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Mark Deliduka

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Hobby Day weekend was good to me this month. I was able to get a lot more done than I expected to.


I'll start with my aircraft.... or more accurately, my helicopters. I managed to get the rotors painted up and ready for installation. You can also see that metallic piece to the lower right; that is the main gun for one of them (the US Army one):

WIP_AH_1_Israeli_Cobra_VIII.jpg

Later on, I added the main gun to the Israeli helicopter:

WIP_AH_1_Israeli_Cobra_IX.jpg

Later on, I dullcoated these two Cobras, removed the window masking and re-added the skids to the Israeli one. I also found a couple places on the Israeli one that still needed some filler, so I added Mr. Surfacer 500 to those spots:

WIP_AH_1_Israeli_Cobra_X.jpg

All I need to do is sand and re-paint those fixes, add the rotor blades, the ordinance and some of the detail parts and these birds will be done. My next post should see these completed.


Next up is some work I did on the two Tomcats I'm doing for a review build.

It was time to add the decals to the other cockpit now. These are the decal parts that all had to be added to this cockpit. The majority of them are for the instrument panels alone:

WIP_F-14_Tomcats_SPAM_Review_VIIIh.jpg

Here are the decals added to the cockpit side panels:

WIP_F-14_Tomcats_SPAM_Review_VIIIi.jpg

These went on very well and stayed in place nicely. I did notice that these weren't cut to the shape of the side panels either, but with some simple adjustments, I got them to fit well enough.

Here are all the little decals on the instrument panels. It was a challenge getting them all on without messing up the ones placed before. The trick is to start in the center bottom and work your way up and out. These had just been hit with Solvaset so they hadn't yet sucked down into the details when this pic was taken:

WIP_F-14_Tomcats_SPAM_Review_VIIIj.jpg

Here is a shot of the two cockpits side by side so you can see the differences between the P/E set and the decals. You can see that I dry-brushed a white on the P/E parts to bring out the details:

WIP_F-14_Tomcats_SPAM_Review_VIIIk.jpg

 

Moving on, I then assembled the front gear bay and cemented it to the cockpit tubs. Afterward I installed these sub-assemblies into one side of the forward fuselage. The instructions call for 5 grams of weight to be placed inside the nose cone, but since I don't have a scale; I'm supplementing the weight inside the nose cone with the additional weight in front of the cockpit as seen here:

WIP_F-14_Tomcats_SPAM_Review_VIIIm.jpg

I then closed up the two fuselage halves on each one. You can see on the P/E cockpit that I was correct; the incorrectly cut P/E on the side consoles did make the two halves difficult to close:

WIP_F-14_Tomcats_SPAM_Review_VIIIn.jpg

With some extra pressure and clamps, I was able to close it up sufficiently and will hopefully not have a seam at all. Looking inside; it appears the P/E was not dislodged or damaged in any way. Here are both cockpits closed up inside the forward fuselage halves; the P/E one has more clamps on it:

WIP_F-14_Tomcats_SPAM_Review_VIIIo.jpg

Later on I'll add the P/E ejection seat pull handles, paint them and then close the canopy down over these to protect those P/E pieces. I will also probably mask them afterward with some liquid mask to prepare this early for paint.


That's all I have for now on this.

Now on to my autos and other vehicles.

First off, I finally put an Oily Black wash on the Monkeemobile engine components. I was hoping to find my black wash also but I need to mix some new:

WIP_MonkeeMobile_XII.JPG

I wanted to make these parts look as if the car was used. After this, I masked off the windshield frame and painted it Chrome Silver, along with the hood tie-downs:

WIP_MonkeeMobile_XI.JPG

That's as far as I got with that so far. I hope to get more done on this soon.

Since I was working on my cars, I had re-shot a white coat on the Mach 5, then clearcoated it after it was dry. I then dipped the windscreen and headlight covers in Future to make them more clear and clean:

WIP_Mach_5_X.jpg

While those were drying, I pulled out the decals and applied them to the Mach 5:

WIP_Mach_5_XI.jpg

Later on I'll seal these decals and then I can move forward on this car again.


Finally, I pulled out the red that I had and shot it on the underside frame and suspension units of the three Borax wagons from the 20-Mule Team model. Here's the first wagon:

WIP_Borax_Wagon_Train_VII.jpg

The second wagon:

WIP_Borax_Wagon_Train_IX.jpg

...and the water wagon:

WIP_Borax_Wagon_Train_XI.jpg

The tank isn't cemented down to that; this is why I was able to get such a clean spray on this. The other two wagons didn't have a separate frame to keep the box separated so I just shot it like you saw. I'll just have to mask them off later when I'm ready to shoot the blue coat. I do need to find out what blue color these should be.


That's all I have on those.


Now for my armor.

At Hobby Day I helped my friend Harmon build up a 1/48 scale Tamiya Sherman Firefly for an upcoming game convention. This tank will be used in a battle during a Bolt Action tabletop war game. Here it is after a couple hours of assembly ready for paint:

WIP_Game_Sherman_48_I.jpg

After that, I wanted to get further along on my T-14 Armata tank. It was time to finally get those P/E RPG screens completed. After three and a half hours; here are the two screens ready to go:

WIP_CTA_III_T-14_Armata_Tank_IX.jpg

Each one of those is about an inch and a half long and each one of those slats had to be installed individually. There goes even more of my rather scarce hair.


After that ordeal the rest of the P/E on the hull and turret was easy. Here's the start of the P/E parts on the hull:

WIP_CTA_III_T-14_Armata_Tank_X.jpg

Later I finished up all the P/E (except the screens) on the hull:

WIP_CTA_III_T-14_Armata_Tank_XII.jpg

Next was adding all the remaining details and P/E to the turret. The first few pieces are here:

WIP_CTA_III_T-14_Armata_Tank_XI.jpg

Then I finished off with the rest of them along with the machine gun mount:

WIP_CTA_III_T-14_Armata_Tank_XIII.jpg

There are still a few more detail parts to put on the turret but I'll wait until after this is painted and weathered to reduce or eliminate the chance of breakage.

