Airline Promotional Airplanes

[MichaelB]

Since I have mentioned the word "Convair", let's spend a moment with some familiar releases. It's also part of the genesis story for these little planes.
Pictured #2 shows both of the Braniff and United Convair give-aways. Both airlines started CV-340 service in the early '50s and these correspond to that time. They are the same cast and a nicely done one, too. Windows, cockpit, exhausts and some doors as well. Enough, as a matter of fact, to recognize that it is a miniature of another piece of plastic: the Hawk Models Convairliner kit!
The differences and details all match up, and in the strangest of all permutations, when Hawk "improved" their mold of the Convair for a 1958 release - they also updated this little piece!
The original Hawk kit of the Convairliner is sort of a meld of CV-240 and CV-340 specifications, this also makes an error in scale: (1/128-1/144). However, it still looks very nice and exudes the look of the original. The original Hawk kit first appeared as a "Convairliner", so there is some speculation that it's genesis originally was as a Convair promotion! The same could be said for the Hawk Constellation kit, which predates their Convair release. That's another story...
One of the things that Hawk did to "improve" their kit om 1958 was to update the exhaust to "440" standards. Incredibly that same "improvement" found it's way to the little premium! Because of that timing I'd have to suppose that the latter Convair was part of the 1958 Cheerio releases.

In that same regard there is also a miniature of the Convair's early competitor: the Martin 202/404. I'm going to speculate here, but looking at the details I'd have to peg Hawk as also being the producer of this piece, although there isn't anything in their kit line to correspond with it. Many of the other Hawk miniatures reflect their "main line" kit subjects, but others may have been produced expressly for the "promo" and "toy" industries. I think it gives us an inside view into what might have been on the drawing boards at Hawk in the early '50s. Some projects made it to full kit production while others were bypassed. But if an airline expressed interest in a certain model...well, no problem, we'll can make one for you....

Hawk was an early leader in the promotion and use of the "new" space age material of plastic and may have even produced the first plastic model airplane kit after WWII ended. WWII was the melting pot for many technologies, and what had been an unusual and scarce material before the war became a ubiquitous product soon after. The chemical companies were desperate to find multiple new uses for this material. We are still living in that era.

So...photo #1 shows the two Martins, one for TWA which used both the 202 and 404, although the details on the mold suggest a 404. The gold one is gold plated - it is not gold plastic. Why? Where? ...questions I cannot answer. But there are a number of other "gold" pieces...another time...
In that frame take a look at the upper left...there's the Convair mold with the updated 440 exhausts!
Great stories in all of these as they cross the toy, airline, plastic model,plastic industry and aircraft manufacturer time lines.
Funfunfun!
Michael

[planepaul]

This is a genre of my collecting whose history is obscure. Any new snippet of info is welcome. Thanks, Michael.

This is the first display I made maybe 25 years ago. The only swap that took place was the Bonux Comet for an Authenticast B-45. This display is one of my most treasured possessions. The Convair in the lower right was originally in gold plastic, but I made it into a C-131. The L-749 Connie was made into a VC-121A. Twisted, huh?

[Tone]

NB: My tin plate connies as well as the Tipp Co Convair have Flying Dutchman spelled "De Vliegende Hollander" as opposed to "Fliegender Hollaender"- must be a different dialect ...

[MichaelB]

I dunno, but the on-line translators say that my "Fliegender Hollaender" is German, and yours is Dutch. There is a difference, but not much difference as they are obviously similar.
I wonder what that says for the origin of my piece...or yours? I could imagine the Germans putting "The Flying Dutchman" on their plane in German, but the Dutch using German instead?
...lost in translation...
MJB

[MichaelB]

Nice display of planes, planepaul!
I'm going over it to see who's who...nice Bonux Comet...and all those up in the top left are Cruver/Comet/Autheticast, yes?
And your Convair was gold - plastic, not plated? ...and you painted over it!?
Fun stuff, all...
MJB

[MichaelB]

I found a period advertisement for KLM that uses the same words, exactly, as are used above in Tony's post for the Flying Dutchman. So, Dutch it must be...the other must be German then...

[AntonioMartin]

I like that KLM 747!!

I have the Delta ones, I think I bought one for a dollar and the rest my train shop dealer gave me for free, cause the rest wasnt gonna sell anyways, he must have figured....plus cause he is a good guy.

[MichaelB]

I met up yesterday with MAC member Plane Paul who is San Francisco based.
We traded and inspected our stashes is and it was surprising how closely we matched each other's story:
Found the Hawk 1/200 planes years ago; got their Jet Power Korea kit with them and then wondered about "any more out there".
Then he, and I, spent the next 5 decades trying to answer those questions. As most of you know, trying to "answer" such questions usually leads to even more questions!
However...I got another Bonux plane - the Super G Constellation - and two "missing" DC-9s for my collection therefore crossing off my lines in my "question" or "answer" list.
I think I surprised Paul a couple of times with the variety that I have turned up and we briefly discussed when too much is enough and tyring to stay focused on the collection.
He is also a 1/200 (and 1/300) man - and I can understand why; I don't have a problem with either scale and both have great appeal. However, 1/200 - known as The One True Scale - has grown very popular in the last decade and is bigger than my interest in "promo" planes and etc. I do have a Wiking, but only as an example. I also have a box of HBM models waiting their time.
Most of the premiums I collect are vastly smaller and aren't kits, although some have been issued as "kits" and certainly, many as "toys".
Anyway...a nice but brief meeting with another "e-face" and another exchange between MAC members.
...GR would have been proud!
Photos a bit later...
Michael

[planepaul]

It was a distinct pleasure to meet Michael during our short and hectic trip to Houston over the weekend. We had only one hour to share our respective stories before I had to pick up my wife at IAH. My fascination with the giveaway / premium genre dates to the Rice Krispies "Spirit of St. Louis" premium of 1957, in honor of the 30th anniversary of the epic Lindberg flight.
Michael brough so much "stuff" that an hour wasn't enough time to go through it all. I had many surprises, seeing some articles for the first time. Michael was gracious enough to fill in a few "holes" in my collection (A TWA Concorde......Are you kidding me?!), doing my meager best to return the favor. Suffice it to say, this experience only reinforced the notion that there will likely never be a difinitive accounting of all that has been produced and distributed in this premuim / giveaway genre. That is a big part of my continued interest in these little planes. Thanks, Michel.
Paul
PS - I tip my hat and raise a glass in honor of GR as well.

[MichaelB]

Thanks, Paul! It was great meeting you! I was surprised that we shared so many similar experiences growing up - much less finding ourselves where we are in this racket at our present ages!
Now I can tell my wife that it's not just me!
In the short time we had we certainly traded a lot of information. Paul graciously allowed me to fill in some holes in my collection and I think I've now started him on a never-ending journey!
I've included a shot of the three TWA planes from 1970 that we exchanged.
Those of you that collect similar items - please speak up!
Currently I am looking for more Bonux and Familistere pieces and haunt eBay for me.
Did I ever mention that GR first turned me on to eBay...in 1999! Thanks, GR!
I am only sorry that GR wasn't able to meet with us - but his spirit certainly did!
Michael