Category: Memoirs of James Pate Williams Jr

My USS New Jersey, BB-62 (1982 version), Revell plastic model has two Sikorsky (now Lockheed Martin) MH-60R SEAHAWK miniature model helicopters. Each of the helicopters consists of two fuselage parts, a tail, a tail rotor, and main rotor. Also, you have six very small decals to attach. I did not have much luck with the decals. The real helicopter is an anti-submarine, maritime spotting, and search and rescue vehicle. I have clumsy fingers.

MH-60R SEAHAWK® Helicopters | Lockheed Martin

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Most of the models are either Aurora, Monogram, and/or Revell and are listed in no particular order. First list consists of aircraft.

• NASA North American X-15 experimental rocket
• North American XB-70 Valkyrie experimental high velocity heavy bomber
• Lockheed YF-12A Blackbird (Blackbird family A-12, SR-71, and YF-12A)
• Lockheed SR-71 the pride of Clarence “Kelly” Johnson USAF-CIA spyplane
• Lockheed U-2 Dragon Lady high-altitude reconnaissance
• Lockheed P-38 Lightening
• Republic P-47D bubble canopy Thunderbolt
• North American P-51D bubble canopy Mustang fast long-range fighter
• Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress heavy bomber
• Douglas A-1 Sky Raider attack close air support
• Grumman F4F Wildcat Marine/Navy fighter
• Grumman F6F Hellcat Marine/Navy fighter
• Vought F4U Corsair Marine/Navy fighter
• Vought OS2U Kingfisher sometimes a battleship spotting aircraft
• Mishibishu Zero agile, very maneuverer fighter without self-sealing fuel tanks
• Grumman TBF Avenger torpedo bomber deceased ex-President George Herbert Walker Bush flew this type of aircraft
• Curtiss SB2C Helldiver dive bomber
• Douglas SBD Dauntless dive bomber
• Junkers Ju-87 Stuka dive bomber
• Messerschmidt Bf 109 many, many of these fighters were built and deployed
• Messerschmitt Bf 110 night fighter fitted with advanced radar
• Messerschmitt Me 163 Komet high-speed very short-ranged rocket plane
• Messerschmitt Me 262 Swallow first ever jet fighter
• Focke-Wulf Fw 190 Shrike high-speed fighter
• Focke-Wulf Fw 200 Condor long-range maritime heavy bomber
• Lockheed F-104 Starfighter supersonic jet fighter
• Republic F-105 Thunderchief high-speed jet fighter
• General Dynamics F-111 Aardvark swing-wind high-speed jet fighter
• Convair B-58 Hustler supersonic medium bomber nuclear bomb delivery system
• Boeing F/A-18E Super Hornet all weather fighter-bomber
• Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II close air support and tank killer
• Northrop P-61 Black Widow exceptional night-fighter with advanced radar (radio detection and ranging)

Next comes the ships:

• CSS Alabama Confederate commerce raider whose captain was Raphael Semmes
• HMS Hood heavy battlecruiser that was sunk by the Kriegsmarine battleship Bismarck on May 24, 1941, in the Battle of the Denmark Strait
• USS Arizona BB-39 sunk at Pearl in the early morning of Sunday, December 7, 1941, a day Franklin Delano Roosevelt stated “Yesterday, December 7, 1941—a date which will live in infamy—the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan”
• Kriegsmarine Bismarck victorious in the Battle of the Denmark Strait then sunk by Royal Navy in the morning of May 27, 1941
• Kriegsmarine Tirpitz Bismarck class heavy battleship sunk by the British while she was hiding out in a Norwegian fjord
• U-boat model
• USS Nautilus nuclear powered submarine
• Other ships that I can’t recall
• USS New Jersey BB-62 Iowa class fast battleship a work in progress today

Tanks:

• Panzerkampfwagen V Panther medium tank 75 mm main gun
• Tiger I heavy tank 88 mm main artillery
• Other US and Japanese tanks and personnel carriers

I have built other miscellaneous models including a number of automobiles. I used to utilize cans of spray paint on some models. The spray painting was usually done on the rock patio of 601 Hill Street, LaGrange, GA, 30241, my former abode from the early 1960s to 2013.

