1:72 Fieseler Fi 156 Storch USAAF used by Dwight D. Eisenhower, Paris 1944

1:72 Fieseler Fi 156 Storch, Paris 1944

A finished collector model in 1:72 scale. It is not a kit: the model is supplied assembled, painted and with the markings applied, so nothing has to be done with it and it goes straight into the display case. The model carries the markings of a captured machine operated by the US Army Air Forces, which in 1944 served to carry a senior commander.

The real subject

The Fi 156 Storch was a German liaison and observation aircraft, famous for its ability to take off and land on the smallest of surfaces. This was made possible by full-span high-lift devices along the wing and by very long landing gear legs, which absorbed a hard touchdown. Power came from an air-cooled inverted V8. Captured machines were used by the Allies as well, because for moving senior officers and for flights into unprepared sites they had no better aircraft.

How a collector model differs from a kit

With a kit the modeler chooses the colors, the markings and the degree of wear himself and the result is one of a kind. A finished model, by contrast, offers certainty: the exactly specified version of a particular machine, a uniform look across the whole collection and the immediate option of standing it in a display case. That is precisely why collections of finished models are built in series, where one piece complements the next.

How to keep the model

• Display it out of direct sunlight, which fades the colors over time
• Remove dust with a soft brush, not with a cloth, which abrades the markings
• Hold the model by the fuselage, not by the wings and the tail surfaces
• Leave it room in the display case so that neighboring pieces do not touch