Gonna miss this but all good things must come to an end. Lots of great people and work on here, gonna miss it for sure. Take care all! Semper Fi

I wanted to share these before the forum dies. Just finished the Revell/Lodela 1/48ish H-19 with Caracal decals and Mr. Color GSB. For a really old kit, it goes together pretty easy. The Paul is almost done, just the rudders on the floats (my fat fingers keep knocking off), the aerial and lights need to be added. Still a great kit, HOWEVER, the catapult instructions leave a bit to be desired. Had to paint the Hinomarus and float markings due to red on the decal sheet not being usable. Hope you like!

HI ! Here another project I have done in the past , if you wish to view the WIP and more pics of it , just follow this GOOGLE link : https://photos.app.goo.gl/We2Djn1yXN7fUHgH9 Enjoy ! Jmarc

I first read Robert Johnson’s autobiography when I was in grade school, probably when I was around 9 or 10 years old. One incident in his story always stuck in my mind and that was his near fatal mission of June 26 1943. On that sortie his aircraft “Half Pint” was badly shot up by FW-190s of JG-26 during a bomber escort mission. His description of the ordeal in the book has had me wanting to build a model that P-47 of his one day, but it was a P-47C, and nobody at the time was making kits of the P-47C, only D’s, M’s, & N’s. But then SuperScale Decals released a set of decals for all of Johnson’s P-47s, and Cutting Edge released a P-47C conversion cowling for the Hasegawa P-47D Razorback. I bought all of the above and eventually started the project, but then it was sidelined when I encountered some warping on the fuselage where it connected to the lower wing behind the engine. So it sat for many years on the shelf of doom until I recently decided to do knuckle down and finish this one up, no matter what. Without further elaboration, here is my build of “Half Pint”, as it would have looked, before setting out on that June B-17 escort mission. Decals are SuperScale, paints used are primarily AK Real Colors and Tamiya Acrylics. Thanks for looking, comments and critiques are welcome

With the IPMS forum closing on September 14, there is another military forum for model building that is pretty active. If you care to check it out it is www.usmilitariaforum.com

Once again, I was able to finish three more ships this month. Fist up is the Pit Road 1/700 scale Liberty Ship AK-222 Livingston: Next is the Fujimi 1/700 scale JMSDF Chikugo: Next is the Tamiya 1/700 scale HMAS Vampire: That's all for now, thank you for looking in. Comments are welcome.

Today I can show two more helicopters I finished this month. The first one is the Mach 2 1/72 scale SM-1/300 helicopter: It's rather crude, but it's the best I can do with a Mach 2 kit. They truly define "short run" kits! And next is the Revell 1/72 scale US Coat Guard HH-65 Dauphin, my first Coast Guard helicopter: I did my best with this too, but it seems lately, I'm not achieving the best quality that I can. I'm guessing it's because of some of the health issues I'm going through. At least I'm still building though. Thank you for looking in, comments are welcome.

HI ! Here another project I have done in ther past ,using the BANDAI kit that come with the JEEP. If you like to view more pics, Just follow this GOOGLE link : https://photos.app.goo.gl/vGivTEfKBnC8peEJA Enjoy ! Jmarc

I started this project with the intention of building the 1/48 Hobby Boss F8F-1 kit. But early in construction, I ruined the lower wings trying to install resin gear bays. I ended up pulling a Hobby Craft F8F-1 kit from the stash, and elected to use the Hobby Craft cockpit, wings, stabilizers and fuselage, and the Hobby Boss prop, cowl, landing gear, gear doors, canopy rear deck and roll-over brace. I used markings from Starfighter Decals that depict an F8F-1, Bureau Number 94759, attached to the Naval Air Facility/Naval Ordinance Test Station at Inyokern, Califoirnia in 1950. This Bearcat was used for HVAR (high velocity aircraft rocket) testing. Here's a link to a full build article: https://imodeler.com/2026/08/1-48-hobby-craft-hobby-boss-f8f-1-bearcat/

Hi ! Here another project I have done in the past , of course it's scratchbuilt , if you like to view more pics of this prject , I have set-up an GOOGLE page for it, just follow this link: https://photos.app.goo.gl/yuQutHmNnZNFEhdY7 Enjoy ! Jmarc

