i'm a 68 year old retired high steel ironworker out of ironworkers local #5 washington d.c but live in maryland...we are not steel workers...ironworkers erect it they don't make it in a mill...i did that for 34 years..i am a navy brat...my dad and brother were both navy captains...dad a pilot and brother submarine service...dad joined in 1939 and went into battleships served in iceland on the armed neutrality patrol chasing the tirpitz but couldn't shoot unless hit...then blimps then heavier than air...was at coral seas and midway [kiska and attu] on the battle ship and was one of three battle wagons to survive pearl...he got into airships 1943 and went to flight school after the war...flew snj ad t-33 banshee pbm's p2v's s2f's and beechcraft and commanded 2 blimp squadrons ZW-1 and 2 and set up the first blimp squadron in england 1945...is mentioned in the book blimps and u boats twice..dad was anti submarine warfare and brother was a submariner...brother was a high school dropout who joined the navy at 17 in 1962 became one of the youngest 2nd class Petty Officers in the navy at 19...went to college at Purdue on the navy's dime and commanded 2 nuclear submarines a fast attack and an fbm...he was skipper of the alabama when crimson tide was made...he hated the movie...said it was just a farce...i became an ironworker because i am not an academic...more of a mechanic...i raised 4 kids and now have 7 grands and 5 more that belong my second wife...two of my dads best friends were jimmy flatly and john l smith MOH who lead the cactus air force on guadalcanal and marine general george dooley an early tbf pilot...my parents moved 18 times in 26 years...but i kept finding them...i was born at lakehurst naval air station 1952...have been a modeller since 1960...i still love monogram tbf sbd hellcat and corsair and that old 1/96 pby plus an aurora or two quite a few renwall ships and some of those lovely suitable for framing revell kits...not to mention the lindberg me 262..i love planes ships muscle cars motorcycles figures and armor...world history and reading...i am married to a fine very kind lady that puts up with just about anything i do and have a loving sister, i have been close to all my life
Revell 1/32 Hawker car door Typhoon
an oldie but goodie from 1972...sanded out the lines and did a half fast re scribe...Techmod decals...this plane was meant to be a fighter but the engine leaked so much oil and exhaust pilots had to muzzle up and go on oxygen as soon as [...]
Academy 1/72 B-17f “Wabash Cannonball”
the venerable B-17f “The pride of Seattle” as it would have looked in June 1943 while part of the 91st heavy bombardment wing stationed at Bassingbourn at Cambridgeshire U.K...in the livery of “Wabash Cannonball” painted by Sgt. [...]
Tamiya 1/48 P-51B "Captain Don S. Gentile" and A-36 dirtied up
F.D.R. called him "Captains Courageous"...maybe that's why his plane was called "Shangri-La"
1/48 Accurate Miniatures A-36 “Apache”
i built one of these last year and posted it but was never satisfied with the result...removed the post and trashed the model...the national insignia's on the wing and fuselage are different...one of course is larger and i flubbed it [...]
Verlinden 120mm Waffen S.S… Hitlerjugend… [D Day group build]
12th ss panzer was formed in January 1943 when the commandant of the of the Hitler youth approached Himmler with the idea of a combat division made up of primarily 18 year olds formed from the ranks of the Hitler youth or had been a [...]
Promodeller 1/48 SB2C Helldiver w/Wolfpack wingfold
promodeller 1997 vintage...the decals exploded upon impact with the water so i cobbled them from the the stash...didn't have too many white codes so i stole them from a Korean war corsair...the wing fold went very smooth...had it done in [...]
1/35 Revell Bell H-13H Souix
after i finished my t bolt i started looking at the shelf of doom...i had about 9 beauties there...i picked up this bell H-13H that had been languishing there for 3 years...i picked it up started working on it and in 3 days i had a [...]
