Stikpusher

Sounds a good plan Mark

Nicely done Mark. I know how this one fought you...

Beautiful work! Ive only built that kid while helping one of my kids make it. I'd love to try such a project as you've done here. And yes, retirement is good stuff 😉

Excellent work! I love all the plumbing added to the rocket motor to make it look appropriately busy. You sure made this kit look way better!

Thank you James! Yes, the upswing canopy is most unique compare to sliders or clamshell types. I love watching "The Hunters" to get a glimpse of these guys playing Migs and seeing them in some sort of Hollywood action.

Thanks Gil. I did use hot water with these decals, but the hairdryer sounds like a good idea. And yeah, I do have plenty more vintage Monogram kits in my stash. Been building them for over 50 years now and I have no intention of stopping now 😉 I sure agree that there is no need to turn one’s nose up at Monogram kits like some folks love to do. They are good models and have great subject variety coverage.

Mark had Christmas in July! Wow! Roktman, those are some great items. I love the one from “The Thing”… such a great movie! Last night was our IPMS Chapter swap meet. I took several kits to sell, but there was no interest for my offerings. But I did find this classic. I think between the new Tamiya F-4B, and the not quite as recent Academy F-4B kits, these ones were bound to show up at kit swap meets for now bargain prices… Finally I have a 1/48 F-4B for my collection!

Thanks Ron. Yes, if you want transonic jet that wore lots of different schemes and national markings, this is a great subject choice. Most of NATO and many other nations flew them for many years in bare metal and/or camouflage. And although the decals on this kit pissed me off in the end, no, one does not need to go into debt for a decent looking build.

This is a 2000 re issue of Monogram’s 1984 vintage F-84F Thunderstreak. I built it OOB, including using the kit decals, which gave me the only real problems with the kit. I used AK Real Color for the overall Aluminum and was very happy with that stuff. It handled masking great as well as clean up of enamel overspray using thinner with zero problems. Other NMF tones were done with Model Master Metalizer and Tamiya lacquers. This boxing also includes a Mk.7 Nuclear bomb and a cart… Thanks for looking. Comments and critiques are welcome as always 😉

I want to say that the B-1 kit was originally issued as a B-1A in one of the flight test schemes. Nice to see yours has found its roots.

Good looking build of an ugly aircraft. 😉 What do you use for your rigging material?

I vaguely remember that show... more by the name than by anything on the show. Nice work on the guy!👍🏼

Mark and Rob, thank you. Mark I sure do enjoy those Zoom club meetings. Always a good time to be had in those! And always fun to see the old crew.

Two good looking big birds! Nice work.

This is my completion of a kit started by a man who died before he could finish it. That was something of a habit for this guy to start a kit, get to some point, lose interest, then start another kit. He had scores of kits like this, ranging from barely started to nearly completed. This one fell into the later category, being roughly 90% complete, just needing the tracks, OVM tools, headlight lenses, and an antenna added, and some broken off grab handles replaced…. and then redoing the finish. AZ AMPS members bought up a bunch of this guys kits, and several of us finished up some of them to send them as a tribute collection at IPMS Nationals in a few weeks. I finished this Takom M3 Lee for my contribution to this task. I don’t think this one will win any prizes, but it is a great addition to my 1/35 Red Army tank fleet…

Too bad that Mr Clancy apparently got the scheme wrong. The Air Superiority Blue was only on the first few Eagles at Luke AFB and flight test ones at Edwards AFB. The Ghost Gray scheme went into service early on, and was the standard from the late 70’s until the Mod Eagle scheme came along after the 91 Gulf War.

Gorgeous build! Everything looks excellent... the conversion, the NMF, the markings... that sure is an attention getter!

Very nice looking Eagle build. The original Air Superiority Blue scheme is seldom modeled. I recognize the pilots name from Red Storm Rising.

Yeah I think I’d be one of those guys who drops the local membership if the national membership is a requirement. I love being involved with the local chapters that I’ve been part of for the past couple of decades. But since I renewed my long dormant national membership a few years ago I find myself wondering why I did so. The magazine is not what it was, no perks such as discounts seem to come from membership at any local shops, and there is no apparent reason to keep up being a member. It’s not the cost, but is there any bang for the buck? At least with local chapter membership there are meetings, contests, etc. What are the true advantages or benefits, if any, to being a National member?

Sharp looking collection! If you’re waiting for 2024, you can get three more completed for two full flights of four.

Good to see you in the club zoom meeting today Mark! 12 Hour Build Challenge results… 8 started, three completed, this one took first place. Victory is mine! and a gift certificate to Brookhurst Hobbies

Mark, I hope to see you at the Zoom meeting tomorrow. 🤞🏼Always a good time getting together with that crew, even if it is online.

Mark, ya gotta get yourself the 1/72 kit! It’ll look great with the rest of your Braille Scale Red Army.. And thank you my old friend. Too bad missed too many meetings. The club zoom meetings are always a blast. And great to catch up with you bums!

Here are more photos of the Sledgehammer. There is a bit more I would like to have done, but with all the clean up needing to be done on this beast during construction, this was as good as I could do within the time allotted. To put it nicely, this kit is not for the faint of heart, modeling skills required. I built it OOB, painted it with Tamiya lacquers, and weathered with Tamiya acrylics. It looks fair enough from 2-3 feet away, but up close the time constraints show... Thanks for looking

Thanks Mark... it's a rough kit, and with more time I could have better addressed those areas... Well, I got this beast wrapped up today. I was unable to attend the zoom meeting due to having family in town on the same day, but, the rules allow for one Mulligan. I did my make up session today, and at the four hour mark, I called this build done. There was a few more things I would like to have done weathering wise, but for the purpose of the Club 12 Hour Challenge, I'm calling it done. I'll get a full view post up shortly.