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Posted by Donald F. Blair on Wednesday, March 19, 2008 at 13:45:20 :
In Reply to: Tanks! posted by Glenn Reid in CA on Wednesday, March 19, 2008 at 00:41:46 :
Glenn: It looks as though you wangled a tour. One of Jacque's full-time people has been a friend for over 30 years and I had time for a tour back in August. I don't know if you saw the warehouses full of unrestored vehicles, but he's got more work than time.
He does have a very nice complete and original M43 in storage, but soft-skins are not his thing. His current pet-project was featured on Tank Overhaul!
Jacque's Panther project was featured in an episode. Since the Panther was blown by the book by the crew, the turret was trashed to say the least. The shop farmed out a perfect repro to a steel yard that specializes in naval work. As Bill, my friend, told me "we didn't cheat" we used real armor plating. Bill did the assembly and said he put over 500 pounds of welding wire into the turret (or was it over 700?, I can't remember.
Right next to it is a Sherman undergoing the same painstaking restoration. NOS bogeys, tracks, it still has that "new tank smell".
No, Jacque Littlefield is not an arms dealer, just a nice guy with Big Boy Toys.
He also has an outdoor large-scale model steam railroad set with a town, roundhouse, trestles, the whole nine-yards.
Any of you guys taking flak from the woman over your power wagon addiction, just show her the pictures, she'll thank you.
Don Blair