FIRST AMENDMENT TO
                             SUBSCRIPTION AGREEMENT




LMI Aerospace, Inc. (f/k/a Leonard's Metal, Inc.)
3030 Highway 94 North
St. Charles, Missouri 63301

Ladies and Gentlemen:

         The  undersigned,  Lawrence J. LeGrand  ("LeGrand"),  as the beneficial
owner of the Lawrence J. LeGrand IRA  Rollover  Account (the "IRA"),  subscribed
for and agreed to cause the IRA to  purchase  from LMI  Aerospace,  Inc.  (f/k/a
Leonard's Metal,  Inc.), a Missouri  corporation (the "Company") an aggregate of
30,000 shares of the common stock, $0.02 par value per share (the "Shares"), for
an aggregate purchase price of $600,000.00.  such subscription and agreement was
memorialized by a written subscription agreement dated as of April 27, 1998 (the
"Subscription  Agreement").  The  parties  to the  Subscription  Agreement  have
recognized that such writing does not reflect the substance of their agreements.
Accordingly,  LeGrand and the Company hereby amend the Subscription Agreement as
follows:

         1. The following sentence shall be added to the end of Section 4 of the
Subscription Agreement:

         "If during the Period of Restriction  LeGrand desires to dispose of all
         or any  portion of the  Shares,  he shall  have  right to  require  the
         Company to  purchase  such  Shares for a per share  price  equal to the
         lesser of (i) the per share  price  paid by LeGrand  to  purchase  such
         Shares, and (ii) the average of the closing bid prices of the Company's
         as  reported  by the  Nasdaq  Stock  Market  for  the 10  trading  days
         immediately  preceding  the date  LeGrand  notifies  the company of his
         desire to sell."

         The parties have executed this First Amendment as of April 27, 1998.





 /s/ Lawrence J. LeGrand                  LMI Aerospace, Inc. 
- --------------------------------          (f/k/a Leonard's Metal, Inc.)
Lawrence J. LeGrand, 
the Beneficial Owner of the
Lawrence J. LeGrand IRA
Rollover Account                          By:  /s/ Ronald S. Saks
                                              ----------------------------------
                                              Ronald S. Saks, President
Social Security No._________________

908 Claymark Dr.
St. Louis, MO 63131