Mark Deliduka

Thank you Jean-Marc!

Thank you Stuart! My other challenges I faced were with the linkage inside the nose to make it raise and lower, it was darn near impossible to get installed correctly, but I managed. It became a moot point in the long run when this model fell while I was installing the landing gear. Everything broke and the three pieces of the linkage fell out so the nose is currently glued shut. The seams were a real bear to fill and sand, especially along the wing/fuselage joint. That kept cracking open when I tried filling it, so eventually I had to add some strip styrene along the joint to make sure it stayed glued and sealed. A number of other seams were difficult and half the flaps kept breaking off despite having a strong attachment system. Painting it wasn't bad, but even with gloves on, I kept having brown and black smudges on it that wouldn't clean up, resulting in the need for another coat of white. Thank you Jean-Marc! I do hope to show it someday, despite it being a "three-foot" model. I'm still mulling over ideas for transporting it out and back without it arriving or returning in pieces.

Thank you Jean-Marc! The next post was the Concorde, then I also posted a B-66 so there's a fre for you to see.

That looks fantastic so far! Bring it man!

Yes, I have completed another troublesome aircraft, this time it's the old Italeri US Air Force B-66 Destroyer before it was converted to a Red Crown ELINT aircraft. I had painted, stripped and repainted this numerous times so this is another great "three-foot" model: It's been shot with a Krylon aluminum paint, and the one decal on the engine broke when I tried again to use Solvaset to lay it down flat. Someday when I'm not so disgusted with this model I'll try to paint match and fix it. Thank you all for looking in, comments are welcome.

Thank you Gil! I did something quite similar as you described. That was the best result I got; perhaps I didn't work it long enough. Thank you Ron! Yes, some of that thin metal would help tremendously. I'll be on the lookout for it when I go shopping next.

Thank you Gil! My perseverance was challenged quite a bit with this kit, but I am thrilled I got through it. Thank you Carlos! She's beautiful from three feet away at least. And yes, so many people have mentioned that this bird looks so much better with the nose up.

It's been a pretty good couple weeks and so we have enough for a new tour. This one will be a bit shorter but there is still lots to see. So, make your way to the trams and all aboard! In our first stop in the Hangar, we have a number of projects moving forward, including another troublesome model like the Concorde, but that is further in. First we have progress on this Israeli S-199. We completed the wing assembly which consisted of ten parts and dry ft that sub-assembly to the fuselage: Since it fit so well, we added the cockpit from underneath; after adding the instrument panel first, and then cemented everything in place. The canopy was added here too: Since masking the canopy was so difficult, even on the plane, it was removed and paper towel was used to mask the interior so that the base color could be applied. It was then glossed for decals after the paint had dried: Finally here in the last bay we have the troublesome B-66 Destroyer. After multiple spraying, sanding, stripping, spraying etc. I finally decided to just move on. The silver coat was good enough so it was polished and decals were applied: That is it for this short tour of the Hangar, now on to the Shipyards where small progress was done in our workshops building the weapons for the PT-15 MTB. Here is the second of the 20mm guns for this boat; the first had been built before: We also completed the torpedo tubes (mostly); one part went missing. I intend to build these with one set of tubes closed and the other set of tubes open and ready to fire: That is all we have here for now. On to the Motor Pool where we've been working on a number of projects that need to be finished. In this first bay of the Motor Pool, we have the British Achilles tank destroyer. This will be the first one of these I ever built. It's a UM kit so another tough fight here. First the running gear was installed: The kit included photo etch strips to bend into shape and cemented to the top of these bogies. Naturally, as with all UM kits of Shermans and Sherman variants, these photo etch parts go AWOL no matter how hard I try to keep them from disappearing! So this time I wasn't waiting to find them; I have too many UM Shermans sitting incomplete because I'm waiting to find these parts! I figured I'd try plastic styrene strip. It was more difficult that I expected but I forged ahead, starting with getting a basic bend done and then cementing them to the bogies: When these were dry, they were bent over and the other ends cemented down. Once they held, I added the upper run of track to push them down: You can see they look very misshapen, not at all like they were supposed to be. But they are ON, and with enough paint and weathering, they will be darn near impossible to see. Hey it was an experiment that partially succeeded, I don't know if I'll try it again, but the opening there is possible. While that sat and simmered, the turret was completed with all but the ready ammunition: By then, the tracks were dry enough so I completed the track runs for both sides: All that is really needed now is the oversized bolts to be added to the turret and upper hull and this is ready for paint: In the next bay we have the Egyptian Su-100 assault gun. This kit provided resin parts to replicate a vehicle used by the Egyptians, so they were added to this. The full run of tracks were added as well: It's amazing; this model is from the same company as the Shermans and yet it goes together so much better than any of their Sherman kits! Anyway, this was got it's tan base coat and later a gloss coat to ready it for decals: Following this is the Syrian StuG III completed and ready for paint after I added the track runs to this: Because of all that photo etch, this was primed with a black primer to hopefully seal all that Zimm so the brass color doesn't shine through and that the base paint holds: Sinister looking vehicle right? Where's that Haunted Tank?!! Base paint went on well and looks great so far I think. Then the gloss was applied for the decals: Now I wish I knew how to build the spacial monut they made for the Italian SAFAT machine gun that they mounted on this. All the pics are too far away, fuzzy or both to get a clear view, and any search attempts to find it went every which way but where I wanted it to go. That leads us to the last Syrian tank, the PzIV in the next bay. As you can see, about half of the tracks had been installed while I went looking for the same type to complete these track runs: I wanted to replace those Godawful vynil tracks that came in this kit. Searching for the same type of track that was already on it resulted in enough to finish these track runs. The turret shurtzen went on as well: Finally a base of tan was appplied and later the gloss for decals: Last but not least, the Ratte had been creeping along as Rattes do, I now have four of 16 bogies completed: And that completes our short tour for today. Thank you all for looking in, comments are welcome!

