ghodges

Very sharp looking build! I agree that it's nice to build a Tamiya kit every so often just to have a much more relaxing experience. Thanks for posting! Gil

HOLY COW, that is SWEET! What a super looking build and display to show off all of your superb detailing. Thanks for sharing this here! Gil

Nice progress! What did you use for the anti-skid walks on the weapon wings? It looks like it has texture in the pics. Gil

I haven't heard of that brand myself. My only concern would be the connection sizes needed to hook up that brand compressor to any airbrush hose, and generally a hardware store may be able to help you find something if you don't have it on hand. Gil

Be aware that you may have a BAD BOTTLE! Your complaint is a rather common one, and it seems that there was a time period a few years ago when Alcad put out some of its Gloss Black Primer that just doesn't dry properly, if ever. I have 2 bottles of it myself, but both of them have performed well, drying hard within 24hrs. In fact, I've even been using it to paint gloss black trim on models, and not just for primer. I live and model in my garage here in Florida, and do have to be aware of the humidity, but I don't think that's your problem. In my opinion, you've just gotten one of the bad batch bottles. Ron is right in that although gloss black works best for the brightest NMF over it, ANY gloss primer can be used for a smooth surface. If you need to use a substitute, I recommend getting a couple of the SMALL bottles of Testors Gloss Black (or Model Master gloss black IF you have it or can find it still), thin it with lacquer thinner, and prime with that. It should give you a smooth, glossy black primer coat and dry within 24hrs with no problems. It's also cheaper than the Alclad brand! If you're thinking of getting more Alclad gloss black, you can give it a try. The complaints about the non-drying were first made 4-5yrs ago and have greatly lessened over the last couple of years. I know I got both of mine within the last 3yrs and they do dry properly. If your new bottle doesn't perform, then I'd contact Alclad directly to see about some sort of refund or replacement from them. Hope this helps. Gil

Welcome to the forums! I'm right there with ya, at least generationally having built my first model back in the mid-60s. Make yourself at home and let us know how we can help you have more fun modeling! Gil

I'd take this question to the car topics part of the forum here where there may be some people with experience with those paint types who might be able to help. It does sound strange that a paint with enough bite to "eat" a surface won't stick to it! Gil

Excellent progress and a good tip on prepainting the pe! Gil

I used AK Metallics Aluminum for both of them, over Alclad gloss black. Gil

Since I was already building 2 Texans, I decided to tackle my 1/48 BT-14 conversion at the same time. This is the Belcher Bits kit release that comes with the resin parts to back date the 1/48 Occidental T-6G plastic kit (included in the box) to the earlier fixed landing gear BT-14. The kit also includes a choice of 5 different markings. The resin parts are pictured here after there pour stubs were removed. The vac canopy I made myself since the kit pilot's sliding canopy section is too thick to fit down properly over the center fixed canopy section. This shows the work needed to convert the forward fuselage This shows the new resin center section for the Texan wings The resin forward fuselage fit well, but it took some trimming and fitting to get the wing to fit well to the fuselage The model was painted with Model Master Chrome Yellow and Bright Blue, glossed with Alclad Klear Gloss, and the sprayed with a home mixed Alclad semi-gloss to finish things up. Comments and critiques welcome! Gil

I decided to build 2 1/48 Monogram Texans at the same time, one as a USAF T-6G and the other as a Navy SNJ-3. They were built primarily OOTB except for the addition of seat belts, new IFF lights on the bottom, and a vacuform pilot's sliding canopy as the kit clear part doesn't fit over the center canopy part. I also used clear packing tape to make the wing light covers in place of using the kit clear parts. I made my own IFF lights by heating colored plastic and then shoving it into a hole in my Waldron Punch base plate, creating a nub that could be sawn off and then placed into the same size hole drilled into the bottom of each model, after which they were sanded and polished to fit. All of the markings for both of them came from the spares box using a combination of regular decals and dry transfer lettering. The NMF USAF T-6G is marked to represent a squadron hack used by Robert L. Scott's fighter group in Germany in the mid '50s; and the SNJ-3 is marked in 1942 colors and copied from the rear cover of the "T-6 In Action" book. Critiques, comments, and questions welcome! Gil

That's a couple of major accomplishments! Both are nice, but that "Itsy Bitsy" scheme is one of my favorites. Congrats on both builds! Gil

Looks good to me and somewhat menacing with those scimitar props! I know the feeling of just being glad to put something on the shelf and move on.... congrats! Gil

