Happy New Year! Thank you to all who are following this blog, those who check in occasionally, and those who have stumbled here by mistake. I am not sure how to best describe 2020 globally, but here in the United States, it has been a strange and difficult year on so many different levels. For 2021, it is my prayers that you remain safe and healthy, and have a productive and fulfilling year.

A new feature of the blog will be to showcase the models built by you! If you have built a model related in anyway to Iwo Jima, please consider sharing that build with all of us. It does not matter if you are a beginner, novice or expert. Below are some categories:

Any VLR Mustang from either the 15th, 21st or 506th Fighter Groups;

Any Northrup P-61A/B Black Widows from the 548th Night Fighter Squadron;

Any United States Navy combat aircraft that participated either in the early raids from June 14, 1944 to August 5, 1944, or during the Battle for Iwo Jima (Curtiss SB2C Helldivers, General Motors FM-2 Wildcats, Grumman F6F Hellcats and TBF/TBM Avengers, and Chance Voight F4U Corsairs);

Any 7th Bomber Command Consolidated B-24J Liberator which bombed Iwo Jima from U.S. Army Air Force bases in the Marianas;

Any Marianas based Boeing B-29 Superfortress which bombed the Japanese Home Islands; and

Any IJAAF or IJNAF fighter that participated in the defense of Iwo Jima or the defense of the Japanese Home Islands.

If you would like to show your work here, please send me pictures of your build along with a narrative. The narrative can include information on the pilot/crew, squadron/group/unit, after market products used, if any, and any techniques used. Photos and narratives should be sent to: acarothers896@gmail.com.