For the Christmas Tree
By Luther Hux
Simple miniatures of your favorite airplane can make novel and colorful ornaments.
The popularity of the "Modeler's Widow" jacket patch shows that many of our wives have something in common with the better known football widow. Dawn has very little interest in flying or boating models and even prefers not to hold one of those "oily things" for pictures, but she did take a liking to airplanes in her own type of handicraft.
Making miniature airplane ornaments
She had been making wooden Christmas tree ornaments from kits, and liked the idea of putting together and painting my home-made airplane miniatures. I took a slide of the three-view drawing of my favorite biplane and reduced it to about a six-inch span, which was then cut from 1/16-inch basswood on the jigsaw.
Construction steps:
- Cut the rudder along the hinge line so the stabilizer slot can be cut.
- Insert the stabilizer and reattach the rudder.
- Make the landing gear from a paper clip bent to shape and insert it in a small hole drilled in the fuselage.
- Set the wire against the leading edge of the wing and glue.
- Drill and glue the wheels last.
- After painting the model, add pen-and-ink detail as desired. Cabane struts, made from paper clips, can be added.
- Glue a piece of gold cord to the trailing edge at the wing tips so the model balances while hanging on the tree.
A larger one-foot-span biplane was cut from 1/4-inch plywood, which she sanded and varnished for a nursery decoration. I had to get my two cents worth in there somewhere — everything else in the nursery was for a girl.
Other needlework and joint projects
Her present interest is needlepoint. One kit has an airplane encircled with the words "I'd rather be flying." We have also sketched our own designs on blank canvas.
If your wife or girlfriend enjoys needlepoint, crewel, tree ornaments, painting, tole, or other handicrafts, she might like to work on kits and ideas you can both enjoy together.
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