That cannon looks phenomenal! Nice progress! Gil

I think there is one misnomer here going unsaid; and that is that there's supposed to be a category for "everything" at the Nats. That's not so.... The Nats categories were established based on the most popular basic modeling genres and have since evolved based on two things: new genres (such as Anime and/or Gundams) and modeler participation in those genres. There never has been an intention to create categories to make sure that there's someplace to put everything that shows up. There's stuff that people build that's out of the ordinary, and then there's lot's of "gray" areas, which is where you're treading. That is why there's a Miscellaneous category. I like Ron's reasoning, and IF there was an automotive vignette category, I could see it being put there. However, short of that split being created (and it won't happen for 1 entry), I see the judges offering YOU the following option: Put it in motorcycles and have the figure ignored; or put it in Misc.. I do not see it being allowed into the "mounted figure" category. Not only do I think it's not what that category was created to serve in competition for, but I also believe it would raise a ruckus with those who build traditional mounted figures; and IPMSUSA does NOT need to ++++ off another genre group who already looks on IPMSUSA as a modeling group who puts them as second class Society citizens to planes, armor, cars, and ship builders. Your best course of action would be to consult the Chief Judge or one of the Head Judges BEFORE putting it on the table at the show. That way, you have no worries about putting it in the wrong place AND you avoid possible breakage from them having to move it at least once, if not more times. Gil

Welcome Chad! Glad to have you here with us! You sound like most builders, no matter their genre, looking to add some critical details and improve from build to build. I also like the way you've mapped out your plans for the Nats. Seems like you have solid, concrete ideas on how to have some fun! Let us know how we can make your modeling more fun when you're here on the forums. Gil

Nice work, but I'll let one of the Head Judges tackle that question. Gil

Excellent Eagle and very cool to see that early 70s scheme and the unusual load out! Gil

Great looking pair of builds! Looks like your picking up right where you left off! Gil

I've asked myself the same question every few years. I've always thought I got my money's worth, even if I didn't necessarily get something absolutely exclusive that I might not be able to get elsewhere. I guess that's why I've kept a continuous membership since 1977. But to answer your question: 1) The IPMS Journal: Almost no one (it seems) stops to consider JUST how good it is, especially when you keep in mind its content and the editing/publishing of it is entirely done by volunteers. It's almost as slick as any other magazine and I'm betting many non-members think there's a paid staff to put it out. Its drawback is time lag for current info and even Society news, and the fact that it has to please EVERYBODY, since IPMSUSA is for ALL modeling genres and not just the military builders. Thus, there never seems to be enough on whatever may be your own personal interest, and too much seemingly disinteresting subjects. However, if you compare it to FSM, you're getting a quality publication just as often for about half the price. To me, THAT alone is worth the cost of my yearly dues. 2) Help for anyone who is looking for a local chapter. Can they use the internet or their own resources? Sure. BUT, if they join IPMSUSA then they can ask and the DLC will contact an RC, who will then reach out to a local club to contact that person. I'm sure most members aren't even aware of that. 3) A feeling of belonging to a larger group of like-minded hobbyists for anyone who isn't near a local club. This was my situation for the first couple of years when I first joined in '77. Unfortunately, that need can be met by internet participation and although it's still a valid reason, it's less so than it used to be. 4) The ability to compete at the IPMSUSA Nationals and get discounts at most other model shows for your entry fee. True, you'll almost never make your dues back in a year with the discount at the door, but it still saves you some money to be a card carrying member. Local hobby store discounts usually depend on the strength of the local club with those owners, as opposed to any relation to IPMSUSA. It would be great if IPMSUSA members could get a discount with some on-line stores, but we're too small it seems to have the influence to be able to get that, at least thus far. That would also require some sort of running ability for that seller to verify a buyer's current membership, which would have to greatly complicate the ability to do that sort of deal. 5) Supporting your local club by being able to be counted towards getting and keeping a Chartered Club status. This is important because of the free insurance. Many people think that if their club doesn't hold a contest, then they don't need the insurance. They don't know that the insurance actually covers their monthly meetings! And as things get more "litigious" in our society, some venues require club insurance in order to meet in their buildings, which makes it important even if no one ever slips and falls. 6) The knowledge you are supporting a national and international organization that supports the hobby and tries to help its members enjoy their hobby more. Yes, THAT is the same line the Eboard thinks everyone should believe, and it has a ring of truth and validity. I personally differ from them in acknowledging that most model builders are not joiners in the first place (it's generally a solitary hobby!), and many of them also just aren't interested in what IPMSUSA has to offer. And yes, IPMS IS the largest sponsor of most of the model contests held each year, and IPMS insurance is one of the main things that makes those shows possible. So, by being an IPMSUSA member, you do help insure that those shows you like going to continue to be held year in and year out, even if you want nothing to do with the "politics". 7) The relationships you establish by being active in IPMSUSA. This applies mainly to those who go to many contests, and especially to the National Convention. It takes time to meet people, make friends, and keep ties established with other modelers you only see at shows once or twice a year. Most people can't see that advantage to membership because it's not immediate and isn't obvious. And unfortunately, it's not the only way to fill that void anymore. The internet has established its own "community" where you can feel you establish new friendships and make new modeling friends without even going to shows. The irony is, IF you ever do meet those new internet friends, it usually IS at an IPMS contest! I've listed 7 reasons above, but God help you if you ever wanted to try to throw them all at anyone you want to convince to join IPMSUSA. Only a couple of them involve "bang for the buck", and most modelers won't take the time to consider or truly listen to anything past that. Gil

