How we make history come alive?  A dedicated man who used to work in the Vietnamese Air Force Division has ceaselessly nurtured his passion for making replicas of fighter planes for many years as a realistic way to reminisce his old days in an aircraft repair facility . He is 65-year-old former Air Force officer Bui Xuan Thanh residing in An Khe Ward, Thanh Khe District, Da Nang.  His impressive products have been presented as valuable souvenirs for Vietnamese veterans, politicians and collectors.

Over the past 4 decades, Thanh has risen to fame domestically for successfully creating over 1,000 replicas of fighters which revived high public praise and attention.

In his house located at K1A Le Trong Tan Street, An Khe Ward, Thanh Khe District, every day, Thanh works hard to make replicas of fighter planes.

The making of replicas is indeed reminiscent of his stay at the Factory A32 under the Vietnamese Air Force Division in the past. At first, he used mica, but then due to material shortages, he changed to aluminium that was both cheaper and more eye-catching.

Making a replica of a fighter is not ‘a piece of cake’. To ‘get the ball rolling”, Thanh creates moulds based on the designs of each fighter jet. In particular, each mould is a ‘masterpiece’. The moulds have the body and wings pre-cast. Other details like rockets attached to the wings are also cast in their own moulds, depending on the size.

Assembling the parts is the toughest step as Thanh has to sharpen each part thoroughly so they are smooth and shiny, which demands patience. It can take him months to complete the work. Thanh is seen cleaning an aircraft model before completing the final stages, attaching the replicas of the national flags and missiles to it.

The details of the model such as the paint colour, wings and tail bear the resemblance to the original.

Thanh is seen assembling a model missile on a replica of an aircraft.

Depending on the aircraft model, the number of missiles is various. For example, the Su-30 model has 12 weapon mounts, whilst the Su-27 and Su-22 have 10 each.

After mounting the rockets, Thanh again affixes the decal flag to the model.

Thanh’s love for fighter jets inspires him to make models of airplanes. “For Vietnamese air force officers and men who love our country’s sky, they consider the planes to be their inseparable ‘blood and flesh’ part. So, wherever they go, what they do, they always remember the years during the country’s righteous struggle for peace”, said Thanh. These replicas are good reminiscent of the time when they ‘conquer the sky and spread their wings in the country’s sky’ in the past.

Thanh-created impressive products have been presented as valuable souvenirs for Vietnamese veterans, politicians and collectors.

Reporting by XUAN SON – Translating by A.T