Archive for the ‘History’ Category

The greatest bunch of guys it was ever my pleasure to know, A CO. 9th PSYOP BN. (ABN), Empire Range, Panama, December 1994. God bless y’all, and thanks.

Freedom is a funny thing. Sometimes you don’t really notice it until it’s absent. When it’s there, people tend to pay it no attention, and take it for granted. They treat it like it’s not of great value, just a word.

Yet it is of great value. Every day people put their lives on the line for. Some give their lives up for it. And all too often few notice or care.

So today, stop and think about the freedom you enjoy. It came at a price. Regardless of your politics.

And the bill was paid by a veteran. God bless our veterans.

My good friend Adam Coleman emailed this wonderful build report and history of his Aerospatiale Alouette IIIB “K-Car” in Rhodesian markings. I always enjoy Adam’s modeling, because not only is he a fine modeler, he also has a great love for the history of his subjects, and always brings interesting facts and stories in to his builds. Thanks for letting me share this with the readers of Agape Models, Adam!

Just finished today was my 1/48 Aerospatiale Alouette IIIB “K-Car” of the Rhodesian Air Force ca. early 1979. This is the Fujimi kit released in 1980 and heavily modified and converted to the unique Rhodesian version made famous during “Fireforce” operations in the Bush War of the 1970s. The kit when built out of the box assembles quite well, however the major modifications to convert the machine to a K-Car required including; Anti SAM shroud and the “Elephant ear” dust filters on air intakes. Also on the outside are the adding of antennas on the front of the cockpit and the cable cutter on the top of the fuselage. On the inside, I added the Matra 20mm cannon on its unique mount with ammo feed line and adjusted seating platform. The 20mm was made primarily of using the Aries 20mm resin gun body and adding a metal barrel and ammo feed. The pilots seat was modified and armored, and armored inserts added internally, as well as relocating the instrument panel and some wiring. The machine depicted is numbered R5278 (ex Portuguese AF from Mozambique), “given” to Rhodesia in 1976, and depicted for operations against ZANLA terrorists in southern Rhodesia in late 1978. Read the rest of this entry »

Back in the late 80′s, the CAF flew their B-29 (Fifi) and B-24 (Diamond ‘Lil) into the Tallahassee, FL, USA airport. I went out to see them.

When I was standing under the B-29, there was an old man in a wheel chair sitting under it, just looking up. An older woman, presumably his wife, was standing off to the side. A family was near him, and he started talking to them. His speech was slurred, which I guessed was from a stroke. The family seemed annoyed he was talking to them, and moved away. He hushed up.

I felt bad for the way they treated him. So I walked over, and standing under the open bomb bay, I said “Sure looks like they could hold a lot of ordnance in there.”

And in his slow, hard to understand speech, he started talking.

I listened as this man- this hero- told stories of being a bombardier on a B-29, of living in the South Pacific, of raids over Japan. He’d met “Tennessee” Ernie Ford, who he said was a -29 bombardier, too.

He recalled some of the people he knew, just first names, like Charlie and “ole Bud” and “some kid from San Diego”. Some of them brought tears, and others laughs. I honestly got teary eyed myself at times.

He even told about some odd group called the 509th Composite group, and he described to me watching a plane take off on the morning of August 6th- and he dramatically paused and said “That was the Enola Gay that dropped the bomb on Hiroshima.”

We talked a little more, and I thanked him for the stories and for all he did.

That family who was to busy to listen to an old man slowly tell his tale never knew what they missed. They were in the presence of a hero, a real hero, and ignored it because of a little slurred speech and some liver spots.

They were free because of what that man- and others- did for them.

Memorial Day is about remembering…. the history, the heroes, the men and women who paid the ultimate price for our country. Remembering the history too. Why they gave it all. It may be a little too easy to just see a veteran, or their tombstone, and say “It’s great they fought for us.”

They left behind family, friends, innocence. brothers, sisters, children. A lot didn’t come back.

And it’s about honoring. Stopping and thinking about that the freedom we enjoyed came at a price. Too many times the younger generations forget this. Doing so, eventually, is at their own peril. Freedom has a price. It has a cost.

Our freedom in this country shows that. Look at the history. Our comfort came at a price.

Just as our freedom from the sting of death came at a price, through the blood of Jesus.

