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Retired military, ship model buff, former train nut.
Built by the British Power Boat Company, the 67' Air Sea Rescue "Whaleback" boats were used by the RAF in WWII to rescue downed pilots. The design of these rescue craft was an adaptation of a motor gun boat developed by the Royal [...]
The economic crisis following the end of WW1 had many railroads looking for an alternative to empty passenger trains running on branch lines. The rise of automobiles combined with improved roads and highways cut deep into passenger traffic [...]
A type of boat found in every New England fishing port, the WILLIAM C BAKER was typical of wooden commercial draggers of the era. Referred to as an "Eastern Rig" (East coast design) or "Side Trawler", this class of [...]
...at least in 1970 it was.
When stationed in Boston, Massachusetts I took a walk to the local hobby shop and purchased this kit. At a whopping' 40" in length, the YAMATO was a handfull as I carried it back to my ship along crowded [...]
At the personal direction of President Roosevelt, 60 Coast Guard sub chasers were transfered from America's East coast to Poole England. Here the boats were stripped of part of their ASW gear and re-formed into Rescue Flotilla One. It's [...]
At the end of WWII the USCG flew a wide variety of fixed wing aircraft, from the B-17 Flying Fortress to the C-46 Commando. Looking for the perfect long range patrol aircraft, the Coast Guard acquired fifteen R5D-3 Skymasters. The USAAC [...]
"The two loneliest things I ever saw" mused an old whaling captain "was a polar bear on an ice floe and the second thing was the Nantucket Lightship".
Lightships were the technological answer to building a lighthouse [...]
Like many of you, I've built my share of models when I was a youngster. And perhaps like me, your model inventory got thinned out on the 4th of July. For some unknown reason the models I present today are an anomaly. Similar to the [...]
The CIM-10 BOMARC missile was the US Air Force entry in America's air defence, an unmanned adjunct with its air defense fighter interceptors. The missile featured a liquid-fuel booster with two ram jet sustainers, longer range than the [...]
In the real world of railroading there are three levels of diesel locomotives; the high horsepower locomotives produced by General Electric and Electro Motive, the medium 2000 HP units, followed by heavy duty switch engines in the 100-125 [...]
