Snake45

Aurfalien, I've spent some time trying to research what you've got. I believe (from the window decals, among other clues) that this was built from a kit, not a homemade. Exactly what kit, I don't know. They were made by Strombecker and Testors, and at least a couple variations of each. What I've seen so far doesn't exactly match yours, but I'm leaning toward the Testors. It's not impossible that kits were made by someone else, too. There's a print ad for the Testors kit on eBay right now, that might be of interest. Pretty reasonable Buy It Now price: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-1945-Testors-Solid-Scale-Model-Airplanes-Aircraft-B-17-Bomber-Print-Ad-/153710900626 Here you can see the instruction sheet for one: https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/testors-17e-72-wwii-id-program-wood-1802382780 Here's a couple links about Strombecker: http://collectair.org/strombecker2.html http://collectair.org/strombecker.html https://www.planetdiecast.com/index2.php?&option=com_content&task=view&id=78137&pop=1&page=0&Itemid=885

Possibly, but it looks more like the prop-driven regular Aero Commander to me. Shape of nose, dihedral of tail, and so forth.

Oh, I KNOW what to call that one. "Just Sick And Wrong." (The car in the background is a '66-'67 GTO. It's amazing someone built something this weird that late.)

Been thinking about this. Not sure how far I'd go with a "restoration." It is what it is. Putting myself in the shoes of Mike of American Pickers, I can easily imagine him offering $50 for it, and pricing it at $75-$100 in his shop. And I might even be low on those numbers. Cleaned up, repainted, with new parts added and looking pretty, he wouldn't be interested in it at all. Your friend's dad built this. This! Just this way. Time hasn't been kind to it. (It's not kind to ANY of us.) "Fix it up" and repaint it and whatnot, and it'll look just like the common, mass-produced inexpensive model you're going to use for parts. And be about as unique and interesting. If it were mine, I'd try to clean it up as best I could without disturbing the fragile decals, and maybe fabricate a period-looking in-flight display stand for it. Maybe even try to make a replacement nose and paint and weather it to match the rest of the model. This thing has character. It has what I've heard Mike call "The Look." Your friend's dad probably built this as a kid (as my own Dad did as a kid during WWII). It's a piece of Americana, and it's a relic of your friend's dad's past. Build him the "new" Revell model if he wants a nice B-17. Clean this one up as best you can, fix only what's really necessary, and honor it for what it is. If you think about it, it's beautiful. Just my opinion, worth of course exactly what you paid for it. Either way, thanks for sharing it with us.

Apparently. I said front-DRIVER, not front-DRIVE. See the difference? (If you don't see the difference, ask a pirate. )

B-17 wingspan is 104 feet, so your model is probably close to 1/72 scale. If made from a kit, it might be from Strombecker or Testors. Or it might have been homemade from government-furnished plans--millions of such were made as "recognition models" during WWII. 1/72 scale plastic B-17 models are easy to find, and the cheapest available should serve you well. You might want to poke around in this interesting site: http://www.doxaerie.com/doxaeriethemodels.htm

It's a B-17, probably an F model. I'll see if I can work out the scale, and maybe even the maker.

I wonder if the common, cheaper Revell 1/24 Beetle parts would work. (NOT the older Revell 1/25 kit.)

VERY cool! I can identify 10 of the 11 model airplanes, nearly all of which I built as a kid (and thus contributed to the One Million sales figures). Only car I can positively identify is the Lil Coffin.

Very interesting! The airplane appears to be the Aero Commander, a very desirable kit that they'd enjoy brisk sales of today. I'd buy at least one. Jodie Peeler is a net friend of mine. She's a trained journalist (from back in the day when that credential actually meant something) and serious historian. If she tells you something, you can believe it.

Of course I agree. I hate to see a rare, MIB unbuilt kit built unless it's by a master like Steven G (and hate to see one cut up by anybody), but "distressed" builtups are for the most part fair game. As Comet says, I also enjoy cleaning up and restoring or "rescuing" passably clean builtups, like this original survivor '66 Mustang I just did last week:

Evil Ways makes my short list. Also, Evil Stench, a vague reference to an obscure Sam Kinnison joke far too filthy to repeat here. When I was a kid, there was a semi-"trashy" family down the street whose kids ran a couple of drag cars. One of them was a flat light olive-y green '55 Chevy named "Stagnant Water." It didn't occur to me until decades later that the flat green might have been cheap surplus military olive drab.

