Ralph Nardone

It isn't really scribe-able. It also will re-soften under water, so no wet sanding. Then again, if you smooth it out when you apply it, you shouldn't need to sand. I like the stuff, it is yet another tool in the toolbox... Ralph

If you've been building models long enough, no doubt you remember the AMT airplane kits that had a "wind it yourself" electric motor. The kit came with a form for the armature and a spool of wire, you were to wrap the armature with the wire. I have no idea if anyone ever got those motors to work, but the wire was ideal for superdetailing, especially when the cause called for a very fine wire or line. I still have the majority of a spool I got with their Corsair in 1977...

I believe the exercise was called "Project Extraversion". Bob Steinbrunn converted Monogram's P-80C to one of the Extraversion aircraft way back when--January 1989, I believe--in the pages of FineScale Modeler.

Amen to the Pactra paint, especially the Authentic International Colors. I discovered them just as they were being pulled from the market. I miss being able to find model kits for sale almost everywhere you looked. I remember the Monogram 1/48 scale Do-335 for sale at the local Mr. Grocer convenience store, and seeing AMT kits at the local U-Tote-Em stop-and-robs...every drug store had a small section of kits, the local Albertson's supermarket had them, all of the 5-and10 stores had them, toy stores, discount stores, Sears even carried them... Ralph

Monogram's Snap-Tite L'il Red Baron. It was the first one that I built all by myself. Prior to that, Dad and I built a Revell Wildcat together over the course of a few evenings. Back then, it seemed to take forever... Ralph

My first model came from the local K-Mart--a Revell 1/32 F4F. The first true Hobby Shop I went to was Universal Hobbies in Ft. Lauderdale, FL, on Highway 441 just South of Broward Boulevard. I don't recall ever buying a kit from that store when I was a wee lad, but I'm certain some of my birthday presents came from there. I did buy from them later in life--I found my first issue of "Scale Modeler" there in 1978 or 1979. My brother and I also were goaded my Dad to build a "real model"--he was a stick-and-tissue guy as a boy confined to bed with Rheumatic Fever, he saw plastic kits as "cheating". So, I built the 3/4" scale Guillow's Spitfire. My brother built an RC boat. And, just like Dad said, it "built character"...we soon discovered that Hot Stuff really did make a good liquid suture... We also had a Lionel Playworld, and I would buy kits in there when I could afford them--it was the heyday of the MPC "Profile Series" of kits, and the AMT Big Rigs were just released, and there was always something to catch one's eye. I can still picture that Lindberg USS Ticonderoga in my mind's eye... There was also the mall--Woolco, McCrory's, and Walgreens all carried model kits. Mostly, though, my brother and I stuck mainly to K-Mart, Eckerd Drugs, and SupeRx drugs. The drug stores were particular favorites during the summers, since they were close and we could ride our bikes there, and the models were cheap. I discovered Warrick Custom Hobbies in 1980 or 1981, and boy, I had hit the Big Time. They actually stocked Pactra paint (the Authentic International Colors, not that glossy stuff), a full line of tools, finsihing products I had only read about, and hard-to-get imported kits. I went away to college shortly thereafter, but I would visit when I was home. And when I graduated, I became a regular, so much so that I was offered part-time employment there. I'd spend a few hours working on a Sunday and basically get my modeling supplies at little to no cost to me. Where is the drawback to that? And for the mothers out there, a word of advice--don't let your babies grow up to work in hobby shops for store credit... :) Ralph

