47D Thunderbolt in 1/48 scale. It’s based on Tamiya’s P-47M, which can be converted to the late-version P-47D I wanted to make easily enough. (Much more easily than a kit intended to be an earlier P-47D, in fact.).
The reason I’m showing this off is the markings. They were intended to match the plane my grandfather was photographed flying sometime in 1945.
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He was a flight instructor, so he would normally have flown trainers. As far as I know, he and his friends were joy-riding in some Thunderbolts that had arrived at their base in Texas.
This is very much an incomplete experiment. The cowling that would go over the propeller is missing, I messed up on the paint job in a couple of places, and I need to resize some of the decals I printed to match the markings on this particular plane. That, and I’m not really all that talented with this.
Building this did let me use my imagination a little. My grandfather never saw combat. But - what if he had? The plane would be the same, except for armaments (which in this case includes machine guns on the wings that are absent from the plane he was photographed flying, plus a drop tank because I felt like adding one) - but it also meant there might have been nose art.
Much of the nose art of the period was notably bawdy. I obviously wasn't going to put anything like that on the nose of this plane - I really don't want my grandparents going poltergeist on me for the rest of my life. I also wanted to display this at home, where my 6-year-old daughter would see it. (I may also make copies for my cousins, all of whom have small children.). Besides, it just wouldn't be appropriate, given who he was.
I thought about a couple of classical theatrical masks - the comedy and tragedy masks - because he was a professor in theater arts after the war. But I decided to do what many pilots of the time did - put the name of his sweetheart (my grandmother) on the plane. He was absolutely dedicated to her.
The saddest part is that I’d intended to make one for my uncle. (My mother passed away several years ago.). But he died suddenly late last year, so I didn’t get the chance.
Anyway – this one means something to me. And the next one will be better.
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(As an aside – there are web sites that list every single P-47 ever built and its ultimate fate. The plane my grandfather flew ended up in the Chilean Air Force at some point. I’m sure it’s scrapped by now.)
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My neighbor built scale model sternwheelers. I saw several of his finished models, and thought they were wonderful. I visited the local Ohio River Museum in Marietta, Ohio. I knew he had willed some of his models to the museum, but I didn't know that there are several other artists/craftsman who have also built sternwheeler models.
Wonderful way to make the era come alive. I liked the comments, too. Thanks for sharing 
I never had much luck getting good coverage with that. Their old enamel silver never quite dries, somehow.
I am of the 'nothing looks so like metal as metal' school, and use foil for BMF.
