My Collection Of Cruver ID Models

[chrsn]

Nice work on those Cruvers. I often wish I had the space and means to collect the 1/72 scale ID planes, so it's always of great interest to me to see other people's collections.

It's a shame that the plastic used on many of them is not very stable. This probably reduces the number of extant copies quite a bit. Some of the ID planes in the Smithsonian collection look pretty bad!

[BWBrown]

WOW! Those look great to me! All I can do is paint things flat black! Thanks! -- Bryan

[Epap]

Thanks, GR. The early form of plastic that Cruver utilized began to break down as the years passed unless you took pains to store your models in a cool place----a threat which, of course, we had no inkling of. So about 30 years after they were produced the models began to be affected by a heat induced chemical reaction that caused them to literally melt---usually from the inside. Once this process started, the model was doomed, though the melting could be slowed by sticking the model in an "ice box". If you are interested in seeing what a melting cruver model looks like, I'll post a picture. It's pretty ugly.

[grwebster]

No need to post the melters, I have seen my share, unfortunately. I thought you had some special way to preserve them.
Mine hang in an air conditioned room, low humidity, but even in those situations some will decay.

[scottw]

Outstanding collection. I have been thinking about starting a collection of Cruver ID models. You could help me get started with a small donation of the Do17, He111, and the Vindicator. Thanks in advance!

[Epap]

Outstanding collection. I have been thinking about starting a collection of Cruver ID models. You could help me get started with a small donation of the Do17, He111, and the Vindicator. Thanks in advance!

Thanks, scottw. It was once a much larger collection, but many of my models are now gone forever. BTW, while the original Cruver pieces are extremely hard to come by and those I see on eBay are often in terrible condition, you might consider buying copies of these replicas that are still available via Dick Miller's successors at The Collector's Airmodel Co. in Texas. Dick made rubber molds of well over 100 Cruver models which he collected and these are used to produce virtually identical copies in modern resin that are less likely to melt than the old stuff. The ID copies are somewhat expensive, however I know of no other way to build such a collection quickly without getting very lucky. I know they have an HE-111 and DO-17Z, but I'm not sure about the Vindicator.

[chrsn]

I was wondering about that venture myself. Do you own any of those reproduction ID's? Are they molded a dark color like the wartime ID's? Oddly, I don't see any actual pictures of his handiwork on the website and I noticed that he is also no longer selling two very popular models--the B-17 and P-40.

[Epap]

Yes, Chris, I have a fair number of the copies. Indeed, some are represented in the pictures I posted---the HE-111, Hudson, and DO-17Z, for example. The molds that Miller made date back to the early 1990s and are only good for about 40-50 copies so it's possible that some have gone bad or been "retired". The actual resin, as I recall, comes in a wood-like color but they will spray them in any color you want----matt black being the most common choice. When I started buying these around 1994, I bought a few at a time and took a chance, starting with the smaller ones first. A few were quite good because the original "master", itself, was of a superior quality---as I recall, the Japanese "Frances" was one of the pleasant surprises in this regard. Others were pretty bad---the F4F comes to mind. The guy who runs the place is Charles Fleming and, while I can't guarantee it, he has always impressed me as an honest chap who would make good on a badly cast model if this was caused by a mistake on his end.

[chrsn]

Thanks for the info. I recall e-mailing them a few years ago with some questions, but I never received a reply. I thought, "well, those folks must not really care about getting any business from me!" and I left it at that. Now, some popular planes are no longer available, and the available repros are not exactly cheap either. Oh well.

[grwebster]

after Ed posted his message, I contacted them and ordered some that were in the finished and painted area, but never issued as IDs like the Boeing 314 Clipper and asked that they be just spryed ID black, he was backed up and said he would get to them when he could. When I get them, I'll let you know how good they are.