Some interesting ideas floating around here... Back in my Boy Scout days in Ft. Lauderdale, there would be a huge Camporee held at Holiday Park, in downtown Ft. Lauderdale: The Scoutmasters' Camporee. The Scouters who organized it were known as the Scoutmasters' Camporee Committee (SCC), and it worked in a similar fashion to what Paul and James are suggesting: There would be four Chiefs--the Chief and three Vice Chiefs. Obviously, the man who was in charge of the current Camporee was the Chief. Here's how he got to be Chief... New Scouters were brought into the SCC as a 3rd Vice Chief in March of every year. For that year, they were basically there to watch and learn. They would also serve as the Vice Chief for that year's Fall Encampment. Once the Fall Encampment was over, they would be bumped up to 2nd Vice Chief and a suggestions for a new 3rd Vice Chief were nominated. This was usually late October/early November. Now that he's a 2nd Vice Chief of the SCC, his main duty that year was to act as the Chief of the Fall Encampment. He had a secondary duty, that being second in charge of the Memorial Day activities--the SCC also organized a rather large, rather eventful slate of activities for Memorial Day that included a parade, a BBQ, and canoe races. At some point, it was expanded to cover the whole weekend--additional activities included a 10K bicycle race and a 5k run... Once the year rolled around again, he'd become the 1st Vice Chief. His primary duties were the Memorial Day activities and acting as the Vice Chief for the big Camporee in February. The following year was "his" Camporee. By the time a Scouter got to that point, he had been Vice Chief and Chief of the Fall Encampment, been the Vice Chief and Chief of the Memorial Day program, and had served as Vice Chief for the previous Camporee--in effect, he climbed the ladder and learned all the positions of influence on the District's major outdoor events over the previous three years. Once "his" Camporee was over, he became a Member Emeritus of the SCC and helped to guide later Scouters in their various duties as Vice Chiefs and Chiefs. You had to be nominated to be able to serve. Scouters actually worked hard to be recognized and nominated to the SCC, and once they were confirmed as a 3rd Vice Chief, they had their work cut out for them for the next four years. My father did it, and he enjoyed the process. Of course, my father enjoyed Scouting almost as much--or more--than my brother and I did... If we could gear these IPMS/USA National Convention Steering Committes along similar lines, we may have something... Ralph

This is a tough one. If you want to keep engraved panel lines, the best results will come by totally filling (with super glue) all the panel lines and re-scribing them. That's a bunch of work... Another option would be to totally fill them with any filler material, then build, paint, and decal the model, then draw the panel lines on with a drafting pencil. If they were merely too deep but still sharp, a coat or two of a sandable primer, sanded when dry, would probably take them to an acceptable level. But the fact that they are wide and deep makes that kind of tough. Ralph

Pretty spiffy, Eric. Nice work! I'm still clicking through, but so far no problems here...iMac and Firefox working just fine.

On further research, the fighting 101's didn't carry Falcons at all--they relied on the guns. The RF's carried no armament. The only Voodoos able to carry missiles were the interceptors (F-101B/F)--they could carry two Genies or two Falcons on the rotary door. Once SAC decided they didn't need the strategic escort fighters and turned them over to TAC, they were used in stop-gap roles until the RF-101A/C models came along. Then the fighting 101's role changed to transition trainer. Ralph

Not usually. The strategic fighters usually only carried the onboard cannons, and in some instances one was removed and a TACAN unit installed in its place. SAC sent their fighting Voodoos to TAC early in the game, and TAC was less than enthusiastic about them--they really wanted the recce Voodoos, and quick...later, ADC would want the interceptor Voodoos even quicker. Ralph

Correct.

After your model is flat coated, pastels make nice sooty stains, as from a piston engine exhaust. Best advise I have for you is to take an old model and experiment--a lot. You'll be surprised at some of the effects you can achieve... Ralph

I like Badger products, simply because they work. Their customer service is hard to beat, too. Starter airbrushes: Paasche H, Badger 350, Badger 200 Next step up: Badger 150, Badger Patriot High-end: Badger Renegade series, Paasche Talon That being said, the Grex line of airbrushes gets a lot of press these days--we bought one for work, and I have yet to test drive it, but if it is as good as I've been reading, I might get one for myself. The Iwata line gets a lot of press, too, but I've seen them break a bit easier than most. The other current darling of the hobby, so to speak, has been the Harder and Steenbeck line. And then there are the Testor Azteks. Good airbrushes when they had a Lifetime Warranty, not so good when they switched to the 3-year warranty. Why? Sooner or later, you were going to need the warranty. I liked them from about 1991 to about 2001, then realized that I had spent quite a bit on replacing tips. See what kind of distributor deal you can swing, and carry those products. What do you personally use? Personal experience, especially with airbrushes, sometimes can mean the difference between making the sale and not. One reason that I have test driven most of the commercially available lines is that when I worked in a hobby shop, I was expected to know these things. Good luck. Ralph

I still get good results with a sewing needle chucked in a pin vise or a #1 hobby knife handle. I like the Bare-Metal scriber, too, but I tend to drop them and ruin the tip... Ralph

