Greetings, everyone!
I find myself once again in the Big City of Mesa, Arizona for work. An old college (and scale modeling) friend of mine had moved to Tucson earlier this year and had been asking if I could meet up with him at some point since my first visit back in March. I told him, workload permitting, that I'd find my way down there for a visit. Well, I had time this visit, so I drove down that way yesterday...
It was a fun visit. We went for a visit to the Pima Air and Space Museum--he has signed on as a volunteer there, and I had not been since my first visit in 2012. As we walked through the place, he pointed out the new additions to the museum as well as the recently refinished aircraft. The museum has been cycling their assets through the restoration hangar where most are simply stripped and repainted. "Restoration" is sort of a misnomer here, because they rarely totally disassemble, repair, and refinish an aircraft as the Air and Space museum and National Museum of the Air Force do. The desert climate tends to make corrosion a minor issue, but the sun takes it's toll on the paint, hence the repaints. Right now, they have the NB-52B, "Balls Three", in the process. I'm happy to see the museum continuing their excellent work, and I'm proud to be a member of the Arizona Aerospace Foundation.
New additions (to me) were the Dreamliner, the English Electric Lightning, and the new Hangar 5. It was nice seeing the new additions to the collection. Spending time with old friends, both of the aviation variety and the human variety, is always a good thing. My friend and I hadn't met face to face in almost 15 years, and we spent a lot of time catching up and telling tales of our time at The Harvard of the Skies, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach. A lot of time was passed remembering our days at the Air Force ROTC Detachment, recalling mutual friends, and sharing notifications about friends who are no longer with us. I'm happy that I was able to make the trek, and I hope it isn't another 15 years until the next time...
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Speaking of old friends, I received an e-mail from Eric, another friend living in Ft. Lauderdale. He wrote to let me know that the hobby shop we all knew, Warrick Custom Hobbies (re-branded first as "The Hobby Superstore" and later "Maniac's Hobby Complex") will be closing (alas, according to Yelp, it has closed) it's doors forever.
I have fond memories of Warrick. I've written before how I discovered the shop in the early 1980's, how I finally found my Holy Grail, the Otaki 1/48 F4U-1A Corsair, on their shelves. I discovered the first edition of Sheperd Paine's "How to Build Dioramas", the test issue of a little magazine called "FineScale Modeler", and a few other Kalmbach books there, too. I met many friends in the aisles of the store, regardless of whether it was the Twin Oaks Center location on Davie Boulevard, the Griffin Road location, or the two locations in Plantation. Many of those I met at the store remain friends after all these years.
And that doesn't truly tell the full story. For me, Warrick was a hobby shop, a reference source, a meeting place, a part-time job, and, at times, a refuge where I could tune out the world and take in all the plastic wonders one could ever want...or need. During my days as an employee, I got to know the Warrick family. Peter, the founder, would stop in from time to time, especially around Christmas. His daughter Pamela worked there when she was a kid, and her brother Wally would take the reins when Peter died in 2010.
And that's not to mention the good folks who worked there with me, and the folks who shopped there. First and foremost is my good friend Rick, who was the Plastics Guru In Residence when I first discovered the store. Rick is one of those guys who not only builds a great model, he isn't afraid to help you. Back when I met him, he was immersed in World War One and Japanese World War Two airplanes, although he would build armor and ships as well. He would also do commission work, the first person I knew who built models for other people--and got paid for his work! Rick introduced me to the concept of SIDNA--Shit I Don't Need Anymore--and stash purging. And when Rick would do a SIDNA sale, it was always fun. Rick's kits were like Forrest Gump's box of chocolates--you never know what you were going to get. When he made his last SIDNA purge a few years ago, he gave me a large box full of various 1/72 scale airplanes he had begun and was thusly unable to sell. In one box, I found two photoetch sets and a package of resin seats. In another, there were three Excel #1 knives. In a third, there were parts enough for two complete airplane models. That was how Rick did it. He would eventually manage the store. He's now in North Carolina, and he's limited his collection to 1/32 World War One airplanes these days...
Scott was the Keeper of Model Railroad Knowledge, also a scale modeler (quite talented, too!), and an RC guru in his own right. He was also one of those folks with a quick mind and a wicked sense of humor. More than once did Scott have us laughing for hours. A born tinkerer, there were few things he couldn't fix. When Peter wanted to set up a railroad layout in the window of the new shop, Scott had it up and running in a few days. No written plan, no materials list, he thought it up, bought the materials, and made it happen. He moved to Las Vegas in the late 1990's, and I haven't heard from or about him since.
