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ghodges

IPMS/USA Member
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Everything posted by ghodges

  1. Sweet looking build! That had to be an unwelcome addition to the plane in view of the pilots..... and probably not their idea! Is there any record of whether it actually worked without damaging the plane? Congrats, and thanks for building for the reviewer corp. Gil
  2. As always. I'm amazed at the number of projects you have going at the same time! I also have to chuckle when I check here because there's so many pics, I have trouble finding where to start looking; so generally I go to the bottom of the page, and scroll back up watching your "progress" in reverse! Awesome work, as usual Duke! Gil
  3. Wow! That makes for a GREAT year, considering all of the extra work you had to do on most of those builds. Your build threads make for great references for anyone else who may want to attempt to follow in your daring footsteps. Thanks for sharing! Gil
  4. The following people were GOLD medal winners this year. many of them getting more than one: Ruthie Inman and Kenny Morrisey (juniors!), Don Martin, Jason Grenot, Andy Caldwell, Errol Whisler, Nick Salamunia, Danny Vazquez, David Neely, Raymond Morrisey, Brent Benore, Gary Hatherly, Lorenzo Vallebona, Luis Perez, Jim Liquori, Fred Seitz, Rick Reinert, Richard Acosta, James Jenson, Jerry Wells, Bradly Weirick, Al Voccaro, Kim Sheldon, Mathew Dillon, James Marshall, Tom White, Glen Kaesar, Fred Henry, Mathew Inman, Robert Marquinez, Paul Helfrich, Steve Arthur, Thad Robinson, David Reuce, Dave Nowinski, Wayne Stevens, and Bernard Kempensky (I apologize for any mis-spellings!). Here are pics of the Best Ofs and Special Awards..... JUDGES GRAND AWARD by Bernard Kempinsky (and they say we're the International PLANE Modeler society....) BEST JUNIOR MODEL by Ruthie Inman Best Aircraft by James Jenson Best Armor by Jason Grenot Best Automotive by Luis Perez Best Nautical by Lorenzo Vallebona Best Space/Sci-Fi by Don Martin Best Diorama by Bernard Kempensky Best Detailed by James Jenson Best Camouflage by James Jenson Best Natural Metal Finish by Jerry wells Most Popular Model by Michael Brooks Best Figure by Bernard Kempinsky Best Gloss Finish by Glenn Kaesar Gil
  5. JAXCON 2023 is in the books! It was yet another great show with 103 people putting 467 entries on the tables. Here's the Styrene Haven podcast video (7mins) that shows many of the models: Gil
  6. I only occasionally use the Tamiya rattle can paints (except for their primers, which I use regularly, but I've been VERY impressed by them. They seem to go on thinner and dry faster than any other brands I've tried. I've also found their metallics to be a good "base" color on my big models, allowing me to use Alclad or AK metallics just for the varying panels. I've also been using the new bottled Tamiya lacquers and I like them too, though I've found them to be a bit less impressive. However, that could simply be I haven't quite found the right formula to "mix" them for my airbrush. I do like that they seem to brush paint well also, drying faster than the old MM enamels. I only hope that they keep adding colors, as there's some important ones still missing, at least at my local shop! Gil
  7. Fantastic looking build and a superb way to display it! Gil
  8. Very sharp looking build! The result belies the problems you mentioned. Congrats on persevering to a great looking end! Gil
  9. Phenomenal build! I have to add my kudos on the job of shortening that fuselage. I also like the finish.... just enough weathering and shading to make it look used, but not abused. Thanks for sharing! Gil
  10. That is a great looking build and display, and a great reminder of your service! It could also prove a very cool legacy to be eventually handed down to your kids so they can proudly display it. Congrats on completing another fine project and for letting us tag along! Gil
  11. I built these 3 Bf-109s for our local group build. Decalling troubles aside (sheets that wouldn't release them, another sheet that needed a gloss coat to prevent them from shredding, etc), if nothing else, they helped me refine my painting and forced my to adapt and overcome. Note that NONE of these are accurate in schemes, markings, and probably not even in some minor details. That's ok for me as they were destined for my shelf from the start. As for those of you who take Luftwaffe modeling seriously, I can only offer my apologies! I built them merely to participate in the group build and reduce the stash! 🙂 These are all 1/48. The Bf-109B-2 is the Gull Models vacuform (why? Because I had it in the stash!). The Bf-109G-6 is the Hasagawa kit. And, the Bf-109G-10 is the Revell offering. The Hasagawa and Revell kits have resin interiors simply because they were in their boxes. I also dropped the slats on the Revell kit since I had those in resin too. The detailing for the Gull Models vac came from leftover Bf-109Es that died in a shelving accident a few years ago. If you're interested in the details of the builds and the decalling woes, they can be found up in the Build topic area. Comments, critiques, and questions welcome, as always! Gil
