In December 1967, the state of Arizona suffered a sudden and unusually heavy snow storm that blanketed the whole northern part of the state. From the edge of the Mogellon ( sic ) Rim, north. Ranchers through-out the area had thousands of head of horses and cattle stranded in the open with no way to feed them. The US Air Force and several railroad companies rode ( flew? ) to the rescue. The railroads provided thousands of bales of hay for these animals and the Air Force Reserves & Air Guard provided C-119’s to deliver the hay bales BY AIR DROPS. The base of operations was located at Luke AFB, outside of Glendale, AZ. Calls for volunteer " hay kickers " went out across the base. My buddies and I were young, broke " Airman No-Classes " who couldn’t afford to take Christmas leave and go home. Ergo, we volunteered and spent Christmas Day, 1967 kicking 75 lb bales of hay out the left rear crew door from less than 100 feet altitude. The pilot would use the intercom to tell the loadmaster how many bales to pre-position by the door ( depending on the size of the herd the flight deck would spot ) and then use the green " jump light " to signal when to kick them out. We were so low to the ground that we were able to see the bale hit the ground ( and sometime a animal [:I] ) before the spot was out of sight past the tail of the A/C. The loadmaster told us that our pilot was a ex-fighter jock. We had that figured out right after the first steep turn he made with the wingtip barely clearing the ground. [censored] The A/C and crew I was with were from an Air Guard unit in Florida. I can’t remember if each loadout was for 50 or 100 bales. A flat-bed truck would back up to the opened clamshell doors, where we’d transfer the haybales to the plane. Many stories with photos were published in the base newspaper as well as the Phoenix papers. So, a little research will provide photos for detail work. I did not take any photos that day. [banghead][BH][censored][banghead]
That is an interesting idea. Were you thinking of the transloading operation from the truck to the plane or some kind of in flight deal while “delivering”?
Darwin, O.F. [alien]
Well yardbird , If I were to do it, I would build a flightline scene with a load of hay backed up to the A/C with the crew cross-loading. I’m offering this idea to anyone at this forum because I may never get to it. I have so many diorama ideas based on personal experiences and reference materials that I could not build them all even by working everyday as a full-time job. As a matter of fact, this is the first of those ideas that i will be posting on the Aircraft Forum and the Armor Forum. So, if anyone likes any of the ideas, feel free to " run " with them. I won’t complain—I’d enjoy it. In many cases, I can provide some pics to get the old creative juices flowing.
I cannot wait to hear the inevitable discussion about how to accurately reproduce hay bales in 72nd scale. Let the lunacy begin…
Bonsai hay, grown for a year and then cut down by 1/72 scale John Deere combines. Head over to the sailing ship forum, get some really tiny twine…
Sorry - it’s been a long day.
Oh yee of little faith. If we have 72nd scale belted .50cal machine gun ammo that appears real at a comfortable viewing distance, then 72nd scale hay bales will be " do-able ". As Sheperd Paine said in his book about dioramas, don’t worry about detailing what can’t be seen. Only the outer layers of bales on the truck bed need detailing as well as any being carried by individuals.
I would try using small rectangles of the small celled foam used by florists for the bulk of the bale. Shallow creases representing the baleing rope can be pressed into the foam. Then coat the foam shape with thinned white glue tinted with a dash of tan colored Ritz dye, and roll the piece in Static Grass that is the color of dead grass. ( that color is readily available ) After the glue mixture has dried, a pair of cuticle scissors can be used for any fine trimming. This was just a quick thought that came to mind. If anyone has a better idea lets hear it. [^]
I forgot to mention that the 75lb bales we were using were about chest-high when stood on-end. That would mean they were about 4ft-6in long by 2ft high by 18inches thick. These are rough approximations of their dimensions. The 72nd scale would mean that the model C-119 would be large enough for excellent detailing, but small enough to be practical for displaying at home and at shows. [:)]
Check www.walthers.com or any train shop for the bales. They have several varieties in HO scale (1/87) which would be close enough for 1/72. Real bales vary in size depending on the baler so the actual dimensions are not important.
I just knew someone would oblige.
The real problem is finding an Italeri C-119 kit to start with!!! Don’t suggest Hell-bay.
Italeri has a C-119G in 72nd scale. Backdate it. I got mine from a seller via e-bay a couple of years ago. I got it and 8 or 9 other kits and had no problems.