Dave: Yeap, some of my first 1/35th kits were Tamiya, along with the vintage Italeri ones. Guess I'll always have a soft spot there!

Ken: Gee, I guess you would have to replace everything but what a mess. At least the insurance adjuster sounds like a good guy. I can't even imagine going though our basement and trying to itemize everything down there.

Mike: Good to hear from you again, those afterburner cans look just like the real thing. Esp interesting to me is it looks like there's a seam right there over the engines in the same place where the kit has a seam! And I know what you mean about airbrushing- I've got the point of slam-dunking the thing in the trash can a few times myself!

Been working on our garden the last couple of weeks. We have a really heavy clay soil, and with all the rain this winter, its a real pain to dig up. But its getting there. Nice Tulips. Snow, in April, we had that last year, but that was a real one off. We have not had a single flack of snow this year.

Lovely work on the burners, they look spot on.

Sounds like you have a lot of work to do there Ken. I feel for you.

Hey guys!

Haven't gotten a great deal done this week as I had some other issues to deal with.

Ken, good to hear about the insurance, but a pain it will be to determine values of everything. Weather just seems to affect so many lives! (The weather is one of the reasons for my job slow down- the harsh winter all over postponed many customer projects)

It was in the 70's today! (Saturday!) I managed to be outside cleaning up some of the winter debris, and even did some grilling. I briefly got to enjoy these guys as by this time tomorrow, it will be 25 degrees and up to 4 inches of snow on the ground.

It never fails that every time the tulips come up, it snows again.

I did manage some work, one being the AB nozzles for the One-O-Wonder. My model burners on the block in the foreground and a photo of the real thing behind them. I think they came out pretty decent.

The other thing I attempted was to throw a little paint at the plane. That didn't go so well as the airbrush Gods were not in my favor. The first night I must of has a glob of hardened paint get sucked up into the airbrush as it was hopelessly clogged and refused to spray. After a bit of immature frustration, I dug it back out of the trash can, tore it down into all it components, cleaned everything, and set it aside. I also ran the entire bottle of paint through one of my strainer funnels.

The next night was not good either as I couldn't seem to get the paint/thinner dialed in. First it was too thick and I was getting nothing but spatters, then I overthinned and ended up with runs down the tail of the plane. (One word of caution; it does not work to try and wipe away the run with a cotton ball wet with mineral spirits- you can guess what a mess that made!)

Fortunately, Testors Easy-Lift-Off (Formerly Polly-Scale) and a stiff brush removed all the paint and fuzz!

Better luck tonight:

The air brake does not lay flat as it is only held in by friction for now.

Well, off to bed! Since I began this post, it has started to rain! When I get up, no doubt it will be to snow!

Jim

Tal Afar Dave

Great point, Gamera!  The classic Tamiya kits did require a lot of work if you weren't going to motorize them.  With a little work, you can fill and plug all those holes and still come up with a great build.  Who here didn't have one of the motorized Sherman "Easy 8s" or early model Tiger 1s???  great kits for the day, still build up respectfully!!  Speaks well of the timeless engineering......

Ken,

Yikes!! so sorry to hear about your basement fiasco!  Hope that you are back to normal as soon as possible!!!

Thank you Dave.  I appreciate your well wishes.

Ken

Gamera

Hey Ken hows the basement work going- I hope no news is good news here? Sounds like you have a lot of work involved but I'd guess when things flood like that you're pretty much in for replacing everything. Just the furnace and water heater would be a pain in themselves.

Hi Cliff,

The basement is going to take a while to recover from.  The insurance adjuster finally stopped by last evening.  He seemed to be a really nice guy.  He said that if I felt like the lower section of the walls needed to be replaced, he would be okay with that.

The big thing now is going to be itemizing everything.  Not only will I have to list every single item, but I will have to find out what the replacement cost will be.  All of those books and records are going to take a while to research.

Ken

Great point, Gamera!  The classic Tamiya kits did require a lot of work if you weren't going to motorize them.  With a little work, you can fill and plug all those holes and still come up with a great build.  Who here didn't have one of the motorized Sherman "Easy 8s" or early model Tiger 1s???  great kits for the day, still build up respectfully!!  Speaks well of the timeless engineering......

Ken,

Yikes!! so sorry to hear about your basement fiasco!  Hope that you are back to normal as soon as possible!!!

Mike, looking forward to them!