  12. And all 3 are finished! More pics down in the Aircraft topic area..... Gil
  13. And the increasingly dreadful saga continues..... 🙃🙃🙃 The decals are on the 3 Bf-109s... and what a tale of woe! First: (with apologies to Luftwaffe aficionados..) ALL MARKINGS ARE BOGUS!! I had 3 different sheets to use for the Spanish Civil war markings. The first sheet, used for the "X" on the rudder released the decals fine, but apparently had NO adhesive for the decals...so after a bit of trimming it had to be sealed in place with a coat of Future. The black circle X decals begrudgingly came off of their sheets, BUT tended to tear apart, so half of them had to be pushed back together. The only ones that worked as expected were the decals used on the fuselage sides. I was going to use the Hasagawa kit decals for the gray 109G-6. The only problem was NONE of them would come off of the sheet! So..... start digging through the spare decals to come up with crosses, staffel symbols, numbers, etc. Found an Aeromaster sheet for crosses....BUT....they tended to shred after wetting....so I had to spray a gloss coat over the sheet and come back the next day. Between that sheet and 3 others (including a dry transfer rub on set) I was able to get some markings on the G the next day. You know how decals wrinkle after applying solvent and then straighten out by the next day? Well, the fuselage crosses did NOT.... and I missed that until after sealing them with another gloss coat..... Grrrr! On to the Revell 109G-10.....and those kit decals wouldn't come off of their sheet either! So back to the Aeromaster sheet for the crosses and swastikas, but where to get fuselage numbers in German font? Aha! Found 4 "Yellow 14s" left on an old Marsaille decal sheet. I can do 2 "yellow 44s" with some cutting. I put the first 4 on the fuselage side AND THE CAMO MOTTLING WAS SHOWING THROUGH FROM UNDERNEATH! So..... double up the decals to make it "yellow 4" and eliminate the bleed through problem. Gil
  14. Gotta echo Ron's compliments on a great looking build! Gil
  15. Finally got paint on all 3 of the 109s. I doubt the camo is fully accurate for any of them, but they're at least "period authentic". This is the first occasion in a long time I've tried to do any spot mottling, and while I was able to do it with more control than in the past, it's probably yet another element in the camo that could use more refining. The one thing these 3 builds has taught me is that I've been using paint that's too thick. I needed to double the amount of thinner (and more) to get the full control to paint these schemes, and thus this group build should help me a lot going forward. There's still some detail painting to be done, especially in the slat wells and wheel wells, but at least the camo schemes are complete. The Gull Models vac B scheme is based on another build I saw on line for the Spanish Civil war. Oddly, the thing I'm most proud of is building the prop from tubing and spare blades, as well as rebuilding the kit vac spinner to a much more accurate outline. The Hasagawa 109G-6 is in the standard 74/75/76 mid-war scheme, and the slat wells have yet to be painted. The Revell 109G-10 is in a later war scheme of Gray 74 and Bright Green 83 topsides with 76 on the bottom and wrapping around in a scalloped pattern on the leading edges. It also has the two colored home defense stripes on the fuselage. I had to cut my own spiral mask for the prop spinner, and it'll need a bit more touch up and refinement. Although I tackled these 3 just to clear them from the stash and participate in the group build, it seems it may well be they teach me a few things along the way! Gil
  16. Looking sharper with every post! Gil
  17. Very sharp looking build and display of a plane that most people don't associate with Galland's early career! If he hadn't faked Rheumatism to get out of flying open cockpit planes (and change from dive bombing to fighters), he'd never become a famous ace and General of the Fighters! That's going to catch a lot of eyes, especially with that camo scheme. Thanks for sharing! Gil
  18. A little more progress.... This pic shows the first primer coat, after some more sanding. The fit of the wings to the fuselage was very bad, requiring the addition of a lot of ApoxySculp in the spaces inside the wings and the fuselage in front of and behind the cockpit. This was to add some backing in areas that would be sanded through. You can also see the ball of left over ApoxySculp in front of the fuselage. The wing roots required modifying, which meant the flaps had to be extended using the ApoxySculp as well. Here, all 3 109s have been completely assembled, canopy parts masked and added, and primered once again I hope to get their paint jobs on them by next weekend. More pics then! Gil
