Kenny's Old Time Model Airplane Magazine:
February 2004
Editorial
Hi Gang! This month we are going to look at the late war years through the only big modeling magazine that still primarily featured model building, Model Airplane News. By 1944-45, Air Trails was going more for news and pictures from the front, Popular Aviation, and even Flying Aces had seen their model section dwindle away to little or nothing, leaving MAN to cater to those stalwart modelers who soldiered on without balsa, rubber, motors or gas. Not that model plans disappeared, but they did often take a different tack, featuring smaller models (needing less resources), different materials (such as cardboard and pine), and many three views from which the ever-popular solid/shelf model could be whittled from firewood.
The editorial tone of the magazine also became more mature. The "rah, rah, sis, boom, bah" of the late '30s gave way to an overwhelming sense of patriotism and vengeance following Pearl Harbor. By the end of the war, the mood had become that of a solid, somber, confidence in the job on hand, with light at the end of the tunnel beginning to show. The article accompanying the Solid model plan is a nice example of this acknowledgement of their foes abilities and strengths, without any hint of fear or doubt of the final outcome of the conflict. Though I have never read any, I suspect that the popular press from all of the combatant nations would have read very similarly.
By wars end the desire was simply for a return to the happier times. The mood, though certainly happy, was neither celebratory nor overtly victorious. The following poem, though originally printed in a 1933 issue of MAN was reprinted in the August, 1945 issue, is both timeless and a perfect sentiment for those months immediately following "the Big One."
MODELIN' PLANES
By Silos Weatherby
A feller isn't thinkin' mean, modelin' planes;
His thots are mostly good an' clean, modelin' planes;
He doesn't knock his fellow men or harbor any grudges then;
A feller's at his finest when he's modelin' planes.
The rich are comrade to the poor, modelin' planes;
All brothers of a common lure, modelin' planes;
The boy, the joy the models bring, can chum with millionaire and king;
Vain pride is a forgotten thing, modelin' planes.
A feller's glad to be a friend, modelin' planes;
A helpin' hand he'll always lend, modelin' planes;
This brotherhood of "prop" and line and struts and wing is simply fine;
Boys come real close to God s design, modelin' planes.
A feller isn't plottin' schemes, modelin' planes;
He's only busy with his dreams, modelin' planes;
His livery is a lacquer pan, his creed—to do the best he can;
A feller's always mostly man, modelin' planes.
So come on in and enjoy Volume 5, Number 2 of
Kenny's Old Time Model Airplane Magazine!
The Story
I'm afraid to report that there is no story for this month. The stories had all but petered out by the end of the war, and of course Model Airplane News never did run fiction. I suppose that in a time when the real deal was more fantastic than anything Bill Barnes could get into, who needed fiction. So for this issue ONLY, no story. Check the Archives if you need a fix ;-)
The Rubber Powered Model Airplane Plans
This month we present a nice bonus, two scale rubber models! Not a good one and a quickie here, but two "A" sides for you to give a spin. The October, 1945 issue presented these two models one after another. I couldn't bring myself to chose which to post, so here they are.
Both represent very highly developed fighters of their era; the Sopwith being the best British Bipe of WWI and the [sic] Na 96 (we now know of the aircraft's actual lineage as the Mitsubishi Type 96, A5M Claude) being a fantastic example of what an open cockpit, fixed undercarriage craft was capable of achieving. Either too late or too early to be pivotal in their respective wars, these two models represent rarely seen free flight subjects. Both designs look light, strong and to scale. They look like models designed in the years following the war.
From the pages of the October, 1945 issue of Model Airplane News, enjoy
J. Bligh & N. Kirschbaum's Nakajima 96
and Joseph H. Wherry's Sopwith Snipe.
Bob Hildebrand's Kitten is one of those models designed around war time realities. Small models use less balsa and rubber, and so much time and research was put into braking the old prejudices favoring bigger models. Certainly more small models, gas and rubber, were being flown after war rations were lifted than before, so I'd say that the experiment was a success! I hope the lead photo is enough to entice you too look closely at this cute little cat.
From the pages of the March, 1944 issue, enjoy
Bob Hildebrand's Kitten
Thermals.
The Solid Model Airplane Plan
This month we again present two solid models. The first is the "Plane on the Cover" of the March, 1944 issue, the Mitsubishi OB-01. MAN always ran an article featuring news and technical information of the cover subject, usually complete with a detailed three view drawing suitable for conversion into a model plan. I doubt that many drew up flying plans of this one, but no doubt a few boys carved one out as fodder for their Corsairs and Hellcats. The article is a very good example of the mood at the mid-point of the American involvement in the Second World War. Though many of these articles featured 3-view drawings by the great W.A. Wylam, this drawing is sadly un-credited.
The second is a rather obscure job both as subject and designer. The aircraft, the Svenska-J22, is Sweden's answer for its own need of a fighter aircraft during the Second World War. A beautiful little plane, there is actually quite a few sites on the web with info on this one. What really makes it special to me is that it is another of Earl Stahl's models. What makes it really special is that it seems have been forgotten! Periodically I run across lists of all of Earl's plans and this one never gets mentioned. Heck it never even made it to my own list. But here it is, tucked back on page 68 of the November, 1945 issue of Model Airplane News.
Plane on the Cover Mitsubishi OB-01
Earl Stahl's Svenska J22
How To...
We bring back the How To this month with an instructional piece into the laying out of solid models. Rubber and gas still get "How to" space in contemporary magazines but today's fledgling solid modeler is often in need of much info that would have been common knowledge to the boys of yore. I hope that the tricks presented here will bring you closer to trying your first, or perfecting your next, Solid Model.
From the pages of the July, 1945 issue of Model Airplane News, enjoy
Pin Points Do the Trick
I invite any of you who may be interested in Solids to check out the web forum Solid Model Memories. A small but vibrant group of Solid modelers from every background and skill level, these guys are all more than willing to share and stumble though their experiences with this now rather obscure form of model making.
The Gas Model Airplane Plan
Here is a lovely, big model that just looks right. I think if I built/flew big gas models, I'd like to have something like this in the hanger. Perhaps two or three channels of radio control, and a nice sod farm on a sunny afternoon... have one of those nice gents from the local hobby store come out with me a couple of times with their buddy transmitter set ups to make sure I keep her rights and lefts kosher... "Hey honey, what say I build one of those big models this winter?"
From the November, 1945 issue take a look at Dick Ealy's De Luxe
Enjoy
Richard Ealy's De Luxe
The Advertisement
Ohlsson & Rice had a long standing contract for the back cover during this period, and they did their best to advertise and hold customer's interest in a product that simply was not available. The readers of this April, 1945 issue thankfully had only a few short months to wait!
From the back cover of the April, 1945 issue of Model Airplane News.
the Ohlsson & Rice Manufacturing Co.
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