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I purchased both of these kits from a vendor at our clubs annual invitational. Both kits are from Meng. This was my first time building Meng kits, and I must tell you, they were a joy to build. I was very impressed with the level of detail, and how well everything fit together. The base was covered with Stucco repair from Lowe’s. While it was still wet, I pressed the tracks, and mine roller wheels into the mixture. I painted the base with several shades of brown, and sand. Once dry, I applied a wash of Tamiya brown, and black. After it dried, I dry brushed Naples yellow hue for highlights. While trying to simulate the nonslip surface on the top of the turret and hull, I ran into some issues. After talking with some of the armor experts in our club, they pointed me in the right direction. Chris

The simple answer to this issue is to stop booking these events in way undersized venues. We need 100,000 square feet and 700 plus room venues. Embassy suites have nice facilities but will never be large enough. Have you all forgotten about our vendors who have to pull out early on Saturday so we can convert the vendor room to a banquet room. We need to grow up folks and realize these facilities may seem priced right but DO NOT meet the needs of our convention. And I will say it $55 for convention registration is like the national minimum wage. It is not keeping up with the times and severely hampers our ability to enter other larger convention markets.

These circular discussions are entertaining, but I’m waiting to see how it will be run, which depends, I’m sure, on local rules, CDC guidance, and best practices in play at the time. I’ll likely make my decision about two weeks out based on knowns at that time. I feel for the organizers, have paid my registration including the banquet, and bought a trophy package. I don’t want a refund if it cancels, just hoping it helps in some small way. If it doesn’t cancel, it’s just a choice we all have to make based on what we think the level of risk is for ourselves and others. I have my own ideas, and each person should evaluate their own risk tolerance. My profession is all about risk management, so I look at this the same way. joe

Here's everything y'all need to know pertaining to Madison's 2024 Nats at this point. We are still a long way off, although there's much work to be done between now and then. This is, of course, Mad City's first National Convention. The clubs in the region are excited, and the team is enthusiastic and full of great ideas to make the attendee experience memorable and enjoyable. We'll do our utmost to implement whatever additional amenities we can without losing our mission focus of accomplishing all of the boiler-plated tasks required of every national convention. That being said, we're already getting negative feedback from people..."It's too far", "I hate the Wisconsin Badgers", "I got a DWI up there in 1987, so I'm never going back to Wisconsin", (yes, these are real) etc... Please keep in mind, we have a job to do, and its not an easy one. If you choose not to attend because you hate the Wisconsin Badgers (and I'm a NY transplant, so enough of that) or it's too far for you to travel, that's on YOU, not on US. We're sorry that we're way up here in the frozen tundra of the Midwest. Regardless, no matter where the National Convention happens, it inevitably becomes a very long drive for someone. If you choose to make that LONG journey from where ever you are, we will do our best to make it a wonderful experience for you and your families. Now...back to work... Jeff Herne 2024 IPMS National Convention Chairman Region 5 Coordinator IPMS 2024 Madison_Final_Ver.pptx

Just make sure you have some debonder handy. 😁

I finished this baby January 2, after staring it in... 2002? It's a Hasegawa/Mister Kit mashup in 1:72 to depict a Serie VIII Macchi-built machine; the cockpit is Mister Kit and True Details resin with a Pavla seat with Eduard belts, and the wheel wells are mostly scratch-built. Mister Kit's photoetched gear doors were a pain to work with but ended up looking good. Missing details inside and outside the radiator were made with mesh, styrene strip and sheet and a lot of patience. The plane was painted with True North Africa mustard and light grey (matches for the Italian colors) and the camouflage was made with Mike Grant's "smoke ring" decals, which performed great (although they can be fragile). The markings for "Dai Banana!" came from a Sky Decals sheet and they were more persnickety than the smoke rings - Solvaset was my friend. The real secret weapon was the Valiant Wings monograph on the C.202, which answered many questions (questions that led it to go to the Shelf of Doom, perhaps?).

