Gallery Page

Pelikan Club Meeting S&T – June 3, 2014

Posted by Bart Cusumano on Jun 5, 2014 | Comments Off on Pelikan Club Meeting S&T – June 3, 2014

Special guest visitor to meeting night, Flat Matty, caught in a tender moment with Yvonne DeCarlo

Dave Fenwick goes 1:72 scale German missile diorama again in June.

An absolutely stunning 1:1 scale collection of used applesauce containers by Robert Marquinez.

Joe Bivona goes for twice the fun with this cool biplane.

Robert Marquinez brings life to the Verlinden 120mm British guy.

This cool little fairy in a leaf by Nemrod is done by the amazing Libby Brut and is called “In Good Company”.

Guy Borgeson goes road wheel crazy with this nice 1:72 Churchill tank.

Monogram’s 1:72 scale Mustang P-51B by the famous Charlie Hess, heir to the Hess Gas fortune.

Charlie Hess goes invasion stripe crazy again with this cool Matchbox A-20G in 1:72 scale.

OK, so he’s not the heir to the giant Hess Gas fortune, but Charlie Hess did build this 1:72 scale Airfix LCVP painted with Model Master.

The often imitated, but never surpassed, Brad Johnson brings us three cool models: Italeri German motorcycle with side-car, Tasca M4 Sherman and I have no idea who’s Panther G early. All in 1:35 scale.

Lord Vader, your TIE fighter is ready . . .Jeff Price gives us the nice 1:72 scale Fine Molds kit.

Boeing 737-200 in Piedmont livery in 1:144 scale by Bart Cusumano.

Frank Stansell goes on a cat fight with his two Grumman Hellcats: the Hasegawa 1:48 scale offering and the 1:72 scale kit from Heller?

An A-4P Skyhawk of the Argentinian navy from the Airfix 1:72 scale kit by the Amazing Leandri – or Ozzie as we all know him.

Big George Brown’s beautiful Mustang in Brit configuration – 1:48 scale.

Walt Lamb goes OOB with this real nice Fokker D-VII from the 1:72 Revell kit.

The French have a navy and submarines? Barry Reese offers this proof that they do: a 1:400 kit of their Surcoft by Heller.

Tom Knapp’s special guest Flat Matty partying on with the members of a Hellcat squadron.

1:48 scale Tamiya M-10 artfully done by the now famous Robert Marquinez, whose amazing 1:1 rendering of used applesauce containers will be displayed at MoMA this summer.

Charlie Hess goes nautical again (well, he is a US Navy vet) with this WIP of DML’s LCM in 1:72 scale.

Otaki’s 1:48 scale Spitfire Mk VIII converted to a PR Mk XI by Walt Lamb

Robert Marquinez (again?) painted up this real nice Warriors 1:35 scale US Infantry guy from the 2nd Armored Division in Dubbya Dubbya 2.

You Futured the plastic? Really? Joe Bivona, that is amazing! We thought it was painted! Cool car, dude.

George Brown’s difficult WIP of Italeri’s OH-something or other Helo. Looks real nice – can’t wait to see it done.

Can you say, Beaufighter Mk X? Brian Sibbitt’s 1:72 scale Hasegawa kit. Funny, but I didn’t know that Beaufighters floated. . .

Steve Sobieralski’s cat terror device: Tamiya’s 1:16 scale Tiger I – R/C tank.

Brad loves his Tasca Shermans so much, I figured I’d post another photo . . .

Robert Marquinez also did this cool vignette of two German dudes on a turret: figures from Alpine and turret from Tamiya Panzer IV D in 1:48 scale.

Our guest, Flat Matty hangs with old FDR for a while before Tom Knapp takes him home.

USS Laffey

Posted by Mike Hanson on Apr 7, 2014 | Comments Off on USS Laffey

On a trip to Charleston, SC, I was finally able to stop by Patriots Point and visit the USS Laffey, DD-724. I’ve toured aircraft carriers and battleships, but always wanted to walk through a WWII era destroyer. The Laffey is a famous ship, known as “The Ship that wouldn’t die’ because it was hit by numerous kamikaze strikes, bombs, and torpedoes, and still managed to bring most of her crew home. She saw service through the Korean conflict and was transferred to Patriot’s Point as a museum ship in 1981. Here is just under 200 photos of the exterior and interior of the ship. The day was overcast, so the exterior shots are not as good as I’d like, but I had to take what I could get during the trip.

