Reviving an early fascination in WWI aircraft

[Kanone]

Greetings,

When I was a kid I had a deep fascination in WWI aircraft. It was probably my first "grown up" interest. It started when I was 9 or 10 years old and with my mom in a dimestore and she said that I could pick out a toy for under a dollar.

So I strolled around and found the model section. There I picked up a plastic kit of the Pfalz D.III and the painting on the box instantly got me hooked. After that I made lots of WWI airplane models in different scales, mostly plastic ones, but one or two balsa wood and paper models too. I loved to paint and detail them carefully. I also read biographies of the Red Baron and English flyers and always considered the WWI pilots to the most dashing figures of all time.

So now I'm middle-aged and my early interest seems to be coming back again. I bought a few books on the subject and also found this Forum. I might even make some models by and by, who knows, although right now the books seem good enough.

The only thing changed is that now when I read about WWI aerial warfare I feel a sense of deep sadness that these fine young men killed and were killed for what now seems meaningless and for nothing; change their uniforms and you couldn't tell them apart, and they were all part of the same European culture too. It strikes me as odd and mystifying that these great nations would fight to the death over what now seem to be such obscure reasons. I guess that's what they mean by the futility of war.

Thanks for the Forum!

[dpolglaze]

Welcome,

This is a pretty active forum. There's plenty of recommendations for books in the Books and Magazines section.

I was in a military book and gaming store in Wisconsin one afternoon a few years back, picked out a couple of books, and went up to the counter to pay. There were a couple of older gentlemen sitting at the counter talking with the owner. One of the men saw my books, and started talking to me. Turns out he was a bombardier in WW2 (I believe he said B-24s). He didn't talk much at all about his experiences, except to mention them, in the 10 minutes we talked, but one thing he said stuck in my mind. He said that he was glad there were younger people interested in reading about military history and war, because the more educated we were, the less chance it would ever happen again.

So keep reading, and keep talking, and who knows?

Dan

[Kaiser Bill]

Kanone...my story is similar to yours. I started modeling at an early age as well. My father introduced me to "stick and tissue" models by Cleveland, and Guillow. Then came the plastic Aurora kits. Life was good back in the day.

I agree also about the senseless waste of life because of war. Have we learned nothing after all these years??

Kaiser Bill

[tcrean7828]

Mate,
Welcome to the flagship of the Aerodrome - where the greatest minds on the planet get together and talk about their favorite subject - WW1.

ttfn

tcrean7828

tom

P.S. Werner Voss fan here.

[Kanone]

dpolglaze:

I'm in Wisconsin so we're next door neighbors.

I knew a couple of WWI vets years ago, both American, and my dad was a U.S. WWII vet who ended up on the Elbe facing the Russians. None of them glorified war, but they all helped get me interested and that interest in both world wars has stuck. Maybe it's the tragic fact that so many of these early pilots were struck down at their peak and while flying elegant machines of war makes this history so poignant, mysterious, and appealing.

Kaiser Bill:

Doesn't seem like mankind has learned. Almost seems like some of the mistakes of 1914 in Europe are reoccuring today, but I don't mean to go political.

I loved those early models I made and wish I had them still. I started with the larger plastic kits (Aurora? Revell?) and later made lots of smaller scale ones (1/72 maybe? brand?) and had a whole string of them across my bedroom ceiling. All i have left today is an Albatros top wing and a couple box paintings stapled to my motorcycle shop wall (Sopwith tripe; Fokker Eindecker).

tcrean7828

In reading the Osprey book (Dr.I Aces) I too feel an affinity for Werner Voss. That photo of him slouching in front of the Dr. I painted with its cowl as a Japanese fighting kite is outstanding! And "Blumchen" is so young he almost looks like a girl, yet he was a ferocious killer. It all mystifies me...

My last model many years ago (never even built it) was a bigger scale Voss Dr.I in light blue plastic. I've been trying to remember the company brand, but can't, Monogram maybe?

I think my early interest in WWI planes also in time drew me towards BMW motorcycles. I call my K100 the "Red Baron."

[SCMc]

Kanone,

Revell had Voss' triplane. There is currently one on ebay. I think that it is probably the one you wrote about. I built that one too, though I left it at my parents house many when I went off to college.

Steve

[Kanone]

Thanks Steve.

I checked out the eBay Dr.I and that Revell kit must be the one I had. The scale is right, the date of the model, and the cover photo shows a light blue plane and I remember the parts being a light blue.

I bought it when I was already going on to other things (like motorcycles) and it sat around for a long time unassembled. I remember looking at it thinking that I should build it, but never did. My dad probably ended up throwing it away like lots of my other stuff I left behind.

I wonder how good the current WWI aircraft models are?

Herb