In the early 1950's the West was scrambling to develop an intercepter that could take out Russian bombers before they could nuke U.S. cities. At that time, the problem was that with the radar at hand at the time, the speed of the bombers and the climb rate of the aircraft then in service, the bombers would be over their targets before the intercepters got to their altitude. So, the search was on for an aircraft that could climb very fast to get up there to get the job done. However, none of the jet engines available had the power to do so fast enough so thought turned to using a rocket motor. But the rockets at that time did not have the staying power to last through an entire interception and not wanting to repeat the almost suicidal ME-153 concept, thoughts turned to a hybrid with the rocket motor providing the thrust to get the aircraft to altitude and then a second, jet, engine to power the aircraft through the interception and return flight. The US had several examples such as the F-91 Thunderceptor and this is the British answer to the question, the Saunders-Roe H-53. It was to be armed with the Firestreak missile carried on rails on the wing tips much like the U.S. Sidewinder often is. Despite the crash of one of the two prototypes, the aircraft proved to climb very fast and was maneuverable as well. However, more powerful jet engines and other new more capable aircraft designs were coming on line that made the concept un-necessary so the project, like those in the U.S, was cancelled. This kit dates from 1953 and was pretty primitive. It comes with two very chunky looking Firestreak missiles and since the aircraft was just a prototype I assumed they were either dummies or inert so I left them off. I just did it OOTB with extensive cleaning up including removing the trench-like panel lines one the fuselage but leaving the control surface ones. The pilot looked like the villain in the 1950's Sci Fi movie "Robot Monster" so I used one I got from the spares box. The decals were shot, so I put some together from the spares box, cobbling together the serial numbers piece by piece from rub-on lettering. In the end, it produced a very pleasing looking aircraft I believe.

This next build is the Revell 1/426 scale USS Arizona BB-39. I will be building it as she looked before the attack at Pearl Harbor on December 7th 1941. I will be using the Gold Medal Models photo etch detail set, Model Monkey 3D printed turrets to replace the kit versions, and some 3D printed O2U Kingfishers to replace the kit Curtiss Bi-planes. This will be displayed next to a Bradford Exchange USS Arizona Memorial sculpture that I received a number of years ago as a gift. I chose the Revell kit because the length of the kit is the same length as the sculpture. I started this build with the hull. I first drilled out all the portholes on the sides and opened up the anchor and mooring holes on the bow. I then removed the molded in railings. The two halves fit were not as bad as I thought it would be. The seam still required putty but was surprisingly close so not much was needed. I then removed the molded in anchor chains as these will be replaced with real chains. At this time I ordered some other items. The first was the Legends of Warfare book by David Doyle on the USS Arizona. The second items I ordered were the 1/426 USN Vought OS2U Kingfisher Seaplane Set from Distefan. These are 3D printed aircraft. I ordered these because the kit only supplies the Curtis Bi-planes which were replaced in January of 1941. I then needed to remove the molded in railings and gun shields as these are being replaced with photo etch detail parts. I also removed the molded in stairs as well. It took a few days to carefully remove them so I am currently working on the photo etch parts now. I will then work on the numerous upper decks that have the plastic railings and replacing them. You can see all the photos and details from the start in the build log at: https://davidsscalemodels.com/build-log/1-426-uss-arizona-bb-39/

I'm the chapter contact for the Gateway/IPMS club, that will be holding our annual Gateway to the West model contest on 19 Sept 2026. The facility that we are using is requesting the Nationals COI for the event, which I should have received on the second week of August. I have emailed the DLC to look into this, but I have received no response. thanks for your help, Marion

Greetings, all. I was in attendance at the general meeting on Saturday, Aug. 8, 2026. One of the topics raised by the President, John Noack, is the lack of participation in members voting. Not reaching a specific number for a quorum makes it difficult to get changes passed and moving the organization forward. One idea of his was to lower the threshold of required votes to "pass" a ballot measure. I think this is not the best way to achieve the goal. Lowering the number required places the organization at peril to a small, but motivated group, to hijack the aims and purpose of IPMS/USA. One way to get a higher level of participation is to allow the President of each chartered club to gather the proxy of each of their members. This would keep the opportunity for less than noble efforts to a minimum. Randall Cox, 8068

This kit is of a 1/24 scale jeep with what appears to be a 1/4 ton trailer. A friend wants to know if this is a rare kit. I have no idea. Can someone help?

HI ! Here another project I have done in the past , it,s an scratch one of course..If tyou like to view more pics, Just follow this link: https://photos.app.goo.gl/KjaGc9nGf5YydvaC7 Enjoy ! Jmarc

HI ! Here another project I have doe in the past using the TAMIYA kit, if you like to view more pics, Just follow this link: https://photos.app.goo.gl/myfdKrxsiPNoRocp8 Enjoy ! Jmarc

Hi ! Here another project I have done in the past , it,s scratchbuilt of course.. If you like to view more pics, Just follow thsis GOOGLE link: https://photos.app.goo.gl/cB9cSpJXqRVBsxAT7 Enjoy ! Jmarc

At last, I can finally claim this car in my collection. This is the AMT 1/24 scale Ecto-1A Ghostbusters car I bought in San Diego at Comicon: Thank you all for looking in, comments are welcome!

It's been a slow month for me modeling-wise, but I did get this one done so far: Mach 2 1/72 scale Australian Navy AS-350 Squirrel: There are at least two more helicopters that might get finished this month but for now this is it. Thank you all for looking in, comments are welcome.