A rare plan which until now I have never seen constructed...Paul K. Guillow-designed Curtiss SB2C Hellidiver, 24"ws from 1946.

Ace Whitman...SBC-4(3) Curtiss Helldiver...1940...less canopy (someday I'll get to it)

SWEET! Love it!

Focke-Wulf Fw189A Uhu 24" wingspan

Digital photography is such a wonderful advent...literally the majority of my modeling life has gone by unrecorded...sadly.  Who had access to a camera as a kid...mom and dad's roll-film box camera...if it had film in it...and then, who had the money to get those range-finder blurry images developed and printed?  Certainly...not me.  It doesn't seem that long ago that digital photography made the scene...and now, everyone is "packing!"  No reason not to keep a record....

The Stick n' Tissue website has been my personal inspiration to keep that record...beginning in 2015.  From that time I have assembled a "plate" for old model photos as well as current builds, all with the intention of someday being able to assemble a "book" to remind me of how I attempted to preserve some semblance of my sanity.  To date, there are 139 plates...of which 32 are featured in this poster.

Here's the sum-total output of my SnT efforts over the past three years (2020 thru 2022)...all posted as builds here on the SnT website...graciously I hope...accompanied with quips of interest...detailed facts and stories...a theme to build by...like enjoying a magazine article in one of those treasured publications of our past.  I've enjoyed the process...and I sincerely hope that you (so many have come and gone) have too.

Neal "kerak" Green

I had the great fortune and joy to have had the acquaintance of a man who was at one time a World War Two combat glider pilot. Captain Ray Bean flew the Waco CG-4a into the hell of Normandy, Market Garden, Bastogne, and over the Rhine into Germany itself. In fact, Ray was the inspiration for this “build.” I used Air Trails plan from 1944  because it was easy to construct, easily modified, and has the “flavor” of the actual aircraft. The Waco CG-4a, along with the Airspeed Horsa gliders were true “heroes” along with the men who risked their lives in the air-assault operations that utilized them.

I never heard Ray say anything about how dangerous it was to fly in a combat glider...at least referencing its construction, etc...only about the hazards of the landing zone and the Germans waiting below.  I have to smile because I'm reminded of the George C. Scott speech in the movie "Patton,"...something like "Well, when your children ask what you did in the Great World War Two, you won't have to answer that "I shoveled s___ (manure) in Louisiana."  That describes Ray and all the other millions of freedom-dedicated men and women who risked their lives during the war.  They had a purpose and they went after it...in spite of the risks involved...and there were many.

I'm tempted to leave this model just the way it is...uncovered.  I've seen so many photographs of the CG-4a's without fabric...for whatever reason...I'm amazed at how these "sticks" resemble the nature of the actual aircraft.  In my mind...she's the very essence of utility and beauty. Wingspan came in at near-24 inches...I cheated and added an inch or so to the original reduced plan.  Horizontal tail surfaces are also enlarged.  I'm convinced she'll fly...provided she has her skin.

Neal

Here's Peanut PETE...more properly known as a Mitsubishi F1M2 Type 0 Model 11 Reikan (PETE).  Plan source Hippocket...by Pres Bruning, 1991, peanut scale.  Aircraft represents the quintessential WW2 Japanese ship-launched, "land-based" recon float-plane, also used as a bomber, as a fighter aircraft and finally, as a Kamikaze.  Served the IJN throughout the war in the Pacific.