This year we left St. Louis right after Christmas. It was snowing the day we headed out. Click on photos to enlarge images.

Our backyard!

WE drove the coach south and tried to avoid the snow and ice. We spent the first night outside Memphis, then in Hammond Louisiana and then arrived in Kemah on New Year’s Eve. Click on photos to enlarge images.

Some of the bridges on the Gulf are strange.

It was great to be back in Kemah, even though the first few days were cold! Not like Missouri cold, but cold for here. Click on photos to enlarge images.


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The Kemah boardwalk. Click on photos to enlarge images.

Susan on the Boardwalk

Bob on the Boardwalk. Click on photos to enlarge images.


Our Favorite Seafood restaurant in Kemah. Click on photos to enlarge images.

Susan inside.

Oysters Rockefeller, we love that dish! Click on photos to enlarge images.

Santa Margherita Pinot Grigio, MMMMM!!

Crab stuffed Shrimp Embrochette Awesome! Click on photos to enlarge images.

In and around the boardwalk, the kids love this fountain!

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We went to Galveston a couple of times. It looks recovered from Hurricane Ike. There is a huge recreational area there called Moody Gardens, these are some pics.
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Then we drove by the gulf coast and Bob and Star played on the beach. The wind off the Gulf was a little chilly that day! Click on photos to enlarge images.

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Then we had dinner at another great Seafood place, our coach! Tortellini with asparagus crab and a four cheese sauce!

Susan enjoying retirement!

Bob still trying to act young! I have to keep reminding him, he is almost 69 years old! This is where we let the dogs run every day! Click on photos to enlarge images.


This was the last night here. It was also our 44th anniversary. WE decided to try a new (Seafood, of course), restaurant. The Aquarium. A great time, it was very difficult to photograph because you were surrounded by walls of reflective glass containing hundreds of fish. Sharks, schools of Tuna, Barracudas, and on and on. Great food as well. Click on photos to enlarge images.

We even dressed up a bit! Leaving the coach.

We left much earlier than planned, something came up, but we were ready anyway! If it looked like all we did was eat seafood, well…… you are right! Bob gained about 15 pounds down there, we won’t discuss mine!

We arrived back home to 12 degrees (F), but, as they say, Be it ever so humble, there is no place like home.

Till next time!

Whenever any of you are near the St. Louis area, send me an email through this site. If we are in town, we’ll make arrangements for you to see it. It isn’t open to the public and there are no admission fees. It is for modelers in general and our friends only. If you are a modeler or a model enthusiast, we will do our best to give you the grand tour! There are some works from each of the following names; Shep Paine, Lewis Pruneau, Francois Verlinden, Mike Good, Don Kanaval, Alex Boui, Mort Schmitt, Alan Griffith, Bob Oehler, Gordon Stronach, Jim Stephens, Bill Konn, George Woodard, Dan Clover, Ian Hill, Duane Pfister, myself and others. There is a lot of militaria and 50 years of modeling memorabilia, many you will never find anywhere else, as far back as the 50s, ancient Model magazines and catalogs, posters, kits, a collection of nametags saved over the years beginning with 70s and 80s shows, and lots of displays from Miniature World Museum. There are hundreds of box art models from Custom Dioramics, Warriors, Techstar, Streets of Laredo, and so on. There are around a hundred dioramas, hundreds and hundreds of models and so much more! At 1400 square feet, there is more packed into this space than I ever imagined possible!

Bob Letterman

(Click on photos to enlarge)

Chris Saulet, Bob & Susan along the west wall. On the left is “Cocoon”, a large dry dock diorama, on the right is “Quota” the Krupp 88 factory.

First three photos courtesy of Ken Jones

Susan, Chris and Stephanie Saulet looking toward north wall.

Looking toward West wall.

Sandra Jones, wife of Ken Jones, editor of Military Modelling Magazine visiting from England, looking at Legacies II. The diorama in back of her is the new “Logistics”, currently under constructionand near right is “Cocoon”. Cocoon is the smallest of the 4 large ones I built. Winds of War is in a private collection, Legacies and Cocoon are here as is the current project Logistics. Susan and I had met Ken Jones at Euromilitaire several times back in the 80s and early 90s. He came over in 1999 for Mastercon and he and his wife Sandra have become very close friends since. They come over to visit once or twice a year and we travel around in the motor home or just “kick back” and enjoy the attractions of St. Louis. He will retire next year!

Last two photos courtesy of Wes Bradley. I entered my first major competition in the St. Louis IPMS Nationals in 1982. During the next two years, I accumulated the trophies on this wall. In 1984, I decided that a businessman should not be competing with his customers and have never competed since. Although retired, after 25 years, I probably never will again. Besides, so many guys have honed their skills and talent, I wouldn’t have a chance in today’s competition!

