lmagna

That is going to be one of the big problems with my build as well Mark. Most of my belongings, including most of the few photos I had of my overseas military time went MIA at the time of my divorce a few years later. I dug around a few weeks ago and was able to find a few that had not been used in my scrap book, (Missing) and as can be expected have not weathered as well as I would like. Yours look much nicer than mine for the most part. I never realized they used the old airship hangers as helicopter hangers. Must have been nice. We did almost all of our local maintenance in the revetment.

Why limit it to Vets? What were people here doing 50 years ago this year? (For those of us who are at least 50 years old) What possibly happened yo you that may have had a major influence on your life? Got into the college of your choice, new spouse/family, there are so many possibilities with the diverse population and world wide span of this forum. I personally am looking forward to possibly hearing some of them. I always found it to be AFTER the fact that the "What if" and the sometimes shakes started. The Adrenalin kicked in and from that point I was always too busy while it was actually happening to think about much of anything. Like I said before, too stupid to be taught a meaningful trade. Not yet Mark. I have some very important cabin parts supposedly being shipped from France that are taking FOREVER and has been saying "Shipment information received IDE NORD & QUEST- France" since the 9th. I ordered and paid for the parts in November! I can not go all that far without those parts if I want to build the "enhanced" model as unlike a CH-53, a Huey is almost all cockpit! Looking forward to following your build as well.

Hopefully at least some of this will key good, funny, or memorable experiences from people that happened in their lives 50 years ago and helped form who they are today and they take the time to share it here whether it is in story, model, or picture form. I know as an example that for a fact you have a lot more to share than I do Ken.

Well the time has arrived. The last of the extended family has loaded up on their planes and departed for their homes one and all, and I have been bequeathed the end of the dining table closest to the window as a building area again. As I have already mentioned before, I was looking for a subject that hopefully would not take as long as many of the projects I have on my "To Do List" at this point. After the grinding of considerable gears in my feeble old brain and digging through my stash over a period of months, it occurred to me that the years of 2019-2020 were the 50th anniversary of my excursion halfway around the world for me to a little known place in SE Asia. While not a particularly long relocation in the scheme of my life, it was a life altering one. So I settled on building the UH-1 Huey as symbol of the primary vehicle and work space for me in my months overseas. My job was as a door gunner, and consisted mostly of hanging out of the right side of a helicopter, yelling over the radio, and pointing a big gun at people and things. A highly desired and in demand set of skills back in the real world of flowers and pretty girls, but it was pretty much what the Army thought my intelligence level was and didn't want to waste the money training me for something more demanding and useful. At any rate this is as much a personal trip back through time, as it is an attempt to build an accurate model. I will of course try my best and insert as many details and items as my skills and memory allow but the memory may be faulty and the skills are definitely lacking but I will try. The model I chose to use was one I bought some time ago. While it is not quite as large as the 1/32nd Revell Huey I also had on my shelf, it is still a pretty well made model in my opinion and being in 1/35th I thought it would be easier to embellish with all of the assorted 1/35th stuff out there. At the time I bought it I was going to just build it out of the box and find a place for it where I could point to it to my grand kids and explain to them why it was there. But THEN I joined this forum and found out that to build anything stock out of the box was something akin to sacrilege, and offenders could possibly be burned at the stake! SOOOOOOOOO the search began for the proper embellishments that would be needed to at least try and present a credible model on this forum. Even though the model comes with what I originally considered a nice set of PE detail parts, I added to this with some additional PE from Edwards Models. These sets are for the "C" model but the parts I will use are pretty much generic between models and should work, or I wasted my money, time will tell. I also replaced the crew figures with better ones and the final model will probably have a mixture of kit and aftermarket figures. I have a few other things that after months are still not here. They are coming from France and were ordered well before Christmas but are taking forever! So to finish this opening, here are some looks at the kit and box.

I think I recognize that bottle of paint! There is a chance that it is older than Denis! That was back in the day where you could AFFORD to buy a larger bottle of model paint. Glad you were able to make it work. Like you I thought the blotchy look was a plus. Too bad it didn't stay, stuff like that is much harder to create on purpose.

I went ahead and "Liked" both your original post and the followup post about your cousin. But like Mark I feel it is for your memory of him not his passing.

On my computer you can highlight the upper left side of the screen and click on the "download" symbol. Then you have a PDF file of the entire magazine and can do what you wish with each page. I am adding it to my Providence research folder for when I am able to start on my build/interpretation again.

That is a great build and one to be proud of Harley. I think ocean settings always bring a model ship alive.

I would tend to agree with Ron. It is a fairly large plank on bulkhead kit and if I read right has photo etch and other nice features not common with most of the Authentic Models Holland kits. On the other hand your's has already been started so it would tend to be worth a little less than if it was just box-O-sticks like new kits. I would think that since you bought it on the internet not all that long ago you would start at how much you paid for it along with postage, and try and get at least that much.

