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Maddog Manufacturing 2018 Production Line


Mark Deliduka

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After an interesting start to the New Year, I finally managed to get some bench time; mostly thanks to my monthly St. Crispin's Irregulars Hobby Day. Here is where I am now.

I finally completed my decals on the F-102 Delta Dagger. Now I can dullcoat this and complete the final details:

WIP_CDS_Meng_F-102_Dagger_XXVIId.jpg

WIP_CDS_Meng_F-102_Dagger_XXVIIe.jpg


Next I finished all the crazy stencils on the F-15E Strike Eagle. Now I can finish the rest of the decals and move forward on this:

WIP_MMM2017_Eagle_XXIVc.jpg

WIP_MMM2017_Eagle_XXIVd.jpg

Next I started a helicopter that was given to me by a friend and fellow IPMS member. He knew I had wanted this helicopter and he got it for me. This is the EH-101 Merlin Royal Navy bird. I was so excited about building this, I had almost forgotten to take pics! Here is the first pic I took, showing the entire interior assembled together:

WIP_Royal_Navy_EH-101_Merlin_I.jpg

WIP_Royal_Navy_EH-101_Merlin_II.jpg

Later I dry-fit this inside the fuselage to see how it fit. I was quite amazed at how well this fell together:

WIP_Royal_Navy_EH-101_Merlin_III.jpg

WIP_Royal_Navy_EH-101_Merlin_IV.jpg

Finally, here's a shot of all the fuselage components sitting together:

WIP_Royal_Navy_EH-101_Merlin_V.jpg

One thing I like about this is that they give you an operational hinge on the tail to fold it. They also make the main rotors foldable too!

Moving on, I also started one of my Christmas presents, the Mitsubishi F-2A. I started with the cockpit of course. It's a very simple affair:

WIP_Japanese_F-2A_I.jpg

I then added all the main gear well walls and such, as well as the main intake scoop on the front of the lower fuselage:

WIP_Japanese_F-2A_II.jpg

I had also assembled all the missiles and drop tanks for this too, but I didn't shoot pics of them.

 


Moving on to my armor, I was able to accomplish the following work....


Here is where I was with my USAAF resupply set. I had finished dullcoating these after applying the decals:

WIP_USAAF_Resupply_Set_XXVI.jpg

Later on, I added the cab tops and the wheels to all of these:

WIP_USAAF_Resupply_Set_XXVII.jpg

WIP_USAAF_Resupply_Set_XXVIII.jpg

After this, I tried to complete all of them with the final details and such, but every time I tried to move forward; something broke off. When I fixed that, something else broke off. I spent two weeks re-fixing broken things before I finally got this whole set finished. Finished pics to be posted soon.

Moving on, I finally installed the tracks on the Japanese Type 89 Late:

WIP_Japanese_Type_89_Late_XVI.jpg

WIP_Japanese_Type_89_Late_XVII.jpg

After that, I painted the tracks a flat black; added the tools, the machine guns, and a couple small roadwheels that had fallen off. Then I added the decals before dullcoating this little beastie:

WIP_Japanese_Type_89_Late_XVIII.jpg

WIP_Japanese_Type_89_Late_XIX.jpg

Due to the confusion many people have had thinking that the white stars are American markings; I've decided to add a couple small Japanese flags to the sides of this tank behind the hull numbers so people won't question why a Japanese tank has US markings. It may not be accurate, but at least it will help people understand it is a Japanese tank. You will see them in the completed pics of this tank; which will hopefully get done in a couple more days.

Finally, I took the time to complete the photo-etch on the Russian T-80U that I'd started and set aside some time back. Here it is with most of the photo-etch on it:

WIP_Russian_T-80U_Tank_IX.jpg

WIP_Russian_T-80U_Tank_X.jpg

Later on when all that was dry, I went back and added the two flaps on the front of this tank, as well as touched up a few other areas:

WIP_Russian_T-80U_Tank_XI.jpg

WIP_Russian_T-80U_Tank_XII.jpg

Now to get this primed and ready for paint. I believe I'll be brush painting this the whole time as I'm concerned that the Silly Putty masking will remove some of this photo etch; especially the flaps on the turret and the two front flaps under the front of the hull. After all this time and effort, I don't want to take any chances.


Well, that is my small update for now; hopefully it is the first of many to come. Stay tuned for more and thanks for looking in, comments are welcome.

 

 

 

 

EDIT: Please add a "preview" button to these Forums. That way I'll be able to see if my pics load okay. Also, I'll be able to see which ones don't load when I have a lot to post. Thanks!

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Okay, here's another small update, thanks to the time had yesterday to work on models. I'll start again with my aircraft.


The F-102 has been coming along. After dullcoating this plane once the decals dried, I peeled the masking off the windows. It took a bit of cleanup afterward to make the canopy look well enough:

WIP_CDS_Meng_F-102_Dagger_XXVIIIa.jpg

WIP_CDS_Meng_F-102_Dagger_XXVIIIb.jpg

After doing that I had also started the missile racks underneath. But first, I shot some white on the AIM-4 Falcons and set them aside to dry while I worked on the rest of the plane:

WIP_CDS_Meng_F-102_Dagger_XXX.jpg

As mentioned, I started the missile racks in the weapon's bay first, adding the lowered racks to the interior:

WIP_CDS_Meng_F-102_Dagger_XXIXa.jpg

WIP_CDS_Meng_F-102_Dagger_XXIXb.jpg

Once they had dried enough, I completed the painting of the interior of the weapons bay as well as the landing gear bays:

WIP_CDS_Meng_F-102_Dagger_XXIXc.jpg

After a break and after checking the missiles to see if they were dry enough; I masked off the forward parts of the Falcons and painted the rear section red:

WIP_CDS_Meng_F-102_Dagger_XXXa.jpg

While those were drying, I added the main landing gear as well as the gear doors and weapons bay doors:

WIP_CDS_Meng_F-102_Dagger_XXIXd.jpg

Next came the nose gear and the wheels. I cemented them in place once the gear doors and main landing gear were dry enough:

WIP_CDS_Meng_F-102_Dagger_XXIXe.jpg

Finally, after adding a little more white to the missile fins, I cemented the AIM-4 Falcons in place on the launch racks:

WIP_CDS_Meng_F-102_Dagger_XXXI.jpg


After a bit of touch up and final parts additions, this bird will be finished. I am hoping to have it finished today.


