Mark Deliduka

Hey everyone! I just got back from the Ontario Minicon 2015. I am quite surprised and pleased to announce that I have placed today. Here's my latest for the Trophy Case: Third Place, Miscellaneous: Saturn V Rocket: First Place, Armor, 1/48 and Smaller: Dora Rail Gun Best Armor, Dora Railgun: I've got to admit, I've had a really good June. I only hope I can place at the IPMS Nationals next month. Thanks guys for looking in.

Thanks Dan! I'm not sure what scale it is; it might be 1/6th scale or 1/8. I can't even recall what was on the box. Yeah, it;s not my usual subject matter, but I've always loved the story of the:Legend of the Headless Horseman so when I saw this model; I just had to build it. It was great fun indeed and really helped me when it came time to go back to more "traditional" models.

The legend of Sleepy Hollow that is! Here he is in all his glory with his latest replacement head in hand: This guy was a lot of fun to do once I got past all the sanding and filling and sanding over and over ad nauseum! I hope you like him as well. Thanks all for looking in, comments are welcome.

Well, you've seen all the work for this on the "Maddog Manufacturing" Thread, here's the completed pics of this 1/72 scale Saturn V model. These first pics were taken without a flash. I also posed this model in front of my bathroom door after throwing a sheet over it. It was the only place I had to put it for pics. This first one shows the 'solid' side of the rocket: Here it is turned around so you can see the LEM inside: These next two pics were taken with a flash and I think they turned out better. If you look closely enough, you'll see a small 1/72 scale civilian car on the base of this model for size reference. It's a black car; I know, poor choice of model for a decent picture. Here's the 'solid' side: You can see I also exposed the doorknob so you could get an idea of how tall this 1/72 scale model is. Now for the 'windowed' side: Okay, there it is, my second Magnum Opus! Thanks for all the helpful hints, suggestions and tips on this. I couldn't have done it without you guys. Your compliments also kept me motivated to keep going on this. Thanks again and comments are welcome.

Thanks Bob! No, I was doing my best to take my time and not rush this. Fortunately I was able to get it completed. After all of your tips, suggestions and ideas, I have finally managed to complete the painting and clearcoating of this Saturn V to my relative satisfaction. Here's the pics I promised showing the progression of my work. I started with some preliminary masking on the lower and middle section of the rocket to block out the areas where this was going to be painted black: You can see where I also added some "B's" to indicate where I was going to paint this black so I didn't inadvertently mask the wrong area, or neglect to mask another. Here is the upper part of the rocket with more preliminary masking: After getting all that done, I completed the masking with additional tape and some paper towels covering the largest white areas: Then I shot the black. I used my airbrush and it still took an entire bottle of Testor's Model Master Flat Black: Now while that was drying, I finished the black on the collar of the LEM compartment, assembled the whole thing and tested the fit of the LEM inside. This was also supposed to allow me to see how the 'window' I left in the clear part looks; as well as to see how well the LEM is visible inside. I am quite pleased to see how well it fit: Another shot with the Command Module in place: Finally the masking came off the rest of the rocket. It was like unwrapping a Christmas present! I was pretty pleased with how well this ended up looking: There were a few areas that needed some touchup, but overall the making worked better than I expected. Next came the decals. The "UNITED" and "STATES" came as two separate decals, so I put the "STATES" on first and lined up the "UNITED" above it to make sure everything looked right: Next I took the second stage and added it to the first stage and then added the lower stage decals. I put the second stage on first in order to line everything up properly on the lower stage: After all that, I set it aside to dry. While it was drying, I finished up the Headless Horseman; doing a few things I'd wanted to do to enhance it. I then went back to the Saturn V and applied all the extensive stenciling to the Command Module and set that aside to dry. When everything was ready, I shot a new clearcoat on this whole rocket. When that had dried, I finished up a few more details and then finally, the Saturn V was done! Here's a teaser pic. This was taken in front of my bathroom door. It was the only place I had an unobstructed place to set this up and shoot the pics: This and the other three pics are in the Sci-Fi and Real Space Forum. Also, here is a teaser of the completed Headless Horseman: He's in the Figures Forums; feel free to check him out too. I'll be taking these two models along with my Dora rail gun to the Ontario, California Minicon this Saturday. I'm looking forward to the fun! Thanks all for looking in and enjoying the ride. Comments are welcome.

