>Thanks to the admirable Mikes' fire sale, I have a rather nice old kit of
>the Bristol Boxkite (Pyro box) which looks to me like an upcoming
>project.
>
>However, aside from a couple of small photos of the Boxkite in use at
>Point Cook in Charles Schaedels "Men and Machines of the Australian
>Flying Corps" I have no references at all. I believe that the *replica*
>built for the "Magnificent Men... " movie may be just a couple of hours
>drive away from me, but need some more original documentation/pics if
>such exist.
>
>Does anyone have any leads?
>
Well, since you asked. The National Air & Space Museum, Washington, DC, has
compiled their photographic collection on Laser video disks. Disk number 1
is far and away the most useful for modellers, since it is an A to Z
compliation of aircraft images by manufacturer and type. Side A, frames
16308 through 16328 are of the Bristol Boxkite. Eight of these images (at
least) are ground walkaround photos which would be useful for modelling
reference. The rest are aerials and might or might not be useful. The
problem with the videodisk system is that the resolution is not really good
enough on a screen, and printouts, which I have no means of making, are of
even worse resolution.
On the positive side, the NASM will provide high quality prints from the
negatives for a reasonable fee. I am not aware of what this reasonable fee
currently is. I recall that it was about $4 US the last time I checked but
its been a long time. All they need are the specific frames you require.
Their Web site may have more information. Of course, they are currently out
of business due to a political funding hassle, so theres little point in
asking today.
The specific photos I would want are:
Disk 1, Side A, Frames 16315 & 6 (Closeups of center section), 16322
through 16325, 16327 & 8 (Entire aircraft from various angles). Many
aviation museums have this resource in their research sections, as do some
libraries. You might ask around.
My personal files contain nothing else of use on the Boxkite, although I do
have the kit somewhere on Mount Unbuilt. Its darn well going to stay there
too! Altogether too many little pieces of string.
Eli Geher