ghodges

Is the Cobb County Civic Center also known as the Bell Recreation Center? I was looking on Mapquest and the Rec Center is shown at the location of the show (Marietta Pkwy/Fairgrounds Rd), but not the "Civic Center"......has there been a site name change and the map names are old info, or does it go by both names? Thanks! GIL

But I love the smell of Dullcoat in the morning..... GIL

I may be in the camo stage, but it looks like you have as many parts in your cockpit as I have in my entire model! Mind boggling craftsmanship! GIL

I agree with Lee. Unless you just like weathered a/c, it like great as is! GIL

Bill is a real gentleman as well as an icon of our hobby! From my viewpoint, we can never repay him for his Monogram kit designs, and he's been a L-O-N-G time supporter of IPMS. I can recall when he showed up to the USAF Museum regular fall contest as a competitor; and he usually won! GIL

That wing is starting to come together! Keep us in the loop as it comes together more. GIL

Starting to get back to work on the Koster A-20G now that I've got the decals on my Spit and Hurricane for the Group Builds forum. Got some of the last exterior parts on yesterday.... This pic shows the upper intakes, for which Koster provides resin intake lips. You can also see the firewall/cowl flaps that will seat the engines and cowlings. This shows the intakes on the inside of the nacelles. Koster even provides pe intake baffles for them! You can also see the exhaust pipes I added using plastic tubing. The gray putty is (hopefully) the last application of Mr. Surfacer before the final priming and rescribing. I also opened up and test fitted the vac cowlings, as well as assembling the resin engines and tires. The next job will be to cobble together the cannons, machine guns, and the 4 rocket tubes to allow me to build the Havoc on the cover of the "In Action" book. Questions, criticisms, and comments welcome! Cheers! GIL

Great synopsis and snapshot of the procedures! It gives a person like myself who has no idea of those things a glimpse of being on alert with SAC when it counted. Great diorama possibilities there! Thanks! GIL

Lovely Harrier! Thanks for sharing! GIL

That's some very sharp framework on the -88! How did you do it? GIL

Looks good Bo! I also like your thinking about using kits like these to experiment on. They lend themselves to a lot of ideas! Thanks for sharing! GIL

Hmmmm....the International Plastic Modeling Scoundrels........THAT has possibilities! GIL

My MkI Spit is painted! I did the Dark Earth on Friday evening. I decided to do a "tight feather-edge" mask for applying the Dark Green today. I used Sherwin Williams yellow tape (much like Tamiya tape, but much cheaper and in bigger rolls) and placed thread along the mask edges to raise those edges ever so slightly. This is TEDIOUS work, but it's VERY effective! Note that I've also post shaded both colors with lighter tones to add a bit of "character" to the camo. At this distance, the camo almost looks like a hard-edge mask. However, if you get within 6inches, you can clearly see the soft edges. By the way, I initially was going to use some blue-tac to do the camo, but had a devil of a time trying to put it on the model. It would stick to my fingers better than the model! Made it impossible to put into place! Is this because I was in my garage and it was rather hot (above 90deg)? Do any of you who use this method regularly have this problem, or did my environment create the problem? Thanks! GIL

Got the camo done on the Hurricane. Painted the Dark Earth on Friday evening and then painted the Dark Green this afternoon. After masking the MkI Spit camo that I'm also building (see the Steeds topic), I decided to free hand the Hurricane camo. Both colors have also been post shaded with lighter tones to make them a bit more "war-weary". By the way, the top pic is a bit on the light side as it showed the highlighting better. The bottom pic is a closer match to the real model. I still need to do some gentle wet sanding on the paint job. That will further highlight the raised ribbing of the fabric and also smooth out some orange peel that's in the corners of the wingroots. Then I can gloss it in preparation for decaling and weathering. Cheers! GIL

Frankly, I fall squarly in the TLAR camp. If it looks right, it is right (to me) and THAT is where perception comes in. I'm a lot more forgiving and less critical when I take that look compared to others. I approach plastic models as being scale representations and not scale miniatures. To me, a representation has room for error while a miniaturzation is just that, the real thing exactly shrunk down. I have no objection to model builders who demand that extra level of miniature engineering for themselves and their own model building. I DO object when they project that philosophy onto the worth of a kit (it's "accuracy") or the worth of another modeler's build (it's "quality"). THAT is where most arguments start; the perception of the value of a kit or it's build. As Lee pointed out, that's almost as varied as there are modelers! This is a hobby. Build your models to suit yourself. If you choose to compete within this hobby, then build to a competitive standard that YOU are happy with and let the accolades fall as they may (or may not). Feel free to point out your perception of omissions and errors in kits in your builds and reviews as many other modelrs will be interested in knowing about them, even if they decide to ignore your perceptions. Just be sure to label them as your perceptions and not "fatal kit flaws". The idea of criticizing another person's building style is just plain bad manners. Like mom always said, if you don't have anything nice to say, say nothing! There is NO expectation of anyone building anything to please YOU. Admire what ya like and leave the rest alone. If a builder is having FUN, then they're building their models the RIGHT way, and your perceptions don't count a whit! Cheers! GIL

My buddy Nelson and I plan to come in on Friday afternoon, and hotel suggestions are welcome (besides the $/hour fixture that James refered me to!). I do plan to help out with the judging and I'm looking forward to it! GIL

My condolences for your loss. I'm sure your love and many proud memories of him will sustain you through your grief. God bless you and yours! GIL

Plan on combining the "office" (with computer) and the building space later this summer. Yea, it's at the insistance of my wife who wants her dining room back.... GIL

Well I'm extremely impressed! Frankly, not only is the Duke prolific, but I love his attitude too. He seems to have more FUN building than most of us. Maybe we could learn a little lesson from him and opt for a little more quantity and stop worrying so much about "quality".....especially since you only have to please YOURSELF! AWESOME COLLECTION! GIL

Sweet! That's looking really nice, and I can't believe how fast you went through the painting process. GIL

Thanks for sharing those rare pics! Lots of great references for dioramas in there that show just how bombed out buildings and roadside wreckage looks. GIL

Have made some progress on the Hurricane... The wing lights are done. I simply painted the resin lights silver and then added a drop of 5min epoxy for the lenses. I still need to paint the light housings and add the covers before resuming painting. I also decided to add clear wingtip lights. I used pieces of clear colored toothbrush handles, cut to fit the notches in the wingtips and then sanded and polished to shape. I'd also already painted the Sky undersides, and so I'll have to repair those painted areas after adding the wing light covers. Then I'll be ready for the top camo colors. Cheers! GIL

I might make the Atlanta show...IF my boss approves switching my regular weekend of with a co-worker. I'll find out in a few days. In the meantime, is there an "official" hotel for the show? I looked on the website and saw a listing of local hotels; but the bmp image page with the map of where those hotels are in relation to the show isn't working. Can anyone make a recommendation? I prefer a hotel WITH a bar, or within walking distance of Hooters! Thanks! GIL

Exquisite craftsmanship! Can't wait to see more progress! GIL

Model building is like life. It's as much about the "journey" as it is about where you end up (results). Glad to have ya here with us! GIL