Guillow model company, a brief history

The little company Paul K. Guillow started.
The Stuka biting the dust: • Guillows Stuka maiden ...

[@georgeh.7238]

It is a Guillow's model kit that my dad put together for me when I was 5 years old in 1971 in Boulder Colorado that sparked my love of model building. This is where it all began for me. Guillow's has a special place in my heart. My dad built the Focke Wulf Fw190. I was there as he showed me step by step how to put it together. I studied the box art for hours. To this day I know the plans, and remember his instructions of why and how. He showed me how to take a two dimensional drawing and create a 3D model. The smell of the glue and dope. I smell it now. My dad, who is 94 years old and a WWII veteran is still alive and well in Las Vegas.

[@GuidosDad]

🇺🇸 Cheers to your Dad 🙏

[@bobgreen3116]

I am 69 years old and I remember when I was 5 years old starting building stick and tissue from these kits. Kept my interest kept me with something to do seed out of trouble and I still build them today. Gave me a love of Aviation. Nothing more rewarding than building one of these things and seeing it fly all by itself. Thank you for keeping the business going.

[@flyswryan]

Guillow’s kits were what we “serious” modelers cut our teeth on, and later picked our teeth with, because after that eventual unsuccessful flight, there were plenty of toothpicks available...

[@kiplindsay8413]

I have no idea how many of these kits I've built in my lifetime. I'm pretty sure my first one was a cub in the mid '60's. My last one was about four years ago, a Stuka. I build Stuart steam engines, scratch built RC cars and planes, boats, and motorcycles, and currently building a hot rod to cruise the streets. But when one of these planes catches my eye, everything comes to a halt. They're like therapy, takes me back to my childhood.

[@thomascarmichael6760]

I’ve been building Guillows models since I was about 12 in the early 1960’s. I’m now 73 and I have about 15 of Guillow’s models that I’ll be building now that I’m retired! Loved them as a kid and still love them as an old man. Wish they would bring back some of the older model such as the Banshee and any other older jets they might have produced way back when. Would buy them in a heartbeat!!

[@shutupkevin789]

Started out building plastic kits as a kid, with my dad, in the late 60’s . He saw that I was skilled enough to graduate to stick & tissue planes by the early 70’s , when I built my first Guillows planes & I subsequently built many of them (some say I’ve built too many model airplanes) ! Thirty years later, I introduced Guillows kits to my own son - I remember how excited he was to see the actual planes that we were building on display & actually flying at an airport / air museum near our home - he was able to identify all them because at the age of six he had already memorized the Guillows catalog ! I hope Guillows lasts for future generations ! True Americana !!!

[@waywardspirit7898]

Wow. I am 59 years old in 2023 and you just transported me back to 1970 when I was 6 years old building a Guillows Camel Sopwith Biplane that i got for Christmas. I have built many of these stick and paper planes but eventually graduated to the far bigger and more complex RC models. I think I'm gonna build me another Guillows Sopwith. (for old times sake) Thank you for the memories.

[@mkii1964]

I’ve lost count how many Guillows kits I’ve built over the years! Thank you Paul!

[@warrenchambers4819]

I've built many a guillows kit. I like to combine scratch building into full scale cockpits in their WWI series. But my best memories with them are spending time with my Dad the last 3 years of his life (he had cancer) We ruined mom's kitchen table with dope, sanding sealer and glue. Dad built the Corsair, DC-3,P-51, P-47, PT-17, SE5A, B-25 and started the B-17. I still have the B-17 and I treasure it greatly. Oneday soon I will finish it and still get to build models with my Dad 1 last time. He passed away 11/25/15 Miss ya Pop.

[@PamOrl]

I built a Guillow Piper Cub, bought the tissue and dope at our local Sears store. 10 - 15 years later, I was buying software for my Commodore 64 at that same Sears store. Amazing g to see Guillow still prospering while Sears is a shadow of its former self.

[@bradfordeaton6558]

I love Guillow's stuff, I've been building their kit since the late 50's, I hope they stay in business forever.

[@Philc40]

Over the years I’ve built Sterling, Comet, Guillows, Dumas stick and tissue models, I find the work both relaxing and rewarding! I am 69 yo and still at it!

