Michael Johnson Classic Paper Planes

[ashevilleangler]

Perhaps there should be a found it on ebay subforum. Not my ebay listing.
And it's a very good price.
Anyway, here is is:

Classic Paper Airplanes to Build Fly © 1989 First US Edition Book 0312027346 | eBay

Curt

[opalmox]

I had a copy of that book when I was in the Corps... I had only started one of the models, but unfortunately never finished it. Wonder what the heck happened to it.

[Don Boose]

I have a copy and never dared to actually cut out any of the beautiful models.

4.95 seems like a very good price for this publication.

Don

[opalmox]

Knowing now, what I didn't know then... I'd have to scan the models, and go from there. :D

[kahoody]

Got that book in 1989. Had no experience in papermodelling then. I still don't have the ability to tackle the die-cut models now. The book just sits there teasing me!

[dto]

There were two books in this series. Absolutely gorgeous coloring and subtle weathering, but tragically many books were ruined because the die cutting was significantly off-register. As they were usually shrink-wrapped, you couldn't tell beforehand if the die cutting was spot-on or askew. And since the parts weren't outlined and had a generous coloring "bleed" beyond the borders, you couldn't salvage the parts by hand cutting them.

I had one of these "defective" books, and I still tried to build one plane just to get the feel of the construction technique. The interweaving wing tabs proved troublesome. But careful assembly of a correctly-die cut model will result in an impressive aircraft.

It's said you can "fly" these models. Basically, you can twirl it around on a string attacted to a wingtip after carefully weighing the nose. I prefer not to risk damaging these planes (and getting dizzy in the process). By the way, be careful when choosing clay as a nose weight material -- many craft clays use mineral oil to stay pliable. This will result in oil stains on your paper models, and can even eventually soften and warp plastic models.


David T. Okamura

[Bengt Fredén]

I have both of these vintage paper model plane books.

It is true that some of the die-cut parts are a bit askew, but I just like to collect them for their pure artistic value. The models are beautifully done and there is a short background story on each historical plane. The B-2 Spirit model in one of the books is an awesome model. The red Richthoven Fokker DR.1 is another beauty.

Perhaps if permission was obtained by the designer and publisher, you can scan, print and cut them by hand to get an even better fit.

For now, I just like to look at them now and then. I wouldn't think of tossing the model in the air, if I had built one of them. I suppose they are very fragile, the paper is quite thin.

All the best,
Bengt

[rockpaperscissor]

Instead of using eBay, I placed an order for this book through abebooks.com. Less than $8 including shipping from a bookstore in Texas. After I ordered, dto's comments popped up about the die cuts being off on some of the books. Keeping my fingers crossed that mine'll be a good one. I'm not a fan of die cut kits, but the artwork looked so good that I made an exception. Also, a few of the airplanes are obscure, and I don't think I've seen them in kit form anywhere else. Will let you know the outcome when the book arrives.

[papermodelfan]

In the intro, Michale Johnson actually describes mounting electric motors in them and flying them as powered aircraft. Hard to believe. I messed around with these years ago,and never was satisfied I had anything stable or strong enough to take even a tiny motor without the torque flexing the wings and tail surfaces horribly. Never achieved flight.

[rockpaperscissor]

I got my copy of the book a couple of days ago. It's in pretty good shape for a used book, and for less than $8 I have 10 huge models to build. From handling, a few of the parts have small dents or creases, but I think I can make those disappear for the most part. As David and Bengt alluded to, the die cuts are askew on some parts, but this should only present a real problem on the pieces that require a true dead center (wheels, engine faces, etc). I have thought out a plan to remedy that (hopefully).

The graphics on all the models are very good, and would hold up favorably against today's best. Details are sparse, especially for such large models. I don't expect I'll be doing any superdetailing, though. I'm always too eager to get on to the next project. For someone with more patience, these models could be turned into real museum pieces. The book can be found used on Amazon or Abebooks, for a variety of prices, many very cheap, so there's no need to wait for another eBay auction if you're interested in buying a copy.

The simplest model appears to me to be the Morane-Saulnier Type N monoplane, so I'll be building that first (build thread to follow). Based on the wingspan, it's a 1/24 scale model. Absolutely humongous for me! Some of my completed models would fit easily inside the wing roundels.