My old uncle in Kent was a member of the Royal Observer Corps and as a seven year old in 1939 I helped him spot friendly and enemy fighters and bombers over the next couple of years. My eye-sight was excellent - his wasn't - hence I was an unpaid volunteer. Over several days he worked on a strange twin engine wooden model and then closing the shed door he showed me his masterpiece made out of one piece wood - a de Havilland Mosquito. Wing span around 18 inches. He made the plans from Observer Corps aircraft identification silhouettes. The fuselage of the model was square - not oval - but that was the only fault. He swore me to secrecy as this was the new wonder bomber he said was made of balsa wood and still on the secret list. Well that was what he said and I believed him.
Twenty years later and when I was a pilot in the RAAF, I bought a wonderful plastic kit called the "Phantom Mustang" which had a working retractable undercarriage and propeller, using a tiny electric motor. The wings and fuselage were transparent. I enjoyed every minute of putting that Mustang together mainly because once upon a time I flew real Mustangs and thus the model took on a nostalgic meaning for me. Alas, my Phantom Mustang did not survive a domestic argument with my then wife as she became more irritable with each passing day that I would gaze at the model and quietly contemplate the good old days of hack, flick and zoom.