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My 2016 Production at Maddog Manufacturing


Mark Deliduka

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Well, it's now 2016 and time to do a recap of last year's unfinished models as well as the new projects I got started on this year.

Here are the models I still had on the bench at the end of last year that didn't get finished.

I'll start out with the Ships and Boats I was working on all last year.

First up is this Airfix Rescue Launch in 1/72 scale that I started and only just recently got something airbrushed on it:

WIP_RAF_Rescue_Launch_IV.jpg

I had also started an old Lindbergh President's Liner that took a ton of tape to assemble correctly:

WIP_President_Liner_I.jpg

And of course, I also started the USS New York:

WIP_USS_New_York_IX.jpg

In Autos, I had two cars going: a Monkeemobile and a Volkswagen bus:

WIP_MonkeeMobile_V.JPG

WIP_VW_Van_VI.jpg


Now on to my aircraft, I have a small Czech Plane still waiting for decals:

WIP_Czech_Plane_VI.jpg

I also have my Columbus Raffle Prize Airfix Mustang also still waiting for decals:

WIP_Columbus_Mustang_VII.jpg

Then there is this F/A-18 that refuses to go together:

WIP_Modern_Aircraft_GB_XIX.jpg

I'll have to close that campaign out without the ribbon; the tail piece broke off again and disappeared. I don't believe I'll find it in time or get it fixed and finished in time before the Deja-Vu Second Chance runs out.

Next I started a review kit for another Forums, the Revell Stearman:

WIP_Lyle_Stearman_XV.jpg

WIP_Lyle_Stearman_XIX.jpg

Although it is not a plane per se, I did start this Space Shuttle with Boosters which is getting closer to the painting stage:

WIP_Space_Shuttle_XVIII.jpg

And finally, here is the C-46 I've been slowly plugging along on:

WIP_C_46_XXI.jpg

...as well as my Columbus gift, the Be-6 Madge:

WIP_Russian_Madge_XV.jpg

In addition to all those, I'm still fighting this Aurora Jet Commando:

WIP_Aurora_Jet_Commando_VIII.jpg

It was finally all perfectly white and ready for a clearcoat to seal it in when it fell and broke the tail again! Now it is a dirty mess that needs to once again be painted!

Finally, here is an F-35 I started some time back and have yet to get back to it:

WIP_BernieMemorialGB_IV.jpg

Time to remedy that situation and get this on the shelf.


When it comes to my armor, I haven't too much left to do. First off there's this little IBG Chevy CWT truck I found again after I'd started it some months back then put it away:

WIP_Canadian_Truck_I.jpg

However, most of the work I still have to do is on these two Russian Armored Trains:

WIP_OnRRTracksGB_XXI.jpg

WIP_Iron_Rails_GB_OB3_XV.jpg

Meanwhile, I also have this Abrams TUSK in progress that is approaching the finish line:

WIP_Abrams_MBT_Campaign_VIII.jpg

And along with that, I am still working on these two SCUDS:

WIP_Two_SCUDs_XIII.jpg


That is the run down of what was left on my workbench at the end of 2015.

Now to show you the progress I made on some of these kits; as well as show you some of the new models I started for this year.

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Duke,

 

I admire your bravery in showing the many models you have in the works, especially those from the shelf of doom. Taking a photo of every model I have started and still remain incomplete would probably scare me. Some of those date back 60 years, but for some reason I still hang on to them. Add some shame to the shelf of doom. My problem is I still want to start new kits that are on my bucket list. I finished five of those old projects last year, and that was good for me.

 

Ed

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Thanks Ed! That means a lot to me hearing you say that. I do have about another seven or eight models that are not on this list; mostly because I cannot see myself actually finishing them in the foreseeable future. That may change as more of these get done. The ones I posted above are the ones I expect to mostly get finished this year, barring unforeseen circumstances. I do know how you feel about starting new kits that are on your bucket list. I did that this week myself. Check it out below...

 

 

Now here is what I got done at Maddog Manufacturing over the last few days of rain that came through Southern California here.

We'll start our tour at the Aircraft Hanger where my aircraft are being built...

I applied the decals to my C-46 and then when they were dry, I shot another clearcoat over them to seal them in as they were threatening to crack and shatter. Once that was done, I masked and painted the de-icing boots on the wing:

WIP_C_46_XXIII.jpg

Next, it was time to assemble the propellers. And I mean, assemble the propellers! They gave two types of hubs and propeller blades that you had to assemble:

WIP_C_46_XXIIa.jpg

You can see the three-bladed hub parts (with one part missing) on the upper left of the pic. The upper right of the pic shows the four-bladed propeller hub pieces.

Now, my version was supposed to have three bladed props, but due to one vital part being absent as seen above; I had to opt for the four bladed propellers:

WIP_C_46_XXIIb.jpg

So, as far as I'm concerned, this aircraft was retrofitted with the new propellers but never got re-painted due to being on some remote airfield somewhere in..... a remote area.

Here are the two propellers fully assembled and sitting in the black-painted engines:

WIP_C_46_XXIIc.jpg

Later on, I dry-brushed Steel on the engines and painted the hubs dark grey:

WIP_C_46_XXIId.jpg

Here's the engines and propellers all painted up and sitting together. Later, I added the engines to the cowl/nacelle assemblies:

WIP_C_46_XXIIe.jpg

Finally, here's a shot of the aircraft with the propellers and engine nacelles dry-fit on the wings:

WIP_C_46_XXIV.jpg

All that's left for this is to remove the window masking, cement the engines into place, add the landing gear and gear doors and other fiddly bits. Then I can touch up the details and this bird will be done!

Meanwhile, I finally closed that awesome interior up inside the two fuselage halves of the Be-6 Madge:

WIP_Russian_Madge_XVII.jpg

Man that went together so well! So very few seam issues anywhere. Hopefully the same will hold when it's time to add the wings to this. Speaking of the wings; I finished them off and also finished the tail for this bird:

WIP_Russian_Madge_XVIII.jpg

I had already finished the outrigger floats for this as well.

