Joe has not forgotten us and I hope he will return soon. Here is his email.
Hello, Lou,
Thanks for the note. I took a break from model building for a while, but have started up again.
When I started again, I dug up the five Monogram balsa-based warship kits (first marketed in 1946) I've had for ages. So far, I've built the Battleship USS Missouri, the Aircraft Carrier USS Shangri-La, and the L.S.T. 608. I'm probably going to work on the Destroyer USS Hobby next.
Lou for Joe
Here is Joe's excellent LST.
Lou
They all look nicely done. Thanks.
Fraser
Further update from Joe:
Hi, again,
Last year I found the hull of the StromBecKer USS Brooklyn, one of the rarest StromBecKer models. Fortunately, I had a set of plans, and was able to repo all the missing parts.
Best,
Joe
Lou for Joe
Interesting to see the early construction with the bare wood superstructure. What is the length of the model?
Fraser
Additional photos on Joe's 1/600 Hellcats
Lou for Joe
The photo attachment process is giving me grief.
Lou for Joe
1/600 is small!
Lou for Joe
Wow! I would love to see the full plans for all those Monogram warship models! There's a few partial plan sets on this site, but they're all incomplete — such as missing images of the printwood, etc. Without those missing images, we really can't build these great models.
Hi,
This is the answer to Fraser's question about the length of the StromBecKer USS Brooklyn model: it is 18" long; ca 1:400 scale.
Impressive ! I might try a boat /ship sometime in the future.
Gordon