The Styrofoam Glider Squadron: Power Prop Flying Gliders

Showing posts with label Power Prop Flying Gliders. Show all posts

Saturday, February 1, 2014

Power Prop Flying Gliders - #2 Mitsubishi Zero (1970's?)

I saw a WWII Power Prop Flying Gliders Mitsubishi Zero for sale on E-bay with the following description:

1 Mitsubishi Zero Flying Glider in Original Package (Circa 1970's)

The price tag was $3.49 so I figured it was worth it to buy it to see if it indeed was as old as the description said it is. Here are the pictures:

Front side of the package

Reverse side of the package

This glider was made in Taiwan, which speaks to how old it is. The glider also has a white plastic nose weight which I have never seen before. The graphics are kinda faded, but that could be due to the printer running out of ink when this one was made.

When I bought it, I thought that perhaps the package art was different. When comparing it to the cover art on the 2 following pictures, I can see that the art is not as colorful or as detailed as the 2 Mitsubishi Zero packages shown below.

So basically I have no idea how old it could really be.

Saturday, January 25, 2014

Power Prop Flying Gliders (in wrong packages) - #12 Piper Tri-Pacer

This is obviously not a Piper Tri-Pacer. This is a copy of Power Prop Gliders #3 Grumman F6F Hellcat that comes in the red and blue packages. This is a half decent copy as the print job is poor but still resembles the original.

Power Prop Flying Gliders (in wrong packages) - #12 Piper Tri-Pacer

Power Prop Flying Gliders (in wrong packages) - #11 Spitfire MK1

This is not what the glider that comes in this package is supposed to look like either. This is a copy of Power Prop Gliders #1 Hawker Hurricane that comes in the red and blue packages. It's a pretty poor copy because the print job is quite poor all over it.

Power Prop Flying Gliders (in wrong packages) - #11 Spitfire MK1

Power Prop Flying Gliders (in wrong packages) - #10 Curtiss P-40 Tomahawk

This is not what the glider that comes in this package is supposed to look like either. This is a copy of Power Prop Gliders #9 Curtiss P-40 Tomahawk from the red and blue packages. This is a really good copy. The light colored spot on the wings is actually glare. I don't think it was a coincidence that this glider ended up in this package.

Power Prop Flying Gliders (in wrong packages) - #10 Curtiss P-40 Tomahawk

Power Prop Flying Gliders (in wrong packages) - #9 Norther American Mustang MK2

This is obviously not what the glider that comes in this package is supposed to look like. This glider is a copy of Power Prop Gliders #4 Supermarine Spitfire MK.II that comes in the red and blue packages. The fuselage looks quite nice, although the quality of the print job on the wings is quite poor. I have no idea why this Spitfire would have ended up in the Mustang package, considering #11 is supposed to be a Spitfire.

Power Prop Flying Gliders (in wrong packages) - #9 Norther American Mustang MK2

Power Prop Flying Gliders (in wrong packages) - #8 Focke-Wulf TA 152H

This is not how the glider that comes in this package is supposed to look. The glider pictured here is a copy of Power Prop Gliders #2 Messerschmitt BF109E that comes in the red and blue packages. The quality of this copy is quite high although the glider was not aligned properly in the printer as you can see. I figure that this glider ended up in this package because there are 2 German airplanes in the Power Prop Flying Gliders set and the Power Prop Gliders set, and since the FW190 was already taken, the BF109E ended up in the TA152H package.

Power Prop Flying Gliders (in wrong packages) - #8 Focke-Wulf TA 152H

Power Prop Flying Gliders (in wrong packages) - #7 Lockheed P38J or Lightning

This is clearly a Lightning, but this is not how the glider that comes in this package is supposed to look. This is a copy of Power Prop Gliders #12 / #13 Lockheed P-38 that comes in the red and blue packages. It is a pretty poor copy as the print job is quite poor on all of the parts. Once again, I do not think that it was a coincidence that this glider made it into this package.

Power Prop Flying Gliders (in wrong packages) - #7 Lockheed P38J or Lightning

Power Prop Flying Gliders (in wrong packages) - #6 Hawker Hurricane MK.11C

This is clearly not a Hurricane. This is an identical copy of Power Prop Gliders #11 Type 3 Fighter Hien form the set with red and blue packages. I have no idea why this glider would have ended up in a Hurricane package.

Power Prop Flying Gliders (in wrong packages) - #6 Hawker Hurricane MK.11C

Power Prop Flying Gliders (in wrong packages) - #5 Thunderbolt F-47D

This is not how the glider that comes in this package is supposed to look either. This is a copy of Power Prop Gliders #8 Republic P-47 Thunderbolt that comes in the red and blue packages. This is a pretty good copy although the printing looks a little too dark on the fuselage. I don't think it was a coincidence that this glider made it into this package either.

Power Prop Flying Gliders (in wrong packages) - #5 Thunderbolt F-47D

Power Prop Flying Gliders (in wrong packages) - #4 Airacobra P-39

This is obviously not an Airacobra P-39. This is a copy of the Power Prop Gliders #10 North American P-51 Mustang. I cannot speculate as to why this glider would have ended up in this package. The quality of the wings and the horizontal stabilizer is quite nice. The fuselage is quite blurry but strongly represents the original.

Power Prop Flying Gliders (in wrong packages) - #4 Airacobra P-39

Power Prop Flying Gliders (in wrong packages) - #3 Type 4 Fighter Hayate

This is not how the glider that comes in this package is supposed to look either. There are quite a few similarities, but they are not the same. This is a copy of the Power Prop Gliders #5 Type 4 Fighter Hayate which comes in red and blue packages. The print fuselage looks great, however the wings and the horizontal stabilizer look pretty bad. I don't think that it is a coincidence that this glider made it into this package either.

Power Prop Flying Gliders (in wrong packages) - #3 Type 4 Fighter Hayate

Power Prop Flying Gliders (in wrong packages) - #2 Mitsubishi Zero

This is not how the glider that comes in this package is supposed to look either. This is a copy of the Power Prop Gliders #6 Type Zero Carrier Fighter that comes in the red and blue packages. The wings appear to have had a good print job (although not aligned completely) and the fuselage and horizontal stabilizer have a a pretty poor print job. I also don't think that it is a coincidence that the Type Zero Carrier Fighter glider ended up in the Mitsubishi Zero package as they are based on the same airplane.

Power Prop Flying Gliders (in wrong packages) - #2 Mitsubishi Zero

Power Prop Flying Gliders (in wrong packages) - #1 Focke Wulf 190 A-4

This is not how the glider that comes in this package is supposed to look. This is a copy of the Power Prop Gliders #7 Focke-Wulf FW190 that comes in the red and blue envelopes, of which I have already posted pictures of. This is a nearly exact copy although the quality of the printing on the wings of this glider is quite poor compared to my other glider. I don't think it is a coincidence that the FW190 from the red and blue package set made it into the FW190 package set. It is pretty clear to me that this was deliberate.

Power Prop Flying Gliders (in wrong packages) - #1 Focke Wulf 190 A-4

Power Prop Flying Gliders (in wrong packages) - Introduction

Not long after I first started collecting gliders I found a complete set of 12 for sale on E-bay. They had all of the characteristics that I was looking for, which are that the front side of the packages has the propeller logo and the reverse side of the packages says "Made in Taiwan". The seller was asking a reasonable price, so I bought them. My major motivation for buying this set was that it contained the Lockheed P-38 Lightning glider which is quite difficult to find. Shown below is a picture of the front side of all of the packages and the reverse side of one of them.