Zero

Heller 1/72nd scale Japanese Zero.

I used to shop at kit collectors shows in Southern California.

For years I purchased aircraft to build once I retired.

I seldom paid more than $2 for a single seat aircraft.  Mostly they were in zip lock bags.  The kit collectors wanted the boxes often not the kits.

Now I am building the models one at a time at first.  Then once I got a few of the kits put together I built them two at a time.
 

Not Quite Useless Figures

 

Heller / Airfix WWII British Paratroopers.  Some people, including me, consider this to be one of the worst Airfix sets, after the Infantry Combat Group and the first edition German Infantry.  Still, they did include a drop box and a couple guys gathering their parachutes.

I have recently re-evaluated this set and purchased several more of them.  The mortar is pretty good and gets a crew of two kneeling guys.  I add the guy looking at his watch to the crew, giving a crew of three, and the radio man goes with four mortars so they have a battery with communication.  After having watched the science fiction monster movie Reptilicus for the 117th time I decided to do a Cold War Danish Army.  In the movie some of the troops seem to be wearing the British Paratrooper helmet.  So a few of these guys will graciously donate their heads for that project.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reptilicus

Someone on my Facebook Airfix figures group posted a group of American football players he converted from several Airfix sets, many of them from this set.  So I decided that I would use many of these to create at least two football teams of 12 men.  There are 11 on the field at a time but I wanted each side to have a guy with the ball.  The grenade thrower will fill that niche.  Other figures from the Airfix Tarzan, WWI British Infantry, and Robin Hood sets will also join my Army, Navy, and maybe Air Force or Notre Dame or perhaps USC football teams.  The British paratrooper helmet looks a lot like an old fashioned football helmet and so more of these figures will donate heads to the project.

The guy shooting his gun up into the air seems a very ironic pose for a paratrooper.  It's like he is a traitor to the other guys in his group. Of course he could be firing at a sniper in a tree, or a German in a second story window, but we don't get this pose in any other Airfix set.

Mr. Bending Over guy will likely end up as another mortar crewman.  The guys being wounded will be the first to volunteer to donate their heads to either football players or the 1961 Danish Army. 

Some of the other figures in the set will become henchmen for various nefarious organizations like Thrush, or SPECTRE in my James Bond / Espionage games.  After they get a suitable painting in a blue or gray uniform.  They may also get a head swap with figures wearing Ridgeway Hats or berets as is often worn by henchmen.  There will also be a few used as Royal Navy.  In the James Bond movie Dr. No, a British patrol boat picks up Bond at sea, with a Bond Girl and they are wearing these helmets and web gear, in their light blue shirts and dark blue pants.  So while I won't use them for WWII British Paratroopers, I am getting a lot of use out of them.

British Paratroopers

Back in olden times Airfix was known for their awesome box art.  The Heller kits did not maintain that high standard.

The back of the box was blank.  Cheap.

This British Paratrooper looks Italian.  Nice 5 o'clock shadow.

This guy must be a British paratrooper from Hong Kong.

Nice drawing of an open parachute, too bad one does not come in the set!

 I think this is a Sten MK V which was not developed for 1944.

Trojan Man

This is a post World War Two US Army propeller driven airplane; a T-28 Trojan.

They were used for about 30 years during the Cold War as a trainer and reconnaissance aircraft and spotter aircraft.  It was faster than a P-51 Mustang!

This kit goes together well, it's 1/72nd scale by Heller.

I added two pilots from the spares box.

It will join my US Army forces in both the Pentomic Army and Viet Nam.