Just for fun, I decided to mock up this aircraft to see how it's going to look:

WIP_Russian_Madge_XIX.jpg

Yeah, she's going to be a fun bird to finish!

Once again, I also had pulled my Jet commando out to seal it after finally having a white coat I was happy with and the stupid thing just fell off the paint stand onto the floor and broke one of the tail surfaces off again. In the process of fixing it; I messed up the paint again.... Back to the drawing board.....

No pics of that Epic Fail; one posted in two weeks is enough!


Moving on, it's time to tour the Shipyards as they've been quite active this week.

To start out with; the USS New York got a coat of grey paint on her.... not that you can really tell from looking at grey paint on a grey-plastic-molded model:

WIP_USS_New_York_XI.jpg

Meanwhile, three other slips laid the keels to some additional ships for my US Navy that may just be available to escort the USS New York on her maiden voyage. In Slip Two, we have the USS Forrest Sherman; an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer. I started out with the main superstructure and bridge tower:

WIP_USS_Forrest_Sherman_I.jpg

You can see the first of a ton of photo-etch that is included in this model. This will be a tremendous challenge to me to finish because of it:

WIP_USS_Forrest_Sherman_II.jpg

Here is the progress I got done on the Forrest Sherman so far:

WIP_USS_Forrest_Sherman_III.jpg

The other two ships will be a bit easier to complete. In Slip Three, is the USS Ingraham, a 'stretched' Perry-class frigate:

WIP_USS_Ingraham_I.jpg

And the last one is a Spruance-class destroyer christened the USS Arthur Radford sporting an experimental enclosed mast amidships:

WIP_USS_Arthur_Radford_I.jpg

As I recall, the experiment was not deemed a success; the enclosed mast made the ship too top heavy and she tended to roll heavily in moderate seas. Still, it is an interesting looking vessel. I've had it in my stash for a very long time, I figured it was time to start it. This one and the Ingraham will be waterline models; the Forrest Sherman will most likely be full-hulled.

 

Now to continue this in Part III since I have more pics than this Forums allows me to put in one post.

 

Continued in next post....



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Continued from previous post...

 

Now on to the Maddog Manufacturing Vehicle assembly line...

To start out this part of the tour, we'll look at my M1A1 Abrams SEP TUSK that finally has a basecoat of sand color on it:

WIP_Abrams_MBT_Campaign_X.jpg

It's actually the wrong kind of sand color. Instead of a US Army Desert Storm sand color, I ended up getting a British Desert Stone color that was in the wrong place! Oh well, I wasn't going to drive all the way back down there to change out one bottle of paint! With the right weathering and other effects, I think I'll be able to change this sufficiently. I started with a brown wash, followed by a black wash over the grills and grates on the engine deck. It is really hard to see the brown on the tank in this pic, except in certain places:

WIP_Abrams_MBT_Campaign_XI.jpg

I didn't do anything on the SCUDs yet as I was going to research more of their interior for painting purposes. I'll get to them hopefully at Hobby Day.

Meanwhile, I started a one model and fixed up another one that someone else had sent me from another Forums. The fixer-upper was a German WWI A7V tank that was leaning to one side and the builder didn't want it anymore. So I traded him for it and when it arrived, I took it partially apart and re-sat the tracks so it would sit level now:

WIP_A7V_Tank_I.jpg

WIP_A7V_Tank_II.jpg

This one already has a base coat of dark grey on it; I just didn't get pics of it yet.

Finally, I started this new model I recently got and boy was this a quick one! This is the Dragon 1/72 scale M-103 heavy tank. I started assembling the Hull:

WIP_M_103_Tank_I.jpg

Then I was going to add the fenders, but decided to wait. Still, here they are next to this tank:

Next, I assembled the turret:

WIP_M_103_Tank_III.jpg

Then I assembled the track runs; they came in two halves that I put together:

WIP_M_103_Tank_V.jpg

All of this and the track assembly took all of ten minutes:

WIP_M_103_Tank_IV.jpg

After working on some other models for an hour or so, I came back to this and sanded the joins down to smooth everything out and then add all the fenders and fiddly bits:

WIP_M_103_Tank_VI.jpg

WIP_M_103_Tank_VII.jpg

That was another fifteen minutes or so, mostly because of the weird way the headlight guard braces had to be assembled. An hour or so later, after doing more on other models and then firing up the airbrush; I came back and shot a basecoat of Olive Drab in this, which took all of three minutes:

WIP_M_103_Tank_VIII.jpg

Later I shot a gloss clearcoat over this when the OD dried and then gave it a black wash over all the engine deck details and select other places; another five minutes worth of work:

WIP_M_103_Tank_IX.jpg

All in all, this model took about an hour of actual work time to get to this point! I love it! It is a funky looking tank. The turret appears to me as if someone had gone up to the gun muzzle of an M--48 and blew real hard to make the turret puff out like that!


And that brings us all up to the present with what's happening at Maddog Manufacturing this week. Tomorrow is Hobby Day and I'm hoping to get more done this Hobby Day weekend on some of these projects while also starting a couple WWI planes for a Canvas Eagles game that we are planning in the future. Stay tuned for more and thanks for looking in. Comments are always welcome.

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Absolutely dizzying Duke! I don't know how you keep track of where you are, especially when you might want to paint the same color on 2 or 3 of them at once. Keep up the good work!

 

GIL :smiley16:

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Thanks Gil! Most of the time I keep track of everything as much as I can so that I can have a number of models that I want to paint the same color ready for paint at the same time. Then all I have to do is find a day to fire up the compressor and start shooting.

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I'm intrigued by the SCUDs and the Shuttle. Who's 1/72 SCUD kits? I think I want one of those.

