lmagna

To be honest I am surprised that you didn't try for officer status or at least Warrant. Same job just better pay and living conditions. I only knew a couple of guys who were enlisted with full degrees. Just to prove that I have in fact working on this darn model here are pictures of the latest progress. Not much over the last pictures but I find this kind of stuff incredibly slow and tedious and have to take breaks and do other stuff every couple of hours or so. I have finally installed the collective and cyclic sticks. along with the foot pedals. I ended up using the kit pedals as frankly they were just easier to deal with. The collective and cyclic are aftermarket. I have glued the pilot into his seat and mounted the collective to his hand, not the cabin floor. I also extended his harness straps back to the seat and down to the recoil box on the back. They did not turn out like I wanted and I had to try and get it right several times as evidenced by all of the glue marks that will have to be painted over. Not a neat job to say the least and I am tempted to rip them all out and possibly cut new ones from something more flexible like paper or possibly even white tape. Something like Lou did on his plane build recently. The co-pilot is still loose but about all that is needed for him is the shoulder harness over the back of the seat and glue him in. Both of them also need some paint touch up yet again. I installed the dash using the kit supplied PE/painted version. While memory says that dash should be completely black like the console I do have a surviving picture that I took that happens to show part of the dash uncovered by shadow and it is the gray and black colors, so at least one Huey I flew in had this color. I also used it because it is FAR FAR better and more detailed than ANYTHING I could have done, and being the liter contrasting colors will be more visible after the fuselage and windows are installed. So close your eyes and look the other way, here come the pictures:

WOW, 24! By the standards of the guys I knew I was considered old at 20! You must have been considered ancient! I already told you what I thought about your "side job." The honor guard part would not have been so bad I suppose, but I don't know if I could have faced the notification of next of kin part. When I was waiting over night for my discharge papers in Oakland I ran across a guy who had the job of flying home with the caskets of guys to their home towns. Another job that would have been beyond my abilities.

It is entirely possible that I didn't write my comment quite right yet again Edward. I am pretty prone to that. It would probably been better to say something like "What was your life like when you went through the years of 18-21 (+-)?" Those of us who have been posting comments here all had different experiences. I am not certain but I think all of the other three vets that have been posting about personal experiences here and in Mark's build are all older than myself. Mark volunteered for the Marines, probably right out of high school. Ken I suspect had some college or had graduated from college or enrolled in ROTC in some way and went into the Air Force. He was the only one of us who went on and stayed in the service after his tour. I do not even know if he spent more than one tour, even though it is entirely possible. Jack I think was drafted, possibly out of college and possibly before he graduated, and drew the coveted job that kept him not only in the US for his full enlistment, but close to home as well. My number came up when I was almost 19 and had no idea what I was going to do with my life. Everyone I knew had either gone into the military or out into the workforce prior to graduating. In fact I was having a problem finding a good job because everyone wanted experience and the only ones who had experience in my age group were the high school drop outs! So off I went into the Army and by now you probably know most of the rest of the story. I won't speak for the others "Recollection" of events as I am almost certain their's is a little different than mine. But I do know that my remembrances are both selective and probably flawed. Doing this build has if nothing else pointed that out. I am constantly being reminded of stuff I had forgotten, or hidden, in some dark part of my memory. Even stuff as simple as names that I had thought I would never forget are just faces in my mind today. Not all thankfully, but some. It almost makes me ashamed, as I always thought it would be my job to remember them, especially after I came home and found that almost no one else was going to do so. You also need to remember that you are just as much a part of history as anyone else, just your part of history. Possibly your history has not been the product of books and movies, and possibly that part of your history is still to come. Either way you have affected the world around you in many ways and influenced many lives just like everyone else. In fact, right now you are making history as one of the survivors of the largest pandemic of the 21st century. A world wide event that has not been matched since WWII. Someday this will be history and someday someone will ask you. "What did you do in the Covid19 pandemic?" Or possibly "What was it like in the 2020 pandemic?"

It's going to almost be a shame to cover up all that detail with a head and oil pan Grant. Your work looks phenomenal even at close up. It could easily be mistaken as the real thing.

