To purchase this print, please to order the item from HobbyLink Japan, our distribution partner.
The "Connie" is a simply beautiful aircraft and Koike has done it great service in this painting, with the sun reflecting elegantly in the background. Every fuselage bulkhead in the Constellation was a different size, giving the plane its unique "dolphin" shape. Since then, airliners have generally used standardized bulkhead sizes to ease production and increase strength against pressurization. About 900 examples of this iconic airliner, complete with the unusual, triple tail fins, were built. The tail configuration was to accommodate the plane in the hangers of the era, which often didn't have the height that would be demanded by the single fin of a plane this big.
Development of the Connie was started by TWA under Howard Hughes, with the concept being a pressurized aircraft that fly coast-to-coast non-stop. But the war intervened and all examples built during the war were used a military transports. It wasn't until the war ended that TWA was finally able to take delivery of their planes.
Many different versions of the Constellation were produced, including military versions, the very first "Air Force One" used by president Eisenhower in 1953, and in passenger configurations for airlines all over the world. The plane was in wide use from 1943 to 1967, and a few examples are still flying today.
Portrayed here is the very first Constellation flown by TWA, "Star of Paris." Interestingly, in their first few years of operation, TWA was The Trans World Airline (singular). They didn't add the 's' until 1950.
"I painted her once for a magazine pinup some 25 years ago and the plane has been in my mind ever since. It was a TWA plane then, too. It's not so much that she looks best in TWA markings, but she looks best with a natural duralumin finish," says Koike as he explains his admiration of the Connie.
This print is reproduced on heavy art board and sized identically to the original, measuring 400mm x 315mm (15.75 x 12.4 inches). It's offset-printed, and the color reproduction has been approved by Koike himself. The art board measures 625mm x 453mm (24.6 x 17.8 inches), leaving white borders around the image to give you the freedom to have it framed as you please. The prints are packed in a special sleeve inside a sturdy shipping box designed to prevent any bending while on their way to you (for this reason, they cannot be combined with other types of items for shipping, they will be shipped separately, even if ordered with other items).