Click on the picture to see this Collection!! Name: Gennaro Cuozzo Location: Astoria, New York

1- What do you Collect?
Airliner models, Jet Airliner models

2- How long have you been Collecting and restoring?
I’ve been Collecting since the age of eight, Restoring unofficially 8 or 9 years. Officially about 6 years for people I don’t know who call me and send me stuff.

3- How many model kits would you say you currently own?
That’s a good question, I’ve never really counted them, a couple of hundred.

4- So why Airliner models, what’s the fascination?
I really think it started when I was a kid less than a year old. I was flying back and forth to Italy every year. From New York to Italy so I think just being around airplanes being in the airliners all the time being in the airports I just became fascinated with the size of them and speed and everything.

5- What would you say is the rarest one that you own?
The rarest model I have? Probably the little Aero Mini, it’s an Eastern Airlines DC-8. That’s probably the rarest because that was never really made in large quantities and Aero Mini, the company that made those models, had just started making them just before they went out of business I guess in the early 70’s. So there are very few around and it’s a really cool looking plane. A lot of the collectors are looking for it and they spend up to $1,000 for it.

6- Have you ever purchased a rare find that you were amazed was for sale?
Sure, my Alitalia MD-11. That again is rare and when you do find it people don’t sell it. I bought it off of Ebay and I paid nothing for it. The guy just didn’t know what he had.

7- So, having a hobby that not too many people are very knowledgeable about really works in your favor?
Oh yeah, All the time. If you stay away from where all the collectors go shopping and you go to these little places you get lucky. I’ve gotten lucky over the years on Ebay or finding these little thrift stores where these metal models are worth thousands of dollars in art shops. I paid $100 for a model not that long ago, it’s a big metal DC-8 it’s just completely rare and completely refined and down at Soho you can find it for $3,500.

8- Every Collector has a Holy Grail, an item they wished that they had in their collection but somehow seemed unreachable. What is your Holy Grail?
Ah, that would be a TWA 747 cut away model, 24 scale so it makes it about 12 feet long and it’s for sale and I’m working on getting it actually. But I would get rid of most of my collection to have that because it’s THE model that I’ve always wanted since I was a little kid. I saw it once in a travel agency on 5 th Avenue when I was a kid and I was like that is the model to have.

9- What would say is the best-looking Airliner plane? And also the one with the best design?
I have to say the look aesthetically the 747 is just one of the most beautiful airplanes, all the versions of it. I’m a big fan of the 747SP which is a shortened version of the standard 747 I just think it looks like a Hot Rod its short and its quick and it’s got lots of power. The 747 is just unbeatable as far as aesthetics, I think. As far as design goes I’ve been looking at airlines since I was a kid and I’m partial to the old PAN AM, which is very simple, just a blue line over the windows a nice little globe on the tail. I like those Classic looking planes I don’t like the big colorful stuff. As far as recognition I like seeing the Alitali because that’s unmistakable everyone knows that logo, there are so many I like, I also like the Aerolineas Argentinas’ look its beautiful, simple lines.

10- One of my Questions is do you display them and as I look around it is obvious that you do so I will ask how you go about displaying them? Do you you follow a system?
I like to group them in scales. I collect three different scales. I collect 100 scale 72 nd scale and 50 scale, which is the bigger size, those are my three. I tend to stick with those, I also have other collections of other ones but I like to group them in the same scale so you can see the difference of size in the actual airplane itself. From month to month I change them around and when I get bored I start taking the dust off of them and just re-arrange them.

11- As I look around I see that your private Collection gallery (his apartment) also contains a workshop. And Rumor has it that you are not just a Collector but a Professional Customizer/Restorer and a well-known one at that. Your reputation exceeds you as far as England, tell me about that?
Yes, its really kind of funny, I don’t know how that happened it’s totally not something I was going for. I just started customizing some of the models I would find like that PAN AM plane was totally my creation (pointing to a plane on his shelf). It was a kit that I bought, it was a standard size like the National plane next to it (pointing to another plane on his shelf) and I just cut it down and played with it a little bit.

When I sold some of my collection off on Ebay a fellow came by to pick it up and he saw that PAN AM plane and his reaction was “Wow! Where did you get that? It’s extremely rare; I’ve never seen it before”. And I told him that I made it, one thing lead to another, he started spreading the word and people started sending me their models to fix and I would send them back when I was done. So now I’ve some how graduated to these big Museum piece models so I just have fun with it and I turn down work if it’s too much but I have fun with it. The nice thing about it is that my skill level goes up for my own collection because I’m working on other peoples things so when I do my models I have that much more skill.

Also there’s this fellow that I’ve been dealing with for years who’s a big time collector. He has a big professional model company that make models for Airlines and he and I have had a good rapport for years and he sends me work because he’s seen some of my work. And there are only three major companies that make models on a large scale and volume. Though they won’t touch the older models they’d rather sell you a new model. A lot of these collectors have these older models but don’t have the skill to do it themselves, so from what I’ve heard, there’s really just one other guy on the West Coast in California somewhere that does this kind of stuff. But he doesn’t take work on a regular basis like I do, he says once in a while if he wants to work on it or if he feels like it, I guess I’m monopolizing the market unintentionally. (Laughs)

12-So what will happen to this wonderful collection when you are gone?
You know I’ve thought about that, I really want to see if any of my family wants any of it by then and I’m gonna put that in a will and if anyone wants any of those pieces, treat them well. And then I’d like to leave it to some kind of a museum or something, maybe establish it before I die, like a museum wing somewhere, and see some of the stuff that’s really rare. Stuff that I like happens to be off beat stuff that’s made a significant contribution to aviation or to the airline industry and not many people are into that kind of history, and I am.

