Col Walter E Kurtz

Thank you for your kind comments Maginot. Much appreciated! Glad you liked what I did. It's my very first Diorama base attempt. It's very pleasing that others find it effective. I read that Sinbad only went on low level missions so didn't need an oxygen supply thankfully. FC must have been an exceptional pilot to have a cat loose in the cockpit during these misssions! It's hard enough for me just sitting at a PC with two cats wanting to get on my lap! 😂😂😂. Think Sinbad deserves to be decorated with the appropriate WW2 campaign medals as I'm sure she did her duty! I wonder if a campaign on social media would get this achieved lol.. Kind Regards, Andy

Thanks for your appreciation Russ. Glad you liked it. The oxidation was.. effortless actually! 😂... but seriously I'm please it turned out as it did.. it's a fine line between acceptable 'realism ' and over egging the weathering. It's an AK polished Aluminium paint with a touch of thinned down panel line black over the top then sealed with a gloss coat for flooring. It seems to have worked out well this time! Cheers, Andy

Thank you so much.. I aim to please 😂. So nice to get good comments on my humble art! Cheers, Andy

My pleasure! I always liked going to these old airfields and I'll always have fond memories of Radlett! I think the only tangible celebration of it is a small Memorial stone somewhere on the periphery. It's a shame really. It was quite something to enjoy driving wrecklessly without risk of injury to the public ! Lol We as modellers and historians always see restoration and preservation in a different way to the general uninterested public. I think the major players have done a good job, finances permitting. The IWM is a fantastic rich repository. It is a shame they cannot save or restore everything. I guess this is just simple economics. It would be a triumph to have a Halifax fully restored I agree. When I see pictures of US aircraft bone yards from the late 1940s it seemed such a shame that all those historic aircraft got melted down! I also believe we have to judge this in the context of its times. People were without a doubt very War weary and wanted to turn " swords in to ploughshears". For most combatants the war was a necessary evil that had to be endured and the horrors most experienced they would wish to forget as soon as possible. However It does pain me much that there are no flying Hawker Tempest Vs though! Regards, Andy

Welcome to BM.. I do like a Javelin. Looking forward to admiring your work in the future. Regards, Andy

Welcome to BM.. it's an amazing place in my opinion.. a great source of skills, knowledge and inspiration! Andy

Very impressed with your hairy stick painting skills! Your weathering is superb! I think you've caught the weathering brilliantly! thank you for showing this! Andy

My pleasure Kapam! It kept me out of trouble for 3 months😂. Your positive comments are much appreciated! Thank You Andy

Thanks for the compliments Roger. It was a most entertaining and enjoyable build for me. I'll keep adding bits to the diorama and take some more pics. Kind Regards, Andy

Stunning! I too have a morbid fear of rigging. You did an brilliant job on this. I echo others comments about the cowling bronze colour.. looks perfect! The silver dope finish is excellent too! Very impressed! I have looked at this ICM kit a few times as good value. Nice to hear that it's without vices! Could be worth a punt at some point in the future.. you did a fantastic job on painting the upper wing chequer are. I'd not have known it wasn't a decal . Btw is it a 56 Squadron aircraft? Up The Firebirds if it is! Lol Regards, Andy

Second one of these I've seen in RFI recently. It is a lovely looking kit. There is a delicacy and a precision about this kit it seems i loved your take on this. The cockpit detailing you did is top class! Well done indeed. Thanks for showing this! Regards, Andy

Welcome Chris. Thanks, as always , for your kind comments. I'm quietly pleased with how it all turned out. The pics of little Sinbad with Fred C are wonderful aren't they! It was a shame she got run over after surviving many low level attack missions. She deserves the Medal of Honour 😀. I was tickled that she was thought to be a Male cat until she miraculously produced kittens Stateside. Maybe 3 or 4 ground crew at some point in the future and a bomb trolley.. watch this space for some vintage B&w shots! Thanks Regards, Andy

That's a nice story G, sounds like a privilege to have known your friend indeed. so few of them are still with us now. Any WW2 veterans alive will be in their 96th year at least. I always , when I visit a WW2 airfield memorial in England, pick up litter and do any weeding and spend a few moments in quiet reflection. It's the least I can do to acknowledge these young guys. Andy

Yes. I found the pic. I have to agree with you there does seem to be a different painted area. It's just about visible in the belly landing pic and I think you are right to add this as a detail to your ship ! Good detective work! 👍👍. Ill look forward to your build for sure. Quite a coincidence we both live very close to crash locations of aircraft from the same Squadron! These crews, indeed. I could not imagine what they went through. I hope that by making my models it keeps their sacrifices alive as part of telling their stories.. Regards Andy