 

And - are you gonna do anything with the Shuttle payload bay, or just seal 'er up for launch on the boosters? Any sort of launch pad planned?

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Thanks Bob! The SCUDs are from a new company called Toxso Models, they only recently came on the scene with these. They are excellent models with some ingenious joins to eliminate seams and few ejector pin marks. The detail is phenomenal in this scale too.

 

I actually got my SCUDs from Military Hobbies here in SoCal. I'm sure there's a number of online shops that have these.

 

As for the shuttle, the doors do close and open right now so I'm still considering options. Part of me feels like adding the payloads inside and allowing the doors to be opened to see them packed inside waiting for launch. I'm also considering building the payloads and displaying them around the base to show what this carried. As for the base, right now I'm going to use the stand that came with this; no launch pad as of yet. I already have it finished so that I can stand this thing up when I need to to allow it to dry. It seems to be the easiest option at this point; but if someone ever comes out with a launch tower for this; it'll certainly go on that!

 

Thanks again for the interest and comments.

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Okay, after a nice relaxing week filled with model building, I finally have something to show for it.

I'll start with my aircraft and real space.

At Hobby Day in November, I was given a box of approximately 30 1/72 scale plastic model WWI aircraft kits that came from the estate of a gentleman that had passed away the previous week. He had planned on building all of them and using them in a large game called Canvas Eagles. I approached my friend Harmon with these since I didn't want all of them, offering to donate them to our Hobby Club, the St. Crispin's Irregulars, of which Harmon is the founder. Note: the St. Crispin's Irregulars is different than IPMS; this is a more informal group that does both tabletop gaming and model building. Harmon and I decided to distribute these aircraft free to anyone who wanted to build one; with the stipulation that they use the aircraft they build in the game of Canvas Eagles that we will be hosting when almost everyone is done.

Okay, here are two of my aircraft that I'm building for the Canvas Eagles game, a Revell Fokker E.III:

WIP_Fokker_E_3_I.jpg

...and a Roden Nieuport 11:

WIP_Neiuport_11_I.jpg

I did get a little further along on these but forgot to take pics.

Moving on, I went to work on my Space Shuttle, adding the clear parts for the main windscreen:

WIP_Space_Shuttle_XIX.jpg

Later on when they were dry, I masked them using Hobbico Liquid Mask:

WIP_Space_Shuttle_XX.jpg

Afterward, when the mask was dry, I shot a coat of Mr. Surfacer 1000 from a spray can over the areas where this is going to be white. I figured that would give me a better chance of having a complete and consistent white coat:

WIP_Space_Shuttle_XXI.jpg

You can't really tell in that pic, but there is a light grey Mr. Surfacer on that model. While I was at it, I shot a coat of Mr. Surfacer 1000 on the booster rocket parts that are supposed to be white as well. You can also see in this pic the Aurora Jet Commando aircraft that had been giving me all this trouble. Since I had a hard time getting a consistent white coat on this too, I shot it with the Shuttle boosters:

WIP_Primercoat_I.jpg

The grey Mr. Surfacer is a little easier to see in this pic.

Moving along, it was time to get the C-46 completed; or at least as close to completed as I can get it. I added the landing gear and the landing gear doors to the underside of this. Here she is standing on her wheels for the first time:

WIP_C_46_XXV.jpg

You can see I also removed the masking on some of the windows.

Good news: I found the fourth part I needed to make the three-bladed propellers for this plane, so I assembled them. Now this model can be a bit more accurate:

WIP_C_46_XXVI.jpg

Now it was time to paint the windscreen. The model had come with a set of Eduard masks for this aircraft when I bought it, so I decided to try these out. This is the first time I've used Eduard Masks for canopies/windscreens ever. The first side seemed to go on okay:

WIP_C_46_XXVIII.jpg

The other side needed to be trimmed since it was all different sizes. I was following the diagram on the instruction sheet too, but these were poorly cut:

WIP_C_46_XXVII.jpg

Anyway, long story short to keep from boring you; I trimmed the masks, applied the rest of them, trimming where needed and then shot a coat of OD on the canopy/windscreen of this model. That's when I saw the seam lines where the clear parts had been glued to the fuselage halves. So, I started to sand these seams away to smooth this plane out. Here's a pic showing the start of the sanding after I completed the masking and shot the paint:

WIP_C_46_XXIX.jpg

I don't know why the plane looks so brown in this pic. The rest of them look more accurate.

Finally, I got it all sanded smooth. Before I shot another coat of OD again, I painted the landing gear and the landing gear doors underneath this plane so I could minimize the handling again after I shot the final OD on the canopy frames:

WIP_C_46_XXXI.jpg

Now I shot a final OD green on the canopy frames. It is still wet in this pic:

WIP_C_46_XXX.jpg

Now if this dries right, I'll be able to remove all the masking on the side windows and canopy and declare this thing done. Hopefully tomorrow I'll have a completed C-46!

Now see Part II for the latest progress on my armor....

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Now for Part II showing the work I got done on my armor.


I'll start with the little A7V that my friend had sent me. I shot the grey basecoat on this first:

WIP_A7V_Tank_III.jpg

Later on, I tried to freehand the OD splotches on the sides and top. The OD was too thin and ran too much though. First one side:

WIP_A7V_Tank_IV.jpg

...and the other side:

WIP_A7V_Tank_V.jpg

Next I started to apply the photo-etch to one of the Russian armored train engines and tender:

WIP_Iron_Rails_GB_OB3_XXXI.jpg

WIP_Iron_Rails_GB_OB3_XXXII.jpg

WIP_Iron_Rails_GB_OB3_XXXIII.jpg

Believe me, that is only one-third of the total photo-etch that is supposed to go on this part of the train! Oh, and for those that remembered that this train had the happy face drawn on the front; it is behind that P/E plate on the front of the engine. No paint bleed-through here....

