Leaderboard

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

I can't wait till is over! 🙂

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

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!

Latest from the CDC on the Delta variant. https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/fully-vaccinated.html I plan on wearing a mask. Not as a political statement, but for the same reason I would wear a bandage if I had a cut. I am 71 and fully vaccinated, but prudent use of any health aid where there is a risk of severe illness or injury is common sense.

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.

GIL

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

He ruthlessly seized power in “ The Night of the Bloody Xactoknives!” 😉😂 Anonymous (for fear I might be next to ‘disappear’ )

Just FYI for future conventions, on Saturday morning there was a judging team available to give you feedback on your models. They would not have compared them to any other models and would not have know what the actual judges of your models saw, but they could have given general feedback from a judging point of view.

Good to see the Eboard mixing with the crowd.... Gil

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

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...

I'm calling it close for this year's Christmas model. It's Bob Crachit from Christmas Carol sculpted by John Dennett's MoonDevil Studio. A typically nice kit in 1/5 scale. It's 2 parts of purplish resin - the bust and the base. As with the Scrooge bust from a few years ago, it's based on the 1951 film. Since the film was done in B&W, I had to look fro movies posters to see how the characters were imagined. I found two images of Bob - one with a blue tie/scarf, and one with red. Thinking there's nothing Christmas-sy about blue, I went with the red one. Plus the red tie sort of ties in with Scrooge's red scarf. As usual I started off with the face. All images show him fair skinned with dark hair so here we go. Besides the red tie, I'm planning for a white shirt, green vest and a brown jacket, with hopefully some texture on it to make it look tweed. We'll see about that. But that's for next time. I started out this session by painting the hair. On TV it shows up very dark. I hit it with the darkest brown I had, Then highlighted it when dry. Ugh. Too light. Then 3 coast of Citadel's Nuln Oil got it back to a decently dark color. For the clothes, I had the colors I wanted picked out - White shirt, red tie, green vest with brass button, and black piping, and then a brown jacket. It went along well. for the vest I added a little design in a light green and ten went a little lighter for the 2n'd highlight. The jacket I decided to make a tweed jacket. A dark brown was the base coat. A lighter brown stippled with one of my ruined brushes started the tweed look. Finally, I used V's English Uniform, which is a lighter brown but with a lot of green in it was stippled on and this gave me the tweed color I was used to seeing. Only problem was that it dried a satin. I found a bottle of Anti Shine that The Army Painter put out and it dulled the jacket down quite a bit. I'm still trying to get my clear coats straight. When I spray gloss, I want gloss. When I was matte - I want completely flat - not almost satin, not even egg shell. I want flat. Any discoveries will be reported. A simple gray stone base was painted with a white cut out and Bob's name in red. To finish it off, A let it snow on the base. Thanks for looking.

If you want an extremely detailed Sherman, this kit is a must have. The price that I paid (my wife) was well worth it. There are ALOT of parts in this kit. Because I'm going to use this one with the other two that I built in a diorama, I decided to cut open the Turret and Hull so that you can see inside. So that you can see everything , I used a multi-colored mini LED set. I've never added lighting to a model before. With the help of my son, I got a crash course in soldering. The LED's that I am using have two different colors in one "bulb". White for non-tactical, Red for tactical. The controller for the lights, has 8 different settings to choose from. (It even has one setting for Disco Tech). I'm also adding lighting in the hull. I painted the interior Tamiya flat white. I added chipped paint (Tamiya Metallic Grey) with a torn up make up sponge. After it dried, I shot DullCoat on everything. I then applied Tamiya brown accent color to all the detail. Once it dried, I used mineral spirits to scrub away the excess wash. The engine compartment will be open with two mechanics working on it. A third mechanic will be driving a jeep with all their tools. This process has been a long one, but well worth it, I think. If anyone sees anything out of place, or incorrect, please let me know. Chris

Last time I built a F-105G, I was in the 7th/8th grade. No paint, or decal, just good old Testors tube glue. Had a blast. Decided to add lights and sound. Went on YouTube, and found “F-105D startup”. I’m using a Bose Soundlink for a speaker. Going to build a jet blast wall to put it in, The lighting is the same kind I used to light up the inside of the Sherman. Hobby Lobby carries these mini LED light sets. They have a portion of a row devoted to different sets of these. Easy to use, and really cheap.