[@edp2260]

I loved those jet plane gliders. I was so happy to find that they were still being made today, and that my son could have the same experience. Thanks for another great video!

[@puckstopperdel]

i am 65 now and STILL put these kits together! I have started my son and grandsons on this hobby as well, they have put Guillow's planes together, usually with my supervision. Funny thing is they prefer to leave the tissue non painted, they prefer to see the structure peaking through! I have 6 more down stairs to build, and i now plan to build some for RC conversion! Great video!

[@jenniferwhitewolf3784]

3:53 Our family went through many of these simple glider and rubber band toys back in the '60 to '65 period. Dad built one of their 4 foot wingspan gliders in about '63... it lasted one afternoon of flying, then was stuck 60 feet up in a tree where it rotted till winter.

[@taichung465]

I still remember to this day the heart rending "skwatch" of my little Guillows glider as my father's car ran over it in our driveway back in 1971. Love your Gerry Anderson U.F.O. reference at the end. That should be your next video topic, all the Anderson related models i.e. UFO, Space 1999, Thunderbirds, Stingray, etc.

[@TheGetintoit]

I was living in a room and kitchen "A wee flat" and my guillows builds sold in the weekend market so it payed for the hobby and sum still love all kind of model building

[@DEeMONsworld]

As a 14-16 year old in the 60's, I think I built a dozen or more Guillows stick and tissue kits. all were flown either rubber powered or as I got more allowance with a cox pee wee 010 glow engine. few lasted more than a couple of flights, but it taught me how to build models and launched a life long love of model aviation.

[@williamvasilakis9619]

DEemon, me too. This brings back memories from the 60's too. Thank you

[@sirhrmechanic2648]

You and me both!!! But for a glorious moment, flight!!!!

[@rlr50]

Loved them, built them and crashed every one. I'm 63 and I still love them.

[@kurtfrancis4621]

@Luke Cheung Mine's a ceiling model!

[@armaniruben3135]

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[@timothyari9528]

@Armani Ruben instablaster =)

[@armaniruben3135]

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[@armaniruben3135]

@Timothy Ari It did the trick and I finally got access to my account again. Im so happy! Thank you so much, you saved my account!

[@coriscotupi]

I loved every second of flying the balsa wood gliders and rubber-propelled models in 1966-ish. To this day, every time I remember our house and its huge back yard in the Canal Zone, Panama, the models are there, in the delightfully fond memory. That place and time were Paradise on Earth for a child. Even the smell of balsa wood comes to mind, when I remember the place. I hope I can keep those dearest memories, formed almost 60 years ago, till my last moments.

[@Elizabeth-0]

I’ve “attempted” to build the smaller P-51 by them. Didn’t have much luck guess I’m too much of a plastic modeler. I did have success with the little gliders as a child at least! My father pretty much grew up with them as he grew up after WWII. Two rooms in our house had the ceilings covered in Guillows models. His favorite ones by them were the B-29, FW-190 and P-47.

[@alangeddes268]

I can't even guess how many hand tossed and rubber band gliders I have bought and for my kids and grand kids. Stick and tissue is true modeling. Thank you MR G

[@TralfazConstruction]

Fascinating. I can't recall how many Jet Fires my brothers and I stranded on top of neighborhood houses (including our own), in trees or just generally wore out; this was all throughout the 1960s. As a side note, the wind took my Cox helicopter and put it in the tallest reaches of a tree bordering the local field where my brothers and I would fly it. One of my brothers got it back over forty years later in 2012. I didn't get to see it but heard about it.

[@monkeybuttslap]

Can't imagine my life without Guillow's in it right up to today with grandchildren. I remember the first time I went from the Jetfire to rubberband prop takeoff and landings. It was a whole 'nother level as we would say.

[@bbrut3332]

Bought many of their gliders as a kid which led to gasoline powered models and finally to a pilots license and the real thing. A great hobby inspired by those first hand launched gliders.

