The progress has been very slow because of the weather and also being under the weather…
I am always wondering how I managed to understand the instructions when I was in my 20s.
Maybe I am getting too old.
Now I have to decide which version I will build.
Last night I started step 1.
You have to start somewhere don’t you.
First, I carefully cut the two fuselage halves from the sprue and dry fitted them. I found out the front part was warped a little so I decided to glue the rear fuselage halves only and let everything set overnight.
Then I got working on my next post of the Frank Sorensen story which is my new blog I have created for his daughter. Vicki had transcribed all of her father’s letters that he wrote to his parents during WW II.
174 letters!
I have never read such informative letters about WW II.
This is what Vicki wrote as a foreword to her father’s letters…
My father, Frank Sorensen, immigrated to Canada from Roskilde, Denmark with his family in August 1939. He volunteered in the Royal Canadian Air Force in March 1941 and trained to become a Spitfire fighter pilot. He was shot down while serving with RAF 232 Squadron, over Tunisia, in North Africa on April 11, 1943 and became a prisoner of war at Stalag Luft III. He was an active participant in the tunnel digging operations that was later known as The Great Escape.
After my father’s death February 5th, 2010, when he was 87, I came into possession of letters written by him to his parents during the war that they had saved and given back to him. Along with the letters were numerous photos and service record documents. There were 174 letters in total which start from C.O.T.C., 1940, #1 Manning Depot, #3 Initial Flying Training School, #2 Elementary Flying Training School, #11 Service Flying Training School; all in Canada in 1941 to #17 A.F.U. (Advanced Flying Unit) and #53 O.T.U. (Operational Training Unit) in England in 1942. Then, his service from 1942 in RCAF 403 Squadron, in England, transferring to RAF 232 Squadron in Scotland, then to North Africa. Numerous letters are from 1943 and 1944 from Stalag Luft III, and then a handful from 1945. There were only two short letters from the long march from Sagan to Lubeck – one in March letting his parents know he was still all right, and one in May when they had just been liberated.
If you are interested by Frank Sorensen’s story, you can follow that blog.
https://colinfranksorensen.wordpress.com
All 174 letters will be shared as well as all the photos and log book pages. I don’t know where all this will lead Vicki and I, and how many lives will be touched by Frank Sorensen’s story.
Next time, finishing step 1 and starting step 2.
Jeff’s visit to the 2019 IPMS Cincinnati Model Show – Part One
My first encounter with the Dornier Do 335 was when I read Le Grand Cirque by Pierre Clostermann. I think it was at the end of my school year in 8th grade that I got the book as a gift.
Pierre Clostermann had his encounter with the Do 335, but he could not catch it with his Hawker Tempest.
I have read that book many times since the 1960s, and it is one of the reasons I have this passion for history and aviation.
I had built Monogram’s Do 335 before and, as usual, gave it away.
You never know when you give something how it will turn out. When I gave the Stuka Ju 87G-1 to a student in my history class, he brought it back and proudly showed me he had repainted it orange!
That should explain why I have a bit of nostalgia about that kit, and why I am building another one for my brother as a birthday gift…
I am sure my brother won’t repaint it.
Getting back to the Do 335, I always scan the instruction sheet when I start a new project. This way I have it on hand for reference and I can zoom closer on an image with my Samsung Tab E tablet.
As a footnote, a few years ago I found this on the Internet. It was written in 1950, two years after the first edition of Le Grand Cirque.
I took these photos of the progress I have made since last week.
The workbench is a little untidy…
It tells you about the progress I have made. First with the Stuka which has been painted dark green with 40 year-old Polly S acrylic paint.
The light blue jar of Polly S acrylic paint was unusable, but I used the light blue shade to mix a homemade light blue which looks fine on the FW 190.
I have used paintbrushes all the way since winter is closing in and I mainly want to get on with the next project…
The Dornier Do 335…
I had visited the Air and Space Museum in 1976 before I got married bringing along my to-become later wife without telling her parents.
This is a link to the museum Website page.
https://airandspace.si.edu/exhibitions/world-war-ii-german-aviation
Three German planes are featured.
https://airandspace.si.edu/collection-objects/arado-ar-234-b-2-blitz-lightning
https://airandspace.si.edu/collection-objects/dornier-do-335-0-pfeil-arrow
https://airandspace.si.edu/collection-objects/focke-wulf-fw-190-f-8r1
I can’t say I remember seeing these in 1975, but I vividly remember this one…
https://airandspace.si.edu/collection-objects/eastern-division-fm-1-grumman-f4f-4-wildcat
The Do 335 and the FW 190 will be next on my to-do list after the Stuka.
Enjoy your visit!
I am still working of the Stuka and the FW 190, but I have not had the time to post photos of the progress I have made. Jeff posted something most interesting about the He 111Z. I was wondering if someone had attempted a 1/48 scale model kit…
Seing is believing!
http://www.hyperscale.com/features/2000/zwillingundgigantjv_1.htm
Anothermasterpiece!
My Forgotten Hobby II 