This is starting to look fairly impressive! All I have to do now is add the tracks on the one side and then I can prime this before painting it:

WIP_CTA_III_T-14_Armata_Tank_XIV.jpg



That's all I have for now. I have this week off for Easter so I will have more done to show later. I might even have something finished by then too.

Stay tuned, more to come.


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Here's my latest progress to date.

I was shooting clearcoat to seal the decals on the Mach 5 and I thought, why not try and gloss up the Corvette I've been building? So I shot a coat of gloss on that and set it aside:

WIP_Rebel_Racer_Corvette_VI.JPG

It is still way too grainy for my taste. Gonna have to polish that up and try again.

Meanwhile, since I felt like I was so close to getting done on the Monkeemobile, I decided to marathon that model. First off, I painted and detailed the dashboard and added that and the steering wheel to the interior tub:

WIP_MonkeeMobile_XIII.JPG

After that, I dropped that tub into the body of the car after removing the support sprue from the windshield frame:

WIP_MonkeeMobile_XIV.JPG

While that was drying, I built all the wheels and tires and then added them to the chassis:

WIP_MonkeeMobile_XV.JPG

I couldn't resist after that, I had to mock up this car to see how it was going to look. The top and the upper engine part is only dry-fit to the car:

WIP_MonkeeMobile_XVI.JPG

Moving along, I pulled out the decals and got them placed on the doors:

WIP_MonkeeMobile_XVII.JPG

WIP_MonkeeMobile_XVIII.JPG

I've since slightly messed these up due to silvering and cloudiness, but for the most part they are now fixed. They do look good so far. After they had dried sufficiently, I went ahead and installed this on the chassis and then glued on the car top. The rear side parts were a bit narrow so it took some clampage to make sure this sat right:

WIP_MonkeeMobile_XIX.JPG

After that dries, I should be able to call that car finished.


One other car that I'm close to finishing is the Mach 5. On that one I assembled the wheels and tires first:

WIP_Mach_5_XIII.jpg

After that, I painted the underside with an Oily Black:

WIP_Mach_5_XIV.jpg

On the top just in front of the windshield, there is an opening for a little remote drone sensor that looks like a small bird. I lost the cover to that opening to I had to scratchbuild another one:

WIP_Mach_5_XVI.jpg

While that cover was drying after painting, I removed all the Silly Putty masking on the rest of the car to see how it was looking so far. She's almost done; the next pics after these will be in the finished Forums:

WIP_Mach_5_XV.jpg



While waiting for parts on those cars to dry, I also worked on the two Cobras. The one Cobra got it's ordinance mounted on the stubby wings. All that is left is some detail painting and adding the last detail parts:

WIP_MMM2017_Cobra_XII.jpg

The other Cobra was giving me problems with the landing skids breaking again. That one still has to dry before I can add the ordinance and other detail parts to it. Because of that I didn't shoot any pics of it. Suffice it to say; both of these Cobras should be done either later today or tomorrow.

That is about all I got done so far today. Stay tuned for some finished models coming up soon.

Thanks for looking in, comments are welcome.

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Great stuff Duke! Am getting a form of vicarious success at watching you complete kits that are still only in the what-if phase for me. Although primarily an airplane guy, am most intrigued by the Borax and the FWD (want!). Any idea whether the FWDs were ever used as balloon winch trucks?

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Thanks Bob! I'm glad to hear that I'm able to give you that vicarious success. The Borax wagons were ones I've wanted since childhood. I'm glad I'm getting one of these done now. The FWD I know very little about. I'd have to research it to see if it was a balloon winch truck. I'm thinking it may have been, but Macks were more likely used as such.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Man, you are all over the board now.

 

Some great looking builds Mark. Hopefully I will get to see some of them at Orangecon if I can make it again.

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Here's my work I was able to complete so far to date. I'll start with my aircraft...

After a week and a half in the window, the C-118 decals are finally ready to be applied:

WIP_CargoHaulersCampaign_XXXVII.jpg

Hopefully that will happen soon.

I got some grey paint laid down on the underside of my A-37 Dragonfly:

WIP_A_37A_Dragonfly_VIII.jpg

Once that was dry, I masked it off so I could paint the upper surfaces:

WIP_A_37A_Dragonfly_IX.jpg

I then shot the OD basecoat on the top. I had started to mask off for the second color when I remembered to take a pic:

WIP_A_37A_Dragonfly_X.jpg

Once that was dry, I finished applying the first round of Silly Putty:

WIP_A_37A_Dragonfly_XI.jpg

Later on I shot the tan color down. For some reason my airbrush was not acting right and I got a bit of fisheye on it:

WIP_A_37A_Dragonfly_XII.jpg

Gonna have to wait a bit while that dries so I can fix it later.

While waiting for that to dry, I started on my Charlie Don't Surf kit, getting the cockpit done on the F-102:

WIP_CDS_Meng_F-102_Dagger_IV.jpg

After that came the engine exhaust:

WIP_CDS_Meng_F-102_Dagger_V.jpg

While that was drying, I started the wing sub-assembly:

WIP_CDS_Meng_F-102_Dagger_VI.jpg

WIP_CDS_Meng_F-102_Dagger_VII.jpg

After that, I thought, why not? and added the intakes to the sides of the fuselage:

WIP_CDS_Meng_F-102_Dagger_VIII.jpg

After all, the more sub-assemblies I can do ahead of time the faster this thing goes.


That's all I got on my aircraft besides painting the nose of my C-118 white, but that will be shown another day. Moving on, I was able to move forward on some armor and even started a new one...


First off, while I was masking off models to paint camo colors, I masked off the little FWD ammo carrier with some Silly Putty as well:

WIP_FWD_3_Ton_Ammo_Carrier_VI.jpg

WIP_FWD_3_Ton_Ammo_Carrier_V.jpg

I have to wing this since the colors on the call out don't connect properly in any fashion to make a consistent pattern.

Here's the first color on it so far:

WIP_FWD_3_Ton_Ammo_Carrier_VII.jpg

Later I started a UM Models M-4 Sherman with Mine Rollers. I didn't get far with this one: when I cemented together the four parts of the lower hull; one side was farther forward than the other, making this lopsided. I had to cut it apart again and re-glue this to fit right:

WIP_Sherman_Mineroller_I.jpg

That was as far as I got on that. It is drying while I try to get over being so fed up with that kit.