After this, I needed a break so I painted the details inside the SCUD cabins that had it:

WIP_Two_SCUDs_XI_Vjpg.jpg

Later on I shot some grey primer on the two missiles themselves to see how the seams worked out. They didn't......

WIP_Two_SCUDs_XV.jpg

I added some more Mr. Surfacer 500 to the seams and will try to carefully sand them smooth without removing too much of the excellent detail on those missiles. I also added the clear film to all the windows on the cabins of the two SCUDs and will soon be painting them.

Moving on from there, I added the decals to the M-103:

WIP_M_103_Tank_X.jpg

WIP_M_103_Tank_XI.jpg

I went with the markings for the 24th Infantry Division according to the instruction sheet. This only needs dullcoat, weathering and the two antennas and machine gun on top to be done.

Speaking of almost done, I also made excellent progress on my M1A2 Abrams SEP TUSK II. I assembled the tracks, painted them and weathered them:

WIP_Abrams_MBT_Campaign_XII.jpg

These looked great on the model:

WIP_Abrams_MBT_Campaign_XIII.jpg

WIP_Abrams_MBT_Campaign_XIV.jpg

Then, while talking long distance to a friend in Miami, I added all the tiny clear parts to the TUSK kit and the periscopes on the hatches before I started to add everything to the turret. Here's the first of the TUSK kit to be installed along with several other detail pieces:

WIP_Abrams_MBT_Campaign_XV.jpg

After finishing the rest of the turret assembly, I added the side skirts to the main hull:

WIP_Abrams_MBT_Campaign_XVi.jpg

Finally, I got the whole thing assembled! All that this needs now is a dullcoat and weathering:

WIP_Abrams_MBT_Campaign_XVII.jpg

WIP_Abrams_MBT_Campaign_XVIII.jpg


Now for those who are interested, the last two tanks have been completed and are going to be posted in the Armored Forums as my 678th and 679th completed small scale vehicles. Feel free to go check them out over there.

That's all I have for now. I may get a little more done tomorrow before my IPMS meeting but I don't expect to be posting anything tomorrow. Maybe next week I'll have something to post, so stay tuned. Meanwhile, thanks for looking in, comments are welcome.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Here's where I am so far on all these projects.

I'll start with the three that have been giving me fits. The Jet Commando needed another coat of paint so instead I masked off the leading edges of the wings and tail and painted on the black de-icing boots:

WIP_Aurora_Jet_Commando_IX.jpg

There was bleed-through as I knew there would be, so next I'll mask off the black parts and engine exhaust and re-shoot some more white. Then it'll be sealed again (hopefully!!!) and decals applied.

Next, I shot another coat of primer on the Shuttle with Boosters:

WIP_Space_Shuttle_XXII.jpg

When it was dry, I shot another coat of white. The shuttle (so far) has remained white:

WIP_Space_Shuttle_XXIII.jpg

...but the boosters got screwed up again. Back to the drawing board...

The lower chassis of the two SCUDs got a coat of black on them:

WIP_Two_SCUDs_XVII.jpg

Here is everything dry-fit together. What doesn't show is the inconsistency of the green coat on these that requires another spray session:

WIP_Two_SCUDs_XVI.jpg

Finally, I had painted a dark blue deck color on the USS New York, but wasn't happy with it since there were brush marks galore on this. So, I stripped off the deck color and will try to airbrush it on and then mask to shoot the superstructure again:

WIP_USS_New_York_XII.jpg





After dealing with all this frustration, I decided to pull out some other models that I hoped to have better success with. I was rewarded with some success on these models.

This first one is the USS Ingraham with some additional bits and bobs added. I'm ready to try and shoot her deck along with the deck of the USS New York:

WIP_USS_Ingraham_II.jpg

Next I pulled down the Russian Be-6 Madge and went to work on her so I could clear another large aircraft off the bench. I got the fuselage all cemented together and the main canopy/clear part installed. Here she is sitting on her wheels which are snapped into place:

WIP_Russian_Madge_XX.jpg

While that was drying, I drilled out two parts that look like exhaust pipes that go under the wings:

WIP_Russian_Madge_XXII.jpg

They aren't very near the engines so I'm not sure what they vent out. Moving on, I also assembled all the underwing ordinance this bird is going to carry. It is quite a load:

WIP_Russian_Madge_XXIII.jpg

Now that the fuselage had dried, I completed the assembly, adding the wings and tail. The front of the engines are snapped in on this picture here; I kept them removable so that I wouldn't break the props when it came time to mask off all the windows:

WIP_Russian_Madge_XXI.jpg

This is one big bird! As mentioned above, I now removed the engine cowlings and started to mask off all the windows:

WIP_Russian_Madge_XXIV.jpg

That was a couple days ago. Now that the masking is dry, I can now add the cowlings and start painting this bird. Hopefully I can get to it this week.

Moving along, I pulled out another model I'd been working on. It was time to get the Stearman closer to completion. To start, here are all the engine parts before assembly:

WIP_Lyle_Stearman_XXII.jpg

And here they are afterward:

WIP_Lyle_Stearman_XXIII.jpg

Now, when it came to the wheel spats; I realized that sanding the seams smooth on these, and then re-spraying them with my airbrush was going to be difficult if I installed them on the plane first. So, I went out of sequence on the instructions and cemented the two halves together on the sprues so I could more effectively sand these seams:

WIP_Lyle_Stearman_XXIIII.jpg

Success! Here they are all sanded smooth before I added some more tan to these to smooth them out before assembly:

WIP_Lyle_Stearman_XXIV.jpg

Finally I was able to start on the decals. I chose to apply them to the upper wing first:

WIP_Lyle_Stearman_XXV.jpg

Some time later, all the decals were applied:

WIP_Lyle_Stearman_XXVI.jpg

You can see here that I didn't bring the wing and tail decals together on the front of the wings and tail surfaces. Lining them up and getting them pressed into place made doing it this way much better. Any attempt to bring them together only complicated the application causing one to become misaligned while attempting to line up the other. Sometimes I almost tore them so applying them like this was far easier.

