"Goddess of Flight" Display Stand

Published on
September 27, 2011
Review Author(s)
MSRP
$39.95
Provided by: Scale Offerings
Product Packaging

The Parts

The Goddess of Flight provides a sturdy and classy display base for models. The Goddess figure consists of seven parts, all cast in resin. Her feet are contained within a base that can simulate clouds or water, depending on what model she will be supporting. There are no “feet” per se, but a resin locating peg that slips into the cloud/water base.

This cloud/water base comes with a ¼” (approx.) nut that is embedded firmly in the resin. The nut slides upward through a finished wooden base which provides lateral support for the finished Goddess and a whole lot of “class”. The wooden base is circular, comes completely finished and is very attractive.

The arms are definitely “right” and “left” and only fit when inserted into the correct shoulder socket. Failure to get that right results in the Goddess’s palms facing downward rather than skyward, and in any case, this is an unlikely event. The arms simply do not fit when placed in the wrong shoulder socket. The wings are a single piece and attach to the shoulder blades with a biscuit and groove locating device. The flowing hair is designed to fit in only one attitude and finding that proper attitude is quite easy. Just hold the hair in place and gently rotate it while next to the “skull” until the mating edges align. A resin wedge is provided that fits between the wing tips. The wedge is optional and its purpose is to provide some additional contact surface, which may be needed depending on the model being mounted and displayed. A small packet of Museum Putty is included. It can be placed between the Goddess’s hands or wings-wedge and the model being displayed to provide additional “grip” so that the model will remain in place.

Assembly

Assembly is very straight-forward. From start to finish, with the Gee Bee (pictured) resting on our Goddess’s hands, took 10 minutes. Superglue is, of course, the adhesive of choice, but the credit for such a short assembly time goes to the superb fit of the various parts. The only issue I found was that the left arm did not fit into the shoulder socket without some very light surgery on the resin locating plug cast onto the shoulder-end of the left arm. With about 15 to 20 strokes with a rough-grain sanding stick the arm slid into the shoulder socket without any additional issues.

Painting

I chose not to paint the Goddess for this review. In so doing, I hope that the viewer can see that the surface of the Goddess is absolutely without any imperfection brought about by the casting process.

Displaying the Finished Product

Of course, this is a display stand for aircraft models and not a model itself (although it isn’t far removed from what might be considered a sculpture in its own right or a “model” of a sculpture,) so you will be placing a model on this display stand. I’ve placed all variety of models on the Goddess in the testing phase. She has supported 1/72, 1/48, and 1/32 aircraft as well as automotive subjects, armor subjects and some spacecraft that I pulled from my display case. It might be helpful to note the measurements between the hands and the wings that form the contact points. The gap between the hands measures from 2 inches to 2 ¾ inches. (from the base of the palms to the fingertips). From either set of fingertips to the wingtips is 4 inches. There may be a “load limit” for our Goddess but I didn’t test her to the breaking point. The heaviest model I placed on her was a 1/32 Trumpeter P-47.

Conclusion

This product is the first release from Scale Offerings and has been in the works for a number of months. The wait was well worth it! Thanks to Scale Offerings for supplying this new and unique item for review. This product is highly recommended.

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