A recent project for a client: replicating a display model stand. The stand to be replicated was for a vintage Lockheed aircraft display model that did not have the original stand. A vintage Lockheed stand was produced to be copied. The stand was composed of a turned walnut base and a specially bent aluminum rod. The walnut based was outsourced to a local woodshop; the aluminum rod was fabricated in-house. This involved turning the exposed end of the rod, bending the rod around a special form and machining flats into the end of the rod to be inserted into the base. Once it was shaped and checked, it was potted in with epoxy, and the underside “fuzzed” in a manner similar to the original. Two bases were fabricated simultaneously to assure that a backup was on-hand in case anything unfortunate occurred. As it turns out, both turned out just fine, so I have a spare Lockheed display stand (used for aircraft such as the F-104 Starfighter, among others). If you are interested in it, contact me.
Photos below show the original Lockheed stand and the two replicas (with blue tape on the aluminum support rods).
3 Responses to “Lockheed Display Model Stand”
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I somehow can’t picture Kelly Johnson’s team spending much time on the design or production of model aircraft stands; sure they didn’t farm these out to subcontractors? If they were made out of titanium it would be different. 😉
Lockheed, like every aerospace company back in the day, had its own model shop for the manufacture of display models. They needed their own shop because some of the models were not only short-run, but also massively classified, and they of course didn’t want the design info to go any further than it had to. Oddly, from what I gather, Lockheed’s model shop was one of the more lax when it came to accuracy and quality. I’ve seen a *few,* and the NAA model makes the Lockheed model look like something some kid carved on a lazy afternoon. This should not be assumed to be across-the-board accurate, however.
The all-time legend of course is the Boeing team heading to the hobby shop on Friday from their hotel room, and presenting the Air Force with the redesigned model of the XB-52 with jet engines on Monday.
“There Were Giants In Those Days; Men Of Renown.”
We are not worthy! We are not worthy. 😀