On one of those breaks working on the Dagger, I also got the last decals on the F-15E Strike Eagle. Now I can finally finish this bird too:

WIP_MMM2017_Eagle_XXIVe.jpg

 


Finally, on my armor; I focused on the T-80U since it was so close to being finished. I first shot a base coat of green on this with the airbrush; then I used my Sotar to freehand the brown pattern over it:

WIP_Russian_T-80U_Tank_XIII.jpg

WIP_Russian_T-80U_Tank_XIV.jpg

WIP_Russian_T-80U_Tank_XV.jpg

Later on, I sharpened up the edges using a brush and then added the little black squiggles to complete the pattern:

WIP_Russian_T-80U_Tank_XVI.jpg

WIP_Russian_T-80U_Tank_XVII.jpg

Once that was sufficiently dry, I shot a glosscoat on the turret and added the decals:

WIP_Russian_T-80U_Tank_XVIII.jpg

WIP_Russian_T-80U_Tank_XIX.jpg

You can see the Solvaset still has to work to pull those decals down. Now all I have to do is dullcoat this again and finish the final assembly and weathering. I hope to finish this today as well.


That's it for now; thanks for looking in, comments are welcome.

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  • 4 weeks later...


Okay now that I'm finally recovered from that flu; I managed to get back to the bench and make some serious progress for once.

At Hobby Day I didn't feel like doing any painting, detail or otherwise; so I just pulled some things out to build. Here is what I was working on...

 


I started by making some more progress on another Aerosan for the war game I'm planning on doing in October. I started the engine on this little beastie:

WIP_Game_Sleds_IX.jpg

After sanding the forward cone, I completed the mounting of the engine, the safety bars and several other little fiddly bits:

WIP_Game_Sleds_X.jpg

WIP_Game_Sleds_XI.jpg

 

Moving on from that, I decided to stay with armor for the next project. I pulled out my new T-80 UM1 tank. I started with the turret as indicated in the instructions. Here it is after completing one half of the assembly:

WIP_2018_MMM_III.jpg

This kit also received a metal barrel included in the kit. I decided to have another try at putting it on my tank. This time, I glued it to the mantlet first:

WIP_2018_MMM_IV.jpg

After that, I went back and completed the other side of the turret, completing the assembly as much as I dared. There are still some parts to add to this, but only after painting and final detailing:

WIP_2018_MMM_V.jpg

You can see that I fixed the smoke dischargers.

With all that done, I assembled the hull, added the torsion bars, wheels and other details. I even started the tracks before I remembered to take this pic:

WIP_2018_MMM_VII.jpg

I eventually managed to finish the tracks on one side of this for now:

WIP_2018_MMM_VIII.jpg

After all that, I was ready to move on.....

   
Well, I moved on all right, straight to an ACE kit that I'd been wanting to build for awhile. It was time to pull it out. This is the ACE Canadian Husky in 1/72 scale. I started with the main hull:

WIP_Canadian_Husky_Recovery_I.jpg

WIP_Canadian_Husky_Recovery_II.jpg

For such a short run kit, I was surprised at how well this fit together so far. That just means I'm going to have a bear of a time with the suspension and wheels underneath! h well, I decided to jump ahead and build the crane. It was a fast assembly, although the top of the main arm had a deep trench across it so I added some strip styrene to it to make it flat:

WIP_Canadian_Husky_Recovery_III.jpg


Okay it was time to move on to aircraft....


I started with a simple Matchbox kit just to have some fun.

I cemented the pilot to the bang seat and then added him to the fuselage since that's all that the cockpit comprises! No pics of that, sorry; I jumped straight to closing up the fuselage:

WIP_Out_of_Africa_III.jpg

Later on I'll paint the pilot and whatever interior that can be seen and I'll close up the canopy and mask it. Before that, I assembled the wings and added them to this plane:

WIP_Out_of_Africa_IV.jpg

Once the canopy is all closed up and masked; this bird will be ready for paint.

Moving on again, I started a Hasegawa kit of the 1/72 scale Harrier jet, only this one is in the markings of the Italian Navy. I started with the small cockpit since this kit actually has one:

WIP_Italian_Harrier_I.jpg

I then assembled the engine intake:

WIP_Italian_Harrier_II.jpg

I then added some of the parts to the fuselage that could be added before removing the parts from the sprues. Things like the refueling pod, engine intake cowls and the exhaust plates:

WIP_Italian_Harrier_III.jpg

Lastly, I cemented the wings together as well as various other parts that were halved or otherwise needed extra parts added:

WIP_Italian_Harrier_IV.jpg

WIP_Italian_Harrier_V.jpg

Couldn't do much more without having to paint so I called it a day by then.

Thanks for looking in on my small update here. Comments are always welcome.

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Thanks Gil! Actually, that F-102 is already done. I should have a Thread up showing it.

 

The most recent post shows my current projects in progress.

I do appreciate the compliments! Thanks again!

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  • 3 weeks later...

Okay, here is a long update, focusing on all I did over the past few weeks when I had the time.

I'll start with my Mirage IIICZ for the African campaign I'm doing on another Forums. They call "Group Builds" campaigns over there.This past couple weeks I tried to focus on finishing a couple of those campaigns and this is the result.

Last you saw I had the whole thing closed up. After that I painted the pilot in situ and then closed him up under the canopy:

WIP_Out_of_Africa_V.jpg

Later I masked the canopy to prepare for painting:

WIP_Out_of_Africa_VI.jpg

After that dried, I shot the top of the plane with primer. It is still wet in this pic:

WIP_Out_of_Africa_VII.jpg

The bottom was sprayed later once the top dried:

WIP_Out_of_Africa_VIII.jpg

Over all that, I shot a coat of Tamiya Bare Metal Silver right out of the rattle can:

WIP_Out_of_Africa_IX.jpg

Man that stuff shoots on smooth....

I was then ready to start applying the decals to this, but then I looked at the version I wanted to do:

WIP_Out_of_Africa_XI.jpg

The red lines behind the cockpit, on the edges of the intakes, and down the wing roots were not included as decals. Out came the masking tape.....

I masked off the lines, as well as the nose cone in preparation for paint:.

WIP_Out_of_Africa_X.jpg

First I shot the nose cone:

WIP_Out_of_Africa_XII.jpg

Then I shot the red lines:

WIP_Out_of_Africa_XIII.jpg

It turned out better than I had hoped it would:

WIP_Out_of_Africa_XV.jpg

WIP_Out_of_Africa_XVI.jpg

WIP_Out_of_Africa_XIV.jpg

After that, I applied the decals, added the landing gear and gear doors and finished it up. Finished pics will be in the completed aircraft Forum.

