Guillermo Rojas Bazan
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Guillermo Rojas Bazan (born 1949) is an aviation model maker and researcher from Argentina.
During the first forty-five years of his career, while living and working in four countries, he made more than 200 custom models for museums, art galleries, scale model companies, and collectors.[1]
Life and work
Guillermo Rojas Bazan was born in 1949 in Buenos Aires, Argentina.[2] Rojas Bazan received his education in both a technical school and an art school.[3] From 1981 to 1988, Rojas Bazan worked for the Instituto Aeronaval (Naval Air Institute) and the Argentine Air Force.[1] During that time, he worked as a technical draftsman, aircraft illustrator, and designer.[1] Additionally, he was commissioned to build all of the aircraft used in Argentina's Naval history,[4][5] resulting in ninety-nine aircraft models built.[6][7]
In 1988, he left Argentina for Spain, where he built models for an aviation art gallery in London and produced replicas for collectors in the United States and Europe.[1] While working for the London gallery, Rojas Bazan was able to choose which models he built, and made several of what he describes as non-commercial models.[6]
In 1994, he moved to the U.S. and was hired by Fine Art Models, a company located in Royal Oak, Michigan.[8][9] During his years working for Fine Art Models, he made models in 1/15 scale that were copied in Eastern Europe and sold in limited editions.[8][10] In recent years, he has worked as a freelance artist for collectors and museums.[1]
Models
Rojas Bazan built eighty-seven models for Argentina’s National Museum of the Nation as a result of being commissioned to build every aircraft used in Argentina’s Naval history.[4][6] He built an additional twelve models that were displayed in different locations in Argentina.[7] At Fine Art Models, he built numerous models including the F-4UD Corsair[6][11] When asked about which are his favorite models, Rojas Bazan said, 'I do not have only one favorite model, I have several. Many of them are planes from the period between 1920 and 1939, before WWII (golden age of aviation). These include the Northrop Gamma, Boeing B-15, Boeing YB-17 (prototypes on the great B-17), Martin B-10, Vought Vindicator, Curtiss Hawk III, Junkers G-38, Junkers G-24, Heinkel He70, Fairey Battle, etc. Many of these aircraft were not good machines, or have not been very popular, but I like them aesthetically.'[1] His last completed model is a Consolidated B-24H Liberator. It was commissioned by the 467th Bombardment Group (H) Association for the purpose of being displayed at the historic Wendover airfield.[12]