2020 1. 1-10-2020 Israeli Skyhawk 2.2-22-2020 B-25 Wolf Wagon 3.3-21-2020 P-51H PA_Ang 4.4-7-2020 PA ANG A7D 5.04-22-2020 303Sq Spitfire MkV 6.04-25-2020 FW 190D-9 7.05-10-2020 C-46 Yost Pilot 8.5-15-2020 Israeli Mystere 9. 06-04-2020 Hartmanns F-86 10. 06-24-2020 A-10C D-Day Anniv. 11. 07-20-2020 VMA-211 Red tail 12. 07-23-2020 2011 Tiger Tornado 13. 07-27-2020 Albatros D.III OEFFAG 14. 08-11-2020 303 Sq Hurricane B.O.B. 15. 09-19-2020 Leduc 022 16. 10-11-2020 Bf 110 Battle of Britain 17. 11-09-2020 P-40 Lt Welch Pearl Harbor 18. 11-18-2020 Victory 357 19. 12-18-2020 F4U-5 Corsair Thanks for Looking Lets Go 2021...VIVA LAS VEGAS Bill

Got some more work done in the Radio room and the bomb bay....... Radio room side walls...doesn't look like that much, but it involves more than 30 PE parts... A few door doo-dads added to the bulkheads... Bomb bay side walls,,,unpainted so the parts can be seen before they're blended in... Bomb Bay doors and the center bay brace.... Not sure how much will be seen, but it's being added! GIL

This is a kit by Good Fellas Resin, designed to pay tribute to an artwork by Max Dunbar. It's an adult, post apocalyptic, Charlie Brown and Snoopy - It was a well engineered kit, and a pleasure to build and paint. Thanks for looking.

This is the Airfix Do217 first issued in 1960. It is built as the instructions indicated and I also used the paints recommended by Airfix. The hardest part was masking the nose which I did one frame at a time. The landing gear is missing support structs and should be added. I did sand all surface detail and did some minor scribing. I also used the kit decals. So here she is built just as Airfix indicated in the instructions.

Adding another of those odd little models to the collection, may I present the Lockheed YF-97, later known as the YF-94C. I've never seen one built, so I decided to give it a shot... For those who might be interested, the build thread for this model is HERE Without further ado, the pics: A fairly simply conversion. I hope you'll try one yourselves! Thanks for looking in, Ed Quote "Dispensing the Tribal Wisdom since before there WAS a Tribe!"

This is one of the Reaper miniatures, Joy the Ice Fairie. I primed with Tamiya Fine White, bock painted with MSP Color and Vallejo and shaded with oils. A fun figure to paint.

With the national called off, I got busy doing some figure painting. The busts are from Nuts Planet, and Youngs miniatures. The girls with the goggles is Honey Bee and I have no idea what company made her (she was a gift). I cheat and use Archer eyes and some other decals on parts of the figures. I did paint the leopard skins on the Hussars free hand. I do make my own bases. The armor I did with Alclad. The rest is oils over enamels. The Opalinski brothers are real people that are also characters in some books by Eric Flint. Dak

Well, the back dating of the kit is now complete. I added the wire cage style brush guards to the commander’s and gunner’s periscopes, modified the sledge to reverse its positioning, and then added the hatch handles, rangefinder housing lifting eyes, and rear turret stowage bin. All I need to do now is add the mantlet dust cover and armor foundry casting marks

This is the Eduard 1:72 Albatros D.Va, finished at Lt. Walter Wolf's Jasta 5 plane from June-August 1917. The kit is OK but it's 20 years old and is missing some details (tachometer and gun mounts in the cockpit, radiator inflow and outflow pipes, etc.). I dressed up the details a bit and then used Print Scale's decals sheets (separate ones for the individual markings and for the Bavarian pattern). If you've ever hung wallpaper, you have a leg up with that Bavarian pattern - not fun applying it across a compound curve, and the entire Albatros D.V fuselage is a compound curve! It's rigged with .1mm nickel-silver "rod" from Albion Alloys, and features some Cooper Details wheels and Mini World Spandaus (although darned if you can see 'em in there!). An article will be in the Journal at some point.

And the painting begins. Today I airbrushed on a coat of gray Tamiya primer overall followed by Tamiya white primer on the areas that will be white. I’ll let it dry overnite, then start actual painting tomorrow.

