Coastal Base And The Swordfish

Sky-Fi master Jon Hall is back with not only a brilliant new aircraft, but the wonderful home base of The Swordfish. The aircraft is a whimsical combination of pontoons, open cockpit, inverted gull wings, duel booms, bomber nose and pusher, and it just works. The base looks like a place I’d like to hang out and have a fruity tropical drink between sorties.

Douglas DC-3

Here’s a lovely throwback to when air travel was special. People dressed up to fly, air crews were glamorous, food was served with cloth napkins and care, and luggage probably got there in one piece. The planes were designed on paper by people with slide rules and french curves, and they were beautiful, just like this one from builder Vaionaut.

Torpedo Bombers at 5 O'clock High

I love a good airplane model, especially biplanes. In freshman engineering I built a biplane for a project that I was told no one had built a biplane for, and the professor wasn’t sure it would work. It flew wonderfully. Prolific LEGO aircraft builder John Lamarck has posted a beautiful Blackburn B-6 Shark. Like many aircraft developed in the interwar years it did not have a long service life as developments happened rapidly in aviation in that time period. My only quibble is the inter-wing struts should be on an angle in the front view and not vertical, but that is likely driven more by the scale and medium.

The Dream Of Flight

Humans have always envied birds. For as long as we've been looking up, we've been longing to take to the skies. Thankfully, we were clever enough to figure out how, and flying airplanes is now the aspiration. Like this little one by builder tankm, we can all dream of flight, and the dream is within reach. 

P-51

While the corsair is my favorite WWII fighter, the mustang is a close second. Most planes of the era were so drab (literally) and unexciting, but not the mustang, she was shiny, fast and beautiful. This version by Milan CMadge is the best I've seen at this scale, right down to the dihedral. 

Rotary Engine On Stand

Rotary engines have always fascinated me. I understand the principal, but something as complicated as a four cycle engine is difficult enough to wrap your head around, now make it spin. But they certainly are lovely to look at, especially this one by Karf Oohlu. 

E-41 Skyclipper

King of Sky-fi JonHall18 is back with another brilliant aircraft, and she's a beauty. I suppose if you're fast enough and have enough firepower you don't have to worry about being somewhat conspicuous, and they don't call this The Yellow Peril for nothing. And judging by the 10 X's below the cockpit, this pilot is no one to mess with.

D-68 Punisher

How cool would it be to look up and see a squadron of these lovelies screaming in. Well, I guess it would be cool as long as you were on their side. Yes, builder Jon Hall is back with another fantastic sky-fi plane, and she's a beauty. I especially like the squat and almost chili proportions of this one, kind of reminds me of a military version of the classic Gee Bee, with a pusher prop, very cool indeed.

P-51 Mustang

This appeals to me on so many levels. The Mustang is one of my favorite WWII fighters, and this supremely accurate 1/10 scale model by crash_cramer is just jaw-dropping. It's detailed inside and out, with special attention to structural accuracy. The chroming is a combination of parts ordered on Bricklink and clever use of chrome skinning vinyl. The canopy is custom, and while that may put off some purists out there, I'm personally totally ok with it. It all adds up to a stunning model of one of the greatest airplanes ever to soar through the skies.

F-06 Skyrazor

Builder Sylon-tw takes to the skies with with his latest build, the F-06 Skyrazor. I love the wings on this bird, both the color scheme and it's graphical appeal and the inverted gull-wing design. That plus the bulged cockpit gives this plane a squat but menacing appearance.

S-16 Vulture

Builder JonHall18 has taken to the skies again, and as usual the results are stunning. The camo pattern on this craft may seem impossible, but through clever use of dark brown bricks and matching stickers, the effect is not only possible, it's perfect. More pics to follow soon, but I had to share this one in the mean time.

F-49A Patriot

Jon Hall is back with my new favorite aircraft in his ever-expanding fleet. The Patriot is reminiscent of my best-loved fighter of all time, the Corsair, but in a twin pusher canard configuration that screams 'air dominance'. I especially like the color scheme of classic navy & white, and those grill/nacelle combinations are awesome.

R-16 Vindicator

I really love this new aircraft from the king of fanciful flight Jon Hall. The color scheme is the first thing that grabs your attention, all that yummy olive green. It looks military at first, but the shape is just a little too cute and stubby to be intimidating. Then she opens up with her quad cannons and you're history.

Wildcat

I spent a great deal of my adolescence building balsa and tissue models of WWII warplanes. You know, the ones you spend endless days irretrievably gluing your fingers to the cardboard surface and pins you're trying to use. Not to mention the full day you spent high as a kite from the dope covering. Anyway, I had a few favorites as a kid, and this plane was one of them, the Grumman F4F Wildcat. This version by Mad physicist is faithful right down the the folding wings for storage on the aircraft carrier, brilliant.

Fokker Triplane

When I was a kid I had a really cool Revell model kit of the Red Baron. This triplane by matthewvelar1 totally reminds me of it. Hopefully his will be allowed to sit quietly on a shelf and look nice, and isn't totally smashed by a certain little brother while trying a get a book down while I look on in horror from the upper bunk...I digress...

Crimson Storm

Jon Hall is back with another stellar offering of aerodynamic coolness, and she's a beauty of course. The color combinations and design on this one is of course awesome (they all are!) but the technique for the guns and the use of silver is just friggin' brilliant.