Mark Deliduka

Okay, after about two and a half days of marathon building, I finally managed to get a few things done. I wanted to get even more done but sometimes it felt like I was going two steps forward and one step back. That was still moving forward at least; not as much as I wanted, but I still moved forward. First off, this will be a short update since most of the progress resulted in some completed models. In fact, I completed three aircraft and three armor. Feel free to check them out in their respective Forums. And now, on to everything I've gotten done. On my aircraft, I finally finished up my F-86 Sabre and set it on it's wheels. It promptly fell back on it's tail, despite my having added weight to the nose. So, I cut off the nose to add some more weight to it, both in the intake as well as the space above the intake: After that was done, I replaced the nose and touched it up again and called it done. Next, I applied the decals to the Gloster Meteor. They look bad because they are the original Frog decals in this kit. I had no others to put on this so I just used them. They actually went on fairly well to my surprise. I didn't have nearly as many issues with them as I thought I would: Later I recoated this with another clearcoat, installed the landing gear and gear doors and set it aside as finished. Finally, I pulled out the Aardvark and started on the landing gear for it: After getting them installed, I did some final touchups and then called it done. Next, my armor.... I had some serious issues here to take care of. On my British Forlite Staff Car, I had some gaps to fill in and so I added some Mr. Surfacer 500 to it. I put it on thick to account for shrinkage: Next I sanded it smooth and then added a new basecoat to it. Once that dried, I clearcoated it for decals: Once that was dry, I added the decals and dullcoated this before setting it aside to dry: Once dry, I added the wheels and did some minor touchups to this. That completed this one. I also added the wheels to the L-39 bus, and dullcoated and weathered it to call it done. Finally, I found the glazing for the Strassenzepp bus so I was able to add the windows to it: Now I could finally close this up! So, I put the top on the bottom and found a huge gap above the fenders that shouldn't be there: Fortunately, I hadn't glued it in so I pulled it off; cut off the fenders from the chassis, and added some strip styrene to them to raise them higher to meet the bus body: Lo and behold, it worked! I did have to glue the bottom a little tighter than usual to make them match better, (thus the clamp) but it worked like I wanted it to. There is still a tiny gap there but it is within my tolerance levels: I have given up making this an "award-winning" model after I couldn't get the paint to behave; I can accept that small amount of gap. It would take far too much effort and damaging work to try and close it up further. So, now that I got it closed up, I finished up by painting the front end. There is supposed to be a decal that goes above the windshield, but it got messed up and unusable, so I left it off. Now it is complete. Okay, you've seen the work I did to these, now feel free to check them out in their respective Forums. Thanks for looking in, comments are welcome.

I have a couple more acquisitions to show that I got in lately. This first one is a purchase at my local model club meeting; a simple little PT boat that I can add to my boats: Next is a raffle prize I got at the same model club meeting. I had this and built it as a kid; this time I'll see if I can do better. This is Monogram's USS Constitution: Finally, at a local gaming convention, I picked up these books along with a ton of paints: That's all lately. Now to go and post my latest progress and completed models.

Oh man, that is some stunning work!

Wow, that is spectacular! I could swear I'm looking at a real one. Simply stunning work!

Welcome Tom! I like what I see in your selection of pics. Well done. I also build for the pleasure of it and I still enter comps. I never expect to win given that I still consider myself quite the novice,so when I do, it's all cream. It looks like you're going to fit wight on here. I do hope to meet you at the Nationals this year.

Oh yeah! I can't wait to see more. Enjoy Castle though, it is a fantastic show!

Thanks guys! I'm really enjoying this Silly Putty camouflage technique. I hope I can get more done here soon. Stay tuned!

Thanks Mark! I also have Seasons 1-6 of Castle as well! I love that show! I love the Halloween episode where he comes out wearing his Captain's outfit from his TV series "Firefly". There are so many that are my favorites it's really hard to name. That is one brilliant show!

