Mark Deliduka

Oh yeah! Thanks for the reply Chris!

Awesome Chris! He looks fantastic!

I'm sitting here quite stunned right now. I've been to two different contests in a row and managed to place in both! This time, I attended the Desert Classic in Antelope Valley CA. I took 14 models in and entered in 5 different categories. This time, I placed Second in Rotary Wing Aircraft, All Types, All Scales. Here is my latest addition to the Trophy Case: I also managed to win a Badger knockoff airbrush offered by Harbor Freight in the raffle. Gonna give it a shot and see how it goes. If it does well, I'll add a fine-tipped needle to the Iwata for some fine lines and use this new one for basecoats. Thanks all for looking in!

Man I remember building that kit about 42 years ago as a kid! I still have it! Can't wait to see how you do on this!

Sweet! May have to pick one of these up. I love Tornadoes!

Thanks Mark! I appreciate it. It was quite fun; I outlined it with a sharp-pointed Sharpie marker. I'm hoping to get more of these little Macks soon.

Thanks Chris! I'm glad you are checking in and posting. I love seeing people's comments; the more that gets posted, the more I build! I'm glad you are still building, even if it isn't as fast as you'd like. The important thing is to keep having fun! Awesome comment Chris, looking forward to posting more for you. It's raining here today, so I'll be getting a lot more done, especially on my transports and one of my helicopters. Stay tuned....

Yes! After all kinds of issues, losing the box, losing the decals, and other issues, I have finally gotten this little truck finished! This is the RPM Mack Tanker Truck in 1/72 scale: I am so glad to finally get this off my bench. Now if I could only find the decals to the little French Hotchkiss I have, maybe I could finish that one..... Thanks all for looking in.

Today I got more progress done, so here it is. First off, I got the dunklegelb basecoat on almost all my train. Only one car is still not painted; I have too much to add to it yet. I'm just waiting for parts to come in. Now I didn't have room to set it all up in a line, so I'm going to show them all two by two, except for the engine and tenders. They are all in this pic here: Next are the Geschutzwagens: Then the Kommandowagens: Followed by the Artilleriewagens: Then the TR cars holding the panzer 38(t)'s. I only have one Panzer 38(t) right now. Waiting for the pother to come in, as well as the parts to finish the unpainted TR wagon: And finally, the turreted cars: Wow, now to wait for the last parts I need to come in. Meanwhile, I can start to camouflage this train. Moving along, I wasn't only working on this train. I also started a project I've been wanting to do. I entered this in the Sherman Group Build going on over on the LEM. This is my Israeli M-50 Sherman I'm building using parts from a Dragon M-4 105mm with HVSS suspension and adding them to the conversion kit from Corporal Overby's Motor Pool. First off, the HVSS suspension bogies were real fiddly to build when all parts were removed from the sprue. So, I decided to build them mostly on the sprue: Next I had to install them all on the chassis of the M-50. This is a late model M-50 by the way. I set the thing on it's side to line up all the bogies; and then to make sure all wheels would touch the ground, I used a straight edge off one of the pour blocks to tap them all in a line: While they were drying, I worked on the turret. I cleaned up the main gun and then added it to the turret, making sure it was all lined up right: Here it is, all assembled with the basics so far. I still have hatches and other things to add to it: Now I'm a bit puzzled. This kit gives me the following options for the engine deck: As there are no instructions with this kit; I'm wondering which one should I use? This is the M-50 Late according to the box, but I've no idea what that would have as an engine deck. The box top image doesn't show which one to use, so I'll take any and all suggestions. Meanwhile, I haven't been focusing solely on armor; I've also been working on my C-160 Transall just to keep my hand in aircraft. I managed to get the fuselage together despite a severely warped interior cargo deck. here it is with the main wings dry fit on: Okay, that completes my latest work. I'm hoping to get more done on the other two transport aircraft I'm building as well. Once I have enough progress to justify pics, you'll see them here! Meanwhile, thanks all for looking in, comments are always welcome.

Awesome job Noel! And in my chosen scale as well! I also built up that same model from Italeri and I know what you went through. I made mine British though. Ah, one of my all-time favorite birds....

Looks like a Scooter to me too! very well done.

Nothing in my chosen scale, but at least ACE has a model of the IT 1 missile tank. I'm going to have to get one built.... Thanks for posting this news. Keep them coming.

Welcome Derek! We may have met at Anaheim, although now there's no way of knowing of course! That was my club's Nationals, and my first one. What a blast I had! Congrats on the awards, and I'm looking forward to seeing some of your ships now.