Note: This is my personal opinion based on my own experience with both our local shows and the IPMS national convention NCC needs to address this issue within the rules asap or well soon possible. With todays electronics there is no reason why anyone should need AC power for their creations. Providing power is a huge expense and pain for the host clubs. Vegas spent over $1000 providing power for the model room. That averaged $110 per model that needed power. If we are serious about keeping convention cost down we need to stop placating to contestants that cannot build around such a rule as "No AC power will be provided for model entries, no exception. Three options, provide your own AC power backup, purchase the AC power from the host site. ($$$$), build your model with simple DC battery power." Not meant as an insult anyone but we somehow need to real in cost and this is simply one convention expense that is way too high. Joe Porche #20296

I strayed a bit from simple on this one, inspired by a really nice build of the Lindberg XFY-1 given to me by a friend who has Gone West. I built up a cockpit using some Monogram F-80 parts and a PE instrument panel for which I can't remember the source. The intakes were given some internal trunking and the belly was extensively reshaped as Aurora got that pretty wrong and it is an interesting part of the airplane. A new canopy was made so I could pose it open. Some of the casters were missing so I made some resin replacements and posed them in a more realistic fashion. Work was complicated by the fact that the kit came to me as a glue bomb and the first step was to get it apart without destroying it. Later I found an unstarted kit but what would be the fun in that? It rests in the stash.

I've had this 1/48 Missing Link resin conversion for the Monogram Me-262A for decades to turn it into an Me-262B, and finally decided to build it! The conversion is simple and straight forward, only requiring the cutting down of the kit spine and the addition of the rear seater's cockpit tub. A very nice extended vacuform canopy is included, the nose radar "C" arms, as well as the seat and details for the rear cockpit. All in all, with the exception of drilling the radar arms to accept very fine wire radar antennas, this is an easy conversion. The only other thing worth mentioning is I tried a new technique for the side splotches. Instead of fighting with my airbrush, I cut VERY small swatches of sponge, held them with tweezers, dipped them into paint, blotted them off on a paper towel, and then DABBED the splotches onto the model. I was quite pleased with the result and it was MUCH easier than trying to spray them on! The model was rescribed and a brown sludge-wash applied. The markings are all from the Monogram kit, except for the black fuselage crosses. I didn't have ANY decals small enough to fit, so I made a stencil and sprayed the black crosses onto the sides. Anyway, happy to have this one built after it's sat in the stash since the 80s! Comments, critiques, and questions welcome, as always. Cheers! GIL

I wanted to see if I could build a broken relic into something presentable. I learned about the P-38 when I build this kit as a child and I would fly it around outside shooting down me109s and what have you. The copy I had at that time was molded in glossy OD plastic. I decided to find a copy and I did. I found some busted up kits for sale on eBay. The P-38 was one of them and is molded in metallic blue. It was missing the tail plane, props and spinners and balance weights. I asked for parts from the club membership and a member sent me a complete Monogram P-38 kit for parts. So here are photos showing the progress. It is one of Aurora's more accurate 1/48 models and I wanted a simple stand build; but, there was lots and lots of sanding and filling. To my surprise the Monogram replacement parts fit perfectly. I carefully removed the yellowed canopy and polished it. There is no cockpit just a molded on pilot, and rudimentary instrument panel and radio. The canopy is more like a helmet in that it sits atop the cockpit and is oversized. The only thing I could do at this point was adding putty and sanding down the sides so that it fitted properly. I glued the canopy with clear Gorilla Glue and it made a good bond without crazing the plastic. The clear canopy is missing some frame lines so I used decal strips to create those missing frames. None of the intakes are open so I just used a large sharpie to paint them black. I painted the model with Tamiya Green Drab and Mission Models Neutral Gray. The markings are from an Aeromaster sheet on OD P-38s. The props are held in place with blue-tac putty. Thanks for looking. 12 additional images. Click to enlarge.

Good luck with that. Some don't even bother to read the category cards on the tables!

11 completions this past year, about average for me. I'll run them in chronological order. Fuel tanker and Cushman trike from the Airfix 1/72 USAAF Bomber Support Set, done as post-war civvie vehicles: Airfix 1/48 Gloster Meteor F.8: Classic Airframes 1/48 Grumman Widgeon: Airfix 1/48 Spitfire XVIII (converted from the XIV kit): Airfix 1/48 Spitfire Vb: Airfix 1/72 MBB Bo105: Airfix 1/72 Lynx HAS.2: Airfix 1/72 Lynx AH.1: Revell 1/72 F-4EJ, the very basic 1965 kit! SBS Resin 1/72 Farman F.190: Tamiya 1/48 Mosquito NF.XIX, converted from the NF.XIII kit: A pleasing year, I was pretty happy with most of these completions. We'll see what 2022 brings, but I have a number of interesting builds planned. Let's see what transpires!