 

 

 


I was doing this South African Mirage so quickly that I found another Mirage in the stash that had South African markings on it. So, I pulled out this Mirage F.1C and got started on it. First I added the pilot to his seat, then cemented his seat to the rear bulkhead, and then cemented the whole assembly inside the fuselage half along with the IP. That was all the cockpit this kit gave me. I also added some weight in the nose to keep this bird on her feet:

WIP_Out_of_Africa_Deux_III.jpg

After that was dry, I closed up the fuselage halves and clamped them to seal them as best I could:

WIP_Out_of_Africa_Deux_IV.jpg

Naturally the wings and tail surfaces came next:

WIP_Out_of_Africa_Deux_V.jpg

Once that was dry, I painted the pilot, seat and IP inside the fuselage and then added Mr. Surfacer 500 to the seams that most needed attention:

WIP_Out_of_Africa_Deux_VI.jpg

That is drying now so I'll give it some attention later.

 

The rest of this post will continue on the next page; assuming that we can still post up to 25 pics per post after the update....

(EDIT: We can! Yay!)

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Continued from the previous post....

On to my armor....

In armor, I also focused on my campaign model, this one is for the Micro Modeling Month campaign that challenges one to try and finish a (small) model in one month. I was trying to finish my T-80UM1 before the end of this month. As you may recall, I had done most of the turret and hull. Looking at the turret, I noticed a lot of sink marks on the lower shielding on the turret. I applied a few dabs of Mr. Surfacer 500 to the sink holes and waited for it to dry:

WIP_2018_MMM_XII.jpg

It sanded out quite nicely afterward....

I also finished almost all the fiddly bits and such for the hull and turret in preparation for P/E:

WIP_2018_MMM_IX.jpg

WIP_2018_MMM_X.jpg

WIP_2018_MMM_XI.jpg

You can see that I used the metal barrel this time. It glued far better than the previous T-80 barrel did.

Here it is after I added all the P/E to it:

WIP_2018_MMM_XIII.jpg

WIP_2018_MMM_XIV.jpg

WIP_2018_MMM_XV.jpg

Finally this was ready for paint. Into the "spray booth" it went, getting it's first basecoat of primer to seal the P/E and allow the paint to stick to it:

WIP_2018_MMM_XVI.jpg

When that was sufficiently dry, I shot the base coat of green on this:

WIP_2018_MMM_XVII.jpg

Afterward I completed the camouflage pattern:

WIP_2018_MMM_XVIII.jpg

WIP_2018_MMM_XIX.jpg

The black lines are still shiny in these pics....

A gloss coat later and this was sporting it's number after I applied the decals:

WIP_2018_MMM_XX.jpg

I also applied a wash to this. Then I shot a dullcoat when it was dry again. Afterward I weathered this, dusting it up a bit with some Russian Earth Brown:

WIP_2018_MMM_XXI.jpg

WIP_2018_MMM_XXII.jpg

All that was left was to install the machine gun on top and it was done!

While working on all this, I also made progress on what was for me; a fun little model that helped me keep it real. My Canadian Husky got it's lower suspension on:

WIP_Canadian_Husky_Recovery_IV.jpg

Afterward, I added some Silly Putty to the hubs and shot the first coat of green on this. I was already shooting the T-80 so this was perfect to shoot right afterward:

WIP_Canadian_Husky_Recovery_V.jpg

Later on when I was painting the black stripes on the T-80, I shot some black stripes on the Husky. After they dried, I shot a gloss coat over it when I gloss coated the T-80:

WIP_Canadian_Husky_Recovery_VI.jpg

I also found several other long-lost projects when I cleaned my bench a bit so I pulled them out to start as well. But those will be for a subsequent post. I know I bored you all enough with this long one here.

Thanks for looking in, comments are welcome.

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Great stuff again Duke. 

Being the armor guy (NOT) that I am,  I think that T-80 come out really well.  The cammo looks pretty bad A$$.

Bill

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Thanks Bill! I appreciate the compliment very much. Due to the complexity of the surface of this model, painting that pattern was difficult. I painted it with a combination of airbrush and brush. Silly Putty; my go-to masking agent for camouflage, would have torn a ton of parts from that turret especially if I'd used it here. I free-handed two of the colors with an airbrush, then cleaned everything up with a brush.

Thanks again for stopping in!

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I had some time to work on things this past weekend so I kept going on a couple things. One was my Canadian Husky recovery vehicle that finally got all the bits and bobs on it. I just needed to detail and touch it up:

WIP_Canadian_Husky_Recovery_VIII.jpg

Later on, I shot the dullcoat on it and then added some black wash to the grills:

WIP_Canadian_Husky_Recovery_X.jpg

She has since been weathered and will soon be posted in the finished Armored Forums.

Meanwhile, I also pulled out the Italian Harrier I started. I painted the cockpit in preparation for the instrument decals:

WIP_Italian_Harrier_VI.jpg

While that was drying, I painted the engine intake turbines...

WIP_Italian_Harrier_IX.jpg

...and the cockpit cowl, engine intakes and exhaust plates on the fuselage halves....


WIP_Italian_Harrier_VII.jpg

...and finally, the wheels, struts, and burner cans:

WIP_Italian_Harrier_VIII.jpg


Another aircraft I continued on was the South African Mirage for my second African build. I added the canopy to this and then sanded down all the filler I had added:

WIP_Out_of_Africa_Deux_VII.jpg

Later I masked off the canopy in preparation for a primer coat:

WIP_Out_of_Africa_Deux_VIII.jpg

 

Now for a few of the other models I mentioned before that I found when I cleaned up a bit. These are models I'd forgotten about, or had held back from starting before. I finally decided to just get them done.

One was this one that I had thrown in frustration. I started to re-cement back the Boeing 737 fuselage:

WIP_Boeing_737_XIIIc.jpg

Yes, that is some old housing wiring I'm using as a clamp to hold all that together. I've also since closed up the nose and I'm waiting for it to dry as well before I move on again and try to paint the white

That was put aside and I then pulled this tiny Airfix Gazelle that I started some time ago (years?) and put away because I couldn't get enough weight in this to keep it on it's skids. Here is how it was when I found it:

WIP_British_Gazelle_I.jpg

I've since added the engine housing and tried to add a bit more weight in select crannies:

WIP_British_Gazelle_II.jpg

Finally I hit on a new idea: the overhead canopy has a center bar on it that I used to add some additional weight to:

WIP_British_Gazelle_III.jpg

When I tested it later, it seemed to do the trick! I sure hope so.

