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I’ve been building models since a wee boy, minus a long gap between 16 and 40, thanks to my late uncle Paul who worked for the original Revell in Venice, CA in the 50's - 60’s. In those days, the family Christmas tree was always loaded with kits underneath much to my delight but not so much my Mom who viewed them as more clutter.
I used to be self-employed graphic artist/writer who has always been a fan of aviation art. I’ve designed logos and images for air museums all over the U.S. as well as illustrated a line of WWII warbird t-shirts that made the rounds in air museum gift shops and aviation catalogs. Many of my built models provided the inspiration for those designs.
I laid myself off a couple of years ago to enjoy life and build models for fun. My wife and I are proud parents of two adult daughters, both married to Costa Ricans so we spend a fair amount of time there. Our home headquarters are in Santa Cruz, California.
DISCLAIMER: I’ve never piloted a plane but I have sat in a P-51.
The Enforcer was the brainchild of David Lindsay, founder of Florida based Cavalier Aircraft in the late 60’s - early 70’s. He envisioned developing heavily modified surplus P-51D's for counter-insurgency purposes, hoping to land a [...]
A Bit O’ History:
Built and designed by the De Havilland Aircraft Co, the DH.88 Comet was specifically constructed to participate in the October, 1934 MacRobertson Air Race (aka: “World’s Greatest Air Race”) from RAF Mildenhall, [...]
For the recent F-86 Sabre and FJ Fury group build, I chose markings of one of the top U.S. aces of the Korean War: Maj. James Jabara. I used Warbird Decals 48027 Korean War F-86s, Part 2 and 48027 F-86F Common. You need both sheets.
Major [...]
I built Eduard’s Zero strictly OOB, nothing added except for brake lines, because this ProfiPak edition doesn’t need a thing more. It’s all here in the box to build a near perfect looking A6M2 Type 21 with no rough spots or [...]
All the accolades for Arma Hobby’s Hurricane Mk IIC - their first venture into 1/48th scale - are totally justified as it’s one heck of a fine kit. Sure, there are a couple of blips but the incredibly detailed molding and well thought [...]
(Click on the photos)
On January 19, 2024, the USAF museum at Wright-Patterson handed over their restored B-17G “Shoo Shoo Shoo BABY” to the Smithsonian’s Udvar-Hazy Center, swapping the G for a B-17D “The Swoose”, the oldest [...]
The Cavalier Turbo Mustang III (Enforcer) prototype was a piston driven aircraft based on a Cavalier modified P-51D platform specifically re-designed for ground attack against guerrilla insurgencies and similar COIN operations. In 1968 [...]
My wife and I enjoyed three delightful weeks in Argentina, December 2023. While in Buenos Aires, I made a point of visiting the Museo Nacional de Aeronáutica, dedicated to the history of the Argentine Air Force aka: Fuerza Aérea [...]
In 1941 construction began on the new Santa Barbara Municipal Airport on California’s southern coastline 7 miles west of the city in the town of Goleta. The airport is almost smack dab on the beach facing the Pacific Ocean and the [...]
Jim Sullivan’s “F6F Hellcat in Action” Squadron book features a Don Greer profile of Hellcat F6F-3 “white 13” of VF-16 that flew from the USS Lexington CV-16 in December of 1943. I chose to model this particular aircraft for the [...]