I think some issues may deal with this being one of Tamiya's older '70 vintage kits. Most if not all were motorized so they had to change some stuff to accumulate the motor, gear box, batteries, and workable track and running gear. Still no gripe with Tamiya- you don't see many things that have been in production forty years and still stand up pretty well!  

Just to let you know I haven't forgot about the pics of my tank Cliff. This weekend they shall be done. Also, if you do end up getting the Tamiya one there were a few problems I encountered with fit. Not something typically associated with this brand but I think due to the age of the tooling etc. it needed a little extra effort.

Hey Ken hows the basement work going- I hope no news is good news here? Sounds like you have a lot of work involved but I'd guess when things flood like that you're pretty much in for replacing everything. Just the furnace and water heater would be a pain in themselves.

Hi Everyone,

Another freakin' long hard day.  Spent the entire day hauling stuff to my Mom's garage for temporary storage.  The weathermen are forecasting more rain tomorrow so I had to get everything that was sitting outside to somewhere with a roof over it.  Also needed room to "live" since everything with a high value was sitting in our dinning room or kitchen.

The outfit I contracted to clean up the mess will be back tomorrow to make an assessment.  Since there is already an odor coming from the basement, I am pretty sure that the walls are going to need replaced.  More fun.

Ken

mikeymize

Hi Cliff, I'll be glad to snap some more photos of the Lee. The shadow box looks great. I've been reluctant to put mine on display for the exact reason you stated Ken. I have quite a few certificates and plaques as well that just sit in a cardboard box because it seems self-important or pretentious. But then again they shouldn't languish that way either.......

For sure Mike!  Get those well deserved pieces of recognition out and display them proudly!

Ken

jimbot58

Ken, here is something you may find interesting: a 1957 Air Defense Command promotional film about Americas latest interceptor/fighter. The F-101B Voodoo!

There are of course, a plethora of Voodoo films on Youtube, I thought this one was of particular interest.

Very cool video Jim!  Thank you for sharing that!  I enjoyed it a lot!

Ken

Ken, here is something you may find interesting: a 1957 Air Defense Command promotional film about Americas latest interceptor/fighter. The F-101B Voodoo!

There are of course, a plethora of Voodoo films on Youtube, I thought this one was of particular interest.

Hi Cliff, I'll be glad to snap some more photos of the Lee. The shadow box looks great. I've been reluctant to put mine on display for the exact reason you stated Ken. I have quite a few certificates and plaques as well that just sit in a cardboard box because it seems self-important or pretentious. But then again they shouldn't languish that way either.......

jimbot58

Son Of Medicine Man

mikeymize

That's correct about the patches Bish and Ken I'm partial to the maint. one as well; I'm proud of the work we did on the eagles and have very fond memories of that time in my life. I too have a pretty decent patch collection. Every one from where I was stationed and many more from guys I met at other bases. Someday I need to mount them in a display of some sort. From the looks of the latest posts we have quite a few collectors within our ranks!

You most certainly should display those patches Mike!  I bought a shadow box to display some of my Dad's patches and medals.  Here is a shot of it:

I attached the patches by using Velcro tape.  First I took a string and temporarily stretched it out and attached it across the board to help line up each line of medals and badges.  The medals have stick pins already on them so I merely pushed them into the board.

Ken 

That is really cool Ken!

I wish my Dad had kept his decorations, but I understand he threw them all out after he came home. I came to understand that many men were understandably unhappy serving in a war, and felt like putting those days behind them. I have his discharge papers, his awards were not outstanding, but there was good conduct, and ribbons for the areas he served in, such as Africa and Europe. And I think there was a ribbon for Victory WWII as well. I'll have to dig that paper work out one day.

He also told us how he had a 9MM Baretta pistol he smuggled home by breaking it down into all its components, hiding the pieces throughout his gear and on himself. He wasted his efforts though, because he said they never searched him. He could have stuffed it into his duffel bag and never would have made a difference. He later gave it to my aunt for safe-keeping, but then she claims to have sold it and never would give us any other details. Would be interesting to have it still as it might have been worth a few dollars today. Plus the fact that it would have that personal history attached.

Hats off to those that served.

Jim

Hi Jim,

You can purchase the medals very easily if you know which ones he had received.  I still to this day have not found my Dad's original medals.  I had to buy replacements.  Here is a link to a retailer that I purchased my Dad's through:

http://www.usamilitarymedals.com/ 

That is too bad about that gun.  I bet there was a story behind how he got that gun.

Ken

Bish

Now that's really nice Ken, I like that.