Happy New Year everyone, and it is now about two weeks into the New Year. This will be a small update but I now have some decent progress to show, so without further ado; here is how I started the new year. I resolved to finish at least eight of the unfinished models from 2013 and 2014. At least six are now extremely close to the finish line. With that being said, here is the work I did on the two buses I had hoped to finish last year. This first bus got the suspension done and then the interior was added to the top. I later snapped the top part of the bus to it. Here it was ready for clearcoat and decals; you an barely see the suspension underneath: This is where it is now; all decaled up and ready for dullcoat, wheels and weathering: I also added the suspension to the bottom of the Strassenzepp bus interior: Afterward, I painted the dash up. I was trying to make it look like wood paneling with chrome trim around the instruments; not that it'll be visible once this bus is closed up: Last, I added then front fenders to this bus: I wanted to add the windows so I could finish this bus up, but I some how lost the clear acetate that came with it which contained the window outlines on it. So now this bus has gotten a whole lot more difficult to finish now. Next I decided to paint the Forlite staff car. It got a full coat of green drab and is almost ready for me to add the windows and close it up: That's Silly Putty inside masking the interior detail from the airbrush, in case you were wondering... Finally, I tried to make some progress on my FT-17. I built up the drive and idler wheels first: They were easy! Then I had to put together all the small roadwheels. I cut off half of them (three at a time) and carefully cemented them to the other halves that were still on the sprues. You can see how small these are compared to the Exacto Blade: And these were the larger ones! I had already done the smaller ones; only losing one small one that I didn't even bother to look for. I'll deal with that issue when I come to it later. After that, I had enough! Moving on to my aircraft, I decided to apply some decals. I only had enough time at Hobby Day to get two aircraft done of the three that I had brought to do. The first one was my F-86, done up as Major Jabara's plane: Next I did my Australian Aardvark that had been sitting on my workbench since 2013: Now these two are ready for a final clear/dullcoat and finishing up. I can't wait to get them done. The day before Hobby Day, I had some time to work on my 1/32 scale Tigershark. Here it is with the final set of Silly Putty Masking on it: Then I shot the final color on this: When I got home from Hobby Day on Saturday, I had some time to go in and remove all the masking off this plane. I think it's looking pretty good: You can see I also fixed the wingtip missile rail......again. Hopefully it stays fixed now; I'm tired of dealing with it. Now all I have to do is paint the black nose on it and the metallic wrap around the exhausts, then I can clearcoat this and decal it. That's about it for now. I have a few days coming up where I can get more done so hopefully soon I'll be able to post some finished models. Meanwhile, thanks for looking in, comments are welcome.

It's an amazing concept that happens when you get to the point where you look at your model and see that there's nothing left to install or paint or add to it. There comes a very momentary bit of confusion and denial at makes you look it over once again... just to be sure. Then there's a flood of relief and a sense of happiness and pride as you look it over and realize that it looks pretty darn good! This lasts as you place it lovingly on the shelf; still looking at it a while longer. Then you turn away and this feeling is rapidly replaced by a thrill of the hunt as you choose the next model to work on.... Scale of Kings! I like it!

Excellent! I'm thrilled to see another one of us here. Another friend of mine calls it the OTS: One True Scale. LOL! Thanks for the compliments as well; they are very appreciated.

Well I ain't seein' them! I need to see this in person, so you better have this in Columbus, even if it is only on the display table!

LOL! Thanks Jim! I do think my "army" outnumbers most third world countries! :lol: :lol:

WOW! So clean and neat! I couldn't get that good a job on my large aircraft to save my life! You are a masterful wizard! I bow in the presence of greatness.

I agree Gil! I ain't gonna take no sass from that boat! It has been quite the challenge though, but I already know how I'm going to beat it. Stay tuned, more progress to come.

Thanks Mark! Many of these didn't get done because of similar reasons that you mentioned. In addition to that, I was gone from home most of the summer. I am hoping to get many of these done as early as possible this year.

Thanks for the support guys. I've also seen this done in several other Forums as well. Gill, I'll go looking for your post showing your work; I love looking at your fine masterpieces! After that, I just may post a copy of my Thread here for all to see. Thanks Bob! LOL! I love the new title! I don't really have a five year plan, but I'll tell you my five month plan: Complete 35 more armor models to bring my count to 700 finished vehicles and then take a pic of the entire lot gathered together in one picture!

AHHH Mark, when you you out build the world and call it Mad Dog Manufacturing, I do believe you have AMS. How many kits did you build this year along? HUMMMMM your so funny,' I don't have AMS really"!!!! :Smile-tongue: Chris G. :Smile_sceptic: But... but I don't have AMS!! I just throw these together without any aftermarket additions! :D Oh, and I did finish 28 models this past year.... down from my usual 45-50. Yeah, I'm terminal....