Finally, I got the second track on the T-14 Armata tank:

WIP_CTA_III_T-14_Armata_Tank_XV.jpg

Afterward I got the whole thing primed so I can get it painted:

WIP_CTA_III_T-14_Armata_Tank_XVI.jpg



Moving on from that; I decided to work on a few other models that had been sitting for awhile. I pulled out my VW bus and shot a light blue color on the interior parts:

WIP_VW_Van_IX.jpg

While I had that light blue color out, it corresponded to the color of the Borax wagons. First I had to mask the wheels:

WIP_Borax_Wagon_Train_XII.jpg

WIP_Borax_Wagon_Train_XIII.jpg

After I'd done all that work, I thought, why not try and remove some of all of the wheel assemblies? I gave it a shot and managed to get both wheel sets off one wagon, then one off the other. Then I shot the blue:

WIP_Borax_Wagon_Train_XIV.jpg

WIP_Borax_Wagon_Train_XV.jpg

I also shot the water tank, leaving some fingerprints behind despite the paint being dry:

WIP_Borax_Wagon_Train_XVI.jpg

That was also the first time I'd shot acrylics. I only had that blue in an acrylic so in the airbrush it went.



Well, that pretty well sums up my last few days. It ain't as much as I'd hoped to finish, but I'm glad to be making some progress. Enjoy the show and feel free to comment, they are always welcome.

Thanks for looking in.

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I managed to find a little more time today so I was able to get done everything that I wanted to finish yesterday... and maybe even a little more.

I'll start with my VW Bus. I took all the tape off to see how well everything looked and was a bit disappointed:

WIP_VW_Van_X.jpg

Gonna have to re-tape and shoot some more white. Oh well. I'll take my time as you can see that one door is missing. The chrome parts are missing too, or I would have assembled even more of this bus, but alas, that is not to be for now. Time to move on....



Next I took some time to finish the camouflage on the Dragonfly. I re-shot the tan color first:

WIP_A_37A_Dragonfly_XIII.jpg

After that dried, I added some more Silly Putty to shoot the third and final color:

WIP_A_37A_Dragonfly_XIV.jpg

Here is the final color on this model now:

WIP_A_37A_Dragonfly_XV.jpg

Finally, after everything had dried sufficiently; I pulled the Silly Putty off this model, along with the tape:

WIP_A_37A_Dragonfly_XVI.jpg

It looks okay; certainly not as fine a paint job as I wanted to do. There are some touch-ups to do so I'll work on them and just move on. I never expected this to give me such trouble getting done.




Moving on to my Armor, I tried again with my Sherman mineroller. After two and a half hours and five lost parts; I managed to get one bogie done! Geez! UM kits really bite!

WIP_Sherman_Mineroller_II.jpg

I was about to put this away again, but then I thought, why don't I just build other sub assemblies? So, I pulled out the sprues for the turret and got that started. I managed to get most of it done fairly easy:

WIP_Sherman_Mineroller_III.jpg

I even drilled out the gun barrel. Then I decided to assemble the mine roller itself. That took some time and after a couple more lost pieces; I finally have a decent looking mine roller:

WIP_Sherman_Mineroller_IV.jpg


This one will take some time to finish. Meanwhile, since I still had the compressor fired up, I pulled out my T-14 Armata and put down the base coat. This model's instructions called for a 'yellow grey' so I decided to use Panzer Dunklegelb. It went on pretty well:

WIP_CTA_III_T-14_Armata_Tank_XVII.jpg

WIP_CTA_III_T-14_Armata_Tank_XVIII.jpg

Later on I went in and filled in the under-sprayed areas.

While that was drying, I shot the second color on the FWD 3-ton. This was the light tan:

WIP_FWD_3_Ton_Ammo_Carrier_VII~0.jpg

After it dried, I added more Silly Putty to mask this for the third color. The third color then went on; this time it was a light grey:

WIP_FWD_3_Ton_Ammo_Carrier_VIII.jpg

Once that was dry, I added more Silly Putty to this to cover the grey in preparation for the fourth and last color:

WIP_FWD_3_Ton_Ammo_Carrier_IX.jpg

Then I pulled out a Flat Black and lightened it up a bit for a charcoal black. I shot this color on all the remaining exposed areas:

WIP_FWD_3_Ton_Ammo_Carrier_X.jpg

WIP_FWD_3_Ton_Ammo_Carrier_XI.jpg

Once that had sufficient time to dry, I pulled (almost) all the Silly Putty off. (You can see some I left on the left front wheel) Amazingly enough I had no broken parts from pulling that off, thank God! I am far more pleased with this pattern than I am with the Dragonfly:

WIP_FWD_3_Ton_Ammo_Carrier_XII.jpg

WIP_FWD_3_Ton_Ammo_Carrier_XIII.jpg

With that done, I was able to wrap up another day on the bench. Now I feel I accomplished something. This was where I wanted to be yesterday. I am very happy now with this latest progress. I hope you enjoy it too.

Thanks all for looking in, comments are welcome.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Thanks Bob! I'm not sure what you mean about WX effects, but the FWD will be weathered very soon. I might even finish it this week. I have several models I keep trying to make more progress on as well. We shall see what comes down the pike.

 

Stay tuned, more to come. I have pics from the Hobby Day weekend to post soon.

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Always absolutely impressed with the variety and sheer number of builds you have going! If you could bottle and sell your modeling mojo, you'd be a billionaire! :smiley20:

 

GIL :smiley16:

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Wow, thanks Gil! I sure wish I could bottle it; I could really use the cash! LOL!

 

Here's more to look at....

 

I managed to do a lot on the workbench this past Hobby Day weekend so this will be a pretty long post with tons of pics. Brace yourselves people for a wild ride!



I'll start out with the two F-14's I've been doing for a review. These models are some tough birds to build! This past Hobby Day I decided to try and finish the cockpits/forward fuselage sections. I am only going to show one plane as I go through this as most all of these issues were the same for each aircraft. In the event I need to show differences due to alternate parts for specific variants I'll show the two together.