Well the postman brought this a few hours ago. Thank you to the gentleman from another site who found this at a local shop for a great price and offered to pick it up and send it to me! I love the “painting guide for lozenge pattern camouflage” labeling... on such a large subject that’s gonna drive me crazy! But then again, I used to parachute out of perfectly good airplanes in the middle of the night, so I have screw loose upstairs somewhere...

Hi. My last racer, Polish PZL P6, made from scratch in 1/32 scale, from National Air Racers in Cleveland 1931 More on the topic here: https://forum.largescaleplanes.com/index.php?/topic/84035-pzl-p6-1931-from-scratch-scale-132/ Best regards, Marcin IPMS Polska

The other alternative--one I favor, and one I've discussed on this forum before--is to limit out of box models to being just that--out of the box. Period. No added seat belts, rigging, spark plug wires, etc., unless it comes in the kit and is shown on the instruction sheet. Aftermarket decals should be allowed, but that's as far as it really should go. People then argue along the lines of "well, the model will seem to be lacking if I don't add seat belts" or "it won't be accurate if there are no railings" (that one still confuses me, since, last time I checked, accuracy was not a judging criteria). My answer? Entering out of box is a decision the modeler makes. You have consciously decided to limit what you can and cannot do if you decide to enter OOB. Don't like the limitations? Then simply don't restrict yourself by entering OOB--enter the "Open" categories and let the chips fall where they may. To be sure, I have seen OOB models win categories over a dozen fully detailed models because, as Chris points out, the more stuff you add, the more opportunity there is for mistakes. As far as multi-media "high tech" (aka ProfiPack, etc.) go, the work around is as Ed pointed out--split them into traditional (all plastic) and mixed media.

Today was held our 2023 Vacation Picks.... WooHooooo, I got the week off for Nationals!!! I can't wait to place a bunch of mediocre models on the tables that won't win anything. The best part? In-N-Out Burgers!!!!!!

Hi All, I'm pleased to report a bid for the 2024 National Convention was submitted. It will be evaluated by the Eboard and details will be shared at the National Convention in Omaha. Thank you all who have reached out and supported the current bid cycle. See you in Omaha! Cheers, John

I attended and judged in Omaha (but not any of the BKB cats). My observation was that the a/c BKB cats were populated about the same as the old OOTB cats were, though it did seem to me that they seemed to be broken out a bit more, making for more BKB cats than OOTB cats. Personally, I like the idea of limiting what kits can be used and making the rules for building "stricter". I've watched the chief judges cave and allow more and more "exceptions" in the old OOTB categories for decades, not to mention the growth of the gray areas with the addition of the multi-media kits that muddied up the original idea of separating those who do NOT want to add buku details from those who do. The new BKB cats eliminate all of those problems. If the kit qualifies as a "basic" kit, you build what's in the box, NO exceptions. If you don't like to build that way, then build anything and compete in the general cats. It' was also kind of cool (imo) to see some older Hawk and Monogram kits battling it out among themselves on a very level playing field, without Eduard or Special Hobby kits with resin and pe getting in the way. Gil

To Scott & Nancy Hackney and the team at Ft. Crook, bravo on the excellent nationals this year in Omaha. Your team should be very proud. Thanks to all the vendors, seminar presenters, podcasters and IPMS/USA members who attended. Your support is greatly appreciated. I look forward to next year in San Marcos. Have a great week. Happy modeling Dave Lockhart IPMS/USA President (678) 620-8417 ipmspresident@ipmausa.org