Yes, after a long hard fight, I can now declare this bird done! This is the 1/72 scale Revell British Airways Concorde SST. It's got 11 coats of white and clear on it. The nose had broken when this fell a few days back, so I glued it in the raised position, mostly because I like the way it looks that way: This beastie is nearly three feet long, so it was darn near impossible to photograph! These are the best I can do for now. Thank you all for looking in, comments are welcome!

Thank you Jean Marc! I do have more to post soon.

Now there's a familiar name from the past! Welcome back Ron! Looking forward to seeing what you've been working on!

Thank you Gil!

Thank you Ron! Great name for the field kitchen! Braille Strike has been around for awhile, they have an extensive lineup of decals for 1/72 scale vehicles. They are a bit delicate, but quite durable too.

These are the latest vehicles I finished to add to the collection. These were some simple and kits I started some time ago and left behind, so it was time to just get them finished up. One of them was actually finished in March on the 31st. It's this little 1/72 scale Military Wheels Russian PK-43 Field Kitchen: Next is this Valiant Miniatures German IG-8 Infantry supply train: Here you can see a little bit of the supplies they have loaded up: And last, we have the Syrian T34/85 tank. I used Braille Strike decals to make this a Syrian tank: Yes, the triangle got messed up on the one side of the turret. Someday I'll fix that. And that's what I got done for this month (and last), thank you all for looking in, comments are welcome.

This month I was able to finish two vehicles, one is a drone and the other a cruise missile. While technically not aircraft, they do fly, so here they are. First is this Russian cruise missile called the AS-15 Kent. This was a two-in-one kit with one shown in transport mode, the other in flight: This next one was also a two-in-one kit, containing two MQ-9 Reapers. One option was the Royal Air Force version used in Afghanistan: My second one will be done as a US Air Force bird, once I find out what markings and numbers are on the one my nephew flies the most. Thank you all for looking in, comments are welcome.

Thank you Jean-Marc, I will! And yes, I could easily use all those chairs, I'd be thrilled to receive them. I'll PM you with my address.

Thank you Jean-Marc! The Bear is indeed coming along nicely. The bogies on the Ratte will be done slowly but steadily....