Today is Memorial Day. It’s for remembering the price paid for freedom. Someone had to lay down their life. Take some time to thank a veteran. And to thank the Lord for the ones who aren’t here.

Adam Coleman, a friend I know through IPMS, emailed me this very interesting bit of modeling history, along with photos of his great work on this aircraft. I’ll admit I’d never actually heard about this particular one, so it’s interesting to learn something new through the hobby. Thanks for sharing this with us Adam!

Just finished today is my Hungarian MÁVAG Héja II (“Goshawk”) of the Royal Hungarian Air Force ca.1944. This is marked up and intended to depict a mid-production machine V5+42 based at Matyasfeld, near Budapest. The kit is the Legato release in 1/72 scale from 2005 which apparently can make either the Heja I or Heja II.

The Héja I was a Hungarian fighter aircraft copy of the Italian Reggiane Re 2000.  Following licensing issues with the Italians, the new Héja II (as shown below) was entirely Hungarian built with locally produced airframes, engines and armament. The new fighter differed from the Heja I in a number of ways. Armament was changed to two fixed forward-firing 12.7 mm (0.50 inch)Gebauer guns with 300 rounds in the fuselage nose. Flight endurance was about 2.5 hours. The first MÁVAG Héja II took to the air on 30 October 1942, and in total, MÁVAG built around 70 Héja II’s, all for the Royal Hungarian Air Force. The last aircraft was completed on 1 August 1944 when production ceased. These were primarily used as fighter trainers.

This model is not for beginners!  It is a short run kit with resin and photo etch parts as well as vacuformed canopies.  It requires patience and a knack for understanding dubiously unclear instructions. The kit was not easy, but however I also chose it to give my brand new new Grex airbrush a workout. Replicating the paint scheme was especially fun, and I also enjoyed the research side of this project as well. None survive today, so please enjoy the rare and seldom seen little Héja!

Andy Mason presents Jack Jaqua with a model of 1LT Arnold Jaqua's P-40.

Modelers are often very interested in history, reading not only about the details of the kits we model, but about the lives of those who used the machines we model. it’s always wonderful to see our hobby intersect in a meaningful way with history. Andy Mason submitted this wonderful story about helping a WWII hero’s brother connect with history through a model.

Five years ago my youngest son’s 5th grade class hosted a “Bring A Veteran to School” day and my son, Max, invited a former USAF pilot from our church to be his guest. Mr. Pennington brought an old bare plastic model of the jet he flew in the 1950’s; a North American F-86. I had been on a modeling hiatus for close to 12 years, but when I saw Mr. Pennington holding that unpainted 1:48 Sabre, I thought to myself, “He really needs to have a detailed model of his jet. So two years ago at Christmas I surprised Mr. Pennington with a custom built 1:32 Kinetic F-86 complete with his squadron emblem and his name on the canopy rail. His reaction to the model when I presented it was priceless. His joy at receiving the piece was outdone by my joy of giving it to him.

Fast forward to this year. Jack Jaqua, a member at the church where I minister, is a U.S. Army veteran. He knows of my love for military aviation. Most of my parishioners do since I have my church office decorated with pictures and models of some of my favorite planes. So he told me one day that his brother flew P-40s in North Africa during WWII. He brought me a book – “P-40 Warhawk Aces of the MTO” from Osprey- chronicling the operations of the 65th FS/57th FG. His brother, 1 Lt. Arnold Jaqua is mentioned several times in the book and was credited with 3 Bf-109 kills before he was killed in action. Read the rest of this entry »

It was 70 years ago to day when Japan launched a surprise attack against the United States at Pearl Harbor. Over 2,400 American lives were lost. Most American aircraft were caught on the ground. Ships were lined up, prime targets for torpedo and dive bomber attacks.

In the weeks that followed, Japanese  forces advanced rapidly throughout the Pacific and Asia. It became painfully clear that America was not prepared for the attacks.

Yet respond we did, and victoriously. Flexing mighty muscles of industry and manpower, the United States and it’s Allies throughout the world overcame the tyranny that threatened to engulf the world.

Looking back, it gives me pause to consider how this parallels the life of a believer in Christ. All around us, we are opposed. The prince of this world seeks every opportunity to attack us. As believers, we cannot allow ourselves to be complacent. Rather, we must always stay in God’s Word, leading an active life of prayer in relationship with our Lord, seeking His Kingdom and His glory. The surprise attacks will still come- but we will be prepared, wearing the full armor of God.