I’ve built a couple of these in the past. They are relatively cheap, and easy to build. You can buy most of the material from any home improvement store. I use Lowe’s (they offer a military discount with an I.D.). The scene that my diorama depicts is a fully armed F-18 taxing towards a catapult for launch, with the aid of a plane director. Aircraft routinely taxi over the arrestor cables to get to the catapults. SUPPLIES: These are the following item that you need. 1. 2’x4’ 3/4” CDX plywood. The going price for a 2’ x 4’ sheet right now is around $34 dollars. . I build large bases. I can usually cut two bases out of one piece . You can build several small diorama bases out of a 2‘ x 4‘ sheet. 2. 3M 100 grit sandpaper pack. (Paint section)This is the easiest way to simulate the nonskid surface. (Ground based runways, Taxiways as well)3. Loctite contact adhesive. (Paint section) (To glue the sand paper to the plywood. 4. 3/4” high oak trim. (For a finished edge on the plywood) 5. Wood stain for the oak trim. ( paint section). They sell very small cans. Polyurethane clear coat (optional) 6. Miter box and miter saw. To cut the oak trim. (Tool world section). 7. Trim nails to attach the oak trim to the edge. (Hardware section). 8. Wood glue. (To spread on the edge of the plywood before you nail the oak trim to it, paint section) 9. Nail set. To counter sink the trim nail heads just below the surface. (Tool World section). 10 Felt pads. Put these on the bottom of the plywood so that it can be easily slid, or picked up.(Hardware section) These are the following model supplies that you will need; 1. Tom’s Model Works aircraft tie downs. They come in different scales. 2. Paint to airbrush the lines on. Either enamels, or acrylics. 3. Tape to paint the lines. 4. Some type of string to simulate the cable. I used Model Shipways. 5. Scrap photo etch. (To simulate the leaf springs that keep the wire suspended above the deck). CONSTRUCTION: 1. Choose the size of your base, cut to size. A good manual hand saw can be used, with good results. Make sure to draw the outline of the base on the plywood using a pencil and ruler. Make sure everything is square. 2. Prep the sandpaper to glue on to the plywood. Take a piece of sandpaper, and turn it, print side up. Take a ruler and draw intersecting lines. Where the lines intersect, is where you will punch a hole in the sandpaper so that you can glue the tie down in the center of the hole. 3. Glue the sandpaper to the plywood once all of the holes have been punched. It’s a good idea to take a ruler and draw a starting line on the plywood to line each piece of sandpaper up. Take painters tape and mask off the surrounding area of the plywood that you do not want to get contact adhesive on. Spray both the plywood and sandpaper with adhesive and wait 3-5 minutes. Line up the edge of the sandpaper on the line that you’ve drawn on the plywood. Press the sandpaper firmly down on the plywood. When all of the sandpaper has been attached, take superglue and glue each tie down in the center of each punched hole. 4. Airbrush various shades of gray to get the desired base color. 5. Once dry, measure and tape off the lines you wish to put on. 6. Add oil and grease stains once everything is painted and dry. 7. Stain and attach oak trim to the edge of the plywood. If anyone is interested in building one of these, and you have questions, feel free to message me. I’d be glad to help.

And they might just be shocked at how well they do there. Wouldn't that be interesting?

The old Bandai 1/48 armor kits were really gems at the time and still aren't all that bad. They all sported at least a minimal interior while other companies kits had nothing but old motorization brackets. This one is bound for Malta camouflage. I completed the interior with some extra "busying-up" parts added, like some more bins in the hull, some wiring a recoil guard for the main gun and I bodged together a sort of #19 radio set. The turret basket is not accurate and is actually in common with that in the Valentine kit. As a matter of fact, if you check the one in the ESCI 1/72 scale Valentine, you'll find it's also the same. But accuracy aside, again, at least there's something in there to see through the hatches I intend to leave open. In the end, it turned out pretty well for a kit that dates from 1975. The figure is from the Tamiya Humber a/c kit as there was no crew in the box when I got it. This is everything before exterior painting started, with the exception of the exhaust system. And here's the final product.

We are locked in for 2-5 August of next year (2023) in San Marcos, Texas. -Len

Recent Group-Build /Theme for Pittsburgh IPMS Club was the 80s. I discovered a Fujimi 1/72 Sea Harrier from our in-House Dealer(Pusher) and at $7.00 started down the Rabbit hole. Yes.. Resin Interior,Master Models Pitot and a second kit for Falkland Markings had me following the white Rabbit. Cut Canopy open,Added a few antenna, Opened up some vents and out challenging was dropping Engine vents for Ground Ops. Gunze Dark Sea Gray, GX-100 and Markings for HMS Invincible . Please note "007" how could I not choose this 😃. Thanks for Looking Comments Always Welcome Cheers Bill

Not the easiest new tool Airfix kit to build but it's such a cool looking aircraft, I had to build it. I did end up using the Eduard Zoom set though.

