Maddog Manufacturing 2015 Production Line

[Mark Deliduka]

Today I got to the workbench and got started on those train flatcars like I wanted. Here's my latest progress on everything today.

First off, I hate when they make the sprue gates so big like this that they fill up the channel where the wheel is supposed to sit on the rails:



I was working on two flatcars; one long and one short. I had to clean eight of those wheels! What a PITA!

After doing all of those and getting the wheels and axles assembled, I built up the rest of the flatcars. These are by no means done; I have a lot of detail parts to add to these, as well as the side rails. However, you can see here the basic look of these little cars.

Here's the short one:



And this is the long one:



There are four parts to that long flatbed that had to be glued flat. I'm still not sure I succeeded. Oh well, this one is done so far.

After all that, I'd had enough of UM's trains so I took a break. I didn't want to fire up the compressor today to airbrush, so I decided to do a few simple kits and a couple of easy distressed kits. Here's the first of the simple kits. This is the 1/72 scale Hasegawa Huey Hog I started some time back. I found it again and went ahead and painted the interior of the cockpit and cargo bay:



Later on I'll paint the pilots and drybrush the instrument panel. For now, I just went ahead and painted some of the other details, as well as the interiors of the fuselage halves:



Once the pilots and IP are done this little bird will be ready to close up!

Moving on, I picked up one of the first of the Distressed Kits I wanted to (re)start. This is a Trumpeter 1/72 scale LAV-25 that someone "severely started" before I got it in the Distressed Kit Auction at my IPMS club's June meeting. This is what it looked like when I got it:



Notice everything is there....... except the instructions.....

Oh well, I'm a model builder; I don't need no steenkin' instructions!

I went ahead and finished fixing the suspension parts that had broken off:



I kept thinking, 'what's up with this green color anyway?' but I went on and started the turret. Once I got the turret all assembled, I noticed a fairly large gap that I was sure wasn't supposed to be there. So out came some strip styrene that got cut up and placed in the hole to plug it:



That will get sanded smooth later on.

Here's a test shot showing the hull and turret together:



That's gonna look pretty good when I finally cover that nasty green...

The next Distressed Kit I got was actually given to me because they felt I'd do a better job on it that they'd already done. (Whaaaa...?) This is the Minicraft 1/700 scale spru-can that was; again, "severely started". The whole hull and superstructure as well as the masts were already built; and the masts and tops of the stacks had already been painted a gloss black. I started out by replacing the lost antennae on the masts and added the weapons to the hull. The previous builder had also added the poor decals which had already started flaking off. I hit them with Solvaset to lock the remainder of them down and then I re-painted the masts and tops of the stacks with flat black. Here is what it looked like when I got done with all that. The white parts were what I'd added to the masts:



After looking at this, I noticed that I'd used the wrong type of gun on the front of this ship. I fixed that straight away:



Next I painted the hull. Then I looked at several of the gaps on the superstructure and decided I couldn't live with those. Out came the Mr. Surfacer. I started out with the gaps on the forward superstructure under the bridge:



Yes, I already fixed the drooping antenna...

Then I filled the gaps around the hanger doors:



All that will be carefully sanded down till it's smooth and then I'll paint the superstructure. Some gaps are still there, but I can't get to them with what I have so they'll just have to remain.

Well, after doing all that work on that spru-can, I got motivated to finish off the USS Virginia, despite not finding the replacement parts someone had sent me. Out came more of the styrene strip and rods.

Okay, remember this? This is where I stopped before:



Well since that pic was taken, the masts had all broken off; the big square radar disappeared and several other parts broke off and disappeared. *cough*torpedo tubes*cough.

Okay, after tearing apart the Hobby Room again looking for the square radar; I finally found the back of another one. I added the front of it using sheet styrene and then added the extra parts that made this radar:





It looks like crap, but at least I got one on this ship again! I also added modified launcher arms to look similar enough to the ones in back that are still on; then I replaced the masts, and fixed the other missing parts:



Then I touched up the paint a little more, and fixed a few more bits and bobs:



I'm not sure why I posted that pic; it doesn't look much different than the previous one. Oh well, here's a stern shot I haven't included before:



Okay, I guess I can now declare that ship ready for decals. Finally, I'll have that ship added to my fleet; after so many, many years of waiting!


Okay, that's all I got done so far today. Tomorrow promised to be just as open for working on my Hobby so this time, I think I'll fire up the compressor and start shooting some paint. So stay tuned, more to come.


Meanwhile, comments are always welcome, thanks for looking in.

[Mark Deliduka]

Today was a day of two steps forward one-and-a-half steps backward.

Today, I fired up the compressor and got some paint and clear coats shot on some models.

First off, I shot clear coats on all the models that are ready for decals. These models consisted of the Atomic Annie, the little Czech plane, the 1/35th scale F-5E Tiger II, and the USS Virginia. These got set aside to dry...


