97 articles · 9.5K karma · 44 friends · active 6 days, 15 hours ago

I returned to modeling several years ago after a long hiatus and courtship with RC scale modeling. I'm an aircraft maintenance control supervisor recently retired from the company formerly known as Continental Airlines. Been fortunate enough to work and fly on several WWII aircraft, which are my favorite subjects, especially the lesser known ones and the ones with oddball paint jobs.

A Phantom revisited

Several years ago, I built a 1/48 F-4 Phantom for my good friend Wally, whose dad, Major Tommy Ray Warren, served as a Stormy FAC in Viet Nam. Major Warren lost his life in this aircraft, 66-8820, in January 1970 after being hit by ground [...]

And now for something completely different....

For me, anyway! This is an RX-78-01(N) Local (North American Type) combat robot, or mecha, from the Japanese cartoon series "Gundam". According to the Wiki site, he is 18 meters tall, manned by a single pilot in a torso [...]

Korean War Group BuildNorth American LT-6G Texan FAC

This one started as a decal sheet. Friend Tom Bebout had some decals left over from his T-6 build and he kindly sent me the markings for a second airplane, an FAC bird named "Night Train". I didn't have the model yet, so I [...]

Anyone need paint?

The classified section seems to have disappeared, so... A year or so ago, a friend on a road trip came upon a hobby shop that was closing and stopped in to see what was left. Knowing I was a plastic modeler, he bought their entire [...]

D-Day flashback

Several years ago, there was a D-Day group build here on iModeler. My submission was an AMT 1/47 A-20G, representing an airplane assigned to the 646th Bomb Squadron, 410th Bomb Group, 9th Air Force. I felt it was appropriate to post this [...]

The road trip model – Stinson SR-9 Reliant, AMT 1/48

I am in Florida, having competed in the Top Gun RC meet a few weeks ago. My son lives not far away from where the meet was held, so we came to visit. It was only supposed to be for a few days, but has turned into a few weeks. It turned [...]

My 2020 builds…

2020 was an odd one for me. After 33 years, my airline job succumbed to the virus and I decided to retire rather than wait it out or take a furlough / layoff and risk losing my benefits. I second guessed that decision for quite a while, [...]

IAR-80, the famous fighter no one has ever heard of. Hobby Boss, 1/48

The IAR-80 was a Romanian built and designed single seat, single engine fighter that was active during WWII. The airplane came into being due to a requirement for a home defense fighter, though the requirement did not anticipate an entry [...]

As long as we’re doing PTO stuff…

Here are mine: 1/72 Hasegawa Kawasaki Ki-61 Hien "Tony" 1/72 Academy Consolidated PBY-4 Catalina Revell 1/72 PT-109 Elco torpedo boat 1/48 Tamiya Nakajima A6M-2N "Rufe" 1/48 Tamiya Nakajima Ki-84 Hayate [...]

Empire of Japan Group Build – Mitsubishi A6M Zero, 1/5 scale…

With the indulgence of our group moderator, I present my foray into the dark side of the hobby, resulting from getting bored with running around the living room, model in hand, making airplane noises to the dismay of my significant other. [...]