Louis Badolato
Lieutenant General
- Joined
- Apr 25, 2005
- Messages
- 18,081
Just wanted to let everyone know that, thanks to the thoughtfulness of both Brad Lewin and Tony Neville, and the generosity of Mike and Sue Neville, I have made a wonderful addition to the King & Country book, specifically, the chapter on Warbirds: a partially finished Gloster Meteor (the first Allied Jet Fighter) which permits an exmination of the production processes used by Andy's people when making these outstanding aircraft.
The story of the acquisition goes as follows: Upon obtaining his first two wood warbirds, Brad (First Lieutenant Jazzeum) desperately wanted more. I had told him that the Nevilles at King & Country U.K. had supplied me with 12-15 Warbirds over the years, and when last we spoke had a 1/48 scale B-17 ("A Bit-O'Lace") and a 1/32 scale Grumman F-104 Starfighter. Brad contacted Tony about these planes, which, sadly, were no longer available (I believe Fred and Thierry, King & Country's French dealer and his best buddy, snapped them up). Tony, however, mentioned to Brad that years ago Andy had given his father the partially finished Gloster Meteor in Hong Kong to use at shows to demonstrate the production process, and, according to his dad (Mike), "not even Louis knows about it". Brad, thoughtfully, immediately contacted me to see if I wanted to pursue obtaining this very important piece for the book. I immediately contacted Tony, who generously arranged to have Mike ship it to me at a very reasonable price.
As I mentioned to Tony, and to Shannon, those dealers with whom I have done business over the years have always been wonderful, and where a dealer has helped me obtain a rare older piece (which the Nevilles have done more than a score of times, Shannon, George Guererro, Paul Herrman, Tony Ciccarello and so many others have done over the years) I give them credit in the book when the piece is depicted. In fact, at Tony and his brother's suggestion, I am going to reference websites when I mention these fine dealers. So, thanks again to the Nevilles, to whom I owe a huge debt of gratitude over the years, and thanks to all of the wonderful K&C dealers, without whom the book, and, indeed, the hobby itself, would be impossible.
That being said, the book has been delayed a bit, as young Alec is introducing me to his own, special, version of sleep deprivation torture. Happy holidays all!
The story of the acquisition goes as follows: Upon obtaining his first two wood warbirds, Brad (First Lieutenant Jazzeum) desperately wanted more. I had told him that the Nevilles at King & Country U.K. had supplied me with 12-15 Warbirds over the years, and when last we spoke had a 1/48 scale B-17 ("A Bit-O'Lace") and a 1/32 scale Grumman F-104 Starfighter. Brad contacted Tony about these planes, which, sadly, were no longer available (I believe Fred and Thierry, King & Country's French dealer and his best buddy, snapped them up). Tony, however, mentioned to Brad that years ago Andy had given his father the partially finished Gloster Meteor in Hong Kong to use at shows to demonstrate the production process, and, according to his dad (Mike), "not even Louis knows about it". Brad, thoughtfully, immediately contacted me to see if I wanted to pursue obtaining this very important piece for the book. I immediately contacted Tony, who generously arranged to have Mike ship it to me at a very reasonable price.
As I mentioned to Tony, and to Shannon, those dealers with whom I have done business over the years have always been wonderful, and where a dealer has helped me obtain a rare older piece (which the Nevilles have done more than a score of times, Shannon, George Guererro, Paul Herrman, Tony Ciccarello and so many others have done over the years) I give them credit in the book when the piece is depicted. In fact, at Tony and his brother's suggestion, I am going to reference websites when I mention these fine dealers. So, thanks again to the Nevilles, to whom I owe a huge debt of gratitude over the years, and thanks to all of the wonderful K&C dealers, without whom the book, and, indeed, the hobby itself, would be impossible.
That being said, the book has been delayed a bit, as young Alec is introducing me to his own, special, version of sleep deprivation torture. Happy holidays all!
