The Eagles have Landed 2 - The Deluxe Edition MPC Kit

This is the MPC Eagle Transporter with a twist. Round 2 Models has added resin parts to recreate one of the Eagle variants. This one is equipped with the laboratory pod and the booster pack which was featured in "The Metamorph" episode.

The resin components all appear to be very high quality. Without opening up the packages at this point I couldn't see any major air bubbles or blemishes and everything looks like it is fully cast. I'm looking forward to building this one as well, but not till I hone my skills a bit on the original kit.

I'm considering getting a second Paragraphix photo-etch detail kit for this one, but a fair chunk of the photo-etch pieces would end up being extra so I need to weigh the benefits versus the cost on adding this.

There are a few extra decals for this one. I suppose these will go on the lab module and the booster pack.

The resin parts for the lab module

The resin parts for the booster pack

The Eagles have Landed 1 - The original MPC Kit

The Eagles arrived quite quickly from CultTVMan'shop Hobby Shop. Well boxed, quick shipping and excellent prices, my hat is off to this online store, I highly recommend them!

I ordered all three kits and I'm going to go through the classic box opening for each one as a separate thread. We will start off with the original MPC kit that has been re-released by Round 2 Models.

Round 2 hasn't done anything to update this kit, so these are all produced from the original molds although I believe the decal sheet is at least new and possibly updated as well. Since this is basically an original kit it has all the inaccuracies of the original so I decided to go for a slightly more accurate version and bought the Paragrafix photoetch kit to fix some of the inaccuracies.

I plan to build this kit first since its been a while since I built a serious model kit.

A Real Puzzler!

My mother and sister-in-law introduced me to a new line of lasercut wooden puzzles that are produced in Boulder, CO. My family has been into puzzles for as long as I can remember and working on a puzzle was always a big family activity. These puzzles have really caught my eye and they have an option to do custom puzzles!

Liberty Puzzles

While I'm not sure if I will pull the trigger I'm giving it some real hard thought right now. With that in mind I have pulled some of my railroad photographs together for consideration as a potential puzzle. They feature my favorite steam engine #30 of the Colorado and Northwestern, several of the Galloping Goose incarnations from the Rio Grande Southern and engine #318 from the D&RGW. All of the photos will need some editing before I pick one but if you have a favorite let me know!

Colorado & Northwestern #30 (also worked for the C&S and RGS)

Galloping Goose #2

Galloping Goose #5

Galloping Goose #6

Galloping Goose #7 on the turntable

Galloping Goose #7 at the bend

D&RGW #318

A New Eagle

Okay, I admit it I was a huge Space 1999 fan back in the 70s and the Eagle transporter is probably one of my favorite science fiction space vehicles. Right along side the X-Wing fighter and the Viper from Battlestar Galactica.

Round 2 productions has released a brand new 22" kit for the Eagle as well as putting some of the early Eagles back into production. I'm really excited and as soon as the bonus hits the bank account I'll be picking up at least one of these bad boys and a couple of the other re-issued kits (just to practice on mind you),

The new kit, essentially 1/48th Scale I think

The old kit, it has problems but there it has some sentimental value,

Still based on the old kit and representing one of the variants seen in the series.

To get the ball rolling I picked up a compilation of Eagle articles that were written leading up to this release. I did go online and found out that it is still possible to get a kit of the 44" Eagle, but I don't have 2 grand ready to drop on that one...not yet anyway!

History Books with a Family Twist

I think I have mentioned before that I had three great uncles involved in WWII. My cousin Mary Ann took the letters that her father wrote and pulled together a little pdf document that incorporated the letters, pictures and framed them within the context of the war and what was going on at that time.
She did a great job on that. Uncle Jerry was in the 34th Infantry Division, in the 125th Artillery Battalion. What I find most interesting in the letters is that he never really spoke about the war itself, the conditions, the food, the weather but not the actions he was involved in. Granted some of that wouldn't have made it by the censors anyway but there is still only one letter that briefly mentioned "that by now you would have heard about" types of actions.
34th Infantry Division Association

All three of the brothers were actually in the army before the war broke out and Jerry was close to being discharged at the time.

Donald was the middle brother and was in the army and Louisiana at the same time as Jerry when the war broke out and had his enlistment extended for the duration. He ended up in the 164th Infantry regiment (North Dakota National Guard, still not quite sure how he ended up there) which would become part of the 23rd Infantry Division (Americal) in the Pacific. Don died of wounds sustained in the Philippines in 1945. All we have are his letters and pictures that were sent home. Mary Ann is working on putting together a pdf of Donald too. His unit was the first Army unit to join the Marines on Guadalcanal and was graced with the title of the 164th Marines by the 1st Marine Division. There is a book "They Were Ready" by Terry Shoptough about the 164th and while my great uncle is not mentioned in it, it is fascinating to read and think about what he must have gone through. My mother gave me Don's purple heart.
164th Infantry, N Dakota National Guard

164th Infantry Rgt on the left, 23rd Inf Division (Americal) on the right

Stanley was the youngest brother and he ended up in the Army Air Corps after the war started. He would be the only officer of the three. He was part of the 8th Air Force as a bombardier in a B-17 flying missions over Europe from December of 1943 - April of 1944. He was part of aircrew 8 in the 568th Squadron in the 390th Heavy Bombardment Group (J on the tail). The 390th has its own museum in Arizona which includes a fully restored (but non-flying) B-17. I haven't been done there yet but I intend to make that trip in the near future. Their website has an amazing amount of information and I was able to find all the missions that he flew, who the other crew members were (and after reading that you will find out just out rare it was for an entire crew to serve together for 25 -30 missions), and the aircraft he flew in. The aircraft was something that surprised me. Only the ground crew were assigned to a specific aircraft, mission crews could be assigned to any of the B-17s in the squadron although 14 of Stanley's 30 missions did take place in the same aircraft. Like the 164th, the 390th has its own book as and Stanley is mentioned in it receiving a Distinguished Flying Cross with three clusters. I'm not sure about other crews but bomber crews were apparently awarded a DFC for every 10 missions completed. 
390th Heavy Bombardment Group

568th Squadron patch

390th Heavy Bombardment Group patch

I'm not sure if Mary Ann is going to put together a pdf for Stanley or not but I hope she does just to keep the stories going and accessible to the family.