Extremely Rare Bill Barnes BB-1 Silver Lancer Desk Model from Street and Smith Publications circa 1936

Its 1936 and the everyone is interested in any Air Adventures whether it be a record setting flight, racing or simply new developments. To get the latest visual news one simply purchased magazines and newsprint or waited for the newsreels at the movies. This was the age for "pulp fiction" and the Street and Smith Publishing Co. produced many magazines including a couple featuring Aviation. Their most famous was "BILL BARNES AIR TRAILS" that featured high flying adventures of Bill Barnes the intrepid good guy pilot.

Bill had created many high performance airplanes including the "piece de resistance", the famous BB-1 "Silver Lancer". It is that airplane that was subject to this ashtray display model. These were sanctioned by Street & Smith as an occasional "giveaway prize" and total number of units was approximately 50 each. The client that owns this one wanted it updated to match the magazine's illustrations that described the airplane was an amphibian and because it had two V-12 Diesel engines, needed contra-rotating prop assemblies. The model includes updated main belly float, outrigger pontoons, paint and decals to match the AIR TRAILS, July 1936 Cover Art.