New Mexico Veterans Memorial and Museum
ASM’s World War II Model Display has been resurrected at the New Mexico Veterans’ Memorial and Museum. The display covers WW II in the Pacific and China-Burma-India (CBI) Theaters from 1941 through 1943, including the Pearl Harbor Attack, Flying Tigers operations in China, Wake Island, Doolittle’s Tokyo Raiders, the Battles of Coral Sea and Midway, and the Guadalcanal Island and New Guinea Campaigns. The initial set-up was on August 8, 2009. Additional 1/72 scale models and some new posters, maps, pics and signage were set-up on August 19 and 20. The museum is the building with the bell tower in front of it and the periscope sticking out of the roof. The display is located to the left as you come in the front entrance, just past the door to the library.
Due to the limited shelf space, the display will take place in four parts: Pacific and CBI Theaters Parts 1 and 2; and then the European and Mediterranean Theaters Parts 1 and 2. The duration of each part is yet to be determined. Because of the shelf depth and unusual configuration, it was decided to add hanging 1/72 scale models of larger aircraft types, such as a Doolittle Raiders’ B-25. Some hanging models are set-up in “dog-fighting” and “dive-bombing” poses. Aircraft models actually sitting on the shelves are all 1/48 scale – the P-38 is the largest aircraft the shelves will accommodate. An “invasion” vignette consisting of 1/72 scale landing craft and vehicles was added to give the display more of a “joint operations” flavor. Additional “ship” representation is provided by Dave Miller’s excellent USS Ward destroyer and Japanese midget submarine model at Pearl Harbor. More multi-engine 1/72 scale aircraft models (PBY, Betty, A-20, B-17, etc.) will be added as they become available. The Veterans’ Memorial is looking into getting additional shelves which hopefully can be used for the next version of the display.
There are currently 39 models in the display as follows:
18 models in 1/48 scale (17 aircraft & 1 figure).
19 models in 1/72 scale (14 aircraft, 2 landing craft, 2 vehicles, and 1 figure).
2 models in 1/350 scale (ship and midget sub) – mounted on one base.
Thanks to the following people for their model’s participation in the current display: Fred Franceschi (6), John Tate (5), Don MacBryde (2), Juan Benitez (2), Dave Miller (2), Larry Horyna (1), Dave Boehning (1), and Matt (1), Ray (4) and Mike Blohm (15).
The NM Veterans’ Memorial and Museum is located at 1100 Louisiana Blvd SE, just north of the intersection of Louisiana Blvd and Gibson Blvd. The hours are Friday through Monday from 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM with no entry fee.
Information on the New Mexico Veterans’ Memorial can be found at
http://www.cabq.gov/veterans/index.html