[@DoctoreE644]

Started with some of the smaller Guillow models, then started a B-17, with a carved balsa fuse and stick and paper wings, elevators and stab back in the early '60's. The paper was going to be balsa sheets, but a 4-year stint in the US Coast Guard saw the demise of the project. Because life happens, I didn't get back into it until I had to take early medical retirement, and I once again found an all-wood and paper Guillow B-17, and I built it and covered it all in ¹/³² balsa sheet, all driven by 4 electric motors. It has full flaps, ailerons, rudder, and elevators. It came out better than even I ever expected!! She's finished in 8th USAAF colors. Wish I could attach a picture!

[@lorettacaputo6997]

I loved to build models and one of my favorite durable planes was and is the hand launched glider kits that had the actual air foil on the wings. How they caught the air and circled when they hit a thermal was great. Most importantly was their durability. The glider that I purchased in the early 70s is still with me and I occassionally toss it around in my fields. The stick and paper kits were too labor intensive to have them sacrificed in a crash. I have a partially bult Comet Piper cub kit that I picked up at a garage sale that is awatiing assembly. I may not paper it so I can marvel at the beauty of its wood skeleton.

[@muskokamike127]

I'm really pleased to see they're still in business. I hope they continue inspiring young uns to build and create. They're the perfect thing these days to keep em busy during the pandemic.

[@proofbox]

As a kid I built both Guillows and Comet models when Guillows went to die cut parts Comet was done in my opinion Comet did go to die cut parts after a while to this day I have about a hundred balsa kits most of them Guillows in addition to Dumas kits that are high quality and have some cool airplanes such as the Boeing P-26 and the Beech Stagger wing and Be Gee racer I have always liked these models as they use the same construction as the real planes , and teaches you weight and balance and correct rigging .

[@PapaDutch]

In the late sixties my Pop (who was an aircraft Engineer) introduced me and my brother to model airplanes that flew - and now we are in the era of DRONE WARFARE as surely as Robt. A. Heinlein foresaw what space travel and societies might look like in the future. That future is HERE now But it is a perilous place, this future. So many rely on things that they have no idea how to produce or repair themselves. Back then, the Boy Scouts of America taught survival skills and also creative crafts of all sorts.... I have no idea now at this point in my life how much practical experience in aircraft (models - but still) and light weight construction, insights into ways and means of fabrication at a grass roots level, awareness of materials and structures that I might never have been shown. I think I owe a huge debt of gratitude to "PAUL", may he have wings of his own now - and THANK YOU

[@larrydee8859]

Great Work! I remember in 1959, just 7 years old, my father buying for me and my younger brother, our first Guillows gliders. He assembled them, for us and we flew them in the Safeway parking lot, in The Bronx. I loved flying them. Didn't build too many of them, until the early 1980s. Building an FW 190, and powering with a CO2 motor. That was great! I also built a couple of Sterling WW1 models, too. Id like to see a story about Sterling models, also. Great Work! Thanks for sharing.

[@tankacebo9128]

i'm looking at the first guillows kit my grandpa and I built when I was 7, an Aeronica champion 85, the type my grandfather got civil certified on back in the '50s. i'm 23 now and it still has a place on my shelf, bringing fond and fun memories every time I glance in it's direction.

[@danf321]

Funny, I still the Guillow brand rubber band powered gliders for sale in small stores, and I can’t help it but I‘m still a sucker and I buy one and play with it. It doesn’t last long, but it’s worth the childhood memories it brings back.

[@craigbrown2724]

These are some of the greatest kits made. Unfortunately hobby stores are quickly becoming extinct. There are only a few remaining in the large city that I live in. I am a retired pilot and tho I build more plastic kits than wood I still find it a great way to keep my hand in aviation. Unfortunately the younger generation have little or no interest in putting the time into building theses beautiful kits.

[@tarmacpounder785]

Built a Guillow’s Cessna 170, 150 and Piper Cherokee in my teens and a Skyraider in more recent years. I loved the variety of their product line. They flew okay but didn’t seem to last beyond a handful of flights. I always had problems with the landing gear being wiped out. I also had their chuck gliders too. Those were fantastic fliers. I wish I had a Guillow’s kit to build right now over the quarantine period.😁

[@johnquest3102]

I am 61 - My dentist used to give these to the kid patients after the appointment, with pencils and other goodies, back in the 60s, so Guillows were my first airplanes, before 10 years old, and it lead me to build plastic scale models later, then on to a mechanical engineering career later.

