Okay, I have started my painting of my grandpas universal carrier. It is the tamiya forced recon set. I like it as it has good fit and is a quick build. I have to go to water polo now so I will post pics later.
M4A2Sherman

Has any one besides stefan and I started yet? Just wondering.
M4A2Sherman

Hi everyone just found this wondering if i could join in currently building the M3 Lee that my Grandfather served in during ww2 in Burma.

Sure thing you can join!
The More the Merrier!
Have Fun,
M4A2Sherman

I figured since today is father's day (at least here in the USA), I'd start my build in honor of my father.

First, to introduce my father:

Karl Henize grew up just outside of Cincinatti, Ohio and dropped out of high school at the age of 16 to attend OCS at Denison University during the late stages of WWII. The war ended 6 months before he finished OCS, and he went into the naval reserves (naval research). Interestingly, he eventually attained the rank of lieutenant commander without ever once setting foot on an active naval vessel. As he was actively pursuing a PhD (in astronomy) at the time, he was not called to active duty during the Korean Conflict.

He eventually become a professor at Northwestern University, then was forced to retire from the naval reserves in 1968, when his application to the astronaut corps was accepted. In those days, all astronauts had to learn how to fly, so he was posted to Vance AFB in Oklahoma (I was conceived there, hence my name) and earned his wings on T-37s and T-38s at the age of 43. Besides one other astronaut (Joe Allen, my godfather), the rest of his class went to Vietnam, where many of them died.

Initially assigned to Apollo 21, he was reassigned to Skylab 6 when the funding for the Apollo program was cut. Of course, the Skylab missions were also cut, and my father had to wait 18years to finally fly in space on STS-51F (Space Lab 2), the 19th shuttle mission, and 3rd to last flight of the Challenger, in 1985.

Despite losing one of the main engines during ascent and having to abort to orbit (lower orbit than planned) the mission was a success, being the first dedicated astronomy mission flown (pre-Hubble Space Telescope days). My father had helped designed much of the astronomy payload, including the mission-critical Instrument Pointing System. He briefly held the record for oldest man in space at age 58, until this was later surpassed by the likes of Vance Brand and eventually John Glen.

Karl retired from the astronaut corps in 1986, 6 months after his flight, and just before the Challenger disaster. He became a senior scientist at NASA, helping establish their space debris tracking/assessment capabilities which are now considered critical to mission safety of the shuttles and international space station.

In 1993 he decided to chase after his second childhood hero (those being Buck Rodgers and Sir Edmund Hillary) and attempt to summit Mt. Everest. He died of High Altitude Pulmonary Edema (HAPE - a form of high altitude sickness) during this endeavor on October 5th, 1993 and is buried on the mountain above the Changste glacier on the north (Chinese) side of Everest. Many thanks to those who tried to rescue him.

His Wikipedia entry can be found here

I also constructed a personal biography memorial webpage for him, which I would be honored if you read.

So, my intention is to construct a model of the Space Shuttle Challenger as it was outfitted for my father's flight, STS-51F. I'll be using the Monogram 1/72nd scale kit that comes with the main external tank and solid rocket boosters, which comes at a dear price these days (found on one Ebay). I will construct the Shuttle itself first, and then the tank and SRBs if time allows in the campaign.

I am undecided about how much detail I will add to the cockpit, engine bulkhead, etc.. I am also not sure if I want to leave the main cargo bay doors in such a state as I can open them later and install a model of the payload from his mission.

anyway, some introductory pics:

Mission photos:

Crew (my father is 2nd to the left):


Take off:


payload:


Landing:


And intro pics of the model:



Happy Father's Day dad. I miss you.

What an amazing story. Glad to see some progress on this campaign.
M4A2Sherman

Hi everyone,

the campaign ribbon shown on the campaign page is not the one a I am using. Just so you know, I will try to put it up soon.
M4A2Sherman

Hi all,

I'm not participating, I've just drop by to see how you all are doing .

@Vance,
I've read your story and visited web you've made and well... I'm stunned. Story of your Father is amazing - it seems that through his life he has seen more than most of mankind even dream about.

Anyway, Happy Father's Day (I know I'm late but anyway) to our fathers and our fathers' fathers etc... and to fathers among us (I qualify ) - let's be fathers our children will talk about to their friends and build models of vehicles we're driving right now .

Andrzej

photo update on my build:





Basic shell of the orbiter is together. She's about 20 inches long (~ 1/2 a meter). It was badly warped and a real bear to get together in any semblace or order. There is a LOT of super glue holding this one together.

I have abandoned the idea of making it so the payload from my father's mission can be installed at a later date - instead I will have to be installing bulkheads to shore up the shape of the sides in the cargo bay area. Also the door hinges will have to be completely reworked to be anything like realistic (and therefor not workable).

I am haveing a big internal battle with myself about how much effort to put into the cockpit.

Overall, it is going to be a lot of work for being such a simple kit (or because of...)

Looks great, This will be a very interesting build indeed!

I will try to post some pictures of Grandpa's Universal carrier soon. I just don't know what the decals should be and what scheme!
M4A2Sherman

Hi,
I just added the ribbon onto the campaign page. I'm not sure what I should do for my great uncle though. Him in prison? Him escaping? Him in Tobruk? Him being captured? Ugh....
M4A2Sherman

Howdy all!

