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Just received the journal with the nationals winners in it. Such fantastic models. I have one question, category 293 is a soft skin category but a canon win! Just curious how can a canon win in a soft skin category? Merry Christmas, Mike

Thanks Mark. Thinning Tamiya acrylics with Mr Leveling thinner really does help those paints. Finished up the base colors this morning. Added the wing leading edge Yellow ID stripes, and painted the propellor blades. Then I had to go back and do a little touch upon the IJN Green. So then I did a bit of mottling to give a nice blotchy appearance. Next up, gloss coat, then decals…

Wow that looks fantastic! Nice smooth coverage Carlos! Way to go!

This is some great work! Looking forward to the next update! 👍

Well, today I got in a good airbrush session and got the base colors applied. Tamiya XF-11 JN Green and XF-12 JN Gray thinned with Mr Levelling Thinner. And then I used Testors Enamel square bottle black on the cowling. I’m gonna let it dry overnite, then I’ll mask off the wings to do the yellow leading edge ID stripe

The last 4 figures have been reposed and positioned! The 2 waist gunners, for which I used standing "top turret" figures needed considerable altering of the legs since the floors are uneven, as well as an arm reposed to help support themselves. The rearmost figure was also slightly bent at the waist to make him a bit stooped and fit in the lower ceiling farther back. The radio man and the other crew member were used almost as is. The 2 standing figures are held in place with the help of a bit of wire in the shoe bottom that anchors them to the floor. So.....next week I'll start priming them and cleaning them up to get ready to paint! Pics of the crew when they're done will be next! GIL

Reviewed by: Paul R. Brown Company: Scale Aircraft Conversions This set provides white metal replacements for Airfix’s new MiG-17F kit. The set consists of five parts, a new nose strut with integral wheel, two main gear struts and two retraction/extension actuators and are one-for-one replacements for the kit parts. View the full article

Reviewed by: Michael Reeves Company: Value Gear Value Gear resin stowage products have long been among the best resin additions for modelers looking to detail their builds in nearly any scale. Spanning stowage from WWII through more modern and even sci-fi settings, these pieces really pop with detail and add immensely to the scenes they’re placed in. View the full article

Reviewed by: Paul R. Brown Company: Quickboost Scale: 1/72 Reviewer: Paul Brown Review Type: Aircraft Product Type: Detail Company Info: Aires/Quickboost View the full article

Reviewed by: Phil Pignataro Company: Fine Molds Way back in the 1960’s, McDonnell Aircraft had a winner with their F-4B Phantom II and it enjoyed a long production run in several versions. The plastic model manufacturers kept pace releasing and re-releasing many of these versions. View the full article

Reviewed by: Ben Morton Company: Cozmic Scale Models Cozmic Scale Models is a UK- based, passionate maker of high-quality resin model kits, diorama accessory items and other assorted paraphernalia for all things Sci-Fi. View the full article

Reviewed by: Scott Hollingshead Company: AMMO by Mig Jimenez For anyone painting WWII US Paratrooper figures, Ammo by Mig has delivered with a new set of acrylic paints in their Figures set to make finding your colors easier. The set includes six colors (Yellow Green, Khaki Grey, Green Violet, Light Ochre, Buff, and Military Green), which will take care of the uniforms, web gear, and helmets. I find the Figures Set paints to be a little thi View the full article

Reviewed by: Scott Hollingshead Company: Obscureco Aircraft If you are looking to spruce up your 1/72 scale Fujimi F7U-3/3M Gutless, I mean Cutlass of course, look no further than Obscureco Aircraft and their release this year of a detail set for this plane. The set includes a cockpit, two different ejection seats, a replacement nose gear well, under canopy shelf, and canopy interior bulkhead. View the full article

Reviewed by: Keith Gervasi Company: Roden History (From the instructions) In 1946, one of the most massive aircraft in the history of aviation came into being, the Convair B-36 Peacemaker strategic heavy bomber. For the next 10 years it became the principal weapon threatening retaliation in the event of a new world conflict, startling the imagination even today with its extremely large size. View the full article

Reviewed by: Hub Plott Company: Tempest Books This is a large volume with good basic historical and use information about each design covered with multiple color profiles. Some of the profiles are rendered in 3-view. Also, the readers are provided by the author with 4-view scaled drawings with cross sections. Some drawings are in 1/72 and some are in 1/48. Fifteen different aircraft are covered in the book. View the full article

Amazing work, you should be proud! I won a RFM Tiger 1 Initial Production kit in the raffle at Cincinatti's show this year. I haven't done an Armor piece in about 10 years, so it's intimidating.

Thanks Dave.

I beleive due to the circumstances, it didn't happen. And last year of course so maybe in Omaha Dave

Thanks for the vote of confidence Bob! The Gotha is going to be quite the project when I get around to it one day! I built one or two of them long ago when they were plentiful and dirt cheap. Of course none survived to this day.

OMG.......I bought that Aurora Gotha re-issue version in a K-Mart back during the heyday of the Disco era. ...........also bought the K & B version but didn't build them as I had little info outside of the Profile Publication. Unlike the above hyperlink- I had to buy my copy at either Stanton Hobby in Chicago or Al's Hobby in Elmhurst - both long OOB. Plastic of my K&B version is blue and black while the plastic of my Aurora boxed kit is dark green and black. Based on what you were able to do with that Aurora Camel, the Gotha ought to be a smashing addition to your collection when complete. Aurora’s 1/48 Gotha G.V Bomber Review with Kit Release History

Canopy masked off and glued into place Now it’s ready for paint….

Week 23 has arrived – Continuing with the hull catwalks and railings. The catwalks are a mix of kit and photo etch. The kit sections are where the guns mount. As I mentioned before I removed the kit shields and added the photo etch versions. While on the subject of the guns, I looked over the .50 cal guns. The photo etch version has the thin base. So like all the other guns I went with a mix of kit and photo etch. I used the base of the kit and added just the gun to the base. The photo etch guns also have a few pieces. The shield and the shoulder mounts are separate parts. Once the sights are positioned I added the shield and mounts, the base was then notched to mount the gun. I then moved on to the catwalks. Another difference from the kit to the photo etch is the catwalks have different levels when they go under the edge of the flight deck. Once I finished the catwalks on the starboard side I added the railings to the smaller levels and the safety rails for the open hangar doors. One thing to note, on the port side I did the railings first. With as delicate as the photo etch catwalks are, I have had to go back and repair some areas. I kept accisently bumping them or touching them incorrectly while working on the lower rails. When I went toe the port side I did the railing first and this works out much better. I need to add the railing to the catwalks then onto building all the .50 cals (20 just at the catwalk level) and then get the base coat of Ocean Gray on the hull. I am estimating the ship to be completed in about 6 more weeks then I need to start working on the “at sea” base and order the display case once I figure out the size I will need. See all the photos and details from the start in my build log at https://davidsscalemodels.com/build-log/1-350-uss-hornet-cv-8-doolittle-raid/

Well, I found another of those rare good price deals on eBay with this one. About $10 plus standard priority mail shipping. It’s an Italeri rebox of the old ESCI T-55 kit, plus it includes the turret top dome armored fan cover to make a T-54/Type-59 tank. For that price, I’m not complaining. Now I just need to decide on a paint & marking scheme. Right now it’s a toss up between Syrian in 1973 or Soviet in 1968. Decisions, decisions…

I’m working on it… gotta mask up the canopy here next… hope I don’t have any more X-Acto slips… 😲