Aircraft Models Crux

Wow, that was fast.

Exactly one year ago, I bought my very first miniature model as a whim. I didn’t foresee myself becoming serious with the hobby, branching out to fantasy minis and cars, and getting featured on TV.

After a year of collecting, my entire aircraft fleet now consists of 23 planes (16 civilian and 7 military). As if display space isn’t a huge problem of mine, I fooled myself to buying 9 Dungeons & Dragons minis and 2 collector’s cars (both cheaply manufactured Ferraris).

Five of those 23 planes were recent purchases from the US, and I just picked them up this morning from the post office. (More on my first overseas planes purchase on a future post.) In the meantime, here are some fleet pics to commemorate my “anniversary” as a miniature model collector (click for full versions):

My civilian fleet of 16 diecast and plastic planes.

Two Cebu Pacific planes (both of which were previously in my wishlist), 2 Philippine Airlines planes in old livery, and 2 PAL planes in current livery.

Country: United States Air Force
Aircraft: A-10A Thunderbolt II (492nd FS, 48th FW)
Scale: 1:144
Manufacturer: Can Do Pocket Army (Dragon Models)
Date Bought: December 21, 2006
Price: Php 285.00 (discounted from Php 319.75)

Time to revive this stagnant blog! Contrary to what my recent posting frequency shows, I’m still very active in collecting airplane miniatures, and my collection has now reached 18 models (with 5 more en route from the U.S.).

Today’s model is the so-called “Warthog”, the A-10 Thunderbolt II. The Warthog is a close air support attack aircraft that has been oft-referred to as ‘an airborne tank’ due to its toughness. View all the pictures »

Country: Royal Air Force (Britain)
Aircraft: Supermarine Spitfire
Measurements: 1:72
Manufacturer: Wa San Development - Easy Model
Date Bought: December 14, 2006
Price: Php 298.00

This eye-catching British Spitfire model is my second WWII plane after the P-38 Lightning. Its pink color made it stand out from the rest of the drab-looking pack in the store, so I bought it (of course, it was priced cheap, too!).

The Spitfire is one of the most popular planes from the war era, and the MkV was its most common variant, with over six thousand produced. Many people also say it’s the most aesthetically appealing plane of the war…and I have to agree.

View all the pictures »

Country: United States Air Force
Aircraft: Rockwell International Boeing B-1B Lancer
Scale: approx. 1:144
Manufacturer: Corgi
Date Bought: December 8, 2006
Price: Php 300.00

The B-1 Lancer, along with WWII ace Dick Bong’s P-38 Lightning, are the first military planes of my budding hobby. Very much unlike the P-38, the B-1 is a modern plane, with 67 planes still in active service as of this writing.

Aside from being my only model with movable parts (the wings), this plane blended quite well with the colors of my bedsheet. In fact, it blended so well that I almost sat upon it!

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Country: United States Air Force
Aircraft: Lockheed P-38 Lightning
Scale: approx.1:144
Manufacturer: Corgi
Date Bought: December 8, 2006
Price: Php 300.00

This WWII-era plane, along with a B-1 Bomber model, are the first military planes in my collection. I bought them on the same day I received my writer’s copy of the Literary Apprentice Lite 2006; think of them as a self-reward for having been published.

View all the pictures »