As you pause to reflect on the great loss many years ago on this solemn day, consider your own state of spiritual preparedness. If you are a believer, stand strong in God’s Word. If you do not know Jesus as your Savior, I urge you to find out what it means to be in an eternal relationship with Jesus Christ. Our sins separate us from God eternally. It is only through the death and resurrection of Christ that we can have eternal life, admitting our sins and accepting Christ as our Savior.

Adam Coleman is a dear friend I know through my IPMS club, Lafayette Scale Modelers. Though Adam lives in Texas now, he is still a great supporter of our club’s efforts. He even took time to fly here to North Carolina for our recent show! Adam shared these great photos, as well as some thought on the building of this kit, and a bit of it’s history. Thanks so much Adam!

Well, …just in time for the end of the year!  Attached are a few pictures of my just completed Argentine Air Force (Fuerza Aerea Argentina – FAA) CH-47 Model 308 (similar to the CH-47C or BV-114).  This was a somewhat lengthy conversion of the old 1/72 scale Matchbox Ch-47D, then a modification to rebuild the nose to the longer CH-47C.    The rest of the kit was built out of the box, except for the decals, which are from the Aerocalcas Argentina set.

FAA H-93 (CG-073 B-802) was supplied to Argentina in 1980 for transport and Antarctic support.   The machine was originally painted in the Antarctic scheme, then painted overall camouflage for its wartime use in 1982, then later repainted to the model.   Markings changed slightly during this time, and also some external parts are clearly different.  As you can imagine, getting good coverage and research photos are a little hard to find, so I did my best with what I could procure.    It was a lot of fun to build, but the quality of the kit means lots of hard work too.

The nose is built from the base of the old Matchbox Strikemaster, and then made up with modeling compound. The blades were revised to the later “square” version, and there was several other minor additions.   I’m still on this kick of using what I have at the workbench, rather than buying more.. I managed to keep that concept true again.

The model depicts as H-93 may have looked in the mid-1980s as a machine attached to VII Air Brigade, III Squadron, on Antarctic duties at Marambio base.  It’s the end of the southern summer, and she has flown many hours on, and around the volcano’s of the Antarctic Peninsula. ….Weathered, dirty and about to be sent back to the mainland.

Enjoy!

Adam COleman is an IPMS member from Texas by way of Australia and North Carolina.  His first model was the 1/72 Airfix Me-262 – landing gear up!  Today his modeling interests are broad, but with an liking to the classic British kits.   He likes to travel the world and visit hobby stores too!

Today is a day for honoring our military veterans, past and present. It’s hard for me to write about it objectively, as I am a veteran myself. I was proud to serve at the time, and am still proud of that service. I was proud to serve my country, and to continue in the line that has preserved our freedom for so many years.

Yet when you get down to it, the day-to-day work was not so much about those great ideals, wonderful as they are. It was my buddies that kept me going. Dan at Fort Chaffee, Grady in Mogadishu, Kevin in Panama, Mark in Bolivia, Bruce yelling “Go” as I headed out the door over St. Mere Eglise DZ on Ft. Bragg on my last jump, and so many others names and faces who went through those places and more with me- and I with them. More than anything I was proud to serve with those guys. It’s hard to explain to someone who has not experienced it. Nothing before or since has come quite as close to the brotherhood that service fosters.

I encourage everyone to take time today and thank a veteran. And to my fellow veterans, I was proud to serve with you.

And more importantly, take the time to thank God for our veterans, and pray His blessing on those who are now serving.

Steve Budd submitted this wonderful memorial dedicated to the brave pilots of the RAF, as they fought, and triumphed, against incredible odds during one of the proudest moments in not only British history, but in man’s history.

For a great many people in Britain, Monday 15 September will dawn and pass like any other Monday. They will go to work or enjoy a day off, walk, talk, laugh, cry and sleep through the anniversary of twenty four hours that changed the course of history and made my freedom to sit typing this piece (and your freedom to read it) not merely a possibility but a reality.

Whole books and innumerable articles have uncovered huge amounts of detail about the conflict that was the Battle of Britain and I will, in no sense, attempt a historical review of events better covered elsewhere. What I will do is offer a small taste of thoughts that have crossed my mind in the many years the battle has remained for me, a fascinating and compelling topic.

Read the rest of this entry »