The U.S. military began providing recognition models shortly after December 7, 1941 … "The Day of Infamy." England’s Royal Air Force (RAF) had already begun a manufacturing program using volunteers to hand carve models from wood.
They had adapted a 1/72 scale which helped pilots quickly identify aircraft, and they had painted the models black, using no colors or country markings, so that only the aircraft’s’ features would be emphasized.
The models were easy to handle and could be placed in various angels for study by suspending from a string inserted through an opening in the fuselage.
When the U.S. government adopted this program, great numbers of ID models were required immediately. Labor and suitable materials were both in short supply. Metal was reserved for the war effort, and hand carving could not produce the quantity nor consistency needed.
While plaster of Paris, hard rubber and paper mache’ were tried, none produced the results needed, and plastic then was an unknown science.
However, a firm in Chicago known as The Cruver Company had been developing the process using cellulose acetate which proved satisfactory. Cruver was awarded the contract to provide the majority of the models.
In the Post War era, the great need for recognition models was not an important requirement as during WWII. The program for ID models was all but abandoned until the Korean conflict.
During this period, the U.S. Government restored the program. However, because this war was not a world war, the quantity of aircraft IDs was limited.
The Post War IDs appear in the black matte finish as well as a light gray with some finished in navy blue.
Most Post War ID models are created in 1/72 scale, but with the increased size of Post War aircraft, some models are offered in 1/144 scale for aircraft with wingspans in excess of 99 feet.
During 1961, military cutbacks suspended the production of the plastic ID models. Approximately 425 variations or types have been manufactured over a 20-year period.
Without the introduction of a great number of new aircraft, additional IDs were of little training value… thus an end came to a most significant part of aviation history.
Today, very few of the original models exist. They can be found in a few private collections or exhibited in the major aviation museums in the United States such as the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum World War II Gallery and the aircraft museums in England and throughout Europe.
Through great cost and study, Authentic Reproductions: Aircraft Models of WAR & PEACE has provided an exact replica for collecting and preserving this first and only wartime program in our aviation history.
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