Paper Models as Propaganda During the Spanish Civil War

[Vermin_King]

99 times out of 100, removed pirate site pirates, but I'm not going there to check

[Rubenandres77]

Originally Posted by Dartlynx

Should anyone be interested a 1/400 model of Canarias has just appeared on * * * * ....not sure if this is a pirate or not.

If it is this one, then it is pirate.

It costs 12.90 Euros at the official site:
https://www.papel3d.com/en/spanish-m...odel-card.html

[Dartlynx]

Originally Posted by Rubenandres77

If it is this one, then it is pirate.

It costs 12.90 Euros at the official site:
https://www.papel3d.com/en/spanish-m...odel-card.html

It's a pirate!!!!!

[Thumb Dog]

Hi All,

Leading off this week is a model I’ve had in my digital collection for a few years, but I never had a buildable copy until now. Titled Pieza de Artilleria, or Artillery Piece, I have seen this model cannon printed in at least three iterations, one even taking up two pages. Thought to have been printed by more than one publisher, this particular model was issued by Gráficas Reuindas S.A. Madrid. Drawn by A Romero de Cidon, it sports a vivid red, green and yellow camouflage that I don’t recall seeing on any other military model. It’s so wild that I had it labeled, “Crazy Cannon” in my file.

Try as I might, I can’t accurately identify this cannon, except to say it is reminiscent of the 75, 76 and 76.2 millimeter cannon that were produced by so many countries at the turn of the 20th century. Clearly based on the French 75mm field gun of 1897, the model shows a hydro-pneumatic recoil system installed under the gun tube. This smooth, oil and air shock absorber dampened the gun’s recoil to such an extent that the gun layer didn’t have to reposition the wheeled carriage after each round. A trained gun crew could fire nearly 30 shells a minute while keeping their fall of shot on target. The French 75 is regarded as the prototype of today’s modern artillery.

With construction similar to the aforementioned German 10cm K 17 cannon described on October 20th last, this model thankfully features a camouflaged part that folds up and fits inside the open trail, giving a more complete look to the finished gun. As is customary with these Guerra Civil paper model cannon, there was no muzzle supplied, and a simple part was made to cover the unsightly bore. The laminated wheels are made more interesting by the rectangular plates attached around the rims. Known as Radgürtl in German and Ceinture de Roues in French, both meaning “wheel belt,” they were called Ped-Rails and Girdles in the Royal Artillery. Usually seen on larger siege weapons, these accessories were used by virtually all the combatants in the great, muddy war. The wooden or steel plates gave slender wheels more surface area to help them traverse soft and muddy ground.

The paper soldiers of our Republican gun crew wear crisp, matching uniforms, something not seen in the attached photograph of a scruffy loyalist crew firing a similar weapon. Dressed in his buff jodhpurs, our cardstock officer is seen looking through his coincidence rangefinder to determine the distance to target. The box that supports his tripod was scratchbuilt from extra printed card to raise the too-short rangefinder up to his eye level.

The helmets in the photograph and on the paper soldiers are of interest too, as at first glance they appear to be German, but they are not. The classic sallet helmet with its flair to protect the back of the neck was used by a number of European powers, but I don’t know the country of origin for these Republican helmets. Another topic for another post.

It’s nice to finally have this model on my shelf. Over time, I had printed out a few copies of my old scans, but they were always too fuzzy to build. Thanks to Tom Greensfelder for sending along the sharp scans of this and the following model…


With its slender, tapering lines and cockpit well behind the wing’s trailing edge, this Avion de Caza looks more like a 1930s American pylon racer than a Spanish warplane. Published by Ediciones Uriarte of Zaragoza, the nearly 14” X 20” sheet provided parts for a fair-sized model, but I decided to go even bigger. Breaking down the scan into six separate pages, I came up with a finished fighter measuring 13 ½” long with a 14 ½” span. It took some time and a bit of luck to finally discover the identity of this aircraft. It appears to be a model of an unrealistically customized Caudron C.600 Aiglon.

Originally a two place monoplane, the all-wood, French-built Aiglon, or Eaglet, was conceived as a light touring aircraft. 14 of the planes were purchased by the Spanish Republican Government in late July, 1936. They are believed to have been part of a larger purchase of obsolete French aircraft at a cost of 12 million francs. Noted for their refined aerodynamics and docile handling, they were sent to Republican held airfields to serve as trainers. Some may have been detached to serve as liaison aircraft, and that may be what this fantasy model represents. It appears the type was occasionally captured by the Nationalists, as they show up in photographs and artwork wearing repainted markings. My best source suggests this paper model was last published in 1939, but the red, yellow, red roundels suggest a printing sometime after 1942.

This old, Spanish model was a tricky build, with just three large pieces making up the skin of the main fuselage. While I was building, I didn’t notice the lack of center marks on the parts or formers, and this made alignment of the fuselage a bit squirrely. And there were other interesting decisions made by the nameless designer, too. The wing is a radical redesign of the Aiglon’s original wing. Shorter and more triangular in planform, it is a speed wing, similar to those found on contemporary race planes. Also, the turtle deck extends from behind the cockpit all the way to the tail, very much longer than the airplane’s original headrest fairing. The fin and rudder are so small that a pilot might do better by thrusting his hand into the slipstream to turn the plane. And while the fully spatted landing gear is true to the original airframe, the machine gun is not. That unsynchronized, belt-fed chopper stands ready to cut the propeller clean off its spinner.

But that’s why I like these old models so much. Sometimes they don’t make much sense, and in the end it really doesn’t matter. A few strokes of a pen and a little glue can turn a simple piece of paper into an object that entertains our minds and drives our dreams. Through these paper models we can see ourselves standing on the deck of a long-gone battleship or at the controls of a hundred year old tank. I prefer to see myself in the cockpit of an imaginal airplane, flying recon over some improbable place. This model of a fantasy flyer transports me right to where I want to be.


Well, today marks the one year anniversary of this project, and it’s time to bring it to a close. It’s been a pleasure to find a corner of the internet where people consistently behave as ladies and gentlemen, and I hope to continue presenting my paper models in this forum. If another interesting Guerra Civil model comes my way, I’ll certainly build it and add it to this thread, but I’d like to move on to others subjects for now.

For those of you who have been reading along for the past year, you know I’ve had plenty of help finding the models seen on these pages. Many thanks go to friend Tom Greensfelder. Without his knowledge, support and the numerous models from his collection, this project would have been a much smaller affair. Thanks also to Francesc d’A López Sala of Barcelona, Spain, who sent scans from his collection to help round out some of my incomplete paper model sets. And to all the other interested parties that offered their kind comments and encouragement, thank you.

Score and fold,

Thumb Dog

[Thumb Dog]

Hi All,

I'll post the model's scans as soon as my uploading problem clears up.

Score and fold,

Thumb Dog

[rmks2000]

Thanks for a great thread. Look forward to the next one.

[elliott]

Hate to see this thread draw to a close. It's been a great journey. Certainly looking forward to the next thread plus any additions to this one. It's been great Thumb Dog. Thank you.

[Vermin_King]

Wow. I really hadn't expected you to have this many models for this, but thoroughly enjoyed following along. Will we see a group shot of them all?

Have you decided what you will tackle next?

[Don Boose]

Many thanks for sharing your knowledge and models. This has been a fascinating, well-written, and beautifully illustrated thread of great historic value. I will certainly follow whatever your next adventure may be.

DOn

[Nigrafox]

Thanks for sharing!