MAC Forum

I recently saw a reference to flat profile type ID models ? this triggered my memory as my father once told me that he had seen similar flatties in a British Recognition room at an RAF station in WW2,does anyone have any knowledge of these ?
Barry.

Hi angelreader,
What I suspect you are referring to are the cardboard type silhouette models that the US Navy Bureau of Aeronautics produced in 1942-early 1943 time frame. They were die cut into a thick black sheet of cardboard and inserted into individual envelopes along with instructions for their assembly. The instructions sometimes took the form of a separate sheet of paper, others were printed onto the envelope. The first picture below shows an example of the Ju52 in this type. The second photo is of the instruction sheet that accompanies the model.





The Ref No. S-98 indicates that this model was part of the Navy's first series. The S-series was a bit erratic in numbering, nation of origin and issue date. For instance S-10, issue date 6/15/42, was a Mitsubishi 00. S-11 dated 3/5/42 was a German He115.
There was another series produced with CM- reference numbers that from what I understand were a joint services effort. They are labeled As Army Air Forces - Aircraft Identification Section - Wash., D.C. The numbering of these models was more cohesive. CM-1 through CM-17 were all Japanese planes, CM-101 through CM-114 were all German planes, US planes occupied the CM-500 numbers and British planes filled the CM-600s. I believe the CM-series were issued as sets where the S-series were not. Army Air Force identification posters follow this same general convention but are not exact one-for-one matches numerically.
You can see a few more examples on my web site http://ajsrecog.mysite.com, just select Cardboard IDs from the upper menu.

Aletner thank you for the explanation on these flat card ID subjects,I suspect that the ones my father saw were a British equivalent of the U.S Navy examples,what a simple solution to providing flat easy to assemble subjects.
When I visited the RAF Museum conservation store some years ago at RAF Cardington they had a surprising number and variety of different ID models including Wikings,at that time I forgot to ask about the flatties with Mr Ray Funnel the then curator of the outstation.
The collection has now moved to Stafford and I just wonder how much material was disposed of due to lack of space ? there were rack upon rack of artifacts dating from WW1.
Your web site is most interesting and I like your collection.

AJ, well done site.

Thanks guys! I'll let you know the next time I make changes to it.

I put some of those card models together a long time ago and hung 'em up with the others. Hard to tell they were not solid models from 10 feet away

The SO9C-1 SEAGULL

Interesting technique used by artists to create form and allow them to swivel to get the best angle,the late aviation artist C.Rupert-Moore used this idea to make his paintings for the covers of the 'Aeromodeller' magazine.
Barry.