@PlaneThought41
- Mar 14, 2021
- 8 min read

The Completed Build List

Updated: 5 days ago

I have been assembling and painting model aircraft ever since I was a teenager and my parents bought me one for a Christmas gift. Early on I decided it would be a good idea to keep my collection in the same scale so I could easily compare aircraft sizes and features. At the start I was only interested in WWII aircraft types and didn't venture into jet types.

By the 1980's I got interested in jet aircraft as well, as Canada was going through the selecting process of its new fighter, the CF-18. This was closely followed by my delving into aspects of the Vietnam War and types flown in this conflict quickly gained my interest as well. My build collection now spans WWII era almost up to present day. I have many examples flown by Canadian crews over the years and a substantial number of USAF and USN /USMC types as well.

Initially I built for fun, often making kits with fictitious markings and taking liberties with the paint schemes. That all changed after I brought an example of my recently completed Hawker Typhoon IB into my father's retail store. As it happened, that day a gentleman (I believe his name was Harry Lucas) came into the store and upon seeing my kit, he commented that he did not recognize the aircraft's squadron codes. I explained that I had just made them up, to which he politely added that the camouflage pattern was not accurate either. Suitably impressed, I asked him how he knew all this at a mere glance... "I flew them during WWII" he replied. Gobsmacked with the realization that this hobby wasn't just about some neat looking aircraft you could assemble and paint, but one that could encompass history and persons intricately involved with these machines, I set a new course. My model builds would now focus on being more replicas of historic aircraft and in many cases would serve as a small tribute to those tied to its history.

I produced mostly museum examples (with little if any weathering) for display after this shift and much later got involved in suitably weathering my aircraft builds. Amazingly most of the model aircraft that I have built over time, still exist in my collection today. Some serve as a reminder of how my skills and patience have progressed over time and every kit is a less-than-perfect example of this learning process. Most of my aircraft are on display in multiple shelving units with clear-front doors (to keep the dust out). Now that the kids have all grown up and moved out, my growing collection has been allowed to take over the entire basement area. Now referred to as The Hangar it is home base to over 260 1/48th scale aircraft kits.

My goal with this website is to eventually get decent photos of most of these aircraft builds and post them here as a one-stop organized public place to view these creations. That goal quickly expanded to provide a brief article about each kit build, to hopefully give the audience something interesting to read about each of my kit adventures.

Below is my list of the 1/48th scale kits that I have built over the past four+ decades. Click on a listed aircraft link to take you to that aircraft's page (if it has been posted to date).

The Completed Build List

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