Plugging away on my Lockheed collection, I found that I lacked a P-80A. While researching the build, I found that the Sword P-80A/B kit had a definite error that needed correction. For that whole story (and cure), the build thread is over on BritModeler HERE For those just mildly curious, here are the pics: Thanks for looking, Ed

Finished this one late last year- cheers Pig

Here is Lindberg’s 1991 boxing of the Snark missile in 1/48. I must have weeks invested cutting off flash and filling seams. What a mess these old molds were. I was bound and determined to finish as my wife gave it to me for Christmas 2 years ago. The key goal here was to go to another level with lighting - EXPLOSIONS! The models are painted with MCW acrylic lacquer. Those are the 31yr old decals…they looked good until i put clear on the Snark ones, a few showed some silvering almost like they lifted a bit with the hot paint on them. The tractor, hitch and stairs were weathered with Flory washes and dry brushed with Vallejo metal colors. 220 grit sandpaper for the base. Lights are 24v COB LEDs at 6500K. 9ft of them! Blinding even from the living room lol had to use my sons New Google phone to capture the scene. Any other camera just showed bright glaring light all around. The streaming jet exhaust is compliments of synthetic ‘rope’ style cotton. That really sets off the appearance of flow I think. Here are my top 10 shots. Hope you guys enjoy them… And here’s a sneak peak underneath

This is John Dennett's newest offering. IIRC it's from The Outer Limits' very first show. The story is about a radio station operator that seemingly contacts his counterpart from the Andromeda Galaxy (ignore the science). Wanting to impress his girlfriend about the stations range, he boosts the signal all the way up, and accidentally sucks the alien, who's made of electricity, into this world! The kit is John's usual 2 part bust - the figure and the base. It's done in flawless blue gray resin. For a lot of my character busts I give my self the dilemma of do I paint it as if it were real? Or do I do it as an actor in costume? Since I discovered how the effect was done. I decided to paint the actor, who was William Douglas. For those that don't know the effect, they dressed Douglas in a brown wet suit because of the B&W film. Then they smeared the suit with oil, and when developing, made a negative of the being. So this turns to be the easiest paint job I ever did. Brown suit, and all I had to remember that was in going to try the trick, light had to be dark and vice versa. Painting the other parts I didn't know what different hues would do so I kept all the colors in the brown family. After the below pic was taken I coated the whole thing in Spaz Stix Super Gloss. Then with the image viewer I have - Irfanview - I first made the image B&W, and then made it a negative. I also tweaked the Brightness, Contrast, Gamma Correct, and Saturation. It gave me a result I was happy with, looking like the alien on the show. Thanks for looking.

Hello. This is my last model Wedell Williams 45 National Air Racers 1934, from scratch in 1/32 scale. Best regars Marcin IPMS Polska 🙂

Well done, sir, well done. Now get you to the contest table, and tell the judges, let the PE be an inch thick, to this finish it must come; make them laugh at that seat belt.

For Highlamder: Alas poor OOB! I knew him well, David. A category of infinite problems, of most excellent confusion It hath borne me on the contest table a thousand times; and now, How grand in my imagination it is. Apologies to Sir William Pat D

