Among the historic items in the collection of the National Air and Space Museum are thousands of model aircraft—4,614 to be exact—that help explain the history of flight.

I visited an airplane model factory in Southern China where airplane die cast models were made. The staff walked me through each process from polishing metal to painting and assembly. Just the pad ...

He showed a plastic model of a United States P3 patrol plane when he met a U.S. ambassador and stayed up all night assembling a Russian aircraft carrier when the Russian Minister of Defense ...