kettenkopf

In the name of The San Francisco Bay Area Tankers I want to recognize the passing of one of its founders, Fred Dorn of Hayward California. Freddy died unexpectedly of a heart attack on Dec. 28th at the age of 66 soon after arriving in Las Vegas with Diane, his wife of 30 years. Although his participation in the hobby tapered off following heart surgery in 2005 and ending entirely by 2008 he will, nonetheless, always be fondly remembered by all of us who had the chance to know him because he was truly one of those people who you were happy to be around.
A holder of two Purple Hearts from his time in Viet Nam he went on to have a 29-year career as a California Highway Patrolman retiring in 2000.
His conversions using mostly Leopard and Sherman chassis are legendary. At the time he sold off his collection it was probably the biggest around these parts.
On the three occasions when B.A.T. appeared at TamiyaCon in 2003, 2004, and 2006 he won third place awards for his 1/16 R/C entries. He said he finished his tanks in the same manner as Jacques Littlefield did his restorations like they just "left the factory." Btw, I want to honor the memory of Jacques as well, another great friend of the hobby. This month is the fourth anniversary of the passing of B.A.T.'s greatest benefactor. Jacques provided a field and clubhouse to us next to the largest private combat vehicle collection in the world. I always marveled at our luck. ( Thanks Jerry Carducci for introducing us. You can Google MVTF to learn more.)
Fred's contributions was central to the success of the club and his tanks appear early in the Recon Report newsletters. (See BAT's archives for that tank magazine series.) It was Freddy who hosted the first meeting of the club at his house in August of 1992. He had an impressive array of tanks even in the beginning and would cart them to shows if it meant attracting new members. And he always had my back during the many years of running the club through thick and thin. Loyalty was his middle name.
It was Freddy who finally came up with our Bay Area Tankers name during that first meeting.
He went on to serve in many officer positions in B.A.T. over the years, most prominently as that of Sergeant at Arms.
Those who knew Freddy will agree that a more cheerful and trustworthy guy would be hard to find. He had a great sense of humor and was quick to laugh, and enjoyed making jokes at his expense and was fond of poking fun at others as well, but always in the most good-natured way. It is safe to say he was highly respected by all who encountered him and was as solid a guy as you would ever meet. If at all possible he would make every meeting, and do whatever was asked of him for the sake of the club. Once he secured a National Guard base in order for us to have a location for our annual "Battle Day" which was always followed by a Sunday brunch and a tour of Jacques Littlefield's collection.
Finding Fred 22 years ago was a bona fide happy event for me and his scratch building was an inspiration to many such as his good friend and a prolific builder, Rex Ross, who recently provided us here at R/C Universe with many photos of his own work.
Truly a sad time for his comrades here in California. It really is a passing of a pioneer of this hobby. I will miss him.

There will be services for him Feb. 2 in Hayward.

Rich Upton X.O. Bay Area Tankers



kettenkopf

Photo of Fred?

Onondaga

I emailed Fred years ago asking if he had any spare Leo gun barrels I could purchase. He sent one along with some other spare parts free of charge. I would like to follow in his footsteps attempting to replicate his amazing builds and generosity. Rest in peace Fred *Salute*!!

girltankette

To Rich and the Bay Area Tankers;

Our thoughts and prayers are with you during this time - a wonderful RC tanker will be missed by many.

Karen

Airbrushler

Sorry to hear of your loss he seemed like an all around good guy

YHR

I did not know the man, but feel the sorrow of a Tanker brother lost to people who loved him.

Rest in Peace Fred Dorn.

DirtyBird69

Here here, I second that ...

FreakyDude

condolences to Fred's family. Same as some, I never met the man but that doesn't change the fact that I wish his family well.

jarndice

Another good man gone to his just reward.  shaun

Tanque

Fred was a good man. I am honored to have known Fred and to have spent quite a few good times with him over the years.
I was sorry to see him leave the hobby but at least then he was still 'out there'.