Thanks Bob! Glad you like them. I'll go check out those other comments.

Okay people, it is a new year now and time to start another Maddog Manufacturing Thread to showcase the works I'll be doing this coming year. Since I haven't gotten anything done yet this year (seeing how it's only the first day!) I'm going to post pics of all the models I did not get done in 2014. These will be the models I focus on this year in general and this January in particular. Here they are in no particular order. Let's start with this: Heller 1/72 scale DC-6 Super Cloudmaster: I have a few more decals to apply to this beastie, as well as touch up a couple areas where they didn't work out the way I hoped they would. 1/72 scale Frog Gloster Meteor. This will be bare metal finish: Revell Snap-tite Pirate Ship I snapped together over my vacation, along with the sails I plan on putting on the masts. Maybe after that I just might rig it! Another boat; this one is the ancient Airfix RAF Rescue Boat in 1/72 scale. It was a Distressed Kit I got from my IPMS Distressed Kit Auction so it had been 'slightly started'. Trumpeter 1/72 scale F-35: Here's some pics of the 1/72 scale Williams Brothers C-46: 1/72 scale Dragon Saturn V Rocket. Yep, you saw that right: 1/72 scale! 1/72 scale Airfix Vicker's Valiant: Next is a 1/32 scale Tigershark I was challenged to build a few years ago for a New Years Challenge. This January, my IPMS club's theme is "Go Big" so I'm working to finally finish this since it's been on the bench for far too long: Something different from my favorite American legend, the Polar Lights Legend of Sleepy Hollow: the Headless Horseman. 1/72 scale Hobby Boss Easy Build F-86 Sabre jet: 1/72 scale Hasegawa Australian F-111 Aardvark: Hasegawa Iranian F-4 Phantom: 1/72 scale Revell of Germany Swedish Leopard II: 1/72 scale ACE British Forlite Staff Car: 1/72 scale RPM FT-17 that is going to sit in the back of the Mack truck I just finished. There's 11 pieces on this little assembly and this is just the basic hull: 1/72 scale Opel Bus W-39 Late: 1/72 scale Roden Strassenzepp bus: Yeah, that's quite a lot to do. You can see that many of these are simply waiting for decals. Others need a second or third color of paint, and some just need some serious elbow grease. These are all the models I shall be really focusing on and hopefully get done as quick as possible. I may eventually start a few more models in the next month or so, but I want to get as many of these done as I can first. Okay, the Factory Doors for Maddog Manufacturing are now open for 2015. Stay tuned for more as I get production up and running again this year! And as always, comments are welcome.

Thanks Joe! If enough people want to join me on doing a Year in Review, I just may post mine here too. Thanks again for the vote of confidence.

Gil, my final count is way, way down from where it usually is. I only completed 28 total models in 2014. I was going to post a Thread showing them all in a Year in Review, but a past Letter from the Editor in the Journal called such a thing braggadocio, one-upmanship and ego stroking/fishing for compliments and I'm anything but that! I did post such a Thread on several other Forums I frequent as that is the tradition everyone participates in as a reminder of what everyone did over the course of the year. I like it because it reminds me of some of the earlier models from others that were done at the beginning of the year that I'd forgotten about. Sometimes I also see models others did for Group Bui9lds that I never checked in on and never saw. Anyway, enough rambling... I gotta get started on the New Year Manufacturing Line. Here's hoping that 2015 sees me right back up to my usual completion rate!

Dude, that rocks! I love those kinds of books and articles too. Your whole year is made! Way to go!

I like that idea. I've been trying to get our club to set something like that up but so far, no takers. I guess I can also say that I'm one of the extreme few that is not afflicted with AMS. I do strive to perfect the basics, taking care of seams and alignment, but I won't go purchasing aftermarket to improve something I'm working on. If such aftermarket is included in the kit I'll dabble but for me the basics are focused on first and I move on. Maybe that is why I am able to complete so many models in a year.

Thanks Ed and Happy New Year. I never had any of the MPC kits, so I can't vouch for their quality. These Finemolds kits are a dream to assemble; they are engineered so well that they fully snap into place. And the parts are molded and assembled i such a way that there are NO seams to fill. Really tremendous kits.