Strombecker factory

[Mark Braunlich]

Memorial Day weekend here.  My brother and I took a day trip to Moline, Illinois to photograph what was once the Strombecker factory there.  Photos taken today, May 28, 2011.  Buildings seem largely abandoned and unused but there a few small businesses working out of them.

Mark

[Balsabasher]

Mark what interesting pictures,that name on top of the building sent a chill down my spine as I imagined the millions of wooden blanks that came out of that factory,well done for recording this piece of modelling history for us and searching it out.
The same here in the UK as the old E.Keil & Sons ( Keilkraft) factory at Wickford,Essex now lies a shadow of its former self,there are pictures around of women workers packing kits with huge piles of them in the background,it must feel odd walking around these places today and thinking of the productive activity that took place within those walls.
But the names will live on forever as long as there are people like ourselves reproducing models from their original plans.
Thank you for this pictorial insight into that factory.
Barry.

[dave_t]

Is there a written history of the Strombecker wood model facility? It would be interesting to read about the day-to-day operation of the factory, how many people worked there, who did the box illustrations, etc. I enjoy reading that kind of information.

Speaking of wood, does anyone know what species Strombecker used in their models? I have one fuselage where there are maybe 40 annular rings per inch of wood thickness. It is some type of softwood.

[Mark Braunlich]

dave,
The wood is usually called western pine.

History here; Part 1: (Link removed, inoperable)

Part 2: (Link removed, inoperable)

Mark

[Balsabasher]

What fascinating reading and seeing examples of those old kits done as completed models brings them to life,those locomotive models are excellent as well,what unusual subjects Strombecker made,thank you for these links Mark.
Barry.

[Mark Braunlich]

My brother built one of the solid locomotives as a youth, the only Strombecker model we had.  A school friend had a very well made Vought F7U Cutlass model, built and painted by his father.  I used to admire it very much whenever the chance was presented.  My brother and I were a little too young for the solid Strombecker era....we cut our teeth on the early plastic models but we've both "advanced" to modeling in wood.

Mark

[dave_t]

Thanks for the link. It was very interesting, more than I expected. It would be great to see photos of the factory interior and what sort of machinery and processes they used to manufacture wood models.

Steve is quite the writer and researcher. I read his page on recognition models too.

[Mark Braunlich]

Mention in Lou's Air-toons thread about the wood chips and dust reminds me that the Strombecker factory was heated and (reportedly) to some extent powered by burning the waste wood.  The smoke stack and light rail tracks for moving the waste to the furnaces are still there.  You can see the light rail tracks in one of my photos above.

Mark

[lastvautour]

I don't suppose that a hidden closet somewhere would be hiding some long forgotten treasures? One can dream!

Lou