BTW, the top wing is only sitting on the inner struts of this model for the pic. I removed it here so I could install the engine:

WIP_Lyle_Stearman_XXVII.jpg

Installing the engine was very difficult. There's an inner assembly that made attaching this extremely difficult. Not only that but there are several notches that need to be lined up and they are quite small which compounds the difficulty. I made every attempt to get this engine assembly installed property, but every effort to close that gap was unsuccessful. Any more, and I would probably have broken this model so the gap remains. One recommendation is to leave off the rearmost assembly behind the engine and it might fit far better. One can't see it anyway when the engine is installed.

Finally, here is a pic of the whole plane with all the bits and bobs and decals attached. Once again, the top wing is only placed on the inner struts for now:

WIP_Lyle_Stearman_XXVIII.jpg

Later I painted the leading edges of the wings and tail with the red color. I also added that red color to the engine cowl to try and reduce the seam a little more.

I won't attach the top wing until I have the EZ line delivered and get the first part of the rigging done. That way, I'm not having as much difficulty with getting it rigged when the time comes.


Okay, that sums up a long and difficult two weeks on the workbench. Hopefully this week and next will be far easier and more productive. Stay tuned for more and thanks for looking in, comments are welcome.

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This is going to be a short update (for me) but I wanted to post this after finally getting further ahead on several key projects.



Okay, after a week of frustration and disappointments; today I went into my Hobby Room to wage unrestricted warfare against my Space Shuttle with Boosters. I was determined to get this beast painted white and clearcoated as perfectly as possible so I could move on to masking off and painting the rest of it. Four and a half hours later; after wiping down the pieces with tack rags; misting the air around my spraybooth; shooting white; sanding off dust; wiping down the pieces with tack rags; misting the air around my spraybooth; shooting white, over and over, ad infinitum and ad nauseum; I was finally able to get a good enough coat of white and Future on this model! VICTORY!


Shuttle:

WIP_Space_Shuttle_XXV.jpg

Boosters:

WIP_Space_Shuttle_XXVI.jpg

After that, I decided it was time to tackle the SCUDs as well. I re-shot the green on them and then after working on a few other things while they dried, I came back and shot the tan color on my Iraqi SCUD:

WIP_Two_SCUDs_Iraqi_I.jpg

After that, I shot a clearcoat over the Russian SCUD to prepare it for decals and washes:

WIP_Two_SCUDs_Russian_I.jpg

While I had the airbrush going; I pulled out the Shuttle Fuel Tank and shot the orange color on it:

WIP_Space_Shuttle_XXIV.jpg

That took a whole Testor's Model Master bottle of International Orange. That's a lot of paint!

Moving on, I also put the airbrush to use painting some ships decks. First off, I hit the USS Forrest Sherman:

WIP_USS_Forrest_Sherman_IV.jpg

Next I shot the USS Arthur Radford:

WIP_USS_Arthur_Radford_II.jpg

I forgot the superstructure pinches in the middle so I need to re-shoot this one.

Then I shot the USS Ingraham:

WIP_USS_Ingraham_III.jpg

Finally, after all that practice, I hit the USS New York:

WIP_USS_New_York_XIII.jpg


Whew! That was enough painting for now. Time to relax with some easy building....


I decided to pull out a commission build and get it started. This is the new Tamiya 1/35th scale Panzer II that a guy has asked me to build for him. I started out building the wheels as per the instructions, then moved on to complete the basic hull construction:

WIP_Panzer_II_35th_I.jpg

That's right, you've seen it here first: the Duke of Small Scale armor is building a 1/35th scale tank. Well people, it ain't for me so it's not staying in my collection, but go ahead and get your licks in now.


Moving on, I started a couple models for two campaigns I joined on another Forums. This first one is a 1/72 scale PST Russian Fire Truck. This is one of two trucks I'll be doing for the campaign. I started by assembling the chassis:

WIP_OthersLiveCampaign_III.jpg

Next I assembled the cab and test-fit this thing on the chassis:

WIP_OthersLiveCampaign_IV.jpg

It's a good thing I did because there was a lot of cutting I had to do to get this cab to fit right. Afterward, I added the wheels because I had a feeling they were going to be difficult to get lined up. I was right:

WIP_OthersLiveCampaign_V.jpg

You can see some of the cutting I had to do to make this cab fit. The rest was on the bottom of the cab itself.

Moving on to my next campaign project, this is my 1/72 scale Heller C-118 Liftmaster. I knew this beastie was going to be giving me serious fits in the future when it comes time to paint it (White over Bare Metal: double trouble for me!!) so I went through the instructions and found everything that was in halves and assembled everything except for the fuselage.

I started with the cockpit, naturally:

WIP_CargoHaulersCampaign_III.jpg

Then I assembled all the wheels that were split in half:

WIP_CargoHaulersCampaign_IV.jpg

Those will stay there until I'm ready to put them on the plane.

Then I assembled the two halves of the horizontal stabilizers:

WIP_CargoHaulersCampaign_V.jpg

Finally, I assembled the wings, followed by the four engine nacelles which I then added to the wings. This was one of several lessons I learned from building my DC-6 which is essentially the same plane:

WIP_CargoHaulersCampaign_VI.jpg


There. Now all I have to do is add the windows and mask them; then fix all the seams and other issues. That means I have the rest of the year to do battle with this model as I try to lay down a smooth, even white coat over a smooth, even bare metal finish!


Okay, that is all the work I managed to get done today. I finally feel like something went my way for once. Thanks for looking in, comments are welcome.

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Today I had some time so I managed to get a little bit of progress done on a couple models. I even got three models finished so here's another short update.

Here's how it went down...


First off, I pulled a couple models down to decal. I started with the little Czech plane I'm doing as an aircraft in German service during the war:

WIP_Czech_Plane_VII.jpg

Now to get this little birdie completed.

