SHORT BIOGRAPHY OF DOMENICO CONTE AND AEROPICCOLA
a pioneer of modelling trade 1919-19900
Domenico Conte, called Franco by his friends, had performed his national service in the “Royal Aeronautical Army” in Rome. 1943 he developed the idea of starting production and sale of model-making items, specifically for aircraft modelling. With the help of his wife Anna he succeeded in opening a small modelling shop in Turin in spite of devastating bombing and many misadventures, thus starting Aeropiccola company.
Times were very hard due to unavailability of raw materials and lack of confidence to support a modelling shop at a time it was difficult to obtain enough food for survival.
Around the age of thirty he was teaching model-making at the Turin Arts and Crafts school; in order to increase his earnings he also made truck models for a famous car company, while his wife Anna kept the shop helping young modellers with aircraft model projects.
Modellers were a small number, so it became necessary to spread this hobby, organizing aircraft modelling in company club-houses to involve young and older people and spreading modelling in schools as technical application tasks.
Mr. Conte himself was successfully taking part at national aircraft modelling competitions, international and world championships, always ready to learn new manufacturing techniques and let others know about his own experiences.
Day by day, operation by operation, sometimes skipping meals (surely not for a lack of hunger), he was able to succeed in outspreading his activity and add to his program of aircraft modelling a range of period model boats, i.e. a more engaging field, as reproduction of sailings ships required many visits to naval museums, a serious study and documentation about ships history. However, he was able to reach his target to make Aeropiccola trade-mark known and sell his famous assembly kits all over the world.
His daughter, Maria Teresa, grew in such a creating environment and developed his same passion. 1971 she married a modeller, so when the company founder could no longer operate due to a bad illness, she was able to continue the family activity with her husband up to its closure
Domenico Conte's untimely departure in 1990 was deeply felt by many people who had known and appreciated him as a “modeller pioneer” and business man, as well as a marvellous father and husband.