Then I started to cement all the clear parts on, starting with the overhead:

WIP_British_Gazelle_IV.jpg

And finally, all clear parts are on:

WIP_British_Gazelle_V.jpg

While that was drying, I decided to assemble the main rotor so it would be ready to add when the time came:

WIP_British_Gazelle_VI.jpg

Once the clear parts were all sufficiently dry, I started to mask them off in preparation for painting. I did the sides first, later I'll do the front ones so this doesn't smear in the interim:

WIP_British_Gazelle_VII.jpg

 

After all that, I wanted to start something different. I had been eyeing this kit of an Airfix Churchill bridgelayer for awhile and finally decided to pull it down and start it. I started with step one; having to add all the tiny wheels to the 22 struts that go on each side of this tank:

WIP_British_Churchill_Bridgelayer_I.jpg

This kit came with vynil tracks that the instructions said I had to attach by heating them up. Upon close inspection, I realized that was not going to work. So, I pulled out that Tire Glue I had and glued these tracks together:

WIP_British_Churchill_Bridgelayer_II.jpg

I then glued in the struts on one side of the track assembly, dry-fit and clamped the other side to let the struts dry in the correct position:

WIP_British_Churchill_Bridgelayer_III.jp

I then moved on to the center hull, adding the hatches and exhaust pipes among other things:

WIP_British_Churchill_Bridgelayer_IV.jpg

I then started on the bridging assembly by assembling the bridge itself:

WIP_British_Churchill_Bridgelayer_V.jpg

After that I decided to test the tracks. One did glue successfully so I added it to the track assembly. The other one I re-glued:

WIP_British_Churchill_Bridgelayer_VI.jpg

Finally that one side got glued together:

WIP_British_Churchill_Bridgelayer_VII.jp

 


Well, that's all I have for now. It's not too much but I'm happy with the progress so far.

Thanks for looking in, comments are welcome.

 

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Because it is easier to align and maintain the attachment points in the proper position. The tracks can easily be flipped around before being installed.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Now for my latest progress done over the last week and a half. Brace yourselves people, this is a long one.

Part I begins here.

I'll start with my aircraft again before bringing it back down to earth in the following post.


Most all this work here was done at Hobby Day. All the painting and airbrushing was done at my home.


I got the cockpit done on one of my latest acquisitions, the Eurocopter HAP Tigre. I'll be making this an Australian bird. It was fairly simple to do:

WIP_Australian_HAP_Tigre_I.jpg

Then, because I didn't want to paint, I moved on. I added the decals to the Italian Harrier so I could close this up inside the fuselage:

WIP_Italian_Harrier_X.jpg

Then, when I went to close this up; I realized I had left the sprue holding one side of the fuselage at home instead of bringing it to Hobby Day. Apparently it never got back to the box so I had to put this away for now too.

At home, I fired up the airbrush and got to work. First thing I did was to shoot a grey base on the bottom of the South African Mirage. Later, I taped up the bottom in preparation for shooting the top:

WIP_Out_of_Africa_Deux_IX.jpg

The first color went on next:

WIP_Out_of_Africa_Deux_X.jpg

Once that dried, I pulled out the Silly Putty and masked off the top for the second color:

WIP_Out_of_Africa_Deux_XI.jpg

....and the second color went on:

WIP_Out_of_Africa_Deux_XII.jpg

After that dried, I masked off the nose and shot it black. After that dried, I removed everything to see how it looked:

WIP_Out_of_Africa_Deux_XIII.jpg

Pretty impressive if I do say so myself....

Got the gloss coat on it for decals next:

WIP_Out_of_Africa_Deux_XIV_a.jpg

At Hobby Day, I got the decals done:

WIP_Out_of_Africa_Deux_XIV.jpg

WIP_Out_of_Africa_Deux_XV.jpg

All that is left is dullcoat, landing gear and underwing stores. I'm real close with this one.

 

Another model that I made great progress one was the British helicopter. Once the masking dried, I added the landing skids and some other fiddly bits:

WIP_British_Gazelle_VIII.jpg

I then shot the green on it and let that dry. After it dried, I applied the Silly Putty masking again. You can see the parts I broke off while masking this tiny thing:

WIP_British_Gazelle_X.jpg

The second grey color went on after that:

WIP_British_Gazelle_XI.jpg

Later on, I removed the Silly Putty and repaired the damage:

WIP_British_Gazelle_XII.jpg

Now that bird is ready for clearcoat and decals.

Now on to Part II....
 

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Part II, continued from Part I above...

Now to get back down to earth. I first pulled out my British Churchill bridgelayer and looked it over. The instructions have you decide which position the bridge should be fixed in. That is not acceptable to me so I added some sheet styrene to one part to allow it to hold one of the rods that is supposed to pivot:

WIP_British_Churchill_Bridgelayer_VIII.j

Next, I assembled the turret and snapped it into place, just for fun:

WIP_British_Churchill_Bridgelayer_X.jpg

That ain't gonna be used so this will be the last time you see this vehicle with the turret.

After removing the turret, I assembled all the other bridge layer parts and added styrene rod to the pivot part to allow it to move:

WIP_British_Churchill_Bridgelayer_XI.jpg

The bridge is not currently cemented on, it is sitting on the pivot point. You can see in this next pic how I made this workable:

WIP_British_Churchill_Bridgelayer_XII.jp

And to complete the bridge laying, the main swing arm is removed from the pivot point to lower the bridge down:

WIP_British_Churchill_Bridgelayer_XIII.j

This one is now ready for paint. Hopefully I'll get that done this week.

Next I decided to start my German M-109 Self Propelled Gun. I assembled the lower hull as directed:

WIP_German_M109_I.jpg

When I removed the two sides with all the torsion bars on it, I noticed that Revell of Germany had short-shot one of my axles:

WIP_German_M109_II.jpg

You'll also notice the gaps I need to deal with. Those are all over this model. You'd think a company like Revell of Germany can mold something that fits well. Anyway, I went to assemble the turret next. Lots of slight warpage on the sides, requiring clamps to make it glue correctly:

WIP_German_M109_III.jpg

Next thing I noticed, the gun mantlet is molded in such a way that the gun remains fixed in place. Also not acceptable to me:

WIP_German_M109_IV.jpg

So, I cut out the center section of the mantlet and then cemented the frame to the turret opening. Unfortunately, I forgot to take some better pics showing all I did, but the gist is there:

WIP_German_M109_V.jpg

Next I assembled the gun, added it to the mantlet and then cemented a round section of sprue horizontally to the back of the mantlet. I also added some extra sheet styrene to the sides to widen it back up:

WIP_German_M109_VI.jpg

Using more sheet styrene, I cut strips and cemented them inside the turret trapping the mantlet in place:

WIP_German_M109_VII.jpg

It worked. The gun now elevates the way it is supposed to:

WIP_German_M109_VIII.jpg

WIP_German_M109_IX.jpg

That's all well and good, but lets see how well it works with the turret roof on:

WIP_German_M109_X.jpg

WIP_German_M109_XI.jpg

Success! Now I can move on and move on I did.