One of the memories that stands out was when we both got to show and run our models on the old Tech TV show. Fred was always so cool..

Now that he's gone it is a sad thing. He will be missed.

Jerry

Rex Ross

Well said Rich ......

I thank you and Jerry for introducing me to Fred and this hobby. It was my privilege to know Fred as a good friend and hobby buddy for almost 20 years. I had great respect for him because he was a decent human being, and I admired his hobby skills. He had a great influence on my projects, and I always was inspired to try to "build stuff as good as he could". Maybe someday I'll be able to come close to his skill level. I learned a lot from him, and the memory of our friendship will always occupy a special place in my life.

Semper Fi Buddy ..........

thecommander

Sorry to hear of your loss. This segment of the hobby is still relatively new. I guess we are growing a bit older now and we are losing a some senior members. Respect and appreciate thier contributions now while they are still here to hear them. We have lost several tankers over the past year or so. I hope we enjoy them while they are all here with us. Do not postone your dreams guys. Do the trips and build the dream tanks while you can. I recently was talking with a tank modeler friend in the UK. He suffered a stroke and can no longer use one hand. It is a shame to lose the ability to enjoy your hobby. Do it now while you can guys. Enjoy every day. Don't postone your living your dreams...cherish your family and share your happiness.

MAUS45

I remember the first time I saw Fred's M-32 Recovery Tank. Wow!!! I think it was featured in one of the Tamiya mags or on their web site for the Tamiyacon.
Fred's work is amazing. He will be missed!!!

Rudy

Rex Ross

~~~~~~~~

Rudy......
A few years ago, when Fred was finding new homes for his models, I was fortunate to acquire three of his special projects that he knew I liked very much. I will try to post some photos of his M-32 recovery vehicle, M7 Priest and M40 motor gun carriage later today, or possibly tomorrow.
Rex

mcovalsk

Looks like this it was a patriot, a good man and terrific modeler. I have pictures of the Tamcon from many years ago.
Here we have other "rich" man was gone, so the richness is not the amount of money you have in the wallet, a good example for the youngers.

Rex Ross

It's a good thing a picture is worth a thousand words. I could never properly describe the skill and attention to detail that Fred was capable of. I would like to post photos of his work that deserve the best photos I can take. For this reason I would like to present three of his projects in three parts. Each model is special in it's own context and warrants an individual gallery display. If there is some detail of special interest to you, let me know, I'll take some closeups. I had to take new photos because the ones I already had got lost when my old computer self destroyed a couple of months ago.
The first model is his M32 B1 (late hull) tank recovery vehicle. Everything that should work does. It's R/C. All cables are operated by winches that are modified servo motors with cable reels attached. Hinges work. This thing is FULLY operational. This M32 was built a long time ago when the Attack 4 transmitter was state of the art. The recovery equipment is not R/C, it is controlled with a plug in remote control box. It also has interior details that can be seen by looking into the turret.

I will post photos his M7 Priest and M40 as soon as I can.

~~~~~~~~~

Note.
I have deleted the original photos with ones that are more clear.

Rex Ross

This is the M7 Priest that Fred Dorn built many years ago. It's not R/C, but it has a lot of working features. Hinges work, the gun rotates and elevates, the breech block slides open and closed, the armored side plates drop down. Behind the dashboard you can see some wiring and tubing for the instruments.

Rex Ross

The third project I got from Fred is this M-40 motor gun carriage. The recoil spade at the rear is raised and lowered by a modified servo rigged with a winch drum. The interrupted breech works smoothly. The barrel can be positioned in recoil or battery position. Everything that should work does.

ksoc

Rex,

Thanks for sharing the numerous detailed photos.

The number of comments and the quality of the model builds in the photos says a lot about the man.

Rex Ross

~~~~~~~~

Thanks ..........
I'm embarassed to admit that my photography doesn't come close to showing the perfection of his detail work. It has to be seen at close range with the eyeball to really appreciate how precise the fine detail of some of the working features are. He would have been a great watchmaker.
Rex