John took over the store management when Rick left. John was another hobbyist. He was an RC boat person, and he was the person who recruited me to help do the scale judging every year at the annual regatta that the Shipcrafters of Broward would host. John is an educator, and I believe he now lives in Tallahassee.
Mister Mac was my Saturday part-time counterpart--he would work Saturdays, I would work Sundays, and we'd both stop by every Friday to see what the FedEx and UPS man dropped off that week. Mac was a good foil for Scott--like Scott, he had a quick wit and deeply twisted sense of humor. A retired Air Force crew chief, he once owned his own hobby shop and was teaching high school shop class when I met him. He knew Rick from when Rick used to haunt his shop as a young man. One day, Rick came in with a Revell 1/32 Hawker Hurricane he was commissioned to build. Mac looked at the contents of the box, and remarked, "When I built big scale stuff, I cleaned up my parts the same way. And I painted my instrument panels the same way. And", he lifted the box, "there's a reason. You got this kit from me!" He would put a number on the bottom of the box, and enter it into his inventory spreadsheet. He later moved to Kentucky, then Port Orange. I haven't heard from him in a little while, so I owe him a quick message.
Bob was one of the shop regulars, too. He built armor, specifically armor of the IDF. Bob had served with the IDF in the late 1970's/early 1980's. Bob fit right in, since he had the same sense of humor the rest of us did. Bob usually had about a month of free modeling time, the month during the summer when his wife and kids would go to visit family in Israel. We knew when they were out of town by Bob's model output. He once brought in an Italeri 1/35 M109 that he had converted to the Israeil fit. As folks looked at it, one wag started to go off about how it was "Wrong! All wrong! I crewed M109's, they don't look at all like that!" within earshot of Bob. Bob was about to go nuclear, when Scott looked the complainer in the eye and said, "Look again. Wrong army, asshole!" We all got a good laugh out of that one. That, and the time one of the kids working RC drilled a hole in Bob's fingernail when he offered to hold the part for the kid. There were times when Bob would bring his daughters into the shop, and when I think they're now both married, I realize how old I'm getting. I keep telling him that I remember his youngest--"the little one"--when she was knee high, and would hide behind him. Bob, his wife, and younger daughter moved to Israel in the early 2000's, and she served in the IDF and became a teacher.
Larry became one of our best friends over the years. When my then-girlfriend moved to Florida, she would spend Sundays with me at the shop, and she and Larry would swap jokes. Larry would move to Venice, Florida--and later Brevard, North Carolina (he's now in Coastal SC)--and yet we would usually meet up once every year or so, most recently at several of the Atlanta Airliner Collectibles shows at the Delta Flight Museum...alas, this year he has other plans.
Mike, who had moved to Florida from the Los Angeles area (he later moved back to Cali, then back to Florida), would talk airliners, WWI airplanes, and ships with us. He's back in Cali now, and he and I trade e-mails every once in a while. When he first showed up at the club meetings, he had a 1/350 scale USS California model he built from (if I recall correctly) an Iron Shipwrights kit. It was superb all around, and yet, when asked about it, he had an "aw, shucks, its not my best work" reply for us. He excelled at model building, and when he moved away the club lost a major talent and mentor.
Mikey would bring his kids with him, too--his son is in the Air Force and his daughter is married with kids now. Mikey would always have some very nicely done models. His models sometimes seemed to have stories of their own, too--he once built a Tamiya 1/48 Corsair, and when he applied the Dullcote, it frosted. As he told the story, he was about to toss it in the garbage, but for some reason started to wet sand it. The completed model was fabulous! Mikey is one creative guy--he's also a phenomenal jazz musician. One of the first dates I took my wife on was to see Mikey's guys play. He's now in Huntersville, NC, still playing jazz. He's recently returned to the hobby, too, which is a good thing.
Eric and Mark introduced me to the whole "spend Saturday at the airport watching airplanes" deal. Yes, it is exactly as I stated it. We'd meet at Mark's house, load up cameras, pile into the van, and head to Miami International Airport. We'd stop for breakfast on the way and meet some other folks. Once we arrived, we'd stake out a parking spot and set up the cameras. Around noon, we'd pack up and head to Orange Blossom Hobbies. We'd spend a little bit of time perusing the wares, then we'd go to lunch with Pat, giving him a break from working behind the counter. We'd finish lunch, drop Pat back at the hobby shop, and go find another parking spot at the airport. Eric would set up his tripod and video camera on the van's roof, and they knew the traffic patterns and arrival/departure schedules, so they knew where to be when they wanted to catch the afternoon British Airways and Air France 747's. I went with them several times, and it was always a fun day. Eric's still in the area, but Mark moved to Ocala in 2001.