Well, this is interesting. Personally I think the E-board/NCC could have squelched all this debate when they first came out with OOB rules: the answer is in the description: NOTHING! When you start allowing things to be added, then everyone is going to try to game the system. If the NCC had held firm to 'NOTHING can be added if it wasn't packed in the box by the manufacturer', then this would not have been an issue. Oh, but what about making something look accurate? Well, as far as I've ever seen, accuracy is not judged in our contests: build techniques are. Another question squelched. These are MODELS! They are representations of real vehicles and structures (and in some cases people). There is no way anyone can make a perfect model, despite many people striving for one (and coming damned close I might add!) But the answer again is also in the name: Out of the Box. Strictly speaking, that means the parts on the sprues only! Not even parts from the instruction sheet unless the instruction sheet has a specific design that they indicate needs to be cut out and applied. In these days of kits including P/E and/or resin parts added by the manufacturer; then they can be added as they are IN THE BOX. Proof is in the instruction sheet. Can I add seatbelts? NO! Unless they are included on the decal sheet or P/E fret! Can I use decals other than those in the box? NO! They didn't come packed in the in the box by the manufacturer so those other decals are not Out of the Box. Can I add rigging to my ship? NO! Unless the kit includes a roll of thread or material for rigging! In other words.... Can I add _______? Answer: Was it in the box and/or included in the kit by the manufacturer? Then NO! Ever since joining this organization I've always understood OOB meant anything that was included in the box.... period! Because of that I seem to be the only person in this organization that has always built models to the strictest interpretation of this OOB rule as I have outlined it above. Rarely have I added aftermarket additions to my models; but only when someone gifts them to me as I would rather spend my extremely limited funds on more kits than extra parts. It always mystified me when the NCC said, "you can add this, but only this in this category". So they in effect violated their own rule by making exceptions. Since this class of models has this exception, then can I add____ to mine in this different class? So you see, buy not standing firm on NOTHING outside the box can be used, they started this slippery slope themselves. Can I add this_____? Was it in the box as it came from the manufacturer? There's your answer. Gee, I'll never understand why everyone has to make this so hard. Regardless of what people finally decide I shall continue to build my models OOB as I interpret the description and I will enter them in the contest wherever they fit. I never expect to ever win; it's all about the camaraderie and friendships and the chance to ask respected friends to check out my work. If I win, that's just cream. Stop asking "What can I add?" and just BUILD IT!! Geez!

David, you mentioned about local hobby shops being passive in the face of ecommerce. They face the same problems as any other retail business. Rents and business rates and taxes ever increasing, Cost of any salaries that have to come out of the business. Buying in stock and waiting for it to sell at a reasonable profit to sustain the business with potential customers often just window shopping, getting straight onto their smart phones to compare on line prices, and ordering from some big warehouse operation instead. Not all small outfits can afford to set up ecommerce themselves as the on costs of having to pay for IT expertise to design and set up a website and maintain it, as well as their own input to keep it always up to date. Are they really passive, or just being steam rolled into giving up against relentless pressure by on line giants and modellers going for the cheaper deals they can get on line? I for one miss a number of local hobby shops disappearing, being able to browse and occasionally meet up with like minded folk in the shop, and owners who were model makers in their own right with their expertise.

GIL

1/4 scale bust of Thulsa Doom by Kent Kidwell Dave

Finished my A-3B bomber this evening. Started with the CollectAire 1/48 resin EA-3B, so I had to saw off the plain tail and convert the backside by adding the gun stinger and rear radar bulge. The side door and windows had to be eliminated and the nose "sharpened" a bit too. This is one of CA's better, later edition kits with the wingfold option, dropped flaps and slats, and PE parts for the cockpit. I chose these markings (Caracal decals) to match the CA resin A-5A Viglante bomber (converted from the RA-5C) I'd built some years ago. And in-progress pics... Wing assembly test fitting Tail conversion work Side door and windows filled Engine assemblies The CA resin A-5A Viglante bomber that it matches... Comments, critiques, and questions welcome, as always! Cheers! Gil

I got this kit in a grab bag of kits I bought. It's from the 1956 molds and even had the pilot's head molded in halves integral to the fuselage sides. There are many inaccuracies and omissions, so to build it 'right' would be a real waste of time as there are now many other much better representations, including Airfix's own excellent re-tooled one. But I decided to do it just for fun, so I did it as a desk model and since it was to be in flight, I added the 'spinning' prop. I also rigged it, which was not called for in the instructions, and added the antenna, which you may notice is the wrong configuration, but since there were so many other 'problems' and it was simpler to do this way, I settled for it amongst all the other inaccuracies, which includes the markings. The kit's decals were useless, so I got some out of the spares box. They actually belong to a Hawker Fury of First Squadron, but hey, in for a penny in for a pound, inaccuracy-wise.

I'm sure that you've all heard the phrase "my eyes are bigger than my stomach"? Meaning don't bite off more than you can chew. I've always been intrigued by dioramas. The stories that they tell can be awesome. I've always felt that the best aspect of a good diorama is one that each new time that you look at it you find some new hidden detail that you missed the previous time. I finally decided, a few years back, that I was going to build my first diorama. Being a car guy it almost made sense that I would do a garage with vehicles, tools, supplies, etc. I also like nature so I wanted to incorporate some added outdoors scene as well. So, one thing led to another and the next thing you know my design is way out of control and taking up a tremendous amount of space. It was fun but finding somewhere to store it/display it when it was done was no easy task. I also only took this to one contest after it was done because of the size and weight. Here it is. I framed the garage completely out of wood. Removable roof, real shingles, opening garage door and as much detail as I could throw at it without it becoming too busy. It was great learning experience that mainly taught me that if I ever did any more dioramas, (which I have) to keep the size in check.

