53 articles · 7.1K karma · 28 friends · active 2 weeks, 2 days ago

Retired military, ship model buff, former train nut.

V-2, American Style

The Nazis poured a substantial sum of money and committed a large amount of personnel in the V-2 (also known as the A-4) program. Over 2,600 rockets were launched at London and Antwerp and the loss of life was high. As a weapon of war it [...]

TERRIER, U.S. Navy Surface to Air Missile, 1956

The TERRIER missile was a supersonic beam riding anti-aircraft missile with a 10 mile range. It was launched by a solid fuel booster (blue section) and propelled by a solid fuel sustainer rocket (yellow section). The Terrier was 15' in [...]

Grumman S-2 "Tracker" Target Tug

The Grumman S-2 was the first aircraft designed from the beginning for the Navy's antisubmarine warfare carriers, whose mission was the destruction of submarines in high priority areas. First flown in 1952, S2F-1S went to the first [...]

Piasecki HRP-1 "Flying Banana" 1948

A helicoper, such as this, has a peel... OK, so much for whirly bird humor. Helicopter models are not as exciting to build as a fighter or bomber but they have a certain attraction especially colorful helos that are used in search and [...]

Saunders-Roe SR.A/1 "The Squirt"

This "vacuform" model was built back in the days without the aid of the internet. I think it was offered by Rareplanes, and was a product of the 1970's. LIke all vacuform planes of the era, it was a simple build in the terms of [...]

The Mysterians!

Love them or hate them, TOHO Company movies of the 1950's were popular in Japan and the USA. Films like Godzilla, Rodan, Mothra, Battle in Outer Space and King Ghidorah generated huge revenues for the Japanese film studios. Every movie [...]

We Came In Peace

July 20, 1969. A little over eight years since the flights of Gagarin and Shephard, Apollo 11 landed on the moon. A number of model companies offered models to commemorate the Apollo program, issuing kits of the Saturn V rocket, Lunar [...]

Burn Up That Quarter Mile...Monogram's "Forty Niner" Dragster

On a visit to my folks house (where I grew up) I came across another piece of my childhood, the remnants of a "Forty Niner" rail dragster. In the early 1960's Monogram offered a line of 49 cent car kits, aimed at the low end kit [...]

Call For a Taxi–a Space Taxi!

This Monogram kit was released during the hey-day of space models in 1959. Designed by Willy Ley, the 1:48 scale model is a depiction of a space "Taxi", or space tug to be used in moving cargo and passengers around larger space [...]

The Dodge Power Wagon, Coast Guard Rescue Unit, 1950

Four wheel drive vehicles are common place today but in the post WWII era they were a novelty in the motoring world. Companies like the Willys Motor Company were quick to seize the importance of their famous "JEEP" in the [...]