Lindberg Monitor & Merrimac 1/245 & Pyro Monitor

The Newport was a pretty line of cars.

I bought a 2005 Subaru Outback new & I drove it for 15 years & the only thing i did to it was 2 rear wheel bearings & 2 CV joints. I don't count oil & brakes & tires. I never drove a car over 2 or 3 years & I had 3 other Subarus that  were the same. I sold my 2005 to my son & moved up to a low mileage 2012. It has been perfect too. I figured at 90 I don't  need a new car.

   I need the 4 wheel drive where I llive on the side of a mountain. My 2005 was still erfect & everything worked & it got 23 mpg city & 32 Hwy. My new one is a little better gas wise.

     My new Monitor is really going great Bill & I wll get pictures & maybe a new WIP on it because the bigger one does take detail well. You would like to detail this one. I got most everything in it.

Here are a few early shots. It is 1/144 & nino ,Jim, gave it to me. You guys keep an old man happy. I still have a Victory to finish. 

Hey !

 You got Blocks of wood in there? Trying to make it unsinkable? LOL! LOL! I Know,it's so you can attach the base to it!

Gene, That is some great progress on this old kit.

This Battle Axe version of the Monitor is most definetly a "Craftsman" kit.

The turret is realy looking good compared to the original part. As you have seen, you can easily put enough time and parts into the Turret to effectivly make it a seperate model.

Wood:  Good idea. Ya don't want it to sink like the original, especially after you put all this work into it.                                                                                                          You know me with my Grandkids and their curiosity. When I build mine I will add ballast till it sits a scale 18 inches high in the sink. The only drawback to all that ballast is if my weighted model get dropped, I bet it won't bounce. 

     Wish I still had a Cat.  My last one could find any little thing on the floor or in the rug. Since I started modeling again I am short a bunch of 20mm guns, mast sections, and PE.  (Although, when I was in Grade school, a Cat is how little parts got on the floor in the first place...) 

     Jim.

Jim,

My cat likes to scatter my model parts. She does the same with my wife's jigsaw puzzle pieces.  Where's your old cat?

Bill

Bill, Our last Kitty passed away several years back. 

     I have had cats my whole life.  My recollections of parts as play things stems mostly from the 60's. It was fun to watch'em play and it was impossible to stop; Cats are too fast. Back then I built models over a tiled floor.  My dad would sweep up the floor and I would go through the dust pan for any plastic.  

    About 10 years ago we inherited a Lab, compliments of my Youngest daughter who could not keep him at college. So we had a Kitty and a "Puppy".  Fortunately Molly(C) and Charlie(D) got along great.  Slept together, Played together, Stole food from each other...Great Times.

     Our Dog is now 90+lbs. He is mostly very safe with Models but he is also pretty big so when he wags his tail near a table it leaves the same destructive swath as a cat, but all at once.

  But I digress...

Gene has done it again. He is fast approaching 90 and still loves the smell of "modeling" in the morning. I give him a few ideas and tips based on plans and official records and he overwhelms my suggestions with ingenuity and perfection.

  Gene,  Thank You for complimenting me in so many of your Posts.  You are a true inspiration.  

    So, is this your Third Monitor or Fourth? ( Pretty sure it's the Fourth!)

    It is a fun ship to build. So many interesting differences between the Battle version, Cruising version, Re-fitted version and AS Sunk.  Building it brings out the History of the time. A great way to discover and learn from the past.      And, as appropriately stated, (and I quote..) "is an excuse to buy books".(Thanks GM.   Best "signature" ever.)

  Nino

P.S.  This latest Post by Gene, of his USS Monitor model, is the Battle Axe 1/144 kit. It is truely a "Craftsman" kit in that most everything needs some attention.  It was based on some "early" drawings so there are location issues on some of the deck details.  The kit was a Short Run issue too so not many of these OOP kits can be found anymore. 

P.S.  Anyone planning on building the newest plastic USS Monitor kit, Micro-Mir's 1/144 Monitor, may want to PM or email me as I have some insight on correcting and building it.