Posted 6 years ago
ohmyflyguy
(83 items)
Here are four samples of 8th AAF vintage/period desk models and ashtray. They represent a higher form of Trench Art in that all the models were made from field cast aluminum and not spent brass shells. There are three Boeing B-17's, one from the 447th Bomb Group, one from the 398th Bomb Group, one ashtray from the "Pinetree" Headquarters and a Republic P-47B-C from the 56th Fighter Group. All are with vintage paint finishes and are unrestored. All have visual provenance with the originally applied group markings.
Take special note of the P-47 that was probably given to Col. Hub Zemke, leader of the 56th, after his arrival in 1942 to England. The "artist" handling the paintwork must have been with the 56th from the days in New York before the Group went overseas. This is when the 56th was the de facto research group helping Republic Aircraft iron out the various bugs that their new P-47 Thunderbolts were experiencing. I have provided a photo of the early 56th FG in formation. The airplane closest to the camera is none other than that of Lt. Col Hubert "Hub" Zemke in the lead. Also note that that the photo was was published for many years as black and white. It was not until long after the war was over that the photos became available in-color. This meant that for this model to be finished, it had to be by someone with personal knowledge of the markings, their sequence and the colors used. Also note that the model shows the first-used national insignia that the American groups used in late 1942. This dates the model between 26 May 1942 (first P-47 delivery to the 56th) and November of 1942 Also note the 5 "kill" markings. This was achieved by Col. Zemke on October 4, 1943. The model's paintwork was probably updated about that time. I am currently researching the stand used originally for displaying the P-47.
Fantastic WW2 plane collection & great history, my husband and I saw a great air show with some refurbished WW2 classics over Memorial Day weekend
Great planes!
I would argue with the notion that cast planes represent a "higher form" of trench art.
Each type requires skills rarely found today.
A trench art plane from shell brass requires significant vision and artistic talent!
scott
Scott,
Yes, an item made from spent shells requires artistic talent.
After seeing a sand-casting process this year which replicates field casting used during WW2, I witnessed how any finished aluminum item takes many hours more to process then cutting and soldering sheet brass. There is no such thing and using a finished master and getting a DUPLICATE copy. All masters have to be oversized so that the molten aluminum flows into every cavity especially for wings and tail assemblies. All surfaces are at least 1/5 larger than the master to be duplicated. Once cooled and removed, that raw casting requires carefully removing the excess surface material. This needs to be exact, not enough and the model has cartoon-like proportions, too much and the model needs every surface reduced in-scale to be convincing. It is a true artisan who can 'rough-off' initial material then carefully file, sand, wet-sand then polish the model to its precise dimension in both scale and perspective. In WW2, power tools were used exclusively on airplane repairs. Finishing a freshly cast aluminum model was all accomplished by hand labor. It was long, tedious work which explains why there are far fewer period made aluminum models produced by servicemen in comparison to brass shell composition models. Regards, Tom
Thanks for the information on the process.
I have done aluminum sand casting (several decades after WW2), but I am not familiar with the WW2 process; although it sounds very similar.
I do recall significant hand work to finish and completed some fairly intricate multi sided objects (top and bottom of object not the same).
While I do have several cast trench art airplanes (both brass and aluminum), I have never found them as intriguing as the shell work.
scott
Here is one of my cast pieces:
https://www.collectorsweekly.com/stories/240988-ww2-trench-art-airplane
The paint job was added later by the veteran who owned the piece.
scott