1/72 Scratch-built Walco

(Weckler-Armstrong-Lillie Co.)   Airboat of 1913

by Gabriel Stern

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This…plane? was built for the Great Lakes Reliability Cruise competition.  During its trials, much to the dismay of its builders, pilot and bystanders, it stubbornly refused not only to get airborne, but also to taxi.
The naïve advertisement sold it as “Faster Than Hydroplanes, Safer Than Motor Boats”, which for the second statement might be true, since it was practically stationary.
The luxurious finish and the general charm of its design make this one a sure candidate for providing you some hours of suffering or joy, depending on your personal approach to the task of scratch-building a model.

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Self-explanatory images will provide a general idea of the procedures and materials, but if you have any doubts, don’t worry, I do too.
You may bring the subject of the subject –accounting for the redundancy- in your next club meeting or favorite forum, where you can discuss first: Is this a plane? Or is it a boat? In order to be a plane, does the subject have to credit defeating gravity at least momentarily? Why somebody will ever tackle the task of scratch-build “that”? And so forth.

Of the panoply of adventurous designs that populate the pioneer era, some are truly remarkable, almost unforgettable in their defiance to logic. And that’s precisely the reason that makes them what they are, outstanding samples of alternative thinking.
Oh, poetic winds of an era of creativity, make these winged fairies fly into the vastest horizons of our imagination.

Gabriel 

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Photos and text © by Gabriel Stern