Bruce Culver: Author at Large

IPMS North Central Texas is a very large chapter with about 60 members (and if you didn’t know it is the first IPMS USA chapter – yes this is where it started in the US). Being situated in one of the Nation’s large metropolitan areas we have a very diverse economy that makes for a diverse membership. We have several national award-winning modelers in our ranks and a world-renowned expert on German World War 2 armor in our midst. You might have seen Bruce Culver on History Channel (but back then he had a beard) speaking on German armor during some of the shows.

Bruce started out adult life as a medical illustrator. Until recently when he retired Vought employed him as a technical writer. He is a long-time member of NCT. [Does this sound like an obituary? Rest assured he is alive and well.]

AFV Books by Bruce Culver:

Bruce Culver, Afrika Corps in Action, TX: Squadron/Signal, 1979.
Bruce Culver, Panther in Action, MI: Squadron/Signal, 1975
Bruce Culver, PzKpfw III in Action, TX: Squadron/Signal, 1989.
Bruce Culver, PzKpfw IV in Action, MI: Squadron/Signal, 1975.
Bruce Culver, Sherman in Action, MI: Squadron/Signal, 1977.
Bruce Culver, Sturmgeschutz III in Action, MI: Squadron/Signal, 1976.
Bruce Culver, Sturmgeschutz IV in Action, MI: Squadron/Signal, 1979.
Bruce Culver, Tiger in Action, TX: Squadron/Signal, 1989.
Bruce Culver, Bill Murphy, Panzer Colours: Camouflage of the German Panzer Forces, 1939-45 v. 1, Weidenfeld & Nicholson Military, 1984.
Bruce Culver, Bill Murphy, Panzer Colours: Camouflage of the German Panzer Forces, 1939-45 v. 2, Weidenfeld & Nicholson Military, 1978.
Bruce Culver, Bill Murphy, Panzer Colours, Camouflage of the German Panzer Forces, 1939-45 v. 3, Weidenfeld & Nicholson Military, 1976.
Bruce Culver, SDKFZ 251 Half Track, Osprey New Vanguard, 1998.
Bruce Culver and Uwe Feist, Panther in Detail, WA, Ryton Publications, 1998.
Bruce Culver and Uwe Feist, Panther - 50th Anniversary Collectors Edition, WA, Ryton Publications, 1995.
Bruce Culver and Uwe Feist, Schutzenpanzer, WA, Ryton Publications.
Bruce Culver and Uwe Feist, Schwere Panzer in Detail, WA, Ryton Publications, 1998.
Bruce Culver, Uwe Feist, Tiger 1 and Sturmtiger in Detail, WA, Ryton Publications, 1994.
Uwe Feist, Bruce Culver, Panzerkampfwagen Tiger, WA, Ryton Publications, 1993.
Uwe Feist and Bruce Culver, Tiger I - 50th Anniversary Collectors Edition, WA, Ryton Publications, 1992.
Bryan Perrett, Bruce Culver (Illustrator), German Armoured Cars and Reconnaissance Half Tracks, 1939-45, Osprey Vanguard, 1983.
Horst Scheibert, Bruce Culver (Editor), Panzergrenadier Division "Grossdeutschland", TX: Squadron/Signal, 1979.
Stephen J. Zaloga, James Grandsen, Bruce Culver (illustrator), Eastern Front, TX: Squadron/Signal, 1983.

eBay, the Internet, and the Local Hobby Shop

Once upon a time in a land called the Dallas Metroplex there was a store called Phil’s Hobbies. This was a shop that sold trains and plastic scale models. In fact the store was divided in half with the train stuff on the right and massive amounts of plastic on the right. Oh my children, it was a wondrous time. I would stop there every Friday on my way home and spend a couple of hours walking among the 5 double-sided shelves of models; soaking in the sights, smells, and sounds of styrene kits and plastic enthusiasts. I’d chat with Terry (who worked there) and Phil. I’d chat with other regular customers. I’d make purchases of kits, decal sheets, photo-etch sets, paints, tools, and reference books (I spent about fifty bucks a week there). Alas, Phil’s is no more.