I then started on decaling the Aurora Jet Commando. The decals however; despite my three coats of Liquid Decal Film, shattered beyond use. So I had to look around for some extra decals in my stash of decals for something that could work. I discovered that I am woefully short of sufficient civilian-type decals for civilian aircraft, especially registry numbers. So, I found some stripes, some Americans Flags, a couple registry numbers and some other artwork and cobbled together a completely fictitious scheme for this aircraft:

WIP_Aurora_Jet_Commando_X.jpg

WIP_Aurora_Jet_Commando_XI.jpg

Of course, while I was doing all this, the white coat got dirty again, but not bad enough for me to worry about it. I'm pretty pleased with how this is looking now. Later on I painted the end of the nose Black and did extend the red lines to the black nose. Eventually, I also added the landing gear for this plane, removed the masking; replaced a couple windows that came out and generally finished her off. You can see her all finished in the Aircraft Forums.




Moving along to my armor, since I was doing decals; I added the decals to the Russian SCUD, then I gave it a black wash to bring out the details:

WIP_Two_SCUDs_Russian_III.jpg

WIP_Two_SCUDs_Russian_IV.jpg

I was about to clearcoat my Iraqi SCUD when I stopped myself since I wanted to do some chipping and wear on this one. So, I pulled out a fine sanding stick and sanded some edges and raised details until the green undercoat showed through. I tried to be as thorough as possible without overdoing it:

WIP_Two_SCUDs_Iraqi_III.jpg

Later on, I gave it a clearcoat, decals and a light brown wash. I also added a black wash to the mesh screens on some sections of this model:

WIP_Two_SCUDs_Iraqi_IV.jpg

WIP_Two_SCUDs_Iraqi_V.jpg


Afterward, I decided to try a different approach to doing the wheels. I assembled them still on the sprues and then sprayed them with brown and sand color to simulate weathering. Then I dry-brushed flat black on the raised surfaces of the tires where they would meet the road:

The Russian wheels still on the sprue:

WIP_Two_SCUDs_Russian_V.jpg

The Iraqi wheels after I removed them from the sprue:

WIP_Two_SCUDs_Iraqi_VI.jpg

The weathering shows much better on the Iraqi wheels in these pics, but you can see the results.

After all that, I sprayed brown on the Russian SCUD and Sand on the Iraqi SCUD under the wheel wells and undercarriage to weather the bottom before I added the wheels to these. After adding the wheels, all I had left to do was to add the SCUD missiles and the last detail bits and these beasties are done! You can see the finished models in the Armored Forums.

Now I have a little more room to work on some more of my models so now I'll start moving forward on the Shuttle again; I'll get Madge painted and maybe I'll even get the C-118 interior painted and the fuselage closed up, along with a few more small scale armor models to keep me balanced. So, there's a lot more coming down the pike so stay tuned for more. Meanwhile, feel free to check out my finished models in their respective Forums and thanks for looking in; comments are always welcome.

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Thanks David! Normally I do leave them on the sprues as well. In this case I'd forgotten to take the pic before I removed them from the sprues.

 

All my models in progress are kept in their respective boxes when I'm not working on them; until they are almost finished or not able to fit in the box anymore.. That way I can just take down the box when I'm ready to work on it again.

 

Stay tuned, more to come.

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Okay, I finally have some time to post some of my own progress here. I'll start with a few simple models that I only got a little done with.

This Panzer II was finally completed up to the wheels and tracks. I even painted the muffler before I enclose it behind the P/E screen that goes around it. After that, I can get it painted:

WIP_Panzer_II_35th_II~0.jpg

WIP_Panzer_II_35th_III.jpg


Next I started a Russian Aircraft Carrier for the Shipbuilder's Campaign on one Forums as well as the Aircraft Carrier Group Build on another Forums. I added all the tiny fiddly bits and decks along both sides of the carrier island:

WIP_ShipbuildersSquaredCampaign_III.jpg

WIP_ShipbuildersSquaredCampaign_IV.jpg

I left all the forward deck parts off since I was concerned they'd break when I finally added this to the main deck.

Next I cemented the interior hull pieces that needed to go on and then I added the main deck to the top of the hull. Since parts of the deck didn't line up with the upper hull too well, I took my time lining up the edges and hitting them with Tamiya Extra Thin as I went around the edges of this ship. Here's a couple shots of the deck completed. I placed the island on the deck to show how it will look when it is finally glued onto the deck. Right now, I'm leaving it off until it's time to paint:

WIP_ShipbuildersSquaredCampaign_V.jpg

WIP_ShipbuildersSquaredCampaign_VI.jpg


After this, I got down to business and moved further along on the C-118. I painted the cockpit and then added the decal sheet for the instrument panel:

WIP_CargoHaulersCampaign_VII.jpg

WIP_CargoHaulersCampaign_VIII.jpg

I'm not sure why I bothered, that won't be seen through the cockpit windows anyway. Oh well, I know it's there.

The instructions called for about 40grams of weight in the nose. This looks about right:

WIP_CargoHaulersCampaign_IX.jpg

Actually, it's a little more than I need. I used the converter on my phone to convert 40 grams into ounces and it came up to 1.4 ounces. I put three half-ounce bullet weights and one 1/4-ounce bullet weight. This puppy won't be sitting on her tail!

Once that was secure, I closed up the fuselage halves and then added the main wings:

WIP_CargoHaulersCampaign_X.jpg

The fuselage on this bird was slightly warped so I started at one end with some Tamiya Extra Thin and slowly glued around the edges section by section. Once the one section was secure, I used the twist ties to pull the fuselage together some more; added more Tamiya Extra Thin and tightened it up. On and on until all the edges had been glued. I used tape to hold together parts that twist ties couldn't hold; and clamps on the flat tail surfaces. Then I added the wings....