I have a link with the same aircrafts squadron.. The Ellis crew died not half a mile from where I'm sitting at this moment! They were same BG and same Squadron as the one that belly landed near your house! 42-95023 2nd Lt John D Ellis pilot and commander Killed in Action (KIA) or KIS 12 August 1944. Aircraft aborted raid to Juvicour Airfield due to weather and crashed with full bomb load near Cheshunt. Possibly collided with 398th BG B-17. Pilot Ellis credited by locals with keeping his plane in the air long enough to prevent crash into the town. Road in Cheshunt named 'Lieutenant Ellis Way' in his honor

I don't think I've seen this type of painting on any other liberators in WW2 pics before.Id hazard that it's not normal.. its always hard to make sense of the true picture. It's possible it could even be a shadow cast by the tail of an aircraft above ? Have you checked any sister aircraft pics from same BG or Squadron? To see if any others hav this modification? Try searching on he AmericanAir Museum website.. it has many images .. you might luck out and find some new leads there? Andy

BINGO, just did a google search and found some pics of Sinbad. Who later turned out to actually be a female and gave birth to several litters of kittens in the US http://www.purr-n-fur.org.uk/featuring/war01.html this is the website link.. amazing!

Thank you very much Gary! I have tried to find the answer to this. I don't believe that Sinbad going on missions is an urban myth. The story is repeated in several sources. Fred Christensen's own daughter confirms it in his US newspaper Obituary. It's mentioned in his personnel profile on the American Air Museum archive and on a few other reputable websites. The story first came to light during a US newspaper reporters visit to his groups base where Sinbad was trying to be photographed and ran amok over the parachutes in the parachute store.. every parachute owner he touched returned safely and with a confirmed aerial enemy kill that mission.. Jugs had a large roomy comfortable cockpit .. space enough for a cat basket? 😂 I don't know.. but whatever the truth ,it's an amusing story! Anyone know where I can get a 1:32 scale cat model from? 😂😂👍 Andy

I'll definitely look out for yours on RFI. Look forward to seeing it..! Regards, Andy

Thanks for your input on this one Sat. Some say a true 'Diorama' should tell a distinct 'story'. Part of this is usually by the inclusion of figures posed in a way to tell that story. I'm glad you agree with the idea of 'chow time' for this diorama's moment in time as portrayed. I've seen ground crew huts in pics which are made from packing cases and all sorts of odd materials. I might have an attempt at something like this in the future ! I can always come back to this diorama with suitable figures at some point?. But It's always a good thing to feeling when you've 'finished' a build too!. That's kind of satisfying for me. Regards, Andy

Love this. The diorama is excellent. I love the support trailer you included. The four looks very fitting. I do not know much about RAF post war jets in Germany and the correct colour schemes but yours looks very nice. I do love the Lightning but don know much about the variants.. a very well composed diorama with a top rate model to boot! thanks for showing this It must be quite a big model in 1:32 too? Regards, Andy

Love this. The diorama is excellent. I love the support trailer you included. The four looks very fitting. I do not know much about RAF post war jets in Germany and the correct colour schemes but yours looks very nice. I do love the Lightning but don know much about the variants.. a very well composed diorama with a top rate model to boot! thanks for showing this It must be quite a big model in 1:32 too? Regards, Andy

Love this. The diorama is excellent. I love the support trailer you included. The colour looks very fitting. I do not know much about RAF post war jets in Germany and the correct colour schemes but yours looks very nice. I do love the Lightning but don know much about the variants.. a very well composed diorama with a top rate model to boot! thanks for showing this It must be quite a big model in 1:32 too? Regards, Andy

Love it Love It LOVE IT! Omg.. that box art takes me back too... am I right in thinking that's the Roy Cross box art? I was an 8 year old when you built that! Lurking around Woolworths in Stoke Newington High Street , North London salivating over such beyond my pocket money Airfix kits! I could Only afford the card and plastic bagged 1:72 kits and badgered my Dad to make a special monetary dispensation so I could sit in the back office of his jewellery shop getting glue all over the canopy of a spitfire lol.. we couldn't afford the Humbrol paints either😂. I hankered after getting a big kit each birthday and at Xmas. I remember getting such joys as Revell Sr71 Blackbird...Airfix Bismarck...Airfix He111... loved reading your initial reminiscences ... it's kind of embarrassingly emotional to see your own childhood reflected in those of others! A very warm welcome to BM from me!