[@toddf9321]

I was an avid flying model builder. Guillow kits are on the heavy side and require careful balance on all axis'. The best flying for me was the Sopwith Camel done with rubber power. 100 Yard flights are possible. Thanks for the video.

[@charlesmoore3321]

My first balsa kit was a Comet Hell Diver, that had to be cut from printed sheets. Deemed too young (six) for a hobby/exacto knife I scrounged a double edge razor blade from my father and got some pretty painful cuts in the process never finishing the thing. Guillows die cut parts reinspired me and saved me from countless future mutilations.

[@cabanford]

Just bought the big P-38 to build together with my daughter & then hang up in her 3 year old son's room. Great memories from my youth 😎

[@TheChonaman]

100% loved these models. My Grandpa was a WWI aviator - US Army flying Spads and Nieuport biplanes primarily. What a great learning experience it was to see physics in action - model planes gliding through the air. Launched by my own hands - and my grandfather's hands next to me. Cherished those days.

[@jagdpanther9RCaircraft]

Great video Max! im really liking your model company videos and all of the great info in them. it takes me back to riding my bicycle 9 miles round trip to the model store to spend lawn mowing and chore money on a new model. i remember in the late 70's saying " someday im going to convert these models to RC" and being laughed at and hearing " someday but not in your lifetime!" well i have lived the dream and built many many great flying guillows and other stick and tissue rc conversions. what a great world of technology we live in and to have seen it develop to where it is now! im glad you and many others have been able to experience these wonderfull models and and to feel that peace and accomplishment that comes with building and flying them =D

[@mikebanks4935]

It was fascinating to learn Paul Guillow's history in aviation--thanks! Nicely done, professional video. My pals and I were flying those Jetfires at 7 and 8 years old, back in 1959. Later, I built the S.E.5A and other kits. Nice job building the Steerman--but not so nice flight, looks like.

[@nickdonovan1447]

I have great childhood memories of the rubber band powered airplanes that we used to buy thanks for that.

[@chipforster4332]

I just finished the Cessna 172 making it radio control. The new park motors, receiver's, micro servos are perfectfor these old models. I was given the model and it was pre laser cut which brought back a lot of my building skills. My dad built a slew of these planes back in the 60s and I can remember all of them. They were all built with ambroid glue and tissue. You could only assemble a few parts every night because you had to wait a day for the glue to harden. Today you can build a fuselage and wings in one night with these amazing CA glues. I hope they continue to manufacture these great planes for years to come. I also hope there is a revival of scratch building. Foam don't get you home.

[@rhinehardt1]

I started building balsa model aircraft in 1960 with Guillow's Fokker D.VIII and I've been at it ever since.

[@arneldobumatay3702]

In the late 50s-mid 60s, I built over a dozen of both Comet (my favorite) and Guillow kits. None of them flew well, but that besides the point: building and imagining a real plane. Stick n tissue was the way to go. Today, I still have an interest in these types of models.

[@SSmith-fm9kg]

I used to love the 10 cent gliders with the plastic pilot/canopy insert in the early 60s. The TG&Y sold one balsa plane for 5 cents that had a plastic piece that was pushed on top of the fuselage and the two wings pushed into it. Didn't have much money as a kid, so the 10 cent Guillow was usually out of my reach, financially.

[@MyBlueZed]

I built the Fokker D8 model when I was 16. Such fun. I wish I was 16 again.

[@kennyswonger5227]

Thanks again.I'm 66 and I rember when I always went to the 5 & dime to buy my model cars & toy cars & balsa airplanes .with rubber band & prop to fly the plane ✈ that was the good old days.👌 👌 and my match box cars .witch I still have.

[@calvingifford9442]

I've only finished ONE balsa & tissue kit. Don't remember now if it was Guillows or Comet but it was a F6F Hellcat. I was about a third of the way through another build when it got wrecked by one of my little brat cousins! Never finished the second one. Maybe now that I'm retired I should find that same kit and build it again!!