There are some pretty serious gaps at the wing roots of this bird so I will try out some Tamiya putty I found on my workbench the last time I did that major cleanup. I didn't even know I had any, but I found it and I will try that on the wing roots to see if I can get a smooth transition. You can see how big this bird is on my workbench, I have no space to work on this:

WIP_CargoHaulersCampaign_XI.jpg

The final thing I did to this was to add the main windscreen/canopy:

WIP_CargoHaulersCampaign_XII.jpg

This way I can hopefully blend that into the rest of the fuselage so it looks like it is one complete piece after painting. Another lesson learned from the DC-6....



Now the Liftmaster War begins.......

 

 

 

 

 

The rest of this week's progress is posted on the following thread since I exceeded the number of pics I'm allowed per post..............again. :blush: :m1helmet:



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Continued from previous post....

 

 

Moving on to my small scale armor, I pulled out the little Russian Fire Truck and finished building the rear tank and the hose and ladder holder. The bench behind the cabin looks crooked, but I checked it and it is on there straight. That is one interesting optical illusion there:

WIP_OthersLiveCampaign_VI.jpg

WIP_OthersLiveCampaign_VII.jpg

After that, I took some time to add the photo-etch to one of the two armored trains I'm building. For fun, here's the one engine without any photo-etch:

WIP_OnRRTracksGB_XXIIa.jpg

WIP_OnRRTracksGB_XXIIb.jpg

Compare that with the engine that is complete with all the photo-etch attached:

WIP_OnRRTracksGB_XXIIc.jpg

WIP_OnRRTracksGB_XXIId.jpg

Well, I was on a roll so I started adding the Photo-etch to one of the armored cars for this train. After another hour and a half, it got done:

WIP_OnRRTracksGB_XXIIIa.jpg

WIP_OnRRTracksGB_XXIIIb.jpg



By this time I was going stark raving mad, so it was time to calm down with a nice relaxing, simple build. I found that with this set here which I decided to start for another Group Build on another Forums:

WIP_OTS2016_I.jpg

I figured: I need one for the other; and I have a V-2 already built that needs to be transported so I'd build both.

It was a good start. I did the chassis on the SS-100 Gigant first:

WIP_OTS2016_II.jpg

Wow, what a great fit! Moving on I added some more details and the fenders on this:

WIP_OTS2016_IX.jpg

I finished that part up with a few more parts on top:

WIP_OTS2016_VIII.jpg

Later I started on a part of the cab. I assembled the interior and the forward engine cover. I stopped there so I could paint the interior before completing the assembly of the cab:

WIP_OTS2016_VI.jpg

WIP_OTS2016_VII.jpg

That was fun! After that I set everything aside and went to work on the Meilerwagen. I started, of course, with the wheel assemblies:

WIP_OTS2016_III.jpg

I realized later that those two single wheels were supposed to be double wheels. Easy fix taken care of later. Next I assembled the lower part of the trailer and added the wheel assemblies:

WIP_OTS2016_IV.jpg

After that, I only had to assemble the rocket cradle and add it to the trailer:

WIP_OTS2016_V.jpg

Now I just have a bunch of tiny fiddly bits to add to that and it'll be done and ready for paint. That was quick! I'm looking forward to seeing this carrying my V-2 Rocket!


Okay, that's all I have for now. I have a lot to do next week so I don't know how much I'll be able to get done beyond this. Until then, comments are welcome; thanks for looking in.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Robin I am honored beyond measure at your words. I do love having a consistency in my scale; to me it just "feels" right. Thank you ever so much for your kind and generous words.

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Okay, I know it's been awhile, but I was able to finally get quite a bit done this weekend, although not quite as much as I wanted to. A lot of things at Hobby Day weekend kept me hopping up to help out. Still, I'm pleased with the work I got done.


I'll start with some of the aircraft I'm working on.

I first shot some paint over the two WWI aircraft I'm building for the Canvas Eagles wargame. The Fokker E.III got a shot of faded olive drab on it:

WIP_Fokker_E_3_II.jpg

The Neiuport got a coat of metallic silver:

WIP_Neiuport_11_II.jpg

Later on, when I tried to apply the decals, most of them went on okay, but the words I tried to put on shattered. Also, the small roundels didn't fit on the bottom of the wings. So, since this was for a game anyway, I improvised:

WIP_Neiuport_11_III.jpg

Later on I'll seal this so the decals stay on, I hope....

I also have to paint a white stripe on the Fokker E.III before I can decal that one.


After all this, I spent hours sanding the seams on my C-118 and re-filling the wing roots and a part of the fuselage behind the cockpit canopy. I figured while I was talking long distance with my friend, I'd be able to keep making progress while we talked:

WIP_CargoHaulersCampaign_XIII.jpg

Finally, after exhausting my patience on that big model, I decided to start another simple model. This is the Italeri 1/72 scale Me-110 a friend had sent me. it was the perfect thing to start for the Twin Props Group Build on another forums so I decided now was a good time to get going on it. I started with the cockpit interior, naturally:

WIP_TwinPropsGB_II.jpg

After that, I assembled the wings and engine cowlings:

WIP_TwinPropsGB_III.jpg

Later on, I painted the interior base color. I'll add the detail painting later:

WIP_TwinPropsGB_IV.jpg


That covers my aircraft so far. Moving along, I also tried to make some progress on my USS New York. First, I shot a coat of blue over all the deck surfaces:

WIP_USS_New_York_XIV.jpg

The white stuff is where I started to apply the liquid mask to the deck. Here it is after I covered all the deck surfaces with the liquid mask so I can re-shoot the grey on the hull and superstructure:

WIP_USS_New_York_XV.jpg

Later on I hope to shoot the grey over this, as well as several other ships whose decks were also sprayed.



