Some of My Models

 I was going to go out boatwatching today.  There was a nice stream of ships coming upbound past Detroit.  Before I did that, I decided to work on my current model.  Next thing I knew, it was getting pretty late in the afternoon, so I ended up watching the rest of the Lions game and didn't go out.  But I decided I wanted to do some photography, so I brought my lightbox out.

Recently I've gotten back into building plastic models.  It's been a nice stress reliever (sort of).  I've been trying to get some different models.

I used to work with a person from Romania and he pointed me to a plane that was built by Romania.

I'm not sure if this was the pilot, but Romania had a pilot the shot down a plane from each of the major powers in the war.  Romania was sided with the Germans early in the war.  He was a pilot on the Eastern Front, so he shot down some Soviet planes.  As the Allies bombed Romania, he was called home, so he shot down some American planes (and maybe a British one).  In 1944, Romania switched to the Allies, so he shot down German planes.  His name was Constantin Cantacuzino.

The plane is an IAR-80.  This particular kit was made by a Ukrainian company.  It wasn't too bad but needed a little work.

The Spitfire is probably the most famous British fighter of the war.   This particular kit was an Airfix kit which is a British company.

This plane was actually a pleasure to build.

This plane is called a Shinden and was developed by the Japanese towards the end of World War II.  It was designed to go after American B-29s.  It got this model after seeing Godzilla Minus One and it played a key role in the movie.  I wont mention what it did because it would spoil the surprise.

The USS Reuben James, FFG-57.  This was a US frigate first launched in the 1980s.

It was mentioned in Tom Clancy's Red Storm Rising and used in the movie version of Red October.

The USS Bailey.  This is my last name.

This is the USS Deyo, a Spruance class Destroyer.  My uncle served on this one.

The USS Michigan, an Ohio class ballistic missile submarine.  This started as a ballistic missile submarine.  After the cold war, her and three of her sisters were converted to guided missile submarines.  One of them, the USS Florida was actually used to launch cruise missiles in combat.

A Gato class submarine.  One of my favorite books was "Run Silent, Run Deep", it was set on one of these named the USS Trigger.

An M1 Abrams.  I used to play a game called Twilight 2000 and they had a vehicle guide.  In it were pictures of various vehicles in that war.  This was based on that idea.

Probably my favorite of my models so far.  This is 1/32nd scale F-4J Phantom.  This particular one was flown by Commander (at the time) Harley H. Hall.  On one of my trips to Washington D.C., I bought one of those MIA bracelets and it happened to be his.  I was going to get a die cast model of this plane, but they didn't make one.  I found a set of decals for it but they only game in 1/32nd scale, hence the model.

Anyway, the kit was built by Tamiya which is one of the better model makers out there and it was a pleasure to build.  It went together fairly easily but it is huge.

A PBY Catalina.

Another F-4.  This one was flown by Harley Hall earlier in the war before he was a Blue Angel.  This is from VF-154 "The Black Knights".

The first F-4 from another angle.  I was trying to make it look like I was at about the right height to be looking at it from the deck.

One more shot.  I can pretend this is the real pilot.

The Marine Static Displays

In the parking lot between Milliken State Park and the Ren Cen, they had some static displays set up.  This was showing some of the vehicles and equipment that are used by the U.S. Marines.

 I think this is an M777 155mm towed howitzer.   It was first fielded by the Marines in 2005.  There have been a couple of upgrades since then.

 The Marines also use the Humvee.  This particular one is uparmored for the various wars that are still going on.

 I think this is an LVTP-7 Amphibious Assault Vehicle.  It is designed so that the Marines can drive right up on the beach and assault that way.  Because it is tracked, it can be used as a transport as they push inland.

 It is equipped with an automatic grenade launcher and 50 caliber machine gun.

 I believe this is a LAV-25 (light assault vehicle).  The main armament is a 25mm Bushmaster chain gun.

 It is also amphibious.

 A Multiple Launch Rocket System vehicle.  This is designed to launch multiple rockets at a target.  If I recall, one batter can flatten an area the size the Eastern Michigan's main campus.

 An M1 Abrams tank. 

 The detail of an AH-1 Cobra.

 The front of an MV-22 Osprey.

 The cockpit of an Osprey.

 A Huey.

 I don't think I'll ever get a picture like this again.

Trying to get a better angle of the Huey.