For my next build I will be taking on the 1/48 Airfix Junkers JU-87B-1 Stuka. This was a World War II dive bomber use by Germany. I am not using the scheme in the kit. Instead the scheme will be that of the Staffelkapitan, 4th Staffel, Stukageshwader 77. It represents how it looked in June 1940 in France. I purchased the Eduard “Big ED” photo etch detail set (#49166) and will also be scratch building some other details. Starting with the cockpit I added the photo etch details to the ammunition cartridges. Then I detailed the seat with the photo etch seat belts. The cockpit floor required some putty as the ejector points were a little on the deep side. Once filled and sanded it was painted using Vallejo RM2 gray. The spent ammo casing bin was assembled and a photo etch cover was added. I added the ammunition cartridges to the mount and the put the bin, ammo, and seat into the weathered cockpit. I am working on the cockpit walls. Again these have a lot of ejector marks which required putty to fill. The cockpit parts have very good details although it is kind of a shame that there is a lot of ejector marks. You can see photos and details of the start in my build log at https://davidsscalemodels.com/build-log/1-48-ju-87b-1-stuka/

"Kuklinski's Principle of Appearance: A half-built scratch built kit impresses people with your skill; a completed scratch built kit looks just like any other model." I have included a picture of my in-progress scratch built 1/25 scale FWD P-2 crash fire truck. I have been working on this since March, 2020. The body is more of less complete, except for the battery compartment (the opening on the lower, center of the body). Everything is pretty much scratch built. It's about 16 inches long, 5 inches high and about 4 1/2 inches wide. The tires are resin from American Industrial Truck Models, and some parts from the AMT American LaFrance pumper kit (mainly just the seats). The next "adventure" is building the transmission, steering, and engine assemblies. I have more pictures but I can't seem to download them. I have a question for you folks: I need to scratch built two "straight six cylnder" gas engines. Any suggestions on where these can be found, or modified? I may have to scratch build these too.

Today’s progress report: So today I completed my intended goals for yesterday. I added instrument decals to the IP, RAF WWII type, rather than the WWI type that I had planned to use but were invisible because they needed to be applied over a white background. Then I drybrushed and touched up the seat And lastly, I touched up the inside colors. Next session I can install all the interior parts and close it all up.

There's one other lesson I've learned over the years about buying model kits...... My very first Nats was in Atlanta in 1978. I didn't even know they had a vendors area and sold models! Talk about the gates of heaven opening up for me..... Anyway, I found a 1/48 Aurora SBC Helldiver...at that time the ONLY game in town for that subject in 1/48, AND Aurora was "out of production". The guy wanted EIGHT DOLLARS for it!! Now remember, this is 1978....you could still occasionally find Aurora stuff on the shelves in old hardware stores and dime stores for their original prices of anywhere from $.75 to $2.00....so NO WAY was I gonna fork over $8 for a kit I might find on the shelf for $2! Long story short....2yrs later I paid $15 dollars for it! And THUS LEARNED THE LESSON: If you WANT a kit, buy it at the best price you can WHEN you find it! You may find a better bargain later, but maybe not. It may be re-released or a newer/better one may be put out, but maybe not. More importantly, most of those "holy grail" kits only get MORE expensive as you try to wait for the cheaper/newer alternative! Gil

Hah! Preposterous. Nothing is too expensive... As long as my wife doesn't find out. Actually, I like the way Pete frames his answer around relativity. Between a large stash, lots of reference material and aftermarket "stuff", I'm sure I've spent "too much". But my hobbies before modeling were drag racing, muscle cars (primarily 67-68 Camaros) and building (and rebuilding) race engines, transmissions and rear ends...and all the associated tools and space. When kids started to come along (4), I had to change hobbies. So the expense of modeling in (mostly) 1/35th scale, relative to my former hobby, really seems like a drop in the bucket to me. Plus, the time I spend modeling, takes away from my time to spend on other expensive hobbies. Like golf...or gambling. Hmmm. Where's that next Nationals? Tony.

The eternal optimist, I'm waiting a couple more weeks before I cancel any reservations. Personally, I blame the French. I'm sure this is all a plot by them to destroy the Texas wine industry for remarks by a Texan about the quality of French wine during WWII. They have only waited this long to put off suspicion. Dak

David, I'm with you, unfortunately. I'm also disappointed in the weak response from Texas leaders...and this includes most local as well as State. Worse is the lack of common sense on the part of ordinary Texans. If the great majority had managed to rub two brain cells together, not only would this State be open and functioning, we wouldn't be having this discussion about the Nats. We'd be looking forward to a great time in San Marcos. Instead, a high percentage of Texans have demonstrated that they're at least one brain cell short of the number needed to rub together. And before anyone says anything, you have no idea how much it pains me to make these comments about Texas. I was born in Tennessee and got to Texas as soon as I could. I'm a Southerner thru and thru and I expect better of Texans.

