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Kamikaze hit!!

Hi Thomas Welcome aboard Armorama! This proves how "small" the world can be! So... tell us, are you also a ship modeler? Skipper

Fantastic work Garth!,.... it's always a pleasure to see fine 700 scale work. Your work is impressive both in its level of detail and it's historical significance. thanks for sharing, Frank

Hi Frank With all due respect... it is 1/350 But it is excellent! I have to agree... Skipper

NICE! Floaty things ain't really my bag, but I know what I like... The contrast between the seaman's white tops and the damage zone really draws the eye...

Very, very nice. I think that damage to ships, as opposed to tanks or aircraft, is probably much more difficult to model. This seems to be done extremely well. Not too much and not too little. This looks to be a fitting trbute to Uncle. Well Done.

I'm more into aircraft than ships, but many of my favorite subjects are naval aircraft. I'm currently working on an AM SBD-3 and plan to finish it as an early 1942 Enterprise plane with the BIG stars. Thanks for the welcome aboard. I've been lurking for several months but had to comment when I saw a model of the Bache. My nickname (Blackeagle) I've taken from my former navy squadron, the world-famous VAW-113 Blackeagles. Tom

Thomas, I don't know if this collides with your projects, but you could start to get the crew better joining Garry Beebe's Flattops Campain... Just a thought - we are building Aircraft Carriers and also we have the Aircraft members making Naval Planes, some of them including sections of the deck... Give it a thought! Glad you made it and no need to Thank me - I know you would do the same thing, if you were in my position I hope you like your time here - and if there's anything the crew can do, you just have to ask! That's a good Callsign - mine don't reflect my service rank but I had enought nautical miles to be one Skipper

Thanks guys and welcome Thomas! Thomas, have you ever gone to one of the Bache reunions? I heard they are a blast. Even across the generations that served on her, they seem like a pretty tight knit group. I bet it would be interesting to go even if it was just to hear stories about your stepfather. Rodger, the damage wasn't actually too hard compared to other subject matters... It just took longer and, in the end, is all so small that it kind of gets lost in itself. To make things a little easier, I took some advice from one of the guys in my club and bought a second kit to build up quick to see where all of the trouble spots would be and to use as a reference/spare parts. That helped out a lot. Another thing that made it easier is that most of the damaged area is either metal or resin. One tough thing, and I think that this is something we all struggle with, is reality versus representation. For instance, I started out with full crews for both ships, but then I thought it would be too much and detract from the display. With regards to damage, if I actually damaged her as much as she really was, it probably wouldn't look right. I'm glad that you think it looks balanced and realistic enough because this has caused me much stress. This is just a side observation as someone new to ship modeling... All of you guys are so laid back and really seem to look at things with several different 'eyes'. I've noticed this with ship modelers in my club as well. By different 'eyes' I mean, you all look at things as historians, artists, engineers, craftsmen, etc... I think that is really cool and is something I haven't found as much in other places. Anyhow, I'm taking the dio to my club meeting tonight and am pretty excited for all of those guys to see it. What a great way to end the week? ~ Garth

Hi Garth You'll see that your club members will echo what it has been said here... Really - it is very difficult to make convincing water dios (as you already find out!) and it is even more difficult to make one that tells a story - like this one! I can only say (again and again!) congratulations on a job Well Done! Bravo Zulu Skipper

Garth just came across your Bache diorama, great job, looks just like all the stories I heard at reunions. I served on Bache 1962 to 65, and go to the reunions every year. I am now working on a 1/96 version of the Bache as she was in the early 60's. Tom Erb