Jump to content

RickCummelin

IPMS/USA Member
  • Posts

    34
  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Days Won

    4

Everything posted by RickCummelin

  1. Good job! I like that you didn't overdo the weathering. So many armor modelers fall into the current/popular trap of overdoing the chipping/rusting/washes/etc. that their finished models look like refugees from a 60 year old junkyard.
  2. I really like your 3-color camo, but I have to ask--those who may know--if the Army actually went to all the trouble of masking and painting the camo inside the vehicle. Just wondering, 'cuz that must double or triple the time and effort involved in doing the camo.
  3. IMHO, there's nothing wrong with eBay, other than you are usually not dealing with a shop where you can be reasonably assured that you will receive a complete, sealed kit. OTOH, you can frequently find kits on eBay that are unavailable anywhere else, at good prices. I have noticed that some sellers are charging very high (unreasonable) shipping costs, so be sure to check that before buying. I buy LOTS of stuff on eBay.
  4. While I agree that Sprue Brothers is good, my new favorite is Kitlinx near Salt Lake City. They also will let you know if something is in stock or not. They also list many odd kits and accessories that they source from outside the US when you place an order--again, they let you know the status. I need to point out that COVID-19 has had delays on these outside the US offerings. Thank goodness that Squadron finally got a new CEO, as they (IMHO) have been horribly mismanaged over the last few years. I hope they can turn it around as they used to be a good online source. Remember that anything you order online--even from eBay--will have shipping charges added to your cost. Be sure to find out what that will cost you before you place the order.
  5. Plus Model makes (or made) a set called "Equipment of German Kitchen - Crockery, WWII" which contains many larger pots (for a field kitchen) and some smaller ones too. Also some clear bottles. Pieces are made of resin. Got mine on eBay. Airfix also made a set of dishes/silverware/pots/pans. But I believe this is ancient history, as I haven't seen any of these in many years. Likely OOP.
  6. My wife was happy to hear that 2020 will be in LV, as she can easily go shopping or lay by the pool while I attend the convention. For us, LV is a much better location than Phoenix, although we have friends in Phoenix that we love to visit. See everyone in LV next year!
  7. There seems to be mixed experiences with the Dragon DS tracks. Some folks--like me--have problems with the tracks becoming brittle and self-destructing, while others--like you--report no problems. It also seems that no one has figured out the root cause of the problem when it exists, and Dragon remains mum on the issue, which is a major disappointment. My opinion--FWIW--is that once the tracks are removed from their sealed packaging, they should immediately be installed on the model and immediately painted, if only with a primer. This "may" keep that oil I mentioned from leeching out or evaporating and the tracks will remain flexible. While this is only my opinion, and one I would follow IF I were to ever again use DS tracks (which will never happen), I would recommend doing this to others who like the DS tracks.
  8. Well, if that's how it works, I can live with that. Thanks guys!
  9. I've searched & searched, and aside from the couple of extra-cost airbrush seminars, I could not find any way to sign-up for the 2018 seminars online in advance. Is there a way to do this? Or do I need to wait until I actually get there on Wednesday? Then, how does it work? First come first served? Draw names from a hat? Please explain how this works! Thanks!
  10. The Grand Junction Scale Modeller's Society has been around since the 1970s. At one time, there were 30-40 members in the club, but now we are down to about 10 or so. Even though most of our members are older, we still build numerous models. Once in a great while--when we can afford to--we hold a model show and contest. We get entries from all over the southwest US when we hold one, but a couple of years ago we lost our show venue (building) and have been searching for a new venue ever since. These two display cases (photos below) are our permanent exhibit at the Grand Junction (CO) VA Medical Center, one of the best VA hospitals in the VA system. The cases are both on the second floor of the hospital, in very prominent spots. The first cabinet has recently been updated with several new models of the Viet Nam and the Middle East eras, due to a request from VA management. The second display case contains car models built specifically for inclusion in the case. Our local veterans seem to really enjoy the displays, and we have received several positive comments on our models and themes from the vets and staff. Our donated M42 Duster (thanks to Mark Aldrich) is now on display in a prominent spot on "The Nam" shelf.