...while I cleaned up one of two Lacquer Thinner spills; this one affected two models. One was my little 1/72 scale Airfix F-51 Mustang which got some on the wing:



You actually can't see the damage here in this pic, despite my best efforts to edit it to show. Basically, it roughened and discolored the plastic. The other model affected was the Atomic Annie. Fortunately, it was only this part that was damaged:



Easy fix... again. This is the third time I've had to repaint that particular part.

Moving forward, I shot paint on the F/A-18 Hornet in grey on the top:



Then I shot some paint on another modern aircraft I started months ago. This is the F-35 I shot a basecoat of gunship grey on:



Next I shot some green since I had three models that needed that color. This first one was the little BS-3 Russian gun:



You can see another of the steps back: I broke off the little lower shield on that gun.

Next I did the T-90 in a basecoat of green. Amazingly enough, no issues here:



For the next model; I was told that the opening I plated over on the turret was supposed to remain open, so I had to remove the plate I'd put on the turret. After that, I shot the green on the LAV as well:





Finally, I shot some white paint on my Aurora Jet Commando:



It was about this time that I spilled the Lacquer Thinner a second time...

After all this time, I figured I could mask off the F/A-18 for the second coat of paint underneath, so I pulled out my trusty blue tape and went to work:





Then I shot the lighter color on the bottom:



While that was drying; I pulled out the little F-51 again and spent a couple hours buffing out the damage on the wing of this plane. I started with the 2400-grit pad and worked my way all the way up to the 12000-grit pad. After all that, I finally got this wing smooth again:



Now that it was completed and ready for paint, I shot a coat of gloss black over it in preparation for the Alclad:



There's still some orange peel on this so I'll be buffing it out again and then shooting some Aqua Clear over it before I shoot the Alclad.

Finally, I pulled the tape off the F/A-18 and realized why I don't normally use acrylics. This was the result:





Yep! Pulled the paint right off the sides and the wings.


I just cannot catch a break....

On that disappointing note, I pulled down the little Spru-can again and sanded the Mr. Surfacer I'd put on the day before. Then I painted up the superstructure, weapons and other bits and bobs. After some additional touch-up, I got it to this point:





Yes, I know the antennas are crooked again, and one is even missing. I will replace it later and straighten the rest after I mask and paint the lower hull. Then I can paint the little white parts and do some other detail painting before I clearcoat this to complete the decals.


Until then, I'm done for the day. I hope you enjoyed my less than satisfactory day. It would have been more satisfactory if I could have gotten more done instead of chasing broken parts; cleaning up two chemical spills and dealing with airbrush issues.

Anyway, thanks for looking in, comments are always welcome. I hope to have more to show soon so stay tuned.

[Mark Deliduka]

Here's my latest progress I got done so far. I've not had very much time to get to the workbench the last few days, but during the short times I have had; I've managed to get the following done.

First off, I shot some Primer Grey on the bottom of my C-46. It looks spot on to Model Master Neutral Grey, so this will be the underside coat. It did reveal a few areas where some additional attention was needed so I added some more Mr. Surfacer to the areas. I'll be sanding these later:



You can see where the Mr. Surfacer is added...

While that was drying, I sanded and polished a couple other models: the F-51 and the Jet Commando. Since they still look the same, I didn't take pics of them.

Next I took a look at the little Russian gun I had painted and I noticed an obvious seam on the top of the breach block. That ain't supposed to be there, so out came the Mr. Surfacer again and I got it all filled and smoothed out. I also adjusted the wheels so they all sit right, and I painted the details on the wheels, breach, gun slide, and targeting sight:



Now to re-coat this in clear for the wash, then dullcoat and drybrush/weathering and this will be done.

Speaking of guns; I found this little Italian gun that I'd started some time back. It's a cheap little snap-together wargame gun with crew that I got for my Italian Army. It is in soft plastic and has some fairly soft detail, but this isn't expected to go to any contests or anything. Anyway, it was primered white when I found it so I applied some paint to this to move it along:



After all that, I felt it was time to get back to the Shipyards.

I pulled down this RAF rescue launch that had been sitting for awhile and decided it was time to get it moving again. I finished adding a few more deck detail parts and then masked the windows for this. It is now ready for painting:



Next I sanded the sides of the Spru-can I'm doing. Now I have to repaint some as I sanded down to the base plastic. I went ahead and masked and painted the lower hull anyway. Now it's got the red hull underneath and is that much closer to decals:



Yes, some of the masts and antenna bits broke off again. I'm leaving them off until the end so that I don't have to keep re-gluing them into place.

Finally, I was having so much fun in the Shipyards, I decided to open another slip and start a model that a friend on another Forums had just started. Now the two of us are doing a mini-group build over there building this model. It's the Dragon 1/700 scale USS New York and I started with the Rolling Airframe missile launchers:



They each had four parts each and they were tiny! That's why I left the bases on the sprue until I need them.

Moving along, I added the small parts to the main octagonal tower:



Next, the instructions told me to add all the small parts on the foredeck before gluing the whole assembly to the main hull. I figured that these small parts would be difficult enough putting on the deck part, and then might break off when I attach it to the main hull. I decided to reverse the process; I added the fordeck part to the main hull first:



Then I added all the tiny parts. It made this step so much easier:



By this time I'd run out of time again so just for fun I quickly dry-fit the upper superstructure and forward tower to the main hull to get an overall shot of what this will look like:



That's gonna be one impressive ship! I just hope I can do it justice.


