Thanks, Gamera!

Great job on the A-4, dang shame about the crash.

Looks like I've missed a bunch of posts here but fantastic collection!

Thanks, Mikey! I remember the ANG flying C-130s , 141s, C-5s, and now the C-17. Seems they had Mustangs right after WWII. I'm not sure what else was flown, but it'd make a great unit history sub-collection. 

Sounds like a great idea. I spent eight years with the TN Air Guard in Memphis and had no idea the  extent of historic aircraft in the area. Very cool pictures BTW.!  

I'm loving this collection of yours! The Scooter looks sharp! Too bad that the real one had to crash. But at least no one died.

I just finished this Airfix 1.72 A -4B based in Millington, TN in October, 1965. This particular plane was being flown by VMA-124 when it was involved in a mid air collision over Jacks Creek, TN, east of Henderson with another Skyhawk. There were no casualties, but one of the jets put a 25' crater in a hog farm lot!

I didn't realize until editing the first post that it's been nearly five years doing these eight builds. There are still some opportunities to continue fleshing this out. A friend has a picture of a BT-13 (?) at a training base in Union City, TN. The ANG has a history of aircraft (C-130, C-5, C-141B, etc) and Millington has been home to a wide variety of aircraft. Blytheville also had an ANG unit with B-57s in the '50's, so it's possible to have a sub-collection as a part of this. There's also individual aircraft with roots to this area. Obviously the Memphis Belle is a candidate, but there's also the "Spirit of Beale Street" a B-24D purchased by the black community of Memphis after raising over $300,000 in a war drive (no small feat), and the "Tupelo Lass", another B-24 piloted by a man from that town in Mississippi during the Ploesti raid. I think "Tupelo Lass" may be my next build, as there are decals on the market for it, but an A-4M from VMA-206 (if I remember correctly) based at Millington would be more accessible for me.

This is the family all together. Still need a place card for the chopper.

Just completed my eighth build of this series. It's a 1.72 RoG UH-60 representing one of the troops of the 1-230 air assault battalion based at McKellar-Sipes airport in Jackson ,TN; present day.  I found a couple of pictures of this particular helicopter online in a couple of news stories from around the state. I still need to make the unit markings that go on the engine covers. 

Thank you, sir! Appreciate you looking in. On a separate note, I was doing a Google Earth search of Memphis International Airport, and was able to see the C-17 that my moder depicted sitting on the tarmac. Amazing that I can read the numbers and see the Belle markings...

Oh, those photos are fantastic!!! Great job there on the P-61 as well!

Heck of a story about the mid-air accident there. Sorry, I'm running a bit behind yeah...

Hoping these pics are better...

I'd like to bring to mind 2nd Lieutenant Robert Swanson, navigator, F/O Jonas Nathan, bombardier, and Captain Vincent Brodeur, navigator in B-17G 44-6043, who perished in the October 13, 1944 accident while training to take the fight to the enemy. May their sacrifice and the sacrifice of so many others in similar circumstances never be in vain.

I'm calling this one complete. I still have to finish the base as I didn't get enough weight in to balance, and I don't want a prop rod. The finish is Alclad, decals are a collaboration from different sheets. I had to piece together the "B" and the "6" from number eights, letter "G"s, and zeroes from a couple of different sheets. A simple but difficult little kit.

Well, I have this beast together, seams filled, and rescribed. I still don't believe that I added enough weight. A white primer to fix any blatant errors, then a black base followed by a natural metal finish. The glass really doesn't fit at this point, and I'm fiddling with that so I can add it later. I'm leaning toward B63 as the nose number, just a shot in the dark, and I think I can cobble up some decal for it.

I received a copy of the accident report involving 69442, which told what happened to that P-63 and the B-17s. The bombers from Dyersburg linked up with some others out of Louisiana around Greenville, MS and started to initiate a bomb run on the Mississippi River Bridge in Memphis. About 50 strong, they were at 16000 to 18000 feet at 40 miles south of Memphis when they were jumped by eight P-63s. P-63, #69442, was coming up from underneath the lead group and attempted to pull up in front of the lead aircraft. The pilot misjudged the speed and distance and when he realized that he had no elevator control, he attempted to roll the fighter out of the way. He impacted the nose of the B-17, which sheared off the fighter's right wing and the tail section. He managed to bail out and survive. The B-17 crashed after suffering major damage to the nose and the no 4 engine caught fire. Eight of the crew bailed out and survived, but three men in the nose were killed in the collision. Debris hit another Fortress, which landed in Memphis with no casualties.

It will look like this, different in nose number and serial of course. They had red noses, and black anti glare panels. They also had red main gear doors. Seems these guys played the bad guys for gunnery training, must have been fun...

Oh wow, now that's an aircraft you don't often see in USAAF markings. Very cool choice! 

Thank you for that! To be honest, I was doing an Elmer Fudd over that hole; I think that I'll take your advice and walk away...

One thing is for sure, when you're building by subject, manufacturer preferences take a back seat on a very long bus. I finally got the pit painted and together enough to put the fuselage together. I added an angle piece with lightening holes to the seat, seat belts coming later. I also added a ribbed panel to the radio deck to add some interest. Filling and sanding now, and I'll sand the body smooth, then rescribe as the kit has a very uneven and rough surface texture. The wings are too thick, but I may cause more problems correcting it; I'm still mulling over it.

New year, new additions for 2019! Found this Toko P-63 kit at a contest for $5. Now I can start building serial number 42-69442, which crashed just southwest of Hernando, MS, our county seat, in October, 1944. From what I can tell, it was from the 269 BU at Strother airfield in Kansas. It was flying out of Dyersburg, TN to help with B-17 gunnery training. A sister a/c bellied into Dyersburg two days later,  and there is a great pic of that one, but....anyway, here's the box:

I had to cut the rudder off so I could get the fuselage to line up. I also blocked in the nose gear well. Not too much detail, but it looks better:

Thank you, sir! 

Thanks, Stik!

One more of the family together. I'l try to get better pics next week

Nice work! I really like the C-17.

It's been quite a journey, and the final missing piece is complete. This is The Memphis Belle XI of the Tennessee Air National Guard in Memphis, circa 2017. Big shout out to Draw decals for producing this sheet, it was terrific. I will contradict them as to removing the bulges off the front fuselage sides, the Belle has them. Some touch up left to do, but, whew!

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