More to come……

Many years ago I met Ken jones, editor of Military Modelling Magazine and host of the Euromilitaire Figure show in Folkstone UK. Click on photos to enlarge.


Later, I invited him to Mastercon. He came and really enjoyed himself. The next year we invited him and his wife Sandra to come over for a two week road trip in the coach. Click on photos to enlarge.

The coach.

They did and have been visiting once or twice a year ever since. This trip was planned around modeling and modelers. Susan and I are typical dog nuts, they have always played a big part in our lives. Ken and Sandra have always enjoyed playing with them. Ken and I worked closely when I ran VLS. VLS was the American importer of all the magazines his company publishes. He took a huge number of photos in the museum and will be doing an article in MilMod in a couple of months.

They started walking with us daily as they always do. Wes Bradley, a T&T member and a good friend brought his 11 year old daughter, Alexis, to spend the day. Click on photos to enlarge.

We had a few nice days while they were here, but most were a little chilly! This is one of the many parks nearby that we walk in. Click on photos to enlarge.

This was their first meeting with Star who is exactly one year old. Both like dogs and dogs always know who does and who doesn’t.

Star is one year old and weighs 75 pounds. As you can see by the size of her feet, she still has some growing to do. Click on photos to enlarge.

As gentle as she is, seeing this coming at you would scare some.

Time for a water break! Click on photos to enlarge.

Wes’ daughter, Alexis, Wes, Sandra and me with my back to the camera.

The great Cagney. His nickname is The Cagmeister! All of 10 pounds. Click on photos to enlarge.

Ken, looking very pensive at a restaurant!

A few days later, we fired up the coach and headed for Kansas City. We visited every hobby shop there, unfortunately not any great ones! It was so foggy we couldn’t see the tops of the skyscrapers. Click on photos to enlarge.

n the coach, we have to put Cagney in the bedroom to eat, otherwise Star will take a deep breath and inhale Cagney’s dinner. After eating, he watches the goings on from under the door. Ken took this fantastic shot! Click on photos to enlarge.

We visited all the local attractions and had some great meals. Kansas City is known for steaks and barbeque. Then Mr. T, (Terry of T&T), met us at our favorite, Jack Stack. We all had their famous “Burnt Ends”, Fantastic!

We, of course, took them to all the tourist stops. Click on photos to enlarge.

This is the famous Country Club Plaza, a humongous shopping center in the upscale part of Kansas City.

Ditto Click on photos to enlarge.

Ditto

know we are old, but we haven’t forgotten how to have fun! Click on photos to enlarge.

After four days of partying and lots of fantastic food, we headed back to St. Louis.

We checked out all the good hobby shops here, especially the best one, CRM Hobby. Many American modelers know the owner, Chris Merseal. Click on photos to enlarge.

Models, what a natural location for Susan!

Then we went over to Alton, Illinois to check out a famous icon bar restaurant there. Fast Eddies Bon Air. This place sells more beer than any other single retail outlet in America. The food was fantastic! A few years ago, they actually bought a large portion of the street behind them from the city, enclosed it and made a huge outdoor beer hall! Click on photos to enlarge.

Me and Sandra in Fast Eddies gift shop! Click on photos to enlarge.

Then on to dinner with Chris Mrosko, (Panzer on T&T), at a Texas Road House steak house!

Chris, Bob and Star outside the restaurant.
On the 22nd of October, Susan took Ken and Sandra to the airport. Star wondering where her new friends have went! Click on photos to enlarge.

Another great visit! We look forward to their trips every year. Of course, there is always a downside. In the two weeks, I gained 7 pounds! As I said, so much wonderful food! What the hell, I’m not out there hitting on chics anyway, right? Most of these pics were taken by Ken. Those are the really good ones. Many were taken by Susan, they are also good ones, the rest by me, they are the bad ones!

Bob

As my last update to this was the beginning of May and over the last 10 months since I joined the site, several people have asked to see an SBS of how the buildings are constructed. I have procrastinated long enough. As this building is a part of the WIP, I am posting it here rather than the Masterclass. I begin by cutting the corrugated cardboard shapes for the building facade. This building will be Greco-Roman architecturally, and will house a Roman/German Historical museum.

You will notice that after the facade is assembled, the lower part is much too long. That is because when I build the base, I start with a wooden frame. I screw a sheet of plywood onto the bottom, then vary the heights of the framing and the interior bracing. I use model rail road board to “skin” the top which will then have a rolling hill effect that will vary from place to place by as little as one inch, (25mm), and as much as 12 inches, (300mm). It gives the diorama that extra effect of topography. Cities built on a perfectly flat terrain are rare. Click on images to enlarge.

Here is the matt board cut outs ready to be veneered to the corrugated cardboard facade.