Thanks Edward, You should also look at Mark's CH-53 build, When I opened this build it was for two reasons. One to mark my personal 50 year anniversary for the year I spent in Hueys by commemorating it with the build and possibly sharing some memories of what life was like back then. In addition I originally hoped that people from everywhere and all backgrounds would chip in with personal memories of their life of 50 years ago from whatever part of the world they may have been at the time. Vietnam was almost a unique American experience and even then only directly affected a very small portion of the nation in all. We have heard from a few Vets of course and the personal accounts and attempts at explanation without need to apologize or being criticized. But unfortunately it seems that the stories of those who were away those years of 1965-1975 have not been matched by by the vast majority of people who came of age at home instead of halfway around the world in a place they had never heard of. To me, those stories are just as interesting as you feel ours are. We will never know what it was like to come of age uninterrupted by someone else's agenda, and living a totally alien life.

Looking fantastic Lou. You certainly know how to get up and move along in a build!

Where has this build been hiding over the last few days? I am beginning to think that the "All unread since last visit" button is not working right for me. Hope it keeps popping up so I can follow Ken. Looks like a potentially interesting build.

One thing to remember OC. The Sherman was primarily an infantry support tank and as such performed quite well. Even the Russians seemed to like it even though they has access to their very capable T-34. The Shermans also did quite well against the earlier German tanks from much the same design period like the Panzer IV. Later, after Normandy when faced with the Tiger and Panther not so well, at least not when confronted 1:1. It was considered a good tank over all which is why it was still modified and used by many countries until well after WWII and all of the way through the Korean war by the US. They were still in use by some countries as late as 1980.

Works for me gauntlets and all. The only problem I see is that it would be like being inside a baking oven and that those old suits of armor that the knights wore were probably not as bullet proof as a chicken vest. Believe me when I say that after getting some incoming while sitting in an open doorway a couple of times, you start envying those guys sitting in the heavy armor down on the ground a little.

Who said anything about sane? I have been crazy for most of my life and have papers to prove it. We were always reminded that the aircraft we were flying in was made by the lowest bidder Ken. I would revise that to "Low and slow moving" Mark.

Something like you did with your half track, (Possibly without the Vietnam interlopers). There are bound to be to be all kinds of possibilities out there that would interest you.

The same for us, even though later we were able to get the flack vests like the grunts wore. They were lighter, cooler, and allowed far better movement but I suppose not as good at stopping bullets. All of the crewmen on my Huey will have chicken vests. I saw a picture once somewhere that showed a guy wearing full armor including some kind of lower leg protection that looked like the leg protection worn by baseball catchers, Cricket players or hockey goalies. Where was that kind of stuff when I was flying?

I have been here stalking you from the overhead rafters Edward, (My favorite hangout at these events)! I thirded it. MUST HAVE DIORAMMMMMAAA!

We did! Why leave off the gauntlets?

That reminds me of a question I was asked by one of my more humorous ACs when I first started flying. "Do you know why a Huey has such large doors on each side?"............................ "So that the bullets can pass through without hitting anything important." Of course one has to remember that the "unimportant" things that are always located in that area is the gunners! Kind of a grim humor thing I suppose, but I guess you had to be there. Another one we heard early on was a little more famous. "The average lifespan of a door gunner from the time he lifts of until he ALMOST lands again is.............................! Again, possibly not funny to others. I suppose you had to be there.

Thanks Mark. Not certain I agree with everything the author says but it is still a quick glance back. Didn't you spend some time in H-34s?

Looks great to me even up close Tom. Keep it up and you will have it perfect by the next set of pictures!

After 7 months unassisted at sea and 18,000 miles by the time they arrived at Tsushima "Hard use" hardly describes it. Like Greg says, they were worn out.

Could have been worse. Latrine duty. WITH A TOOTHBRUSH!

Nice build Edward I enjoyed following it immensely. Likewise I will be sticking around for the C-47. An enjoyable aircraft in virtually any of is iterations.

That is 100% true. All of the potential builds that draw my attention are related to something I either experienced or read about. Unfortunately I do a lot of reading!

At the rate I'm going, anytime in the next year or so will be just fine. The nose decal can be the last thing to finish the build and the full build has a LONG way to go. All kinds of secret events to come yet.

So was what I was told true, or just bragging?

I'm partial to the Vulcan as well. I did talk to a Sharidan guy as well once though. He bragged that when they shot a round from their main gun, it was not IF they hit the target, it was WHERE they hit! He seemed pretty certain about what he was saying.

One must remember that Eduard does not make any of their own kits. In this case the plastic part of the model is the old Airfix kit that has been updated and refined over the years and PE added by Eduard. I have their JRS-1 seaplane in my stash and it also looks like it is a very nice model. But again it is a carry over from another manufacturer, in this case Sword.