That's all I have for now. Stay tuned, I hope to have more done soon.

Thanks for looking in, comments are welcome.

[ghodges]

Nice progress Duke, and a great tip on leaving the sub-assemblies on the sprues til you need them!

 

GIL

[Mark Deliduka]

Thanks Gil! Those assemblies were so small I was afraid to remove them. I thought that would cause me to lose them that much faster. At least now I know where they are.

[Mark Deliduka]

Well, I got a lot of things to post! I spent the day trying to get several projects moved ahead so I can get them off my workbench sooner and make up for lost time again. I am pleased that I got a bit more done than I had expected or hoped for.

Okay, let's get on with this since I have a lot to show here.

First off, I clearcoated a few things in preparation for decals. I re-shot the USS Virginia, and Annie; then shot a clear on the Spru-can. I've decided that she'll be christened the USS Caron, even though she's not quite in the proper configuration according to the instructions. Oh well; this was before her refit. I also shot a coat of clear over the Mustang in preparation for the Alclad. I didn't shoot any pics of them as they look the same as before. Once the decals go one and some other weathering is done, I'll have something to shoot.

Now on to the things that I can show progress on....


First off, the Monkeemobile I've had on the Shelf of Shame has been there too long. I took the body down and shot another coat of red on it. Still not very smooth.... again:



While that sat drying, I went ahead and painted the bottom chassis black:



I then checked the instructions and saw that the interior should be done in white, along with the roof. I'm thinking for simplicity's sake, I'm going to shoot it Radome Tan instead. Or maybe a camouflage grey, which is really really light grey, almost white. I'll see which one I have more of.

Moving on, I went to work on a couple of my aircraft. First I masked and painted a white stripe on the fuselage of the little Czech plane. I planned on getting that stripe painted yellow today but didn't get around to it:



Next I did what I could with the C-46 since I feel like it never gets anywhere no matter how much I work on it! I sanded the seams smooth that I'd filled with Mr. Surfacer the other day:



Then I shot a coat of Primer Grey on it again. Looks a lot better now:



After that, I shot Primer Grey over the top of it too:



You can see how big that monster is on my workbench. Now you know why I'm so eager to get it off my bench!

Finally, I masked off the bottom and shot Olive Drab paint on the top. Hopefully everything looks well enough for me to continue on with this plane:



After that, since I had the OD out, I shot some on the exterior of my helicopter I had started some time ago:

The remainder of this update will be continued on the following post since it won't all fit here on this post...

[Mark Deliduka]

Continued from above....

 

 

Moving on to my armor now, I had to fix a ding on the barrel of my Russian BS-3 gun. I didn't get any pics of that since it went so fast after the Mr. Surfacer dried. I did get pics of the fix I did to the rotating platform on Annie. First I scraped and sanded the top to remove the crinkled paint; then I took my Exacto blade and scraped out the messed up paint in between the ridges along the side:



Then I shot the OD over it. I did that when I was shooting the helicopter and C-46:



Wow, looks like I still need to do a little cleanup on that thing.


The next thing I did work on though was my IBG Diamond T Cargo truck.

I had finished up the chassis first, complete with engine:



Then I got the front of the cab built along with the cargo bed:



They are just sitting on that chassis to get a better pic. The next thing I did was paint the chassis Oily Black:





Paint was a little wet still I think...

While I still had the OD out, I shot a coat over the Diamond T's fenders on the chassis; and then the cab and cargo bed:





Next I should be able to paint the interior details in the cab and then get it assembled. Hopefully tomorrow.

Now it was time to get some serious work done....

I started out with the little LAV I was finishing. I pulled out my Silly Putty and placed the masking on it for the second color:



Next I pulled out my brown and shot it over the little vehicle:



While that was drying, I pulled out my T-90 and started masking off the green with the Silly Putty as well in preparation for the second color:



This one got a dark earth color; more tan than brown:





The holes in the turret Silly Putty happened because I'd forgotten to take the pic of the tan color first before I started removing the Silly Putty where the black was supposed to go.

Once these two were dry; I removed the Silly Putty in the places where the black was supposed to go and then masked off the rest of the tan:





I also masked off the brown on the LAV in preparation for shooting the black:



I mixed up a little "light black" using some light grey in a jar of flat black and proceeded to shoot it on these two armor models. First the T-90:



Then the LAV:



Once they both dried, I was able to remove the masking to see how well these came out. First the LAV:



Black came out a bit pebbly because for some reason my compressor had turned off and the tank had run down. I hate when that happens! I turned it back on to shoot the T-90.

Here's the T-90:



Not bad if I do say so myself! The black turned out a little better.

