Given the ever expanding size of my 1:400 collection I probably ought not to be expanding into new collection areas, however I obviously can't help myself. My latest foray takes me into the territory of manufacturer house colours and has been bolstered by some excellent releases from Phoenix, JC Wings and Panda recently.

Back in May I attempted to resolve the issue that my growing Cathay Pacific Group fleet was causing inside the existing cabinets of my collection. The resolution I came up with at the time was distinctly short term but nonetheless, even though I should have known it wasn't going to have much longevity about it, it was an important stepping stone towards a more permanent solution as described here.

My collection started out entirely focused on the USA and specifically the US regulated era from about 1950-1980. Of my 1534 models the US part of Yesterday's Airlines still consists of a big chunk of the collection - 641 models in fact. I like to display by airline fleet and this has created some challenges especially when this part of the collection has been stored in a variety of different cabinets. In this part of my hangar update I take a look at how the US collection has been upgraded recently.

My 1/400 collection continues to grow apace and demand more space, whilst at the same time I see ways that I can try and make the presentation better also. I am keen not to increase the footprint of the collection itself and that means finding innovative new ways to fit in more models without spending much $$. Here are some of my latest efforts spread across three posts.

In part 1 I look at the non-US section of the collection.

My collection continues to expand at a steady rate of about 10 models a month and yet I have sworn to myself that the footprint of my collection will not expand beyond its already impressive area at Yesterday's Airlines central. This poses some issues and requires creative methods to find new spots to place models, as the collection inexorably approaches 1500 aircraft in 1/400 scale. Cathay Pacific's placement has been a long standing issue.

When I installed the glass cabinets in place of the open shelves it was clear there was still room for some extra shelving. Even though that was only 3 months ago the ever expanding size of the collection has meant that already I have made some changes to the layout and at the same time taken advantage of a few good opportunities to improve the area as well. Here's an update.

Following the cat-astrophe Yesterday's Airlines has been reborn again. If Mk1 encompasses the many iterations of the original hobby room and Mk2 was the new house hangar then Mk3 is the first time that the majority of the collection has been gotten behind glass into display cabinets. Hopefully from here it'll be protected and kept free of dust. With the collection approaching 1300 units it has come just in time and after a few weeks of uncertainty I can get back to blog posts and box opening.

It's been a wild time at Yesterday's Airlines with some extreme highs and lows. Only 1 week after scoring the awesome 300+ collection from a chance contact (see my previous blog entry). the models suffered their most grievous damage ever thanks to the actions of a certain feline. But despite the losses I have managed to bounce back and the hangar is now fully re-equipped and ready for anything the pets can throw at it!

Sunday 24th July started out like any other day. I took my lad swimming and then popped into one of the quarterly toy and hobby fairs in Auckland. They are usually full of trains and Hot Wheels with nary an airplane to be seen but this time was different. This time it would start off an opportunity that not only saw me acquire nearly 70 new models but also make a small profit in the process! The Auckland toy and hobby fair runs twice a year out of the community hall on Dominion Road near Mt Eden, Auckland (the other two times a year it's a larger affair at Freemans Bay). Kiwis just don't care much about aircraft so there is rarely much there for myself and I content myself with picking up the odd book or scouring the sections for transformers and dinosaurs for my lad (and me).

If you had a 3 car garage why the hell would you waste it by parking cars in it? I am thrilled to say that the big house move went smoothly and Yesterday's Airlines finds itself operating from a new hangar space in West Auckland. And what a space it is. One of the reasons for purchasing the previous house was the space afforded by the hobby room but that pales into comparison with the new setup. It's taken a few weeks to unpack everything but now the space is ready to be unveiled.