Really? You shared this with the rest of your club? What did they say? As for your title, I do believe you still retain it. You are far more qualified to hold that title than I and these are the reasons why: -> You build in 1/48 scale which has far more parts and opportunities for additional details. I build in 1/72 scale and almost always just build what's in the box. -> You scratch build so many parts, sub-assemblies and small items like tools, stands, chairs, etc. I don't do any of that. -> You post lengthy posts showing a dizzying amount of progress on at least 20+ projects each week. I am lucky to post once a month with possibly 20 projects, but you surpass that by a count of three. Yes, I believe your title is quite secure my friend. As for being organized, looking at my hobby room and workbench may make you doubt that. I do maintain some sense of organization by replacing everything in the box it came in (except the model if it doesn't fit anymore). That and marking off on the instructions the steps I already completed help me to jump right back into the project when I return to it.

Wow, I'm dizzy now. Gonna go sit at my workbench now.....

And now to continue our tour of the Shipyards next. In the first slipway here we have the Japanese PT-15 that finally got the base coat of grey on it: In the next slipway, we continued work on the deck of the USS Enterprise. Some masking was pulled off, but the the yellow stripes were painted on the deck: Later, the remaining elevator stripes were masked off, the yellow painted on it and then we added the red stripes on these same elevator stripes: After some touchup, this deck is done: Finally, in this last slipway, we worked on getting the railings on the Robert E. Lee looking more even and refined. Additional parts were added and the seams on the upper cabin and deck were filled as well: That completes our tour so far of the Shipyards and so we move on to the Motor Pool. Production has been picking up, starting with a small shelf queen project that I wanted on the display shelf. This is the Military Wheels 1/72 scale Russian Field Kitchen. We had started it some time ago, found the box again and decided it was time to get it finished. First off the kitchen and limber were completed: Here's an idea of how small this is too: The horses were in four parts. Seriously. Two body halves, the head and the tail. They seemed pretty desperate to add some kind of 'detail' to this model! It didn't help that the parts were all so badly molded that massive sanding, carving and other adjustments needed to be made: Finally we got them painted: Moving along to the next bay, the Syrian PzIV got a partial run of tracks from the spares box. More will go on this when additional track pieces are found: Overall it's looking pretty good: Next are two Distressed Kit Auction winnings. These were mostly assembled by someone else before they gave up and donated them to our club for our Auction. First is this Dragon StuG III ausf H that they had added photo etch zimmerit to: This is going to be a Syrian StuG, and yes, there are pictures of several of these in Syrian service still sporting their Zimm. We started on the tracks for this for now: Our last Syrian tank is this Trumpeter T-34/85 that they had given up on because one of the idler wheels disappeared. I conjured up a replacement pair and added them to this tank: Next the tracks went on: Someone else added those metal fenders, saving me the trouble.... And then this got basecoated with the dark green: Then the decals went on. These are Braille Strike decals and went on well. I just forgot to trim them very close so some judicious cutting with a very sharp Exacto knife got them the right size. You can also see in my clumsiness, I messed up the red triangle on this side. Nothing a little paint can't fix: Lastly, I've been talking about starting my P.1000 Ratte to make into a carrying case for my small scale vehicle contest entries. Well, one Hobby Day Monday I made good on that statement. No, it never existed, or was ever used. Yes, this is in 1/72 scale. No, I don't think I will count it as one of the collection....mostly because it is pure fantasy that never got built or used. But I am building it. Here are all of the components and/or sub assemblies for the main track bogies. The drive sprockets are already finished: We had to make 32 of these rocker arms... or was it 36? This kit gives you springs so that the bogies articulate: Here's a close up of the drive sprockets: And finally, here is ONE bogie consisting of 44 parts in that one assembly.... I need to make eleven more: While that was drying, we finished up the majority of the main hull and turret: Now in this back lot, given how much lumber we use, we are building a new Lumber Mill: This is also a tribute of sorts for my paternal grandfather who was not permitted to serve in WWII: he owned one of these and because it was a vital industry back then, the government made sure he stayed on and supplied them throughout the war. And that completes this tour of Maddog Manufacturing for this time. Thank you all for looking in and as always, comments are welcome.

