The unOFFICIAL 2011/20012 Veteran's Group Build

dupes

Reslusher - I was 502nd MI Bn out of Fort Lewis. Worked the Korean theater back when it looked like Korea would be a problem again! 98C with a KP modifier...not that I was very good at speaking Korean.

A Korean language 98C!  My hat's off to ya!    I was 98G-German.  At least you guys still had a job after the Cold war ended! 

Well, I started out as a 98G - turns out my Korean was bad enough and my analyst skills were good enough (I think they still teach my method of a certain code-breaking skillset in AIT) that I got bumped over. Good times!

Coulda been worse!  A drinkin' buddy of mine called one of his instructors at DLI a "freakin' nazi" and they made him a turret mechanic! 

Lots of ground stuff here so far... where's our flying and sailing things?

Depends on how "loose" you want to be with the rules that define the build's parameters..

TECHNICALLY, I could say I served on a B-29 and B-24... I was on the CAF B-29 "Fifi" as a flight-crew member (Top Scanner/APU Operator), and also had flight-status on the B-24...  After leaving the unit, I joined the Great Plains Wing, where I currently have "Start-Run-Up" and "Taxi" tickets for the P-51, L-19, and L-5... I am a veteran, and was still on Active Duty during my crew-time with "FiFi".. Made 148 bomb-runs in her too..

So.. Other than BondoDad, I got the closest thing to "WW2 Aircraft Veteran-Creds", lol...

Or, I could just build a Blackhawk...

Well I dont think membership in the CAF requires an oath to "support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic..." But yes you are probably the "youngest" WWII aircraft rated aircrewman here...

and IIRC you got some of these too, so a C-130, C-141, and possibly other types such as the UH-1, CH-47, and UH-60 enter as build possibilities

With all due respect to my airborne and air assault brethren, that aircraft was on the ground when I got on it...it'll be on the ground when I get off it! 

You may feel that way now... but on some of those rides, you are more than happy to get out before the bird is back on the ground because of the ride up to the time you get out...

I've decided on a couple of builds, one is an old in-progress Academy M998 HMMWV that I bought and started in the summer of 1996. I bought it while on TDY at Maxwell AFB in Alabama and worked on it a bit while I was there. I placed it back into the box and it hasn't seen the light of day until late this summer when I ran across it again. I planned on building it to represent my HMMWV I had while assigned to my first staff officer job, the Battalion Maintenance officer for 1-12 Cav.

The second build is an old Tamiya M2 Bradley I started while in college in 1987 awaiting orders to report to active duty. It's about 1/3 started and sat in a box for a very long time and was one of the kits I collected from my parents house before they retired and headed south for Florida. It is similar to the Bradleys I trained on later that year at my Armor Officer Basic course at Fort Knox.

Airborne school was a blast. I went rather late in life during the summer of 1991. Having just returned from a fun filled vacation in sand and sun, I was allowed to go to Benning before my Armor Office Advance Course began. I was a first lieutenant with a 1st Cav combat patch and crossed sabers on the other collar. The black hats left me alone and picked on the "slick sleeves".

We had a bunch of military medical students in my platoon, all with the rank of second lieutenant or ensign (depending on their service branch), who were attending airborne school as some sort of reward for being tops in their medical school class in acedemics and PT. They all kept calling me "sir" and saluting me. It was rather annoying, but they got all the cr*ppy leadership tasks and all I had to take care of was myself.

It was the easiest military school I've ever attended, although, it started in mid-July and ended like the second or third of August. Definitely not the ideal time of the year to be playing outdoors in Georgia. You could never stop sweating, even during those torrential downpours which helped wash the sand and sawdust off of us.

I had a back problem that kept me out of jump school...a big, yellow stripe running down it! 

Yeah Jump school is not that hard PT wise or thinking wise... the biggest thing is that it's a gut check. If you don't have it in you to step out the door... You only gotta do it 5 times to get the wings... but to keep that maroon beret meant doing it again and again, pushing the odds...

OK now back to our regularly scheduled GB due to commence in less than 36 hours for youse guys back east...

I have the GB participation badges posted on the front page. You can all thank Slusher for his work  there and coming up with badges to commemorate up to six completed builds here!!!

Rob, your builds have been added to the manifest on page one.

We still need floaters and flyers here gents. The only things I floated in were rubber boats, a 113 in Victory Pond ( I think...) and some Coastie Boston Whalers... too bad there is no 1/35 kit of those... an E ticket ride for a midnite amphibious insertion.

Huh...don't think I can come up with 5 builds! Other than a couple of HMMWWV variants and a deuce and a half, they don't make kits of what I used. Unless someone makes a 1/35 scale desk set I'm not aware of...

Hey stik. My pop was a WO/Gunner on Avengers Briefly at the end of ww2 (joined late 45) with the RNZAF.