Brett: Even if it was only a swipe at local members who don't join IPMSUSA, as I said above, they pay their LOCAL dues (if there are any required) and thus are NOT freeloaders. Whether or not they ever serve in any capacity within their club is entirely an internal local club matter. As a long time local club officer and contest chairman, it can be frustrating when no one wants to step up and help. But then, there's also NO way to force people to volunteer to do the jobs needed if they don't want to, think they don't have the time to do so, or simply think they aren't capable. Should the IPMS chapter promote IPMSUSA membership? Sure. Our club touts the "reasons" and "advantages" to having an IPMSUSA membership; but if someone doesn't think those apply to them, you cannot convince them to join. Until IPMSUSA changes its constitution to REQUIRE all local members be national members, it's not going to change. And IF that was to happen, you'd see IPMS chartered chapters dwindle, if not plummet from them immediately withdrawing. Only those clubs needing insurance for their events would have any true incentive to maintain their charter. Gil

I put 3 large fishing sinkers in the nearly empty radio room under the front turret. However, when I later test fit the landing gear, it wasn't enough and added 1 more sinker in each of the inner engine nacelles, which was then just enough! I wish I could find another of these Paragon B-50 sets, as I have another project I'd like to try.... Gil

This is my 1/48 B-50A bomber, built using the out of production Paragon resin set to convert the Monogram B-29 to the later up-engined B-50 with its bigger tail fin. This conversion requires some major surgery, but is relatively straight forward. All 4 engine nacelles require modification, and the kit B-29 tail has to be removed and replaced with the larger resin tail. There's a later model, more streamlined upper forward turret that requires a more streamlined turret base be made from epoxy putty, as well as new props and a larger belly radar bulge. The resin conversion set These pics show the resin wing parts as added to the wings, and then the wings after all of the sanding, rescribing, and priming. Only the kit cockpit and the tail gunner position were installed in the fuselage. The bomb bay was closed up and the rest of the interior parts left out. Eduard masks were used after blending in the kit glass. This pic also shows the more streamlined epoxy putty turret fairing. The taller resin tail was hollow cast in 4 parts and took considerable work to make it fit better and a lot of sanding to blend it all in. I tried a new technique on this model. I primed the model in 3 colors and then airbrushed one coat of Alclad Aluminum over it all, tying to get differing panel looks using the primer colors underneath. It worked pretty well over all, though I can't say it involved any less masking. There are no decals made specifically for the B-50, so I had to paint the yellow and black striping, the "circle K" on the tail, and the nose art. All the rest of the markings came from the spares box. On to the finished pics! I've had this conversion on my shelf for almost 20yrs, and put off doing it due to the work involved. After building my B-29 last year I finally felt up to tackling this beast. Questions, critiques, and comments welcome, as always! Cheers! Gil