Here is a shot of the base of “Logistics” and the square, triangular and rectangular holes cut for placement of the buildings. The buildings will then set down into those holes and I can be assured of their being “true” to the base. The large hole on the far right will be the resting place for this building. Click on images to enlarge.

Next, I cut the matt board, a material found in either framing shops or art supply stores, to the shape and then veneer them to the corrugated cardboard structure using carpenters glue. The strength this gives the structure is surprising. I have buildings built like this more than thirty years ago and still look the same as the day they were built! The stairs were made of long strips of bass wood, then cut to fit each stairway. Balsa and bass wood strips were used to begin the gable for the planned statues. Also, some trim from doll house materials. Note the bare cardboard under the steps. That is the part that will lower into the hole on the bas and rest on the plywood beneath. Click on images to enlarge.

Next, I cut some more cardboard and matt board for the sides, upper structure and roof.

I have added architectural shapes from my large stash. Over the years, each time I see something that could be useful for my buildings, I buy them. They have been from so many different sources. Doll house parts, parts from lumber companies, decorative wooden trim. picture frames, things I scratched and on and on. From the beginning, I put them in rubber so that I can cast them whenever I need them. Here is a shot of one shelf unit that is for these parts. There are two. I also have two large cabinets filled with RTV molds for this stuff. Click on images to enlarge.

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Here, I have attached the sides and upper structure. The mosaic on the gable was made with Milliput and several Andrea 25 mm Roman figures. Then I gave it my standard base coat of Testor’s camouflage grey. It is a good base color for grey stone, granite, etc, because it is an earth tone without any of the unwanted blue tint. Another good base for buildings and concrete streets is Humbrol Matt 72. I see concrete simulated with gray paint a lot. The only time concrete is gray is when recently poured. In a short time, it becomes a color almost perfectly matched by Matt 72. I buy it by the case! Note the coat of plaster on the side and top. The entire building has received that treatment. The stones are then engraved in the plaster. Click on images to enlarge.

Here is a close up of the gable.

Here is the base coated facade. The Roman corinthian columns? A buddy of mine got married in the 70s. After the wedding cake had been eaten, I talked his wife out of the columns. I’ve been using them ever since. There were actually three sizes, it was a tiered cake, all came in handy from time to time. Click on images to enlarge.

Here is a triumphal arch that is connected to the museum building. Again, same type of construction and shapes from the stash, plus three Andrea roman figures. The mounted figure on the top. Click on images to enlarge.

A close up of the top. Click on images to enlarge.

Some cracks in the upper structure added as a result of a prior bombing raid. Then various washes of raw umber and some burnt sienna.Click on images to enlarge.

This is it in it’s current state. The burned out upper floor, also a result of the Allies flying thingies, shingles added. These were from the 135th Construction Battalion company, I once owned. It had so many architectural products and my dream of never having to scratch all this stuff as I did in all previous dioramas. Unfortunately, the new owner seems to have discontinued producing the kits. I believe they still have some stock as it is on their web site. This building, as the others, is not finished, maybe another 20% left to go. I think this shot does give you an idea of how it will look. Imagine tons of rubble from this and the destroyed building across the street. The blown up Panzer IV will be sitting in front. The nine Sherman tanks from the Fourth Armored Division will begin here emerging from the arch and the line will run the full length, (8 feet, 2.4 meters), across the front of the diorama.

p.s. You will note the difference in the quality of the photographs. All but the last one were taken with a Nikon digital bought in 2001. It cannot approach the technology of this relatively new Canon
G-8. Click on images to enlarge.

Hope you like it!

Bob

Susan and Bob have always loved to travel. Prior to 1976, they travelled throughout America. From ‘76 through the 80s, They travelled the world. In the nineties they began revisiting the USA. Then, their love of dogs began causing problems. The only hotels that accepted dogs were the worst of the worst or the best of the best. Their solution was buying their first motor home back in 1997. It was a gas powered Georgie Boy RV. The basic of motorhomes at the time. Back then, these ran in the range of $50,000 and they thought they were in heaven. Click on images to enlarge.

Their first “tow Car” was a Suzuki Grand Vitara.Click on images to enlarge.

They kept it for seven months and decided that if this was the only choice, forget it! Then a friend told them about the “Diesel Pushers” as they were known then. They test drove a few and traded in the Georgie Boy for this. A Fleetwood “Discovery”. They fell in love. It was beautiful. This is the coach that Dave Harper and Bill Chilstrom went with them to the west coast! That was one of the best trips of their life! Click on images to enlarge.

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A year later, the Discovery turned out to be a “DUD”, a lemon. Everything imaginable went wrong with it. So, on a trip to Bay St. Louis, they traded it for a Holiday Rambler Imperial. It was an upgrade from the Discovery and very luxurious. They loved it! This photo taken in it’s home for five years. The cavernous VLS warehouse! This was the coach they took Ken and Sandra Jones from England on their first “Explore America” tour. Another great one to remember.

