Warbird Information Exchange

This is over on the modeler's forum but thought you might like a teaser. My cousin photographed these at a friends house. Made by Fine Art Models in Michigan, I am told. About 5 pictures of each if you are interested. I am also told about $15,000 each.

_________________
"There are old pilots and bold pilots but few old, bold pilots."

darn, and darn!

_________________
"I've already got four, and I've got thirty cornered" Lt Paul Pablo VF-14 USS Essex

Wow, very cool! What are those made of? Are they plastic?

I love how it's easy to see the different panel lines on the skins, due to the variances in the aluminum color. Awesome attention to detail! Are those metal skins or is it just silver paint?

I think those are the "ultimate soldier" toys that have been reworked/repainted etc. check out the corsair tires and cowl, they're the same.
$15K is a heck of a markup from the base $75.00 airplane you get at the store.

_________________
All I did was press this red button here...

I for one would love to see more photos (Edit: Just saw the photos in the modeler's forum - thank you very much for sharing!). I have long admired the work by that company, though never once imagined anyone being able to have one on display in their house, let alone two - quite the investment, and I am jealous with envy!

Most all of the material is metal, except where rubber/leather/fabric/wood type materials apply. The engines alone in both of these aircraft are worth about $1,700. It is amazing when it comes to the replicated rivets, fasteners, and all of the items that function on these models, which are all 1:15 scale.

Here's the company site: http://www.fineartmodels.com/home/index.asp

Be sure to check this section too: http://www.fineartmodels.com/pages/inde ... ct_area=17

Note the massive 1:15 scale B-25J, B-17G, and other aircraft in development!

You might want to read the website linked to above...

Here's the Merlin:

http://www.fineartmodels.com/pages/prod ... ct_area=95

_________________
Those who possess real knowledge are rare.

Those who can set that knowledge into motion in the physical world are rarer still.

The few who possess real knowledge and can set it into motion of their own hands are the rarest of all.

"When we started this business 15 years ago, we wanted to push the envelope in the world of modeling as far as we could, and consistently set a benchmark for others to reach. A sampling of what makes our models the best in the world include: 100% Scale - Our models are 100% scale and no detail found on the original item is omitted on our models; No Plastic - There is no plastic used in our models. Our models are made entirely of stainless steel, brass and nickel silver; Wood - If wood was used on the real piece, we use real wood (not photo-etched brass made and painted to look like wood); and Glass - The glass in our windows is real glass."

This might clear up the origin of these models and what they are made of. If I can get this at the store for $75 even with some assembly required, I'm there.

_________________
"There are old pilots and bold pilots but few old, bold pilots."

Well great then. I didn't say they weren't very nice, just that they looked like the commonly available toys that have been added to with scratchbuilding, etc.
Good luck to them, I don't know anybody that has been able to really make a living building models, even on commission.
I don't understand the pride in not using plastic, in my experience all metal usually doesn't look right. But then I've been an IPMS member since 1976 and have a few hundred unbuilt kits so I guess I'm a little biased.
Still don't think the corsair wheels and tires look right though.

_________________
All I did was press this red button here...

Aerospace companies employ a bunch of them...

_________________
Those who possess real knowledge are rare.

Those who can set that knowledge into motion in the physical world are rarer still.

The few who possess real knowledge and can set it into motion of their own hands are the rarest of all.

There's a forum member here who makes his living building models for both Hollywood and other companies. I forgot his username, but he resides in Arizona.

My uncle worked for a company in Carlsbad that made scale detailed models for military radar research. Many were models of naval vessels.

_________________
"There are old pilots and bold pilots but few old, bold pilots."

Here is the web site of the man who builds the models it is worth a look.

http://www.rojasbazan.com/


Mark Fidler

I was thinking that too, actually. The tires look too skinny. I presume that the gear retract. Maybe they were thinned so that they would fit in the wheel well, just like the old Monogram F4U-4.

Impressive models, obviously, but all the same, I can imagine better uses for the research and skills that went into them.

August

The Corsair model was on display at OSH in 2003 in front of Gary Kohs REAL Corsair,. and someone told me he owned the company and the Corsair model sold for $12,000. It was an amazing model, but the full scale bird on the flightline behind it was much more impressive, and I'll wager a BIT more expensive.

Mark

_________________
Mark Morris

Gary Kohs does own the company. Guillermo Rojas Bazan makes the aircraft prototypes and then they are sent to Russia to be mass produced, usually in groups of 100 (I think). The Fine Art ones are good, but Rojas Bazan's are true gems. Along with the rest of the model, the weathering on his paint jobs are incredible. I've spent hours on Rojas Bazan's website, the more you look at the photos, the more details that pop up.

I think the company makes most of it's money off of car replicas (not prototyped by Rojas Bazan). One day when I had nothing to do at work, I went through the Fine Art web site and crunched the numbers on the amount of money the models had brought in (they have the number made, the number left available and the price). It was well in excess of $1M. I think that's a pretty good living to be made from models. Of course, that didn't take in his overhead...but.

Mac

_________________
WWII Naval Aviation Research - Pacific
https://www.ww2nar-pac.com/