Marek Aksak (1951- 2015) was an admirer of aviation. As a young man he flew gliders and did parachute jumps in AEROKLUB of his hometown, Krakow. As early as primary school he fell in love with model-making. He started like many other boys with paper models. Then passed to plastic and scale models which he put together and painted according to real designs. This hobby became passion and he was committed to it all his life. During his time he gathered a great collection containing over 200 pieces (in scales: 1:72 and 1:35) of:
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military aircraft (from the first flying machines to the most modern),
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combat vehicle,
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warships
When he was 20 years old, he was encouraged by a model master friend, specializing in scale models of warships and naval vessels, so he tried his hand at a new field: models not glued out of ready parts but built from scratch, out of material chosen by him and simultaneously true to the original designs. The first model of training ship ORP ISKRA was not perfect, just an exercise in this new for him technology. The following models were performed with his usual and natural patience and accuracy, and brought him many great successes in various European and World Championships. The second outstanding model – a historical sailing ship Golden Hind (1:250) was taken by his friends to Cannes in France to take part in European Championship of Model Boats in 1978 where it got silver medal. This success kindled in him more eagerness and motivated him to further work. He preferred to choose historical models appreciating romanticism of old school of shipbuilding. He studied literature on the subject, plans and descriptions so he could learn secrets of real scale shipbuilding. Now supported with experience he made two awarded models: Russian sailing ship MIRNYJ (1:400) and famous LA COURONE (1:500), a vessel from the blooming period of sailing ships.The work on each of them meant months and even years of tedious and arduous work of absolute fineness but then it was his favorite hobby to which he devoted all his free time. This work and foreign awards gave him recognition, great satisfaction and a lot of joy. He took part in many local, Polish, European and World Championships. For his realizations he was awarded and decorated with a medal for distinguished sport achievements as one of the best Polish competitors in this field. He kept winning abroad despite exceptionally strong competitors from all over the world and especially those from China. Here are his greatest achievements:
European Compétition (Mistrostvi Europe), 1979, Jablonec, Czechoslovakia – silver medal
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Weltwettbewerb im Schiffsmodellbaum, 1989, Berlin, Germany – gold and silver
The next World Competition in model making had been planned in Czechoslovakia in 1991 but it did not take place due to changing political situation there. Marek returned to aircraft models. He did also remote controlled ones but was always working on some small, plastic piece created with utmost care and precision.
Since he acquired vast knowledge in history of military affairs, he started creating various tableaux in which planes were surrounded by soldiers and military equipment specific for a given country and set in corresponding period of time.
His final project he carried on while having a serious medical condition, it was building the railway gun Krupp K5 Leopold, the biggest German gun produced and used during the WWII equipped with railway engine (1:35). He did not manage to finish it, died in February 2015.