[@rogerhinman5427]

I spent a small fortune on those slide-together kits. With and without the rubber band prop. Played with them until they couldn't be played with any more. I tried the stick and paper kits a few times but I always ruined the plastic pieces. I could never cut them out of the sheet without having the overwhelming urge to trim them...and it's not quite even so trim it again. And again. And again. And now it's ruined...sigh...

[@sirhrmechanic2648]

I was hoping you did Guillows. Boy did I learn a lot about woodworking and planes building those kits! Thank you for these videos! So many great memories!

[@bluetopguitar1104]

Thanks. So many of us had our first exposure to models that actually flew because of those little gliders and rubber powered planes.

[@Siren851]

That video was fun! Balsa and glue, tissue and dope - what a vital part of growing up and getting old. Nothing beats opening a kit-box and smelling fresh-cut balsa.

[@autonoob]

I spotted the kits by accident in a ”gadget” shop one summer in the 90s. Thought the price was wrong by a factor of 5. ”How can it be so cheap?” Started with the Hurricane. Have been longing for those days ever since, started the rc hobby again a couple years ago. I love how the kits look the same.

[@johnwilliams7102]

Fascinating and professional presentation. I never tackled stick & tissue kits but launched dozens of the .10 cent gliders purchased from the corner Mom ‘n Pop store. Glad I found your treasure trove of modeling history. Thanks! P.S. love the ending montage

[@staffordduecker665]

My Father, Brother and I built and flew several of these in the late '60s and early '70s. Thanks for the memories!

[@raoulcruz4404]

In 2008 (or thereabouts) Guillows planned to offer laser cut kits for their 500 series models. I did the beta test build for their laser cut Stuka. I have no connection to Guillows other than building and flying their models. It was simply a unique volunteer opportunity and a privilege.

[@ILSRWY4]

I used to fly mine until I got tired of chasing planes that crashed and had to be repaired... now I cover my models with extremely thin balsa sheets to form the skin of my planes, puttied and sanded smooth. Then covered in the tissue (to seal in the wood grain and create a smooth surface) and then I heavily gloss it all, sand smooth and then paint in the aircraft's final color. A lot of work but the results show... and obviously non flying too... but Guillows, when done this way, make into pretty impressive and realistic looking large scale models..

[@scottyboy7462]

i would love to see some pics of those models . kind regards, [e-mail]

[@stephenridgway3886]

Like it.

[@jimsmalleimb7709]

I remember when I was a kid my Dad bought the Guillows "Javelin" which we built and flew together. The kit cost about a dollar at the time in the early 1970s. Now the kits are so insanely priced, they are absolutely unaffordable, and their wood was always too heavy anyway. The Javelin now costs about $50, their simple chuck gliders which I used to get for a quarter as a kid are now upwards of $30 in Canada, and that's just crazy. Best way to build a Guillows kit is to save the plans and toss the wood, use new lighter balsa. BTW love the use of the UFO theme at the end.

[@Wild-Dad]

I like your SHADOW/UFO music and references! I've always been a Gerry Anderson fan. The Bird Dog was the only balsa aircraft model I made - built it as a regular Cessna 152 (it crashed) Like I said in the Comet video, my brother was much more into that part of the hobby than me. I used mostly used balsa for my HO layout (buildings and other structures) as well as other projects too numerous to mention nor for anyone to be bothered by.

[@jimburig7064]

i loved those gliders. A small one was a dime and the larger one was a quarter. Sales tax in Michigan was 4% bumping it to twenty-six cents. Hours of fun though. The beauty of flight! The stick and tissue models took days to build and a single hard landing would do tremendous damage so they were relegated to hanging from the ceiling on a strand of thread. Impressive!

[@saabjunkieSPG]

Thank you for the informative video. I’ve built a number of Guillows, and the Fairchild is still one of my favorites, I’ve built 2. Beautiful and a great flyer. I may just have to buy a 3rd. I’ve started collecting some of these stick and tissue kits, and have a few from peck polymers

[@raoulcruz4404]

Eric Howell The Fairchild is a nice model and flyer. I still have mine.

