FRED BRANYAN Posted January 25, 2018 Share Posted January 25, 2018 Greetings to the Britmodeller membership, I live in Nazareth PA in the USA. I am a retired fossil now 69 and enjoying the chance while living in retirement land to do model projects I was not able to do while working and helping to raise 2 daughters. I spent almost 6 years on active duty with our Army and another 23 years in the Army National Guard in 3 states. Of the total 29 I was a helicopter pilot for 22 years until medically grounded after having a TIA (Ministroke). If we have anyone building Vietnam era or 80s-90s era UH1H, AH1G, OH 6 or 58 helicopters, I flew them all and may be able to help you with details if you cannot find info on walkarounds. I flew the TH 55 and OH 13 in flight school and can assist with their appearance there--about 95% orange. I have completed 10 ship models that represent the ships with USS Hornet CV8 the day she was sunk. My father was on the ship for its entire WWII career. You may see them and a mug shot of me in the summer of 1991 at http://www.modelshipgallery.com/gallery/users/Fred-Branyan/user-index.html I have been to London 2X, first on a 3 day pass in early 72 while stationed in Germany, second in December of 99 while our daughter was an exchange student there. In 72 my friend and I visited the battlefield at Hastings while there for the weekend. I will never forget trying to drive out of London to the more country roads ha! Not as bad of an adjustment as I thought it might be. In 99 I visited the Victory and the RAF museum in London plus the Imperial War Museum. I absolutely loved my time in your country. Our daughter is in Brighton on business as I write this and will be making return visits in the future. My wife and I are hoping to join her as tourists for a week before the year is out. I have been a close to life time student of the Battle of Britain. I have probably read about 90-95% of the books on the topic available here in the US. I recently read "Finest Hour the Battle of Britain" by Tim Clayton and Phil Craig. I will confess to being deeply moved by the story of P/O Denis Wissler, shot down off Margate on 11/11/1940 (Veteran's Day in the US) while attacking JU87s which in turn were trying to bomb a convoy. His fiance Edith Heap was working as a plotter at the time and overheard the radio conversation when he was shot down. The book inspired me to attempt to trace who shot him down and also the other No. 17 Hurricane pilot KIA that day. I succeeded and have the side codes for the Hurricanes and partial photos of both 109s. I plan on building 1/48 models of the planes involved and will try to post them here. If anyone would like the results of this research feel free to rattle my cage. I let the RAF Historical folks know about the research I had done in case they chose to share it with the families. They let me know they had no contact with WWII families. Edith just died a few years ago. I made the same offer to a newspaper that did an article on her before she died. No response. Meanwhile my computer skills are in the neanderthal range. I would be most grateful if someone on the site would educate me on how to post photos to this site plus a current mug shot. I have a 1/48 A20G in progress built to duplicate the plane in which the stepfather of a friend was a top turret gunner. You can see a photo of the plane at http://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/Upcoming/Photos/igphoto/2000571373/ with the side code W5 X. It should be complete in about a month hopefully. I have a few sources for custom decals here if anyone not in the USA needs help for side codes etc. I am most impressed with your site and the superior level of workmanship obvious in all photos of completed models I have visited. The walkarounds on the Mark I Hurricane and Spitfire filled me with shock and awe at the level of their excellence and clarity of photos. Truly incredible. Thanks for allowing me to join and if any of you ever get to this side of the big water please drop in so we can share model war stories. Regards, Fred Branyan 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete in Lincs Posted January 25, 2018 Share Posted January 25, 2018 Welcome aboard, Fred. Leave your sanity at the door. Mostly though, enjoy the ride. Regards Pete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
huvut76g7gbbui7 Posted January 25, 2018 Share Posted January 25, 2018 Hello and welcome Fred. I echo Pete's sentiments. This is a great site for learning and having a bit of banter. Richard Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corsairfoxfouruncle Posted January 25, 2018 Share Posted January 25, 2018 Hello Fred I’ll start off by saluting your service. to Britmodeller from Chicago. The same offer stands as well, if ever your in my neck of the woods. Dennis Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FRED BRANYAN Posted January 26, 2018 Author Share Posted January 26, 2018 Fellow Members Thanks for your hospitality above. Can any of you tell me if this portion of our site below is still current? Is there an Idiot's Guide anywhere on this site for the full procedure of uploading both text and photos of a model? Thanks again. Fred Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spaddad Posted January 26, 2018 Share Posted January 26, 2018 Hi Fred, its an asylum, get out while you still can, before its too late, spad 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric Mc Posted January 26, 2018 Share Posted January 26, 2018 Hi Fred - that was a lovely and gracious introduction. I hope you enjoy our company here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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