3 diverse questions

Modeling Subjects Aircraft
1

1) Were US fighters and bombers the only WW2 aircraft to have nose art, or did other countries, UK, get into it?#### 2) Is there an effective substitute for setting decals…vinegar, thinner, alcohol, etc?#### 3) Are there any plastic kits for early- early planes like you see in funny film reels; planes with 4+ wings, flapping wings or spiral rotors?? Thanks for help on any of these.

2

Other countries also applied nose art to their aircraft.

A mild vinegar solution does work, about 10% vinegar to 90% water. But NOTE: All decals are not the same, some will react fine, others will not. Test always on a decal from the sheet your using that isn’t going to matter if it is on or not.

Not really. There is a guy over one ARC who scratchbuilds such aircraft…fantastic stuff. Some of the various very early aircraft were kitted at one time. Some from the movie those Magnificent Men…specifically.

3

To add to what Hawkeye said on Question 3, there were some kits of early aircraft, put out by Inpact, I think, and certainly in LifeLike’s catalog, I remember building one or two of them when I was a kid. But they’re long out of production, and only to be found on the secondary market (ie, eBay and at shows or flea markets). I’m remembering a kit of an early Avro crate, the fuselage was triangular in cross-section, and it was made in cream-colored plastic. A Google search would probably return info on the aircraft pretty quick.

And of course, there’s the old Monogram Wright Flyer kit still available. That’s about all I can think of, off the top of my head.

The modeler at Aircraft Resource Center is Gabriel Stern, he is an excellent scratchbuilder and chooses unusual subject from the early days of aviation, up through the 30s.

Hope that helps!

Brad

4

Those are good questions, and #3 is food for thought.

5

I believe that Academy has created a Da Vinci Machines line of kits. I know he has some ideas of flying machines. I would suspect that Academy will kit those.

Here is a link.

http://www.academy.co.kr/eng/ACADEMY%20PLASTIC%20MODEL%20CO_,%20LTD.htm

6

A little different but Italeri is producing models of Leonardo Da Vinci drawings, and another company whom I don’t remember right now.

As for birth of aviation, you also have AJP Maquettes in France but it is not a Weekend built as there are PE parts, paper to cover the wings, and so on, and it is not cheap ( but a lot more justified than Fonderie Miniature). They have a site but I have not the address now. You’ll find airplanes and even a Santos Dumont Balloon ( I dream of Demoiselle and Deperdussin Monocoque, think I’m gonna assault some old lady getting out of her bank agency…).