On the ornithology front, I'm not any kind of "watcher," but I seem to attract rare birds. Even though I live in an urban setting, I'm from a farm in the country, and evidently, the country followed me here. The first day we moved into our house about nine years ago, when I went out the back door, there was a large Redtailed Hawk sitting on top of my garage. I see them everywhere it seems. I also see Bald Eagles every few months. Last month, I saw a Great Grey Owl sitting in my neighbor's yard on the ground (at first I thought it was a small dog!) Last summer, a Peregrine Falcon killed a dove in front of me while I was walking down the street, not ten feet away. They are very rare here, but there is a nesting family on a nearby water tower. Also a few years ago for a day, a large pigeon, no exaggeration, the size of a big chicken, just sat on my front porch all day. It wasn't sick or hurt and even let me pet it! It flew off after few hours, and I never saw it again
My best bird stories come from my parent's house: while walking through the woods, I saw a Golden Eagle flying through the trees. Its body looked like a barrel it was so big, and its wingspan was easily bigger than my height of six feet. How it navigated the dense trees was unreal! They do venture this far east, but not often. Another time, while jogging, I ran into the middle of a flock of 20 or so wild turkeys, who totally ignored me. I stopped and talked to them, and they just looked up and then went on about their busness scratching the ground. I would have stayed with them for a long time, but my dad's fat German Shephard finally caught up to me, and he chased them off.
- 2 odd scale mini kits (a TU144 and an XB70 - I have a "delta-wing" thing)
I have a 1/48 XB70 and tons of various 1/48 versions of the Blackbird, A-12. SR-71A and B, and a 1/48 B-1B unbuilt. I used to have two built 1/48 SR-71A's detailed down to the seatcushions, one in Vietnam era markings and the other in low visibility markings. The low vis was a thing of beauty until my mother gave it to my then two-year-old nephew to play with as a toy, who did what you would expect a kid his age to do: destroy it completely. The Vietnam one made out slightly better, but not unscathed. I've got dozens of 1/72 jet fighters, my favorite build was a 1/72 Sea Harrier- they just look classy. I also have a Revell 1/48 Apache that pissed me off when the glue fumes fogged the canopy- never had that happen before or since.
I have lots of oddball fighters unbuilt, mainly Russian stuff, SU-27s of all kinds including the SU-34 and 37 and some of the Kamov helicopters, as well as the "teen" US fighters, F14's, 15's and 16's ( never cared for the F-18, but I would like a YF-17 and a Super Hornet). I'd love to find an YF-23 model of Northop's prototype that lost to the F-22, and I'd like to find a 1/48 Mig 25 or 31 as well as the Avro Arrow, the plane that made them possible. I'd also like to find Testor's 1/48 F-14D "Black Bunny." The 1/72 F-14A version I find alot; the other, not so much. That's just what I remember off the top of my head. I'm sure I have more stuff in the tub.
a 1/48 Eurofighter in RAF colours - still hoping for a "tiger" decal to emerge
I would love to see it. It's a hell of a jet.
a 1/100 Vickers Viscount in 1950's BEA trim (my first flying experience - I also own a window from a scrapped real one - sad but true)
Hey- you've got a part. A few years ago, someone sold a vertical stabilizer from an SR-71 on eBay, and it went for cheap, around $100, because no one could afford to ship it! The titanium in it is worth ten or more times that just for scrap.
- kits pending are the super large Revell Saturn V, the 1/48 TSR2, a 1/72 Concorde...
kick ass!
AMT NCC1701D - The plan is to light up with all the relevant coloured LED's - I have blue and white (redundant Xmas lights) but am still looking out
for some other colours to suit - going to open up most of the windows, light up all the relevant nacelles and engines, bridge, reflector, etc - no rush on this one and will post when starting...
There is a documentary on Paramount selling off a bunch of Trek props including the ILM models. The 10-foot Enterprise D went for over $600,000 IIRC. It was the later, lit version. In the early days, every shot was actually a composite of three different models, one for color, one for shadow, and one for lights, and they were smaller, around 6 feet. The big lit model didn't get built until Season 3. Paramount got rid of them because every Trek show and movie after "First Contact" has been all CGI.