The first thing I did was I tried to add the instrument panel cowls over the two instrument panels. The forward one managed to fit okay with only some minor adjustment to the instrument panel. The second one required that I break off the instrument panel since it did not fit at all:

WIP_F-14_Tomcats_SPAM_Review_VIIIp.jpg

So this time, I cemented the instrument panel inside the cowl before adding it back to the cockpit:

WIP_F-14_Tomcats_SPAM_Review_VIIIr.jpg

That finally fit right. Both cockpit assemblies had this problem and needed to be completed this way.

Another issue I had was when I tried to add the rear cover to the opening behind the second pilot seat. The part would not quite fit the way it was indicated on the instruction sheet below the model:

WIP_F-14_Tomcats_SPAM_Review_VIIIs.jpg

In order to get that part to fit, you need to push it inside the rear opening as seen above, only push it further back in order to clear the seat. Then, as you are pressing it down, you'll need to also push it forward toward the seat until it snaps into position flat against the fuselage edges like so:

WIP_F-14_Tomcats_SPAM_Review_VIIIt.jpg

Now it was time to turn these over and complete the assembly by adding the lower panel behind the forward landing gear bay. Once again, I ran into poor fitting parts. I lined up one side flush with the fuselage assembly and found that these panels are too wide:

WIP_F-14_Tomcats_SPAM_Review_VIIIu.jpg

WIP_F-14_Tomcats_SPAM_Review_VIIIv.jpg

The solution I came up with was to cement one side and wait for it to dry sufficiently. Then I pressed the other side in until it snapped flush with the fuselage and glued it into place so it was flush on that side as well. Later on I then pressed the forward part down to make it relatively flush along the front join. I figured the shorter step would be easier to sand and be less noticeable that the sanding along the side of the fuselage.

Finally after adding a few more small panels to openings and adding the nose cones, I was able to declare these two forward fuselage assemblies completed:

WIP_F-14_Tomcats_SPAM_Review_IXa.jpg

WIP_F-14_Tomcats_SPAM_Review_IXb.jpg

Now I could move onto the main fuselage parts. I started out with the tail section that holds the tailhook. This went together fairly well so far, considering there are six entire pieces in that assembly:

WIP_F-14_Tomcats_SPAM_Review_Xa.jpg

The steps along the sides are supposed to be there to conform to the main body of the plane when it is assembled. That part on the right side sticking out under the end of the tailhook is one of two different parts. One is for the F-14A and the other for the F-14B. Watch closely to be sure you are adding the right part for the version you are doing.

Next I had to add two side pieces for the main landing gear bays. Why these weren't molded into place I don't know, but I will probably find out later on in this build. They were slightly bent so I needed to glue the one end and then clamped the other end to cement it correctly:

WIP_F-14_Tomcats_SPAM_Review_X.jpg

Yes, those are mini clothespins that my wife got me from a local 99-cent store.

Later, after opening the holes I needed to open for the particular weapons system I wanted to load on this; I cemented the two fuselage halves together. These fit pretty well in the front section. At the rear, they fit badly with gaps alongside the L-shaped joint. These joints also stepped unevenly and needed to be adjusted for a flush joint. Putty will be needed to complete the seam repair:

WIP_F-14_Tomcats_SPAM_Review_Xb.jpg

Later I added the tailhook assembly to the rear of this. You can see more clearly here the gap in the rear seam as well:

WIP_F-14_Tomcats_SPAM_Review_Xc.jpg

After all of that frustration with these models, I felt it was time to move onto something else...

I pulled out my F-102 Delta Dagger to get more done on it. I started out finishing a few minor details on the cockpit and then I cemented it inside the two fuselage halves along with the exhaust shroud:

WIP_CDS_Meng_F-102_Dagger_IX.jpg

This went together well, I had no seam issues at all. The gap you see on top is because I didn't add cement to the spine of this yet. There is a long opening along the bottom of this that gives no support to the fuselage when pressing it together. So I cemented the ends together and later on when it was dry, I cemented the spine when I could hold it better.

After some time I snapped the wing assembly into the fuselage to see how it fit. This fits like a glove:

WIP_CDS_Meng_F-102_Dagger_X.jpg

That is only dry fit in there!

Later on when I had cemented the spine and let it dry, I then added the nose. Again, the wings are only snapped into place and not glued yet:

WIP_CDS_Meng_F-102_Dagger_XI.jpg

Some time after that, I dipped the canopy parts in Future and now they are drying. I should be able to close up the cockpit tomorrow.

Well that's all I got done on my aircraft. Now lets check out my armor work in the next post....


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Maddog Manufacturing at Hobby Day weekend Part II

Once again, I was a glutton for punishment, trying to make progress on some more difficult models. With all the time I have at Hobby Day to work; Hobby Day weekends are perfect for doing these types of difficult models.

I started out getting the rest of the bogies done on my Sherman with the mineroller mounted. After two and a half more hours, I had these three done and added to the side of the hull:

WIP_Sherman_Mineroller_V.jpg


Another two and a half hours or so later, I finally manage to get all the wheels and bogies mounted on the lower hull. Repeated assembly of these bogies allowed me to get faster with each new one I built:

WIP_Sherman_Mineroller_Va.jpg

WIP_Sherman_Mineroller_Vb.jpg

Next I added the sponson floors to the undersides of the upper hull sides. Afterward I test fit the upper and lower hulls to see how this fit together:

WIP_Sherman_Mineroller_VI.jpg

That ain't too bad. I still have to work it a bit, but this will glue together fine. Just for fun, I added the turret and then positioned the mine roller assembly in front of this to see how it was going to look:

WIP_Sherman_Mineroller_VII.jpg

This is gonna look cool!

Moving on, I started again on the Russian GAZ fuel truck. Some time before I had slathered on a ton of Mr. Surfacer to fill in the gaps and seams (canyons!) on the sponsons on either side of the tank:

WIP_Russian_Truck_VIII.jpg

Once that was dry, I carved, sanded and smoothed out this tank, It looks far better now:

WIP_Russian_Truck_X.jpg

While that tank was drying and before I sanded it; I test fit the two parts of the truck cab on the chassis:

WIP_Russian_Truck_IX.jpg

Yeah, that is going to take a lot of work to fit right...