A F4U-1D Corsair in 1/48 scale? Kit: Tamiya. Hands down. Aftermarket: None. It really doesn't need any. If you want a post-war F4U-4, get the Hasegawa kit. Yeah, it dates from the 1970's (as a Mania kit, no less) and has raised panel lines, but beats the pants off of anything HobbyBoss puts out. You can get several cockpit sets of you feel the need. Eduard makes some decent PE brass... The -4 Corsairs are markedly different from the -1 airframes, most notably in the cockpit--the -4 had a floor and consoles, the -1 didn't--and the cowling. The cowling on the -4 had the chin inlet, the -1 was round with no inlets. The -4 had a 4-blade prop, the -1 had a 3-blade unit. In other words, pretty much anything for the -4 probably won't work for a -1. Just my opinion... Ralph

Of all the things I like to mix with CA to add bulk and ease sanding, I prefer microballoons over anything else. They are non-reactive, unlike baking soda which can, over the years, create a nasty brown substance that will ooze onto the model and ruin it. Most body powders these days are mostly corn starch, too, which can cause the same problems... Look in the RC section of the hobby shop--RC flyers use this as something to bulk up fillers without adding lots of weight. Ralph

Having built the same kit recently, I can attest. Other than the panel lines (which don't bother me all that much) and the intake/wing interface, I really had fun with mine. The kit decals behaved nicely, Gil... Here's a link to the build: http://www.ironmodeler.com/2013/06/the-mightygnat.html Ralph

I'll agree with Mark on getting more pictures of the Middle Eastern wars through the years--I understand Israeli securtiy issues, but the stuff I'm mostly interested in is more than 30 years old by now. I'll also put in a request for more on the Italian campaign in WWII. There are many histories written, especially of Sicily, Anzio, and Cassino, but very few pictures. And there is an absolute minimum of history and pictures covering the British and non-U.S. and UK Allies' end of the assault up the boot. Up 'til now, the best armor book has been Concord's "Panzers in Italy"...and it doesn't cover Allied vehicles. While I'm on the subject, histories of the various Allied air units stationed in Italy would be cool, too--it wasn't just the 99th that slogged around Foggia. The 12th and 15th Air Forces has a good many assets in Italy, and they deserve more coverage than they've received. How do I know this? Try researching anything from the 739 BS, 454 BG at Cerignola...you get generalities at best. Ralph

That would have been Jennings Heilig's old company. He folded the tent years ago. He still does some of the artwork for others, though, and is one of the principals at fündekals. Hasegawa only did a 1/200 767-300 that I'm aware of. Revell did the 1/144 scale kit that would have been out at the time... Ralph

I have one of the Foredom flexible shaft tools with a foot pedal. I used to have a single-speed Dremel with a speed control. Both did everything I ever asked of them. A friend has one of the Lithium-Ion Dremels, and says it is very nice, too... R

If you are working in 1/144 scale, the fix is easy: Copy the nose of Minicraft's DC-4 and graft it onto the Minicraft DC-6. If you are working in 1/72, follow Ed's advice--get some good profile drawings of either a non-RADAR DC-6 or a DC-4, fill the nose of the Heller kit with super glue or epoxy putty, and sand away all that doesn't look like a DC-4 nose. Be aware, though, that a lot of the non-RADAR DC-6's were just that-- DC-6's. The kits (Minicraft in 1/144 and Heller in 1/72) represent DC-6A/B and C-118A/B airframes--the fuselage is longer them than it is on the straight 6. If you are working in 1/144, at one time Minicraft's kit was marked with "cut lines" to do "Independence", Harry Truman's aircraft--it was a VC-118. I can't recall whether it has the short nose or not, though... By the time I worked on these beasts, they all had RADAR noses. I don't know whether I enjoyed chasing sparks on the DC-4, DC-6, or CV-340/440 most--they were all fun. R

Given the comments on the Merkava, I'm looking forward the the F-102. I hope it is as good... Ralph

The Testor's Model Master Airbrush and the Aztek 470 are the same airbrush, and the tips are interchangeable. Ralph

Most photos of F-15's on the ground show them in the "up" position, although Wikipedia does have one photo with one up and one down. When the engines are running on the ground and when the airplane is subsonic in flight, I believe they'll be in varying degrees between up and down... R