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This was taken at the Lake of the Ozarks. Their tow car at the time was a red Dodge Durango. They kept the Imperial for five years. It was a great coach! Click on images to enlarge.

In January, 2004, Bob made a deal with a New Orleans RV company to trade the Imperial for a new 2004 Tiffin, Allegro Bus. They made him an offer he couldn’t refuse. That company went bankrupt a year later and he wasn’t the least bit surprised. The deal they made him was kinda like the deal that is too good to be true. In this case, it really was true! Click on images to enlarge.

Dave Harper and Bob drove direct to New Orleans non stop and made the swap. It was awesome, even had a fireplace. On the return trip, they overnighted in Tunica, Mississippi. Click on images to enlarge.

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Here you can see the fireplace on the lower left screen. It was a really nice perk!

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Click on images to enlarge.

When Bob and Susan sold VLS, they decided to sell this one as until they sorted out the financial situation, they weren’t certain they could afford it after retirement. It was very sad as it was, up to that point, their favorite coach ever! Click on images to enlarge.

Click on images to enlarge.

After the sale, and the dust had cleared, they had paid all the debts off, free and clear, they began to plan their retirement in real terms. Then they realized they could afford an RV. They were very conservative and went looking for a coach that they knew they could afford. They found it locally. It wasn’t tricked out as the last one, but, still was very nice and very affordable. It was made by Sportscoach, a Cross Country SE. An entry level diesel, much like the Discovery, their second coach. It actually was a very attractive coach which made up for it’s lack of perks.

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In December of 2007, they made their first winter voyage to the south. First, they went back to Bay St. Louis which had been ravaged by hurricane Katrina in ‘05. The park was rebuilt, but the surrounding area was clearly not ready for tourism, except if you were totally into gambling. They began researching locations where they could spend their winters. They found a great location, southeast of Houston, Texas called Kemah. They drove there to a fantastic RV resort, where they pulled right up to the bay. They spent the next three months there and had a fantastic time. Two weeks before they returned home, in March of 2008, they were driving around enjoying the sights, they were confronted with an Motor Home sales company.Click on images to enlarge.

Well, they went in, and began looking, just for fun! Then they saw a coach that had every single perk they had ever wanted. To begin, a full ceramic tile floor throughout, a King size bed, a four door refrigerator with ice maker, remote control awnings, side opening basement doors, three TVs, DVD recorders, One plasma large screen, satellite receivers, 3 exterior cameras to view both sides and the rear from the cockpit. There were so many new toys that they had never experienced, they just had to have this National RV Pacifica. This will most likely be their last coach. It has everything they ever wanted in a coach, and when they decide to sell it, they will probably be too old to continue this life style.

Click on images to enlarge.

Click on images to enlarge.

OK, that is the story of Bob and Susan’s obsession with Motor Coaches.

Catch you later!

The first 5 + years VLS was operational. First, from our house, (1983-1985), Then we rented space in Cross Keys Center from 1985 through 1988. Those years were covered in “VLS, The Early Years”. Then in August, 1988, We had been talking to our leasing agent, (A real estate company), about our lease payments and if they would rise when the lease was up September 1st. He assured us that wouldn’t happen, then around August 20th, We received a notice that our lease payments, upon renewal, would almost double. When I confronted my agent, he just smiled and said he had no control over that and besides, there is no way we now had time to move before the lease was up. In that last three years, we had grown within the center from our original 700 square feet to over 11,000 square feet. It was a huge task, he knew it, and thought there was no way we could accomplish a move in that time period.

We started immediately and within 24 hours, we had a new office/warehouse leased in western St. Louis county of 12,000 square feet for the same price as we had paid the previous three years at the original location. The next day, we shut down operations on a Friday, rented three large moving vans, and every employee began helping with the moving. We used the three trucks in rotation, we had two crews, one at each location. By Monday morning, we were totally moved and were operational. The agent met us at the old location and was amazed. It was immaculate and much nicer than when we moved in. He even had to return several thousands of dollars of security deposit. The rest of that story is that the space sat vacant for seventeen years until it was demolished in 2006.

If they hadn’t been so greedy, it would have been occupied for years! Click on photos to enlarge.

Our new location was at 804 Fee Fee road in Westport industrial park. The name of the street was the only downside! This aerial shot was taken by a police helicopter in the area. Then and even now, I have many friends in the department. The first building was occupied by VLS except the two end units and half the building behind served as our production unit!

This was the main entrance. Click on image to enlarge.

The Summer of 1990. At that time, a photo of our crew.