Well, it's been nearly a month since the last tour, so we are due. As there has been quite a bit of progress during that time, this will be another two-part tour due to the extensive amount of things to show. So, all aboard the trams for the latest tour! The Hangar is the first stop as always and here is where the majority of the progress has been. Starting in this first bay, we have some Russian ordinance. This was a short run kit that I got in the Distressed Kit Auction some time back. These finally got some paint on them and since the stand to the flying one went on walkabout, we modified one to hold it: Not too shabby... In the next bay is a project that got started because of all the white we were spraying on the Concorde. so, while I had the white out, we shot a white on the fuselage of this Canadian Otter to get a jump on it: Now on to the next bay, we have another started project; something that had been crying out for me to start. This is the Eduard Profipak Israeli S-199. The cockpit sans instrument panel was started first: After that the basic fuselage was assembled: Then we completed the rest of the fuselage and slipped the cockpit sub-assembly inside to dry fit so we could see how it fit: Looking pretty good so far. Next we worked more on the Italian Macchi C.205. The canopy went on after some more sanding had taken place: The the canopy was masked; it was easier to do it while installed on the aircraft: Next stop was the paint station, where this got the undercoat. Once it was dry, we masked it off for the upper coat: The upper coat went on after that: Followed later by the darker green splotches since we still had that color in the color cup after spraying the T-34: Moving along, we got some more progress done on the two Reapers (that I mislabeled as "Predators") shooting a base coat of Light Ghost Grey over them both: Once that was dry, a gloss coat was sprayed and we got the decals down on the British Reaper: I'm waiting for word from my nephew to see if he knows a particular drone he's flown the most so I can model it. Now for the larger stuff. In this bay we have another attempt at shooting a gloss coat on the Concorde: I was not satisfied with the joint between the tail and the main fuselage. However, to facilitate things we did what I should have done long before: we built the stand that came in the kit: Now this is much easier to maneuver without having to touch it and dirty up the white! It also made it easier to add the additional Mr. Surfacer to try and smooth out the troublesome joint again: Moving on while that dried, we have in this next bay both of the T-16 Badgers under construction. Both cockpit modules had the clear parts masked off to prepare for paint: The engines were added to the main fuselages of both planes and the main fuselage halves were cemented together. You can see one of them had already got the cockpit module attached: Afterward, the other cockpit module was attached and the wings were installed on both planes: Later their first color went on. I'm not exactly happy with this shade and I may re-shoot another one....or not: Now for the next big model, we go to this next bay where the Tu-95H (also mislabeled as the "Tu-142) is being built. I wasn't happy with the way the inside nacelle on one wing was sitting; there were too many large gaps along the nacelle and wing. The only thing to do was to remove it and re-set it correctly so that that the gaps are gone: Once re-set there was still a bit of putty needed at the top joint where the nacelle meets the wing: Naturally doing all that caused the main landing gear to break, so this was fixed to dry along with everything else: While that was drying we moved on to the front fuselage section where the canopy was installed: This was then masked when it was dry: After that, the rear fuselage and the front fuselage were joined together. Now you can get some idea of how big this thing is as it is sitting on a standard tray table: Naturally you'll be able to see how incredibly messy my bench is, but hey, it can't be helped.... Moving on, we then installed the wings: I had to pull the entire tray table out to fit that thing! Here's another view of this thing on the tray table: Later on, this Big Bird got it's first color: That will all be masked when it's time to put the main bare metal silver coat on. First, we still need to add some of the lighter greys on certain areas first. Now this tour has been quite extensive already so we shall continue the tour in the Shipyards and the Motor Pool in the next post.

Thank you Jean-Marc! For some reason I thought you had seen this and commented earlier. It is an achievement decades in the making indeed. Fortunately, the Hall I displayed this collection in is close enough to my home and I have the keys to it so bringing them down was quite easy. I just hope when I reach my next milestone, I can keep them on display for much longer. Thank you again!

Keith, that is one stupendous model! I also love the striping, it really is sensationally done! Way to go man!

Thank you Kevin and I totally agree with your comment about the beauty of a consistent scale! I also cannot wait until I make it to 1000!

Thank you Kevin! I enjoyed building that mobile pigeon coop more than I thought I would. What a blast!