Saturday I worked from 5:05 to 9:45 am and they from 2:15 to 7:55 pm on one project at the museum, and if you caught me at the wrong moment you might have misunderstood.To capture the passing MAJESTY of that wrong moment, I took a bunch of pictures of this project in process: the infusion of LIFE into the storage room, now named IRAN (Inspect and Repair As Necessary) Room.
card table in the middle of the room
Over the years I’ve learned that plastic models are light enough to be stacked in no particular order as high as one can gently stack them as long as there is no greater pressure than the weight of the models imposed. Since this was a temporary necessity, I wasn’t worried about breaking anything.
looking toward the northwest corner of the room
Early after moving all essential material to the airport, in early 1011, I began storing boxes of built models and cobbled together probably 50 shelves spaced by short sections of 2 x 4s and believe it or not, the approximately same sized cut up wood from a picnic table from home. The truly Tinker-Toy clap-trap of necessity arrangement held dozens of models needed repair, partially completed models, and some project intended for restoration. Wide wood shelves in one corner, which had been erected there already held larger projects. There were some pieces of bedroom furniture “stored” there by a friend of the manager, also in the room, but I didn’t touch it. I believed if the fellow would come back and reclaim it, he should not have to find strange plastic materials occupying his furniture. Even so, Saturday, I stacked things all over it.
Slated for completion when time permits, the Monogram 172 Space Shuttle model. Some of the 1/48 races below to the left, will not be restored. The C-130 in Vietnam War camouflage will be restored.
There were boxes and a big plastic tub of things that had to be hauled from home to here. I intended for all of that to be arranged, in part because I wanted a neater room
wide shelves I wish we had more of them.
Models of 1/144, 1/72, 1/48 and 1/72 are displayed here, each with their special value to the museum.
Sharp eyes see the unfinished Airfix kit of a Beagle 206. It will be completed, with a bit of support, this year.
Piling models was necessary so I could disassemble early shelves and re-build with new resources that included formerly hanging doors used on a closet, removed with considerable effort early into the day.
The solid plastic C-46 identification model, manufactured and used during World War II, shows the destruction of inadequate storage over the decades; will be displayed, eventually, as is.
The real challenge of the day was to arrange shelves using materials on hand, including glass shelves from a retailer and the last cut up 2 x 4s I could find in the house. The result is to the left in the picture below.
late in the day, almost done with renovation phase one
The new room is where all sorting of newly acquired magazines, model airplanes, clippings slated for the files will be done. As a result, the Miscellaneous Room with the books and miscellaneous files, will lose a lot of the disarray of piles of papers and poorly organized hard and soft-cover books.
To the right: some of the pounds and pounds of paper slated to be sorted and filed as time and support permit. To the left models in process.
The model storage boxes will be moved to another part of the room to make room for more sorting and filing area. Today, Sunday, I have begun an inventory of each box to know how many models fit for display and not already on display at the museum are on hand. Models somehow damaged in storage will be removed from the boxes and set aside for repair. This is how I will spend the rest of Sunday, June 10.
a wall of boxes of models in storage occupies the view on the far right
The final result of this creation of a new public room will be shared when the project is complete. For the record, I still need shelves, so if you have any to spare, e-mail me — writer@eosinc.com.
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Fly safe!
Abe Lincoln's Air Force 