Pawel!
Now you know where I got the idea to do ship and boat cutaways. when I was but a beginning modeler, there was a travel office I used to walk and bike past on my way to school. They had a few ships and one or two smaller coastal types that were cutaways.
The one that caught my eye the most was a Cutaway of the S.S.United States.OOOh that was neat! I would stand there and just stare at it drinking in the details. One day a nice lady came out and asked me what had me so fascinated. When I told her, she had me sit at her desk. Then she went in the back.I was looking at all the posters for those beachy getaways on them when she came back with a box.
If you'll build this for us I will get you a nice one in return. You could've knocked my socks off! It was the old "Pyro" kit of the American President liner, Of which they had none but Photos. I put it on the back bike reck and made beeline for the HobbyShop. I needed to get the right paint.I only had the basic little bottle"Testors" set. You know, the eight basic colors and a brush that looked like it came out of the garbage instead of being new.
All the lady told me was Put it on a board with it looking like it was in water. Aha I get to keep part of it! Well, the Hobby Shop manager helped me get some good brushes and the right paint. Then he told me how to make that base. He even had the kind of supplies so I could make the base. I took it back in two weeks, and I thought it looked good. The lady that gave it to me wasn't there. She had gotten fired for doing that! The New lady(Very strict looking) called a guy out of the back. He came out and she pointed to the model."Well, Do We ,or not"? He looked the model over and simply said, "Call Laurel back", She was right" .
I then got a model that I had never seen before. It seemed to be the old "Pyro: S.S. United States" This was a rare model even then. I don't think even one whole truckload of them had ever been made. It wasn't the Pyro kit for sure! Simply because it was a "Travel Agency Cutaway" To be built by a skilled modeler only! For use in travel Agency viewing areas!" It was, i am assuming a plasticy Resin, weighed about seven pounds and had a lot of flat sheets of some brass looking parts and A whole Book on what colors were to be used for what areas and the other spaces! Never heard of the company!
I real quick beat feet away from there in case they changed their minds. I didn't go back there till one christmas when everything was decorated in t eh windows. Miss Laurel was there! Gave me a big hug and asked if I got the ship she had ordered for me. I told her yes and she seemed so glad, Then someone came in and wanted to book a vacation. I never saw her again and the agency closed two years later. The Ship dissappeared from what had been my room while I was in service. I never saw it again either! I guess, that back then even, that ship cost a couple hundred bucks! No wonder then, that she got in trouble!
That was in the fifties. and I still enjoy the odd cutaway now and then, even those with clear Bodies, Hulls or Fuselages. Oh, so much detail can go there. And chotskes galore!