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Interested primarily in WW II aircraft carriers in 1/700 scale, but branching out lately into some 1/72 aircraft, starting with carrier planes but more recently RAF and Luftwaffe as well. And hoping to get somewhere on my backlog of Star Trek kits. A scratchbuilt launch umbilical tower for my 1/200 AMT Apollo/Saturn V is my white whale.

1/72 P-40B/C Warhawk

Three day build complete. P-40B/C Flying Tiger - spring 1942 - 1/72 Trumpeter kit. The aircraft is actually a Hawk H81 A-3, which was Curtiss’ designation of the P-40B/C aircraft pulled from an order to Great Britain (H81 A-2) and sent [...]

Afrika Korps 88mm Gun and Tractor

I’ve always wanted to build a 88mm on its wheels, and was glad to see this in my preferred scale of 1/72 (1/76 is close enough) for $7.99 at an Austin hobby store a couple of weeks ago. I painted the completed assemblies Panzer Grey to [...]

TBF-1 Avenger at Midway

1979 boxing of 1966 Airfix kit, with decals from the Starfighter USN at Midway and TBDs (yes, TBDs for the 8-T-1 decals) at War sets. I finished it as Ensign Bert Earnest’s Torpedo 8 TBF, which made it to Pearl Harbor took late to join [...]

F6F-3 Hellcat1/72 Minicraft/Academy

Calling it done. Lt. Alex Vraciu’s F6F-3 Hellcat with VF-6 on USS Intrepid (CV-11) in June 1944. Minicraft/Academy 1/72 scale kit with aftermarket resin/photoetch cockpit by Aires and decals by PrintScale. Only at the last minute did I [...]

USS Ticonderoga (CV-14) 1/700 – Finishing a 1994 Build in 2021

Back in 1992-1993 I used Larry Gertner's article on accurizing a Hasegawa Essex kit to represent the Lexington (CV-16) in June 1944. After finishing that model in 1993, I wanted to build one that was as different as possible, and bought [...]

USS Bon Homme Richard (CV/CVA-31) 1/700 Double Build

This is a "double build" of the same subject - the Essex class aircraft carrier Bon Homme Richard (CV-CVA-31) as it appeared in 1945 off Japan and 23 years later in the Gulf of Tonkin off Vietnam. (Build log is at (link) ). My [...]

2020 Modeling Review – Six Essexes

2020 was definitely a themed year. When the year started I had two Essex class carrier projects underway, and at the end of the year - still two underway. IntrepidCorrected – Revell’s Classic 1/720 Essex Class Carrier (Corrected) For [...]

USS Oriskany (CV-34) 1950 (1/700)

The USS Oriskany (CV-34) was the 24th and last Essex-class aircraft carrier to be commissioned. Construction on her was stopped in 1946 and she was completed in the fall of 1950 to a new design, SCB-27A, which better accommodated the [...]

USS Essex (CVS-9) – Revell 1/530 Resurrection Build

It took three days short of a year, but I am finally calling my resurrection build of a 1980 Revell 1/530 Essex-clas angled deck carrier done. (Build log at (link) ) The model started out as a Bon Homme Richard (CV-31) that I built in [...]

#IntrepidCorrected – Revell’s Classic 1/720 Essex Class Carrier (Corrected)

For many modelers of World War II ships, Revell's 1/720 scale model of the USS Intrepid (CV – 11) was an early favorite. It was cheap (two dollars, compared to four dollars for a Tamiya Akagi), easy to build, and gave you a big [...]