Barter Town

That is where I live, at least mentally and philosophically.

As a kid, I took my first trip to Barter Town with Hotwheels Cars. I never cared much for the Double Vision but Jeff Muxlow, a classmate liked it and was willing to part with his Red Baron in trade. From there it went to Football Cards, Yo-Yos and bicycle parts leading to a lifelong residence in Barter Town.

Take a look at most people's garages, basements, and closets and it is easy to say that interests and hobbies come and go at times. Check those roller blades you bought with all good intention during the Clinton administration, or telescope, skis or that Bedazzler Gun you bought late night on the home shopping network.

Amazingly enough, some of these things taking up that valuable closet real estate can be worth something to others and this is what Barter Town is all about. There are two types of people that live in Barter Town. First, you have the "NH's" which stands for "Near Hoarders" While having the appearance of hoarding there is actually an ebb and flow of stuff, they acquire, they trade. The second group, are the collectors. They very well may have just as much stuff as the NH's but it is organized and cataloged. When they acquire it is with an intent to fill a void in a collection or series etc.

My mother called me a "pack-rat" many times and while I will admit to being part of the evolution of collecting, that guilt just never stuck.  It is all subjective though as people may gaze upon your built and unbuilt models wondering about your priorities as they forget about the jet ski sitting their shed for the last 3 summers. I may have started off as a kid as a pack -rat but when you want something new as you open that closet and remnants of your past relationship with Ron Popeil are revealed it is time to take a trip to Bartertown.



Like any city I have my share of second hand and Goodwill thrift stores depending on the decade I have frequented many of these stores looking for diecast cars, vinyl records, guitars among many other things. A few years back I found an old CB radio in a goodwill marked $5  so I grabbed it to reuse the microphone in a ham radio project and maybe rob other parts. I took it home and hooked it to power and an antenna and it worked like it was 1977. The brand and model was a Pace 166 and after looking it up and finding 2 currently on sale for $300 and $500 on eBay it turned out this particular CB was the stock GM CB radio that came in the 1977 Pontiac Trans Am/Firebird/ Smokey and the Bandit Edition!  So not being greedy I put it up for an open auction and let the bidding begin. I ended up selling it for $350.  There have many finds that turned me some coin to toss at another interest.

There's a cool little retro type thrift store called "Time Bomb" near me I knew to have some models, he also has clothes, records, toys and lots of cool stuff from years ago. I trucked in there with some vinyl records to trade and came out with a cool pile of models.

I am excited to start the Patton Tank, especially since I scored so much to go with it.

Vietnam theme with a Mutt and resin figures from Verlinden to add to the M48A3.

Love the detail on resin and there are a few extra heads, weapons, etc. in these kits as well.

Also got a BMW R75 with a sidecar which I started already and will be posting it soon.

Lots to build until the spring rain and winds go away to inspire getting back to my RC plane project.

Back Soon.

• Hobby Dude

An Inspired Purchase. PT.2

I had not built an Airfix kit in some time, they are not that common to find on a store shelf. I think I can add Airfix to list of companies we need to see more of in the U.S.

These two kits are well worth the sub $10 prices. Great detail and decent fitting parts for the small scale. The smaller the scale the more a good mold is needed, those tiny details need to be sharp. The Tiger 1 kit had a little more flash than the Sherman but nothing to complain about.

Each model has 2 choices of decals reflecting the placement of Sherman either in Normandy June/July 1944  with options for  U.S. or British markings. After doing some research I found that the Sherman kit is not totally scaled correctly as far as the decals. I don't claim to know a lot about armor so weigh in if my research sounds bogus but U.S. tanks should have a number starting with 3, not T2. The group marking triangle on the front I found on later M4A3. Few other odd differences in front of tank and gun barrel when compared to images I found. I found some other reference to these things in some of the scale model forums. The British version seems to have the same issues with its decals. I found less information on the Tiger 1.

One of the things I love about building any model is the prep I put into research and the things I learn as I do. Each thing becomes a history, science and social education. I started this one with finding images of each tank, trying to place the camouflage and paint to the where and the when. I watched tourist videos of Normandy countryside, looked at pictures. Watched a few old war movies with their incredible inaccurate depictions of history.  It is like learning from correcting mistakes.

There were something like 50,000 Shermans M4XX Versions made between 42 and 45 with many sold or  "Lend-Lease" to the British, Canada, New Zealand, Australia, China, USSR, Poland, and France. A substantial amount did not make it through the D-Day landing. Some had blades equipped to the front to deal with obstacles on the beach. Flamethrowers and other changes in gun size, side floats and one that engineers built bridges with.

With all this in mind, I decided to build a "Somewhere in Normandy June/July 1944 as the Allies pushed east.

I still have the Tiger to finish and only a bit of weather left to do on the Sherman. On the Sherman, I added aluminum tubing for a more realistic gun barrel and made a few sandbags, logs, rope, and wood boxes for the rear.  I found some smaller scale Tulle Lace that worked out for the webbing. See my previous post about Tulle Lace Here. When the model is only 3" long it can be a bit of a challenge to make accessories let alone hold on to them, see them or glue them.



On the diorama, I still am waiting for trees to dry to add, as well as more landscape the details are added in layers. My eventual plan is to find some 1:76 or 1:72(I think it would look close enough) German soldiers and U.S. Paratroopers to add in.

That's all for now...

-Hobby Dude