  19. Very nice progress! I see you used some plain tape as anchors for your brake wiring. I think this is a very good and overlooked scratchbuilding tip, being very easy to use and looking like "brackets" after being painted. Gil
  20. Thanks, but not very "bold" for me, as I've been building vacs for 40 years. In fact, I had my original Falcon 1/48 vacuform Bf-109E destroyed in that shelving accident a few years ago, and it's providing parts for this one now! Back then, I built it because it was the only 1/48 "Emil" besides the classic Monogram kit from the 60s. But then within a year after a built it, Hasagawa released their "E" (you're welcome! ). This is what the vac Bf-109E looked like... Gil
  21. Maybe it's the camera angles, but a couple of those tanks look like they're trying to compensate for their shortcomings! Great year in review, and thanks for letting us ride along on many of them too! Gil
  22. Wow! Sorry for missing your post til today. That's quite the year with a super variety of builds and scales. Hope 2023 is just as productive for you. Congrats, and thanks for sharing! Gil
  23. There's a local "Bf-109" group build that I decided to join in on since I had several in my stash. I settled on 3 different marks and decided to try to build them all together. They are all 1/48; the Hasagawa Bf-109G-6, the Revell Bf-109G-10, and the Gull Models vacuform Bf-109B-2. I added resin interior parts to the Hasagawa and Revell kits only because they were in the box. Since I had a set of resin slats in the Revell box, I added those to it. I decided this would also be a good time to finally tackle the Gull Models vac as when I examined the bag it was in, I discovered it had many spare parts for the Bf-109 that came from 3 Emils that were destroyed in a shelving collapse years ago that would ease the work and help in detailing for it. On to some in progress pics! This pic shows the Hawkeye resin interior fitted into the Hasagawa G-6 This pic shows the True Details interior fit into the Revell G-10, It needed some Eduard belts added to complete it. This shows the resin slat beds added into the Revell wing and the slats, which have yet to be removed from their casting blocks. The starting point for the Gull Models vac. All of the major parts have been cut from the backing sheet and sanded down. There's 3 canopies to choose from, though it turns out only the "kit" vac canopy can be made to fit. You can also see all of the detail parts readily available for the interior and exterior of the vacuform. The spare parts cockpit sides have been added and the spare floor modified to fit. Here, the vacuform wing has been assembled, sanded, and rescribed. The flap and slat areas have been cut away to allow the addition of the spare flaps and slats. This pic shows the gear bays, which were built up using sections of soda straw for the semi-circular gear leg bays, and strip and sheet plastic for the walls and floor of the tire bays. It also shows the bottoms of the Hasagawa flaps, which had bulges for the "E" wing bottom radiators on their inner halves (radiators not on the 109B-2) that I had to grind off and sand flat. This shows the 3 cooling slots in the front top of the vac fuselage that needed to be added to make it a "B-2", as well as the guns that have been installed. You can also see the screening cut for the radiator chin and the vac chin lip. The 109B-2 had no exterior exhaust pipes, and you can see the exhaust and cooling slot holes added. A closer look will also show where semi-circular depressions have been ground into the sides to represent/better define cooling slots. You can also see slivvers of sheet plastic added to the rear canopy angle to better fit the clear vac part. This won't be rescribed until after its assembled. Test fitting the wings to the fuselage..... both of their exhaust areas have been reworked to allow the fitting of metal Moskit exhausts after all of the painting is done. More pics when they're actually together! Comments, questions, and critiques are welcome, as always! Gil
  24. Tried to take some more "professional" pics of the B-24D, since it's size makes it hard to get a seamless background. Here a few, for what their worth.... Gil
  25. Looks like a plastic model to me! Glad to see you've found a way to get around obstacles and build something. Modeling is about having FUN with what you're building, and although it may not be a "traditional" plastic kit, it seems to have served the same purpose. I also got a kick out the detail touch of the banana in the fission drive feeder! Thanks for sharing! Gil
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