A seasonal story from my other hobby, NF

[Dave Bailey]

Operation Toy Store,

model and story by Dave Bailey

 

 

“Can’t see anything skipper, not a thing!” The Co-pilot’s voice was taut and strained, like the eyes that were searching for any visual clues.

Darkness and blowing snow, a nasty combination when you’re walking, but even worse when you’re trying to land over 700,000 pounds of aircraft on a temporary runway made of ice. The word ‘dangerous’ was invented for this highly secret mission, and it would take all his skills, and then some, for the pilot to accomplish it.

“THERE!” he shouted, and he pointed about ten degrees to starboard. Two lines of twinkling lights stretched out toward the darkness, and a gentle turned lined the huge aircraft up between them. Throttles were reduced, and flaps extended…

Very few people were privy to what was transpiring, and the general public would never have believed it. But here was a C-5 Galaxy loaded with toys. Various logistical problems had created a shortage at a secret location near the North Pole, and the Air Force had stepped up with the amount needed. “Can’t disappoint all the children”, the President had said, “They’re future voters!”

For this flight the aircraft had been ceremoniously repainted in brown overall, with a large red nose. The maintenance crews may have been sworn to secrecy, but there were no orders saying that they couldn’t have fun.

The tires impacted with a thud, instead of the normal screech, and four powerful thrust reversers were brought to bear. Once stopped, many small and gaily dressed individuals swarmed into the cargo deck, grabbing items and scurrying back out to the waiting reindeer that were to carry them back to the distribution point a short distance away. The Loadmaster and his crew chuckled as the little people, barely up to his waist, scurried back and forth with lightning speed.

Sipping a mug of steaming hot chocolate as he watched, a smile crept across the pilot's face. The most difficult part was over, and he would soon be taking his aircraft and crew back home. 'Christmas dinner later', he thought, 'and I can be proud to have helped make the day a success.'

Colonel Rudolph Deere was pleased.

++++++

This is the tiny Lockheed C-5A Galaxy in the Academy Sky Giants series, molded in the beloved [/sarcasm] 1/480th scale. Good overall shape, and what little detail they can get away with is finely done. The major problem is the complete lack of anhedral in the wings, which I corrected by just using some thin plastic sheet as a shim, forcing them down at what looks, at least to me, to be a convincing angle. Decals are problematic, but trying to apply decals to anything this small is rarely an easy task. Can't recall what paints I used, but they seem to have worked okay. The story was thrown together in a few minutes, and the pilot's name, well, that was just obvious. I understand his brother John supplied some of the toys. Enjoy.

And a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all!

[Steelheadphycho]

Fantastic! The kids loved it! As did I.

 

Merry Christmas!

[aplumma]

Nice bit of work both from your hands and your head.

 

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