Airplanes ??????

@mg-harv 

Hi Harv,

Might just look into that but haven't really considered it for several reasons.  It does not seem that that there would be as much interest shown compared to the East or West coasts. I still need to set up a PayPal account and a few other things before I start advertising om eBay. Methiks I procrastinate because I don't want to see my little treasures go away. 

@stewil Both dioramas are in the living room on a double-decker wheeled microwave cart and I suppose I'm going to remove the planes and vehicles and accessories and transport them separately. These things are so fragile I know there's going to be breakage. The free standing figures are mostly set into the ground work with single pins (if I remember right) and the 'foliage' should survive being tilted the 20° or so necessary. I'm not looking forward to this at all.

I was an E-5 in the Army from '68 to '71 in Thailand. I saw some of the world by hopping MAC flights.

My next addition to this "Airplanes" set of posts is a 1/48 scale Grumman F4F Wildcat produced by Carousel1 in 2006.  The Wildcat was the primary fighter plane used by the US Navy and Marines in 1942 and early 1943.  The first version was the F4F-3.  The next version, the F4F-4, had improvements including increased armament and folding wings.  It fought in many battles in the Pacific, such as Coral Sea, Midway, and Guadalcanal.  It also saw action with the US Navy in North Africa in late 1942 during Operation Torch.  In British service it was known as either Martlet or Wildcat.

The Carousel1 model (fuselage number F-15) is a F4F-3 flown by Captain Edward "Butch" O'Hare on February 20, 1942, when he shot down 5 Japanese bombers heading for his aircraft carrier Lexington.  He was awarded the Medal of Honor for that action.  Though he survived this action, O'Hare was lost in action in late 1943 in an early night interception mission.

The first two pictures show the model.  It came with a simulated aircraft carrier deck, which can be used when displaying the model.

Carousel1 models included a 4 x 6 inch information card, with a photo of the pilot on one side and information about plane and pilot on the other side.  I hope the text on the card is readable.

Finally, most, or all, of you are familiar with O'Hare Airport in Chicago, also known as ORD for its original name Orchard Field.  The airport name was changed in 1949 in honor of this pilot, Edward O'Hare.  A fully restored Wildcat painted in the markings of the February 20 mission is located in terminal 2.  Here are two photos of the real plane.

I hope you find this bit of history interesting.

@ed-davis 

Ed, love the F4F and knew of Lt O'Hare's story since reading about it in Jr High in the 1950's. Your post was a nice reminder.

Loved your P-40 post too. Have built both models in 1/48th scale and F4F is on display in the basement, both were old Monogram kits.

Since this is an aircraft thread I included three from the Pacific Theater. The F4F with folded wings is in the middle. The aircraft are on a vacated Indy 500 shelf whose cars I donated to a museum. A closeup.

@stewil 

I remember the Monogram 1/48 scale WW2 airplane kits. I built many of them, including the P-40 and Wildcat. I probably made about 200 model planes, mostly in the 50s and 60s. I only have one plastic model left, which is a 1/48 scale Revell B-25.

@stewil 

Your Wildcat looks just like my Monogram Wildcat, which I built when it first became available around 1960. From your photo it looks like you have the Monogram Kingfisher and a Zero, the latter might be Monogram. IMO back then Monogram had the best plastic model airplane kits.

@stewil You don't need PayPal anymore - just a checking account.

@mg-harv 

Harv, please tell me more. I just lost a sale to a person who inquired about one of my cars, he is in Europe, and wanted the assurance of a pay pal account. Are you suggesting a bank transfer? Is that done for model cars? Not sure that would work outside the states but would be great if it did. BTW - Do you happen to know the names of those auction houses you mentioned? Was just wondering today that someone like Replicarz might be willing to take some off my hands but wonder what they would pay? Sure have bought a lot from them. Plan to call them in a day or two.

Thank you.

@ed-davis 

1960, that sounds about right. Those planes are all Monograms and are all brush painted. Don't remember when rattle cans showed up but when they did I couldn't afford them, kits barely and Testor bottles yes. In fact some of the paints I have still have the 10 cent markings on them and they are still good. Now I use the rattle cans as well as an airbrush but for most of the 1/32 scale WWI aircraft I've recently built, I reverted to brushing because that was what was used at the time as far as I can tell.

@stewil 

I also used the 10 cent Testors bottle paints for airplane models until late 1960s. Then I used both spray cans or air brush. The air brush was made by Badger and compressor by Binks. After more than 50 years, the compressor still works. I used it last year.

@stewil 

Bank transfers, also called wire transfers, can be used between US and other countries. Depending on your bank there may be a fee. I almost used this on two occasions, but found alternatives in both cases.

@stewil The way I receive payment these days is by ebay payout, which goes from ebay to my checking account. How ebay collects the money I don't know. So to correct myself, PayPal does still serve as an option to send payment. You can tie a bank account to PayPal, effectively making a wire transfer, or tie a credit card to PayPal (which I do).

Dick Browne's estate was handled by ebay seller oldtoystoreusa (Atlanta). Wayne Moyer's collection has been going through ebay seller militarytoyshop (Ohio). Other options are http://www.lloydralstontoys.com (if you have diecasts over 40 years old, they are in CT) and the Matthew Bullock Auction Gallery (but again, their focus would be old diecasts and trains).