[@lancerevell5979]

As a kid, I had several of the simple gliders, like the Jetfire. I had their balsa&tissue F6F Hellcat and Curtiss P-40, and the larger Piper Cub. As an experiment, I built the Hellcat using kitchen aluminum foil instead of tissue. It worked, but was definitely heavier than it needed to be. I remember Guillow's fondly.

[@donolinger6904]

Are you related to that famous family?

[@lancerevell5979]

@@donolinger6904 Which family? Revell Models isn't a family name, but a derivation of a French word. I have no connection to the company.

[@markbrown7103]

Gallows made some of the greatest scale model airplanes I ever built in my life. I have put several of these together, especially the big ones. P 38. What a beautiful plane P 47 thunderbolt B-17 bomber all of these kits went together beautiful I’ve actually displayed them in some of them museums and Baton Rouge, Louisiana. I moved there with my wife and I was a scale model builder at the time. Thanks for such great craftsmanship. I love it every once in a while I get the urge to build another one ha ha but I can’t quit playing guitar long enough to build one ha ha that’s my new hobby now and I love music been doing it longer than I’ve been building models, thanks for your video. Thanks for your wonderful airplanes. Have a great day. Love it.❤️👍😄😎😁🤣

[@buzzawuzza3743]

The photo of the kit in its box at the thirty second mark is amazing! What a kick to build that!!!!

[@drwisdom1]

I don't remember which one, but I built a Guillow's biplane as a child in the early sixties. It was a satisfying project that took some time to complete. I just do see people today having the attention span needed to build a Guillow's model plane. We don't do anymore, we just watch.

[@nathanbond8165]

I would have to say the two greatest inventions that have ever happened to stick and tissue model building is laser cut parts (you all know that those old diecast cut parts were horrible) and the other huge leap forward was the addition of vacuum-formed plastic cowlings, wheel skirts, fairings, and air scoops this made the models more realistic, easier to build, because you didn't have to scratch build those components yourself with Balsa and made the planes lighter...

[@TYB439]

Built many Guillow's kits. Last one was the Zero. I preferred the Sterling kits early on. The best kits ever were made by Airtronics.

[@poldet148]

Thanks for everything ! Love watching and learning.

[@curtismarean6963]

Brings back a lot of fond memories, I grew up with many of these. I even built some of the bigger models. Unfortunately a fire put an end to all my modeling dreams. I have been thinking of getting a kit lately, never knew that they were made in massachusetts, where I grew up. Thanks for the video!

[@FranksModelAviationWorkshop]

I still have a Fokker Triplane hanging from my ceiling, and I built a Wright Flyer. Over the years I’ve built a ton of Guillow’s kits.

[@GaryKaluza]

The best memories of my childhood. Thank you for creating and posting

[@wdtaut5650]

I still have a couple of Guillow kits, ca.1960, that I never started. I usually built Comet kits but there were plenty of Guillow's, too. I think those "pine" kits were actually spruce. They kept selling those well into the 50s. As I recall, the sheets with the ribs and formers printed on them were still balsa. It was the strip wood that was spruce. The models were durable but it was a bear cutting the wood with a broken razor blade. That's what we used before we could afford Exacto.

[@davidsheppard1133]

I loved building Comet and later Guillow kits. It is a favorite of mine after all these years. A lifelong hobby. Really enjoy learning the history of one of my favorite model companies. Thanks for taking the time to make these videos.

[@Habu12]

Started building them in the 80s. Still enjoy it.

[@cipherthedemonlord8057]

I've built a bunch of those and plan on doing an electric RC conversion on a Bird Dog. Recently had a local place order me one of the Nieuport 11s.

[@RammYou2]

of the larger 50" models I built many years ago as a kid the Spitfire and the SuperCub. Of course I always began the project with the idea that these would fly somehow - it's a beautiful promise of a stick and tissue model that comes with options as explained in the plans. Something signifigant happened with Guillows and my Dad. He started buying model kits for us to build. Ronald would talk about model airplanes that he and his brothers would build and launch off the roof after lighting on fire which would indicate that there was not a big emphasis on airworthiness. But at the same time they took the time to build the airplane! so a positive. I will revisit that with Ron and let you know what his excellent recall brings to us. Unfortunately I've never actually flown a Guillows model and never really thought it would fly after all the ambrose and hardwood and dope and silk came together. I had something to hang from the ceiling that just looked amazing and it was something I had built myself. So I did go on to build airplanes for Boeing and Northrop and McDonnel Douglas for 35 years but in the back lot of Bell Helicopter had my highly modified electric Goldberg flat-wing flying one vertical J-turn after another. Will post some pics with this one. I do have a 4 piece throw glider with a flat dihedral wing and a metal nose clip for CG and it is embossed with 'BOEING' God bless the Company BTW.

