Hello, all;

[drwrist]

So, anyways, we was bustin' up this bar in Okinawa... Oh, wait, wrong story.

What I meant was this; a couple/three years ago, I was watching the news. They had launched SpaceShipOne for, I believe, the second time. They showed the pilot bouncing a model of the craft around in his hands in microgravity. And I said to myself "cool model. I wonder if they are available anywhere? Better still, I wonder if they can be purchased from the SS1 project?"

A little web searching revealed that there were no models that could be purchased. Or at least there weren't any that I could find. But lo and behold, a fellow named Ralph Currell had designed one in card and that the pattern could be downloaded at no charge. And a copy of the model made from that pattern was indeed what the pilot had been playing with.

So I downloaded the pattern (with a 33k modem, thank you very much). It took about two minutes to realize that I was in way over my head.

But I had the scent. The camel's nose was in the proverbial tent. I remembered seeing a couple of primitive card models of some sort in a passage in Paris a year or two before. Or, maybe, I saw the maquettes de carton first and then they launched SS1. After a certain age, it all begins to run together.

At any rate, I started searching and found lots of models at many levels of sophistication to try.

Yesterday, I got serious and started on Ojimak's Concorde, my first card model. Since I do not read Japanese, I misunderstood a couple things. I am re-doing the fuselage. It is very much an operation where I am making up techniques as I go. Wish me luck.

I am trying to gather the courage to tackle Ralph Currell's Concorde. I also am planning a go at Fiddlers' Green's F-4 Phantom.

I would welcome anyone's suggestions as to some good beginner's models. I have a major collection of FG patterns, all of Oji's, RC's and a few more. What do you guys say?

What is the record for length of a "hello" message? I would write more, but the battery light is flashing on my laptop.

Semper fi,

DW

[dansls1]

Welcome!
I started with Wilhelmshavener models in high school, so I started a step above FG models (haven't checked out Ralph Currell's models lately, so not sure how they compare with the WHV stuff) - so I'm not the best person to ask where to start. I do know that the nice thing with digital models is that you can do reprints if you like until you get the result you want - helps with teaching yourself.

[rickstef]

DW,

I think I still hear the groans of the members when I posted my intro.

It seems that you are of the Marine Corps ilk, does that mean that you were (un)lucky enough to visit The Stumps?

[boosed]

Welcome DW. We share some initials and I (a retired Dogface) have some close Marine Corps connections (son is a retired Marine CWO, office mate at the Army War College for the past ten years is a retired Marine colonel, worked very closely with Marines in Korea, am about to publish a book on amphibious warfare).

As Dan said, the good thing about digital paper models is that you can keep printing them until you get it right (am curently working on the ninth iteration of a 1/72d model of Mark Clark's Stinson L-5 and hope to produce an acceptable version before I die of old age).

I look forward to seeing photos of whatever it is that you decide to build.

Don(ald Wallace) Boose

[drwrist]

Hi, gents;

Dan; thank you for the words of encouragement. I started a second fuselage. The second one is closer. But I used knife to cut the covert that goes under the wing. The edges, which will be visible, are pretty sloppy. On the first fuselage, I pre-cut the covert. But I am uncertain as to how I should go about joining the two halves. Then, too, I am not happy with the shape of that fuselage. Am I being too anal?

Maybe I should stick to military aircraft. If I do anything wrong, I can just say that it is simulated FOD. You can't do that with a Concorde. Nobody ever FODed out a Concorde. The people who worked on them were far too devoted and far too professional.

Okay, you're right; there was that one time...


Rick; "Ilk"? Well, yes, guilty as charged. Although I suspect we think of ourselves as more of a "breed".

As for the Stumps, oh, yes, I have had that, um, pleasure. I was a mechanic, which is to say "remover and re-installer of large parts" on the AH-1j Cobra. I was on a det at Stumps once for two weeks. I was corrosion control on that det.

That meant that I would go out once a day and spray various components with CP. Then, at the end of the day, I would go douche out those areas with MEK ("Respirator"? What's a "respirator"?) in the hope of removing the now sand-encrusted CP. And we'd laugh! Oy! More fun than man should enjoy.

Donald; always an honor and a pleasure to make the acquaintance of fellow former military folk. As for being Army, it's nothing of which to be ashamed, not everyone packs the gear to be a Marine.

One of the acquaintances of which I am proudest is a brother Marine who was at the Chosin Resevoir. Sadly, he is no longer with us. Those men were the absolute, hands-down gold standard of what it means to be a Marine. And, for that matter, a man. And he could not have been a sweeter, gentler, kinder, quieter or more generous, humble man.

I am the complete opposite of (Just plane)Bill, in every way that matters. I walk the Earth loud, proud and obnoxious, because I get to stand of the shoulders of men like Bill. And it is something that I call "the special gift of the Marine Corps" that they are content to let me. It always amazed me that Bill considered me his equal, even though my time in the Corps was all peace time. I know this because once he told me he had been at the Yalu, I lamented (okay, I whined) at never knowing if I am the man he was. Essentially, I was channeling Mike Meyers at meeting Alice Cooper: "I'm not worthy, I'm not worthy...". Bill wasn't having any. The toughest man I ever met looked at me and said in a voice only I was meant to hear "you'd have done nothing less". That may have been the most humbling moment of my life.

God bless the United States Marine Corps.

If Marines pull duty in Heaven, Bill had better be on God's own guard detail, or someone will answer to me.

Am I ranting? Man, I have got to go get my meds adjusted.

I will put up photos of my "progress" as soon as I figure out how.

All the best,

Aaron

[drwrist]

P.S.

Donald; I look forward to reading your book when it is published. I am currently reading Hammer from Above: Marine Air Combat Over Iraq by Jay Stout.

For us Jarhead aviation buffs, I suspect that it's better than Viagra.