My interest
in modeling was sparked by my step father. He had boxes full of 1/72nd
scale WWII armor he had built before meeting my mother and I. He also had Shep
Paine’s “Modeling Tanks and Military Vehicles”.
I read it front to back and was hooked. During the winter months, he
would take me to Ace Hobby Shop in Niagara
Falls, NY just about
every other weekend. I would spend every dime I had earned from shoveling
driveways on armor and ship kits. Like most of us, adolescence and young
adulthood put modeling on the back burner.
I joined
the U.S. Army in 1998 as a 19D Cavalry Scout and served in light and heavy
Cavalry units as a vehicle driver, gunner, and commander. I served in Germany, Bosnia,
Louisiana, Kuwait,
and Iraq
until 2006. After serving three consecutive tours in Iraq,
I returned to Germany
in 2004 and picked up the hobby once again. I’ve been modeling pretty
consistently since then but still consider myself to be somewhat of a novice. I
attend the IPMS shows in the Buffalo-Rochester area pretty regularly, but have
never actually submitted an entry. Maybe this year!
I have
hundreds of pics and some videos from my time spent in the Army. Most are from Iraq. Great
reference stuff for Brads, M1s, HMMWVs, Iraqi vehicles (some destroyed), and
the Iraqi landscape. I still have buddies in that can provide me with reference
pics. Most recently, a friend of mine who is in the Stryker Brigade at Fort
Lewis emailed me some pics that needed for detailing the wiring harness’ of an
upcoming Stryker RV project. I am more than happy to share anything that anyone
hear may need.