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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.
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 [...]
I’ve had this 1/48 DML/Trimaster Ta 154 H-0 in my stash since the early 90’s. The Jerry Crandall GB finally got me off my keister to get going on this because I also had EagleCal’s Ta 152 H #133 sheet already in the decal dungeon [...]
All I can say is “wow”! What a superb air museum this place has evolved into. I’d venture to say this is the best collection west of the US Air Force Museum at Wright Patterson in Dayton, Ohio. Not surprisingly there are many [...]
Hawker Aircraft is now a century old, so for this GB celebration build I chose Hasegawa’s venerable Typhoon Mk Ib Bubbletop kit that’s been sitting on my Shelf of Doom since the late 90’s when it was issued and I just had to have [...]
I’m by no means a Star Wars fanboy or have any Star Wars doo dads in my work cave and office nor have I watched one episode of the new Mandalorian series. Along with my future wife, I did join the jubilant sidewalk party while waiting in [...]
Arriving too late at the end of WWII to see any real combat, the Hawker Tempest II proved its mettle in the Far East and Middle East circa 1948. When the British left India in 1947, the bulk of the remaining RAF Tempests left behind were [...]
The DB-7B/Boston Mk III was the exported British version of the Douglas A-20C mid-1941. So many Bostons were modified and assembled on British airfields and elsewhere that it can be difficult to pinpoint the actual airframe model just by [...]
Aoshima has long produced excellent curbside car kits that are superbly engineered and a heck of a lot of fun to build. I had to take a break from building nothing but airplanes over the last three years and this was the perfect remedy. I [...]
The Beechcraft model G17S was the last of the Staggerwing series and approximately 20 of these were built between 1946 -1948. Staggerwings are considered one of the world’s most beautiful vintage planes. A grand total of 781 of various [...]
The Boeing Stearman is probably the most well recognized biplane of all time with plenty still regularly flying today since its inception in the mid 1930’s. Used by the military during WWII, the PT-17 was the primary trainer for both the [...]