Finally, after they had both dried sufficiently, I shot clearcoats on them in preparation for washes and decals:





The last thing I did before I ran out of time was to shoot the remaining black paint on the side of the Rescue Launch's hull:




Well, that's all for today. I'm hoping tomorrow to get decals on at least three models, if not more; shoot some Alclad on the Mustang, make more progress on the New York, and shoot the interior and roof of the Monkeemobile. If all goes well tomorrow, I might be able to get all that done. So, stay tuned everyone, and remember, comments are welcome. Thanks for looking in on this overly long post.

[VonL]

Hey - there's some stuff in here that's not 1/72! What's up with that!?

[Mark Deliduka]

Hey Bob, I gotta keep you guys on your toes after all! LOL! Besides, they don't make a Monkeemobile in 1/72 scale!

 

At least that got someone to post here; I think I've overwhelmed everyone into speechlessness. Thanks for posting Bob!

 

Now on to today's update....

 

Today was finishing day and making more progress day.

I started out with trying to get everything done that was so close to the finish line already. That meant, for starters; my ships were getting decals. The Spru-can was first. I got the remainder of her decals on the hull:



Here she is sporting her new name:



Next I did the same for the USS Virginia:



Here's a better shot from above showing all the decals on the deck:



Gee, gotta fix my white balance....



Moving on, I shot some yellow on the little Czech plane. Now I need to find some decals for this little bird:



I also shot the Alclad on my Mustang. For once, it went on like it's supposed to the first time:



Later I masked off the nose to paint on the black anti glare panel. For some reason, my black just doesn't want to spray right no matter how much I thin it down or adjust the air pressure:



I smoothed it out a little with some thinner. I'll be able to buff this smooth more easily now:





Next I worked on some armor as well. The interior of my Diamond T truck is now done; I can assemble the rest of this now:



Since I was decaling my ships, I figured, let's get the armor done too. First up, my T-90 tank:



Later, I gave it a dark brown wash overall, and a black wash on the engine deck meshes; then I shot the dullcoat over it:



I noticed that frosting on the tank after awhile, so I think some of the wash in the deepest crevices was still wet. I'd thought I'd given it enough time to dry, but apparently not. That was fixed by shooting another dullcoat over this; all the frosting went away.

Moving on, I also decaled my LAV-25. This one had an interesting 'extra' on the decal sheet so I added it to this model to make it "Bertha". I had to guess where to put the decals as I had no instruction sheet to follow. I did use one of my previously finished LAV's as a guide:



This one then got a dullcoat as well:



I also washed and dullcoated my two artillery pieces while I was at it:





It doesn't really show up well in these pics, if at all.

Finally, there was one more armor model that I applied decals to. First though, I had to go on the AMPS Review site to get the decal guide that my friend Robert put in the review he did:



Granted, some of the wrong decals were applied, but they are all in the correct places! Here's the first decals on the gun carriage itself:



Then I applied the decals to the two carriers. You'll note that the bumper decals are far too long. I think Dragon did that on purpose:



I added Solvaset to these and let them set for a it, then I went back and trimmed the bumper decals. First though, I fixed the pivot plate under the gun itself:



Now you can see the bumper decals after I trimmed them off:





Just for fun, I put this whole beast together and shot a pic:




Okay, after all that was done, I went ahead and finished several of these all up. Finally I can post some finished models!!! You can see the finished models in the ships and armor pages of these boards.

Thanks all for looking in, comments are welcome.

 

 

 

 

 

[Mark Deliduka]

Here's a short update from me. I haven't had the chance to get too much time on the bench so I focused on only a few builds.

First off, I made some more progress on my USS New York. I got the whole superstructure assembled now. She's ready for fiddly bits:



I left these open to see if there's anything I can put in them, but it doesn't look like the kit included anything. Unless I can see what should be here that I might be able to add; I'll be closing these openings with the P/E provided:



Now lets do some dry-fitting to see how this ship is gonna look:



This is going to be a great looking ship to add to my collection!


Moving on, I decided it was time to focus on getting more done on my 1/72 scale Space Shuttle with Boosters. After all, it's been sitting on my workbench idly since February....

Back then, I'd only done the booster rockets themselves. The main tank had already been done by the previous owner who sold it to me. So, I pulled this out and sanded down the seams that the boosters had; filled a few gaps with Mr. Surfacer 500 and set them aside to dry. Next, I started on the cockpit of the shuttle itself:



Not too much detail inside, but once it's painted up; it looked pretty good if I do say so myself:



Next I completed the interior part of the cargo bay. I didn't worry too much about the appearance of this as the shuttle bay doors will be closed. I doubt they opened them once this beastie was attached to the boosters:



I couldn't find my regular alligator clips; so I pulled these off the block they came with.

After that, I figured I'd get a few more sub-assemblies done, like the wings:



...and the tail:



Next I assembled the main fuselage of this beastie. She's a big one all right:



The wings were only dry-fit to see how big this was going to be.

After that, I set it all aside to dry, while I went back to finish the bottom of the booster rockets. I had two parts to add to the bottoms of these and one booster was somehow more oval than the other. It took a lot of help to get this to glue properly:



Here you can see it next to the other completed booster tail:



Finally, they both were completed once the glue had dried:



Now back to the Shuttle itself. I installed the cockpit and some windows inside the fuselage. Looks pretty good in there. I hope once the glass goes in some of this can still be seen:



For added stability, I installed the back engine plate to the end of this. I left off the nacelles so I could paint this black first before installing them:



Now let's have a little more Fun with Dryfitting:



Oh yeah, she's a big one all right....

