WANTED – Ideas for a documentary film…

Vickers Valiant

I have an excellent subject for your proposed documentary. The restoration of the Vickers Valiant to its rightful place in the history of the Royal Air Force. The Valiant was not only the first of the V-Force, but also the first to drop weapons in anger and the only one to fulfil its role as a nuclear bomber.
I have spent the last five years making contact with former colleagues from my days in the RAF (we have a group, known as the ‘friends of 138 Valiant Squadron’ and our own web-site: www.valiants-r-us.co.uk If you would like to call me, my number is 01623 461 580

Sorry… 😉

In the late 1940s Airfix was approached by Harry Ferguson (the tractor manufacturer) to make a cheap model of one of his tractors..

Obviously, I’ll have to try harder. Maybe watch a few episodes of Thunderbirds on DVD. I’ll pass on the duffel coat. I wouldn’t want to be mistaken for a sailor. 🙂

Wow, thanks for the history, (I had no idea tractors were so popular in the UK..being the first subjects of two UK toy/hobby icons).

I’ve always thought it fun to learn about early model kits, there are a couple of neat websites that trace their development from stick & tissue kits of the 30s to the early days of plastic…all before my time.

You might be thinking of Matchbox cars, IIRC their first model was a tractor.

Help! Why do I know this stuff…can someone make me an official English schoolboy anorak?

Sorry Mr Boyle you are not qualified for a full anorak yet, maybe a duffel coat would suit you… 😉

Google is your friend… 😉

Airfix was founded in 1939 by Nicholas Kove, a refugee from Hungary who originally manufactured rubber inflated toys. The name Airfix was chosen because part of the process involved fixing air into products. Kove also believed that all successful companies should have their names at the beginning of business directories and consequently the name Airfix was born. After WWII he switched to producing plastic combs, and was the first manufacturer to introduce an injection moulding machine.

In the late 1940s Airfix was approached by Harry Ferguson (the tractor manufacturer) to make a cheap model of one of his tractors that could be used by his sales team as a promotional tool. At first there were problems making the model, so it was decided to make it in a series of parts then to be assembled by a team of skilled workers.

This ready-built tractor proved to be popular and Ferguson allowed Airfix to produce them as toys and sell them under the Airfix name. It soon became obvious that more tractors could be sold if they were cheaper, and to achieve this they sold the kits unmade with instructions. This proved to be successful and shortly after Woolworths approached Airfix suggesting that by using a more stable polystyrene plastic and poly bags with a card header, it would meet the Woolworths retail price of 2 shillings. The small scale Golden Hind was launched in 1952. Woolworths buyers than began to ask for more subjects, then soon after Airfix began to produced a wider range of polybagged model kits – the all famous Spitfire model appearing from 1953.

I was always under the impression the very first Airfix model was a tractor (forget what one now) but the first aircraft kit was a Spitfire.

You might be thinking of Matchbox cars, IIRC their first model was a tractor.

Help! Why do I know this stuff…can someone make me an official English schoolboy anorak?

Airfix first kit was a Spitfire released mainly via Woolworths. The in-bag kit was two shillings in 1955. If you wanted to be more of a craftsman you could try the soild wood kits: one shilling sevenpence halfpenny for KeilKraft and Veron in 1955.

Best Wishes.
Robert.

I was always under the impression the very first Airfix model was a tractor (forget what one now) but the first aircraft kit was a Spitfire.

would this be for fun, or for transmission on a tv channel?

Phillip,
My tuppence worth: J Boyle has some inspiring ideas that would spur me on if I had a camcorder. The plastic kit construction type of subject has been mentioned more than once but how about NevH’s mixed with plastic kits? There’s a drinking (tea, beer – I can’t remember) establishment in York that I once read about here or over on PPrune where the WWII aircrew signed the walls. Maybe they did more than that and I believe the proprieter can give a guided tour. This could open up the subject of aircraft from WWII and then onward to the kits.