What is there to say about the Sopwith Camel? It is one of the iconic aeroplanes of WWI, probably the most well known from the Royal Flying Corps/Royal Air Force to even the novice aviation buff. And helped out no doubt by a certain cartoon beagle and his never ending quest to defeat the Red Baron. This is Monogram’s 1979 retool of Aurora’s 1956 vintage kit. I added a few bits to the interior, and detailed a few exterior bits. Rigging is steel wire and EZ Line, paints are Xtracolor, Humbrol, and Testors enamels. Decals are by Eagle Strike for a Camel from 45 Squadron flown in Italy in summer 1918 by Lt. C.M. Masters. posed with my Oeffag Albatross, my first grown up biplane build from a few years ago And ready for the dawn patrol Thanks for looking, comments and critiques are welcome

Hi, In this diorama, I tried to portray the battle of Hue City scene of Stanley Kubrick's cult movie "FULL METAL JACKET". First of all i apologize for my bad english. Scale 1/35 M41 Walker Bulldog Tamiya 35055 Figures US Armoured Troops Tamiya MM217 Hope you like it.

Finally, after many years, this is finished. I can say that there were not wo pieces in the entire build that fit together easily. And Trumpeter found ways to take one part and make four out of it. I will say it is a huge plane and I do love Navy schemes. Finished with Squadrons decals Dave

Hi to all, I present my latest work performed with the MWP technique (Metal Work Panels) or with the complete covering of the model with aluminum panels (self-adhesive tape). This is the Hong Kong Models kit for the 1/32 scale B-25 J Mitchell 'The Strafer' model: the kit has been further improved with the following optional accessories: The version chosen (optional Zotz Decals) is the following: North American B-25 J Mitchell "Lady Lil" (correct nose for this version ) Hong Kong Models kit 1/32 scale model - version: 498thBs "Falcons", 345bth Bomber Group " Air Apaches" 5th AF in Philippines, May 1945 image posted for exclusive technical and historical reference for this thread this is the technique (sample from the wip) used to cover the model with ultra-thin and self-adhesive aluminum panels (MWP technique) : Happy surfing: cockpit interior (extracted from wip): below you can better appreciate the metal oxidation process on the engine nacelles (extracted from the wip): internal bomb compartment (extracted from the wip): Thanks for the attention. for more info & pics :http://www.adventurephotomodels.com George

"Why being required to wear a mask upsets so many, ....is such an unbearable burden....I will never understand." Agreed. It's meant to protect others, in case you're infected and don't know it. To me, not wearing a mask is like purposely farting in public, only with possibly fatal consequences.