After this, I had a little time left to start a model that a friend gave me after winning it at the IPMS Nationals in Columbus. This is my Trumpeter 1/2 scale Madge seaplane. I started out adding about thirty-five pieces to the forward part of the main flight deck; including the lower nose deck:



Yeah, I had all that to add and I haven't even put in the pilot and crew seats yet!

That's about when I ran out of time. So, thanks all for looking in, comments are welcome.

[Mark Deliduka]

Ya know guys, when I mention that "comments are welcome" that means I'd love to read some replies from you guys. Then again, I've probably stunned and overwhelmed you all to speechlessness....

 

 

Just messing with you guys! I know there are some watching this so don't worry; that's why I have this latest update on my mostly small scale, out-of-the-box projects for you to peruse.

I'll start with the Space Shuttle since there's only the one pic. Seems the bottom seam is atrocious, so I slathered a good amount of Mr. Surfacer 500 in preparation for cleaning this up:



Hopefully tomorrow I can install the interior into this model and move on....

Next I went to work on my little Huey Hog helicopter that I've been neglecting for a while. I finished up painting the pilots and adding the main rotor stem:



I also dry-brushed white on the instrument panel:



I kept it simple since I didn't expect much would be seen through the windows anyway...

Finally, I slapped it all together and set it up to dry:



More to come on that later. I have a lot of touch-up to do on that. I'll also probably need to shoot another OD coat on it.


Moving on, I also went back to another model I've been neglecting a bit. It was time to complete the cab for my Diamond T cargo truck. Before that though, I didn't like the gaps between the tanks on the running board and the forward fender. So, I took out the Mr. Surfacer 500 and added some to the gaps. Then I used Mr. Hobby Thinner to smooth it out so that I wouldn't need to try and get some kind of sanding implement in the corner:





Next I added the windshield and door windows to this. Here's the windshields:



Seems the Mr. Surfacer 500 got a little thin and opened up again. Gonna have to fix that...

Windshields were kind of hard to see in that pic, here's another one:



Then I added the windows to the doors:



Don't know where all that dirt came from on those; I already got them cleaned off. I also noticed that they didn't include a window for the back of the cab. So, I used my Micro Crystal Clear to make one:



While all that was sitting and drying, I went ahead and added the wheels to the chassis:



Gonna be painting those wheels later on, possibly tomorrow.

Finally, I got the cab finished:



I didn't add the headlight guards on this because they are solid plastic and look terrible. I'm going to try and find some P/E mesh I might have somewhere to replace it on this model. Hopefully I have some.

Finally, some more Fun With Dryfitting:




Last but not least, a friend of mine on another Forums posted that he'd received a 1/48 scale Revell Stearman biplane and needed a builder to build it for him. I mentioned that if nobody else was willing to build it for him, I'd give it a shot. Long story short, he sent it to me.

This is the box I got in the mail this week:



Some nicely molded parts in this model. It looks pretty good in the box:



After looking it over, I cleared my bench and got started. First off was the cockpits and interior:



While that was drying, and while I was waiting to find out what scheme he wanted this done in, I painted black on all the black and metallic parts. The metallic parts will be dry-brushed with aluminum or steel, depending on what I'm painting:



By the way, he left it up to me to choose the scheme so I'll do the one shown on the box top.

Tomorrow I was supposed to help someone move, but the place he's supposed to move to isn't ready yet so I have the whole day free. The airbrush is coming out so I'll be painting the Stearman interior and several other models.

Stay tuned for more! Meanwhile, comments are welcome; thanks for looking in.

[ghodges]

Duke, you are a modelin' machine!

 

GIL

[Mark Deliduka]

Thanks Gil! Just trying to make up for lost time...

[VonL]

1/48 scale...!? Sacrilege.

 

Nice stuff, Duke!

[Mark Deliduka]

1/48 scale...!? Sacrilege.

 

Nice stuff, Duke!

 

 

I know! Right?

 

Anyway, it's for someone else, so it's not like I'm going to keep it. LOL!

 

Thanks for the compliment Bob! Stay tuned for more.

[Mark Deliduka]

After a couple more days, I finally have some decent progress to show, so here it is. I decided that since I have a bit of spare real estate on the bench, I'd go to my queue and pull out something that's been sitting awhile. I chose this monstrosity since the box was a mangled mess and pieces were threatening to get lost:



That 'mummified' beast above is the old Lindbergh 1/350 scale President Liner that I got for about three bucks. I cemented the hull together and then had to add the decks to the top in order to be able to tape the badly warped hull together so it would glue along the keel. I finally succeeded. I had also added some Mr. Surfacer 500 to select areas and did some sanding to other areas, but it wasn't worth shooting pics.