[@ussling]

I saw the UFO Interceptor box on the wall at 5:40. The UFO theme music was a nice touch. I have the UFO uweeo uweeo sound as my phone's ringtone. I built plenty of balsa wood airplanes in high school some decades ago.

[@mustardseedpower1188]

Thanks maxsmodels for this.. I still have two of the bi-planes balsa wood Spade and a Fokker. Folding wing glider, jetfire , and a rubber band powered,all are the slide kit.. Hours of fun as a kid... I've learned how to properly pronounce their name.. thanks to your interest.. God bless them for building those awesome kits.. who knows how many children they inspired in to aviation..

[@RWSBaden]

Hi Max's, Thanks for this history on Guillow's. Yes I've built many of their WW2 stick & tissue kits. My personal favorite was the WW1 Fokker Dr.1 Triplane. I built all of my kits as static models. Cheers, Rich S.

[@markjannakos503]

Another good one... thanks Max!

[@Spawn-td8bf]

I think you struck a happy nerve with this one. I think we were all weaned with Guillow models and gliders. Loved the Mrs. in the end. LOL. Take care and God Bless, Paul from Florida.

[@aceroadholder2185]

I've been reading through the comments and some of you say you were fustrated and didn't have enough patience to build a stick and paper airplane. As one of you mentioned, laser cut balsa and CA glue that sets in 5 seconds really is a game changer for construction. The balsa parts fall out of the panel with just a tap of the finger. Guillows sell an American made CA glue that works a treat. I got a 1/4" (6mm) foam board from Hobby Lobby (and they carry the Guillows balsa materials sets for general hobby work) , a box of T-pins and a roll of Seran Wrap to lay over the plans to keep the CA glue from sticking and I was off to the races. You still need your Xacto knife, sharp scissors, tweezers, a stick of Elmers purple school glue, and some sandpaper.. but not much else. A lot of Mom and Pop hobby shops have closed and kits may be hard to find in stores. Ditch Amazon and call Guillows directly. Their number is on their excellent web page. A very nice lady is there to take you call. I wanted green colored paper and Nitrate dope to finish the model. Call Sig Model Products in Iowa and another very nice and helpful lady will fix you right up. Their web page is excellent as well. Several months ago at Christmas I went to the about the last hobby store in Charlotte. A large and very nice store it was... but if you wanted anything besides RC cars or pre-built RC airplanes you were out of luck. I asked the young guy working there if they had any Nitrate dope... he thought I was looking for drugs! He went to the manager who found a shoebox sized box of airplane dope and thinner tins but it wasn't the type I wanted. I left empty handed and ordered it from Sig. Cheers from "I only stuck my fingers together 3 times with CA glue" in NC/USA

[@ZodZulu]

Nice to know they still around and not absorbed by another company. Digging the UFO theme.

[@maxsmodels]

;)

[@earlyhemibill]

I'm 67 and bought mu first Guillows kit when I was ll. It was the Nieuport 11. Cost $2.98 plus shipping. Right now I'm building the P-51 for control line with the Cox .049. Have built about 2 dozen of their kits.

[@petersoderlund4194]

I have built countless over the years. My father would buy them for me as a kid and I never stopped. I have several hanging in my office from over 35 years ago. This passion for aircraft steered me into my career as an Air-frame and Powerplant mechanic. Still going 63 years later.

[@tyronemarcucci8395]

I'm 83 and still building Guillow;s kits....My all time favorite is the bit SBD5 Dauntless..

[@Chuck-se5hh]

Good for you! Am so glad to hear that aeromodeling serves you well as I am also seeing it for myself.

