Hanson

Great looking model, always one of my favorite Star Wars vehicles. And I love the base - great use of a mirror!

Historically, did this aircraft ever actually fly? Even in testing? I've seen a mock-up at the museum in Lakeland, FL, it was a pretty tiny thing.

Yes, Sweet generally puts two 1/144 aircraft in each kit, but in this case it was the Zero and the deck. In fact, you can get the deck in a separate package, and can do an entire carrier deck if you like. There's some photos on HLJ that show the entire Akagi squadron on carrier deck. Looks great, but I think I'd get bored.

You're absolutely right, and fortunately it was easy to fix! Thanks for catching that, it was going with me to the club meeting tonite and I would have caught all kinds of ribbing for that. I fixed the photos.

Wow, finished two in one week. Stars must be aligned or something.... This is the Sweet 1/144 A6M2 Zero, as a Pearl Harbor attacker from the Akagi. Finished the canopy tonite, I think it came out, well, sweet! ;-) Not terribly happy with the weathering on the base, though. May have to redo that sometime. Now, on to another project. Ferrari 333SP!

Here's mine. This is between projects, as I always try to clear it and clean it before moving on to the next. Note, this was taken a while back, it's a lot messier at the moment! Main work area. I work in the garage, but we've insulated and added an AC vent so it's reasonably comfortable year-round. Though the cold crept in a bit this year. The cabinet to the left is more parts an paint storage. There are two others like it full of kits. Note that this is WAAAAY cleaner than usual. Pegboard, where I keep miscellaneous parts, PE, tools, etc. Rapidly running out of room, as you can see! The area behind my bench. Tool storage. The techie stuff above is the dist frame for the house that I added when we put on our addition. Most of the rooms are wired for gigabit ethernet. :-) Kits, kits, and more kits. The expensive stuff is in the house on a shelf in my office, and the big stuff - 1/12 F1, etc. is in a hall closet.

Very nice. I don't think I've ever seen it in white. Great job.

This aircraft was crewed by the father of one of my employee's. His Dad passed away when he was very young, and he didn't know much about him. Recently, some folks in the UK contacted him about a memorial they were setting up for the 392nd Bomb Group, and his plane in particular. Seems this aircraft crashed, killing all but his Dad and one of the waist gunners. He shared a lot of the story with me, forwarding me some the emails he'd been getting because he knew my interest in history. On my own I contacted the group in the UK and asked if they could send me some info on the plane so I could build a model and gift it to my friend. They were able to share quite a bit of information, including a photo of the nose art (Kentucky Baby), which I was able to replicate in Photoshop (made easier by the fact they the crew had plagiarized a Vargas pinup). Anyway, here it is, after months of waiting for info and work...

Will the person who asked about the box send me a note? I've misplaced the message! Sorry!

Thanks, appreciate it.

Anyone know of a source for fonts to make some decals for a B-24?

Scratching up the cockpit was actually pretty easy, as it really doesn't have much of one to start with. There's a great photo of the cockpit in the Smithsonian book, At the Controls (ISBN 1-55046-365-9). I copied the pattern of the seat from an Eduard set onto a piece of really thin styrene and then folded it like it was PE. Other than the seat, it's just a throttle and an instrument panel with a couple pipes and structural ribs. Here's an in-progress shot: And even so, after assembly not much is visible.

I have the Hasegawa Betty, but don't plan on doing the Ohka carrier. I want to do a surrender aircraft (whitewashed with green crosses). But the Ohka in the Hasegawa kit is a lot nicer than the 1/48 one I just built. At least it has a rudimentary cockpit. And decals. :-)

I'm debating whether to add the "Keep Out" rope. :-)

Finished this one over the New Year's holiday. Got this kit, a 1/48 scale Japanese Ohka kamikaze rocket plane, I think the original Hawk kit (it was later released by Testors), at a swap meet a few months ago. Scratch-built the cockpit interior (the kit had nothing), cut the canopy apart so it was visible, and mounted it on a base to emulate an aircraft found abandoned on Okinawa after the war. Painted Tamiya IJN Light Gray, and weathered to death. The panel lines are darker than I'd normally do them because that's the way they were in the photos. I don't know why, maybe leaking fluids or something, or just accumulated dirt. Here's a comparison shot of the 1:1 aircraft and the finished model: And some color shots: Comments welcome.

Paint it flat white first. Then black. Then lightly sand the black away off of the raised letters.

If you can find it, Gunze Acrylic #63, metallic blue-green does a good job of replicating it. Or as Gil said, mixing your own is probably just as easy. Here's a Zero being restored at Planes of Fame in Chino, to give you an idea of the color:

Love it. Mine's been on the shelf forever, I'll get to it one of these days.

Pavla Models (Czech) makes a 1/72 Sioux. Lots of Photoetch stuff, vac-formed canopy, and somewhat heavy plastic casting.

I recently picked up a 1/72 Aeromaster kit of the F-84. Not bad, combines stuff from Heller, Eduard, resin parts, etc. into a single kit. Makes me wonder, how many different subjects did they put these kits together for?

I think the only M version was kitted by Academy/Minicraft in 1/72 scale. Not sure about the markings.

Try Strada Sports - http://www.stradasportsstore.com/Model-Cars.html A great vendor, I've bought tons from him. Friendly and quick service.

Not the motorized version - couldn't find it on the site, but here's a link to the standard kit: http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10002315

While not a model, it is plastic. This is a stand I made so I could have a nice, consistent and seamless backdrop for taking pictures of models. Cost less than $10 for materials, less than $20 even with the paper roll. It's made out of 3/4" PVC pipe and fittings, and is easily broken down for storage. If I ever need to change the size - make it taller, narrower, etc. all I'll need to do is change the length of the pipe. The paper is from a local art supply store. It's blue on one side, white on the other so I can vary the look of the background. It's also available in other colors. If anyone wants a list of the components, let me know. This stand is 42" wide by around 22" tall. Here's a couple shots using the backdrop, just using available lighting: