Some of my first aircraft kits...
Hi!
Well, the pics were taken quite a few years ago, and depict some of the then still survivors from my aircraft building "golden age", many, many moons ago (between 35 to 40 years ago!) .
All these, and at least as many as these (mainly aircraft on 1/72, but also a couple on 1/48, at least a sailing ship on 1/700 I believe, and some more that I don't remember now, would have to go to the attic and check the "hospital box", but it always breaks my heart each time I have to do it, mostly when house moving...), are now somewhere in what I call the "hospital box". Most of them are now irrecoverable, maybe a few are still recoverable, with lots of time and patience.
All these are 1/72 WWII aircraft (except maybe for one that I can't ID).
Curtis Hawk:
Curtis P-40 Kittyhawck (this one used to be part of a small dio, an airfield in Northern Africa) :
Hawker Hurricane:
Lavochkin LA-5:
Republic P-47 Thunderbolt:
Can't ID this one?... Can anyone here help ID it? Thanks!
Cheers!
Dolf
That ‘missing plane’ is a Curtiss SOC ‘Seagull’
The others are amazing, Dolf. Even to have them after all this time is impressive, but in that condition...fantastic.
Thanks for helping ID that plane, David (@dirtylittlefokker) !
I was under the strong impression that it was another Curtiss, but that's all I could remember 😉
None of these aircraft shown here are now in these conditions! As I mention above, these pics are old (taken in 2006) and all these kits, plus at least as many, probably twice this number or even more, are all in some box, the "hospital box" in the attic now (now for the last 5 years, when I moved here; before that on the same "hospital box" for some 3 years, where I lived before where I'm now, and before that, since 2008-2009, in the same "hospital box" between moves...) ...
You see why it breaks my heart each time I check that "hospital box"...
Cheers!
Dolf
Well done, Adolfo! Thanks for sharing your photos. David beat me naming the SOC-3A Seagull.
Thank you Jeff (@mikegolf)
As I say on my reply to David, I kind of knew it was another Curtiss, but wouldn't know which one.
I particularly like the P-40, as the one shown above. It's that one that originally was part of a small dio using the base I used today for taking pics of the Montesa cota 247 😉
The scene showed it after landing, the pilot still inside the cockpit, and a mechanic sitting on the edge of the left wing (there's a WWII pic showing exactly what I later depicted on that little dio) . No pics of the dio sadly 🙁
Cheers!
Dolf
Nice to see these, Adolfo! I've posted a few survivors here myself.
Thanks Robert (@roofrat) !
Yes, I've seen some of your older builds posted on occasion. But unless I'm mistaken, yours seem to be still as a whole, or "in one piece" 🙂
Cheers!
Dolf
Adolfo ! you have a whole new hobby just waiting to go ,you can re-do all those kits, new decals , new canopies, new resin wheels etc ,I know you can make a silk purse from a sows ear , so go for it and transform all those sad and tired old kits into something new...I dare you !
N.
Neil (@neil-foster)
"I know you can make a silk purse from a sows ear"
Thanks for the compliment 🙂
I didn't know that idiomatic expression, now I know the meaning 😉
"you have a whole new hobby just waiting to go ,you can re-do all those kits, new decals , new canopies, new resin wheels etc ... so go for it and transform all those sad and tired old kits into something new…..I dare you !"
Well, your challenge is indeed a inspiring one, and under different circumstances I might have taken it.
Sadly, for a number of reasons, I just can't do that anymore!
First, and most important, the financial costs of such an adventure, which I simply can't afford!
Second, I still have quite a few aircraft models from the same time period (WWII), in 1/72 scale (obviously also old models, not the new generation with resin parts, photo-etch parts, impeccable cockpits, etc), that I don't think I'll ever build, because I simply lost interest in military models.
Third, my hands, and especially my eyes, at 62, are no longer what they were like when I was on my 20's...
Fourth, I'm now more focused on civilian stuff (you'll notice that my two recent models, both the R-R as well as the Montesa, are both civilian; I'm now re-starting a old Heller Delahaye 135, that I started many years ago but is far from finished), still have a few more on my large cardbox full of old kits..
And finally, I think I'm changing my main focus towards figures and especially large scale busts (much easier for my eyes!) . I still have a few 120mm Verlinden figures (all military unfortunately), and I'm starting to save every cent for oils paints and whenever possible a new bust. This consumes every little cent I may save, and already have plans, and busts reserved for the next couple of months or so... 🙂
But under different circumstances, some years ago, I would have gladly taken your challenge 😉
Cheers!
Dolf
Nice builds, my friend.
Thank you Craig (@craigindaytona) !
Cheers!
Dolf
That is, more or less, how the initial little dio with the Curtiss P-40 Kittyhawck looked like (there were other figures on the ground) :
And this is the pic upon which the dio was based:
Cheers!
Dolf