Moving along; I picked up another model that's been sitting for so long. I was looking for a simple model that I could relax a bit with. Enter the Huey Hog that I'd glued together some time ago. I filled and sanded this Huey down along the seam line:





Later on when I pulled out the airbrush to paint the C-46 and the Diamond T truck with OD, I painted up this little guy as well:




Speaking of my Diamond T Cargo Truck; this beastie was becoming quite a problem model. This time, several of the windows had come unglued so I had to pop open the cab again to repair them:





After getting those windows glued again, I closed this up, masked off the windows and sanded smooth a few rough spots:



While the masking was drying, I completed the chassis by painting the wheels. Now this part is finished and ready for weathering:



Later on, when the airbrush was out and the window masks were dry, I shot another coat of OD on the cab:



Let's hope those windows stay i9n place when it's time to pull the masks off. Now, some Fun with Dry Fitting:



I'm finally getting somewhere with this model. I might even be able to finish it by next week.


After all that, I wanted to do something different. My brother's Boss had given me a 1/25 scale VW Van from Revell back while I was visiting him during the Columbus Nationals. He recently sent me an E-mail saying his Boss wants to see the van done. What better excuse to pull it out now and get started on it:



First things first, I started on the chassis of course, I did the front suspension parts first:



Next I did the engine..... or whatever this representation is supposed to be:



Here's the "engine" dry-fit onto the rear of the chassis just to see how it fits:



It does fit surprisingly well. I went on to assemble the rear suspension parts here:





Once again, engine only dry-fit in place. I'll probably glue it into place later.

Next I started on the driver's cab. This brought back memories as we used to have a VW bus in my youth and I used to drive it around when my mom sent me out to drop off or pick up one of my brothers and/or sisters:



Here it is all dry-fit together so far. It is now ready for some preliminary painting:



Speaking of painting; I'm NOT going to be painting this in that sickly, ugly green that is on the box top. No way! I hate that color, and I hate it even more on these parts! The instructions call for a light blue interior with dark blue seats so I'll be painting the inside as called out in the instruction sheet. The outside will be a white roof over sapphire blue metallic sides. I'm not real certain I'll use the decals either, but we'll see how this goes first.

Okay, with all that fun accomplished, I was ready for more fun! But it'll have to be continued on the next post because I do too much progress to fit it all in one post on these boards. :lol: :lol: :lol:

[Mark Deliduka]

Okay, continuing on from the previous post; Lyle's Stearman was calling to me, so I pulled it out and shot the interior green on the interior parts while I had the airbrush out:



Now the instructions called for a very bland interior, but I wanted to do more to it. That being said, I didn't go researching the interiors of Stearmans; instead I took a little 'artistic license' and painted it up with leather seats, field-drab colored seat belts with metallic buckles, and red and black knobs on the side. I also added black on the sticks and I dry-brushed a little steel on the rudder pedals and floor:





The instrument panels are decals too. I think this gives it a bit more visual interest.

Next up of course, was closing this up inside the fuselage. First, here's a shot of the interior inside the one side of the fuselage:



Finally, she's all closed up. I even added the horizontal stabilizers:



Next I added the firewall details and then the engine mount before adding the sides of the cowl covering all this up:



Speaking of engines, I decided to detail out the engine with some extra paint to make it stand out a bit more:



That will be getting a wash of Oily Black on it before I'm finished with it. Now I added all the final cowl parts before it's time to add the engine. I also installed the lower wing:



Now this model poses a bit of a problem. The round facing of the cowl needs to be trapped between the propeller and the engine. So, I need to color match a red with the decal for this part before I can complete the engine and cowling assembly. A red decal would certainly never cover that part at all! I'll keep you posted on how that turns out. This little biplane is almost ready for paint.

Finally, after all that fun, I figured I needed to get back to something that was languishing on my bench for too long. I pulled out the two flat cars I had started earlier, starting with the shorter one. The instructions called for a metal rod to be bent and cemented into place underneath the body. I opted to use plastic rod instead for ease of assembly:



After that, it was only a matter of finishing off the top of this with the end pieces, bumper shafts and side rails. This little flatcar is ready for P/E parts:



I did the same with the longer one; adding the plastic rod on the suspension:



I'm not worried about those bad ejector pin marks on the side; they'll be covered by P/E sheeting

I then flipped this over and added the end pieces, bumper shafts and upper side rails. Once again, this one is ready for P/E parts:



I think they look pretty good together so far:




Okay, that's about all I have for now. Hopefully I'll get some more done soon. I know I'll make some pretty good progress this Hobby Day Friday and Saturday, so maybe I'll be able to get a few of these things closer to the finish line. Stay tuned for more, and remember; comments are welcome. Thanks for looking in.

[Mark Deliduka]

This weekend I went to Hobby Day Friday and Saturday determined to get a lot more done on my two Russian armored trains among other models. I made some pretty good progress, especially on the trains. I also took Dora to get any repairs done on her that happened on the trip back home from Columbus.