Left to right back row. Tony Eads, Steve Miller, Chuck Stuckenberg, Jeff Raines, Herb Rigg, John Vaughn, Wes Bradley and Wim Verlinden.
2nd row, Tom Gerringer, Bob, Susan, Francois.
3rd row, Sharon Miller, Rene Sullivan and Khamini Bhatt.Click on image to enlarge.

These shots of the merchandise in the warehouse were used for promotional images. About that time was the transition from when color was more expensive to when black & white became more expensive. Click on image to enlarge.

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Tom Gerringer, Vice President, Kyle Haag and Wes Bradley. Wes was VLS’ first employee.

Judy Baggett was our second employee and was operations manager at the time of this photo. Click on image to enlarge.

Bob in a staged catalog photo.

Lewis Pruneau and two of his dios, Vietnam Riverine and The Capture of the U-505. Behind him is the original version of Legacies by Bob Letterman. Click on image to enlarge.

Lewis worked for VLS between 1985 and 1990. He then opened his own business, Pruneau Dynamics”. While at VLS he built dios on order for a growing list of clients. The list grew to the point he could no longer do both jobs. It continues to this day.

Back in 1983, when Susan and Bob started the business, these were some of the products they made and sold in their mail order business “Warwinds Militaria and Hobby LTD”. Well, it sounded important at the time! These products grew in numbers and the name was changed from Parts Depot to Techstar in 1989. Click on image to enlarge.

Most of these photos were taken for use as promotional pics. We used them in advertising, newsletters and catalogs. Click on image to enlarge.

A wall in the conference room. I have no idea why we took it!

A promo shot of Bob. Click on image to enlarge.

Gerald Schulte, (Gerry), became our first superstar with customers. He had a following of modelers who would only order from him!

Lewis built this “Carrier Deck Crash” Bob bought it from him and owned it for several years. Ralph Koebbeman, Bob’s partner in the museum that would come several years later, wanted it so bad that Bob sold it to him for what he had paid for it. Click on image to enlarge.

Another Promo shot of the Prez.

Kyle Haag, Graphics dept. and the designer of the Techstar logo among other things. Click on image to enlarge.

Kyle Mullin, VLS’ programmer.

Staged shot in shipping, Tony and Lewis are in the background and Jack Bullard was the shipping manager is in the foreground. Click on image to enlarge.

Another staged shot in production.

Since we had so many units in this building, we had a complex of office space, this being a small part. From front to back, Chuck Stuckenberg, Lewis and Wes Bradley. Click on image to enlarge.

Bob had spent three years in Europe in the military, (1959 through 1962). Beginning in April 1976, Bob and Susan began annual trips to Europe. These became twice annually and after the business started in 1983, as often as six times a year. By 1996, Bob had crossed the Atlantic well over a hundred times. As VLS grew in size Bob and Susan took several of their employees on these tripe with them. This is a trip taken in 1984 with VLS’ first employee, Wes Bradley. Click on image to enlarge.

Wes at the Arc de Triomph.

Bob & Wes at Eiffel Tower.

Wes at the Eagles Nest. Click on image to enlarge.

Bob and Wes at the Cologne Cathedral, (The Dom).

Bob and Wes again at the Sacre Coeur in Montmarte. (Susan was taking all the pictures for Wes). Click on image to enlarge.

When Lewis first completed “The Paris Gun”, this picture was taken among others which are no longer around. Click on image to enlarge.

Bob owned 5 Corvettes during his life. This was a 1976 Sting Ray. Bought new in 1976 for $8000., 14 years later he sold it for $14000. They have phenomenal resale value!

Back then, Wes was president of Gateway IPMS, St. Louis Local chapter. Bob was VP and here are Susan, Wes and Bob at a banquet. Chester Klier, a B-25 Mitchell pilot during WW II and the father of Denny and Ron Klier who were cops and friends with Bob. He gave a long talk about his experiences. He had published a book on those experiences and everybody was fascinated with his tales. Click on image to enlarge.

Our family room in Florissant. The basement was where both the Winds of War and the original Legacies were built. Also the first home of what would later become VLS. This was taken in 1981, Bob had the first big screen most people ever saw. The back wall in this photo was struck by lightening, caught fire and if not for their little cock-a-poo, Goblin, they would more than likely never made it out. When he awoke Bob, he crawled to the hallway entrance on the far left. The entire room was engulfed in flames. Goblin won the state’s bravest dog award that year from the Humane Society! Click on image to enlarge.

Kickin’ back. Wes, Bob, Wes’ then wife Kay, Benny from Belgium. Benny came over with two other employees of VP to help set up production. Bob and Benny had weight lifting in common and they became friends. Lewis is on the far right. In the foreground is Bob and Susan’s first Yorkie, Cagney and first dobe, Warlock. Warlock was the largest doberman we have ever seen, many thought he was a Great Dane. He was a real sweetie! The river in the background in the Mississippi. Photo taken in Ste. Genevieve, Lewis’ home town. Click on image to enlarge.

