Nice of IPMS to request introductions. I just retired and hope to make a small dent in the ol' unbuilt kit collection plus finish all those models that are half built over the years due to my foreign assignments which did not allow me to complete them.
Since 1983 I have been a member of the George Preddy (Mustang ace) Chapter in Greensboro, NC. My first models were probably a Model T and a P-26 (Aurora) around 1956. I have been buidling but mostly buying models since then. As I look at my shelves in my hobby room I can note periods of intense activity followed by years of little or no output. As a teenager I got interested in armor due to my drafting teacher, the founder of AFV-G2, James Steuard, who had us draft profiles of famous AFV's. At various times I have been a member of other IPMS groups in Germany, Tijuana and El Paso.
My favorite modelling story was when I was working in Poland in 1998 and noted that next to our factory was a central distrubution warehouse for plastic models. Needless to say I spent many a lunch hour discussing modelling with the owners. Of course, I ended up with all the Mirage and other Eastern European models they had in stock.
A veteran of the cold war, I had to get once again familiar with Russian and Ukrainian military technology, having just spent two years in Ukraine where the war there has been front page news since spring of 2014. While there I attended two Ukrainian IPMS contests in Lviv.
Greetings to all, Ray.
