Bill, didn't get your e-mail, or my spam filter may have caught it and I didn't catch it in the spam folder. You must think I was ignoring you. Try my again if you want at :[email protected]. That's my primary e-mail addy. I'm sorry I missed your e-mail.

Sorry to hear about the King Tiger, to. It's a kick in the head to spend all that time and effort in a build and see it go south. I suppose it's all part of the learning curve.

Actually, I've been giving some thought to your initial question and I think after having built Laffey that I might suggest starting out with another kit. I picked up the Tamiya U.S.S. Fletcher kit a while back and I think it'll be my next ship. Looking over the kit in the box it looks a lot less "fiddly" than Laffey.

The new generation kits are undoubtedly great kits, but I'm not sure they are the best for climbing the learning curve with. If I knew then what I know now (how many times have I said that in my life!) I would probably have gone with Fletcher first myself.

I'm taking a break from ships for a while to focus on warbirds. Picked up the old Revell 1/48 B-24D kit last weekend and I'm getting ready to start on it this weekend. Nice to be able to see each and every part in the box without my optivisor! LOL. My first airplane since coming back to the hobby. We'll see how it goes.

I'll be on the lookout for an e-mail from you. Gonna grab the grand kids tonight and head down to Chattanooga. The modeling club is having it's annual show there tomorrow. Should get some inspiration and I know I'll learn something.

Bob