The avengers we had were NMF at that stage (Some possibly had bumble bee stripes on the belly)

Would i be able to enter with one if i can find an appropriate kit? He never saw combat. But i still consider him the family veteran.

The only other person in my family who has a direct link to the airforce (that i know well) is my father. He was a flight engineer on C-47's and a grease monkey. Again, never officially saw combat.

Am i elligable to enter?

stikpusher

 

Lots of ground stuff here so far... where's our flying and sailing things?

 

 Not sure if I'll be able to join in this group. Got a Trumpeter C-47 on the bench in it's  early stages and it's hard to find a lot of bench time at the moment. But, I've got a couple inspiration pics for us winged thing builders.  

I built these some 20 years ago and they could use a bit of "restoration", but they're still dear to me. 

 As an old SAC brat , The B-58 Hustler was the bird my dad was involved with from test phase at CarswellAFB  till retirement of this hot rod in 1969. So It's connected to me and my dad, The bird I grew up around.

 Have actually worked on the fuel system of this Phantom while assigned to the 18th TFW ,Fighting Cocks.

Brig.Gen. Ret. scored I believe 3 of his 6 Migs in this F-4D. Three other kills were with a couple other crews. Here is as it looked in the mid-1970s.

The smudges on the sides are from over handling. Interestingly enough, When working on top of the aircraft, instead of climbing down to go to the other wing, you climbed over the fuselage. Often  the sides of the real F-4s would be smudged from greasy,grubby work fatigues scrambling over the paint. Even boot scuffs and such.  

 I may still get throw my hat in the ring. See what I have in my stash.

 Howard

Scorpiomikey

Hey stik. My pop was a WO/Gunner on Avengers Briefly at the end of ww2 (joined late 45) with the RNZAF.

The avengers we had were NMF at that stage (Some possibly had bumble bee stripes on the belly)

Would i be able to enter with one if i can find an appropriate kit? He never saw combat. But i still consider him the family veteran.

The only other person in my family who has a direct link to the airforce (that i know well) is my father. He was a flight engineer on C-47's and a grease monkey. Again, never officially saw combat.

Am i elligable to enter?

Mikey, either build would be fine. Combat veteran is not the theme, service veteran is...

Well, I could fulfill your "floaty things" for you if I feel up to it. Served on two types of subs (Ohio and LA class) and am currently on a sub tender.

Also, if family members are allowed, I have been wanting to build a Destroyer Escort for my wife's grandpa who was on one in WW2. And for "wingy things" my dad was an aerospace engineer and was heavily involved in the design of several militray aircraft. Not technically in the military, but considering he worked in survivability, I bet a lot of pilots have him to thank for making it home alive! I would like to make something for him too.

So, put me as a "maybe."

OK Sub, I will put you down as a maybe. Have you seen the Dragon Orange Box kit that comes with both the Ohio Calss SSBN and the Los Angeles Class SSN? The DE would be a go for Wife's Grandpa, but the aerospace engineer aspect would not qualify.

Daddy1/Howard, it sounds like you could bring some great subjects to the table and your participation here would be most welcome for 6 degrees of seperation, my friends father flew F-86Fs in the Korean War with the 18th FBW/67th FS. different time period I know, but the same unit. Long proud history.

dupes

Huh...don't think I can come up with 5 builds! Other than a couple of HMMWWV variants and a deuce and a half, they don't make kits of what I used. Unless someone makes a 1/35 scale desk set I'm not aware of...

How about this set dupes? you can exchange the steel pots for k-pots and paint the jungle fatigues as BDUs...

Count me in, I have three potential subjects for this build I must narrow down.  By far the easiest would be a 1/72 HMMWV in the colors of the one I used as my runabout aboard FOB Fallujah in 2004.  It had the armored side doors and a Kevlar blanket in the bed but was otherwise stock since it never left the camp.  I painted the yellow arrowhead and attached a horseshoe to it as well as to each of the AAV’s in my platoon.
                Second would be a 1/35 AAVP7A1 that I have already started, all that has been completed is the upper deck and lower hull have been joined and set aside.  It would be of “P9 – LOWRIDER” the AAV I was assigned as Vehicle Commander/Data Collector aboard while with the Amphibious Vehicle Test Branch from 1997-1999.  The starboard track shroud was MERDEC, her EAAK was a patchwork of colors and rust, the hatches were chevy orange, the tac numbers were in red and for a short time she had a red and white “umbrella” mounted just aft of the troop commander’s hatch that sent telemetry data to the Test Branch while we were running the vehicle aboard Camp Pendleton.  I still have the data plate; it was gifted to me as a souvenir when I left AVTB because she was due to undergo the RAM/RS modification.
                Final contestant is the LVTA5 Modified I am still tinkering with when time at work allows – typically after hours and on weekends.  The vehicle starred in “Flags of Our Fathers” and I have had the privileged opportunity to drive her around the ramp and on beach runs with AAVP7’s in trace.  I have her stripped down currently and am working on cleaning her back to running order – and eventually back to a proper paint scheme as the LVTA5 Modified was the product of 1949 rebuild and never wore the colorful markings of the 2D Armored Amphibian Tractor Battalion at Iwo Jima.
                I will settle the coin toss mid January when I can actually return to the hobby desk as I will be finished with school and my weekends are no longer consumed with writing papers and taking tests.  Below are pictures of “my” vehicles.