In a roundabout way, Eric was the person who introduced me to the girl who is now my wife. She had built an Airfix 1/144 Boeing 727, and posted pictures to her website. I emailed and asked her if she would be interested in doing a brief write up for the club newsletter. The rest, as they say...
Rafe is another one of those folks. You know them--friends with whom don't have contact for years, but if one of you needs to talk, you know that the other will be there. Rafe was the guy who reintroduced a lot of South Florida modelers to the fun aspects of the hobby. Like me, he dabbles in a lot of different things, but he is a gear head at heart. Many times he'd bring in a hot rod in "Jersey Suede"--matt black primer--to show everyone.
Mac would move to Kentucky in 2000. I moved to South Carolina in 2001. The guys who took over our posts, Danny and OD, would become Keepers of the Plastics until around 2006, when the store took plastics in a new (and not in a good way) direction. All of the aftermarket decals, photoetch sets, and resin parts? Gone. Reference books? Out. The odd collection of limited run kits? Bye-bye. The specialty paint lines? The racks emptied slowly, leaving the racks looking like what they call in my parts "Summer Teeth"--some are there, some aren't.
I ran into Danny and his wife at the 2016 IPMS Convention. Like Bob and Mikey, his two daughters would usually be with them when Danny was a customer. I will always remember them with their Beanie Baby sheets, ticking off the ones they had and making lists of ones they wanted. And, like Bob and Mikey, Danny's daughters are now delightful young ladies, all grown up.
OD is a volume of stories in and of himself. A Marine F-4 pilot in Southeast Asia, he later flew with Eastern Airlines. He's quote the globetrotter, having worked in Iraq for a few contract companies. His latest travels take him to Central and South America. He was one of the die-hard 1/72 scale modelers in the club, and, when asked, "What color was the cockpit in your F-4?" he would reply that he was too busy trying to not get shot down to worry or care about it. When I met him, he drove a VW bus painted in the classic Eastern Airlines colors of Ionosphere Blue, Caribbean Blue, and white. And the bus even had a pitot tube on the roof. He's one of those characters you're glad to meet during your voyage through life...
My last (and, as it happens, final) visit to Warrick was in March 2012. By then, the plastics shelves looked for all the world identical to what you would find in a Michael's or Hobby Lobby--mainstream Revell, Acadamy, and Tamiya kits. Testor and Tamiya paints. No aftermarket to speak of. No short run kits. Very few reference books...
The saddest part of all is that Warrick/Maniac's was the last large, full-line hobby shop in South Florida. Sure, there are smaller shops specializing in Radio Control, or trains, or paintball. But none of them ever came close to what Warrick Hobbies was in the heydays of the 1980's and 1990's. Between Warrick and Orange Blossom Hobbies in Miami (and, to a lesser extent, RC Hobbies/Tri-County Hobbies in Tamarac, who closed in 2014 or 2105), if they didn't have it, you didn't need it or it was never made.
We had a new member show up at one of the IPMS/Mid-Carolina meetings a while back, and as we introduced ourselves, one of the guys made the comment that he had met some of his best friends through the hobby. As I write this, I realize just how many friends I've made through scale modeling. And I continue to make new friends alone the way. If it weren't for the hobby, I would not have met my wife, so that should speak volumes...
People have asked me over the years if I miss South Florida. I tell them I miss people who, largely, don't live there any more and places that don't exist as they were or have closed their doors. I'm saddened to have to add Warrick Custom Hobbies to the latter category on that list.
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Earlier, I mentioned the Atlanta Airliner Collectibles show. I'll be heading there next weekend--I leave Mesa on Friday morning and will be in Atlanta by 5PM. A quick hotel shuttle, and I'll meet up with my wife. We usually spend a few hours watching airplanes from the hotel balcony, then grab some supper. We'll spend the morning Saturday at the Delta Flight Museum, where we usually will see at least two or three other friends. Usually, we'll bump into Patrick, Mike (a different one), Paul, Danny (another one), and sometimes Donnie, and our version of "The Alabama Gang", Mike (yet another Mike!) and Tony from Huntsville. We always have a great time, talking airplanes and models. Once we've had our fill, we head to Kennesaw to visit the HobbyTown (the chain's largest store, we're told, and I believe it). And, we usually grab lunch at El Nopalito right next door. Sometimes it is just the two of us, other times we'll share a meal with Patrick, Larry, or our friend Rob when he visits from Alaska.
After lunch, we go back to the hotel and watch airplanes again. If you're not an airplane geek, you won't get it...
If you're in the area, stop in. I'm not affiliated with the show, I just think it is a fun day...
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Thanks for reading. Be good to one another. I bid you Peace, and remind you to cherish your friendships, wherever you find them.
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