The Aluminum Air Force flies again

[Gman93643]

After a brief respite, I once again began crafting new models out of my preferred medium-aluminum cans. I chose to visit the two great wars and my chosen subjects are no doubt considered aviation classics. Here they are:


Spad XIII built out of Mountain Dew

Length: 12 inches long
Wingspan:14.5 inches








Messerschmitt Bf-109G out of Mountain Dew

Length: 12.75 inches long
Wingspan: 13.25 inches







Moving on to my redesigned A-10 & P-51 Mustang! Enjoy!

[Formerly Styrene]

Wow, what a concept! Haha, some of the WW1 camouflage schemes were just about that crazy, so your Spad would fit right in. Cheers on finding a use for all of those empties.

Formerly Styrene

aka Dave

[RunwayOneSixRight]

Very cool! I have a question though, how do you flatten these and what glue do you use?

Keep up the great work

-RunwayOneSixRight

[B-Manic]

nice Bf-109

[Gman93643]

Originally Posted by RunwayOneSixRight

Very cool! I have a question though, how do you flatten these and what glue do you use?

Keep up the great work

-RunwayOneSixRight

Once you understand the properties of the cans, you will find that the aluminum, when cut appropriately, has very similar characteristics as card stock. You can pretty much manipulate it into whatever shape you need to once you get to that point. As for adhesives, I use many different varieties of Super Glue such as Super Jet, Testors and even Loctite Gel. Each one has its own specific application during construction...

[papermate]

Did you paint the leading edges and other edges? They look so smooth, what's the secret?

Papermate

[Gman93643]

Originally Posted by papermate

Did you paint the leading edges and other edges? They look so smooth, what's the secret?

Papermate

Nope, no paint on the leading edges. The leading edges are created with a new, improved technique of can material overlapping a center of aluminum sheeting and Darice foam. The result is the smooth and flawless leading edges that you see...

[creepa_us]

Hi. My. Question is are the plans modified from paper models you find then converted to cans or are they yours

[Gman93643]

Originally Posted by creepa_us

Hi. My. Question is are the plans modified from paper models you find then converted to cans or are they yours

If you follow how I evolved my art from it's earliest days here on this forum as well as other forums that I no longer participate in, I began by creating my craft exclusively out of paper model patterns that were scaled correctly to work with the slightly different medium of cans. From that experimentation evolved the ability to apply and implement more specific paper modeling techniques to my craft; from the most basic methods of joining fuselage pieces together with tabs to later on using the more precise method of bulkheads. By beta building many paper models first out of card stock and then finally out of can after some proper scaling, I was able to comprehend how to make and hand draw my own patterns utilizing those specific techniques that I had learned. This is no different than how many of the artists here on this forum have no doubt learned to create their own paper model patterns.

That said, I can also say that a certain paper modeling vendor(who will remain nameless out of respect and admiration) who embraced the notion of my craft many, many years ago, gave me exclusive expressed, written consent to use plans from his store as the basis of some of my models. I Have retained a copy of this permission for my records as well as forwarding on a copy of it to my representation should any questions arise.

[creepa_us]

Sorry i was not able to follow you from the beginning of the forum and was curious how you made the planes i build soda can models myself and use paper plans (with permission).