Stikpusher

Been working on my Zero some more over the past couple of days. First I applied a gloss coat, allowed that to dry overnite, then today was decals. Since the kit decals were probably at least 35 years old, so I hit them with a dose of Micro Decal Film. Unfortunately the red stripes for the wing no step areas did not survive, in spite of the coat. But all the other kit decals came out ok. And I used some Aeromaster Hinomarus instead of the kit decals, since the real aircraft had the white borders overpainted with green, while the kit decals had the white edging. Anyways… just a bit more of a ways to go now on this one…

Thanks Mark. Thinning Tamiya acrylics with Mr Leveling thinner really does help those paints. Finished up the base colors this morning. Added the wing leading edge Yellow ID stripes, and painted the propellor blades. Then I had to go back and do a little touch upon the IJN Green. So then I did a bit of mottling to give a nice blotchy appearance. Next up, gloss coat, then decals…

This is some great work! Looking forward to the next update! 👍

Well, today I got in a good airbrush session and got the base colors applied. Tamiya XF-11 JN Green and XF-12 JN Gray thinned with Mr Levelling Thinner. And then I used Testors Enamel square bottle black on the cowling. I’m gonna let it dry overnite, then I’ll mask off the wings to do the yellow leading edge ID stripe

Thanks for the vote of confidence Bob! The Gotha is going to be quite the project when I get around to it one day! I built one or two of them long ago when they were plentiful and dirt cheap. Of course none survived to this day.

Canopy masked off and glued into place Now it’s ready for paint….

Well, I found another of those rare good price deals on eBay with this one. About $10 plus standard priority mail shipping. It’s an Italeri rebox of the old ESCI T-55 kit, plus it includes the turret top dome armored fan cover to make a T-54/Type-59 tank. For that price, I’m not complaining. Now I just need to decide on a paint & marking scheme. Right now it’s a toss up between Syrian in 1973 or Soviet in 1968. Decisions, decisions…

I’m working on it… gotta mask up the canopy here next… hope I don’t have any more X-Acto slips… 😲

Thanks for all the pointers on the conversion Gil. Bob, that is one of my favorite movies! Have it on Blue Ray. And thanks for posting that clip. The aviation and aircraft footage in the movie are still second to none. Great stuff!

Yes it is. There’s a lot of lip service, but not a lot of deeds.

Thanks for the info Gil. Been wanting to do the same sort of project.

Nice work on the backdate of the Monogram Able Dog. Did you replace the large wing pylons that are on the fixed portion of the wing, outboard of the wheel wells, or modify the kit parts to the earlier configuration?

Yes, metal theft is pretty common among the homeless populations to provide a source of income. Take any metals from a vacant property down to the local recycling center and get a few bucks. We had a lot of that where I used to work among the vacant industrial properties. Copper wiring fetches a pretty good return, especially the the heavier gauge wires and cables. Every now and then one of the local thieves would fry themselves trying to take a high voltage line that hadn’t been powered off.

This is my latest effort at reducing the queue on my “Shelf of Doom”. It’s the old early 80’s 1/48 Hasegawa A6M5 Zero. Anyways, I started this one, barely, several years back, then sidelined it for some unknown reason. In the summer I pulled it out and resumed work, primarily in the cockpit. Anyways, seeing how this is a simple kit and that the end of the year is approaching, I decided that I wanted to try and get it finished by the end of the year, so after all the hustle and bustle of the Thanksgiving weekend was over, I got back to work on it. Yesterday I finished up the cockpit Then I assembled it into the fuselage Today so far I did seam clean up on the fuselage, then added the wings Then I added the horizontal stabilizers and test fitted the engine and cowling So far, so good… I love these old kits that take shape practically overnight.

That’s good news that the local cops caught somebody and took them to jail. Now if the DA and courts will do their job and send the crooks to jail for the specified time period, taking that criminal off the street will be a good thing. If it’s catch and release, it only encourages the bad guys, because they learn that there are no real consequences to any such activity.

Richard, at this point I have to ask… is there somebody who wants that property which you occupy? Somebody wishing to install something new on that piece of land? Your experienced crimes sound beyond simple burglaries and vandalism, and more like a sustained effort to drive out the occupant. Standard burglars do not invest so much effort into their crimes. Not unless there is a high pay off for such efforts. Their thefts need to pay off in selling the spoils of the burglaries. Otherwise why go thru the effort?

I’m sorry to hear that Richard. Aside from Austin, I had thought that the rest of Texas was very law and order from the cops, to the courts, the majority of the people, and local governments. It is unfortunate how insurance companies play their games to minimize or eliminate their pay outs. A line of business without honor.

31 years here. It’s great when it’s a “hanging court” where the case goes and you’re not spinning your wheels as it is with a catch and release courthouse.

Oh Mark, you have done well there! All sorts of great goodies! Oh it was a fine trip to the mailbox yesterday! First up was this beastie, which the “Eb” seller offered at a much lower price than it was listed for. Shipping was more than the cost of the kit. I guess since the Tamiya and AFV Club editions of this kit came out, this version is not as popular. Score! Then this for one of the Academy Sheridans in my stash. I’ll be using the Operation Just Cause marking options.

Well, this past Saturday was Modelzona, IPMS Phoenix’s annual show and contest. Needless to say, I went. The vendor rooms were well supported by local and regional retailers and private sellers. There was a fine selection of kits to be found, a d I found these two. Combined prices for both were still less that what either one fetches at most online shops I’ve been wanting both of those for my collection since they were each released. Value Gear was also present with his full line of products, as was a different vendor with lots of tools! My angle nose tweezers were in desperate need of replacement, so…. All in all, a fun day at the show!

Thanks Mark. The original release didn’t seem to get as much love as the Monogram D kit released around the same time. This was the original boxing. The air racer boxing still has the drop tanks and such, just the new Miss America decals.

Thank you Joe. That engine compartment is all your fault. You’re the guy whose work of tricking out car engines inspired me to go that route on this kit.

Well, after sidelining this one in the mid summer due to life going on, I knuckled down on this one and wrapped it up over the past few day. Calling this done for now until I can whip up a proper base, a figure, and perhaps a few more additions.

Good to hear about the airbrush Mark. It is quite intriguing. Hopefully this months Hobby Day will see the 432 get underway. This came in the mail the other day. It’s the old original Revell late 70’s vintage kit. Came out the same time as their Me-109G10, P-40E, and Spitfire II. I won’t be building it in the kit racer markings, but instead in one of the many 8th Air Force fighter group markings that I have…

Thanks Mark. They run the contests different here than with OC IPMS where everything can compete at monthly meetings. Only the models that fall under the monthly theme are in play. This month was Armor & Autos, each in separate categories. Normally it’s just one theme, but last months meeting was cancelled due to weather, so the contest was doubled up.