Acton Memorial Library, Acton, Massachusetts.
A month or two ago, I posted a list of aircraft, by decade, of significant subjects for inclusion in a display in at the local public library. The idea was to organize the list by decade. A couple of folks asked me to post a progress report, so here it is...
The Children's Librarian had seemed mildly interested when I first talked to her, perhaps because she didn't really understand what the models would look like. Then, one day about a week ago, out of the blue, she asks me when I'll be bringing in the models-- knowing that the anniversary of the Wright's flight was only 2 weeks away. We checked out the location, and agreed that the models would be hung in the turret room of the children's department. The room is a nearly circular (16-sided, really) area with a tall cone-shaped roof. There are steel rods about 9 feet off the floor, at the base of the conical roof, arranged like spokes of a wheel.
The models were all built "in flight" with wheels up where applicable.
So here's the list of the aircraft on display:
1903: Revell 1/39 Wright Flyer (all the other models are 1/72 scale) WW1: Sopwith Camel and Fokker Triplane (Revell kits) 1920s: Monogram Ford Trimotor, Testors Spirit of St Louis 1930s: Revell P-26 Peashooter, Monogram Curtis Hawk P-6e. WW2: Revell B-17F, P-51D, Corsair 1950s: Matchbox F9F-5 Panther 1960s: None (ran out of time, was going to build a UH-1 in Vietnam colors) 1970-1980: Esci F-14 Tomcat 1990-2003: Revell snap-tite F-117.Aircraft were selected using a rigorous selection process: What do I already have built? What inexpensive kits can I build quickly? (I need everything complete in a week!)
There were some gaps in my collection. I built the Spirit of St Louis, the F-117, the Wright Flyer, and the Panther all in the last week. I built them all OOB, basically the way I did as a kid. No filler, minimal sanding, brush painted.
I'll admit I had fun-- it was neat not to worry about fancy modeling. No sanding or filling of sink marks, no airbrush cleaning. I did get rid of flash, and used future as a gloss coat, and then as a decal setting solution. (No time for solvaset or the like!) For example, I build the Wright Flyer per the instructions, only doing detail painting, leaving the linen-colored flying surfaces unpainted.
I hung the models using invisible thread and/or fishing line. The aircraft are hung around the perimeter of the room, from the steel rods, in ascending order of decade. Aircraft from the same decade are on the same steel rods did a little write-up that identifies the aircraft in each decade.
The librarian was so thrilled with the models that she made up a big sign proclaiming "100 years of flight", and made little signs to identify each decade to hang with the aircraft. Tomorrow she is going to arrange a series of books at the entrance of the room, featuring the Wright Brothers and aviation in general.
I'm very pleased with how this has turned out. The models look good, and are low enough to see, but high enough to be out of the kid's reach. In addition, none of them are close to my current skills and standards, and none will be mourned if they get lost or damaged. (In fact I'm donating them all to the library- maybe we'll work out a way to let people make donations to the Library and "buy" them.)
An enjoyable project, recommended to all. (Hey, you guys still have a week to get your display built!)