Yeah, still sweating this thing. I'm hoping to get it done this weekend. I want to take it to the Ontario Minicon.

Yes I did. I've since masked and painted the black on this and now I'm hoping to get another coat of clear and the decals on this in the next day or so. Then I'll be able to call it done.

Brilliant work Gil! Quite the Masterpiece.

Gil, I used Testor's Model Master enamel Chrome Silver. It only took overnight to dry, but I waited an extra day to complete these Modules anyway. I had enough to do while waiting for them to dry. Thanks for the compliment. It is much appreciated.

That really looks good. I can't wait to see the extra detail.

Thanks Joseph! Maybe by this time next week I'll have most of these done. Stay tuned.

Sweet! That's the first time I've seen someone with a 1:1 scale King Tiger in his garage! :lol: Seriously, that is very well done. You're doing fantastic work here.

Thanks Rob. I did and so far it has worked like a charm. I did write down all the suggestions from this and a few other Forums; implemented as many as I was able, and successfully clear coated this entire model. Now to get it masked off for black. Wish me luck.

Thank you Rusty. I just got done picking up a couple tack cloths. I will be trying them out. Dan thanks. I haven't got a spray booth per se, it is mostly a tray in front of a window with a fan blowing everything out. I do clean up the area around it before painting but always seem to have issues anyway. Most times it doesn't matter as I can easily remove it from a lot of my smaller models. This rocket is huge though and will be very obviously dirty if I'm not more careful. I will try the spray bottle technique as well with the tack cloth and hopefully get better results. Thanks again for the helpful hints guys; I'm writing everything down.

Okay people, brace yourselves. This is gonna be a big update.... I'll start out with a little work I had to do on Annie's gun. I was about to re-touch up the paint on the main gun when I saw a big glue splash on the side of the breech block. Here it is right after I started to sand it off: I've since sanded that down smooth and shot paint on it. Just waiting for it to dry. Next I completed the painting and decaling of the F-18 cockpit so I could finally assemble the whole fuselage like this: After that, it was real easy to add the wings and tail surfaces: After this I should be able to add the canopy, mask it off and start shooting paint. After all that, I decided to have some fun. I pulled out my Headless Horseman and started to detail more of it. I painted the horse's eyes red, painted the saddle blanket, as well as completed the sword hand and mounted it on the model; among other things. I gave his white shirt a dirty brown wash, touched up a few things and set it all up: Look out, he's coming for your head next.... Later on I found his cape and after a few more additions and touchups, I put it all together again to see how the final thing will look when I'm done: I still have a few more things to do for this, most notably the base of the tree and then add a Jack-'o-Lantern to the base next to the sign. I should be done in a few days I think. Finally, I went to work in a big way on the Saturn V. First off, I figured it was time to finish up the LEM and Command Modules. I started out by masking the (already black-painted) LEM in preparation for the silver color: Then I looked at the color call outs (such as they are!) on the instruction sheets. It called for a 'bright silver' color on this and the lower part of the Command Module. I figured the brightest silver I could use was Chrome. So, I went ahead and masked off the white panels on the Command Module next so I could shoot both at the same time: You can see how difficult that was, trying to get every square properly masked off, but I succeeded... Next I pulled out my Chrome Silver and shot these two: They looked pretty good to me: While these two were drying, I went ahead and shot some Tamiya Bare Metal Silver on the capsule, since it called for a different color silver: While everything was drying, I went ahead and puttied the crack that I'd gotten in the clear part that the LEM sits inside of at the top of Stage III. This was after I'd c=glued the lower clear part to it so it would be more sturdy: I should be able to have that all sanded and repainted tomorrow... I had also finally finished painting all five main engines on Stage I. Man that was time consuming! Here they are dry-fit into place: This is a view you do NOT want to have when this thing fires up! After all that time, I was able to finally add all the retro rockets, sensors, doodads and thingamajigs to the outside of the LEM and Command Modules. These two are now completed: Command Module: LEM: Now all I have to do is complete the white on all these stages, add a clearcoat and then mask these off for the black so I can complete this model: This is where I am now, and for five hours I fought and struggled to get that rocket body done in a clean and smooth coat of white. So far, I've not been successful. I can only hope that I can get that done before the Nationals! Okay, that is my long and tedious update, you can all wake up now. Thanks for looking in, comments are welcome.

