29 articles · 1.7K karma · 9 friends · active 1 year, 5 months ago

Retired pilot/mechanic

The Airport Rotating Beacon

Every airport diorama needs a rotating beacon. To fill that function, I purchased a Lionel rotating beacon, model 494. However there are many problems with accuracy, as this unit is intended for "O" scale electric train [...]

Completed Hanger

This is one of the three structures in my Caribbean airport diorama that was covered in part in an earlier article. The hanger of course is the centerpiece of the diorama. The weathering is typical of what happens to these corrugated [...]

The Quonset hut

As previously stated, I try incorporating as many details from my life as possible in these dioramas. Thanks to the Marines, I have intimate familiarity with Quonset, or as the British say “Nissen”, hut and because we used them on more [...]

Working jackstands

How many of us have asked ourselves, “just how am I going to put that gear retraction test in my diorama? What am I going to do for jackstands?” That was the very question I faced while planning my 1/48 scale Caribbean air cargo [...]

Progress on the latest effort grande

This is a works-in-progress layout to assess initial positioning of structures. It's like working on a model of an architectural proposal with a lot more detail.The projected cost overruns of this project make it worthy of a government [...]

The Hook Up

This scene is taken from a commercial glider operation I once managed in central Texas, where towering CB’s reign over the plains! The 150 hp, Lycoming 0-320 Super Cub is a pretty standard tow plane, useful for its cost effectiveness. [...]

Paper Models

I cannot resist free paper models. Here are a few dioramas from my micro museum, featuring free, online offerings. The Japanese model is the carrier Akagi's island with deck. The cost of a 1/144 Aichi type 99 "Val" and B5N [...]

Haven’t we all encounterd this?

This is a large scale Fokker Dr-1 purchased from an British gentleman. It was shipped with a very heavy base. The base came adrift causing major damage. Von Richthofen's Fokker was in better shape than this after his fatal crash. I [...]

The Yellow Nose of Texas

The “Yellow Nose of Texas” There's a yellow ‘plane in Texas That I'm a goin’ down to see No other pilot knows her No pilot, only me You may talk about your Ayers Thrush And sing of your Paw-nee But the Yellow Nose of Texas Is the [...]