For the CASC holiday party this year I ending up repairing / repainting and refinishing six Disney Planes diecast toys. I figured they could be put to good use as awards to some of our VIP members and volunteers at our museum.
Here are the pair of "Skippers". One finished like our FG-1D when she left the factory in 45. The other is a post war Marines scheme that is similar to an FG-1D that was based at the airport for a few years in the 70s.
And with their recipients, Mark and Rich.
For the two Sikorsky retirees who have been spearheading the S-60 restoration for the past 16 years, I decided to repaint two S-64 Skycranes that Disney made for the second movie. I made custom decals for them and finished them as Sikorsky branded company machines.
Charlie and Bill receiving their awards. Note: both of them actually met for the first time at Sikorsky's worker's trade school while working on the S-64 production line. Now they work on the original prototype Flying Crane.
Gustave Whitehead historian Andy Kosch left early before I was able to present him with this repainted Stearman. Disney never made a kid's toy of Gustave Whitehead's No.21 "Condor" (which we believe flew before the Wrights in Bridgeport, CT in 1901) so I settled on the Stearman since Andy was a science teacher for his entire career.
Lastly Rodger has become a huge staple at the museum, being on hand almost every weekend behind the counter, giving tours, and managing the restoration of our Bell 47, which should be completed by the beginning on 2026. He's been a HUGE asset and we just had to include him with this custom F-18 I redid.
Now with these two projects out of the way I can focus on one more custom 1/72 B-24 project, and then its back to 1/144th scale!!!