[@TalkingGIJoe]

I never knew it was pronounced "Gwillows" not "Geelows"... thanks for that! Loved and flew a ton of those, few sucessfully, but had a great time and learned so many skills along the way... Thanks Mr. Guillows!

[@mongolike513]

.You are a very good boy Max. I thank you from my heart for these histories. I made one guillowe a P40 where I was first introduced to dope, this was probably 1960. Slow drying glues and being fairly witless I did not gain a lot of satisfaction when my airfix kits (I am in Australia) gave me more REALISM. Guillowes kits here were as expensive as accurate plastic models, English and American, and all these kits had such great box art that the unrealism of the finished balsa kit, despite its possibilities of flying was for me not part of my ongoing delusions.

[@johnaitken7430]

I grew up in 50sbuilding these. The profile ones w stick and tissue wings. Corsair my fav

[@johnmartin4650]

Excellent stuff…….thanks Mr G

[@phineasrumson3116]

Back in the early 60's, my dad would bring home a kit every few months. Loved that quality time on those frigid winter nights, dreaming of spring and flying said models!

[@88SC]

Laser cutting changed the game. Build time reduced and accuracy increased. With CA glue, you can work as fast as you care to and still get a good result.

[@michaeloboyle8798]

I currently have a Guillows FW-190 that I built into an RC airplane. Electric li-po powered with balsa skin. It flies okay but I break it a lot. I also have smaller rubber band powered FW-190 and p-40. I built probably 10 of them as a kid and those 3 as an adult. The joy is definitely in the building.

[@elephantwalkersmith1533]

My dad flew in the Air Force, and I learned to build Guillows planes in the 60’s. Loved them. Thanks!

[@loganreuter6072]

I built the Cessna 172 kit and converted it to RC. It flew like crap and I only landed it once without breaking the landing gear. But youre right the fun is in the building.

[@maxsmodels]

all of mine cratered

[@samiam619]

maxsmodels Was it a case of “dumb thumbs”?

[@olsonspeed]

Thanks for the video. My childhood friends and I spent our money and countless hours building these flying model kits. A great learning experience and fun hobby.

[@davidheilman1613]

Built my first Stick and Tissue plane when I was in 5th Grade. A Comet PT-19. It looked like Hell, (glued the tissue onto the balsa framework! had no idea I should have used Dope. Directions are what ya read to find out what ya did wrong?), but the silly thing flew. Bought my first Guillow's shortly after that. This would have been 1967-68. I very much enjoyed the way Guillow had us build the Fuselage. After building just one, and having it look so realistic once the tissue was on, I built other Comet models but always bought more Guillow models, with the FW 190 being my favorite. Intended to purchase a P-47 Thunderbolt, but made it into my 20's, discovered Girl's and Life crowded out model building. Times have sure changed though. For years now, I cannot remember any children building a Plastic Model, let alone a Stick and Tissue style. I'm not sure if kids today know how to change a Bike Tire if it goes flat! Do that many kids today even own Bikes? I could hope that some kids some where still have an interest in building models of Cars, Planes, Boats, Ships, etc. Judging by the lack of such models being in stores, I'm guessing the younger generations are sitting in front of a Computer Screen instead of pinning down some Wax Paper over a set of Plans of a Stick and Tissue P-40 War Hawk. A kid today might ask, Who is War Hawk? Sounds Cool; Grandpa, is there an Action Figure we can buy?

[@Thekarlskorner]

Being a World War I fanatic, I built countless Guillow Fokker D VII, D VIII, S.P.A.D. 7, Nieuport 27, 28, kits, plus a few Albatross D V's, Pfalz DIII's and the much sought after Bristol Scout as a kid. Plus at least one static model DeHaviland DH 4. Still have a collection of these and a few Comet and Sterling WWI kits. Of all of them my brother's Curtiss Robin flew the best, so I built a scratch one with his plans. Built many of them to f 'll y, but a good number authenticlly painted as static models. Thank you for posting these great videos on the many model kit makers many of us grew up with.

[@Jan-hx9rw]

Been to the Wakefield store a couple times. Nice little company. Built my share of them back in the late 50s through early 70s.

[@jamminjr7856]

I used to live right behind the factory in the next street over. Salem street.

[@maxsmodels]

wow