I am trying to build a 1/72 scale Saturn V rocket. That takes a shipload of white paint. I've been using the Wal-Mart .96cent rattle cans of flat white. It's been going on very smooth and even. I found that it is easier than trying to airbrush such a massive model, as I don't have a paint bottle big enough.I have had no issues with the paint itself. My issue is that every time I try to prepare this model for a clearcoat to apply my masking for the black paint and subsequently the decals, I keep finding little flecks of dust and micro hairs that are very obvious. I've done all I can think of to wash and sand these specs off. I've even sprayed Static Guard on this model to try and eliminate the static that keeps attracting this crap! I've been at this for FIVE HOURS now and I'm further away from masking this than I was five hours ago! And I've only been working on STAGE II! Now, I've seen all you Masters on here getting such smooth, CLEAN, and EVEN coats of white and other colors on your models. I have been at this second stage for FIVE HOURS and still nowhere near where I need to be to move on. Then I still need to do the larger Stage I. This is why I'm still just a moderately novice modeler here, nowhere near being in the same league as everyone here. I cannot make this model look RIGHT to save my life! I haven't even gotten to the step where I can add the black sections to this because I'm too much of a bad modeler to even get the stupid model CLEAN ENOUGH! WHAT DOES IT TAKE? All I want is for this to NOT look like some kid built it in a dusty, dirty room! I've cleaned my workstation, spray booth area and surrounding environs. I've done as much as I can to eliminate as much of the dust as I can. I've done everything I can think of to stop the static cling on the model parts. I guess I'm just too much of a screw up to do this model any justice! What does it take to make a model even half as good as any of you Masters?

I still have nearly all my childhood models, including my first ship, first jet, first painted jet, etc. I've lost a total of about 11 models in my youth from moves, but most had been replaced. I've tried to keep all my models I've ever built which explains why I have so many completed models. I could never bring myself to throw away, burn up, or blow up any of my models when I was a kid.

Thanks Dave! I'm kinda surprised that it wasn't up on the Alliance site. I did post it there. Oh well, I'm glad to see your compliment and I appreciate it. Will you be at the Nationals? Some of these are going to Columbus to see how they do there. Hopefully you can come and see some of these in person.

Thanks Clare! I would, but there's too many shelves groaning under the weight of my finished models to find space on the wall...

Thanks Chris! Glad to see you stop in. I hope to meet you in Columbus if you're going.

Thanks Gil! Glad to see you post!

Thanks Pete! It was great seeing you there at the show as well. It's a pleasure to put a face to a name. You guys down in San Diego run one of the top shows in Southern California and it's always a thrill to come down to it. Someday I hope to get to the January show too.

Thank you gentlemen for the compliments! I appreciate them very much. I am thrilled to have gotten these in light of the stiff competition.

Good tips Ed. I will definitely look into doing that. Someone else also recommended black decal paper to cut into pieces and apply. That also sounds good; I would just be a bit concerned at bubbles and other issues of the decal not sitting down on the model in places. I am going to look at all possibilities. Thanks again and keep those ideas coming.

Today I went with several of my friends down to San Diego for their Model Expo. I took only seven models again this time and was ribbed for it again. When asked "Why so few?" I simply told them I can't afford the "Deliduka surcharge". (this is when a model club charges for extra models beyond a certain number) I did help judge and had a great time. When the dust settled though, I had won two comic books and two sets of Modelkasten 1/35th scale Panther tracks (one for early Panther and one for late Panther) in the raffle. In the contest itself, they had a split: "Wheeled Vehicles 1/72 and Smaller" and Tracked Vehicles 1/72 and Smaller". I took a Third Place in each... Third Place, Wheeled Vehicles, 1/72 Scale and Smaller: Mack Tank Transporter with FT-17 Tank. Third Place, Tracked Vehicles, 1/72 Scale and Smaller: JGSDF Type 10 MBT with Dozer Blade. Third Place, Space and Sci-Fi, All Scales and Types: Finemolds Y-wing Fighter. Competition was stiff, so winning these to me is a major, major accomplishment given the extreme talent I was up against. Not only that, but San Diego IPMS is very stringent on their judging; being as close to IPMS National standards as possible; making their contest one of the most challenging ones in Southern California next to Orangecon itself. This is cream on the already sweet experience of attending that show. Anyway, I don't win often or much, so this is a big deal for me so I hope you all don't mind me popping this up. I'll try to have more pics up later of the show and it's entries. I didn't get too many since my battery started running low two-thirds of the way through the show.