Moving on to my armor, I first tried to see about finishing one of my flatcars for one of my armored trains. I got this far before Hobby Day tasks and general demotivation stopped me from going further:

WIP_OnRRTracksGB_XXIV.jpg

Going back to the day before, I shot a coat of red over one of my Russian Fire Trucks:

WIP_OthersLiveCampaign_VIII.jpg

While painting, I decided to pull out the grey and shot a new coat of grey over my WWI German A7V tank:

WIP_A7V_Tank_VI.jpg

Later, I masked this little beastie with Silly Putty and re-shot the Olive Drab on this tank:

WIP_A7V_Tank_VII.jpg

WIP_A7V_Tank_VIII.jpg

I think it finally looks far better now:

WIP_A7V_Tank_IX.jpg

At Hobby Day after decaling the Neiuport, I added the decals to this little guy as well:

WIP_A7V_Tank_X.jpg

WIP_A7V_Tank_XI.jpg

Finally, while painting on the day before Hobby Day, I pulled out the 1/35th scale commission build and shot a coat of black as a primer over it:

WIP_Panzer_II_35th_IV.jpg

Afterward,, when I pulled out the grey to paint the A7V, I also shot the basecoat of grey over this tank:

WIP_Panzer_II_35th_V.jpg

After that dried, I decided to modulate, or panel fade the color:

WIP_Panzer_II_35th_VI.jpg

WIP_Panzer_II_35th_VII.jpg

You can see I also painted some of the details, like the jack block and exhaust system. I also clearcoated her before taking her to Hobby Day where I added the decals after working on the Neiuport and A7V:

WIP_Panzer_II_35th_VIII.jpg

WIP_Panzer_II_35th_IX.jpg


Well, that's all for now. I was hoping to get a bit more done, but I'm pleased with my progress so far. I've got some good jumping off points for working on some of these this week, so hopefully I'll have time to spend moving some more of these further along. Until then, thanks for looking in, comments are welcome.

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This week I decided to get back to some projects I'd been bypassing. I need to get some of these finished up so I can move onto other models I want to get started on.

I'll start with my aircraft.

I'm building two 1/72 scale WWI aircraft for a Canvas Eagles tabletop wargame. The first one; the Fokker E.III needed some white on the tail and fuselage. So, I masked it off and sprayed the white:

WIP_Fokker_E_3_III.jpg

This turned out considerably better than my expectations, although I almost ripped the tail surfaces off trying to remove the tape!

WIP_Fokker_E_3_IV.jpg

WIP_Fokker_E_3_V.jpg

I later shot a clearcoat over this to prepare for the decals.

Next, I added the top wing to the Neiuport 11. This was a bit easier than I expected, certainly easier than the Avia B-534:

WIP_Neiuport_11_IV.jpg

WIP_Neiuport_11_V.jpg

Finally, I shot a nice light blue color on the bottom of my Madge:

WIP_Russian_Madge_XXV.jpg

It's not really easy to see in that pic, but I assure you it is there!

After this was dry, I masked the underside of the wings and tail surfaces and then shot the flat black on the de-icing boots. When the flat black was dry, I finished masking the underside of the wings, tail, and fuselage, including the de-icing boots. Then I shot the dark green color over the top of the plane.

Here's Madge sporting her nice new dark green dress:

WIP_Russian_Madge_XXVII.jpg

WIP_Russian_Madge_XXVI.jpg

WIP_Russian_Madge_XXVIII.jpg

She was later shot with a few coats of gloss to prepare for decals.



Moving on to my shipyards, I finished masking off the decks for the USS Ingraham, using liquid masking agent since there were so many bits and bobs to mask over:

WIP_USS_Ingraham_IV.jpg

I also masked off the USS Forrest Sherman using tape this time since it was all straight edges and angles. I only used a little liquid mask on this one:

WIP_USS_Forrest_Sherman_V.jpg

WIP_USS_Forrest_Sherman_Va.jpg

I then shot grey over both of these and the USS New York which had been masked before:

WIP_USS_New_York_XVI.jpg

WIP_USS_New_York_XVII.jpg

The USS New York didn't turn out as well as I'd have liked; there were too many imperfections and rough spots that will require a re-spray. I did remove the masking from the USS Ingraham and USS Forrest Sherman though, and they look pretty good. There will be a minimum of touch-up needed here.

USS Ingraham:

WIP_USS_Ingraham_V.jpg

USS Forrest Sherman:

WIP_USS_Forrest_Sherman_VI.jpg

Now I can finally move forward on these ships.


Now to my armor.

I did some more detail painting on my Russian Fire Truck, painting the wooden seats and the chassis and touching up the rims of the wheels; as well as the overspray on the tires themselves:

WIP_OthersLiveCampaign_IX.jpg

Next I went back to work on my Gigant and V-2 trailer.

The Gigant was finally painted inside and then the windows added to the cab sides and windscreen. Then I assembled everything together:

WIP_OTS2016_X.jpg

WIP_OTS2016_XI.jpg

After this, I masked off the windows in preparation for painting. Speaking of painting, I shot a coat of grey over the lower part of the Mitrailleurwagen:

WIP_OTS2016_XII.jpg

WIP_OTS2016_XIII.jpg

It was challenging, but I managed to get paint into all the little nooks and crannies without glopping up a whole mess of paint all over. This looks pretty darn good! Now all I have to do is finish some detail parts on the upper part of the trailer before I can paint it.


Well, that's about all for now. Hopefully I'll be further along on some of these; maybe even done with a couple! So, stay tuned for more, comments are always welcome. Thanks for looking in!

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That Madge is coming along nicely, as are the rest. I thought masking a plane was work, but the masking on that ship looks to be mind numbing, especially in such a small scale!

 

GIL :smiley16:

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Mark it is always a pleasure to check in on your build progress. Always something different and I have to remind myself that you work in 1/72 scale. I don't know about you but my eye sight is not what it used to be and I can't work in anything below 1/35 scale. So hats of to you and as always great builds and great progress. Till next til my friend.

 

Chris G. :Smile_sceptic:

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