For the next hour and a half, I sanded, carved and test-fit that cab together until almost all the gaps disappeared. Finally they were small enough that any gaps left could easily be dealt with easily. Now I added the windows to this cab:

WIP_Russian_Truck_XI.jpg

These aren't the best windows ever molded, but they fit fairly well in comparison to the rest of the model. Once they dried, I cemented the two cab parts together and then cemented them onto the chassis. These parts took quite a bit of persuasion to glue correctly:

WIP_Russian_Truck_XII.jpg

Finally, when that was dry enough, I added the tank to the rear of this truck:

WIP_Russian_Truck_XIII.jpg

Now all I have to do is mask the windows, fix the remaining seams and this will be ready for paint. Finally, this is starting to look like a truck!

The last model I worked on was my little FWD ammo carrier. I had already painted the camo pattern on this so I took a fine-tipped black marker and drew in all the demarcation lines:

WIP_FWD_3_Ton_Ammo_Carrier_XIV.jpg

WIP_FWD_3_Ton_Ammo_Carrier_XV.jpg

Later on I completed the assembly with all the final detail parts as well as the tilt over the driver's cab:

WIP_FWD_3_Ton_Ammo_Carrier_XVI.jpg

WIP_FWD_3_Ton_Ammo_Carrier_XVII.jpg

Now all I have to do is complete the detail painting and then weather this and it'll be done. The next pics you see of this will be completed pics.

Okay, that's all there is happening at Maddog Manufacturing; I hope you enjoyed the factory tour. Thanks all for looking in, comments are welcome.

Stay tuned, more to come.

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Today I was able to find some time to get something done again. This time, I was able to fire up the compressor so I got a lot of painting done. I also worked a little on my Delta Dagger, but I spent most of my time painting my armor.


I'll start with the Dagger. I pulled it out and installed the canopy on this:

WIP_CDS_Meng_F-102_Dagger_XII.jpg

Those twist ties work perfectly for holding something in place that a clamp would be too strong for.

The next thing to do is get the wings installed on the fuselage:

WIP_CDS_Meng_F-102_Dagger_XIII.jpg

Everything fit so well again. Now I can prepare this for paint:

WIP_CDS_Meng_F-102_Dagger_XIV.jpg


Moving on to my armor, I fired up the compressor and started to shoot some paint. The first things I shot were the three 1/48 scale Shermans being built for the local game convention. I shot a coat of Olive Drab on these:

WIP_Game_Sherman_48_II.jpg

While these were drying, I shot a coat of dark Green on my Russian fuel truck after the window masking dried:

WIP_Russian_Truck_XIV2Cjpg.jpg

As that dried, I applied the first Silly Putty masking on the T-14 Armata:

WIP_CTA_III_T-14_Armata_Tank_XIX.jpg

Once that was on, I shot the small black parts of the camouflage pattern and let it dry. Once it was dry enough, I pushed most of the Silly Putty over it to mask the black, and added more Silly Putty where I needed:

WIP_CTA_III_T-14_Armata_Tank_XX.jpg

For some reason I forgot to shoot a pic of the black on the tank before I masked it. Oh well. Once I had that masked, I shot the third color on the tank:

WIP_CTA_III_T-14_Armata_Tank_XXI.jpg

Now that was set aside to dry again. Meanwhile, I decided to try and practice more of my color modulation. I pulled out the Shermans again, loaded up some Panzer Dunklegelb and went to work:

WIP_Game_Sherman_48_III.jpg

Some parts are a little stark and the brush also spat a few times but overall these look okay. The colors will blend a little more once I weather these.

While those were drying, I decided to wrap things up by adding the wheels to the Russian fuel truck:

WIP_Russian_Truck_XV.jpg

WIP_Russian_Truck_XVI.jpg

Now this is ready for gloss coat and decals. While I was at it, I also pulled all the Silly Putty from the Armata tank:

WIP_CTA_III_T-14_Armata_Tank_XXII.jpg

WIP_CTA_III_T-14_Armata_Tank_XXIII.jpg

This one is also ready for gloss coat and decals. I'll be marking it as a Guards tank.

That's all I was able to get done this time. I can see the end of the line for a couple of these. Making this kind of progress sure feels great!

Thanks all for looking in, comments are welcome!

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As mentioned in the Latest Acquisitions, I started some more models recently since they were easiest to work on at my friend's house as well as at my IPMS meeting Build Night.

At my friend's house while coaching him on one of the models I got for him, I started my Airfix USAAF set. I decided to start with something simple, so I turned to the back and assembled the little Cushman:

WIP_USAAF_Resupply_Set_I.jpg

After that I started on the bomb trailer. I somehow managed to break the main axle without knowing when or how, so I only got this far on it:

WIP_USAAF_Resupply_Set_IV.jpg

Moving on; I started on the bomb tractor, assembling the chassis and floor:

WIP_USAAF_Resupply_Set_II.jpg

This model has some very nice detail in the chassis and suspension:

WIP_USAAF_Resupply_Set_III.jpg

Later on I assembled the hood, most of the cab and added the bomb crane to the read bed:

WIP_USAAF_Resupply_Set_V.jpg

At my IPMS meeting Build Night, I assembled the main hull and turret of the Type 89 Early tank:

WIP_Japanese_Type_89_Early_I.jpg

I wasn't ready to tackle all the tiny wheels that night so I started the Type 89 Late; building the hull and turret again:

WIP_Japanese_Type_89_Late_I.jpg

Again, not ready for the wheels on this one either.

This may not seem like much progress, but I was doing a lot of socializing as well as coaching my friend whom I brought with me so he could get out of the house again. Anyway, I should be able to get more progress done later this week. I might even finish something too, so stay tuned.

Thanks all for looking in, comments are welcome.

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Looks good Mark. Of course, now you have twice as many wheels to do at one time for both of those Japanese tanks.

