Truth of War
Tool of Destruction
Peter Oles
April 2017
Balsa wood and tissue paper
My art piece is of a WW2 fighter/interceptor plane known as the P-51 Mustang. It was manufactured as one of the most advanced fighters of the war and with it, more than 4000 Axis power aircraft were shot down and numerous airstrips destroyed. My piece symbolizes that beauty can be found in any form, even in tools of destruction such as the P-51.
I made this piece because I love the history of aviation in war. In the case of this plane, it kept America's air campaign alive. I was also inspired by the story of the Tuskegee airmen, the first all black air force squadron. They were a group of bomber escorts andmade the difference at least once in successful raids.
In order to make this plane in the time that I had, I needed to order a box of balsa wood and instructions on how to make a P-51 Mustang. I started to put it together with the instructions, but I changed it up about halfway through and re-designed some of it to make it unique. The build itself took quite a while and I had a couple late nights in order to finish it on time, due to the long process of cutting and gluing pieces and the tissue paper covering.
I learned a lot through the course of the project. I learned how essential the P-51 was in the Second World War. I also learned that it was one of the most heavily armed fighter/interceptors in the war using six .50 caliber machine guns, and that it was one of the fastest aircrafts in the USA’s arsenal, with a massive Rolls -Royce Merlin engine. I learned more than just statistics however. I learned that the Mustang is one of the deadliest planes to ever fly, but despite that reputation, a reputation that will last for centuries, the Mustang is one of the most beautiful things I have ever laid eyes on.
Peter Oles
April 2017
Balsa wood and tissue paper
My art piece is of a WW2 fighter/interceptor plane known as the P-51 Mustang. It was manufactured as one of the most advanced fighters of the war and with it, more than 4000 Axis power aircraft were shot down and numerous airstrips destroyed. My piece symbolizes that beauty can be found in any form, even in tools of destruction such as the P-51.
I made this piece because I love the history of aviation in war. In the case of this plane, it kept America's air campaign alive. I was also inspired by the story of the Tuskegee airmen, the first all black air force squadron. They were a group of bomber escorts andmade the difference at least once in successful raids.
In order to make this plane in the time that I had, I needed to order a box of balsa wood and instructions on how to make a P-51 Mustang. I started to put it together with the instructions, but I changed it up about halfway through and re-designed some of it to make it unique. The build itself took quite a while and I had a couple late nights in order to finish it on time, due to the long process of cutting and gluing pieces and the tissue paper covering.
I learned a lot through the course of the project. I learned how essential the P-51 was in the Second World War. I also learned that it was one of the most heavily armed fighter/interceptors in the war using six .50 caliber machine guns, and that it was one of the fastest aircrafts in the USA’s arsenal, with a massive Rolls -Royce Merlin engine. I learned more than just statistics however. I learned that the Mustang is one of the deadliest planes to ever fly, but despite that reputation, a reputation that will last for centuries, the Mustang is one of the most beautiful things I have ever laid eyes on.
Peter Oles
Truth of War
This project was about the truth of war. All of us had different ways to show it and all of us displayed different truths. Mine was that everything can be beautiful, even something that was used to kill thousands. The way that i did it was to make a balsa wood P-51D Mustang. I tried to make it as beautiful as I could to show that this plane that was so effective could be a pretty thing. I also tried to use my artist statement to show the same thing. Despite all the hours I put into it however, the final product wasn't nearly as good as I had hoped.
I had a lot of improvement throughout the project. The biggest one was with my time management. Generally I goof off in class instead of doing my work, but this time, i used every minute of my in class work time to either do research or build my plane. This really helped me get my project finished and exhibition ready. If I had goofed off during class like I usually do, I would have been far from finishing my artist statement or the plane on time. Another area of growth was with my building skills. I am more confident now than I used to be because I know I can achieve things if I try.
I understand a lot more than I did before the project. First of all, truths in war can be interpreted differently by different people. When I was presenting my piece, I had a lot of different opinions from different people. My original truth was that beauty can be found in in anything, even something that was used to kill thousands of people, but other people saw other things, like that something that is cheap and easy to make can be an effective killing machine. This project really opened my eyes about the different ways that people can look at different things.
Truth of War
This project was about the truth of war. All of us had different ways to show it and all of us displayed different truths. Mine was that everything can be beautiful, even something that was used to kill thousands. The way that i did it was to make a balsa wood P-51D Mustang. I tried to make it as beautiful as I could to show that this plane that was so effective could be a pretty thing. I also tried to use my artist statement to show the same thing. Despite all the hours I put into it however, the final product wasn't nearly as good as I had hoped.
I had a lot of improvement throughout the project. The biggest one was with my time management. Generally I goof off in class instead of doing my work, but this time, i used every minute of my in class work time to either do research or build my plane. This really helped me get my project finished and exhibition ready. If I had goofed off during class like I usually do, I would have been far from finishing my artist statement or the plane on time. Another area of growth was with my building skills. I am more confident now than I used to be because I know I can achieve things if I try.
I understand a lot more than I did before the project. First of all, truths in war can be interpreted differently by different people. When I was presenting my piece, I had a lot of different opinions from different people. My original truth was that beauty can be found in in anything, even something that was used to kill thousands of people, but other people saw other things, like that something that is cheap and easy to make can be an effective killing machine. This project really opened my eyes about the different ways that people can look at different things.