My runabout aboard FOB Fallujah – with my tractor behind


My tractor while at AVTB minus EAAK


My ongoing project - an old tractor

Awesome, can you pop me on the list as a TBA?

Deattilio, you are added to the roster! Welcome aboard Any and all of those builds would be great. And to put in my 2 cents I suggest both Amtracks Everybody uses HMMWVs but those armored swimmers are a very unique beast That is so cool you get to work on that LVTA-5 as part of your duties. Some real connection with history there...

For those across the international dateline, Friday is here already and this GB may now be considered operational. I still have a bit over 12 hours to go here in California

I'll see what I come up with. 

BTW scorpiomikey- Think about how many people it takes too support just one combat soldier, No fighter pilot would ever get off the ground without some mechanic keeping it flying , etc. All vets are vets.

daddy1

I'll see what I come up with. 

BTW scorpiomikey- Think about how many people it takes too support just one combat soldier, No fighter pilot would ever get off the ground without some mechanic keeping it flying , etc. All vets are vets.

Good to hear it... I'll add you to the roster with a TBA...

And yes in wartime there is a LOT of tail to tooth. And serving in war or peace means putting your life on the line. Many die in peacetime "training accidents". They are just as dead in the service of their country as anyone who falls due to hostile action. Daddy1 said it right, all vets are vets....

Well I am up n running with my Vulcan track, but no pics to show yet. Anybody else?

I settled on making a go with the 1/35 AAV, it was given to me by a buddy that received recruiting orders and figured he would not have time for the hobby on the streets.  I blew the dust off my AAVP7A1 and reopened the box — and was reminded why it was set aside, but an honest go will be made.  It is the 1/35 Mini Hobby Models kit, which appears to be a poor copy of Tamiya’s kit.  I have to buy some track to replace the rubber ones provided and some PE to add some external detail.  I am on the hunt for each.

Ok, can you put me down for the Italeri 1:72 C-47 skytrain. Ill be converting this into the RNZAF VIP aircraft 51. Dad worked on this aircraft. and chances are my pop flew in it. 

This aircraft was babied by the ground crew. And when she was retired (into the museum) she was the youngest (in hours) C-47 flying.

When i post finished pics ill post a wee essay with a bit of her history and my family's involvement.

Deatillio and Mikey, your builds are added to the roster. Both sound good to me.

Perfect timing. I just got done ordering every vehicle/aircraft I ever served on/in during 14 years active duty in the U.S. Army. The pile is big but I guess I'll start at the beginning. Basic training at Ft Knox in 1983 on the M60A1 so that's where I'll start.

Actually count me in with 2 builds at once: M60A1 and M60A3 going on at the same time. I spent 5 years on an M60A3 after basic so I might as well build both.

Will get some pics up soon. Thanks

Stik,

I've pushhed off the dock with my build too.

Got going on the M60A3 early this morning, It took much longer than I thought it would to get the powerpack cover and grills off while keeping everything that needed to say in one piece.  Trimmed the lower hull to get the engine bay together and the mated the upper and lower hull and got the side pieces in for the engine bay.  It took a lot of filler to take up the space between gaps in the resin pieces but I think I've got it roughed out pretty well.

Lots of sanding and filling to do on the hull over the weekend.

Now for some 19K ?'s

When pulling the powerpack in the motorpool what would it sit on once out?  most of the pictures I've found (not many) show it sitting on a tarp on the ground.  Next what would the engine cover sit on?  Just the ground or maybe some 4x4's or crates?  Does anyone have some shots of the empty engine bay.  I've found a few on Prime portal but would like to get somemore if they exist.  Nothing in my M-60 in action or M-88 walk around.  Not too much in Hunnicutt's book either (surprisingly)

Maybe some more progress to post at the end of the weekend.

Hope everyone had a good turkey day,

Gary

Chopper, welcome aboard Which M60 kits are those you will be building? Company and scale? I will add you to the roster here after this post, but if you could please update me regarding the builds.

Top, I cant speak for an M60 getting the packpulled,but IIRC, on our Mech Infantry battalion stuff, the packs would be pulled in the bay, when it was done in the motor pool, and placed on some kind of pallet. If we were in the field and the pack had to be pulled it would be placed on the vehicle tarp, IIRC.