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Yep! You're so right. One of these days I'm going to take a day and just build the wheels all at once and get it over with in one long, painful session..... kinda like ripping the bandage off real fast all at once to minimize the pain down to one short, sharp experience.

 

Thanks for the compliment Phil. Stay tuned!

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Yesterday Part I

 

Yesterday, my friend Harmon needed someone to sit at the Knights of Columbus Hall where we hold Hobby Day so that the gas company can get in there and inspect the gas lines and read the meter. He asked me to do this saying that I was free to bring something to build and stay as long as I like. I agreed and invited two friends to join me at the hall since the area is not the best, and I brought a lot of things to work on. We spent the whole day there at the Hall into the evening. This is all the progress I made yesterday on all my models.

I'll start with my F-14 Tomcat that I'm doing for the review on another Forum. It was the only aircraft I worked on yesterday and here is the progress I made. First off, I assembled the second fuselage for the F-14B since I'd already done the F-14A fuselage some time ago. Once that was done, I assembled all four of the engine intake trunks. There were six parts to each one and when you assembled the inside truck tube and inserted it inside the intake you need to clamp it shut since the sides of the intake part are slightly separated:

WIP_F-14_Tomcats_SPAM_Review_XIa.jpg

The intake trunks were designed to snap right into place in the fuselage assemblies and they do go in fairly well as you can see here on Tomcat B:

WIP_F-14_Tomcats_SPAM_Review_XIb.jpg

However, installation on each of these fuselages revealed a couple issues. I don't know whether it was because I mixed up sprues when building these or what, but when I installed the intake trunks to the Tomcat B, I had a gap on the inside of the fuselage where the trunks joined to the fuselage:

WIP_F-14_Tomcats_SPAM_Review_XIc.jpg

That gap did not occur on the outside and the intake trunks were installed on the correct sides; otherwise they would have never snapped right in due to the shape of the intake trunks. When I installed the trunks to Tomcat A, I had a different set of issues. The trunks didn't snap all the way in and the intake openings curved inward. I had to press down the front of the intake to cement them in place; as well as clamp the sides of the intake to conform properly to the fuselage:

WIP_F-14_Tomcats_SPAM_Review_XId.jpg

Yet despite all this, the intakes on Tomcat A had no gaps at the joint; even after all that clamping:

WIP_F-14_Tomcats_SPAM_Review_XIe.jpg

Just some extra things to look out for when building these models.

These last two pics show the cockpit modules dry-fit to the fuselage sections to get an idea how they will fit. On the underside, they seem to fit smoothly with a flush joint:

WIP_F-14_Tomcats_SPAM_Review_XII.jpg

However, if you flush out the bottom, you have a step along the joint on top. I apologize that it isn't seen too well here in this pic:

WIP_F-14_Tomcats_SPAM_Review_XIII.jpg

Right now, I'm not sure what is the best way to fix that issue, so I put these away to figure it out another day. I should have some ideas in a future update.



Moving along, I was getting tired of my Russian aircraft carrier languishing on my workbench. It was time to get the rest of the decals laid down on the deck. After two and a half hours, I finally succeeded in getting 98% of the deals laid down on this deck:

WIP_ShipbuildersSquaredCampaign_XI_.jpg

There are still a few more that need to go on. Since the last decals need to be placed on top of existing decals, I need to let these dry and clearcoat them to seal them before I finish this deck. More to come on that later; once these decals are done, this model will start to move a lot faster.

Meanwhile, check out Part II below for the latest progress on my armor.

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Yesterday Part II

 

Finally, here is my latest progress on a lot of the armor I've started.

I'll start with this crazy Sherman from UM. I managed to install that bolt strip on the forward hull over the strip styrene parts I glued in to hold it:

WIP_Sherman_Mineroller_IX.jpg

Gator Grip Glue is perfect for this. After that it was time to do the photo-etch on the bogies. Fortunately, this kit gives you a plastic template piece to use to bend the photo-etch into shape. This is one of the smartest and only good thing about this kit:

WIP_Sherman_Mineroller_Xa.jpg

I was told afterward that if I had annealed these parts, they would have bent better. Oh well, lesson learned. They still turned out well and were simple to do:

WIP_Sherman_Mineroller_Xb.jpg

Finally all the photo-etch parts were installed and this was ready to close up:

WIP_Sherman_Mineroller_XI.jpg

In this pic you can still see one of the shortcomings of this kit yet again. When I dry-fit the top hull onto the lower hull; it showed that the P/E bolt strip was too narrow so I'll have to do some fancy filling there above it:

WIP_Sherman_Mineroller_XII.jpg

After that I'd had enough of this so I moved on. It was time for something easy. The decals for the Military Wheels Russian Fuel Truck were unmitigated crap that shattered into tiny shards, so I had to find alternates from my spares box. These new decals look quite good in my opinion:

WIP_Russian_Truck_XVIII.jpg

WIP_Russian_Truck_XIX.jpg

I just have to dullcoat this and weather it and this truck will be done.

Speaking of easy, I added the decals I wanted to use on the T-14 Armata:

WIP_CTA_III_T-14_Armata_Tank_XXVII.jpg

After that, I added the machine gun on the top of the turret and then installed the photo-etch bar armor to the hull:

WIP_CTA_III_T-14_Armata_Tank_XXVIII.jpg

WIP_CTA_III_T-14_Armata_Tank_XXIX.jpg

I'll be brush painting the camouflage pattern on that bar armor once it is fully set. After that will be some light weathering and then this tank will be done.

Finally, it was time to buckle down and get the roadwheels done on at least one of my Type 89 Japanese tanks. Here you can see two of the bogie assemblies. These go on only one side of the tank. The Exacto blade is there to show you how truly small those 16 little wheels are that I had to install one at a time on the suspension parts:

WIP_Japanese_Type_89_Early_II.jpg

Once all 32 wheels were cemented to the suspension parts, I installed the completed bogies and the completed rear sprocket wheel in place:

WIP_Japanese_Type_89_Early_III.jpg

Later I had to build the drive sprocket and add it to the outside suspension cover. These were then installed on the tank:

WIP_Japanese_Type_89_Early_IV.jpg

WIP_Japanese_Type_89_Early_V.jpg

These are some funky little tanks. That's where I stopped on this to prevent myself from getting permanently cross-eyed. One down, one to go.