When I left the Army, the lads got me a case for my medals and they put in the 3 cap badges on the Infantry Regiments I had been part of. I think I have my unit patches some where, I may have to dig those out, they might make a nice little display.

Yes Bish, you really should put them out for display.  I wish that my Dad had done that before he passed away.  That way I could have asked him about how he got each one in detail.  Even the Air Medal that he received I know so little of the story.

I think a lot of people are reluctant to display them for fear that perhaps they may be looked upon as bragging.  My Dad had many great accomplishments but I did not learn about them until he passed away and I started going through his military records.

Ken

Son Of Medicine Man

mikeymize

That's correct about the patches Bish and Ken I'm partial to the maint. one as well; I'm proud of the work we did on the eagles and have very fond memories of that time in my life. I too have a pretty decent patch collection. Every one from where I was stationed and many more from guys I met at other bases. Someday I need to mount them in a display of some sort. From the looks of the latest posts we have quite a few collectors within our ranks!

You most certainly should display those patches Mike!  I bought a shadow box to display some of my Dad's patches and medals.  Here is a shot of it:

I attached the patches by using Velcro tape.  First I took a string and temporarily stretched it out and attached it across the board to help line up each line of medals and badges.  The medals have stick pins already on them so I merely pushed them into the board.

Ken 

That is really cool Ken!

I wish my Dad had kept his decorations, but I understand he threw them all out after he came home. I came to understand that many men were understandably unhappy serving in a war, and felt like putting those days behind them. I have his discharge papers, his awards were not outstanding, but there was good conduct, and ribbons for the areas he served in, such as Africa and Europe. And I think there was a ribbon for Victory WWII as well. I'll have to dig that paper work out one day.

He also told us how he had a 9MM Baretta pistol he smuggled home by breaking it down into all its components, hiding the pieces throughout his gear and on himself. He wasted his efforts though, because he said they never searched him. He could have stuffed it into his duffel bag and never would have made a difference. He later gave it to my aunt for safe-keeping, but then she claims to have sold it and never would give us any other details. Would be interesting to have it still as it might have been worth a few dollars today. Plus the fact that it would have that personal history attached.

Hats off to those that served.

Jim

Now that's really nice Ken, I like that.

When I left the Army, the lads got me a case for my medals and they put in the 3 cap badges on the Infantry Regiments I had been part of. I think I have my unit patches some where, I may have to dig those out, they might make a nice little display.

mikeymize

That's correct about the patches Bish and Ken I'm partial to the maint. one as well; I'm proud of the work we did on the eagles and have very fond memories of that time in my life. I too have a pretty decent patch collection. Every one from where I was stationed and many more from guys I met at other bases. Someday I need to mount them in a display of some sort. From the looks of the latest posts we have quite a few collectors within our ranks!

You most certainly should display those patches Mike!  I bought a shadow box to display some of my Dad's patches and medals.  Here is a shot of it:

I attached the patches by using Velcro tape.  First I took a string and temporarily stretched it out and attached it across the board to help line up each line of medals and badges.  The medals have stick pins already on them so I merely pushed them into the board.

Ken 

Gamera

Ken: LOL, I actually do know what a deductible is believe it or not. Gee that's what I get for answeringa  half dozen posts early in the morning when I'm running around between setting stuff for work! Good gosh just replacing the furnace and water heater are a big enough issue and then ripping up the carpet too- what a headache. At least the insurance is handling it.

I found some old magazine article on the internet years ago where they claimed that today all home furnishings will be waterproof and the housewife will only have to turn the hose on and flush all the dirt outside. Yeah, slightly incorrect prediction there...

Mike: The Lee looks terrific, would you mind taking a few more photos? I'd love to see her from a few different angles.

And those are great patches guys!

No problem Cliff, trust me, I know all about trying to juggle several things at the same time!   

Ken

That's correct about the patches Bish and Ken I'm partial to the maint. one as well; I'm proud of the work we did on the eagles and have very fond memories of that time in my life. I too have a pretty decent patch collection. Every one from where I was stationed and many more from guys I met at other bases. Someday I need to mount them in a display of some sort. From the looks of the latest posts we have quite a few collectors within our ranks!

Ken: LOL, I actually do know what a deductible is believe it or not. Gee that's what I get for answeringa  half dozen posts early in the morning when I'm running around between setting stuff for work! Good gosh just replacing the furnace and water heater are a big enough issue and then ripping up the carpet too- what a headache. At least the insurance is handling it.

I found some old magazine article on the internet years ago where they claimed that today all home furnishings will be waterproof and the housewife will only have to turn the hose on and flush all the dirt outside. Yeah, slightly incorrect prediction there...