In 2008, a year and a half after they retired, they decided to get everybody together from the period of this thread. Several they had not seen in many years. This was Chuck Stuckenberg, who learned computers when he worked for VLS right out of high school at 17. In 1997, he left for bigger and better things. He is now a supervisor of the IT department of one of the largest hospitals in the midwest.

Herb Rigg had previously retired from the postal service and was hired in 1987 by VLS after he had done some remodeling for us. He stayed on until 2000. He primarily worked in production, he became an Icon at Mastercon as the shuttle bus driver, picking up customers and celebs at the airport and bringing them to the convention. Herb has stayed one of our very best friends. Click on image to enlarge.

Left to right. Tony Eads, HIs new wife Melody, Chuck and Susan. Click on image to enlarge.

Herb, Wes and Jerry Schulte. Jerry had changed less than anybody else there. Jerry’s wife is in the foreground.

Tony went on from close to ten years at VLS to Reuters News agency. There he met his new wife and they recently retired, bought a huge yacht and now, during season, charter cruises. There are four guest cabins, the crew quarters and a galley. They now live in the Carribean in season showing tourists from North America and Europe the various islands. They spend off seasons here in St. Louis. Tough job, but somebody’s got to do it!

Here is a final shot of Tony and Melody. Great couple! Click on image to enlarge.

That’s it for this chapter. Later, we will post VLS, The Later Years, and finally, VLS, After the Split! at a later date.

Bob and Susan

This Last part of Mastercon III contains pictures of the banquet, demonstrations, registration and other activities. This is where many will see pictures of themselves from way back when!

Here we see Gerald Paddock, who is now 90 years old and going strong! John Bowery, who has grown into a great figure painter.

OK, some of the people we see here Del and Christine Miller, Susan, Wes, Don Kanaval, Verlinden, his wife Lilliane, Bob, Jim Stephens and Fritz!

Francois Verlinden.

Verlinden and Lewis Pruneau giving a demo.

Ditto with David Manter.

Mort Schmitt taking pics, Gerald Paddock and John Bowery.

Registration, Brock Hopkins, Wes and Susan.

Gerald Paddock, John Bowery, Don Kanaval and John Guarke.

Brock, Wes, Gerald, John Bowery and Kanaval.

Dave Manter and Lewis Pruneau.

Registration.

Julie Noah and Tom Gerringer at the checkout lanes of the warehouse sale. Scott Sheltz in the stripe shirt.

Pat Hutchens and his registration form. The guy on the right is Tawn Snyder who came to several Mastercons with Mort Schmitt and Don Kanaval.

Registration. Wes, Susan, Brock and John.

Verlinden, Joe Porter and Letterman.

Lewis, Shep Paine and Eric Tripke.

Left to right, Shep, Sandy, a VLS sales representative, Kim Eads, Tony’s wife, Tom Gerringer, Susan, Bob, Wes, Francois and Lilliane Verlinden and Chuck Stuckenberg, our Operating managerat the time.

Shep Paine presenting an award to Tawn Snyder.

Shep and Al Presley.

Shep and Pat Hutchens.

Gil Gonsoulin and Shep Paine.

Fritz Swanson and Lewis Pruneau.

Another shot of the dais.

Gil Godfrey and Bob Saxton. Gil was 6 feet, 8 inches tall. He was a Mastercon regular and one of the nicest men you would ever meet. A true “Gentle Giant”, Gil passed away in the early nineties of an aneurysm. All the Mastercons afterwards had a “Gil Godfrey” Award. It was for people who gave their all to make others enjoy the hobby. We are proud to say that he was a very close friend! On the right is Larry Labeda, another Mastercon regular.

Richard Mitchell and Shep Paine.

Buck McKlin, a close friend of Lewis Pruneau and one of the best car modelers we have known, John and Maureen Bowery, Mr. and Mrs. Gerald Paddock, in the white shirt on the right, Mastercon regular, Bob Kita.

Bryan Joslyn, a good friend and great modeler, Herb Rigg, a long time VLS employee and known to all as the Mastercon Bus driver! Herb is still a good friend and visits us regularly.

Joe Porter working on his diorama.

Ernie Petit, Vice President Of Testors Corporation, checking out one of the entries.

The Contest room.

Wes, Eric Tripke, Bill Taylor, Bob Kita and Don Kanaval.

Brock, Wes, Jon Baker and John Guarke.

Susan and Andrew Hutchens.

John Guarke, Brock, Joe Porter, Gil and Sydney Gonsoulin and Alleyn and Judy Kinney.

Bob Letterman and good friend Jim Stephens. Jim was a Chicago cop and a fantastic modeler. His work was featured in How to Build Dioramas and How to build armored vehicles, both by Shep Paine. He was known back then as the master of pastels!