First off, I decided to pull out all the flatcars and get the beds of them completed. Here's all the ones I was able to get done so far:



While those were drying, I pulled out the OB-3 train and assembled the engine and tender since I had already assembled both armored railcars that go with this train:



This is what was in the model box for this train. It is still not complete as it is supposed to have a couple flatcars on the front and back:



Later on, I pulled out all the flatcars and tried to get them all assembled to the P/E stage. I got about half of them done, due to extensive ejector pin marks that needed filling; and some missing parts that were most likely left at home. Here's as far as I got:





Next, I decided to start assembling a couple of the payloads for two of these flatcars. One flatcar is carrying an artillery piece and a truck that mounts a quad Maxim in the truck bed. I started on that truck and got as far as the chassis before I needed to move on:



After that, I started the second payload: a BT-5 light tank. I assembled the turret and hull first:



Next I added the roadwheels to be sure the suspension was sitting right:



This one will be finished with the tracks sitting on top of the fenders like the Russians did when transporting these tanks by rail. Here is how it will look:



Now these two trains are starting to take shape. The first one; the OB-3, will have the two short flatcars on the front and back of it. Only one is shown here as the other short flatcar wasn't completed yet:



The second train, the "Fascism Fighter", will have the long flatcar carrying the artillery piece and truck in the very front; followed by a long flatcar with an "AA tower". In back, it will have another long flatcar with an "AA tower". I'll possibly tack the flatcar with the BT-5 at the end of this train. Here it is with two of the long flatcars that will have the "AA towers" on them:




Finally, after all that, I decided to start a simple model; this one is for a campaign. I pulled out my Trumpeter 1/72 scale T-54B tank. First I added all the roadwheels and other detail parts to the lower hull; and then I glued the tracks together:



Next I added all the bits and bobs to the upper hull:



Finally, I finished up with assembling the turret:



Now, after 25 minutes of assembly, this tank is ready for paint:



I should be able to shoot something on this during this week.




In closing; as I mentioned, I brought my Dora Railgun in to fix whatever damage may have happened during the trip home. Since coming home from the Nationals in Columbus; I had not taken the time to open my box containing Dora until now. I didn't want to open it at home where I had no space to pull her out to repair anything that had broken, so I waited until I could get to a Hobby Day where I had a whole 4' x 8' table to work on. I'm glad I waited. What I found was heartbreaking:



A third of the railings were broken and the barrel was completely broken off along with the breech block. Three of her roadwheel cars were detached and a small platform had broken off.

The good news is that besides the interior railings that I could not access easily, if at all; everything else was eminently repairable, especially since I had all the pieces intact in the box. Dora has been rebuilt and is ready for fire missions again. You can see her in my "The Duke Completes Five More Armor" Thread. I posted a couple of comparison pics with her sitting next to her American cousin Annie. Feel free to check them out.


Okay, that's all I have for now. This coming week I may be too busy to get much done but I'll keep you posted once I do have some progress to show. Meanwhile, thanks for looking in, comments are welcome.

[Mark Deliduka]

Okay, after having gotten a few more models I've decided it was time to get a move on and clear the bench to make room for them. I hadn't quite finished anything yet, but at least I'm a lot closer now.

To start with, I managed to get all the bits and bobs installed in the Be-6 Madge's interior. Now all I need to do is complete the bulkheads and get them glued in place; then I can start painting this before I close it up inside the fuselage:



It doesn't look like much, but there's at least four dozen little parts on that long deck.

After all that, I wanted to work with big pieces. I assembled the two main wings; sans flaps and engines so far:



Next I moved on to my USS New York. I assembled the upper hull to the lower hull; then added the stern plate. I opted to have the rear doors closed since this had no interior compartment to put inside:





Finally, after all that, the trains were calling me again; in particular, the flatcars. First off, I finished the second short flatcar so that I had both of them done and ready for P/E:





And here's a shot of the two of them side-by-side so you can see I did actually build two:



Next, since I had three long flatcars completed to the P/E stage, it was time to finish the rest of them. I did finish up two more, to make this five finished flatcars. Here's the first one:



And the second one:



I wanted to finish all six of these, but I couldn't find the sixth one. All it needs are the upper sidewalls and end pieces too. Oh well, here are the five of them all side-by-side so you can see them all:



Next, I decided that the truck chassis for the one flatcar needed to have the upper part completed so that I could finish the truck. I assembled most of the cab; only leaving the rest off until I can paint the interior of the cab and add the windows:



Next I built the bed of the truck:



Here's what I built all dry-fit together to see how it will look:



Finally, here's a shot of all the flatcars I got to the P/E stage:



Yeah, now it's time for adding the P/E to all these train cars and engines. That will take several days; I'll probably wait until Hobby Day to do this. Meanwhile, I can continue to build the truck, gun and tank for two of these flatcars.

After all of that, I needed a break from railroading. I finally started something I've been wanting to start for a while.

Here are the completed chassis of my two SCUD B missile launchers. One will be Russian, the other Iraqi:



Okay, that's all for now. I still have a little time today so I'll be working on some more stuff to post next week. Stay tuned! Thanks for looking in, comments are welcome.

[ghodges]

Nice progress Duke, but I don't know how you keep track of all of those different projects at once!

