ghodges

That's an exquisite looking build! Gil

Nice build, and that's a helo I wasn't aware of! Gotta wonder if anyone called it "Rocky" since it's a flying squirrel! Gil

well that's a colorful little bloodsucker! It may just sit on your shelf but it'll also brighten it greatly! Gil

Good looking build despite the obstacles the kit presented and I appreciate the "review" so we know what to look for and which kit might be a better choice! Gil

This was my 33rd or 34th Nats I've attended since 1978. I've seen plenty of debacles and many, many excellently run Nats. I've been a Nats judge since the late '80s, was a Contest Chairman for the '97 Nats, and thus (at that time) had a hand in putting together the awards ceremony pics (slides, back then!). I say all that simply to point out that I've seen the Nats from the outside AND the inside and know how much work it takes to host one. The Ft. Wayne folks (along with their IPMSUSA counterparts in registration and judging AND all of the volunteers) can take credit for THE BEST IPMSUSA National Convention in my experience! From registration when I arrived right up to the Awards ceremony that closed the show they ran things smoothly and seemingly seamlessly, and did so while also dealing with record attendance and model counts in both the contest (3110) and the Tiger Meet (over 1000). I also want to commend their choice to break with tradition and simply SHOW all of the pics of the Nats winners at the awards show without announcers telling us what we were looking at. It not only sped things up, but this format means IPMS no longer needs to find the next "Bill and Aris" show each year. I also agree with awarding the Juniors earlier in the afternoon in order to give them their recognition at an earlier time as well as more among their own peers. All I would add is to show the Junior Best Ofs and Junior Grand Award winner (10 or so pics, less than 2 minutes time) to start the regular awards show in the evening. Ft. Wayne has set a very high bar as well as establishing some new ideas that I think should be carried forward. They deserve all of the praise you may have read elsewhere, but I wanted to add my personal thanks and kudos to a job so very, very well done! Gil Hodges #10803

I seem to recall the same thing happening to me long ago when I tried to airbrush it, except it was also "spiderwebbing" out from the airbrush as well. Since your paint actually made it onto the model it sounds like a much milder form of the problem I had. My guess is that it's drying and sticking to itself in the air.... in my case so badly it never went onto the surfaces and in your case only enough to where the residual particles in the air bonded together, and since they were essentially dry they simply brushed away after they settled. I never found an answer as I've never tried airbrushing it since then. The only answer that comes to mind is perhaps adding a retarder of some sort into the mix. Gil

Very cool vehicles and nicely built too! I especially like the metallic ones, as they're not overly bright and seem to fit the look of "test" vehicles. What silvers did you use? Gil

Oooo, Fowler type flaps..... always fun to fumble around with! 😁 Great looking work! Gil

Excellent looking build and love the camo job! Gil

Nice build of an interesting sales idea that never really took off..... 😁 Gil

Love it! And not unlike this pic I took decades ago of a F9F-8 Cougar fuselage on a flat bed trailer with the trailer's spare tire strapped down inside it! So for anyone saying "nobody would do that to an airplane"....... there ya go! Gil

That thing has about 7 times as much stuff on it than I ever imagined would be as I watched you building it! Impressive! Gil

It takes real skill to wring as much out of that old kit as you did. Reworking the Scarf ring and the wash you judiciously applied (especially to the engine) are great touches. And I still say no one can stretch sprue as even and consistently as you can! I also got a kick out of the box art since it says "1916" but shows a Fokker D-VIII from 1918 shooting at the R.E.8! Gil

This is the Hasagawa (HAI!) 1/48 Ki-44 Tojo kit. I built this just for my shelf mainly to get 1 model built before getting ready to go the Nats. This is a very nice kit with plenty of detail, so I built it OOTB except for some PE belts added to the kit seat. Since the finished cockpit could be added into the fuselage from the bottom and the fit was so good between the major components (the tail planes are just sitting in their slots here) I decided to take the unusual path of painting the wings and tail planes separately from the fuselage. I also decided to paint ALL of the markings, using no decals, cutting my own masks from tape using the decals as a guide. Painting things separately really simplified masking off around the tail plane roots as well as the leading edges of the wings. There's lots of little "boogers" here and there on this one, but they're due to my working fast and not showing as much care as needed for a contest model. Still, it's a very colorful scheme for my shelf and I've finally replaced the old Otaki Tojo I built decades ago and had bit the dust in moves over the years. Comments, questions, and critiques welcome as always! Gil

I decided to build a base for my Hellcat. I used .03 sheet styrene and scribed it, painted it, and then added a brown wash over it. After that I very lightly rubbed the whole thing with a very fine sanding pad to give it a more worn look and some "scuff". I then used dry transfer (rub on) "black dash" decals to simulate the carrier deck drain holes on a couple of the planks and finished it off with an overall flat coat. I set the base into a refinished picture frame I had used as another base for many years. The Hellcat as it will be displayed now that the kitty has a new home! Gil