Tom Sanders Helps Out

Wednesday, April 12, 2017
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Tom Sanders Helps Out

   My previous post was about Christopher Ferrone and his creativity with restoring old toys into new ones "with a twist". In that post, Christopher took 2 old toys from the 1930's and metamorphosed (changed) them into one. The new model , a combination of the 2 toys appeared to actually resemble a toy from the 1930's.

   In today's post, Mr. Tom Sanders wrote me and presented a nice airplane that he restored.  In Tom's case, he creates marvellous models from old toys, but  on a commercial basis (he is commissioned to create them). In the example below, he custom-made a base plate that holds a Wyandotte China Clipper airplane (to represent) a  Martin M-130 China Clipper at the time.

Above: Tom Sanders' trademark logo

Some information about Pan-Am.

Please click here to visit Wikipedia's fine article on Pan-Am
(If the link doesn't work, type in the words "Wikipedia" and Pan-Am to visit the exact page of reference)

Pan-Am was the largest American passenger aircraft company in the USA from 1927-1991.

The company was created in 1927 and started to fly between Key West (Florida) and Havana (Cuba). This route was highly successful, and eventually led to the airplane expanding into South-America. Having been financially strong, the Pan-Am was able to purchase less-successful  South American companies to expand its' South-American Business. Most of the South American business was on the west coast of South America. Example of key cities were Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), Buenos Aires (Argentina), and Santiago (Chile), and Caracas (Venezuela) Also included were Mexico City (Mexico.) The airline also earned added revenue (Money) by having won the rights to carry mail (airmail) between America and the South American routes. Many of the airplanes were what were called "flying boats) that were capable of taking off and landing in the water.

The Pan-Am Logo

*Image courtesy of Wikipedia

A Sikorsky S-42 Airplane

*Image courtesy of Wikipedia

As you can see in the poster below, the route of Pan-Am was quite exotic. It's quite amazing how relatively inexpensive (to 2017 prices) the cost of flying to South-America was at the time. Of course, the buying power of a 1941 US Dollar was quite different from a 2017 American Dollar.

A Pan-Am 1941 Itinerary (Route) 

*Image courtesy of Wikipedia

Stacey,

Hope you are doing well and the Blog is rolling along. I will send you a couple of projects to consider.  This first is unique project. The owner is a collector of Pan Am artifacts from the Flying Boat era. He acquired a model stand some years ago that was missing its original model of the Martin M-130 China Clipper. We had some dealings earlier this year and contacted me with an unusual request, would I consider rebuilding a Wyandotte Pressed Steel Toy Clipper into a model?  Interesting thought as there are a few people making nice cast models. The reason is that he absolutely wanted a period produced model and those are as rare as hen's teeth!!

Part I 

(Creating the new model)

Below are the modifications that Tom initiated to meet the requirements of the client. You can see the extensive work that Tom did to create a wonderful model for his client/

There were a great number of modifications needed to make this work. Here is a partial list-

1) Rear wheel was removed and the belly pan modified to accept the fixture's "saddle" mount.

2) Wings were relocated 1/2 further aft and lowered by 1/2"

3) Tailing edge of the wing was tapered to match the M-130

4) Four new struts were created and soldered to the bottom of the wing. The sponsons both have new receptor holes for the bottom pins of the struts.

5) The main landing gear system was removed, the struts folded back up into the sponsons and gaps filled with solder then sanded smooth.

6) Brass plates were soldered to the bottoms of the sponsons to eliminate the hollowed-out effect.

7) New props, engine fronts/shafts (pop rivets!) and cowlings (brass tubes with aluminum inserts) were crafted and installed.

8) the tail assembly was soldered and bend-over tangs were removed.

9) More windows were added to the cockpit area (cut, grind, sand)

10) Two-tone silver and black paint to match prototype.

PArt II

(The finishing touched)

It's really great to see these old toys being restored and modified for collectors. In this case, the combination of the airplane model with the base plate of the world and focussing on North and South America. 

It's too bad that Pan-Am had to close down, because the airline had wonderful air routes for those who liked exotic places to visit at the time (and still today).

Thanks for dropping by,
and as always,
Have a great part of the day or night
wherever you may be.

Stacey Bindman
toysearcher@gmail.com