HAHAHAHAHAHAAAHA! Sam was THE BEST, The All-Time King, no one better ever! To this day I channel him three or four times a week. OHHHHHH! OOOHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! Did you hear that NASA is now planning for the first astronauts on Mars to be all women? That way, when the first men get there, dinner will be ready....

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Here's my contri for the day:

Just ran across this review--If I ever knew this kit existed, I'd forgotten it. Might fit into your collection of '30s racers. http://www.aircraftresourcecenter.com/Gal16/15601-15700/gal15629-Luscombe-Czech/00.shtm

Not to hijack your thread, Scott, but might be semi-relevant. I've got a bunch of these old crock kits from the '50 from Lindberg, Aurora, Revell, Hawk, etc. I'm thinking of doing them up as "desk models." Awhile back, Polar Lights was offering the old Aurora clear plastic airplane display stands, and I bought I think 10 of them. I'm hoping to do a series of '50s airplane models, built gear-up, all surface detail sanded off, like the old solid wood or resin manufacturer desk models, and put them on these stands. The series would include the Lindberg P-47N and F4U-5 Corsair, Aurora P-51H, Hawk F2H Banshee and F-84E (and maybe F-104), Lindberg F4D Skyray, F7U Cutlass, F-86A, and so forth. Maybe even that backbirth Lindberg F-94 (I also have a Revell F-94)! Paint jobs will be simple, mainly overall silver or overall Glossy Sea Blue for the USN airplanes. What do you think?

Can-Con, drop me an email. I MIGHT have something that MIGHT be of interest to you. SnakeACP45 at AOL dot com

I'd buy at least one! Would make a cool Junior Stocker, or surf wagon, or patina'ed modern street cruiser. Heck, now I'm in for at least two!

Good info, thanks! I just checked the SDS for ELO and the main ingredient seems to be "Dipropylene Glycol Monobutyl Ether," whatever that is. I've never seen ELO for sale anywhere near me. I wonder if Dipropylene Glycol Monobutyl Ether is available generically, or under some other product name, say at Home Depot or Lowes? ETA: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DEG_monobutyl_ether ETA: https://cen.acs.org/articles/93/i3/Cleaning-Product-Makers-Bask-New.html

Agree--with a caveat. Naphtha dries ALMOST as quickly as LT but flow out better, to the point where I've achieved a factory-like finish with no further rubbing or polishing. It's like magic! BUT!!! NEVER thin more paint than you will use in the next day or two with naptha, as it will begin to turn thinned enamel to Jello in a week or so. This Jello paint cannot be reconstituted, not even with LT. Needless to say, don't return any so-thinned paint to its original jar. Paint thinned with LT can stay good indefinitely if it's sealed well. Last year I opened a jar of LT-thinned Model Master I thinned over 10 years ago, and it was still good as new. One more thing about naphtha: There are those who will tell you that it's more dangerous to spray because it's more flammable/volatile than LT. BULSH! The exact opposite is true. This is why we fill lighters with naphtha and not lacquer thinner--because we don't want them to explode. (Kind of like how you burn kerosene in a space heater, but NEVER gasoline, same reason.)

Of course--why not? The Sea Fury was pretty much the (Cuban) hero of the Bay of Pigs, firing the rockets that sank both the Houston and the Rio Escondido, essentially dooming the whole operation virtually at birth. Had those two key ships not been lost, who knows how things might have turned out? Sea Fury was a key player in that game. I'm surprised it hasn't been so kitted before, or more--maybe it's the relative dearth of reference material.

You'll be glad you did, that kit's a parts mine. I've bought several iterations of the Revell '69 Camaro just for parts when I have a coupon and nothing else to use it on.

I never had either, which is why I asked the question. Was "dogsled" ever used back in the day? I dunno and don't care. That's what I'm calling 'em from now on, and Daddyfink can have all the credit. BTW, I dislike the term "rear engine" for the current (for the last 50 years or so) type of dragster. The engine hasn't moved an inch--it's the same place it's always been. It's the DRIVER who moved up front. So I call these cars front driver or forward driver cars.

Phyliss George, Fred Willard, and Eddie Haskell...that's quite a "celebrity death trifecta."

VERY interesting, thanks!