paul fisher

You guys have been amazing! Susy and I cannot begin to adequately express our thanks to all of you for your help in this topsy turvy world we now live in. Our insurance company has finally begun to respond to the situation so by mid week we should be OK and can get some idea of how all this will work out.I will keep you posted! Paul

Hi folks, Paul here in beautiful but chilly Centennial, Colorado. I know, I know, I am a weather wuss. I mentioned how cold it was to the dentist i had to see the other day and he just looked at me, giggled and walked out. Yikes! Anyway, I wanted to thank all of you once again for the amazing generosity you've shown us, I wish I could say the same about my insurance company, but sadly they are playing games and throwing up roadblocks so we are very fortunate to have friends and family like you people or we'd be in real trouble now.We're almost a month into this mess and they are still coming up with BS stuff they need to even start paying us for our living expenses.Nationwide is not on MY side at the moment, or at least is sure feels that way. As Jennings said above, there is literally nothing left of our home , or the workshop and barn.The metal lathe and mill are still visible, but having been through so hot a fire, and then a week of rain they will not be salvageable.The master patterns, tooling and molds are all gone too so whatever we do, it is going to be a long journey back to actually making stuff. Here's an aerial view of the property, taken with a drone. Pretty much sums things up! Left to right: House, workshop and then barn. More news as soon as I have any, Paul

Hi Guys.... I too have been amazed at how the trees seem to have survived while structures were destroyed. For many years I lived in fear of my neighbors' giant oak tree catching fire and falling on the barn, which would in turn torch the workshop, leading to the house. That oak tree still stands, as does my neighbors home, and yet my place got erased.Fire behaves in strange ways. We kept our place mowed within an inch of the ground all year 'round, and had removed trees and shrubs to keep defensible space, but to no avail.Places covered in brush and fallen pine needles did not burn. Go figure! Now, with 3 inches of rain forecast to fall over the weekend, there will be mudslides.Our place is pretty much flat, but who knows what will come sliding down from above. I noticed the metal lathe and milling machine poking up through the ashes in the pictures, sadly the heat of the the fires and now the rain will put paid to any thoughts of salvage.40 years of collecting cutting tools and custom made lathe chuck jaws gone , what a waste. Ah, well..I will have to modernize! P

You guys are awesome....So far quite a few of the model car guys have volunteered kits for re-casting also, but it will be a while before i can do any of that.The model has to be cut up strategically and enlarged a wee bit so it returns to scale via shrinkage but it can be done. A few of my guitar clients have also offered me the loan of their instruments so I can ,make new drawings, and the very first one I ever built is right here at my son's house, I gave it to him a while back as a birthday gift. Once again, I just have a to express my thanks for this amazing bunch of people, the weight you have lifted from our shoulders is a huge relief, and will speed us on our way back to normalcy. Susy is just speechless.One of her favorite jokes when someone asks her what her job is was to say " I make men all over the world happy" with just the right tone of voice.....She's pretty happy to know just how true that is. Thanks again Paul

Much like the old guy in the Monty Python movie, "I'm not dead yet," and it's all thanks to the generosity of you folks, Susy and I {as well as the doggies} are simply overwhelmed , there are no words for how grateful we are for your help.We really did get out with just what we were wearing and an old hard drive...As much as you think you're prepared, you're not. Anyway, we don't yet know when we can rebuild and get back in harness, but rest assured I will keep you posted.For now, just know how much we appreciate this, and I even told my Mom. You folks are the Best! Paul

Hi guys....Just checking in to confirm that while we may be down, we're not out...at least not yet! More soon Paul

Working on another order of them now...Stay tuned! Paul

I'm calling this one done! Here's some pics of the finished model.I did leave the aft cabin removable so I can occasionally look at all the madness in the back, but I just love the look of that double bubble cabin on the model.used EZ-Line for the antennas so it wont break when opening it up at shows, as if I can ever get out of here. Definitely a model with a unique character! Never could find anybody left who could tell me the significance of the Pelican cartoon on the cowl, but I love nose art so there you go! You can see one of the wire sway braces on the belly radome here, I used old guitar string. Just a wee bit of dirt and staining behind the lap joints in the fuselage skinning. Tamiya Smoke thinned with alcohol and Post-It notes as masking. Static discharge wicks are from fine lead wire , they bend instead of breaking , which is good since people always grab the model just before you can stop them. I used a common lead pencil in select panel lines to get a bit of crud on the wings.Hard to see in the pics, but effective up close. That's all for now....I haven't enjoyed a build more in a long, long time.There's just something about this version of the Skyraider that gives me "the fizz"...

I'm calling this one done! Here's some pics of the finished model.I did leave the aft cabin removable so i can occasionally look at all the madness in the back, but I just love the look of that double bubble cabin on the model.used EZ-Line for the antennas so it wont break when opening it up at shows, as if I can ever get out of here. Definitely a model with a unique character! Never could find anybody left who could tell me the significance of the Pelican cartoon on the cowl, but I love nose art so there you go! You can see one of the wire sway braces on the belly radome here, I used old guitar string. Just a wee bit of dirt and staining behind the lap joints in the fuselage skinning. Tamiya Smoke thinned with alcohol and Post-It notes as masking. Static discharge wicks are from fine lead wire , they bend instead of breaking , which is good since people always grab the model just before you can stop them. I used a common lead pencil in select panel lines to get a bit of crud on the wings.Hard to see in the pics, but effective up close. That's all for now....I haven't enjoyed a build more in a long, long time.There's just something about this version of the Skyraider that gives me "the fizz"...

You are most welcome! Thanks for getting behind the project and supporting my fetish for slightly off the beaten path aircraft.... Happy to make you guys happy....It's not a bad gig and the commute is great. Shipped out another bunch yesterday afternoon, but Monday is a holiday so no mail until Tuesday I guess. It's been surprising how many of these have gone to builders in the UK, Europe and All over the place....I am amazed. I am trying to get some decent pictures of my built up for the Ready for Inspection but having a heck of a time making insulators for the radio aerials. More soon.... Paul

Yup....That's what I get for cell phone pics under crappy shop lights.You'd think by now I would have one of those nifty photo booths, but it's still on my to do list.

Decals are here, and I am packing up kits to start shipping ....Here's the the finished model, excepting that dang antenna wire I've busted off twice already.

Hi , Life raft is included in the kit, no worries, and yes, the decals arrived yesterday afternoon and I am working on finishing up the model and the instructions today....Gonna be a long weekend!

Here's a pic of the life raft tucked under the front of a 300 gallon drop tank, and the two color schemes provided with the kit.

I was told by someone who should know that it was planned, right after the T.7 which didn't happen for unpleasant reasons. Sigh. What a kit they would have done!