I added the top of the hull next:

WIP_German_M109_XII.jpg

Just for fun, I placed the turret on this to see how it looks:

WIP_German_M109_XIII.jpg

Sweet! I'm loving it so far, despite the myriad gaps I'll need to fill later on.

Now it was time to add the wheels and tracks. I added all the wheels except for the outer ones and the one that goes on the short shot torsion bar. Later I installed the track:

WIP_German_M109_XIV.jpg

WIP_German_M109_XV.jpg

Later on, I'll cement that last wheel to the track itself so that it sits right; then I'll add the outer road wheels to this to finish that part off. That was as far as I got on that one.

Moving on, I went from Hobby Day to my AMPS meeting where they were having a Build Night. I brought my German Panzerlok Br-57 armoured locomotive to work on. Once there, I started with the lower running gear as usual:

WIP_German_Br_57_Panzerlok_I.jpg

Later I added the wheels:

WIP_German_Br_57_Panzerlok_II.jpg

Final assembly of the lower running gear was completed next:

WIP_German_Br_57_Panzerlok_III.jpg

All that was left was to slip the upper armoured body to the top of this:

WIP_German_Br_57_Panzerlok_IV.jpg

After that, I finished all the extra bits and finalized the assembly. Then I moved on and built the tender. It went so fast and easy that I forgot to take pics! Finally I put it all together. This beastie is now ready for paint:

WIP_German_Br_57_Panzerlok_V.jpg

Well, that's all I have for now. I hope you all enjoyed this long update. Take care and remember: comments are always welcome. Thanks for looking in.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Okay after overwhelming everyone with my long post, I figured it was time to flood this Thread with some of more my work to keep you all speechless. I may not have the quality everyone here has, but I sure got the quantity! So without further ado, let's start this latest tour of Maddog Manufacturing....

 

This is Part I of II

Okay, let's begin with my aircraft....


On another Forms, I had started two review models and it was time to get them done. Here's the progress I managed to get so far.....

The Hasegawa A-10 got assembled with all the wings, engines and tail surfaces attached:

A-10C_Thunderbolt_II_SPAM_Review_XIIIa.j

Here you can see the the results of my efforts on one of the wings after I attempted to sand down the stepped edge found underneath both wings. It;s not perfect but that's as far as I wanted to go on this.

A-10C_Thunderbolt_II_SPAM_Review_XIIIb.j

After that, I added the main gun barrel:

A-10C_Thunderbolt_II_SPAM_Review_XIV.jpg

After that, I added all the mounts for the underwing stores:

A-10C_Thunderbolt_II_SPAM_Review_XV.jpg

A few additional detail parts on top and this one was ready for paint:

A-10C_Thunderbolt_II_SPAM_Review_XVa.jpg

Later on, I primed, painted and added the second grey color to this; then clearcoated it for decals:

A-10C_Thunderbolt_II_SPAM_Review_XVb.jpg


That's as far as I got here. There's a few blemishes I need to attend to then I can apply decals.


Now for my second review kits.

On my two Tomcats, I shot a coat of white underneath both of them:

WIP_F-14_Tomcats_SPAM_Review_XXVd.jpg

I also shot white on many of the other parts that need it as shown here:

WIP_F-14_Tomcats_SPAM_Review_XXVe.jpg

Once that was done, I realized that I only needed white on the underside of the -A bird. the -B has a wrap around grey scheme. So, I masked off the white under the Alpha and then shot the black on the tails and canopy areas:

WIP_F-14_Tomcats_SPAM_Review_XXVIa.jpg

After that; starting with the Bravo bird, I masked off the black where it was supposed to stay black and I shot the first coat of grey on it. This was a dark gull grey I believe. I know it's tough to see in these pics but here is the first grey:

WIP_F-14_Tomcats_SPAM_Review_XXVIb.jpg

WIP_F-14_Tomcats_SPAM_Review_XXVIc.jpg

Still on the Bravo bird, I masked off the nose and the bottom to shoot the medium grey on the top of this bird:

WIP_F-14_Tomcats_SPAM_Review_XXVId.jpg

WIP_F-14_Tomcats_SPAM_Review_XXVIe.jpg

Here she is after the medium grey went on:

WIP_F-14_Tomcats_SPAM_Review_XXVIf.jpg

Afterward, she was looking pretty sharp in her new colors:

WIP_F-14_Tomcats_SPAM_Review_XXVIg.jpg


Moving on to the Alpha bird, I also masked her off, starting with the white underside. This time I added the waves to the edge since the previous masking was simply to keep the black overspray off the bottom:

WIP_F-14_Tomcats_SPAM_Review_XXVIIa.jpg

WIP_F-14_Tomcats_SPAM_Review_XXVIIb.jpg

You can see I used an ungodly amount of masking tape on this; mostly because I masked off the missile rails. Normally I would have left those off till last, but they help me differentiate between the two birds at a glance.

Her grey color; a flat gull grey went on next:

WIP_F-14_Tomcats_SPAM_Review_XXVIIc.jpg

After I painted the wings, I realized I had forgotten to mask off the flaps to keep them white:

WIP_F-14_Tomcats_SPAM_Review_XXVIId.jpg

So I masked them off and shot the white:

WIP_F-14_Tomcats_SPAM_Review_XXVIIe.jpg

WIP_F-14_Tomcats_SPAM_Review_XXVIIf.jpg

Once I pulled the tape off these to shoot the clear gloss coat on, I noticed some of the paint lifted, so this has to be re-shot:

WIP_F-14_Tomcats_SPAM_Review_XXVIIg.jpg

That's where I left this. Hopefully I'll get that fixed this weekend...

Next, I decided to try and make some progress on my Boeing 737. Even though I have lost the decals for this; I'm going to keep going. After cementing the nose together and letting it dry; I started filling and sanding this down to get a final clean and smooth seal:

WIP_Boeing_737_XIVa.jpg

I then re-added the canopy to this:

WIP_Boeing_737_XIVb.jpg

After cleaning up the roughness around the canopy, I shot some Krylon Plastic Primer on this.... which happens to be white:

WIP_Boeing_737_XIVc.jpg

You can see some small defects still need to be addressed.... again. But at least I'm getting somewhere with this for once. Hopefully I'll be able to continue making progress here without any more mishaps that caused me to throw this in the first place.