Back for a little update here. Vance, that's a nice shuttle, can't wait to see it with all the trimmings! M4A2Sherman, will you post some pics of your progress?

Well, here's my progress:

Finished base:



Figure 1 (representing my Grampa). The right arm is only blutacked, the head will be replaced with a hornet item as soon as they arrive.



Figure 2, same concerning arm and head.



And the two figs with the box to show you what the pan is. The ropes holding the box will of course be shortened when I attach them.



Any comments welcome!
Cheers!
Stef

Hey,

looks good Stefan! A great story to tell. I will try to post pics soon but I am having some trouble with camera...

Anyway, I hope to see more updates!
M4A2Sherman

Another small update. Figures are ready for some paint and the base got some earth and a tree. Any comments welcome!




C'mon people! Let's see some more progress pics! The deadline is closing in...

Cheers!
Stef

Ooh.. Pretty Ground work! Those figures look very nicely detailed! Could I suggest adding maybe a Enemy helmet laying on the ground, or maybe a PPSH or DP laying on its side?

Trying to get pictures on to the site is making me so frustrated!
I will post pictures as soon as I can.
M4A2Sherman

Hello All,
Another late entry here. This is gonna be a weird, but hopefully interesting, one. It sort of fits the campaign criteria and I've cleared it with M4A2Sherman.

I had been working on a German Knight on which I plan to paint my family crest when I came across this campaign, and it just seemed like a good fit.
The major parts have been assembled, puttied, sanded and painted. I experimented with airbrushing metallic shading:



And here is the crest. The arrow, rose, and star will go on the tunic and the shield, which I am going to scratch build:


The style of armor is typical of that worn in the Rhein area and (according to my family) the crest dates back to the 15th century, about the time it would have been worn.

HI,

I finally figured out how to get pictures onto the website! Here are some pics of my grandpas universal carrier. I still need to add decals and some touch-ups.







Hope you like it! Comments are welcome.

M4A2Sherman,
What I can tell from your pics it looks really good. The gun, wood, dirt, grime and rust appear real.
The pics aren't bad--white balance seems set right, the background is uncluttered, but does your camera have a 'Macro' setting? Something with a flower icon?
If so, it might make your close up shots clearer and sharper.

Is that a P.E.I. on the front armor plate? What does it stand for?

Looking forward to seeing more.

Keith

Thanks!

The P.E.I. Stands for Prince edward islands, the province in Canada. This is where my Grandpa was born and he joined the PEI regiment. I thought that I would include this on the carrier as it would make it a little more unique. Any progress on your knight?

M4A2Sherman

Nice touch! It does look like someone rubbed that into the dust on the vehicle.

I've done a little to the knight. Most of my time lately has been spent getting kits ready for Nationals next week. But I did manage to work on his weapons. To replicate the leather hilts I wrapped solder around them and then filed them flat. Hopefully they look good when painted. Speaking of painting--I did his knickers in a darkish gray. I've been thinking of adding leather patches to his seat like riding breeches. It may not be historically accurate, but it would add color to that area. Or, it may end up looking like he had an adverse reaction to going into battle!

Thanks Keith for the kind words.

Your weapons look great! What do you mean by getting your kits ready for nationals? My dads camera does have a macro setting, but I forgot to set it on macro. Anyways, I'm only 13 and barely use the camera at all.

Come on guys! Lets see some work here!

M4A2Sherman

Only 13? ONLY 13!? Wholly Crap dude! And you do work like that? When I was your age I was still building kits with white glue and then taking them outside and blowing ‘em up with firecrackers. (Behavior I neither recommend nor condone)

To answer your question—The International Plastic Modelers’ Society’s (http://www.ipmsusa.org/) USA arm is hosting their annual convention and model show (http://www.ipmsusa2009.org/) in Columbus Ohio this year. It’s the first time I’ve ever lived close enough to attend so I’ve been busy sprucing up some kits to enter next week.

After that is over I will have more time to devote to the little knight.

Thanks Keith, now I feel like I've grown a foot taller!

I am really looking forward to seeing some updates, some people that have enlisted on the campaign page have not even posted yet! November is coming soon...

And Keith, Good luck to you for the IPMS Nationals!

M4A2Sherman

You should feel proud! There are not too many thirteen year olds who have the maturity and patience to build models like that, let alone the gumption to start a campaign. I imagine most of your peers are into video games and the like.

The updates will come. It’s human nature to procrastinate. And it is summer (in this hemisphere). As the season wanes and vacations end people will find more time.

Thanks, I’m gonna need some luck! I have no delusions of winning anything. I just want to be able to say that I competed at Nationals. And go there and hang out with our hobby’s like-minded geeks.

Ah, someone's actually posting here...

Q, I didn't know you were only 13! Great work on the carrier, especially for that age! Like Keith said, at your age I used models for toys - no paint and they usually ended up with fire crackers inside... Oh, and not to mention glue all over...

Currently painting the figures. The Dio will get some grass, no enemy leftovers though as the hill wasn't even occupied.

Cheers!
Stef