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I am twice-retired. I retired as an Air Force pilot (C-141) & instructor pilot (T-37, C-141) in 1993. I spent the next 20 years teaching high school social studies & also as an adjunct instructor at a local junior college. I retired from high school teaching in 2015 & taught my last college class in the spring 2016 semester. I currently teach two adult education classes each semester for a local school district. I began modelling when I was a kid and continued until the 1980s when my flying began to make my modelling time nonexistent. This trend actually got worse when I became a teacher. Now that I have time to model again, I find myself trying to sort through the many new techniques & tools available now. Over the years I kept buying kits, but not building them because they were easier to move while still unbuilt in the box. So now I have a two-car garage completely filled with unbuilt airplanes, armor, ships, space ships, and a few cars. I am now building my way through this cache of thousands while still selectively buying new kits. I am also two-thirds complete on an HO Scale train layout and I just started a small N Scale layout. :o)

KP 1/72 Cessna Crane Mk.1A

I don't usually build 1/72 scale models, but I have liked this plane since I first saw it in the old TV series Sky King (Yes, I am that old). I thought this kit might be a challenge when I got it, but I am recuperating from some surgery [...]

P-51B in Slovak National Uprising (1/48 Tamiya P-51B)

First, a little background. In the spring of 1944, the Czech Government in exile in London and various resistance groups began to believe that the German occupation forces had been sufficiently depleted by the war on the Eastern Front that [...]

Airfix 1/48 Hawker Sea Fury FB.11

Happy New Year everyone. This model was built for the Hawker 100th group. It was built using the 1/48 Airfix Hawker Sea Fury FB.11 kit that was released in 2018. It depicts an Australian Sea Fury FB.11 from 724 Squadron of the Royal [...]

2022 Retrospective

I normally plan on completing one model each month, but we moved last January from our house of 30 years into a new house in a new town. These are the models built since the summer. Everyone have a great New Years. Cheers.

Italeri 1/9 BMW R75 Military Motorcycle with Sidecar

This was my first motorcycle model, and it was a fun and challenging build. I also have never been on a motorcycle. So why build a motorcycle? Spiros (@fiveten) asked me to join his Motorcycle Group, which I was glad to join (Thanks, [...]

Somalia 92-93

I was deployed to Somalia for several months in late 1992-early 1993. My unit was a mobile airlift headquarters that set up with the joint task force headquarters in what was left of the American Embassy in Mogadishu. The Embassy was [...]

1/48 Miles M.14 Magister

First, some background on the 1:1 Magister: The Miles Magister (nicknamed "Maggie") was designed to meet an Air Ministry requirement for a primary trainer. There are several firsts associated with the Magister: It was the first [...]

Special Hobby 1/48 Fokker D.XXI: Spanish Civil War

First, a little background. The Spanish Civil War was fought between 1936 and 1939. The Republicans (Leftists) were supported by Russia and France, while the Nationalists (Conservatives) were supported by Germany and Italy. The [...]

Dora Wings 1/48 Bf-109A

First, a little background: The Spanish Civil War was fought between 1936 and 1939, between the Nationalists (supported by Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany) and the Republicans (supported by the Soviet Union and Mexico). The Republicans [...]

Hawker Typhoon FR Mk.1B

I like to find things that are just a little different to build, which led me to this Typhoon tactical reconnaissance aircraft. These builds often send me down a rabbit hole chasing information on obscure aircraft, and so it was with this [...]