I wish you well with the project, whatever the eventual subject and direction.

Aerial

99p – I’m sure they were less than 2 bob when I first started building them (my first being the Airfix BP Defiant).

Airfix first kit was a Spitfire released mainly via Woolworths. The in-bag kit was two shillings in 1955. If you wanted to be more of a craftsman you could try the soild wood kits: one shilling sevenpence halfpenny for KeilKraft and Veron in 1955.

Best Wishes.
Robert.

[QUOTE=J Boyle;1288392 ……That 99p kit …..[/QUOTE]

Yep I agree with Tangmere – 1s 6d was my first buying price. I experience a sharp intake of breath when I see the new prices of kits nowadays – how do they compare to what 1s 6d was worth in the late 1950s??

Good subject proposal IMHO. Could start with pre-war Frog Penguins (have a few in the loft somewhere), their importance for aircraft recognition training (by all sides) during WW2 (I know they were mostly wooden models) then the post-war “boom” with the introduction of Airfix. I know there were early plastic kit manufacturers in other parts of the World (Lindbergh and Aurora in the USA) to continue the international theme.

I would think a good chance of some sponsorship (or maybe help in kind) from Airfix?

Go for it!!

Roger Smith.

1/-6d if I remember!

Walk into any squadron ready room, GA pilots lounge, or BA office and a lot of people will have stories of trying to glue an Airfix at the dinner table after school.

That 99p kit led then to what they are today…

99p – I’m sure they were less than 2 bob when I first started building them (my first being the Airfix BP Defiant).

I will see you Be 2c Replica and raise you

2 Beech 18’s, several T-6/Harvards and the haderst aircraft tug ever complete with machine guns and teller mines.

philip

Arh but our BE2 is unique with a unique story behind it:diablo:

From my time in TV, I’d offer a few suggestions….

If it’s your first time…keep it simple.
Doing a documentary heavy on history will mean lots of old film/video clips.
Where would you source them? It may not be a problem, but it certainly could be.
And stay away from anything requiring special effects or animation, it can get costly.
Following a restoration will be a long term project unless the owner has video available (as many do…a friend has hours of the stuff. He had a professional video team come twice a year to document the project, plus hundreds of still photos).

Re: interview subjects…are you prepared to travel a long distance to record them?

Other subject matter experts…who else could help tell the story?
Have any historians picked out?

26 minutes is a long time to fill…and conversely, a very short time to tell a story.
If you need to interview a number of aircrew, someone will get the short end of the stick.

I like the idea of the model kits too. Why?
A lot of people in the aviation world got their start with them.
Unless your family was into aviation (in the forces or as business…or went to airshows regularly) it was probably your introduction into historic aviation.
Walk into any squadron ready room, GA pilots lounge, or BA office and a lot of people will have stories of trying to glue an Airfix at the dinner table after school.

That 99p kit led then to what they are today… pilot, RAF crewmember, mechanic, executive, aviation museum volunteer, historian, aviation archaeologist or aircraft restorer. Most adults don’t give them a second glance and are unaware of them unless they need a quick birthday/Christmas present.
Butr they let to a career for some, a aviation related hobby for others…and sothers still make them as adults.

It’s easy to find people who made them. You won’t have to travel far.
You can also feature an adult who is still into the hobby by contacting
your local IPMS chapter.
Someone locally will even have some old unbuilt kits you could photograph and use as a prop during an interview.

Just my 2p worth.
Whatever your topic, Good luck, sound like fun.

My first was a Short Stirling inside a transparent globule of epoxy (at least thats how it turned out).

.

funny that – we have an Su-27 in the kitchen just like that – 3 million years time, somebody will dig one up and mess up their theory of evolution and it will be in musuem.

am tempted to try something bigger, then again di-casts look better, last longer, bit of a cheat I guess…. now if I could find a BIG Tempest….. 1/48th…I’d try again

How about aviation-related pub-signs? (a subject that has graced the Forum from time-to-time). There are some published works on this subject, I believe, so you could pick a selection of those that interest you, and see what connection (if any) there may be to the local area. Depends on your time and ability to travel, I guess. It could be fun researching and filming it (interiors too of course, filmed over a pint!!!).