OK, my previous post skirted the edge or trolling and I was told by others how rude and so forth that I was. I apologize for any offense I gave. No one was talking about it (the previous post on the subject was like 3 weeks prior) and I figured it would get some discussion going. It did. I was just a little too - as my fellow Phoenix chapter members remind me often - a little too curmudgeonly. We have to be realistic about whether or not the show can go on. As was just pointed out, work schedules, travel arrangements and not incurring a cancellation penalty at hotels and the like all come into play and require some advance notice. And over and above us regular attendees, what about the vendors? They really need some advance time to know if things are a go or not. Beyond schedules and such, there is the matter of safety precautions if the show does still happen. Will the Nats organizers REQUIRE everyone to wear a mask? No exceptions. This is not a political issue, it is a health issue. And how will social distancing be carried out in the vendor room (how far apart will the vendor tables be and how many people allowed in to the vendor space at any one time) and in the model room? Nats are crowded. Model tables are crowded. How do you avoid that. And then the judging - and yes, I am a judge of many years standing. Judges crowd together to examine the models. How is that to be done SAFELY? And what about the banquet? Can you even consider a banquet when the proper spacing likely cannot be arranged (and if it can, I would like to hear that from the chapter organizers) - and how do you social distance when the awards are announced and everyone crowds into the banquet room. I don't see how this can all be done. What I found so upsetting to me - and I still do - is the silence from those in charge of this Nats. Considering everything involved, that is simply unacceptable - maybe I'm the only one that finds the silence so, or maybe I've just missed some responses from them, but I would think others among our fraternity would also find what I perceive as silence to be unacceptable. I truly do not see how this Nats can be put on this year. And that's not rude or uncaring or anything like that. Yes, going is everyone's individual choice, but we should not have to be in a position of deciding which is a greater priority - our possible health or our hobby. Leaders sometimes have to make decisions which are not popular among a few or even many, but they have to make those decisions which are in the best interest of everyone. And before anyone pops up with an anecdotal story about how they attended this or that meeting or contest and everyone is fine, etc., just look at the numbers. Texas is a hotspot. As is my own state of Arizona. This virus is real. It is not going to magically fade away overnight. It is not a media opportunity. It is not the flu. It is real. And for those of us in the higher risk categories, it can be deadly. But, of course, we still want to go (we modelers are really just big little kids and we want what we want and we do not want to be disappointed and so many of us will go despite the risks) and that is why those in charge, whether at the national or local level need to make a realistic appraisal and acknowledge that this is a lost year - for the sake of everyone's health and peace of mind. Would that be a disappointing decision? Of course. We've had 3 Nats in Phoenix and I was very much involved with the first 2. I know the work and effort that goes into a Nats by those who put it on. I know how disappointing and possibly costly cancelling a Nats would be. But I see how much more costly in human terms it could be if it does go on and people get sick and possibly die. That is something no one could then wash their hands of. That is why I plead with the leadership to do what is necessary. For all our sakes. Kevin Wenker

My model is the Italeri 1/72 scale Fiat CR-32 Chirri." It represents an aircraft assigned to XXIII Grupo Caccia, Aviazione Legionaria. The unit was led by Lieutenant Colonel Andrea Zotti and based at Puig Moreno, Spain, June-July 1938. The unit formed part of the Italian contingent fighting for the Nationalist cause during the Spanish Civil War. I used the Osprey Fiat CR-32 Aces of the Spanish Civil War (Aircraft of the Aces 94) for inspiration; profile 28. I wanted to model Zotti's aircraft; he flew "3-4", but I only had the decals for "3-6". The model was built out-of-the-box except for the rigging. Took me 3-months to figure out I can't paint Italian camouflage with an airbrush freehand and another 3-months and a lot of Tamiya tape to manage that effort. I enjoyed the build; never worked harder to complete a model...

Today was a paint session on the stowage items base colors. Almost four hours using most of my enamel Olive Drabs, Olive Greens, Khakis, and most everything in between to paint the items. The beautiful thing about using enamels over acrylics is that any enamel mess ups onto the base acrylic IDF Sand are easily cleaned up with paint thinner. Tomorrow I need to work on the road wheel tires and the exhausts.

So I neglected to add my last few updates here… Firts up, I built the kit crew figures. I love the poses on these guys, very natural then I started priming… not realizing that I had forgotten to add stowage. So I stopped the priming, let it dry, selected some stowage items from my spares collections and epoxied it all in place then the next day I finished up the priming next up, base colors…

One small update from yesterday’s work: I forgot to get a better shot to show the sidewall wood grain effort and now that the oil wash on the engine has dried and I do not need to worry about it staining my photo booth, here’s a photo of the engine

The new 1/72 Airfix Gladiator is a real sweetheart of a kit. No flash and any mold seams are slight and easily dealt with. Fit is as with all new Airfix kits, precise to the point that you need to be very careful during clean up not to remove too much anywhere before checking. I did mine OOTB with the exception of using the S.B.S. rigging wire set. (#72046). It gives you a complete set of rigging all pre-made to the correct lengths. You do, however, need to pre-drill holes to receive the wires, so advanced planning is necessary. As they are made in a silver metal, I painted mine a darker metallic color before cutting them from the fret. Almost all the wires fit spot on, but a few needed a slight bit of tweaking, probably due more to my assembly technique than any error on their part. The only thing missing is the antennae. It would have been nice to get that as well, but it's either easily made or can be omitted entirely from some versions on the a/c. I did mine in the camo of the Swedish volunteer unit that flew for the Finns during their war with Russia. (P.S. Notice how I forgot to remove one of the pieces of masking from the left rear of the canopy. What a twit. Problem has since been solved.)