That's OK Denis If I was to go looking for colors in my paints right now it would probably take me an hour to find each one!

Again, learned something I didn't know first thing in the morning. I new about the changes, but not necessarily why. Thanks Ron.

I used to make a smaller simpler version of these using paper matches. They worked pretty well also but didn't fly as far.

I thought there had been OD green in the stuff I sent you and was kind of surprised when you said you didn't have any for the 909. On my computer the plastic OD color of this kit looks almost black.

I think the picture is an He-177 Denis. I thought it was interesting in that it is clearly a German aircraft, with invasion stripes and British insignia. Wander what they were doing when the picture was taken? I am not certain about the French/B-17. France fell to the Germans after only seven weeks of fighting so was not really a good candidate for supplying weapons, even if there had been time. Briton on the other hand not only received aircraft but ships, weapons, and all kinds of stuff, mostly through Lend Lease I believe. They were equipped with the B-17 and Catalina and had been using them in combat before the US even entered the war. Remember, it was a Catalina that relocated the Bismark and aided in a small way her sinking. B-17s were part of the RAF throughout the war and extended through all of the models. They also received and used a bunch of B-24s even before the US entered the war and continued getting them even after they were able to start equipping units with Lancasters.

Just goes to show that one can learn something new every day. I suppose I can chalk it up to a general lack of interest in the everyday aircraft of the Luftwaffe but that is no excuse in reality. Using two engines side by side rather than inline seems an odd way to deal with the horsepower requirements but it seems that when most of the bugs were worked out the design was reasonably effective. It appears that more than 700 of the later models were produced by the latter stages of the war. But to my eye they were pretty ugly aircraft! To make an interesting companion to Denis' Wulfe Hound though is this aircraft: Sure proof of what Mark said above, everyone was doing it.

Amazing!

I don't think Germany ever felt the need to expend the money or resources on a long range/heavy lift bomber. They almost always had bases close enough to their intended targets to get the job done. Most of their long range needs were for transport and reconnaissance, mostly over ocean. I could be wrong but I believe the German long range needs were mostly covered by the FW 200 Condor, and later the Junkers JU-290 with very few of the later built. In the case of the Condor, at least some were fitted as bombers but their load ability was no where near that of the allied heavy bombers. The only heavy German bomber built in any numbers that I am aware of is the Heinkel He-177. Even though it only had two engines it had similar abilities to the allied heavy bombers. I think there were a few prototype four engine and six engine designs either built or designed for longer and heavier use as bombers and such but I am not certain how far they were able to progress on those designs. What I would consider stranger than the Germans not having a strategic heavy bomber was that fact that Japan, who had a true need for such an aircraft, never developed one beyond prototype status.

I think that in this case it was more of the other way around. The Boeing B-17 was a descendant of the earlier YB-15 and possibly some influence from the 314 Clipper seaplane. From the B-17 research and development Boeing came out with the Model 307 in 1938 with many parts in common with the B-17. If one looks at the Model 307 with it's pressurized cabin and other features it is not hard to see the beginnings of the B-29 though, and I think it would be safe to say that the B-29 was based on the Model 307 passenger liner, with possibly B-24 wings. The Germans on the other hand were trying to build an air force under treaty limitations that didn't allow them to really have an air force, (Or an effective navy for that matter) and went to great lengths to develop combat ability in other guises well into the late 30s when they stopped pretending. I have no research stating this, but timelines, machinery, design, and abilities seem to bear it out.

You might look into the products of this company: http://www.archertransfers.com/SurfaceDetailsAircraft.html They have rivets and patches in 1/72nd that you could use to replace the missing detail. I would think that even if you were able to retain the original rivet detail they would have had to have a patch riveted in place to cover the hole where the turret was originally located.

Thanks for the explanation Craig, but one of your more stupid students (ME) has a question. If one was to paint the main color in flat acrylic and coat it in a clear gloss would he still be able to apply this technique successfully?

I must admit, there is a part of me that cringes at the idea of iron cross marking on a B-17 but there is no question that it will be a unique study and model. Certainly right up your alley Denis. I will be following your build with rabid attention as always. I am certain it will not be disappointing.

How about AirSHIP, or SEAplane, or even AMPHIBIOUS vehicle?

WOW that went fast! Just got settled in and had a couple of bites of popcorn and you are done! Wish I could work that fast................ Well I suppose I could but the results would be nothing that you would want to look at! Your results on the other hand bring great credit to a unique model. Can't wait to see what you come up with next.

Glad to see you feeling a little better and getting back into the workshop again Jack. That Fletcher class in 1/700 will be a real challenge, what is it, 3 maybe 4" long? The Forest Sherman on the other hand might be a nice companion for your Sullivans. Too bad you don't live out here, you could go on board the Turner Joy and get a bunch of pictures for your build. The kit looks like to old Revell kit from the 60s.

Thanks Mike. I think my wife and kids would differ with you though.