Playing With the Lightbox Again

 For some reason the time shift didn't set well with me.  I didn't sleep well last night, so I didn't really feel like going out and about.  Sadly, it looked like it was a nice day.  But I figured I needed some pictures, so I decided to play around with my light box.

So I like to collect action figures.  Sometime ago, I discovered the 6" version of the G.I. Joes I grew up with.  These are alot more detailed that the original ones and they look nice displayed on my shelf.

This particular one is Flint.  I liked the looks of him because he reminded me of a character named Mack Bolan.  Mack Bolan was a series of books written by a man named Don Pendleton.  The character was a Vietnam vet whose family was murdered by the Mafia.  After he got his revenge, he was asked to work for the CIA.  The books were okay but I imagine they haven't aged well.

This is another one of my favorite characters.

This is shipwreck.  As I was growing up, my dad was in the Navy.  Both of my grandpas were in the Navy.  Most of my heroes were in the Navy.  So it would come as no surprise that one of my favorite G.I. Joes would be in the Navy.  This particular one is Shipwreck.  Normally he'd have a parrot too but I couldn't get it on.    Besides, the spot they have designated is in his arm and it feels like he should be on his shoulder.

And another one of my favorites.

But I actually like the original one a little better.  One of the times I was home sick, there was a movie on TBS called "Rumor of War".  It was about a man who joins the Marines during the Vietnam War and served as an officer.  It was pretty good.  This character reminded me of that movie.

As you know, my favorite plane is the 757.  It has been for a long time and probably will be well after it is retired (which apparently is coming soon).

The first time I saw it was at Detroit Metro Airport.  I was waiting for a friend and it was coming into the gate.  For some reason it reminded me of a swan.

One of my favorite liveries doesn't exist anymore.  It is the Shamu livery from Sea World.  I think the Sea World lease ran out and Southwest didn't renew because Sea World was having some issues.

This is a pretty cool livery.  Southwest has some of the coolest looking special liveries.  One of these day, I will see this in person.

Since I haven't caught Fed Ex Flight 505 in a while, here is a picture of my model.

The Concorde is a plane that I wish I would have seen in person.  I imagine it was impressive.

Some of my Diecast Airplanes

 After taking pictures of the Chessie, I decided to get some pictures of some of die cast models.  Most of these are 1/400 scale.

The Concorde was supposed to be a game changer and might have been had the United States not banned sonic booms over the country.  Because of that, it was limited to coastal airports (and Detroit).  It couldn't carry enough passengers to be cheap but the service was great.  United is talking about bringing back supersonic aircraft.  Maybe they can make a go of it.

Pan Am was an airline that made the imagination wander.  Thier owner was forging new air routes and pushing new airplanes.  There were a couple of major airplanes that came at the advice of Pan Am.  I think one of them was the 747.  Opening up the international routes began the end for them.  Every so often, there is talk of an airline taking the Pan Am name.  They may take the name but they will never take the legend.

Northwest was another innovator in the aviation industry.  They pretty much opened up the Asian market to the airline industry.  They had direct flights to China and Japan from Detroit and Minneapolis.  They had one of the best service records of the airlines out there.  Unfortunately, the name disappeared when they merged with Delta.

A couple years ago, United had woman artists submit ideas for a special livery.  They called "Art Her Way".  This is one of the winners.  It looks pretty cool but since United doesn't fly the 757 my way, it will be difficult to see.

This is the livery dedicated to New York.

This is one of the classic United liveries.  I wish it was still around but I don't think it will come back.

And this is probably the classic United livery.

North Central is another fallen flag.  It disappeared when it was acquired by Republic.  Republic kept Herman the Duck but Republic disappeared after their merger with Northwest.

This is the Salmon Thirty Salmon.  It is used by Alaska Airlines as they are based in Seattle.  It is a cool looking livery but it rarely comes this way, so I'll have to be content with seeing it on a model.

I've actually seen this livery a couple of times.  Sadly, Southwest ended their relationship with Sea World and doesn't use this anymore.  They didn't like some of the negative publicity that Sea World was getting at the time.

While, I don't like the livery, I do like the plane.  It's not a bad livery but not quite as iconic as some of their older liveries.

This is a B-52 diecase model I found.  I got it because it was using the wing that was based on K.I. Sawyer.  They did this paint scheme for one of the commemorations of D-Day.