  11. The brass is Model Master "1732 Brass" enamel--2005 vintage. Vision ports are Model Master "1790 Chrome Silver" overpainted with 1 coat of Tamiya "X-23 Clear Blue" acrylic. An extra coat of blue will darken the vision ports noticeably.
  12. The M42 Duster is finished! It will go into the GJ VAMC display case later this week, at which time I'll take some photos of our 2 cases and post them here. The Duster was a challenging build, but turned out pretty nice! I added an M60 instead of the .30 cal MG and also a few pieces of stowage. Weathering was purposely kept to a minimum, and all the interior photos of the turret I found showed that everything was painted OD. The decals (except the stars) were from that Tamiya kit that I have now disposed of. Please check out the photos and tell me what you think.
  13. Uh yeah--fixed! My bad. And I was sure the tracks were on right. Obviously I didn't check as much as I should have. Thank goodness for nice, flexy rubber-band tracks.
  14. With MANY thanks to Mark Aldrich for his most generous donation, our local Vietnam Veterans will soon have an extremely nice model of an M42 Duster to look at in our club's display case at the local VA Hospital. The model is a very highly detailed kit from AFV Club, and it was quite the challenge to build. Construction/gluing is now complete, with painting and weathering to come next. Minimal or no flash on all parts, and the fit was usually real good with a few exceptions. I can easily recommend this kit to others. Please check out the photos, with one additional photo of four "Sandbox" vehicles I added to the display case last week. As I was re-arranging the display case for the new models, a nurse stopped and said: "Oh, I've noticed new models from time-to-time, but I have never before seen someone open the case and put them in. Thanks for doing this for our vets." Made my whole day--maybe the week.
  15. This morning I removed one of my Dragon Panther models form the shelf to dust it and one of my fingers barely touched the L/H track, which simply disintegrated into many tiny pieces--like dropping an egg on the floor. I had completed this kit less than a year ago. After gluing it together, I kept it in a cardboard box for a couple of months before painting. During that time, the tracks leeched out an amazing amount of oil (of some kind) that soaked the box, and even after I had removed the model from the box, the tracks continued to leech out oil on the shelf until I painted them (with Tamiya acrylics). Obviously, whatever that oil was, it was what made the tracks flexible, because now they are completely dried out and as brittle and fragile as a dead leaf. Luckily I have a spare set of Magic Track to replace the styrene tracks, but IMHO, I should NOT have to do that. My purpose in posting this is to primarily relate what happened to me in the hope that others may avoid a similar experience. For the most part, I like Dragon kits--I just hate those yellow styrene tracks though. This is the second set that has self-destructed on me.NOTE TO DRAGON: I will never buy another of your kits that contains the "Dragon Styrene" tracks. They are your worst invention ever. Plus, all the Dragon kits in my stash that currently contain your styrene tracks will be disposed of. If you wish to keep me as a customer, bring back the Magic Tracks, or develop a new formula for one-piece track plastic. I would much prefer gluing those individual links together than repeat the disaster that occurred this morning. You should be ashamed.
  16. I also called Tamiya with the same results: discontinued, but the guy I spoke with said he would check with Japan to see if they might have one squirrelled away somewhere--let me know in 5-6 weeks. And now you can understand why I bought the $20 "maybe incomplete" kit off eBay. I just can't justify spending $50-60+ on a Duster kit. I think I'll wait until Phoenix in August and see what turns up. BTW- that eBay seller had lots more kits with the same disclaimer. Be careful out there.
  17. Thanks for the idea Ed. I would take a donated model too. We actually have some local VN vets who crewed on Dusters in VN.
  18. OK, gotta tell the story first. I'm a USAF vet, and I belong to a local IPMS Modeling club here in Grand Junction. We maintain 2 display cases for models at the local VA hospital here in town. Recently the VA requested that we add some Viet Nam era and some Middle East (Sandbox) models. We had LOTS of WWII models in the cases, but there are very few WWII vets left, and the vets today are mostly Viet Nam and Middle East vets. So, since I'm about the only armor modeler in our group, I volunteered to build some models for the cases. I've already finished 7 models, and have more to build. But, I'm really trying to do this on the cheap and I'm not succeeding too well. So, I buy this old Tamiya M42 Duster off eBay for cheap for the Viet Nam shelf. Seller says "I can't tell if the kit is complete or not." You know what happened next: Yeah--the kit shows up and it's woefully incomplete. Of course. Two sets of tracks and 3 turrets(?), but no parts from the "B" sprue tree. So while I have some spare parts I don't need, I will simply toss this thing if I can't scrounge up a "B" sprue some where. Tamiya Customer Service couldn't help as the kit was discontinued years ago. Lesson Learned: If the seller says he can't tell if a kit is complete or not, it most likely isn't complete. Buy at your own risk. Duh. So, does anyone out there have an old M42 kit (or a "B" sprue) they don't want? I can pay for shipping, but that's about it. We would like a Duster model, but may have to do without.