I am surprised that no one has posted this here or anywhere else on the the rules for the national convention. This is on the main home page of IPMS. It tells me that IPMS is aware for potential legal liability for injury resulting from catching Covid 19 by attending any contest or show and that the risk is higher than normal. Each of us needs to decide if the risk is worth it, but we stand warned. No complaining if you go and get sick. You have been warned. Going forward, the following disclaimer needs to be added to all show flyers as well as your posting on the IPMS/USA event page: “In light of the current pandemic situation, please be aware that neither IPMS/USA nor its Chapters are liable for any potential transmission of illnesses. Those planning to attend this event should (a) follow existing safe social distancing recommendations and (b) abide by any local or state regulations regarding gatherings.”

This is the Platz 1:72 kit with Eduard photoetched interior panels, modified control columns, and True Details seats. I added wiring the seats, scratch-built the canopy piston housing and the canvas cover over the rear panel from CA-impregnated tissue paper, and cut the kit canopy. The wheel wells were detailed and the airbrakes were re-built and their bays were detailed. Anti-torque scissors were stolen from an F-80 photo etched sheet. The decals were sourced from 14 different sheets from Iliad, SuperScale, Fox One, AeroMaster, an Italeri B-66, and even a MicroScale railroad sheet. Weathering was limited to a wash and some scuffing on the non-skid panels. I finished it just in time for a club contest - but, since only four or five people finished their T-33s, the contest was moved to March!

This is what I have been working on for the last few weeks. Love these kits. This makes #6. The base kit builds like this: MK44 AmmoKnight. But I glued on a few greeblies and used lots of putty. To get to this point. I'm still tinkering with tiny details but the majority is finished.

And yet again, when some low performing modeler berates one of our members with the painfully monotonous myth of IPMS rivet counters, our knee- jerk reaction is to rend our garments, beat our breasts, and fall on our xacto knives in shame. People will believe what they want to believe whether it is written on a bathroom stall wall or on the idiotnet. Nothing we can say or do will change that! Nor should we change. All IPMS has done over the past 50 years is give credibility to a hobby that was not taken seriously, help plastic modelers increase their skills and enhance their enjoyment of the hobby, demand that kit manufacturers take this hobby as seriously as we do and organize competitions that are as scrupulously fair as human integrity will permit! We have NOTHING to be ashamed of or apologize for. My personal experience of the people such as those whose uninformed comments you had to endure is that they are poor modelers whose work will not stand up under the most cursory of assessments. What we should be ignoring is the whining of these cry-babies whose skill level is so low that they are simply not competitive when faced with the standards of excellence that IPMS encourages and rewards in it’s members. Let’s all show a little more spine! Why should we seek an association with such narrow, hateful little minds? Regards, Nick Filippone, Senior National Judge

I've finally completed a kit! For me it's nothing short of amazing! 😊 This is the Trumpy Type 63 107mm rocket launcher. I've got the Revell-Germany MAN 5T Mil GL truck about to move to the paint booth right now.

The MK44 Queens 'B' Knight is a variant of the MK44 designed and released as a kit by Takaaki Saito of LoveLove Garden. I was enamored with the design when I saw the first images he posted of the master. I picked this kit up as a Christmas present to myself at the end of 2017. It took a few months before I could build the kit but it wet together quickly once I started. The Hasegawa MK44 line of kits are a breeze to build and the resin add-ons from the LLG kit make this a unique looking mecha. The only change I made was adding the shoulder armor plates from the GrobberHund Altier to the hull sides and replacing the kit hand with an unused claw from the KingKrote kit. A couple of smoke launchers were drilled out and wires are from 0.015" solder wire. The model was painted with Tamiya acrylics and weathered with oils, enamels and pigments. I made extensive use of oils to filter the base colors and add some interest. Additional images can be found here: MK44 Ausf G Queens 'B' Knight

Actually it works best if you use an "Old Guy" computer!

Yes! I look forward to buying you a beer! And we can discuss whether the line between passion and insanity is raised or recessed. Regards, Nick