Tony Eads, VLS’ Sales manager presenting an award to Bob Waltman, a very young looking Bob Waltman. Bob has grown into a fantastic Modeler since!

Left to right. Joth Kinney, ?, Gil, Joth’s wife, Sydney, Alleyn Kinney. Back row, Brock Hopkins, Joe Porter and Troy Jordan.

Gordon Stronach, (Gordy), of Planet armor, figure, diorama and aircraft fame, also a great pattern maker for both VP and later, VLS, and Tom Gerringer.

John Bowery and Chuck Stuckenberg. Chuck started work at VLS when 17. He worked his way up the ranks, went to night school on VLS college program and is now a manager of programers in one of the largest Hospitals in the American midwest!

Brian Joslyn and Tony Eads. Brian is an attorney in Florida. Tony worked for VLS for many years. He eventually went on the Reuters News, and after meeting his wife, Melodae, took a golden parachute and now they have a Yacht in the Caribbean, where they do charter cruises for the upper class and have the dream life they worked for!

Here is a young Joe Hudson receiving an award from Tony Eads.

Andy Meyers, who has became an incredible commercial/industrial modeler, worked for the largest special effects companies in Hollywood, Stan Winston Studios. Andy is still a good friend. Tony is seen here giving him an award.

Winner of the $500.00 VP 120mm Panther kit in one of the Mastercon raffles.

Herb Rigg, a VLS Icon, and Richard Mitchell.

Bill Konn, a good friend of ours accepts an award from Tony.

The Round Table Discussion, Verlinden, Wes, Lewis and Shep.

A totally stressed Bob at the end of the show!

Wes and Francois.

Bob, Francois and Lillian Verlinden.

Susan and Don Kanaval.

The show is over! Bob and Susan are totally stressed out but had a wonderful time. Here is Susan preparing to move all the displays and equipment to the awaiting trucks to take it back to VLS until next year. I hope everybody has enjoyed this.

Aircraft section, Marv Howell’s airplanes.

Coccoon by Bob Letterman.

To the far left is Lewis Pruneaus gigantic diorama Pearl Harbor.

Figure cases by all the figure greats at that time.

On the right is Lewis Pruneau’s The Paris Gun. On the left is Bob Letterman’s Winds of War and Arrogance in the center.

Lewis Pruneau’s Riverine. A Vietnam riverboat incident.

Some of Ralph’s one to one scale cannons.

And in the final shot of the museum, Uniforms, pilots, etc. The silver suit is from Coots & Hoots, a $100,000.00 firefighting suit that was used in the Kuwait oil fires. It can withstand 10,000 degrees fahrenheit.

Now, we come to the banquet and awards ceremony. Mastercon, at that time, was a three day show. Friday, registration, and in this one, the opening of the museum, saturday was the competition, the manufacturers question and answer session, ending with the banquet and awards ceremony. Sunday was the round table discussion where all the participants could as any kind of questions.

The first picture features A steady winner at every Mastercon he attended. Richard Mitchell passed away several years ago of cancer. We miss him a lot!

Tom Gerringer, then VP of VLS, awarding Don Kanaval a trophy.

Tom again with Richard Mitchell.

That year, Richard won the Grand Master trophy!

Francois, Richard and Bob.

The Grand Master Trophy and the Peoples Choice. Both were cast from an original Napoleonic Naval Standard. They were the ultimate Mastercon awards.

Verlinden, Joe Porter, Letterman and Jake, Porters young son. BTW, Jake is in college now.

Joe Porter, Bob and Tom Gerringer.

Pruneau, Porter and Shep Paine.

The dais at the manufacturers forum. Left to right, Lewis Pruneau, Francois Verlinden, Bob Letterman, Wes Bradley, (The M.C.), Ernie Petit, Vice president of Testors/Italeri, We believe the next man was from Tamiya and finally Bob Hayden founder and editor of Fine Scale Modeler. He has since retired.

Shot from behind the Dais.

Ditto.

Again, the dais.

Lewis, Shep and unknown?

Ditto.

The Round Table discussion on Sunday Morning.

Francois and Wes Bradley.

The Round Table again.

Bob Hayden.

Susan and Andrew Hutchens, Pat’s son. He is now a 220 pound offensive guard at 16.

Unknown, Bob Letterman and Bill Taylor.

The always popular Don Kanaval, the comedian. He could keep most members laughing and rolling on the floor with his tales. Don passed away several months ago. We will miss him.

A rarely serious Lewis Pruneau.

Brock Hopkins and Jon Baker.

Continued in Mastercon III, September 3rd, 1994, a day to remember Part IV

Continued from Part 1.

A Massive collection of military clothing, hats and equipment from 1917 through the mid 70s.

