Hey gang,
I've seen I.D./Spotter models come up for sale on ebay of naval and military subjects. These all seem to be commercial (rubber/plastic) models. Does anyone know or have seen any plans for any of there subjects?
Kenny
I have found photographs of interned Japanese-Americans making these models (both the airplanes and ships). Ray found the following at the US Navy Historical Center web site:
(http://smm.solidmodelmemories.net/Gallery/albums/userpics/normal_Koln-4.gif)
http://smm.solidmodelmemories.net/Gallery/displayimage.php?pos=-523 (http://smm.solidmodelmemories.net/Gallery/displayimage.php?pos=-523)
The title block says "Master Models". So they exist, but I haven't found any further leads.
Wow, some of these photos are great. They are all US Government photos, so I'll post them to the gallery.
Garet
When I said "great" about the photos, I mostly meant the one of the excited young men in the Washington, DC high school. The photographs of interned US citizens during World War II were a bit disturbing, though the models were excellent. I was glad that the US government included the names and biographies of the individuals in the photographs. I don't particularly want to start a political discussion, but I grew up with children of Nisei (first generation Japanese-American born in the US) who had been interned during the war and realized that my comment was ambiguous. I also met once with veterans of the 100th Battalion, 442nd Infantry, largely interned Nisei who volunteered for Army service in the European theater. Their stories and bravery were sobering.
Garet
I was one of those kids back in the '40's making the spotter planes. They were pretty bad.
Old Bob
My *plastic* models were pretty bad. What sort of wood did you use? The guidelines were pretty specific about not using balsa, but whenever I tried anything but balsa (on non-airplane models; I didn't learn about the ID models until about five years ago), it took me forever to shape with a file and sandpaper. I didn't discover chisels until adulthood. I did have a pocketknife, but it was never sharp enough until I got a real sharpening stone (a gift from my Boy Scout scoutmaster when I became an Eagle Scout). I still use it, though I had to flatten it a few years back. And I became much better at sharpening after I saw Roy Underhill's program (Woodwright's Shop).
Garet