Mike: The Lee looks terrific, would you mind taking a few more photos? I'd love to see her from a few different angles.

And those are great patches guys!

Bish

This is the patch of my last unit.

Unfortunately they didn't add the nick for our job description on it, but I don't think walking around with Hooker on your arm would go down to well. 

Jim you can buy them from collectables sites and e-bay. The one above is on a site for $35. Seems a hell of a price to me, but I wish I had known that before I gave my spare ones away.

Another good looking patch Bish!   

I know what you mean about keeping those patches!  I wish my Dad had kept all of his.  We do have quite a few of them, but I know we are missing some.

Here are a few of the ones I do have:

jimbot58

Nice work on the Lee! Too bad mine was such a mess! I thought about buying another one to see if it might be good, but you know what they say about "once bitten, twice shy..."

I like the patches! Here is one I found:

Is there somewhere a person can buy replicas of some of these? I know owning one is not the same as earning it, but seems like something interesting to add to the man-cave.

Jim

Hi Jim,

I found one place that sells them.  Here is a link:

https://www.planecrazyenterprises.com/index.asp 

Type what you are looking for in the search box and if they have it, it will show up.  They do have the "Phantom Phixer" patch.

Ken

This is the patch of my last unit.

Unfortunately they didn't add the nick for our job description on it, but I don't think walking around with Hooker on your arm would go down to well. 

Jim you can buy them from collectables sites and e-bay. The one above is on a site for $35. Seems a hell of a price to me, but I wish I had known that before I gave my spare ones away.

mikeymize

Hey Ken I remember seeing that video during one our safety briefings. It illustrates how easy it is to foul up even with so many experienced people. Best of luck to you with all your home adversities. I hope it's not too cold up there as it sounds like this won't be done that quickly.

I did find that other patch so here it is. It's one of my favorites!

Another very good looking patch Mike!      However I like the mechanics version better (I may be a bit skewed on where my loyalties lie    ).

Ken

Bish

mikeymize

Just getting ready to post some pics and read your post Ken. The fact that many of your reference books are out of print/hard to find would make me upset beyond belief. Even if/when you get the insurance money the pain of finding new copies will only add to the frustration.

On a happier note, I'm including the Lee tank as promised and a pic of my old patch. I will get the other one posted as soon as I find it.

I really like that patch, and nice work on the Lee as well.

Now have I got this right, Eagle Keeper is the Mechanics and Eagle Driver the pilot.

Nice work on the Lee! Too bad mine was such a mess! I thought about buying another one to see if it might be good, but you know what they say about "once bitten, twice shy..."

I like the patches! Here is one I found:

Is there somewhere a person can buy replicas of some of these? I know owning one is not the same as earning it, but seems like something interesting to add to the man-cave.

Jim

mikeymize

Just getting ready to post some pics and read your post Ken. The fact that many of your reference books are out of print/hard to find would make me upset beyond belief. Even if/when you get the insurance money the pain of finding new copies will only add to the frustration.

On a happier note, I'm including the Lee tank as promised and a pic of my old patch. I will get the other one posted as soon as I find it.

I really like that patch, and nice work on the Lee as well.

Now have I got this right, Eagle Keeper is the Mechanics and Eagle Driver the pilot.

Hey Ken I remember seeing that video during one our safety briefings. It illustrates how easy it is to foul up even with so many experienced people. Best of luck to you with all your home adversities. I hope it's not too cold up there as it sounds like this won't be done that quickly.

I did find that other patch so here it is. It's one of my favorites!

Son Of Medicine Man

Hi Everyone,

Today was a very long day.  Spent it removing everything out of the basement.  I hired a business that specializes in water damage remediation.  They ripped up the carpet, and setup a large (I mean huge!) dehumidifier along with about 5 huge industrial blowers.  The sound is incredibly loud.  Reminds me of my trip to Okinawa when I was about 5 years old.  Flew there on a 4 engine propeller plane.

Ken

We had a water pipe break at Mom's once, and the company we brought out did the same thing-A huge fan and a dehumidifier. Made so much noise, Mom literally thew a tantrum and had me shut them off. Her mental state had deteriorated quite a bit at that point and they can become very childish and stubborn.

I didn't know the damage was as bad as that, Ken! I hope you maybe have a few electric heaters to maybe hold off the cold a bit? Just be careful with them if you do. Other than that, snuggle up with wife to conserve heat!

Jim