ewahl

Hi, David, Last night (April 1st) Bill brought the finished aircraft for the hangar deck to our chapter meeting. He's at work on this again. Looking at his vehicles above, you can expect to see some of the same quality on his aircraft. I'm hoping he will include some photos here soon. Ed

Hi, Anthony, Thanks for the compliment. I still have to work on finding the right background outdoors so I can avoid the out-of-scale tall grass, and the trees need to be closer to the camera. There was a slight wind that affected my "flames" and "smoke." This is the ancient 1972 re-release of the 1/69-scale 1960 Revell V-2 rocket and transport trailer set. I bought it at a swap meet or club auction night (can't remember which) for $2.50 max. The previous owner had started on the interior pieces of the rocket and the trailer, rendering them useless because of horrible painting, blobs of glue, and broken pieces. The outer shell of the rocket and the launch stand were the only pieces I could salvage and use. This is a rivet kit from that era, so I could not really work on the rocket's seams without eliminating some of the rivets and raised details. I had the inspiration to make use of the bad seams by allowing "fire" and "smoke" to be venting out and also added some escaping from the four vents at the bottom by the exhaust nozzle. A bead of Elmer's clear glue in the seams and the lower vents attached the cotton. When the glue was dry and firmly attached, I began pulling away the excess cotton. Yellow, orange, red, brown, and black marking pens provided the colors to the cotton. The exterior color of the V-2 was from a 40-year-old tin of Humbrol German Luftwaffe Black Green, which worked well in the airbrush after all this time. Note: the V-2s were not painted in camo schemes during early testing, as some photos show only a dark monotone color. Here's a picture of the model indoors without wind to blow on the cotton. Ed

This is a German V-2 rocket, probably an early experimental version. They did not all work properly. Here's photographic proof. Ed

Hi, Gil, I am super impressed with the magic you perform on the old vacuform kits. This one is no exception. You are now 40% on the way to having a scale progression of the same aircraft, needing only 1/72, 1/100, and 1/144 examples to finish it off. Smaller is easier, right? Ed

Hi, Mark, Yes, after sneaking into the house so my wife would not see the C-54 kit in my work area, it went into hiding. I have yet to find it behind all the other kits I have started and that remain unfinished. Many of those will have to come first before it sees daylight. Happy birthday (belated). Your gift was indeed appropriate for you. Ed

Hi, Bill, It's great to see this completed at such a great pace. I'm looking forward to seeing it in person at our next meeting (on 3/18). Your WIP report at the last meeting had you singing the praises of Revell for this kit. Ed

Hi, Joseph, This was an original AMT kit from the early 1970s, based on the original AMT Peterbilt 359 kit with individual glass pieces for the cab. An upgraded kit followed in a few years with a glass tub for all windows. I started this kit in 1976 by building the chassis, suspension, and motor. Then I put it away for four moves. I pulled out the kit and finished it in 2008 (32 years later). Thanks for asking. Ed

I, too, seem to have most of my childhood models. I occasionally update some of them as you did with the 37 gasser. I totally understand that matching 30-year-old blue on the original car is impossible when trying to add and restore missing parts. Your hood and headlamp housings show the new blue because the shade is slightly darker than the original. Pactra Royal Blue no longer exists in the Testors line, so it looks like you used Arctic Blue as a closest match. I have the same problem when completing the original AMT Peterbilt Wrecker that has these same two shades of blue on them. Ed

Commercial automobiles, public service vehicles, construction vehicles, service trucks, and big rigs are sorely lacking in 1/72 scale. I'd love to have the 1/72 Shuttle on the monster trailer towed by the COE truck tractor as it was moved from the assembly plant, for example. Vehicles with wheels service all sorts of airfield operations. HO scale vehicles far outnumber Braille scale vehicles. Civilian figures for all these vehicles are also needed. Ed

I hope my 1/43-scale Millennium Falcon looks as good as yours when it is painted. I am 44% into building the DeAgostini 100-week Millennium Falcon. Painting has to wait on the hull because the assembly instructions have not yet called for attaching the hull plating parts for the lower side to the metal framework. That happens next month at stage 46%. Painting instructions and references will be coming around the stage 50% mark. Ed

Hi, Pedro, This is an overall excellent model. The skin tones and gunmetal treatment are very impressive. What type and brand of paints did you use? Ed

Hi, Ron, It's called descriptive geometry. I used to teach it at the University of Illinois to freshman engineers in the 1960s (it was a required course). It is based on having two views of the line, say top and front, in projection with the ends showing (there is also the side view in the 3-view projection). You want what is called the "true length" of the sloped line. If you draw a line parallel to the inclined line in the front view, you are drawing the edge of an auxiliary plane at right angles to the front view plane (V/1 line). Draw a similar line between the top and front views (H/V line). Now, draw perpendicular projection lines from the two ends of your rigging line in the front view across the auxiliary V/1 line. With your dividers, measure the distance to the end points in the top view to the H/V line and transfer the measurement to the projection lines crossing the V/1 line. Thus, in the 1st auxiliary view, you will have a slanted line that is the true length of the rigging line. I never thought I would ever use this again, but this is an application of descriptive geometry to building models. I guess my engineering education was not a waste after all. Ed

A long time ago I entered a Regional that had a category for "ugly models." I entered two primitive Gowland & Gowland Highway Pioneer cars (a Model T and a Stanley Steamer) which were both indeed ugly and were among my first ever models I built as a kid. The category was won by a pristine build of an EE Lightning, which was considered ugly because of the stacked jet engine exhausts. I realized I misunderstood the definition of "ugly." But it was fun putting them on display for all to see and laugh at. Ed

Per request, I went back into the 2,116 Entry records for 2001 Chicago and sorted them by Entrant Number. Then I counted all the missing sequential Entrant numbers. The results: 305 (37.1%) of the 821 registered entrants did not actually enter anything in the contest. Therefore, the remaining 516 Entrants submitted an average of 4.1 models into the contest. Ed If pressed, I can give you all 305 names.