USS Laffey

USS Laffey – Stern

USS Laffey

USS Laffey – Bow 5″ gun

USS Laffey – Bow

USS Laffey – Forward 5″ guns

USS Laffey

USS Laffey – Bridge and forward 5″ gun

USS Laffey

USS Laffey – Bridge and mast

USS Laffey – Anchor

USS Laffey – Captain’s Gig

USS Laffey – Deck hardware

USS Laffey – Bridge

USS Laffey – Deck Hardware

USS Laffey – Aft 5″ gun

USS Laffey – 5″ gun detail

USS Laffey – Aft 5″ gun, looking forward

USS Laffey – Deck hardware

USS Laffey – Hatch

USS Laffey – Starboard side, looking forward

USS Laffey – Interior, 5″ gun

USS Laffey

USS Laffey – 5″ gun detail

USS Laffey – Bow

USS Laffey – Forward 5″ gun

USS Laffey – Deck hardware

USS Laffey – Bow detail

USS Laffey – 5″ gun detail

USS Laffey – Bow detail

USS Laffey – Deck hardware

USS Laffey

USS Laffey – Port side looking aft

USS Laffey – Turret detail

USS Laffey – Port side looking aft

USS Laffey – ‘Teardrop’ depth charge

USS Laffey – Depth charge launcher

USS Laffey

USS Laffey – Depth charge launcher

USS Laffey – looking down into crew areas

USS Laffey – Port side looking forward

USS Laffey – Depth charge launcher

USS Laffey – History

USS Laffey – Model

USS Laffey – Dazzle camoflage

USS Laffey – Port side interior corridor, looking forward

USS Laffey – Interior hardware

USS Laffey – USS Ward model

USS Laffey

USS Laffey – USS Ward model

USS Laffey

USS Laffey – USS Ward model

USS Laffey – Galley

USS Laffey

USS Laffey – Galley

USS Laffey – Corridor

USS Laffey – Captians quarters

USS Laffey – Radar room

USS Laffey – Chart room

USS Laffey – rear stack, looking aft

USS Laffey – Mk 32 torpedo launcher

USS Laffey – 5″ gun practice mount

USS Laffey – Forward stack, looking forward

USS Laffey – Captains gig

USS Laffey – Captain’s Gig

USS Laffey – Torpedo launcher detail

USS Laffey

USS Laffey – Bridge

USS Laffey – Looking forward from bridge

USS Laffey – Bridge

USS Laffey – Looking forward from bridge

USS Laffey – signal box

USS Laffey – Range finder, mast

USS Laffey – Captain’s sea cabin

USS Laffey – forward mast

USS Laffey – Range finder

USS Laffey – Signal bridge

USS Laffey – Range finder, mast

USS Laffey – Signal bridge

USS Laffey – Looking forward from signal bridge

USS Laffey – Range finder

USS Laffey – Deck hardware

USS Laffey – Signal bridge

USS Laffey – Range finder

USS Laffey – Signal bridge

USS Laffey – Mast

USS Laffey – 5″ shells loading

USS Laffey

USS Laffey – Looking down in front of the forward stack

USS Laffey – Gun control computer

USS Laffey

USS Laffey – Crew quarters

USS Laffey – Gun control computer

USS Laffey – Generator room

USS Laffey – Engine room

USS Laffey – Crew quarters

USS Laffey – Generator

USS Laffey – Turbine

USS Laffey – Engine room

USS Laffey

USS Laffey – Engine room

USS Laffey

USS Laffey – Forward 5″ guns

USS Laffey – Bridge, range finder, mast

USS Laffey

USS Laffey – Stern 5″ gun

USS Laffey

USS Laffey – Stern

USS Laffey

USS Laffey – Captain’s Gig

USS Laffey

USS Laffey – Torpedo launcher

USS Laffey – Mast

National WWII Museum

Posted by Mike Hanson on Mar 28, 2014 | Comments Off on National WWII Museum

This gallery of photos are from a visit to New Orleans a couple years ago. Unfortunately, the museum does not allow flash photography, and the exhibits inside are very dark so most of these photos are in the atrium and open spaces. My new camera has a lens that does really well in low light, so next time there will be more photos. In the meantime, here are 55 images; my favorite is at the very end, the Army pigeon coop.

National WWII Museum

Grumman A-6 Intruder

Posted by Mike Hanson on Mar 28, 2014 | 1 comment

The A-6 was built to meet the Navy’s need for an all-weather attack fighter. Grumman won the bid and the prototype A-6 flew on April 19, 1960. Not the prettiest of aircraft, it has a reputation for durability and is consider a workhorse by many battle group commanders. The fact that the A-6 endured for 34 years is a testament to the appeal of this Navy fighter. This example at the Naval Aviation Museum in Pensacola was originally delivered to the Navy in 1968 and served with Attack Squadron 196 aboard the USS Enterprise and USS Ranger.

Grumman A-6 Intruder

1993 Chevy Camaro Trans-Am

Posted by Mike Hanson on Mar 28, 2014 | Comments Off on 1993 Chevy Camaro Trans-Am

Chevrolet has the record for the most manufacturer’s titles won in the Trans-Am racing series, and the Camaro has won more than any other model in the history of the race. This car was originally driven by Jack Baldwin in that series, and he was the first driver to complete every lap in a season. The Camaro has a custom-built tube-frame chassis by Riley & Scott, with fiberglass panels replicating the look of a production car on every surface except the roof and windshield, which according to Trans-Am rules had to be the parts from the street car. The powerplant is a 570 horsepower, 310 cubic-inch Chevy V-8.