Kyle Lord is doing two 1:72 plane kits for me at this time. Although – he’s off currently because they’re in the process of moving.
The two kits are by Hasegawa. And, like I said, they’re 1:72 … one is a T-33 SHOOTING STAR and the other one is a F-106A DELTA DART. Both are being done OOB. However, the T-33 will have after-market decals …
Luckily for me, the F-106 kit has decals for the 101st FIS of the 102nd FIW (of the Massachusetts Air National Guard when they were at Otis ANGB on Cape Cod. One of my best friends, Arthur Bugbee, was a pilot in that squadron, he flew the 106, the F-15 and before he retired – the C-12. Once – he went supersonic over Boston, and blew out windows in the Hancock building. He also flew a 106 through one of the “Hot Barns” during an air show (he got in trouble for that one). He also intercepted a few TU-95s over the years. He signed a photo of his 106, flying wing on a TU-95 Bear off Nantucket.
That picture and the flight jacket (with over 1,000 hours logged – all in the 106) he gave me are two of my most prized possessions. Two years ago – I had my 1:48 Monogram F-106 rebuilt, re-furbished and re-decaled (I had STARFIGHTER DECALS make me a sheet for his personal mount – call sign ALPHA KILO 1 – 4 … complete with his name and rank – then a major) and gave it to him on a base. He LOVES it.
Since then, I had been looking for a replacement for my collection, and decided to go with a 1:72 kit. And, once I saw this one on AMAZON, with the 101st’s markings, I grabbed it. Sure, it’s not Art’s personal mount, but I do have a personal connection to the one on the decal sheet. One morning in August 1981, Art was in it and he chased me and another pilot while we were in a base pick-up truck, around the field after his flight for the day was cancelled for fog on the way back to the flight-line … flashing the gear lights at us all the while … funny.
Tracy White gave me the kit of the T-33 as a gift and I bought a decal sheet for T-33s which has the 101st’s T-33. After Arthur got out of the plane and went through a debrief – he met me outside as I, in my wheelchair, was about to be put in my 1979 Plymouth Voyager van, plopped his flight helmet on my head and gave me his flight jacket. There’s a picture of me in the flight helmet in front of the fence gate with the T-33 sitting on the flight-line behind me. Great memory. That photo helped me ‘win the heart’ of the girl I dated in college. I wish I could find that picture …
Here are photos of Kyle’s progress on both kit’s …