Revell has some strange hieroglyphics in the instruction manual for their USS New Jersey (Platinum Edition) model. Pictures show the modeler clipping part of a plastic frame and heating the clipped part over a candle and drawing the plastic to a new length of 32 mm (1.26 inches) in a few cases. This reminds me of glass blowing where molten glass is drawn to a new length. I am making some progress on painting and assembling parts of my Revell New Jersey model.

It irks me that educated people refer to the United States of America as just America. In geography we learn that the supercontinent of America is comprised of North America, Central America, and South America. Both North and South America are termed as continents. Remember there are seven continents: Africa, Antarctica, Asia, Australia/Oceania, Europe, North America, and South America. In the absence of the Panama Canal, the three Americas could be grouped into one large continent named America.

Opened the box at 3:00 PM Friday, May 3, 2024.

Painted first coats on the primary and secondary turrets on Saturday, May 4, 2024, afternoon after washing a few of the frames.

By Wednesday, May 8, 2024, I had painted and put together 10 – 5” dual-purpose turrets and I have painted all the main armament triple – 16” 50 caliber rifles. The 5” dual-purpose guns are broken down into four parts and the main turrets at most 15 parts.

On Tuesday, May 7, 2024, I began assembling the Balsa wood decks. The real decking is teakwood which is insect and weather resistant.

What Is Teak Wood & Why It Is So Great? – Start Woodworking Now

I finished the decking (all but two parts) on Thursday, May 9, 2024. There are not any written instructions for the decking, so you must interpret the photographic hieroglyphics (picture writing). The decking pictures are the same scale as the real model so that helps assembly a great deal.

I decided not to use the included metal artillery barrels since I am not good at drilling holes in plastic or for that matter any other media. The most hand drilling will probably involve the hull and propeller shafts holes. When I assembled my standard 1:350 Kriegsmarine Bismarck model last year, I broke a DeWalt drill bit while attempting to drill a propeller shaft hole. This May I purchased an inexpensive hand drill from Wall Mart.

Thus far I have spent the following amounts on this model: $75.16 (model itself), $14.49 (hand drill), and $28.05 (acrylic paint from Hobby Linc), therefore $117.60 total including shipping and handling and applicable sales taxes.

Between 1:15 AM and 2:00 AM, Friday, May 10, 2024, I successfully drilled four propeller shaft holes in my BB-62 model’s hull. I used my two legs as a gentle vice to hold my hull reasonably steady during my drilling operations. Hopefully, later today I will be able to paint the hull carmine red and later add a black waterline belt. I am waiting for the Revell carmine red acrylic paint from Hobby Linc.  Revell calls for 90% carmine red and 10% reddish brown for the hull, but I don’t like mixing colors and usually just utilize the dominant color. I have Revell reddish brown acrylic in my set of paints, so I may reconsider mixing paints like a true artist or hobbyist. I would need to get some syringes minus their typical hypodermic needles.

I will update this blog entry later today, Friday, May 10, 2024. Remember Friday, May 24, 2024, is the 83rd anniversary of the Battle of the Denmark Strait. I will have more to say about this pivotal battle later this month.

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Due to my poor performance in regular English literature, I was forced to retake the class in the summer of 1969. I was in between the sophomore (10) and junior (11) grades. The class was held on July 4, 1969, since we were not allowed a vacation day on Independence Day. Also concurrently on July 4, 1969, the great Atlanta International Pop Festival was held at the Atlanta International Raceway in Hampton, Georgia. A fellow classmate tried to get me to skip class to go to the festival. I decided against skipping class.

Concerts That I Have Attended

1970 or 1971 Muddy Waters at the University of Georgia

1973 (?) Larry Coryell at a small venue in Northeast Atlanta, Georgia

November 30, 1974 “The Relayer Tour” by Yes with the lineup of Jon Anderson, Steve Howe, Patrick Moraz, Chris Squire, and Alan White. The Omni Coliseum in Atlanta, Georgia

1975 (?) Jethro Tull at the Fox Theater in Atlanta, Geogia

August 25, 1976 “The Going for the One Tour” by Yes with a lineup of Jon Anderson, Steve Howe, Chris Squire, Rick Wakeman, and Alan White

In the early 1970s I saw the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra perform “The Planets” by Gustave Holst and Ravel’s arrangement of Modest Mussorgsky’s “Pictures at an Exhibition”.