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In Jr. High School where I had such a nice Manual Arts teacher, I made 2 taborets and a footstool.
All of which were still in use when I left my house.
A taboret is simply a stand to put a vase on. About 2 ft. tall.
But the most interesting things and toughest things I made were model airplanes. These were kits made by Megow. Inside was a thin sheet of balsa with many parts printed on it. With a razor blade you cut out these parts.
These parts were all glued together, each part exactly in its proper place. Once the plane was all assembled, it was covered by a thin paper. When this was dry it was dampened with water. That shrunk the paper nice and taut.
A rubber band was rigged to the propeller. The prop was twisted tight and it would take off. But it was too much a work of art to fly and break up.
The most elegant one I made was a 2-winger.
Then in high school, extra curricular activity, the Defense Dept wanted some planes carved out of solid wood. Here you had templates made of cardboard. Each one fit a certain part of that plane. And you shaped it down until it fit that template. When it was finished, it was painted black.
All this while World Was II was going on.
I made a Messerschmidt 109. All this was to done to teach our fighting men how to identify the enemy aircraft. We were told that they hung from a ceiling against a white background. In this way they would identify the enemy planes.
Now, if your model passed government inspection, you were mailed a neat acknowledgment. I still have mine. [Click to enlarge.]
That's about all I did for the war effort. When I became 18, the war was
over.
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