13- Speaking of history, you seem to be very knowledgeably about Aviation and your hobby.
Yeah, again as a hobby I pick up books and I read them about the airlines and people who’ve created them. Yeah, I’m pretty much a history buff as far as Aviation is concerned.

14- What types of conventions are available for a collector like yourself?
Well, there’s a lot of Aviation that deals with Military but I have no inclination to go in there at all. I just never really got that. The Airliner shows are like underground but you can find them for example in the back of Airwaves magazine. You can usually find advertisements for Airliners Conventions. There are two different types there’s the ones that are done by private collectors. They get together and they rent a hotel conference room. Then there’s an official one called Airliners International. There’s also the Tri State Airline Historical Society. My favorite is where the private collectors bring their stuff, we trade and talk, mostly we talk about, “Hey! Did you see this, did you see that?” but they’re around there’s at least one a month in New York. Some of them are smaller some of them are not even worth going to because it’s just a bunch of buddies getting together. But Airliners the world’s airline magazine is an excellent magazine it has all the resources in the back its got places where to go for information for models. In fact there’s a few of them, there’s Airways, Airliners then there’s Airline Hobbyist. There are a few more of them but those are harder to find.

15- How does someone contact you if they are interested in having something customized or worked on?
I can be contacted through my email address at Cuozzo747@aol.com

16- When you are customizing and restoring your kits what are the essential tools and materials that you use?
Nothing is off limits to me; I’ve used dentist tools, jeweler’s tools, construction tools. As I’m working on them I say youknow what would be good here, this thing.

17- What about compound or plastics, what do you favor?
You know, I like the resin because it’s easy to shape and easy to sand. I’m a real stickler for detail. The model has got to be exact, the shapes has got to be real close to the real thing and with resin you can really do that, you can really work it enough. A lot of people are afraid to sand, I love sanding, you can really feel the thing in your hand and it becomes a whole creation that you’re making, you can fill it in if you sand too much and then re-do it. The clear plastics that I’m starting to get into now, I forget the name, it’s very difficult to work with because it scratches easy and it’s really just one of these things where you just put it together and leave it alone. They use them for cutaways in the industrial models. Some of the stuff that I’ve been sent is with that stuff, a clear acrylic type of thing. I’ve told the guy “listen, there’s nothing I can do with this model you want me to transform it into something else I can but I can’t use that same exact material”. So what I’ve done now is I’ve taken apart the stuff and I’ve used the seat and the interior and I’ve built a plane around it.

18- What is your favorite company that creates these kits?
Well, since I collect the Jet Airliner models, there are only a handful of companies in the world that makes them. In England there’s a company, I don’t know what they’re called now, there’s been so many different names they’re called Executive Display Models they make by far the finest detailed models in the world. Then there’s another one in the United States called Pacific Miniatures they don’t deal with the public though so it’s very difficult to get a hold of those models but I’ve got a bunch of them (laughs) and they’re very expensive. It’s a shame because those are so limited and they’re really fine models. They work with Boeing and Douglas the manufacturers of the actual airplanes. There’s another company down in Florida who actually tried to hire me to start a restoration department and I’ve known her, the owner of the company, for probably 20 years. I’ve been buying stuff from her and she offered to move me down to Miami and I could do my own thing but I just said “well I’ve got the best of both worlds I don’t work for anyone and I’m still doing what I’m doing.” But they’re good too. Some of the stuff I’m not really happy with though because they’re not as accurate as I’d like them to be.

19- Any Additional Comments for our readers?
Actually, I guess what’s important to, for collectors which I’ve always had a problem is where to find these types of models because for years and years and years I could never find them and nobody knew where to get them and they are available. There’s a few websites that are really cool. Peter Jackson the guy with British Airways and he does a lot of the models, he’s got an amazing collection and on the website too they have photos of collectors and private collections that are very cool. He runs this site its aviationmodels-online.com. They make really high-end models that are just fun to look at. They made this cut a way with the seats and everything with the engines that really spin, fiber optic lights and it’s incredible, probably cost you $30,000. Then there are models for sale and you can actually put stuff on there as well. The guys can get on here and see the prices and can gauge how much they should spend based on what they’re selling them here. It can get very expensive. If you have the patience and skill to do something like this you can turn around and sell them for incredible amounts of money.

For a beginner or somebody who has been collecting airliner stuff for a while there are so many more resources to get stuff. Most people will tell you it’s unavailable, but there are a lot of small companies that are out of these guys’ basements that make decals and airliner markings. I’ve had custom work done from a place in the Midwest, DRAW Decal is the name of the company, and he does great stuff he’ll customize whatever you want. He’s a really good guy to deal with. There are a lot of the models that are so rare because they can’t find the art work to do that stuff with but it really is available. The only thing is he asks that you don’t sell the stuff and it’s for your private collection because that’s what he does. I have stuff coming from Paris, this guy in Paris Felipe, he does excellent decal work and I had him do some custom sizing for me. So, it’s available you just have to know where to go and some of the stuff I found from recommendations is really not that good. So, you really just have to fish around and find the quality that you like because I like the tinniest details to be very clear and most collectors are like me anyway they want to see door handles and little rivet marks and stuff like that.