Thanks Gil and Ed for the compliments, I really appreciate them. It keeps me motivated to keep going whenever I get such excellent replies. This model is definitely a very challenging one, but most fulfilling and satisfying watching it all come together. I have a friend whose brother owns a cabinet shop. He's cutting and building a seven-foot-long by 18-inch-wide display baseboard for this train. I'm going to be purchasing about six more sets of Trumpeter's 1/72 scale track and roadbed as is found in their BR.52 Kriegslokomotive kit. They sell it separately. I'm also planning on getting a turnout as well so I can lay two tracks on the 7x1.5-foot board. One track will pass diagonally from one corner of the board to the other with the turnout at one end. That track will hold the armored train The other track will come off the turnout and parallel one side of the board near the edge. That track will hold my BR-52 Kriegslokomotive; and eventually, my Morser Karl on railcars, and my Leopold railgun when I get them built. I will also be landscaping this board with some trees, bushes, a road paralleling the diagonal track with another road crossing both tracks and intersecting the 'main' road near the far end of the board. In between the two tracks at the open end of the board I'll be adding a train station too that will sit between the two tracks and next to the intersecting road. Beyond that, I haven't decided what else I'll be putting on it. Once it's done, I'll be trying to figure out just where it's going to go.... Well Ed, that is a very good question. Technically, it is two kits: One kit of the engine and a set of cars, and the 'complimentary pack' which contains the second set of cars sans engine to make the full train. Although I agree that each of these could stand on it's own, I think I will just call it one kit finished since they are all supposed to be displayed as one entity and not thirteen different models. Besides, someone may come along and accuse me of padding my count! As for the paint; I'll be airbrushing this one. I've already picked up six jars of Testor's Model Master Panzer Dunklegelb, but it looks like I'll need about six more jars! This thing already wiped out a whole can of primer! Then there's the three to five jars or so of the other two colors for the camo pattern. Still looking at options on how to paint this beastie. I may get a basecoat down on it today if all goes well. Thanks guys again for the great comments and compliments. I am thrilled with the interest you've shown on this project,

Welcome Vince! Looks like a fun build!

Moving right along here gentlemen (and ladies, you know who you are!) we come to the latest progress on this train. I completed all this work about a week ago; but I've been out of town on a job all this week so have had no access to the computer till now. Okay, here is the first part of the work I did. I had lost some pieces to the Panzer IV turret so a friend of mine gave me one that he had as a spare. I used the parts I could to complete this turret and I also re-filled some of the seams: This car just needed wire attachments and sanding and it was ready for paint. That happened later as you shall see. Next, I added scratch built and added the flaps at the end of the command car. This is the first command car. Later, I got the antenna added to the second command car, but I didn't get pics of it afterward. Here is the first one with the scratchbuilt flaps: This next one is the artillery wagon that needed scratchbuilt flaps as well. I also completed the turret for it: This next car is the flatcar that carries the Panzer 38(t) and was one of my biggest challenges. You can see why here in this pic, the warp was so bad I couldn't get the pieces to go on, much less make the wheels sit right on the track: So, what to do? I put a pot of water on the stove and brought it to a rolling boil. While that was coming to a boil, I removed the wheels and other parts from one end of the car. I then dipped the flatcar in the boiling water, stirring it around a bit until I felt it was soft enough. Then I clamped it in between two boards to get it to cool into a more flattened state so it could sit right: Then I went back to work on the rest of the train praying that it would work.... Prayers were answered: It isn't completely perfect, but close enough that when it sits on the rails, it looks right! I moved on, adding all the parts I had left for this car until it was also just about ready for paint: Onward and upward.... I continued on by adding more wire to the rest of the train cars, trying to get all wire grab handles and steps installed on all the remaining cars that needed them. here is the other artillery wagon showing the wires I added to it: I added the other wires to the first artillery wagon as well. Meanwhile, a friend of mine came in and brought a whole bunch of model kits he'd scored; one of which was the ancient ESCI artillery set with the quad-20 AA guns. He have me his Quad gun which I built and added to the first artillery wagon. Here it is sporting it's wires and a new quad gun: One down, one to go..... Finally, I had this train so completed that I felt I could go ahead and paint it. I decided that with all the brass and copper wire on it, it would be best to prime it first. So here it is, all primed and ready for paint. This view shows the train coming at you: Here it is after it has passed you by: And finally, here is the best overhead shot I could get: Want a good laugh? Just as I was finishing posting this pic, I heard a train in the distance, blowing it's horn as it passed through my part of town. Usually, I don't hear that, but it is a quiet early Saturday morning, so it was quite noticeable. Anyway, there it is. Next up, I will be adding the remaining missing parts that were shorted in the kit as I get them. I also have another UM Panzer38(t) on order to replace the kit one that is missing too many parts to build. My friend Dave is getting me another Quad 20 AA gun, and another friend named Neil is sending more bumpers and other parts. As I wait for those other parts and kits, I'll be adding a basecoat of dunklegelb on select cars and then painting the pattern on it. Hopefully, this will be done by Christmas! Meanwhile, thanks all for looking in, comments are always welcome.

