Tuesday 17 November 2015

Al DuVal's Collection ~ Update


Back in February Aviation of Japan's Texas correspondent Mark Smith wrote a moving eulogy to his friend Al DuVal whose impressive collection of 382 1/48th scale model aircraft featured many Japanese subjects. At that time the fate of this fine collection was unknown but subsequently the Frontiers of Flight Museum in Dallas, Texas offered to provide a permanent home for it.  


Gary Seidel, the lead volunteer at the museum model shop, has now written to say how very happy the Museum was to acquire Al's collection and that the Curatorial Committee has now completed the installation of the showcases, registering and placing of the models. The lighting is still to be installed and a brief dedication is planned for 13 December with more details to follow. Gary kindly sent these images of the installation. It is a delight to see Al's fine collection permanently preserved and on show like this and a fitting memorial to a passionate modeller. Congratulations to Frontiers of Flight Museum and all those who helped to make it happen.

Image credits: © 2015 Gary Seidel, Frontiers of Flight Museum.

3 comments:

Dan Salamone said...

Fantastic that this was done. Well done to all involved!

Dan

Mark Smith said...

Great news indeed, and the result of Richard Winston's and John Walen's search to find a worthy home for these. Without Richard's overture to Frontiers of Flight and careful follow-through, I don't believe this would have happened. Serendipity was a player too, as I think other museums would have liked to feature this display, but lacked that most elusive commodity for curators - available space. Nick, thanks so much for aiding Al's friends and family in this effort and the support you lent from far away. The article about the collection that appeared on this blog, and its link, were very useful in spreading the word quickly and in celebrating a wonderful man. It's a great museum, and my fondest hopes for the eventual disposition of these models, as expressed in the original tribute, will be fulfilled many times over. We couldn't have asked for more! Mark

WD said...

Well done. Wonderful news.