 

GIL

[Mark Deliduka]

Thanks Gil! Sometimes I do lose track; or more rather, lose a significant part of a project as I did above losing the one unfinished flatcar. But, I move on and all is well with the world..... and then I find it!

 

Thanks again for looking in, and for the comment!

[Mark Aldrich]

Only 29 more days before they carry over into 2016!

[Mark Deliduka]

Thanks Mark! Hopefully the trains won't carry far into 2016.... Hopefully I'll even finish a few more models before then too!

[Mark Deliduka]

As promised, I have a bit more to post today. These are the things I got done since the last time I posted about three days ago.

I'll start out with the models I got painted first.

The C-46 had been sitting too long so I pulled out the engine cowling parts and shot them with some Olive Drab on the tops:



Later I assembled them; masked them when they were dry and shot the grey undercoat on them. I also shot the grey on the landing gear doors:



I also re-shot a coat of Olive Drab over the whole aircraft since it needed a second coat due to some irregularities I saw and had to fill and sand out:



You can see that I did that before shooting the grey.

Next, I re-masked and shot a Dark Ghost Grey topcoat on my F/A-18 Hornet again to fix the flaked paint:



Nest, I masked off the openings in the Stearman with Silly Putty to prepare it for paint:



It doesn't look like it, but that plane is still grey in that pic. Here it is after I shot the cream color over the whole thing, including landing gear parts as well as wing struts:



That reminded me to try and color match the red on the decal sheet. The one on the right is Testor's square bottle gloss red. The one on the left is Testor's Model Master Insignia Red:



They both look the same in this pic, but I assure you they are both darker in color compared to the decal. Personally, I think I might have to go with Testor's Model Master Italian Red. I'm hoping to get some picked up next week.

Moving on, I also shot a Dark Green over my T-54B:





This is glossy in these pics because I shot a gloss clearcoat over it before I realized I hadn't shot a pic of it after I painted it. I also should have finished the rear end before I shot this... oh well.

Speaking of clearcoats, I also shot a gloss clear over my Diamond T truck...



...and my Huey Hog:



The Diamond T doesn't look very glossy in the pic, but it is as shiny as the Hog. These will be getting decals soon.



Now on to the rest of the fun in the next post since I have too many images to put everything into one post. Sorry, but I can't help getting so much done when I have the time.... :P

[Mark Deliduka]

And continuing the fun from the previous post, here is most of the building I got done.

 

First, I pulled out my Madge and set to getting the interior finished so I could get it painted and closed up inside the fuselage. I managed to get all the bulkheads installed on the interior:



I purposely left that Exacto in the pic so you can see how big this monster is.

Now here are all the parts for the pilot's seat:



Now here they are all assembled:



I had to make two of them. Now I got them all installed and that completed the interior of this beastie:



Now I set that aside to dry and went to work on the engines....

What engines? There was only one piece to glue into the center of these cowls, so I cemented them in and got the propellers ready to go on after I painted the center of the cowls:



That was quick, so I pulled out the wings and sanded them a bit; then I started to assembled the empennage for the tail:



After this, the interior was all dried; so I got to work painting it. It is impossible to tell, but I shot a coat of light grey paint on these sections of the interior, as well as the tail which isn't in the pic:



After that dried, I started to paint all the details. These will later be drybrushed to bring them out; even though they won't necessarily be seen again once the fuselage closes up:



There's also some decals for the instrument panel that will go on this too.

Next I moved on to my two SCUDs. First I assembled most of the rear sections where the missile carriage is raised:



You can see there's some pretty prominent seams on these parts that got the Mr. Surfacer 500 treatment. I'll get those sanded smooth before I assemble these parts further.

Next I assembled most of the center section of these vehicles. I left off the outer panels so I could paint the interiors. Most of it won't be seen, but some might be seen through the small, round windows on the doors:



Look at all this sweet detail inside this section:



Too bad it's going to be hidden, but I have no room on my shelves for vehicles with doors swung open. Oh well, some of it might be seen through the little round windows....

Just for fun, here's a shot of everything all snapped together and sitting on the chassis:



These are really gonna look great!

Okay, moving right along, my final project on this post is my M1A2 Abrams SEP TUSK. I started out bypassing the part of the instructions where they say to add all the semi-clear parts to all the windows and periscopes on this model. Instead I went straight to assembling all four parts of the lower hull. Then I assembled the upper hull and put the two together:





Then I went and assembled the main gun:



Finally, since I had the main gun; I needed a turret to mount it in:



Wow, that looks so basic. Time to add all the goodies to this and make it look good:



All that's left to do with this is to add all the windows to the parts that need them; assemble the TUSK portions of the hatches and then I can paint this. I'll add all the breakable fiddly bits later on when this is mostly done. On the lower hull, all that is needed is to add the wheels and tracks and then I can paint it too.


In closing, I'll leave you with a shot of this tank all dry-fit together so far. Enjoy:



That's all I have for now. I'm gonna have a very busy weekend so I doubt I'll get anything more done until next week. Stay tuned for more and until then, comments are welcome. Thanks for looking in.