Last but not least, I wanted something simple and fun to build. Out came the USAAF re-supply set. Even though the axle on the bomb trailer is still broken, I decided to finish off the bomb trailer assembly. That way I can just fix the axle and get it painted. Here it is fully assembled:

WIP_USAAF_Resupply_Set_VI.jpg

Next I moved on to the Tanker tractor. I assembled the suspension, engine, drive train and other parts onto the chassis. This is incredibly detailed:

WIP_USAAF_Resupply_Set_VII.jpg

I finished off with some of the parts on the top of this chassis:

WIP_USAAF_Resupply_Set_VIII.jpg

Next I finished up the cab and hood to the extent that I could before painting:

WIP_USAAF_Resupply_Set_IX.jpg

The rest of this will be finished once the interior is painted up. Now that I had the cab finished, it was time to build the tank trailer:

WIP_USAAF_Resupply_Set_X.jpg

WIP_USAAF_Resupply_Set_XI.jpg

I'll be leaving the doors open to show that nice hose and pump assembly inside. This is one big truck:

WIP_USAAF_Resupply_Set_XII.jpg

Finally I had all the vehicles in this set almost all ready for paint. I do still need to add a few more parts to the bomb tractor. I hope to get that done soon and be shooting some paint this coming week:

WIP_USAAF_Resupply_Set_XIII.jpg


Okay, that's all I managed to get done yesterday. It's amazing what I can do when I have a whole day to myself just to build; especially when I also have the room to spread out. What a great, productive day!

Thanks all for looking in, comments are welcome.

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Thanks Gil! Yeah, it don't get any better than that! I am still amazed at how much I was able to finish. Hopefully more will get done this weekend, stay tuned.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Okay, here's a nice long update on all I've been working on the last two or three days.

I went to Hobby Day weekend this past Friday and Saturday and was able to get a considerable amount of progress done on some of my models while finding time to start a few more. I'll start with my aircraft that I've been working on.


First up is my pair of Tomcats that I'm doing the review on. It was time to finally build the burner cans for these models. If I hadn't said it before, I'll say it now: Always pay attention to the I and 2 symbols shown in the instruction sheet to be sure you are using the correct parts for the version you are building!

Here are the two burner cans for the F-14B. They were very easy to assemble as it was all plastic parts:

WIP_F-14_Tomcats_SPAM_Review_XIV.jpg

The inside of the F-14A burner cans had photo-etch parts. These were fairly easy to add and were a tremendous improvement on the appearance of these cans:

WIP_F-14_Tomcats_SPAM_Review_XIVa.jpg

Once assembled, however, they were almost invisible:

WIP_F-14_Tomcats_SPAM_Review_XIVb.jpg

If you look straight in, they are still visible.

Next it was time to assemble the wings. These are all the parts that are needed for the wing assembly. You can see I needed to do a lot of cleanup first:

WIP_F-14_Tomcats_SPAM_Review_XIXb.jpg

Afterward I assembled almost all the wing. The little protrusions you see all need to be cut off if you intend to make these models with the wings swept:

WIP_F-14_Tomcats_SPAM_Review_XIXa.jpg

I will be assembling both of these with swept wings due to my limited space for display when these are done. I did cut all those off and assembled the leading edge to each wing.

As the wing was drying, I installed the vertical stabilizers and dry-fit the horizontal stabilizers. It is a good thing I did this since when I first snapped the horizontal stabilizers in, I got this:

WIP_F-14_Tomcats_SPAM_Review_XVa.jpg

Rather than try and re-shape the holes or anything to make these more horizontal, I pulled them out; switched them to the opposite sides of the fuselage and then re-inserted them:

WIP_F-14_Tomcats_SPAM_Review_XVb.jpg

Perfect! So, when you build these models; pay close attention to where you are inserting the tail surfaces to make sure you are putting them on the correct sides before you try to level them out. This will save you a ton of frustrating work.

Moving on, I had to install the forward canards on the front of the main fuselage. For the -A Tomcat I installed them extended:

WIP_F-14_Tomcats_SPAM_Review_XVI.jpg

I installed them retracted on the -B model Tomcat:

WIP_F-14_Tomcats_SPAM_Review_XVII.jpg

This certainly helps to make it easy to tell the two apart.

I apologize that I did not get any pics of some of the speed brake door installation or the installation of the engine burner cans. Everything went together fairly smoothly so I continued to move on. I also installed all the speed brake doors closed since I know I will break them multiple times during the paint stage if I left them open. One thing to note: make sure you line up the burner cans so that the tab on the end inserts into the slot provided. Press in the burner cans close to eliminate any gaps. I did have a couple small gaps on the -A model Tomcat which I filled with the AV putty that I have. Interestingly enough, the -B model Tomcat burner cans went in far easier than the -A model Tomcat.

Finally I got around to installing the wings. These are actually only pressed in and lightly glued:

WIP_F-14_Tomcats_SPAM_Review_XX.jpg

Later on, I made some effort at carving out some of the inside opening on the main fuselage where the cockpit module goes. This thinning of the front of the main fuselage seemed to fix the issue with the step between the cockpit and main fuselage. It's not too easy to see here as these are just dry-fit together, but they do look far better now:

WIP_F-14_Tomcats_SPAM_Review_XXi.jpg

Okay that is as far as I got on this for now. A few more steps to do and I'll be able to shoot some paint on these.


