1/72 Scratchbuilt / Vac kit Capelis XC-12 Part 1

Gallery Article by Gabriel Stern on May 5 2010

 

The Incredible Adventures of Socrates (an aviation philosopher) Part I

  Master Po smiled peacefully and asked if I thought I was already a Shaolin Monk. Knowing him I remained silent. He said: “Little grasshopper, in order to be ready for the outside world, have your own TV series and leave behind the tumults of a helter-skelter modeling life, you must produce the masters for a vacuformed kit. Only then the stars will shine on the calm surface of the lake and the cranes will fly to Styreneland”
   So I went my way and started to work on the wood masters for the Capelis XC-12, whose hidden beauty only master Po and few others were able to appreciate.
 
   Well, may be the story is more like I saw Jim Lund’s scratchbuilt Capelis model thanks to Alex Bigey’s website. Jim was very generous and helpful and encouraged me to go ahead and build the Capelis. Fellow modelers pointed to sources and references and so the project started to get momentum and eventually Mike Herrill from Execuform made the vacuformed copies. The main reference was the Skyways magazine (BTW, a wonderful publication, now in digital format) article on the Capelis found on the October 1995 issue #36. You may get your copy contacting them:
http://www.ww1aeroinc.org/

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   But first, what was the Capelis?
   Some scholars state that occidental culture as we know it was born in Greece, a well of knowledge that still today feeds psychology, philosophy, mythology and modeling (just remember the great Greek philosopher, modeler and olive pitter Styrenides (V century B.S.).

    The Capelis started as a transport project of the Capelis Corporation, whose president, of course, was no other than Socrates Capelis. The Greek community backed the project and by 1933 the plane was ready. Modern for the time (all metal construction) sported nevertheless a forward leaning canopy and a biplane tail, which some say was an outdated feature, but nobody will dare to deny that confers the plane its remarkable aesthetics (aesthetics as a science, by the way, is another Greek legacy).

    Things weren’t peachy, though, an after some inauspicious beginnings the whole thing was prematurely and unfortunately dropped. But the Capelis kept going, this time re-incarnated as a movie prop. It endured some modifications and went on for many movies bathing on the golden glory of Hollywood, featuring in many films, the most arguably famous of which are “Five Came Back” with –among many other movie stars- Lucille Ball and “Flying Tigers” with John Wayne.

   The above-mentioned masters were very simple, on the vein of those vacuformed kits that provide the general shapes. Details, accessories, decals and the like are provided by the modeler, as well as surface detail.

    Once I got my vacuformed parts from Mike, I started building the model. There were some minor and major modifications done to the Capelis over time. This model represents the plane as it flew, with its forward-raking canopy –although you won’t see that part on this first article-. Another nose was already mastered to allow the building of the movie versions, which has a more conventional canopy arrangement.
    This first part deals with general preparation and initial building steps and will be continued on a second article depicting the final building steps and some additional notes.
 
    As a mythological metallic bird coming from Mount Olympus, the Capelis extends its wings over the modeling world.
   See you soon.

 P/S:

   I have a confession to make.
A few among you already know that Gabriel Stern is not my real name.
   The time has arrived to tell the truth.
   I am a fish. My name is Fulgencio. I live in a fish tank close to a computer, and I have developed complex mental powers that allow me not only to build model airplanes by telekinesis, but also to communicate fluently using a computer.
   Nothing more can be revealed at this time. My location should remain undisclosed, in order to avoid the press and the scientists that would immediately converge to the spot seeking interviews and autographs.
   I live a happy, although quite wet existence.
   I hope that this revelation won’t hurt our friendship.
Talk to you soon.
   Fulgencio, the fish.

Gabriel Stern

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Photos and text © by Gabriel Stern