Wings of Texaco 1932 Northrop Gamma Airplane Coin Bank -2nd In The Series

Super cool addition to the Texaco Collection celebrating the planes that marketed Texaco and were used to find the reserves. It is also a bank.

Excellent Texaco aircraft - it works in well with my other Texaco aircraft .

This is a good offering, cosidering the only alternatives for a Northrop Gamma are large mahogany desk models for $150, or a half this size (1/72) plastic kit you have to build yourself for about the same money. By comparing the model's wingspan to the actual, the scale is about 1/44, so "O" scale model railroad items would be a matching size.I find this to be one of the best looking of all the Wings Of Texaco models, but there are disappointments if you're used to more expensive, highly detailed models.The canopy is a solid piece of black poly plastic, where the actual one was, naturally, see-thru with a silver color framework. The frame is molded correctly, though.The side stripes, and the Texaco logos on the wings are stick-on decals, but are of good quality. I suppose those details are too tiny to pad print. All of the other markings are pad printed and crisp. My model is a recent purchase, but these were released in 1994. The 18 year old decals look as new.The Hamilton fixed pitch prop on the real plane was silver colored, where on this model it is black, poly plastic. The propeller "hub" on the model is simply a metal post that is peened over after the prop was put on. Actually looks okay, without close scrutiny.The main wheels are black poly, barely visible inside their "pants", and they do turn. The tail wheel and its strut are a single piece of black poly, so it does not turn.The radial engine is represented by a black plastic disk, with some generic cylinders molded in. There is a definite error here, as you see nine cylinders and there should be seven. The actual Sky Chief Gamma had a two row, fourteen cylinder engine.Otherwise, there are five small Philips screws on the underside of the model.These aren't visible unless you look directly at the underside.On the positive, the plane's markings appear complete and correctly placed. The main panel lines, while overly deep as on most models, appear correct. The model looks to be correctly proportioned, as compared to photos of the actual Gamma. The "park bench" ailerons are well represented, with the proper size and spacing above the wing.This review sounds pretty negative, but this is actually a good looking model. For the size and cost, I was well pleased. Not finely detailed, but in general a good representation of the Texaco Sky Chief Gamma.I recommend reading the online info on the actual Sky Chief, and its pilot, Frank Hawks. He set a number of speed to distance records in this plane, which was well ahead of its time.

great product, very happy Thanks very much!

A bit to sharp on edges