 

Now on to Part II in the next post....

 

 

 

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Continuing from Part I, I have one more aircraft to show and then the rest of my progress on some helicopters and armor.

 

I made some small progress on my Italian Harrier jet. I finally glued the fuselage together:

WIP_Italian_Harrier_XI.jpg

Later came the wings, tail surfaces, gun pods, and underwing pylons:

WIP_Italian_Harrier_XII.jpg

WIP_Italian_Harrier_XIII.jpg

You can see I already masked the exhaust plates on this in preparation for paint. Once I get the canopy on, I'll be able to mask it and paint this plane.

 

Moving on to my other models, here is the latest progress I made on some helicopters.


On my Marine AH-1 Cobra, I finished shooting the green drab on it and glossed it for decals:

WIP_Helicopter_SPAM_GB_XIII.jpg

I then saw how it sat on it's tail. The nose was still open, so I added some small BB's inside until it sat right and then I closed up the nose. It worked:

WIP_Helicopter_SPAM_GB_XIV.jpg

Then when I went to apply the decals, I noticed the paint color was all wrong. Back to the spray booth for this one.

Meanwhile, I also tried to reinforce the skid attachments for my British Gazelle. It didn't turn out the way I wanted it to. I'm going to have to fix this as I'm not happy with it:

WIP_British_Gazelle_XIII.jpg

Until then, I decided to apply the decals on this little bird. They went on okay considering their age. I did have to add a lot of Micro Sol to them to get them to lay down and stop curling:

WIP_British_Gazelle_XIV.jpg

WIP_British_Gazelle_XV.jpg

Speaking of Micro Sol; Micro Scale needs to re-think their packaging for these products they sell. I was simply closing this bottle and at the slightest pressure to insure a seal, this whole thing shattered in my hand:

BUSTED_III.jpg

Can you say "brittle"?

Okay, moving on....


I didn't do too much on my armor lately, having been focused on getting some of those aircraft off my workbench; but I did pull out my Churchill bridgelayer to sand the seam on the lifting arm

WIP_British_Churchill_Bridgelayer_XV.jpg

WIP_British_Churchill_Bridgelayer_XVI.jp

Also, the piston housing om the top of this was angled down too much, making the smooth operation of this bridgelayer too awkward. It is the square horizontal box with the round, riveted ends. I decided to add some sheet styrene to lift this to a more horizontal level:

WIP_British_Churchill_Bridgelayer_XIV.jp

Once that is trimmed and dry, I'll test it again to see how well it works. Meanwhile, I also shot a base coat of dunklegelb on my Panzerlok Br-57:

WIP_German_Br_57_Panzerlok_VII.jpg

WIP_German_Br_57_Panzerlok_VIII.jpg

Next step, camouflage!


Okay, that is the end of this exceptionally long and tedious tour. You may all wake up now and make your way to the nearest exits. Thank you all for your patience, persistence and perseverance. Comments are always welcome.

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Another overwhelming post for everyone to peruse.

Although this shows all I have done in the past week so it's a small update.

Okay, now to begin. Again, we start with my aircraft...

After spraying another coat of white primer on my Boeing 737; I found some more spots that still needed some attention:

WIP_Boeing_737_XIVd.jpg

Once they were dry, sanded down and smoothed out, I shot another coat of white primer:

WIP_Boeing_737_XIVe.jpg

I think I'm starting to finally move forward on this. We'll see though. I still need to shoot a gloss coat on this and find the decals I want to use so there's still plenty of time to screw this up again.....


Moving along, I got all the stencils applied to the A-10:

A-10C_Thunderbolt_II_SPAM_Review_XVcjpg.

Later I clearcoated this again to seal the stencils in and then applied the rest of the markings:

A-10C_Thunderbolt_II_SPAM_Review_XVd.jpg

A-10C_Thunderbolt_II_SPAM_Review_XVe.jpg

I also had gloss coated the two F-14 Tomcats in preparation for decals on those two. Here they are all painted up and glossed up for decals:

WIP_F-14_Tomcats_SPAM_Review_XXVIIh.jpg

I started with the F-14-A and applied the decals to it. They took so long that I ran out of time to start the F-14-B:

WIP_F-14_Tomcats_SPAM_Review_XXVIIi.jpg

One decal that I know of silvered on the tail so I'll be fixing that soon.

Moving along from there, I went back to fix the Marine Cobra... again. I first shot black on the tail, then masked it off:

WIP_Helicopter_SPAM_GB_XV.jpg

Later I shot the medium green on this:

WIP_Helicopter_SPAM_GB_XVI.jpg

Now it is finally looking like it is ready for decals:

WIP_Helicopter_SPAM_GB_XVII.jpg

Since I was working on helicopters at that time, I pulled out my Australian HAP Tigre and painted up the cockpit. Then I closed it up inside the two fuselage halves and added the canopy to the cockpit. Then I added many of the other bits and bobs that this needed. Now this is almost ready to be masked off and painted:

WIP_Australian_HAP_Tigre_II.jpg

 


Moving on to my armor, I decided to pull out a small Russian truck that I'd started some time ago and had been sitting around taking up space. It was time to get this further along. So, I glued part of the main cab together after cutting and installing new axles that would fit the wheels better:

WIP_Russian_ZIS_5V_Truck_IV.jpg

You can see I also painted the interior. Then I built the bed in back and dry-fit it to the chassis to see how it would look:

WIP_Russian_ZIS_5V_Truck_V.jpg

Not bad, but I was bothered by how the cab and the nose were fitting on that chassis. So, I cut everything off and re-glued it into a better position. Now this looks better, and allows the rear bed to fit better too:

WIP_Russian_ZIS_5V_Truck_VI.jpg

Now that truck can move onto the paint booth.

Speaking of moving something to the paint booth, I finally added all the bits and bobs to the M-109, as well as the rear half of the last roadwheel (that goes where the axle was short-shot) so this bad boy is ready for paint as well:

WIP_German_M109_XVI.jpg

Later I'll add all the easily breakable parts to this to finish it off.

Then, in order to participate in a small scale armor Group Build on the SoCal AMPS website and forums, I pulled out something that I've been wanting to work on for awhile. This is the MAN 5-ton truck used by the German Army. I already have the 7-ton and 10-ton MAN trucks, so this was needed to complete the set. I started out by building the chassis:

WIP_German_MAN_5-ton_Truck_I.jpg

Then I moved on to start the cab. I won't finish this entirely until I can get the interior painted and the windows mounted:

WIP_German_MAN_5-ton_Truck_II.jpg

Don't worry, that gear shift will be fixed.....