I don’t know about you but now I buy a lot of my model kits and accessories (e.g. photo-etch parts and resin conversions) on eBay and on the Internet. I’d prefer a hobby shop but the Dallas area seems to have run out of them.

Now I’m not discounting the HobbyTown USAs in the area. They’re fine for getting some paint and a few things but it’s really not the same. For one the plastic scale models have to compete for shelf space with war-gamer stuff, RCer stuff, puzzles, science project kits, and trains. In fact RC and war-games get more space than plastic models in general. That and the fact that HobbyTown dictates to their franchisees what and how much they can carry limit the selection for me. But then I’ll bet RC and war game stuff are more profitable (or at least have greater turn over of stock) is why. That makes the atmosphere different. Where at Phil’s there were also plenty of fellow model builders to talk to at HobbyTown the store has many customers wandering about who are not interested this hobby. Let’s admit it. Building plastic scale models is a graying hobby. It doesn’t seem to appeal to the video game generation.

But back to the Internet… I started out buying online things I could not readily find locally at Phil’s. Then I discovered eBay but only bought out of production, hard to obtain items. Now I make most of my purchases on eBay or through online stores such as Roll Models. I even buy via email from Bobe’s Hobby House in Pensacola (or is that Pepsi-Cola?), Florida.

Ah eBay! Now that is a different culture. I don’t know much about the eBay world outside of the area in Toys and Hobbies where model stuff is auctioned but bidding on models can get interesting. My way of doing things is to look at what is up for action in models. For this I have an eBay search set up that takes me to Toys & Hobbies:Models, Kits:Military. From there I narrow my browsing down by individually putting in a search in that category for 1/72, 1/76, 1/87, 1/48, and then book. As I peruse through the listings of items and come upon an item I want I then decided what is the maximum I want to spend (with shipping cost) for that item. That’s what I bid.

Sometimes I wonder what is going on. I have seen items that I didn’t get around to bidding on get put a second time up for auction. I’ll bid and then it seems like soon I’ll be outbid. A friend of mine thinks that is because some people don’t think an item is worth anything until someone bids on it. Then we have people who must have a great deal of money to spend. I watch items that are available from Squadron Mail Order or currently carried at HobbyTown go for more than the retail price. I guess they don’t know about or like Squadron.

The most overused word on eBay is “rare”. It seems that any out of production kit is “rare” especially if it is from a manufacturer that is no longer in business. Rare is often applied to Esci armor kits. They’re so rare that it seems there’s always a million (yes, I exaggerate) up for auction. Plus Italeri is re-popping these kits.

Did eBay kill Phil’s? After all video killed the radio star.

Musing on Movies and Other Things

On Saturday night I was watching a Sci-Fi Channel movie titled SS Doomtrooper. This was The Dirty Dozen meet The Hulk with a team of Americans having to stop the German’s “atomic” experiment in creating the super soldier. What was really amusing was when the SS officer sent out a “Panther” to stop the monster they had created. Here we had a green T-34 rolling around the landscape with German markings. And that brings us to one of modelers’ favorite pastimes: talking about the aircraft and tanks used in movies to represent some other aircraft or tank.

I always liked in the movie The Longest Day the two Fw 190s that strafed the beachhead were Bf 108s. In The Battle of the Bulge we have M24 Chaffees being the American tanks (which is okay since the M24 is an American tank) and the M48 Pattons being the German tanks. In the famous From Here to Eternity we watch as AT-6G Texans attack Schofield Barracks. The list goes on and on.

We all know why Hollywood does it. Real Panthers and Focke-Wulf Fw 190s are not easily obtainable. Plus how many people really know (or even care) what these old weapons look like? Just the chosen few who have spent many an hour pouring over reference books. And that is a small percentage of the movie watching population.

A variation on this game is to look for the authentic footage spliced into the movie to save on special effects cost. The problem with this is aircraft types will change in mid scene. This brings to mind a movie (which one escapes me at the moment) of a F-14 with a problem attempting to make a carrier landing. As the F-14 touches down it turns into a F9F Panther and hits the island. I love it.

Now with computer assisted animation the state of vehicles and aircraft in the movies is much better. Although I did not care for Pearl Harbor I did love the battle scenes. And even though I have heard a lot of complaints, I liked the German AFVs in Saving Private Ryan.