ClareWentzel

It makes me squint!! My workshop is in the back corner of our walk-out basement. I have a window in front of the bench and during the winter days, when the sun is out, it is really bright.

For the last eleven years, our club in Kalamazoo along with the club in Grand Rapids have been holding a contest at the Air Zoo facilities. Here is an overview from last year. We bring in a lot of tables and set them up in the museum. Last year, we had about 431 models entered by 112 modelers. As much fun as seeing the models and competing is the vendor area. We had about 50 tables for vendors. They transformed the Air Zoo into the largest hobby shop in Michigan for the day. We don't have a date defined for 2010 but I expect that it will be early in October. Plan on showing up and bring your models to enter. It is a good time. Enter the contest, see the museum and ride the rides for one small price.

Welcome John, Glad to hear from you. You are starting to enjoy a great hobby. If you ever get over to the west side of the state, give us a call. Also, we will probably be having another contest at the Air Zoo later this year. It would be a great chance for you to get even further immersed.

Hi Guys, Just to let you know that the Paasche gun can work, my grandkids were in town over the weekend for Christmas. The young one just turned seven. I got a cheap wooden dragon kit for him to build while he was here. We got it together and it was time to paint it. Out came the old faithful Paasche. He got it painted pretty well by himself. Here is an in-process photo. He has to use his thumb to operate the guy because his hands are so small.

Good job Guaguachong. I love the markings also.

Great models Chris. Thanks for sharing. It is always fun making a model of a specific airplane that you know the history. What scales?

David, my records say that Superscale 72-640 covered the F-89. Problem is that I can't find it in my stash. Checking the internet gave me this review; F-89 Decals Check it out.

John!!! What a big box.

Very nice Mike. Welcome and thanks for showing us your work. Great job on that kit. Good kit and great use of aftermarket stuff. I love the markings too.

Welcome Steve. Glad to have you with us. Show us some of your models. Glad to hear that Amarillo is getting more active.

Bob, The Mikesh book that Tim mentioned also lists the color as Pantone 5747C. Checking the Pantone Color Chart link seems to show a dark green color with a touch of olive. Good luck.

Glad to have you Graham. Probably most of the people here are Star Wars fans of some sort. Show us some of your work.

Fantastic Greg. The detail on the Wildcat is outstanding.

Very nice work Pablo. It is good to see the Small Air Forces markings for the Mustang. Also great job on the Hs-129. The winter camo looks great. Finally, the fading of the finish of the Corsair looks very good. Welcome.

Check the list of colors and see if they have numbers along the left side like, C1, C33, C62 etc. These refer to Gunze Sangyo or Mr. Color paints. A listing of these colors can be found here; Color Reference Chart Hope this helps.

I would not think that the Chinese would have any supplies of Mitsubishi Green. Rather, I would think that any stocks that they would have had would have come with the export aircraft that they bought. Can you find any photos of the field? Whatever planes that are in the background would be good sources for the captured Zero painting. Having said all that, I would consider painting it in Russian Green or US OD. You want it to look different from all the other Zeros on the table. :D

I couldn't find a reference in the old IPMS Color Reference charts but my guess would be that China retained the color from the supplier country. I would expect that the I-16s would have the Russian color while the Curtiss planes would have the US colors or export colors.

Welcome Willi, Let us see some of your models. It is a real friendly group.

Welcome Ron. Let's see some of your models. While a travel trailer may be a little small for modeling, lots of us, myself in particular, have built many models in hotel rooms. Where there is a will, there is a way.

Well done John. Will CBK/USA have a display table at Phoenix?

Very nice Greg. What kit and scale? I really like the shading of panel lines and the way the camo colors flow together.

Nice job Jay. It really looks realistic. What did you use as the etching material?

Great models Greg. I love the markings on the F-84 and particularly the A-4 in markings from the Malvinas.

A great model Jim!!! How do you do the fine lines of the pattern on the kilt? It looks fantastic! Did you paint the shadows in on the rear pleats or is that a natural shadow from the photo? Love it. Obviously, the face, hands and tunic are great but I just love the kilt.

Thanks Keith. It gives me a good idea of what to use.