Family, Friends, Food, Florida and Flying but not necessarily in that order…..
Today I had the pleasure of meeting with Jaime Carreon and Joe Caputo (fellow Imodelers) for the very first time in person.
The misses and I headed to New Smyrna today with Jaime and Joe... The first stop was a great visit at American Aero Services. First up is the B-25... This one would be a good one to consider for the "Nose Art" Group Build that Jaime started.
Today marks a rather special day for the Grumman Avenger, at least for me anyhow. We laid to rest our 41st President today, President George H.W. Bush, who was an Avenger pilot during WW2 in the Pacific. Secondly, today marks the 74th Anniversary on the disappearance of "Flight 19" that vanished without a trace in the Bermuda Triangle on December 5th, 1945. David LS mentioned this in his "On this Day" posting earlier.
They had two Avengers present at the restoration facility today.
There were Mustangs here too ! This one might look just a little familiar to Jim Harley... She's getting refurbished.
As was this one...
There was a Grumman F6F-3N Hellcat...
The wings have been added and the fuselage has been painted since the last time I saw her... and it's looking great !
No Joe you can NOT climb up on this one !
Both Jaime and Joe agreed that the proper shade of Grumman Gray was used during the re construction of this 1 to 1 scale new tool kit by Grumman... They even captured the look of the flush rivets and the surface texture is spot on. Of particular note, how the panels overlap are correctly done on the fuselage as well. Just kidding with the cheesy comments... This one is a thing of beauty ! (as are the rest.) It's also probably the only one left in the world since it's a night fighter.
It was a cool crisp day for Florida... notice the jackets which we as "Floridians" automatically use them when the temperature outside drops below 70 degrees F. We had clear sunny skies, but there was some Lightning present...
In the form of a P-38 ! Yes Sir !
Notice the use of flush rivets and machine screws that held the tail section onto the booms. Looks like the old Monogram P-38 was not too bad after all...
We also had a nice view of the Falcon 10 as it launched from the Cape... We heard the rumble and walked outside just in time to catch the booster rockets returning to earth... The exhaust contrail was pretty cool looking too.
Here's the B-17 "Nine -O- Nine"... note the lack of metal frame work on the nose glass.
The B-24 "Witchcraft was present too...
Yes the vertical fin and rudders are literally bigger that the proverbial "Barn Door"...
Here's a few detail pictures for those of you building up one. I present to you the B-24 main landing gear. This is the Port side.
and the tail turret. Notice the frame work on the plexi glass sections. Metal is present along the edges, but none is there on the top portion where the clear parts join are bolted together. No metal frame work is present in this location.
The nose turret on the B-24 is similar.
Yet the top turret on the B-17 is a totally different animal. It uses metal frame work on the places where the plexi-glass is joined.
The engine panels on the B-24 were opened up so we got a great look at the inner workings.
Now on to Jaime's "Baby".
This C-47 is named "Placid Lassie".
This plane actually dropped paratroopers over Normandy on the very early morning on D-Day. This is a true piece of history and has a documented WW2 combat history.
Imagine what happened through these actual doors on that early morning over 74 years ago...where these young men leaped into darkness, awaiting their fate as the "Green Light" lit up...
Stand up ! Hook UP ! 1 Ready... 2 Ready ... 3 ready... and so on down the stick.
"GO ! GO ! GO !
Remember the Monogram 1/48 kit ? and how it had those raised panel lines and rivets ?
So does the real one...
Here's a close up of the tail section. You don't realize just how big these planes are until you get up close...
After all of this adventure, a person gets hungry. So we capped the day off with some pizza and a Greek salad.
A good time was had by all of us, the wife included. What a great day !
Thanks fellows, it was a pleasure meeting you in person.
Please feel free to add any pictures if you want to gentlemen. We had a blast today.
Looks like you guys had a great day together. And it's also nice to associate some faces with names.
We sure did ! It was a fantastic day, almost like my birthday celebration from yesterday never ended... a good time was had by all. Thanks Tom. Maybe one of these days if you head a little farther south...
Louis, if Tom comes South, I'm volunteering to ride with him if he needs a Navigator or as a "Keep-You-Awake" guy.
Sounds like you guys have a plan ! Keep me posted. 🙂
A very happy holiday season to you and all your families. Great photos and it is so nice to see two of the faces I have spoken with over the years. Nothing is better than seeing exactly who you are talking with. Louis, you are now more than just the written word. My best to you all.
Thanks Frank.
Merry Christmas to you too !
Quite an amazing day Louis, y'all look like you had a blast. Great weather too, a nice day to see a bit of history, share the passion among yourselves. Also quite noticeable was the brush strokes on the invasion stripes painted on the C-47. Nice touch by the museum. And attention to detail Louis thanks for sharing this with us and appreciate and kind gesture on your part.
It was really a great day. Even my wife had fun. I'm glad that you enjoyed the pictures.
Louis,
Wonderful commentary. I got a few chuckles. Glad you guys were able to tag up. We have quite the brotherhood on this site. Enjoy boys, and safe travels.
Thanks Matt ! It was nice being able to meet some fellow members. This is indeed a wonderful website for model builders.
