philp

Added some Phantoms tonight. The old camera just could get the "whole" plane so I used to take 2-3 pics and then cut them and fit them. Hey, I was 15ish. The Happy Hooligans is the name of the North Dakota Air National Guard unit and they always showed up. I really liked the weapons on this one for some reason. Especially the 20mm Vulcan pod on the belly. Every now and then, we would get another Phantom visitor. This one all the way from Texas.

Finally got a few more of the really old pics up online. Air Guard A-7: F-105B: A-10 in the original camoflage:

In 1975 we moved from Massachusetts to Great Falls, MT. I was 14 when I visited my first Big Sky Day (Malmstrom AFB Open House). Armed with my Kodak 126 camera I got to walk the flight line and see planes I had never seen before. Over the next 7 years, I attended every visit each year, even biking to the flightline the day before to see what was coming in and where they were parking them so I knew where to start. When I graduated High School in '78, I received an Olympus OM-1 35mm SLR and my pics got a little better. Big Sky day brought in a great collection of modern planes (warbirds came during the airshow at Great Falls International Airport) with modern (for then) Air Force, Navy, Army and Canadian aircraft being regular visits. I found my album that I have kept these pics in the other day and since I have a borrowed scanner on the desk, decided to put these online. The album is located at http://picasaweb.google.com/modelphil/BigSkyDays#. And here are a few highlights. I still have more to scan on so check back every so often. Hope you enjoy them as much as I have seeing them again.

Mark, He is talking about the BIG Red Baron kit. "The "Big Red Baron’ model kit produced in January 1969 in 1/12 scale was another product released because of the popularity from the first model kit. This kit included the same miniature Fokker Triplane and a small skull wearing a German spiked helmet." Quoted from http://www.ratfink.org/tomdaniel/

So if I don't know any better, paint it green :D

That is always nice unless you are one of them Jack, Maybe if the smaller version does well (which is out now), they may consider it.

Built many of these kits back in the mid 70's but they were broken up in one of our moves. I have one of the reissued S'cool Buses from 2003 but just could never bring myself to shell out the ebay prices for the others. Now I will be able to get Rommel's Rod and Tijuana Taxi and just heard that they are also backdating the Hangman kit back to the Dragon Wagon (though may rename it Circus Wagon). So, the 3 I have been waiting for will be back out this year (or next). I can't wait to redo these and do them right this time.

Some great stuff here. Always been interested in the V-100 and XM706. Hope you can answer this question as the pics don't always tell the tale. Were any of the vehicles done up in the tri color SEA scheme or just the tan sprayed over OD? Notice one pic of the M113 looks like tri color while most of the pics look like the standard OD. http://missing-lynx.com/art_gallery/art_mo...100_laurier.htm

All, Got the new 72nd kit and it looks pretty good (have to wait for the Review). Planning on putting it in the sand color used in Iraq and wondered if the cab interiors were also repainted or left in the dark green color? Also, does anyone do aftermarket tires for this kit yet as that is one area the kit is lacking in? All help greatly appreciated.

Mark, Always amazes me how fast you get these done. Neat stuff.

Went to the Open House on Saturday with my daughter and we had a pretty good time. Tons of people though so hard to get pics of the static displays. You can see all the pics here: http://picasaweb.google.com/modelphil/2009HillAirShow# and here are a few samples.

David, follow jato's link over to SSM. The guy will be putting a few kits on ebay starting at $250. However, looks like he will be selling them through the SSM store for $220. Kit looks good but would have to be a lot cheaper for me to get one.

Dave, There is this large scale paper model (download included at link) that you can use with card or plastic. http://www.tanksandtrolls.co.uk/firefly.htm

Liked Cannonball Run and Gumball Rally. Good shows.

Ok, but question is are the Mechs different sizes in different series? Is the Gluag in Macross the same size as the Marauder in Battletech? Like I said before, a guy built a 1/100 scale kit that worked out to about 72nd scale in the Battletech universe? Reason I ask is that you can find the 1/100 scale kits a lot cheaper than the 72nd scale versions.

Neat stuff Stephen. Here is a link to several interesting links. http://www.heavymetalpro.com/links_new.htm I like the one with the decals but they appear to be for the wargame figures. Would love some of these in 72nd. Anyone know a site that lists the Mech classes by height and the different scale kits by height?

Nothing mentioned on the sci fi model sites. Have seen the toy in the stores here and it could be used as a base for a nice display.

Nice Warhammer. Still looking for 72nd scale version of this (and a couple others) to finish my Heavy Lance. Right now I just have the old Revell kit of the Battlemaster. Want to add a Tomahawk and Marauder. Someone said the 1/100 kit of the Marauder was closer to 72nd scale based on the Battle Tech universe. Wonder about the other 2.

Had the plane name wrong, fixed now. From data from other sites, she was a B-25J.

Buddy of mine at works Dad was a TSgt in WWII. He flew with HQ 65th Army Airways Communication System Group in Europe. He said they would fly out and then come back simulating an enemy aircraft to see when the radar system would pick them up. They flew several different kinds of aircraft but his main mount was a B-25 named Range Rider. He has a few of those small pics his Dad took with some good views of the plane but all the turrets and guns were removed so I can't tell if it was a D version or a J. Serial on the tail reads 428-853 so I am assuming 44-28853. A Google search has only given me the colors for the Squadron badge which was painted on the nose. If anyone has any more information about this group and the aircraft they used, I would be very interested as I would like to build a model for him (his Dad died several years ago). Also, if someone has another way to tell which version of Mitchell it is, that would help. I will try to get a hold of the pics he has and scan them in but hoping for some help/info before that. Thanks in advance.