Boredom is not a problem for Tom Malthaner.
"I've never been bored a minute because I have such diversified interests," the retired civil engineer said.
First among his interests are the model World War II airplanes, vehicles, ships and other war equipment he has assembled from plastic kits and hand-painted over a span of more than 50 years.
Malthaner, who turned 80 Wednesday, displayed more than 90 of his models Nov. 11 at The Country Club of La Cholla for a Veterans Day celebration.
He recently re-acquired his 350-piece collection from a museum in Portland, Ore., and spent six weeks repairing the 95 models he put on exhibit at The Country Club of La Cholla, where he lives.
The rest of his collection is with a grandson in Portland, Ore.
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Malthaner, who served nearly four years in the U.S. Navy during the Korean War, would like to find a more permanent home for his collection.
"I'm trying to find another museum. If I can't find a museum soon, I'm going to have to turn them over to my grandson," he said.
Malthaner's fascination with World War II, and later model airplanes, first started in 1957 when he read a book about the famed Japanese fighter plane known as the Zero.
"There isn't much I don't know about World War II," he said.
He can also tell you all about the Three Stooges and Laurel and Hardy.
But he's devoted to his model airplanes, which took anywhere from five days to four weeks to complete.
"There's a story behind every one of them," he said.
One of his favorites is the P-38 Lightning, an American fighter plane built by Lockheed.
"That was one of the better World War II fighters used in both the Pacific and the European Theater," he said.
Each of his models are displayed with accompanying handwritten note cards that contain facts about the aircraft or war equipment.
His collection includes 80 models representing war equipment used by the United States.
One aircraft in Malthaner's exhibit caught the attention of Jean Mehan, who also lives at The Country Club of La Cholla, 8700 N. La Cholla Blvd.
Mehan's late husband, Donald, bailed out of a Boeing B-29 Superfortress above Burma in the early 1940s while serving as a captain in the Air Force, and Jean Mehan had only ever seen the bomber in photos.
Then she spotted Malthaner's model of the B-29.
"This is just great to see it in small scale," she said.
Contact reporter Andrea Rivera at arivera@azstarnet.com or 807-8430.
