Warbird Information Exchange

...for $4 at a gun show. That was such a good price I couldn't pass it up. I'd like to get it pretty again for display, however it's obviously missing the prop, and I can't find where these things come from to get replacements. Seems they come out of a sweatshop in SE Asia and get sold wholesale to companies like Brookstone.

Anyone have any ideas? It also has some wood drying (?) issues on the wing roots. Without having a paint match, I'll probably just leave it instead of trying to fill/paint it, but what can I do to stop it from getting worse?

(I'm not a huge fan of the re-glued pylons under the wings, but same as the cracking, I don't have a paint match to risk pulling them off. It draws less attention as it is.)

Thanks.

Do you know what scale it is or can you measure the wing span? You may be able to use an aftermarket prop for a plastic model. The spinner may be tougher to work out though.

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Thanks for the response Greg. Great idea.

Judging from the listings I can find online, it seems to be either 1/27 or 1/24 scale. I hadn't thought of using a plastic model spinner/prop. I'll have to see what I can find.

It's frustrating, because I know I stumbled across a place selling stands for them too, but I can't find it anymore.

Try ebay, these are indeed sold by brookstone, but I think the manufacturer sells them on ebay as well. you might want to post your problem on hyperscale.com, some kind soul might just scratchbuild you a quickie replacement. You might ask if anyone could copy a 1/24 scale airfix/mpc p-51D prop out of resin for you.
you might try your local trophy shop for a base, take the model with you. Older shops have lots of old wood bases that would look cool.
a little body filler, sanding with 180 grit and "antique silver" spray paint should fix your wing roots. use masking tape to protect the areas you don't want to sand, then when you are ready to spray mask off an area that looks like the real wing root fillet area. Good luck and let us know what happens.
for $4 you got a steal!!

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All I did was press this red button here...

How about checking out props for RC/control line aircraft?
Can't hurt.

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I figure if you wanted my opinion on items unrelated to this forum, you'd ask for it.

I doubt you'll find a scale prop, but it's very possible you might find a suitable spinner in a hobby shop that caters to flying models. Measure the diameter, then go shopping for a spinner with a base that diameter. Can't match it exactly? Get the next biggest size and file/sand down the base until it matches.

For a propeller, personally I'd just go with a clear plastic disc of the proper diameter. Chuck it in a hand drill and spin it against some steel wool or ScotchBrite to knock the gloss off of it and give it a "spinny" look.

Apologies...didn't check back on these other responses.

I posted this on the Large Scale Planes forum and a kind soul in the Netherlands mailed me an Airfix 1/24 spinner/prop. It's got a broken blade but will clean up nicely.

Work/life has gotten in the way of further progress but it'll happen at some point.