For as long as I can remember, I've been interested in machines that fly. I've also always loved miniature versions of things, so it didn't take long for me to become interested in model airplanes. When I was very young, my father assembled a couple of European-printed paper models of commercial airliners, and hung the models with thread from the ceiling of my bedroom. This was much too far away for me to see them properly, so I tossed a stuffed toy rooster up at the models, until one of them came down to the floor, where I could examine it much more closely. I don't remember how the rest of that particular adventure turned out, but I'm sure it wasn't pretty.
A few years later, my father and I built all of the Aurora 1/48 scale plastic model kits of World War One airplanes. We usually didn't paint them, and we never rigged any of them, but we had fun, and I began to learn some aviation history. As a young teenager, I went to an indoor flying model contest one Saturday, where I spotted a table full of very nicely built and painted plastic model airplanes, set up for display by a local modeling club. I was inspired to try to emulate the skill with which those kits were finished. When my father started an HO train layout, he bought a Paasche airbrush, which I learned to use. Over the years, I tried new techniques, learned what worked (and what didn't), and continued to enjoy the hobby, very much.
Early on, I decided to concentrate on 1/72 scale models, because I wanted my models to all be in scale with each other, and because, particularly sixty years ago, 1/72 scale had the greatest range of subjects, especially the models manufactured by the splendid English company Airfix. Other model manufacturers whose 1/72 kits I've built include Academy, Aurora, ESCI, Fujimi, FROG, Hasegawa, Heller, Hobbycraft, HUMA, Italeri, Monogram, Matchbox, Revell, Special Hobby and Trumpeter.
Click on the tabs below to see a few of the many, many 1/72 scale models I've built, over the last thirty-five or so years.
This tab is the home page for models of AIRCRAFT.
To see 1/72 scale models of Propellor-driven, fixed wing aircraft from 1914 to 1918, please CLICK HERE.
To see 1/72 scale models of Propellor-driven, fixed wing aircraft from 1919 to 1990s, please CLICK HERE.
To see 1/72 scale models of Rotary-winged aircraft (helicopters), please CLICK HERE.
To see 1/72 scale models of Jet-engined, fixed wing aircraft, please CLICK HERE.