I'm glad you found the commentary humorous. Maybe my writing isn't too bad after all !
Ya shoulda lemme know, Louis...you KNOW I'm only a couple miles away. 🙁
Yes Craig I know that you are close by.
I wanted to limit the number of persons present inside the restoration facility for several reasons, with liability for the shop being the primary concern.
I know these guys pretty good that work here. As a consideration for them allowing me pretty much unrestricted access to the place, I try not to be too much of a bother to them in return by having too many people in my group. It's a courtesy to each other. They don't mind me looking at the aircraft and I don't bring a large number of people with me at one time. I try to limit the numbers to a total number of three at the maximum.
As you know, It's a working shop, since you have been here before. I would feel horrible if someone in my group was injured by accident. Things happen when you least expect them to.
Another major reason why I did not want more people present is this:
By having more people present in the group, you have less individual time with each other. You simply can't spend the quality time with each other when more people are in the group.
I did not want to take away from this experience for Jaime or Joe since this was their first time visiting the facility and neither one live close by like you and I do.
I wanted it to be special for them and this is a case where it would have been rude to both Jaime and Joe if I would have invited someone else.
There will be another time that I head over there in the future.
If you're still interested I'll get with you in advance before my next visit.
I did not intentionally do this to upset you. I hope you understand my reasons.
Loving this.
There's not much above a nice day out with friends.
You got it ! Friends getting together and having a great time together. Thanks Johannes.
What a day. I’m really pleased you shared this with us, Louis. Don’t know what looks better, the company, the pizza, or the aircraft!
Boy oh boy what a day it was !
I'm glad you enjoyed this posting. All was great... the company, the planes and the food ! It would really be a hard choice to make if I had to pick just one ...
Looks like a fun day 🙂
Thanks for the great photos, I wonder if you are considering building that new 1/32 B-34?
And about those rivets, you are quite right pointing that some old(ish) kits out there are correct about them, not only Mnogram but Tamiya F-4F also comes to my mind. Thanks for sharing with us Louis!
Yes my friend it was a fantastic day ! I'm glad that you enjoyed the pictures too.
You're quite correct about the surfaces of these planes. Rivets galore ! Overlapping panels etc.
These are all things that were captured by some of the early kit manufacturers correctly. The ones you mentioned are prime examples.
If I had a good place to display the new HK kit and a small house loan, I'd consider building it. 🙂
Looks like a great day concentrating on all those things that non-modellers don't get, apart perhaps from the pizza and salad. There's some great pics there for anyone looking for detail on those USAF and USN birds. I hope Sandy got more enjoyment out of it apart from taking some great pics. Paul
Thanks Paul.
We all had a wonderful day including the wife. She managed to sneak away for a little while and hit a little thrift shop that she enjoys going to. About the time she was finished with shopping, we were done looking at planes and getting hungry. So it was a win for everyone. It could not have been better.
Sandy even commented on what a great day it was on our way home.
We did indeed have a ball! Thanks, Louis, for showing Joe and me around. It was an absolute pleasure to finally meet you! Hope we can do this again in the future.
When I get back home, I'll post the pics I took...
I'm glad that you guys had a great time. So did we. My wife even commented about that on our way home.
I'll be looking forward to seeing your pictures !
It was our pleasure meeting you guys. We will have to head back over there again the next time you come down here. They will probably have different planes there when you come back. You never know what will show up there next !
Thanks
Great to see you guys had a good day out - super photos as always Louis!
Thanks David.
A great day it was ! I'm glad you enjoyed the pictures too.
Looks like a thoroughly enjoyable day! It great that you were able to meet up!
The pizza looks great too.
I look forward to more photos, Jaime and Joe!
Thanks Jeff !
It kind of reminds me of the day that you and Tom Bebout had a little while ago.
Speaking of you two... if Tom needs a co pilot (or navigator), you could sign up for the trip.
I'm sure that the pictures taken by Jaime and Joe are going to be great ! So please stay tuned.
Thanks again amigo.
Thanks to Jaime, for the invite, and to Lewis (and wife), for making it all happen. It was a "perfect" day, and I know we all had a wonderful time. It was a pleasure meeting you, and I'm looking forward to seeing you all again. Your hospitality was typically "southern", making us feel right at home. Say "hi" to Heidi for me. Lastly, thanks to imodeler. Without imodeler, none of this would have happened. There's more to modeling than just glue, paint, and plastic.
Joe,
I couldn't have said this any better myself. I think that you checked all the boxes.
We definitely had a great time and you saw typical "Southern Hospitality" at work.
Imodeler rocks !
Thanks again and I'll keep in touch.
Looks like a fun day was had by all.
You're definitely right about the old Monogram kits getting things right, Louis. The 1/48 B-17 with the raised panel lines looks much more like the "lapped panels" of the real thing. Ditto the C-47.
Yes Tom it was really the perfect day. It could not have turned out better.
Your comments on the old Monogram kits are exactly what I was thinking too.
Thanks.
fabulous pics and comment, Louis!
Thanks David. As always it's great to hear from you.
Nice Louis! Thanks for sharing with us.
Hello Louis,
Many thanks for your contribution.
What a beautiful color scheme on the freshly painted Avenger.
Regards, Dirk