I AM THE AMA 2013/07

JS: How did you get involved with model aviation?
TW: In my early childhood,
historical events of
the postwar years
conspired to bring
me to model
aviation.
Chuck
Yeager
and the
Bell X-1
were
breaking
the sound
barrier;
the
military
was
transitioning
from
propeller
planes to
jets; airlines
were enjoying
unprecedented
growth; and the
air traffi c in my
hometown was
quickly increasing.
At every family
or neighborhood gettogether
there were dads,
uncles, and family friends
swapping war stories about
their air adventures over Europe
or the Pacifi c. And Herman’s
Hobby Shop opened for business on
my daily route to and from school.
JS: How has model aviation impacted
your life and/or career?
TW: Next to drawing and painting,
craftsmanship is very important to an artist’s
work. As a modeler I learned early on that
success comes from preparation, planning, and
the proper use of tools and materials. Model
aviation has been an aid in understanding aircraft
structure and fl ight performance.
Good artists paint what they see; great artists
paint what they know. Structure is fundamental to
drawing any subject and modeling aircraft has helped
me in my work.
JS: What disciplines of modeling do you currently
participate in?
TW: I have participated in different areas of modeling through
the years—Free Flight, Control Line, Pattern, and Scale
Aerobatics. In the early 1980s, I settled into RC Giant Scale.
I also enjoy studying aviation history because the people who
designed and built the famous and innovative aircraft of the past
fascinate me.
Yet whether building from scratch or plans, I still delight in
fabricating my own components rather than using a laser-cutting
service. Making the parts myself is not only a personally satisfying
exercise, it helps me to better envision the fi nal assembly.
And I love fl ying these creations as much as building them.
Piloting a newly built Scale aircraft for the fi rst few times is
always a knee-knocking experience that gets the adrenalin
fl owing. I enjoy the challenge of making these miniature replicas
perform in the same manner as their full-scale counterparts.
JS: What are your other hobbies?
TW: Oil painting is my most avid interest. I also enjoy
maintaining and driving my 1959 Triumph TR-3 named
“Winston” (its bug-eyed countenance says it all). Early British
sports cars have a personality and a drivability that is unique to
the breed and, for me, putting these cars through their paces is a
great way to clear the cobwebs and relieve stress.
JS: Who (or what) has in uenced you the most?
TW: This is a tough question for me to answer in the space of
this interview. With a successful career in graphic arts spanning
over 40 years, there have been more than a few people and many
experiences that have infl uenced me.
My wife, Gail, tops the list, along with my high school art
teacher Fr. Bud Cullen C.S.B., and the Navy pilot of a PB4Y-2
Privateer who, in 1955, took an airplane-crazy fi fth grader on his
fi rst fl ight. I have had many opportunities to fl y in some great
airplanes, but nothing will ever replace my cherished memory of
fl ying over Lake Ontario in that big, lumbering patrol bomber.
JS: How did you get started as an aviation artist and illustrator?
TW: How to Draw Planes, by Frank Wootton, was my fi rst book
on drawing. During my grade school years, it was confi scated
more than once during classes.
My enthusiasm for drawing the great airplanes of the day
often got in the way of my schooling, which led my eighth-grade
teacher to comment that I’d “best pay attention to my studies
because I would never make a living drawing airplanes.” Thank
goodness she was wrong.
Drawing and painting airplanes has always been a hobby of
mine, but in the late 1970s I was hired by an ad agency to do a
painting of a Spitfi re for a client’s ad campaign. The ads appeared
in quite a few trade magazines.
Many readers wanted to purchase a print of the Spitfi re
or contacted me for more work. Since then I have been
working quite regularly providing paintings and illustrations
to corporations, museums, magazines, book publishers, and for
private commissions, as well as producing my own books on
aircraft history.
168 Model Aviation JULY 2013 www.ModelAviation.com
Ted Williams Aviation artist and illustrator
168_MA0713_IAmTheAMA.indd 168 5/24/13 10:10 AM