Hi there

No - not the balsa and tissue-paper variety, but static models displayed in-flight. Up until the 1970s almost every aircraft kit came complete with a display stand, raised u/c as an option and a pilot figure. Now the stands are long gone, manufacturers usually assume you'll build the kit with u/c lowered and figures are a rarity.

Do any of you still build your aircraft in flying mode - and, if so, how do you display them?

All the best

Rowan

A few months back I built a seaharrier in hovering mode over a section of flight deck. I used some wood fastened to the base with a cross piece, it looked a bit like a gallows. From this I used fishing line to suspend the aircraft over the base, the line being glued to tiny holes I drilled in the aircraft.

The principle worked fine but the wood I used was way too thick and drew the eyes away from the model. Next time I would use some metal rod and try to hide it by building some sort of superstructure or background scenery as part of the base.

I'm afraid gear up models went out the window for me once my brother and I stopped playing dogfights with our kits in the back yard (a long long time ago).

As a side note I have seen some really superb in flight jets mounted with Perspex rods inserted in their tail pipes, but I have yet to find a convincing way to simulate a moving prop. Just my 2c

Cheers

I do build them 'wheels up' - I have some shelves that I can hang them from. I use some fishing line and create a couple of loops to hold either the wings of nose/tail and I hang them from the edge of the shelves.

I have B-17 that I am going to try to 'fly' off a wall plaque. I am trying to work out details on how to take a long metal rod and insert it into the wing tip and through the body. Then insert the tip of the rod in a nice 'base' I can hang on the wall. Kinda scary because it's a 1/48th scale Monster and there wil be a Ton of weight. It's still in the planning stage right now.

The REALLY BIG ones "fly" due to lack of shelf space :-)

These are a couple of OLD builds a 1/32 Mossie and a 1/72 B-52. I was so disenchanted by the size of the B-52 I never even completed it. They have both long since flown into the trash bin.

I may never get around to building that B-36, in the stash.




Oh yes, and sometimes the Very Small fly too. 1/144 Gulf of Sidra.

Nowadays, I display small models in flight stands. I make the stands myself from wooden dowels and plaque bases. I think small jets looks better in flight.