A half dozen years ago, my family bought me an expensive model kit of a B-17 bomber like the one my father flew in WWII. The idea was to recreate the actual plane he flew. So I started searching the internet for information and was amazed at what was available. There are records of every mission he flew, the serial number of the plane and the names, ranks and position of every crewman on each mission. There is detailed information of the markings of each plane. There is also the results of each mission and an amazing number of photographs including one of the plane he crash landed while it was still burning.

What I did not have was the ability and skill to do the model justice so I began practicing and developing my techniques. I built mostly cars from my youth and a few airplanes. The results were not pretty but I persisted. Above is one of my better efforts, a 1953 Hudson Hornet that I gifted to a high school classmate that used to drive it to school everyday. She gave me a ride in it that I will never forget. I kept thinking ‘What a great car to take to the drive-in.’ I have since revised my chroming technique depending on the surface and how big it is.