  19. Just curious... Is Wednesday just for set-up? Or will there be plenty of Vendors and other activities to make it worthwhile to attend on Wednesday?
  20. Yes, ANOTHER post on 1966 Mustang convertibles, as all my kits showed up, and things cannot go forward as I planned. Why? Well, my above post is incorrect. The AMT 1966 Mustang coupe is 1/25, while the Monogram kits (1966 Shelby fastback & 1964 convertible) are 1/24. The AMT coupe is 1/4" shorter, 1/8" narrower and overall much smaller than the two Monogram kits. So much for 1/24 and 1/25 being "close" in size. No parts interchange between AMT & Monogram either. Darn! Good thing I have no real money in the AMT kit. Gary Davis had it 100% right. Simply use the Monogram 1/24 1964 convertible kit and then all you will need are the 1966 side cove spears, the 1966 grill and the 1966 dash (from the Monogram 1966 Shelby kit) to build your 1966 convertible. I'm still debating whether to buy yet another Danbury Mint 1966 convertible to get the chrome side spears (& grill), or buy that PE set Gary mentioned in his post (but it claims to be 1/25, not 1/24). However, I really am NOT fond of PE--simply don't like messing with it, especially when you must bend compound curves in a flat piece of metal--like the cove spears. Oh well.... Onward & upward!
  21. Hi Ray, I'm also wanting a 1966 Mustang convertible kit. I've found several of the AMT 1966 Mustang hardtop/convertible kits on eBay, but as they are VERY rare, they're horribly expensive, like $75-100, which is more than I'm willing to pay. This kit could be built as a convertible or a hardtop. Yes, really. My 1966 Mustang convertible was Vintage Burgundy with a black interior. I also owned a new 1970 Mach I in Medium Blue with a black interior. So there are two options available for your convertible kit if you don't want to buy the $100 AMT kit: 1) buy a 1/24 Danbury Mint model of the 1966 Mustang (white with a blue "pony" interior) off eBay for $20-30 and then disassemble & re-paint to match your real car. I did this and am not totally pleased with the result, as modifications are somewhat difficult, and the engine room & undercarriage detail is a bit weak. It has to be built stock, except you can change the wheels/tires with some work. 2) Buy a kit of the Monogram 1964 Mustang convertible, and another kit of the AMT 1966 Mustang coupe and then kit-bash the two kits to come up with a 1966 convertible. This is what I'm currently doing, but I had to also buy a 1966 Shelby kit to get some Hi-Po engine parts and a grill with no pony emblem in the middle. So far I've spent about $50 with shipping. The key is to wait until really affordable kits pop-up on eBay (like $10-15) and grab them quick. I'm mostly an armor builder and use my Grex airbrush with Tamiya acrylics extensively for armor kit builds. But, for car models, I just use a rattle can since I'm trying for a nice, smooth, glossy finish. I always overspray the base color with two coats of "wet look clear" so I can rub out the minor imperfections in the paint.
  22. Love your build, but I would think that the recoil from the gun would just shred that Toyota. That would be after the rear springs both broke first.
  23. In hindsight, Bogie's LULUBELLE would likely be an easier build. First, no weird grey camo paint, just OD. Second, the standard cupola could be used. Third, it would be cool to have all those Thompson 50-round drums all over. Last, if you did figures, no color guide for the uniforms to bother with. Then there's the third LULUBELLE from John Belushi's "1941" movie that could be built too.....
  24. Yep, it was that MB kit that gave me the idea--after I had seen the movie. Great figures for five of the movie characters. I had to add the British doctor figure, two British 8th Army troops & two US tank crew (for Waco & Jimmy) as there were a total of 10 Allied "crew" in or on LULUBELLE early in the movie. I simply didn't want to try to find ONE Italian soldier and ONE German pilot figure--just seemed like that would be too much. This LULUBELLE is a reasonable representation of the movie tank (including the color), which was out of an Australian museum (the remake was filmed in Australia), but is quite different from a typical war-time Lee. Note the split hatch with the real tall .30 cal mount instead of the standard commander's cupola. Some other differences too. Actually a fun build.
×
×
  • Create New...