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After standing in the lobby in Chattanooga for over an hour waiting for my chance to get the early white box release, I figured I better go ahead and build the dang thing! This was an OOTB build, except for adding some Eduard seat belts. The markings are all from the spares box, except for "Pudgy". I drew those letters on yellow decal sheet and then cut each out individually. Not perfect, but close enough for Gil World! The red and white markings were all painted. The markings are for McGuire's P-38F that's depicted on the cover of the "P-38 in Action" book. All in all this kit is da bomb! The main landing gear doors are engineered so that they simply slide into place, no glue needed! Same for the drop tanks when added to their pylons! If you want to build an early Lightning, I highly recommend you give this one a try! Questions, comments, and critiques welcome, as always! Gil

Happy New Year everyone. It is a good year for me so far. This is one of the 13 models that I finished yesterday. It is a 1/72 scale Russian Troop Carrying Glider from WWII. It is a short run kit from Eastern Europe and was a bit tough to get together and paint. This bird fought me all the way to the finish line: There it is, a model of something I never knew ever existed. I'll have to do more research on this to see how it was used. Meanwhile, enjoy! Afterward, feel free to check out my latest vehicles to see the rest of what I finished. Thanks for looking in, comments are welcome.

Since there's a new 1/48 B-17G being released, I decided I needed to build my old Monogram kit! Model was built OOTB. Decals are from PYN-UP. Kept the weathering on the lesser side since this was a low-time plane that flew only about 10 missions. This kit takes some elbow grease and planning, but still goes together well for its age. By the way, the wayward gun barrel on the top turret has been repaired! Didn't get every result I'd hoped for with this build, but I finally have this nose art I've wanted on the shelf! Comments, questions, and critiques welcome! Cheers! GIL

Another recently completed build. This is another scratchbuilt/kitbashed creation using a resin body that I created along with a 3d printed chassis and lots of scratchbuilt, resin cast and aftermarket components. The subject matter is a phantom designed race car using homemade printed graphics along with decals from numerous other decal sheets. This was my first attempt at building a full blown detailed pro mod with a turbo setup. Lots of learning as I went figuring out all of the plumbing and detailing nuances. At first glance it may appear to be rather busy in regards to the added details but as you look at it closer I feel that it represents the look pretty accurately. There is well over 1,000 individual pieces in this build with a build time of about six months.

Here's a trip down memory lane for you modelers "of a certain age". This kit was first released in 1958 and It was state of the art at the time. It has decent engraved panel lines, was light on the rivets (but I sanded them off anyway), and had the embossed decal locators, which had to be removed. I replaced the gear doors as the kit ones were just too thick and the decals are cobbled together from my spares as the ones in the kit were much too yellowed to use. The finish is Alclad over some panels primed in flat and the rest in gloss black. It I could have produced this model and taken it to a contest in 1959, I might have won something, but today, it's just a nostalgia piece, but it was fun to build.

Here is another 2020 completed build. This build started life as a Jimmy Flintstone resin body and interior and morphed into what you see here by utilizing a lot of scratchbuilding and kitbashing. I used more different materials on this from brass, resin, styrene sheet, old necklaces for chain, Bic pens for exhaust stacks and a little bit of 3D printed parts.

Looking forward to the show Gil.

Good to see it again. I get a much bigger kick out builds that "shine up" an older kit, as opposed to those that simply take advantage of the state of the art we have these days. I also find myself building more often for nostalgia purposes the older I get. Thanks for reposting! GIL