The incredible collection of cannons. Click to enlarge photos.

The massive Reichsbahn locomotive and flak guns by Lewis Pruneau.
Click to enlarge photos.

A great example of the works of one of, perhaps the best ship modelers in the world, Dr. John Leyland! These three are in 1/700th scale, all scratch built and those biplanes smaller than a dime, are fully rigged using human hair. Click to enlarge photos.

Dozens of cases of miniature working guns and rifles, The Collection of Ralph Koebbeman.

More of the same. Click to enlarge photos.

Even more.

The U-505, a 1/35th scratchbuilt German U Boot by Lewis Pruneau, just above, a shadow box of the interior of the U-505 by Peter Twist. Click to enlarge photos.

An overall shot of the right side of the museum. Click to enlarge photos.

An overall shot of the left side of the museum. Click to enlarge photos.

Most of the major manufacturers bought showcases to display their products which were renewed every few months.

A partial shot of the Hobby/Gift shop. Click to enlarge photos.

Legacies II Twilight of the Third Republic. By Letterman Click to enlarge photos.

Large Diorama Row Bob Letterman and some Pruneau.

The Armor sector, medieval to modern. Click to enlarge photos.

Brock Hopkins taking photographs.

Cannon Row. Click to enlarge photos.

The Disappearing Guns of Corrigador by Lewis Pruneau.

VLS memory montage in the entrance foyer. Click to enlarge photos.

Tessie Gerringer and Mastercon Chaplin Del Miller.

Some of the Manufacturers cases had some great models! Click to enlarge photos.

Continued in Mastercon III, September 3rd, 1994, a day to remember Part III

The first aircraft diorama I ever built, “Nest”

I haven’t built an airplane for a while, but here are a couple of old ones. First, a picture of me just after moving into a new home in 1976. The planes were crated up and I’m preparing to glue them all back together. This photo was a real embarrassment to me. When I was a cop, my partner and I were always making high profile splashy busts that seemed to somehow make the front pages. The reporters were hanging out with us a lot during that period. One reporter came to the house for a follow up on some bust or another, anyway, he saw these and had to take some pics.

The next day, I opened the newspaper and here was that picture. It was captioned, “Bob Letterman, one of St. Louis’ toughest crime fighters, plays with toy airplanes when off duty”, or words to that effect. I had to take crap over that for months! You can see some of those ancient Tamiya armor kits on the shelf behind!

The idea for this dio came from an old 1/24th scale Bf 109e-4, I believe it was an Airfix kit. Somebody was at a club meeting selling off some kits he no longer wanted. I have never taken into consideration what is available and what is not when I plan a diorama. That probably sounds dumb, but it has always worked. If some vehicles or figures are not available, I will convert them or scratch build them. I was fortunate on this one.

This dio was built in 1982. It was called “Nest” and featured in several magazines. It was a French “Castle Farm” as is found along the Normandy coast. It is in 1/24th scale by the British firm Airfix. The searchlight and buildings were from scratch, the figures were all converted from those four Tamiya 1/24 Rommel, etc., and the Tamiya race car figures. I really detailed the engine and cockpit as there were no aftermarket stuff back then. BTW, excuse the photo quality, digital hadn’t even been thought of yet!

I used two kits to build this with. I needed to have the replacement engine being uncrated.

I used two Heller kits for the cars, a Mercedes and a BMW sportscar. The 1/24 Opel Blitz was an Italeri release.

I started the scratch searchlight with the plastic cap of a Gillette shaving creme can!

“The Liberation of Sheila”

This next one is about a beutepark. The one located in Paris-Nanterre. The Germans would move captured Allied aircraft to the units, put them back into flying condition, then, rotate their pilots through to fly them, discover the strengths and weaknesses. They all had German insignia for obvious reasons! This is in 1/48th scale, the B-17 and C-47 were from Monogram and the Mustang was Hasegawa, I think. The vehicles were Bandai and some Verlinden. The B-17 and the Mustang were one of my very first attempts with resin/PE update sets. Fooling with the PE, I thought to myself, nobody is going to use this stuff! Was I wrong! The figures were mostly kit figures, to be honest, I can’t even remember now where I got all of them.

Actually, the most difficult part of this dio was the hanger. The beams and trusses and all the frames of windows. As is almost all my dioramas, the planes, vehicles and figures are accessories. The buildings are the major work and focus.

I hand painted the Nose art on both Sheila and the C-47. Sheila was out of my imagination.

Little Chief Cockeye was another story. Wes Bradley’s father was in the Army Airforce in WW II. He actually painted nose art for the unit he was in. He then took photos up close and I used this one of his for the C-47 nose art. I will leave the explanation of the title to your imagination.

The left side of the dio. The car was Heller and the truck was Bandai.

That’s all folks!!

Bob