Airport #1

About five years ago, I started my collection of die-cast airplanes. I started collecting the Schabak 1:600s. I liked the small scale, but the quality was horrible. I became a regular customer at the Smithsonian store in the BWI (Baltimore-Washington International) Airport, where I picked through the boxes for the best quality planes.

Once I had enough planes, I decided to build an airport to display them. Fortunately, I had a big basement that afforded me the space.

The base was made of plywood, painted gray. The terminals were constructed out of Balsa wood, and the runway markings were made using Architect’s tape. For the grass I used model train landscape grass powder. It was a lot of work, but it was fun.

Airport #2

As my collection grew, so did the airport. The second incarnation was almost twice as big as the first one. Still 1:600 scale.

The same technique on the first airport was used on this one. This time I used two sheets of plywood, painted gray. The terminals were constructed out of Balsa and solid wood pieces, and the round terminals were round and oval wood frames found at your local Crafts store.

Airport #3

After getting fed-up with the low quality of the Schaubacks, I started collecting 1:500 Herpa and Dragon Wings. Once again, as my collection grew, so did the airport.

This is the biggest airport that I have built so far. It was a 1:500 scale on three sheets of plywood. This time I was looking for a smoother surface, so I bought a bunch of linoleum tiles and painted them gray. The runway markings were done with Architect’s tape, and the grass with train landscape grass. The Main terminal was the back of an old LCD screen. The gate and cargo areas were constructed of solid pieces of wood. The windows were cut-outs from plastic report covers (smoke), with a “frame” made out of black Architects tape.

Airport #4

About 3 years ago I moved down to Florida. The problem down here is that there are no basements, so space is a premium. At the same time, I started working with Adobe Illustrator, so I decided to design my “next generation” airport on the computer. This is my first try using this technique.

It was a 1:500 scale airport, single runway design. The terminal was made of a combination of Balsa wood (for the main terminal), and solid wood for the gate area. I also used toothpicks for the angled light poles at the gate area. The airport was printed on sixty pieces of paper, trimmed to 8” x 10”, and glued to a 4’ x 8’ piece of insulation board (Styrofoam). I chose this board because is a lot easier to handle and move around.

I tried to make it look as real as possible, doing the smoke and skid marks on the runway, and the oil stains at the gates. All the markings, and the grass are also made using Illustrator.

Airport #5

I continued refining my design (still 1:500), but this time I got some extra money and purchased one of Herpa’s terminal buildings. I also design a runway background to give the airport a more “life-like” look.

This design has a single runway, a Terminal area, a Cargo area, a Fuel Tank area, and a parking garage building.

Airport #6

This is my latest airport (1:500). This is a dual, parallel runway airport. It has a Main terminal area, a Satellite gate area, a Cargo area, a Fuel Tank area, and a parking area that can be used with or without a parking garage building.

For this airport I followed the FAA guidelines for runways and taxiways markings, to make it look as real as possible. I have also made adjustments for the A380.

For my next airport, I will probably go back to the single runway design, and add a Hangar. I am also thinking of a new design with a smaller runway crossing the main runway at an angle, similar to FLL (Fort Lauderdale International). I am also working on a couple of new backgrounds.

To see these and other airport designs, check out the 1:500 Model Airport page and the 1:400 Model Airport page in my website.

Note: These links on this page are affiliate links – if you buy stuff from any of these vendors, I’ll get a commission.

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