Nothing has changed in IPMS in my 46yrs of continuous membership, and IPMS is NO different than any other "club" of people. ALL volunteer clubs, whether they exclude participation by nonmembers or allow outsiders to participate by paying a fee, are ALWAYS run by the few who are willing to step up and do the work. Can that be frustrating? You bet! Can it be changed? Most likely not. It was that way within IPMS from the start, it was that way when I joined my first local club in 1979, and it's always been that way in every club I've been a member of or even heard of. The President not only labeled "outsiders" FREELOADERS, he labeled EVERY LOCAL CLUB MEMBER who pays local club dues but who happens to NOT join IPMSUSA as a freeloader. I can tell you from my decades of experience as a club officer in two different clubs, as a former RC, as our Jaxcon chairman for 20+yrs, and as the Contest Chairman of an IPMS Nats; that although there are plenty of local club members who never serve in any official capacity, they are NOT freeloaders. The President MAY have been lamenting the fact that so few have to provide for so many, but did he offer ANY suggestion to change things? No. Did he offer ANY incentives that would make nonmembers want to step up and help shoulder the burden. NO! And by casting aspersions on them he alienated most from even considering doing so from here on out. His lament that people don't join IPMSUSA is the same one I've been hearing for my entire membership. Although it IS mercenary, it's also simple human nature to ask "what's in it for me"? Is it realistic to expect the vast majority of modelers to set aside their human nature and join IPMSUSA for "the greater good of the modeling world"? I hardly think so. Did he offer any suggestions or solutions to give more "bang for the buck" and make IPMSUSA more appealing to join? No. Instead, he complained about basic human nature, labeled them in an offensive manner, and THEN said they should act differently out of some sense of "shame" for taking advantage of going to IPMS contests without joining. He is correct in that IPMSUSA faces some significant changes. The biggest thing to face is the simple fact that IPMS IS NOT NEEDED TODAY LIKE IT WAS 40-50YRS AGO. The IPMS Update, Quarterly, and the Journal used to provide model industry news, important reviews of new products, and research material unavailable elsewhere. None of that is true today. The internet has made the Journal almost (but not quite) obsolete. It cannot compete with the internet in trying to provide the info it used to. That said, I think it is a VERY good model magazine that gives a good return on my dollar. But it should NOT still be touted as being worthwhile to the members for anything other than a bimonthly modeling magazine. IPMS needs to seriously consider IF it should continue to be printed and if so, in what form? Would it be better to go to a quarterly format with a few more pages of articles, but with more IPMSUSA "news" for our members? Does IPMS need to consider paying authors with extended memberships (if not in cash) in order to get more interesting, in depth, and better articles? But then, now we're right back to that Eboard position of "people should be generously donating to the Journal out of loving support of the Society". The Journal HAS done well under that system, but NOT well enough to entice more people to join. SOMETHING has to change that shows The IPMS Journal is worth paying for a membership IF we want MORE people to join. The lamented "what do I get for my membership dues" question IS the bottom line for most people who consider joining. Unfortunately, the Journal is the one tangible thing we can point to. We long time members can list many intangibles of membership like the comradery of friendships formed and the knowledge gained through personal interactions with people you would never have met without IPMSUSA; but those take time and aren't obvious to those on the outside looking in. Since we can't change human nature, and modelers WILL demand value for their membership dues, adding value somehow, somewhere, is what has to be done. If there was an easy answer, it would have been done already. However, labeling those questioning the value IPMSUSA as it exists now does nothing to make them want to join! As for the idea of "freeloaders" taking advantage of IPMS run contests, that's a flat out misnomer. Does the nonmember pay to participate in the contest? Yes, and often at a higher rate than IPMS members. Do they have to pay the door fee if the they don't register for the contest? Yes. Will they buy raffle tickets like IPMS members? Sure they will. Do you think the VENDORS look at their customers and want to deal more with IPMS members than nonmembers? Not in the least! Would the crowd be as big or the revenue as great IF we excluded nonmembers and made the contests IPMS member only? NO way! So does the CONTEST HOST look at their attendees who are not IPMSUSA members but attend, participate, and support their show as "freeloaders"? DEFINITELY NOT!! You MIGHT be able to make a case that there would be fewer model shows without IPMS, and that if IPMSUSA is not supported and dies, then modelers will wish they had joined. It's true that the IPMS Nats is one of the biggest model shows in the world and would be missed by many if it was no longer held. But then Wonderfest has been growing by leaps and bounds and it's not an IPMS show. How many NNL and figure shows are there that have no IPMS affiliation? And then there's AMPS, which while not as large, already has their own non IPMS affiliated shows. Some of these hosts are also IPMS chapters, but just as many are not, so the idea that model shows would shrink severely due to lack of IPMSUSA insurance just isn't completely right. It might change the economics of a show, but if there was a willing host and a possible profit, they'd find a way. The very bottom line of this dustup is that the President greatly wounded and worsened IPMSUSA's already spotty reputation among nonmembers. Like it or not, IPMS is perceived by most modelers as a contest oriented, nit-picking, hair splitting group of accuracy nazis who have an elitist attitude towards nonmembers. While WE in IPMS may know that's a misperception, printing an editorial column written by the IPMSUSA President in the IPMSUSA official publication that labels everyone else who doesn't JOIN and support us as freeloaders only strengthens that perception. And perception IS reality! Gil

Excellent camo work and sharp canopy frames; what more could you ask for? And to heap a bit more kudos.... that's SIXTY years ago my friend! Where did the time go.... Gil