Aircraft Carrier model USS Sangamon is going to Pensacola ..

[Fouga23]

Great news! Hope they display it somewhere nice

[DH82EH]

Well done Mark.
You are a class act sir. Your service to the memory of veterans and their families is commendable. I truly get, that it is not about you.
Great to see this kind of craftsmanship be displayed in such a fitting manor for so many to appreciate.

Andy

[Mark Allen M]

Greetings all,

I just completed a few phone conversations with the folks at the National Naval Aviation Museum. They are extremely excited to accept and display Rene Hieronymus's USS Sangamon model. The final step being a glass case is needed to properly display the model to the masses. I've been informed a few Sangamon veterans have contacted the Museum to offer donations as well. Wonderful news to hear indeed. Anyone here who is interested in donating to Rene's quest please feel free to do so as it will be greatly appreciated. This is not usually something I would be asking of anyone, but the cause outweighs my ego. lol

My role. I have offered Rene financial support to ship his model directly to the Museum and assist in his airfare to arrive at the Museum to re-assemble the model. I will also pick up any additional financial support needed to finalize the glass display case.

The Museum brass has informed me this morning that if they contract out the construction of the glass case, they are looking at over $16,000.00 to complete. If the Museum constructs the glass case "in house" the cost is more in the $6,000.00 range. Well I'm sure there's no real decision to be made there. My concern and interest is only to see that the glass case is appropriate for the safe and proper display of Rene's model. This WILL be done. You can count on that.

The Museum has informed me that anyone interested in donating towards the glass case involved for this project can do so under the typical 501c3 format. Capt. Ed Ellis (CAPT Ed Ellis, JAGC, USN (Ret.) of the Naval Aviation Museum Foundation. His direct telephone number is 850-452-3604, x3229) would be pleased to hear from anyone interested in a donation towards the project. You may also contact me directly via e-mail as well if you have any questions or concerns. I'll be happy to walk you through the process.

As for Rene beginning the process of scheduling the shipment date and his travel arrangements? FULL SPEED AHEAD SIR!!! ... the museum is ready to accept both you and the ship at any time. They will be setting up a temporary display arrangement until the glass case is completed and ready for the Sangamon to be placed under it.

I will state this very clearly with a great amount of appreciation and gratitude towards anyone here or elsewhere who would be interested in donating funds to this fantastic project. Thank you very kindly from the veterans who are still with us, the families of veterans, supporters of the museum, myself and Rene Hieronymus (who I cannot say enough thanks to for the wonderful artwork he has created and his willingness to offer to display it at the National Naval Aviation Museum)

BTW I believe Rene is in the process of generating a kickstarter campaign and I will post the link here as well when this process starts to take place.

Thanks again to those of you who show an interested in this project.

Sincerely,

Mark A. Mansfield
mam121061@aol.com

[Pat Carry]

Ships going to Pensacola. Got the word today. How cool is that.

A great home for one fine looking model!

[4RG.I.'S]

Outstanding job supporting this Mark! We need more like you.

[BK]

Just read over at the Hyperscale forum that the USS Sangamon model was deliberately vandalized en-route to the museum. All is not lost though as a local group of modellers and museum staff helped Rene repair the damage done. http://www.clubhyper.com/forums/forum.htm Multiple threads on pages 5-7.

[CAPFlyer]

Just read through the posts by Rene and was appalled. Whomever decided to take well packaged crates and do whatever they did with them shouldn't just loose their job. They should spend time in jail. It's destruction of property (aka vandalism) and is at minimum a misdemeanor, but considering the costs involved and what it would cost for the NMUSN to replace the model, would make it a felony in most states. I'm glad that there were people who stepped up and helped Rene put the pieces back together and get the ship back in shape for display. I hope to visit the museum in the next couple of years and I will be specifically looking for that model as I'd seen it when pictures originally made the rounds back around 2010 at one of his first public showings of the model and was just amazed at what he was able to do within his budget.

[Fouga23]

darn :/ That is indeed criminal! Is it able to be repaired?

[Mark Allen M]

Model has been repaired with a 95% success rate. (Rene would understandably rate it much less though) glass case has been fully funded and is in the process of being constructed. I have hired a law firm with a couple of investigators to fully research the mess that occurred. We'll see what developes. I have photos of before, during and after. Amazing work that was done by some amazing people.
The museum is still quite proud to display the model and will indeed do so.

M

[Pat Carry]

Just read over at the Hyperscale forum that the USS Sangamon model was deliberately vandalized en-route to the museum. All is not lost though as a local group of modellers and museum staff helped Rene repair the damage done. http://www.clubhyper.com/forums/forum.htm Multiple threads on pages 5-7.

There are as*h*les everywhere you go!!

[Pogo]

I was unable to scare up any of the threads on Hyperscale, can someone please fill us in on what, exactly, happened to the fantastic USS Missouri diorama/model, or perhaps link to Mark's before-and-after pics? Did somebody just bang it up for kicks?

[Steve Nelson]

It wasn't Rene's fabulous Missouri diorama, but his 1/72 scale model of the aircraft carrier USS Sangamon.

The "Reader's Digest" version from the threads on Hyperscale..

The model was catastrophically damaged in transit, in a manner that appears deliberate. The model was shipped in sections due to its size. It didn't arrive at the museum as scheduled..Rene said the truck driver who was supposed to deliver it from the airport lied to his employer about it, and had to be called back in to make the delivery. When the model finally arrived at the museum, the wood-reinforced aluminum conainters Rene constructed to hold it during shipping were partially crushed and distorted, and the damage to the model inside indicates the containers weren't simply accidentally dropped or crushed, but intentionally and severely "roughed up."

Rene was understandably despondent, and ready to simply give up and fly home. But some local modelers stepped up without even being asked, and within a few days had the model almost completely repaired. I'm looking forward to seeing it on my next visit to the museum.

As for any possible culprit(s) or motive, I don't have enough information to even speculate, and with pending legal action it's probably best not to start throwing accusations around.


SN

[Pogo]

Wow -- thanks, Steve (I used to love Reader's Digest, lol). Wonder what in the world coulda happened? Hearing that a gang of modelers stepped up and saved the day is wonderful news. I think modelers are a serious unsung benefit to the world for several reasons, and this is just one more.

[APG85]

I was unable to scare up any of the threads on Hyperscale, can someone please fill us in on what, exactly, happened to the fantastic USS Missouri diorama/model, or perhaps link to Mark's before-and-after pics? Did somebody just bang it up for kicks?

Ok, I thought it was just me. I went through Hyperscale page by page and found NOTHING on this situation...

[Steve Nelson]

The threads are probably a dozen pages back by now. Due to the forum's rather archaic "bulletin board" format, threads don't get bumped back to the top when someone responds.

SN