A Great Time to Travel (and Watch For Planes)!

Remember going to the airport just to watch the airplanes take off? If you are one of the many who simply love aviation, you can add an interesting twist to what is already an afternoon’s entertainment!

Whatever takes you to an airport this summer, see if you can catch a glimpse of airplanes sporting creative, colorful specialty liveries painted to commemorate some of the great states or attractions you may encounter on your summer travels. Airlines like America West and Southwest for example, have aircraft with specialty paint schemes, or liveries, as part of their fleet. If you’re lucky, you just might be in the right place at the right time to see one of them landing or taking off, or parked on the airport tarmac.

Southwest Airlines, based in sunny Dallas, Texas, also flies several specialty paint schemes. In addition to paint schemes featuring the states of Nevada, New Mexico, Arizona and California, Southwest salutes their great home state of Texas with the “Lonestar” livery. If a visit to Sea World is on your agenda, spying the “Shamu” airplane will add to your recollection of extra special moments of your vacation.

When Western Pacific flew, specialty liveries showcasing Colorado Springs and Fox television’s popular “The Simpsons” show could be found on tarmacs throughout the West.

And for all you St. Louis Rams’ fans who followed their move to Los Angeles and back, you’ll be glad to know that you can still add the TWA St. Louis Rams aircraft model to your nostalgia collection! The next time you see the plane, it will be flying under the American Airlines colors.

Look for these unique airplanes wherever your travels take you, and commemorate your sighting or your travel with a Flight Miniatures model of that special aircraft. Whether beginning a new collection or adding to a treasured one, a special commemorative model will help bring back this summer’s special time.

Enjoy an exciting and safe summer!

 
Collecting Kiwi

A collector will often go out of his way to acquire that special aircraft model to enhance his collection, but Noel Osborne leaves even the most avid among them in the dust.

Traveling from Auckland, New Zealand, with a large, empty suitcase and a clean credit card, Noel made Flight Miniatures a focal point of his trip to America. He and his charming traveling companion Colleen arrived on a Friday afternoon laden with gifts for the Flight Miniatures crew. Noel also brought a photo of an airplane livery he would like to see produced.

Noel had been talking with the Customer Service department for years. Because he wanted to spend his money on models and not on shipping, he decided to come get them himself. Delighted with his visit, several members of the Flight Miniatures crew hosted Noel and Colleen for an evening of down home western vittles and entertainment at Cottonwood’s Blazin’ M Ranch.

Their visit serendipitously coincided with birthday celebrations of our good friend Mark Ellis and our warehouse supervisor Gary Hellems.

All of us here at Flight Miniatures really enjoyed the time we shared with Noel and Colleen, and wish them “Happy Trails” as their adventures continue.

The production process is quite extensive as there are various aspects involved in creating each model. Alan Johnson, a very talented graphic designer here at Flight Miniatures, plays a major role in the realization of our aircraft models.

"When Flight Miniatures decides to produce a new model, there are many factors taken into consideration. We first evaluate the marketability of the aircraft type, such as the popularity, the quantity produced and the number of different airlines that operate it. When a specific aircraft type has been determined, we start with the matter of acquiring licensing with the aircraft manufacturer to produce a model of their aircraft. The unique shape and name of every aircraft is the property of the respective manufacturer and/or holding company, and a license or permission is usually required to commercially reproduce its likeness.”
 

Once licensing has been established, the aircraft manufacturer is generally able to provide us with construction drawings and detailed technical data of the actual aircraft from which the model tooling is made. A different set of tooling is required for each aircraft type in a specific scale. Tooling refers to the process of creating the steel molds from which the models are produced. When the molds are completed, they are injected with a high gloss plastic which become the model parts. Flight Miniatures currently has tooling molds available for 57 different aircraft types.

The next stage involves creating the livery artwork for the models. ("Livery" refers to the graphics painted on each aircraft.) The liveries chosen for the models are determined much like the tooling -- the majority of them are initiated by airlines. We also choose liveries that we feel are popular, for which we have received many requests.

As with tooling, the liveries we produce can be limited by licensing issues as well. We need to have either written permission from an airline or a license from an airline in order to reproduce their livery on a model. This can get even more complex when there are additional parties involved. An example of this would be the Western Pacific “The Simpson’s” plane. We had the airline to deal with, plus 20th Century Fox Network, who owns the rights to the images on the livery. We could get stuck on this issue for a while, so let's just say that some of the models we would like to do are still being investigated.

Alan works in close cooperation with the airlines and consults all the sources available to create a replica that is true to the last detail. He explains some of the variables involved in this process; “The information that we receive for the livery can vary greatly. The best case is when the airline provides us with electronic files of the paint drawings, showing all the design elements in the correct location on the fuselage, wings, engines and vertical/horizontal stabilizers. They may also supply paint chips of all the colors used in painting the actual aircraft so we can match it perfectly to the paint used for the models. However, this is not always the case, sometimes we get nothing more than photos to go from. So gathering the information can be as simple as requesting it from an airline to spending hours researching. Even if we get paint drawings, we always check them against photos of the actual aircraft we are making a model of, as we have found discrepancies between the drawings and the actual aircraft in some cases.”

The information for the livery is reproduced on an electronic template of the model we are creating. When this artwork is completed we send it out to the client for approval. After the artwork has been approved, we then create electronic files for our factory to use. This consists of composite drawings showing the right, left, top and bottom of the model, as well as separations for each color that is used in the livery. These separations are used to create the printing plates.

Another facet of the production process is the packaging, which Alan designs as well. The box displays a photo of the model or a rendering of the aircraft type as well as model specifications, other relevant logos, descriptions and any trademark notices. Alan produces the box artwork while the factory is making pre-production samples.

Pre-production samples are prototypes made specifically for our stringent review and approval process, through which each model must pass before it goes into production. Flight Miniatures -- and the client in some cases -- reviews the samples for quality and accuracy. Depending on the corrections required, we may request to see further samples. When the samples have been approved, the factory can begin mass production. Approximately two months later, the new shipment of models arrive at our warehouse in Cottonwood, Arizona. As soon as we unload the shipment, we do a thorough quality assurance check before making the model available for purchase.

Flight Miniatures currently offers over 600 models of commercial and military aircraft. Many more are also in various phases of production, including -- in celebration of the Centennial of Powered Flight (2003) -- the Boeing Milestones Series and several historical aircraft models from the 1930s to 1980s. Flight Miniatures aircraft models are a treasured novelty for collectors and aviation enthusiasts of all ages. They are available in airline company stores, airport gift shops, aviation museums, hobby shops, air shows and other retail outlets worldwide.

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