Chris Bucholtz

Mark quotes my book very accurately! And I quoted Lynn Ritger. Actually, a book called "Kidd Hofer: Last of the Screwball Aces" brought to light the circumstances of his actual demise, which were as weird as the pilot himself!

They are 1:72... Is there any other scale? :)

Shockingly, I finished two models in the space of three weeks. Of course, both had been in the works for more than a year, but hey... First is a Tamiya P-47D, finished using EagleCals' decals for "Chief Seattle," flown by Ray Murphy of the 379th Fighter Squadron, 362nd Fighter Group during the Battle of the Bulge. (Want to read more about the 362nd FG in the battle? Pick up the current issue of "Flight Journal" and look for my article!) It's largely out of the box, with an Aires control panel and gunsight mount, hypodermic needles for the blast tubes, and an Aires engine (which is almost as visible head-on as it is in this photo). The prop also has labels from the small sheet IPMS/Spruce Goose put out several years ago. The model was painted with Model Master metallizers and flat colors. Second is Academy's P-40E Warhawk, which depicts the plane that Jim Morehead of the 9th Fighter Squadron, 49th Fighter Group used to destroy three G4M1s in defense of Darwin on April 25, 1942. The model has a True Details interior and some bits from Eduard, plus Hasegawa's spinner and landing gear and a Falcon sliding canopy. The upper paint is my own OD 42, made with a bottle of OD 612 with about a dozen drops of insignia red. The lower color is the long lost and sorely missed Aeromaster neutral gray. Decals came entirely from the spares box; the painted-out centers on the national insignia were actually painted on using a circle template. The chipping was done with a Prismacolor pencil using a photo of the plane tipped over on its nose as a guide. --Chris

This is embarrassing to admit, but I have a CF-100 built up to the painting stage (with that AWESOME cockpit already installed!!! :). It's been sitting, waiting for me to regain my enthusiasm for the Clunk, for more than five years. Which horrrible areas are afflicting you - I've already suffered through them all...

This isn't "Beetle;" it's the former mount of George Novak of the 325th FG. It was painted in 332nd FG markings and prepared for delivery to the group, but pilot "Scotty" Hathcock became confused and flew a reciprocal course to what he was supposed to. Instead of landing at Ramitelli, he landed at Rome, which was still in German hands. Hathcock went to a POW camp, and the P-47 went back to Germany, the first fully-intact P-47 the Germans got their hands on. --Chris