Photo Album 23 - Assorted models

ASSORTED DIORAMAS

Above: My only fantasy diorama. Although several C-47 floatplanes were actually built (four total, I believe), they were never armed as shown here. I only had one picture to work from, but that was sufficient to build the floats shown here. Named after one of the music groups I once played drums for, this plane is called "The Harlot". Note the identification letters on the wing, which, when including the British roundel, spell the word "ROCK". The land is actually wood chips with Celluclay. The trees are all scratchbuilt. The palms trunks are very thin rope - I pushed a small metal rod through the rope to give it rigidity. The Palm leaves were cut from regular paper, painted, and wrapped around metal guitar strings. The other trees were real twigs glued together with Krazy glue. The dock is built exactly as a Japanese made docks at that time would have been built. All the supporting timber on the dock is lashed together with thick thread to simulate the rope that would have been used. Only the planks are not tied down. The British Bedford truck, shown below, is completely scratchbuilt. I built the chassis from plastic rods, made the cab from sheet plastic, added the seats (clay) and dashboard, steering wheel and shifter from another kit, the wheels are from another kit as well, and the cargo area from balsa wood.

Above: "Back from Baghdad", this F-117A Stealth Fighter is not a fighter at all. It was just named that to confuse the Russians (they were not fooled for long) - and a lot of Americans as well. Another outstanding product from the Lockheed Skunk works, the F-117A carries no guns and relies totally on "invisibility" for defense. This was an early Testors kit, and it is not completely accurate due to the secrecy of the Stealth project. For example, the bomb bay doors on this model open incorrectly, as I found out several months later. This "fighter", which is really a bomber, has come back from Baghdad in the first Gulf War. The pilot gives the "thumbs up" to a waiting CNN crew, including reporter Charles Jaco holding the microphone. Behind him are the ever present military censors. The sign held up by one of the CNN crew reads "Smile - you're on CNN". This model was built in January, 1991, during the first Gulf War.

Above: My first diorama. A Monogram B-17G with a scratchbuilt Dodge ambulance. The ambulance is not quite well proportioned, but not too bad for a first try. I built this in the mid 70's.

Above: My second diorama. A Hawker Typhoon is refueled in a revetment somewhere in Britain. The jeep is a converted toy, and the tanker trailer is homemade from the extra fuel tank of a B-29 and other scratch parts.

Above and below: The famed Martin B-26 Marauder. This is a Monogram model and is shown in a case in the War Room. Originally dubbed the "Widow Maker" because the plane's demanding flying characteristics caused many accidents among trainees, this aircraft nevertheless went on to have the finest medium bomber career of the war. Fewer B-26's were shot down per aircraft sortie than any other medium bomber of the war. This particular aircraft, called "Flak Bait", flew over 200 missions and now sits in the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum. Photographs of the real plane decorate the inside of the glass case. The crane tractor in the background is lowering a new turret in place. The tractor is converted from a farm tractor. This is also one of my earliest works.