Later on I built the rear bed and then dry-fit the three assemblies together:

WIP_German_MAN_5-ton_Truck_III.jpg

This is gonna be one cool little truck.

Finally, that BMP-3 I got was also calling my name, despite the obscene amount of P/E inside the kit. So, I pulled it out and started the turret first:

WIP_Russian_BMP-3_Cage_Armor_I.jpg

That's as far as I got before it called for P/E parts to go on next. I wasn't ready to tackle P/E in the short amount of time I had at the IPMS OC Build Night. So, I moved on again. This time I started the lower hull since that was a fairly straightforward assembly:

WIP_Russian_BMP-3_Cage_Armor_II.jpg

I left the little sprue pieces in between the hatch openings to help support that rear plate. I think I will be opening all these hatches given the extent of the interior inside this thing.

That's as far as I got on that before Build Night ended. So, that is where I shall pick up again this coming week; God willing and the crick don't rise....

Thanks all for looking in, comments are welcome.  

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

In spite of the fatigue I've been fighting from my treatments, I did manage to get some things done both the day before my first treatment and the day after. Here it is so far....


I'll start with my aircraft and helicopters.

On the EH101 Merlin, I completed the painting of the interior. Now all I have to do is add the interior decals and glass in the windows and I can close this bird up:

WIP_Royal_Navy_EH-101_Merlin_VI.jpg

Next I worked on my Australian HAP Tigre. I masked the canopies for painting:

WIP_Australian_HAP_Tigre_III.jpg

That's when I noticed the gap in the top of the nose. So, I decided this was a good time to try that new Squadron putty:

WIP_Australian_HAP_Tigre_IVa.jpg

I slathered some on, trying to keep it over the gap as much as possible. I was surprised that it came out looking almost clear:

WIP_Australian_HAP_Tigre_IVb.jpg

Later on, when I went back to sand it after it was dry, I saw that it had caused some slight pitting in the top of the nose. I was able to sand it all away, but this was unexpected. After reading the tube, it does contain Toluene which does melt plastic a bit. So, this will take some getting used to for me. It also dries clear so that; even though it appears that I still have a gap, there is none there. I forgot to take a pic of the nose after all this. I did move on and add most of the final detail bits to this so it is almost ready for paint:

WIP_Australian_HAP_Tigre_V.jpg

WIP_Australian_HAP_Tigre_VI.jpg

Moving on, I spent more time on the A-10, trying to bring this over the finish line. I didn't quite make it but I came close. Here's the progress I made on that so far.

First off, I shot a dullcoat over this model:

A-10C_Thunderbolt_II_SPAM_Review_XVI.jpg

After that dried, I removed the masking from the canopy:

A-10C_Thunderbolt_II_SPAM_Review_XVIII.j

There were a few areas I needed to touch up, which I did later on.

After getting the canopy removed, it was time to install the landing gear and gear doors:

A-10C_Thunderbolt_II_SPAM_Review_XVII.jp

There was a lot of touch up needed here too since I forgot to paint the exterior of the doors. Oh well, I got them after I installed them here.

Once they were sufficiently dry, I added all the ordinance that I could fit in place. I still have one pylon I need to figure out what to mount on but otherwise this bird is loaded for bear:

A-10C_Thunderbolt_II_SPAM_Review_XIX.jpg

You can see I also added the wheels to this. Now all I have to do is some more touch-ups on the weapons themselves.

This is by no means the final pic, but it gives you an idea of how this bird will look. I still have a lot of touch-ups to do before I can call it finished:

A-10C_Thunderbolt_II_SPAM_Review_XX.jpg

 


Moving on, I got a lot of small progress on a number of my armor and vehicles, as well as started one new one.

First off, I shot a basecoat of dark green on my Russian Zil 5 truck:

WIP_Russian_ZIS_5V_Truck_VII.jpg

After that dried, I painted the seats inside a leather color:

WIP_Russian_ZIS_5V_Truck_IX.jpg

Meanwhile, since I had the dark green out, I also basecoated the MAN 5-ton truck with this color:

WIP_German_MAN_5-ton_Truck_IV.jpg

I also dry-fit everything to see how it looks so far, as well as tried to plan how I'll paint the other two camo pattern colors:

WIP_German_MAN_5-ton_Truck_V.jpg

Later, I also painted the seats inside a leather color:

WIP_German_MAN_5-ton_Truck_VI.jpg

I still need to fix that gear shift lever....

And still, since I had that dark green out; I shot the German M-109:

WIP_German_M109_XVII.jpg

I also shot the hubs for the outer wheels:

WIP_German_M109_XIX.jpg

Now I can mask this one and start the second two colors for the camouflage pattern.

After all that, it was time to change colors. I pulled out an Olive Drab ANA color and shot the Churchill bridgelayer:

WIP_British_Churchill_Bridgelayer_XVII~0

I gave up on trying to make that operational again; the engineering is just a bit beyond me, especially in my fatigued state. I'm just gonna finish that as is. Next up, some color modulation, glosscoat and decals...

Finally, I started the little Roden Vauxhall ambulance that had been calling my name. First up was the delicate suspension:

WIP_British_Vauxhall_Ambulance_I.jpg

I broke about three of those parts trying to put them in place. That's actually pretty good since on the Vauxhall staff car (which has the same suspension) I broke seven pieces... I'm getting better!

Next was the main body of the car. This was fairly straightforward, but I was a bit put off by the 'blast shield' they had in front of the driver. I guess he's supposed to peer over it as he drives:

WIP_British_Vauxhall_Ambulance_II.jpg

Next I built the upper box area where the stretchers are carried:

WIP_British_Vauxhall_Ambulance_III.jpg

I want to paint the interior and the stretchers first before I close that up. Come to think of it; I wonder why I want to do that. Nothing will be seen once this is closed up. Hmmm.....

Anyway, here is this tiny model all dry fit together so far:

WIP_British_Vauxhall_Ambulance_IV.jpg

Later, since I had the Olive Drab ANA out, I shot the lower part of this car with it too:

WIP_British_Vauxhall_Ambulance_V.jpg

I should have waited here too until I had the fenders on and such. They need the same color. Doh!


Oh well, there is my latest progress so far. I don't know how much more I'll be able to get done after my treatment tomorrow so I may have to wait till next week to get more done. We'll see. Meanwhile, thanks for looking in, comments are welcome.