Actually, that sounds so good I may even try it myself…

North weald: then and now

:D:D

Not Weston Zoyland?

Phillip.

Not being flippant here but how about a documentary detailing your fight to save RAF Driffield and the eventual demise of the airfield and any remaining infrastructure.

Regards,

kev35

🙂 just laughed out loud, first time all day ! – am doing some kits with my son at the moment, just a 1/72 scale tempest for me (first kit in…. ooo, 20 odd years) remembering how much better an airbrush is, then again I did leave the black outline of a 1/32 scale lysander wing on my bedroom carpet when I was a lad with spray pain ! BSG Junior is doing a Su-27 – and yes, there is a bonding (no pun intended) with it, I can still remember my first kit at his age (8) a Gnat, did it with my brother who did a P-40. Very vivid childhood memories, a bond with my son, so, yes, I’d go with this idea – bet you would find somebody at the local hospital with a Spitfire canopy glued to their hair or something ?

Fun memories…..although we used the REAL glue back then, the stuff you need a safety certificate for now.

My first was a Short Stirling inside a transparent globule of epoxy (at least thats how it turned out).

I have had an X-1 on the shelve for 3 years now…maybe THIS winter.

After re-reading your OP, I actually think the “Plastic model” documentary would be a good idea.

Most boys have had at least one attempt at glueing those together, and attampted to paint eye brows on a 1/72 pilot.

🙂 just laughed out loud, first time all day ! – am doing some kits with my son at the moment, just a 1/72 scale tempest for me (first kit in…. ooo, 20 odd years) remembering how much better an airbrush is, then again I did leave the black outline of a 1/32 scale lysander wing on my bedroom carpet when I was a lad with spray pain ! BSG Junior is doing a Su-27 – and yes, there is a bonding (no pun intended) with it, I can still remember my first kit at his age (8) a Gnat, did it with my brother who did a P-40. Very vivid childhood memories, a bond with my son, so, yes, I’d go with this idea – bet you would find somebody at the local hospital with a Spitfire canopy glued to their hair or something ?

Have camera will travel. I have access to a half-decent camcorder and would like to make a 26 minute film themed on aviation, but I’m not sure what to make the film about. Most subjects have been covered. One idea is to make a film about plastic models and their influence on a generation. What do you think? Any other suggestions welcomed. Thinking of putting it on YouTube. Something to do this winter.

After re-reading your OP, I actually think the “Plastic model” documentary would be a good idea.

Most boys have had at least one attempt at glueing those together, and attampted to paint eye brows on a 1/72 pilot.

You can follow the history (from the first models) to todays super detailed “power models”. Also talk to users, from the hopeless amateur, to the semi-pro (super detailed, rivet patterns and god knows what).

I would watch it 😀

All airforces – regardless of race, creed, or colour – fly through The Weather. Your task is to condense into 28 mins all the problems that afflicted the major WW2 raids/difficulties.
Do not interview the Fighter Pilots – they try to ignore The Weather and blame their failures on it. (Funny how most CAS’s are ex-Fighter Pilots. Got to be a 10-part documentary on that!!!!)
Do not interview the Truckie Pilots – they try to blame all their aborted missions on The Weather (whether for real, or only in their mind’s eye)!
I would suggest that The Major Bomber Command losses in WW2 are capable of being examined, dispassionatley, either from a technical – or weather – point of view to determine where the blame (if any needs to be cast) was. Either incorrect Orders, or incorrect Weather.
20/20 hindsight is a wonderful thing. But unless we use it to try to distil some tiny element of truth from the vast amount of heresay, then we are doing the future generations of aviation historians a grave disservice.
HTH
Resmoroh