The White Falcon - 04.09.1965, Blaðsíða 5

Saturday, September 4, 1965
WHITE FALCON
5
Hobbyist Builds Own Air Force
AVIATION ENTHUSIAST — Baldur Sveinsson, an Icelandic youth
of 23 who is studying to be a dentist, takes a few minutes out from
his work at the hobby shop to look over one of his model aircraft.
Baldur’s collection now has about 170 models, but at one time the
number was closer to 200.
Student Develops
Aviation Interests
There are a great many per-
sons in the world who collect
model aircraft, but few probably
have such an interest in aviation
and a collection quite as remark-
able as an Icelandic youth, Baldur
Sveinsson.
Baldur, a blond haired, light
complected youth of 23, has or-
dered, purchased, assembled,
painted and displayed what prob-
ably is one of the finest model
aircraft collections to be found
anywhere. His display now totals
about 170 models, but at one time
came closer to 200.
Published Articles
He is a contributor to aviation
journalism too, having at least
two articles published in Icelandic
papers not long ago. His first de-
alt with commercial aviation,
particularly the “DC” series, and
the progress of civil aviation.
Currently he is working with
pilots and key officers of the 57th
Fighter Interceptor Squadron here
for an article on the unit’s history
and role on the aerospace defense
team. He has visited the base
periodically over the past three
months, gathering information
and pictures for his article which
he intends to send to the Ameri-
can Aviation Historical Society |
Journal.
Dental Student
The young Icelandic student is
studying to be a dentist at the
University of Iceland in Reykja-
vik and has a little over four
years to go before going into
practice. His steadiness of hand,
an absolute must for a dentist,
has been a great asset to him in
his hobby, especially when it came
down to painting unit markings on
certain models and installing very
tiny pieces of plastic in-hard-to-
get-to places such as an engine
block.
Baldur is taking the summer
off from his dentistry studies and
working as a sales clerk in a
hobby shop in Reykjavik. All his
models are at the store, brightly
ANOTHER FAMILIAR SIGHT —
Baldur's model of the T-33 jet is
one of his finest.
displayed in the window show-
cases, catching the eyes of pas-
sersby and stimulating conversa-
tion and sales of plastic aircraft
models.
Early Start
It all began when Baldur was
nine years old and his father,
Sveinn Olafsson was a pilot fly-
ing his own private aircraft, a
piper cub. He would fly occasion-
ally with his father and became
seriously interested in aviation,
not actually as a pilot, but
more so as a student. When
he had the time he would search
I the libraries for new books on air-
' craft and their role in society and
combat. He subscribed to aviation
magazines to learn of innovations
in the field and the future of air-
craft.
Baldur never lost that spark of
interest in aviation that came to
him 14 years ago, for today his
study habits are the same, maybe
even more serious.
There is hardly an aircraft in
the sky that he can’t recognize,
give its origin, a brief history of
its commercial or combat record,
and its current principal use. And
give him a few seconds more he
could probably give its dimens-
ions and load capabilities, too.
Unknown Item
When Baldur became interested
in aeronautics though, the model
aircraft was an unknown item to
Icelanders. It was by scanning
through advertisments in an avia-
tion magazine that he discovered
a plastic kit could be ordered by
mail and assembled in scale model
and markings to its parent air-
craft.
Baldur ordered four kits and
selected a P-47N Thunderbolt as
his first project. His aircraft col-
lection had its start.
Without a thought that his new-
ly-found hobby would reach its
present size, he kept ordering, as-
sembling and displaying.
Brother Helps
His brother Hjalmar, 21, helped
him with his model aircraft
throughout the first few years
and still maintains an interest in
aviation, although primarily in
the electronics and radar field.
Hjalmar’s position with the Ice-
land Civil Defense Department
keeps him in close touch with
modern aviation and his studies
of the field keep him abreast of
innovations.
“We were so interested in avia-
tion that we would take anything
we could get,” Baldur said.
Plastic Kits
“I have put together about five
or six flying models but prefer
the plastic kits because they are
easier to get. The kits are more
difficult to paint though because
of their small size,” he went on
to say.
All his models are perfect re-
plicas of the original aircraft and
are scaled down to either 1/72 or
1/48 of an inch.
A look over his collection re-
veals that most of the models are
combat aircraft used by all sides
during the second World War.
“I concentrate on war planes
since I have been interested very
much in tactical aircraft. Besides,
there are more kits available,” he
said.
Aircraft Front
There are no formal classes in
Iceland that cover aviation and
tactical aircraft, but that doesn’t
seem to bother Baldur much. Sev-
eral trips to the library and a
few subscriptions to selected
magazines, plus a little “midnight
oil” have kept him on the aircraft
front for years.
More than half his personal lib-
rary at home contains books on
commercial flying, tactical strike-
power and strategy in the air dur-
ing the wars. And he is adding to
do it at a steady pace.
Second Nature
Putting the aircraft kits to-
gether is almost second nature to
Baldur now. In fact, he disclosed
he seldom works on a single kit
by itself anymore, but instead
finds that he can better use his
time by working with a second,
third or even fourth kit while the
first is in various drying stages.
Because he has a very steady
hand and a vast knowledge of
aeronautical design, Baldur has
yet to find a kit which gave him
any real difficulty to assemble.
His first few kits did present
some problems, however, because
he says the kits were not always
as “well made” as they are to-
day.
Exact Model
His most exact model is a re-
plica of the P-38. Besides being
in exact scale to the original
plane, it has engine covers that
can be removed, exposing a scale
REAL MODEL? — What appears
to be an Iceland Defense Force
P2V Neptune aircraft in flight,
is really one of Baldur Sveinsson’s
plastic models suspended on a
nylon thread.
model combustion motor that prob-
ably would cause bad dreams for
most aircraft hobbyists after
they tried to assemble it. The air-
craft also has tail markings,
cockpit gauges and switches, and
tiny scale decals that give main-
tenance personnel such instruct-
ions as “No Step.”
In all his collection Baldur
doesn’t have two aircraft alike,
although at first glance a viewer
can spot two and sometimes three
that seem to be identical. But
Baldur would only point to one
and say it is an “A” model, point
to another and call it a “B” model,
at the same time explaining the
differences in design or capabil-
ity.
“Willie Victor”
There is one aircraft in his col-
lection that a good many people
here would immediately recognize.
It is an EC-121K, more commonly
called a “Willie Victor.” This
model is very unique in that it
contains unit markings of VW-13,
a barrier patrol squadron once
stationed here, and bears the num-
ber 141309, an aircraft which has
logged many hours over Iceland
and the North Atlantic.
This was not a special order,
Baldur says. It was all part of
the kit, right down to the decals
and markings.
Endless Variety
A list of the variations would
seem endless. He has assembled
aircraft with electric motors that
turn the propellers when lifted
off the table, aircraft that have
removable parts, some that con-
tain pilots, some that are adorned
with handpainted markings, and
others that are simply aircraft
that are constructed for enjoy-
ment and hobby.
Noticeably, however, there is a
“void” in his collection. Baldur
blushes a bit and bows his head
slightly when he admits that in
all his aircraft there is no F-102
Delta Dagger, the type of aircraft
flown daily by pilots of the 57th
at Keflavik.
He adds, however, that he is in
the market for one and hopes that
it is not long in getting here.
A FINE COLLECTION — A look at the entire collection will gain
an appreciation of the time and work that Baldur has put into his
hobby of constructing model aircraft.