My husband (and model coach) first built the Strange Changing Vampire kit when it initially came out in 1974 at the tender age of 11. When he heard that Round 2 Models was releasing a re-issue, he jumped at the chance to present me with my third model build. Being a “monster kid,” I was excited with this opportunity to build my second Round 2 model and add it to my growing collection of built kits. My mind’s eye pictures this piece billed in some side show, with a barker calling out “Come see the strange changing vampire! Watch the skeleton change into a real live vampire right before your eyes!” I imagined my husband as an 11 year old boy, opening the coffin to see a dead, decaying skeleton; then eagerly closing it and using the key to work the “strange change action”. With delight, he would then reopen the coffin, revealing the scary vampire with bared fangs, ready to grab him for a midnight snack!

One of the last things I add to an aircraft model before calling it complete is the pitot tube. It's too easy to break off otherwise. If it didn't have such an important function and was not so noticeable on the aircraft, I think I'd leave it off.

A French engineer named Henri Pitot invented the pitot tube in the 18th century. It was a device to measure pressure and determine the velocity of a fluid flowing past it. It has since been modified and significantly improved to determine the airspeed of an aircraft. Today's sophisticated pitot tube measures the air pressure as the aircraft "flows" through the air.

Authorized in 1936, launched in 1940, and commissioned the following year, USS North Carolina was the first battleship constructed for the US Navy since USS West Virginia’s 1923 commissioning. The first of America’s fast battleships, North Carolina compiled a sterling combat record in the South Pacific between 1942 and 1945, earning 12 battle stars while participating in every major naval campaign in the theater, making her the US Navy’s most decorated battleship. Following the war, North Carolina was eventually decommissioned, but bypassed the scrapyard when she was purchased by the citizens of North Carolina to serve as a memorial to those who served and sacrificed to preserve America’s freedom. Today, she sits moored in Wilmington, North Carolina, as one of the most awe-inspiring floating museums in the world.