Okay, now I want to build a woody! That is an outstanding model! Most realistic looking woody I've seen in ages! Way to go!

Thanks Mark! I'm still plugging along!

This past Monday i was able to take some time to work on my armored train. I felt it was about time that I got some more progress done on it. First off, I added all the walkway shields between the cars on three of them that didn't have them. I even added some detail and patched the one painted car; I was a bit hasty on painting that one. Here they are: The command car doesn't have the full set; this model left those parts out. I'll have to scratch-build them with plasticard. Most of the rest of the day was spent adding all the wire steps and grab handles to the train cars. I used a slightly thinner gauge of wire for the handles than I did for the steps. Here they are: The locomotive and one tender: The other side: The second tender: The artillerywagen: And finally the command car: I had a bit of help from a friend of mine named Sean who advised me on the best way to do this command car. Now to do the other one. All those cars you see above are now ready for paint. I'll be putting the basecoat of Dunklegelb on them as soon as I have the chance. Then the other cars I painted too soon will get all their wire handles and steps done too. After that, I need to finish another Panzer 38t, the other Panzer IV turret and get a couple of quad 20 AA guns and I'll be able to call this one close to done! Meanwhile, I took the occasional break on all that 'wiring' to work on my Mi-4 helicopter. I finally got all the clear parts on, filled and sanded the gaps and seams, and added the landing gear. This helicopter is almost ready for paint: Well, that's all I have for now. More work will be done on Monday. Looking forward to it. Meanwhile, comments are welcome; thanks to all who stop by to post!

Chris, yes I do go to the Antelope Valley/Lancaster show. I'm planning on going to that again this year. Hopefully I'll have a few additional models done to take to it. Keep me posted on whether you'll be able to attend also. Maybe then we can hook up.

Thanks John!

This is awesome Jesse! Way to go! Try putting a few coats of liquid decal film over the decals before you try using them. That should preserve them enough to use.

LOL! I've seen the 1/35th scale Dora built. I won't even think of trying that one. Several reasons why: A) WAY too expensive for me! B) WAY beyond my skill level. C) Doesn't fit in my 1/72 scale-consistent collection D) Doesn't fit ANYWHERE in my house! I already don't have room for all 46 inches of my 1/72 scale Dora; I certainly have no place to put a five-foot- long Dora! Thanks for the great laugh James! Chris, thanks! They were all hand made by members of the club. Thanks Gil! Ken, thanks! Yeah, I'm partyin' alright! This is second only to a Nationals award due to how difficult it is for me to place in my own club's major contest! Chris, I'm glad you made it. I think we may have spoken to each other, although we didn't introduce ourselves. I was walking arounf wearing my black IPMS Orange County shirt that said "Why yes! I have done some modeling!" on the front. I do remember talking with a couple of gentlemen who'd brought their sons, one of them may have been you. I wish I'd known. I've missed two people who I know on a couple of forums who were there. I'm glad you were there and I hope the hobby rubs off on your son too. Congrats on the scores from the Vendor Room; I picked up a few as well. I also scored five prizes in the raffle; one of which I sold. Chris, never fear entering a contest. If anything, you'll learn quickly and concisely where you can improve; and if you judge, you get to see first-hand what judges look for. I go into Orangecon expecting to get skunked due to all the fantastic talent there; so when I do place, it is all cream! My enjoyment comes from meeting everyone; showing off my latest work; getting critiques and suggestions from all the other outstanding talent; and stalking deals in the Vendor room. I even stayed to judge for the first time ever! I was having a blast long before the awards were announced! Thanks again everyone for the awesome comments!

Yesterday I spent the day at Orangecon, the yearly big contest held by my IPMS club here in Southern California. I had a blast! It was one of the best days ever. I won five raffle prizes; one of which I sold, and I also took delivery (finally!) of my 1/72 scale German Dora Railgun! What a monster that beast is! The cream of the day is the fact that I also placed Third in Rotary Wing Aircraft; All Types, All Scales with my Hobbycraft 1/72 scale Piasecki H-21 Flying Banana! I consider any award I win at Orangecon to be second only to an award from the Nationals. Then again, it is my club's contest; and it is the premier contest in Southern California. It is also the toughest one for me to place in and that means I earned it! Now that all that is done; I'll be trying to finish up my armored train before I start that monster Dora. I'm hoping by the end of the year I'll be done with the train and then I can start the New Year with the Dora under construction.

Thanks Ron! I appreciate that. Your Christie looks awesome! I may have to get mne one and build it so I can place it next to a Crusader and a T-34. Nice work Ron!