Caption: Keyda81 (Christina) and her fiancé Mike. The photo was taken at the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra concert that was held at National Warplane Museum in Geneseo NY, where they both volunteer, at the end of September 2025.
MEET KEYDA81 (CHRISTINA), MEMBER OF SPA MODELER FORUM
Hi Christina! What was your first model kit?
Italeri 1/72 C-130E/H Hercules. Back in summerish 2016. I had no idea what I was doing, lol. The interior got brush painted with what looked fairly close, and I never even painted the outside. I thought why do I need to paint it, if it's already grey? No primer, no putty, no sanding, no decal solution. It was absolutely horrible, of course at the time it didn't matter, I was proud of it.
Preferred scale?
I probably lean most towards 1/48. It does depend on the subject sometimes though. 1/48 C-130's are pretty big. I tend to stick to 1/72 or 1/144 on larger aircraft.
Preferred subject or subjects?
Aircraft. Toss in a couple automotive subjects, but 99% military aircraft. Mostly WW2 and modern day stuff.
Favorite model built to date?
Mini Whiskey 7. I've built three of them. First one was donated to the museum I volunteer for that has the full size Whiskey 7.
Caption: Whiskey 7, and Mini Whiskey 7. Whiskey 7 is a C-47 Skytrain that led the 2nd wave into Normandy on D-Day. Whiskey 7 resides with the National Warplane Museum in Geneseo NY. Christina built mini Whiskey 7 after she took a flight on her back in 2018. Model was completed in January 2019, and donated to the museum that spring. Kit is the 1/48 Monogram C-47.
2nd one is housed in my cabinet with D-Day Mini Whiskey 7, and the third was a commission build. The first one taught me I did have the skills to turn out fairly accurate to the real thing builds if I just took the time, and had the patience.
Hardest model built to date?
That's a tough one. I've got three that come to mind, and they all had different challenges to overcome. I'll pick the one that has the most hours into it. Flak Bait. I spent a lot of time studying pictures, and trying to replicate the actual airplane as best I could. Scribing in flak patches, wearing down the painted on markings. There was a lot of PE involved in it too. I have a grand total of 95 hours into it.
Holy Grail kit?
Probably HPH's 1/32 C-47 Skytrain. I would love to make it into a D-Day version of Whiskey 7. I just can't justify spending the money on it though. Thousand bucks is just a bit too rich for my blood. 4-5 hundred I could probably do.
Favorite kit maker?
Probably the good old Monogram/Revell stuff. The majority of my built models are from them. I do like Tamiya a lot too, they go together so nicely. I've got quite the mix from most manufacturers though.
Favorite glue or glues?
I use Tamiya extra thin most of the time.
Favorite paint?
Model Master. That is what I've used from the start, and I'm still trying to find a replacement that I like.
What started you as a modeler?
Bit of a long story. When my daughter was a toddler she'd point out airplanes flying, usually the C-130's that were stationed at Niagara Falls airbase. I told her what they were, so every plane was a C-130 Hercules after that. My daughter and I would go and watch them do touch and go on drill days, which were Tuesdays. We also did a tour of the base, and she got to sit in the cockpit of one. They were set to be replaced by KC-135's in 2016. I was going to miss the sound and sight of them. I had to run out and buy a model, and build it. I got entirely hooked after that. Been at it almost 10 years now.
Thanks so much, Christina! A version of this interview will be published on SPAM’s Facebook tomorrow!
Its always a pleasure to see your projects in progress and how they finish.
Keep 'em coming!