After all that, I decided to start a simple kit and pulled out my Boeing 737 kit:

WIP_Boeing_737_I.jpg

So simple, so basic; it doesn't even have a cockpit! So, I added a couple nose weights to this to be sure it sits properly on all wheels:

WIP_Boeing_737_II.jpg

Later I shot the interior with flat black:

WIP_Boeing_737_III.jpg

Once that was dry, I started to glue the two fuselage halves together. I ran into some problems on the front of this:

WIP_Boeing_737_V.jpg

...so I started gluing the tail and moved forward until I had two-thirds of this glued. When it dries sufficiently, I'll adjust this front section until it glues together properly. Meanwhile, I set this aside to dry:

WIP_Boeing_737_IV.jpg

While that was drying, I cemented together the two halves of the tail surfaces:

WIP_Boeing_737_VI.jpg

And then I cemented together the two halves of the wings:

WIP_Boeing_737_VII.jpg

Before I closed them up though, I had to shoot a pic of this:

WIP_Boeing_737_VIa.jpg

Finally, I assembled the two engines for this:

WIP_Boeing_737_VIII.jpg

Wow, that was fast and easy work! Later on I'll go back and close up the nose and then clean everything up.

Meanwhile, I wanted to get further on another large aircraft so I re-masked and re-shot the white on the top of the C-118 for the sixth time ever. Five coats of white later, I shot four more coats of gloss over that. After all that re-shooting of the white and gloss; I think I might be finally ready to apply the decals:

WIP_CargoHaulersCampaign_XXXVIII.jpg

The next model I decided to try and fix up is my F-102 Delta Dagger. I applied some Mr. Surfacer 500 on the top to smooth out the spine and fill a couple small gaps:

WIP_CDS_Meng_F-102_Dagger_XV.jpg

You can see above that I also used my AV putty to fill in the slight gaps at the wing root. Some time later, this got sanded smooth. Now I think I'm ready to mask the canopy and start slinging paint:

WIP_CDS_Meng_F-102_Dagger_XVI.jpg

Finally, the little Jetstream was calling my name so I answered it by assembling the tiny cockpit and seating the pilots inside:

WIP_USAF_Jetstream_I.jpg

I also glued the windows inside the fuselage sides and then assembled the main wings and the two tail surfaces:

WIP_USAF_Jetstream_II.jpg

Later on I'll complete the interior assembly and move on with this one.


This was all I got done on my aircraft. the rest can be seen in the next post since I have too many pics to post in one post......... again.


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Continued from above...

 

So, while I was shooting white on my C-118, I also took the opportunity to touch up the white on my VW bus:

WIP_VW_Van_XI.jpg

That was all I did on that. I am still missing the other door.



After that, I wanted to finally get all the decals finished on my Russian aircraft carrier. I was so close to being done with that deck so out it came. I finished up the final six decals and then sealed this up:

WIP_ShipbuildersSquaredCampaign_XII_.jpg

Afterward, I completed applying the decals on the hull as well so now this bird farm is finally able to be completed:

WIP_ShipbuildersSquaredCampaign_XIII_.jp

WIP_ShipbuildersSquaredCampaign_XIV_.jpg

WIP_ShipbuildersSquaredCampaign_XV_.jpg


Wow! Finally I can move on with that model!!


Okay, now it's time to move on to my armor and vehicles.

To start with, my friend Harmon and I continued our dual build of two Sherman Fireflies in 1/48 scale for the Bolt Action game. I got the tracks on mine finally:

WIP_Game_Sherman_48_VI.jpg

Later on I applied the rather scanty decals to this model while Harmon finished his Firefly:

WIP_Game_Sherman_48_IX.jpg

WIP_Game_Sherman_48_X.jpg

Since I was applying decals to 1/48 scale tanks, I also added the decals to the M4A3 early; turning her into Classy Peg:

WIP_Game_Sherman_48_VII.jpg

WIP_Game_Sherman_48_VIII.jpg

Now these are ready for dullcoat and weathering.

After that I got to work on my own models. The first one I decided to move forward on was this short-run SchturmTiger that has been languishing on the desk. It was time make some progress on this. I added all the final plastic detail parts as well as the main barrel in preparation for the P/E parts that go on this:

WIP_BS_GB_Shturmtiger_VI.jpg

WIP_BS_GB_Shturmtiger_VII.jpg

That was enough of that. I moved on to something simpler, like my USAAF resupply set. I was so close to being at the paint stage on these so I pulled them out and finished everything up to where I needed them to be to paint. First off, I did a crude repair on the axle of the bomb trailer. It ain't pretty but it should hold the wheel in the proper place:

WIP_USAAF_Resupply_Set_XIV.jpg

Next I added the seats to the side of the bomb tractor bed:

WIP_USAAF_Resupply_Set_XV.jpg

And finally I added the last detail parts to the tanker trailer:

WIP_USAAF_Resupply_Set_XVI.jpg

Now these are all ready for me to start slinging some OD.

I even assembled the bombs so I could paint them too:

WIP_USAAF_Resupply_Set_XVII.jpg

After that I pulled out another simple and easy model to do. This is the Zvezda 1/72 scale British Bofors AA gun. It went together so fast and easy I never took time to shoot pics:

WIP_Bofors_AA_Gun_I.jpg

That was almost like taking a break from building. Now back to the rest of the production line...

Another new kit called to me so I pulled out my Vauxhall British Staff Car. I assembled the basic chassis at first:

WIP_Roden_Vauxhall_I.jpg

I had broken one piece even before getting it off the sprue; that's how delicate this tiny model is. I also had some difficulty getting anything to stick where it was supposed to so this was as far as I got. I set that aside to work on another new and simple model: my Merkava IV.

I started with the tracks and wheels. The way they molded these makes this part so easy:

WIP_Merkava_IV_MBT_I.jpg

Next I assembled all the little detail pieces to the lower hull. Here I also test-fit the tracks to the lower hull to see how they look:

WIP_Merkava_IV_MBT_II.jpg

I'll pull them off again for painting.

I then assembled all the turret parts except for the final machine guns and some antenna. That took all of five minutes. Next I added the turret to the upper hull; then dry fit the upper hull to the lower one to see how it looks and fits. There were no parts to add to the upper hull. Again, this will all be removed for painting:

WIP_Merkava_IV_MBT_III.jpg

WIP_Merkava_IV_MBT_IV.jpg

Wow, this will feel fantastic having this tank in my collection!


That is all I got done so far in the last two or three days. I have a job starting Monday that will probably pull me away from the bench for awhile so I'm thrilled that I got this much done.

Thanks all for looking in. Comments are welcome.... when you wake up....

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