…flown afterwards!

The very point.

The ‘apprentice piece’ casting is also something that I’ve heard in the past; if that is the way the RAF taught the principals of casting, and it is the best way, why not make something ‘useful’ while teaching.

At my technical school we made model steam engines from scratch. We sand cast the frame and die cast the flywheel though of course we did not make the pattern or die. I wonder if any schools still do this today. My son’s school had a full set of workshops but they were never used to my knowledge. Later whilst at uni had a placement in a model shop of my sponsor (another thing of the past I believe) in the hols and made a machine vice from scratch, still got both of course.

Have to say your point about the availability of bar stock of that size is a good one. The firm I used to work for back in the 70’s used to keep a huge range of stock materials including this sort of size which would probably not be true today. The world was a different place then and if we are talking American and servicemen then probably what seems to us unlikely now was not so then. Need to look at the exhibit in the AAM as I seem to remember it said it was made from metal from aircraft, but maybe wrong. Need to take a picture of it next time I am there.

If, as 43-2195 says, these units had foundries then they could have melted down aircraft parts and it could all fit.

Thanks Creaking Door

And that’s another new skill learnt today, the use of multiple quotes!!!

Thanks for your interest and input.

The wings in plan on my example look narrower than should be and not like other examples.

Similar thread

http://forum.keypublishing.com/showthread.php?t=32295

Airtanker here is another on Ebay very similar to yours with a selection of pictures. Finish is highly polished which is what I would expect.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/P38-Pilots-Ashtray-Lockheed-Lightning-Australia-South-Pacific-1946-Trench-Art-/160940949294?_trksid=p2047675.l2557&_trkparms=aid%3D222002%26algo%3DSIC.FIT%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D11%26meid%3D4191485787926750409%26pid%3D100011%26prg%3D1005%26rk%3D5%26sd%3D190561033689%26&nma=true&si=F39mGdymr2oJ%252B%252FkwvlsGxr8IlHY%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc

Boguing interesting yes a basic skills engineering apprentice work piece.

Creaking Door many thanks for this. This would explain inaccuracies in model but so would apprentice etc. I do understand that they were made from solid by hand an example is on display in the AAM at Duxford. The finish is something I am wondering about as having gone to the trouble of making the model, in any method a lot of work, then why not finish to a high standard at least a rub down with emery, wet & dry and a buff up to look like the one in the Ebay sale.
Tooling for die cast is expensive so you would need a long run to recover costs so would be aircraft recognition or ash trays. But then you would expect a symmetrical model which this is clearly not. So I agree not die cast.
Foundry workers doing what we used to call a “homer”, but then these were usually not for profit. Are you aware of this sort of thing going on? A lot of people would have to be involved and the volume would have to be worthwhile to warrant the time involved making the pattern.

It seems strange to me that the crude file marks have been left on. I mean really rough on the underside.
Transfers are curious and I wonder if these were applied later although as I say it has been in the family for a long time and I do not remember applying them myself!!

Again thanks all for your interest all comments are appreciated.
Paul

From the report it says “Mr Caring said he (the pilot) was a “very dear friend”” which would, no doubt, have influenced the nature of the conversation.

I have a good line of sight of Crystal Palace TV mast from here from a couple of miles. I do not know how to describe visibility correctly but as a layman I would say it was fair with haze. The mast is visible with its warning lights on at 09:30 which is obviously well after sunrise.