I have my old laptop with the 2001 Chicago registration file still in it. 821 Entrant and 2,116 Entry records. Ed

Excellent figure! You have the eye for tiny details and then pull them out with your painting. No details look "slopped over" with paint from an adjacent surface or material. His scarf is a work of art. Ed

Thanks, Dave and Chuck, If you are fans of the 1968 movie "2001: A Space Odyssey" that set the standard for all following sci-fi movies to match or exceed (few ever did), I wanted you to see a scene involving the crucial elements at the end of the film. 95% scratchbuilt. My respect to the movie folks is far greater for those who could make models look real and move convincingly than I have for the CGI artists who can make anything look real using electronic pixels. I've been watching the counter for number of views increasing, but I certainly would have liked a greater number of comments from the viewers. Comments are always welcome. Thanks again. Ed

Hi, Mark, Congratulations on finding the missing prop blade so you could use a 3-blade prop. The whole thing looks great. Regarding your comment about having one of every USAF transport plane, which one(s) are you still missing? Ed

Here is the finished diorama that I started at least four years ago. I'm happy with it. It looks like the original vision I had for the final result. What more could I ask? [better lighting would help.] Ed

It is time to finish this project. The waiting has been too long. The project sat dormant for a year while I worked on other creations. For the hollowed out resin helmet, I purchased a pilot's head bust for a flying model in 1/8 scale from Williams Brothers. Let's just say it was a generic head, and the proportions were not anatomically correct and the features were soft. I spent many hours trying to reshape the face with putty and carving and sanding, followed by more of same several times. I tried, I really did, to sculpt a passable likeness of David Bowman, but the basic misshapen head defeated me. I finally had a face, so I primed and painted it. Then I had to trim away anything that would not fit into the helmet. From an image on the internet, I reduced and made mission emblem decals for the helmet, chest and back packs, and a shoulder patch for the left shoulder on the space suit. There is an antenna array that is at the upper rear of the helmet. These are very difficult to see in the movie, but using still frames I was able to determine its size, shape, and look. It is tiny. I used short lengths of fine wire and plastic chips held together with super glue. Here is the completed scratchbuilt helmet with head installed, front glass in place, mission boards in thier recess on the back, and the antenna in its correct location. At last, it was time to assemble the various components. Here we have the chest pack in place with the hose connecting it to the suit fitting. Also notice the hand controller on the left side of the chest pack, which is used to control the thrusters on the back pack. The back pack connects to a fitting on the other side of the suit. Note the shoulder emblem patch. The helmet/head assembly was glued to the collar ring of the suit. The last piece added was the air hose from the top of the back pack to the right side of the helmet at the collar line. Here are three views of the completed 2001 Astronaut figure, presumably that of David Bowman. Now for completing the scene. See the next post for the whole thing finally assembled. The monolith and lighted floor were separate projects in themselves. I did add a dimmer to the lighting to tone it down a bit.

Duke, I admire your bravery in showing the many models you have in the works, especially those from the shelf of doom. Taking a photo of every model I have started and still remain incomplete would probably scare me. Some of those date back 60 years, but for some reason I still hang on to them. Add some shame to the shelf of doom. My problem is I still want to start new kits that are on my bucket list. I finished five of those old projects last year, and that was good for me. Ed

This is news to me. I have entered single figures at the Nats, but I never thought or realized the base setting was being ignored in the judging. Looking at my "Lady in the Lake" figure (it's in the Figures section) for entry at my next Nats, all the work I did on the base will count for nothing. My goal in going all-in on the base was to present a complete package. Thanks to Mark for bringing this up. Ed

I have the DC-7C 1/72 kit in the Formaplane box. There is a two-sided instruction sheet, but no decals for Northwest or anyone else. Cost was $17.95 according to the sticker on the box. There is an ID box for the kit that reads: MHW Concorde House, 46 Haworth Rd., Crossroads, Keighley, W. Yorkshire BD22 9Dl I bought a set of 4 resin aftermarket engines from Engines & Things to substitute for the vacuform engines in the kit. Maybe it will be built some day. Ed

Just wondering. Is there a suggested MSRP for this kit? It looks like a beauty. Ed

Hi, Robin, Last summer I assembled a box scale Revell B-24J Liberator "Buffalo Bill" from a kit I bought in 1957 and never got past the painting stage of parts. Anyway, I used the original Revell decals. The decals took forever (it seemed) to soak through and release from the backing paper, so just be patient. They could be moved around and positioned without a problem. Because this was a "rivet kit," I had to use a touch of Solvaset to get the decals to conform to the rivet heads. The decals did not crack or break up. I even got the large round B-24 decal to fit onto the clear swivel base piece. I'm looking in my copy of this kit (H-222) as I type this. My decal sheet looks good. Unless the decal sheet for your F-16A looks obviously damaged, I'd give those old original decals a try. Try decal #36 for the grille on the tow tractor first. There is a lot of extra carrier film that you might want to trim off first. If this one works, go for the rest of them. The cockpit panel decals will be next, then the exterior decals. Good luck. Finding that these decals work is better than searching for an elusive replacement sheet. Ed