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Loving that A-10 Duke with so much hanging from it. It's amazing....your accomplishments with your "low battery" light flashing still surpasses my year long builds! Got ya on my prayer list for a complete recovery and at least enough energy to sit at the bench in the meantime bro! God bless!

 

GIL :cool:

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Thank you Gil! The prayers truly help. The A-10 is done; I just need to get some pics of it and get them posted. Meanwhile, I hope to get even more finished soon. Here's hoping to see you in Phoenix!

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Probably won't make Phoenix this year...going to England next week for one daughter's wedding and then another one is getting married in September in Philly. So, between those two "vacations" I'll have to skip the Nats. But I've already told the 3rd daughter that IF she gets married in 2019, it will NOT be on the weekend of the 'Nooga Nats!  😉

 

GIL :cool:

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Okay, you will be missed. Man, so many people I know are going to be skipping Phoenix. I was so hoping to see so many who won't be coming. Oh well, life goes on.

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Okay, here's an update showing the most recent work I got done during Hobby Day on Friday and Saturday.


Once again I'll start with some aircraft. I started one aircraft and continued a second one in hopes of getting them to the paint stage so I can paint them along with about seven others on the paint staging area. Since I wanted to build something simple, I pulled out my Italeri F-16 Fighting Falcon which will be made into a single-seat Italian Falcon. Naturally, I started with the (very!) basic  cockpit:

WIP_Italian_Falcon_I.jpg

Later I added all the parts to the underside; air intake, main gear bay parts etc.:

WIP_Italian_Falcon_II.jpg

I had also gone through and cemented all the halves of the ordinance and underwing stores to complete them and have them ready to hang under the wings when the time comes. Later, I added weight in the front of this plane as per the instructions and closed it all up. Adding the tail parts, wings and canopy has brought this to the paint stage as planned:

WIP_Italian_Falcon_III.jpg

WIP_Italian_Falcon_IV.jpg

There is a bit of sanding and filling I do need to do; as well as masking the canopy, but this is already right where I was hoping to get it. I'm going to have a lot of time to spray this and many other models over the next couple weeks as I follow Doc's orders. I'm just hoping I can get them all done.

Moving on, I pulled out the Japanese F-2A fighter that I'd assembled the cockpit for some time back. This time, I cemented the air intake into place, assembled the rear portion of the fuselage and added the vertical tail piece:

WIP_Italian_Falcon_IV.jpg

Later I added the cockpit and painted it. With some additional weight for this as well, it was ready to close up:

WIP_Japanese_F-2A_IV.jpg

After that was done, I added the canopy to this as well, closing it up for paint. All that is left again is a bit of sanding, filling and masking the canopy:

WIP_Japanese_F-2A_V.jpg

You may think that is the Italian F-16, but look closer: the main difference is in the canopy for the most part. These are two different aircraft.

I was also hoping to get further along on my EH-101 Merlin but I ran out of time.

 


Moving on to my armor, I started out by adding the fenders and running boards to the side of my ambulance. Then I closed the rear portion of the ambulance bed and added the driver's seat cushions to the front of the ambulance. Here it is all dry-fit together. I'm gonna paint some more before I glue this all together:

WIP_British_Vauxhall_Ambulance_VI.jpg

Next up, I decided to take a shot at the Modelcollect BMP-3, particularly the photo-etch bar armor.

This photo-etch is extremely difficult to assemble, especially the turret armor which is what I started with. These three pieces were finally glued together properly after 15 minutes of attempting to cement a fourth P/E piece to it to make a 'box'. I had to give that up since I couldn't get one side piece to glue in place without knocking the other one off:

WIP_Russian_BMP-3_Cage_Armor_III.jpg

Yes, that is a set of clamping tweezers holding that three-piece assembly. This is what I got done after a total of 34 minutes working on this bar armor for the turret:

WIP_Russian_BMP-3_Cage_Armor_IV.jpg

When I start this again, I think I'll invite my friend Jack (Daniels) to 'assist'.

After that, I'd had enough and so I set all that aside to set up fully. That's when I pulled out the rest of this model to add the easier P/E parts to it. I started with the turret, adding all the panels and doors:

WIP_Russian_BMP-3_Plastic_Work_I.jpg

Since this turret has an interior, I assembled all that to get it ready for interior paint:

WIP_Russian_BMP-3_Plastic_Work_II.jpg

Looks pretty good. Next I dry-fit this to see how it sits and how it will look:

WIP_Russian_BMP-3_Plastic_Work_III.jpg

Time to find out how these vehicles look inside.....

Moving on from there, I finished assembling the upper hull, adding the sides and front fenders to this:

WIP_Russian_BMP-3_Plastic_Work_IV.jpg

Then I dry-fit this to the lower hull to make sure it dries in the proper position so this top glues right. I also added more photo-etch to the upper hull, For fun, I also popped in the turret to see how it looks:

WIP_Russian_BMP-3_Plastic_Work_V.jpg

WIP_Russian_BMP-3_Plastic_Work_VI.jpg

You'll note I'm leaving the hatches open; I plan on posing them open to show off whatever interior can be seen when this is done. Yes, this lower section has a full interior as well. I popped off the top when it had set enough and started building the interior:

WIP_Russian_BMP-3_Plastic_Work_VII.jpg

It doesn't look like much, but with some additional paint and possibly some decals for the instrument panels (if I can find something small enough and suitable enough) this should start looking better. Still, not much of the interior can be seen when the whole thing is together as you can see here:

WIP_Russian_BMP-3_Plastic_Work_VIII.jpg

Well, that is about all I have for now. This week coming up might allow me to do a lot of spraying so hopefully I can get a lot done by next weekend. Stay tuned for more. Meanwhile, thanks for looking in, comments are always welcome!

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Well after only three days during which I was left alone during my recuperation; I was able to get a lot of progress done on a number of models. Warning: This is a long update so please have patience with me.

Starting once again with my aircraft, I was finally satisfied enough with the white on my Boeing that I shot a coat of gloss on it:

WIP_Boeing_737_XIVf.jpg

Now I just need to find the decals for this plane and get them added.

Next I decided to paint a base green color on the Australian HAP Tigre:

WIP_Australian_HAP_Tigre_VII.jpg

WIP_Australian_HAP_Tigre_IX.jpg

Later I will mask that and shoot the second camo color on it.

Moving on, I got a lot of progress on three of my jets. Two of them are the Italian jets I've been doing. Before I show them, I'll post some comparison pictures between the Italian F-16 and the Japanese F-2A so everyone can see the slight differences overall between the two aircraft:

WIP_Italian_Falcon_V.jpg

The Italian F-16 is on the left, the Japanese F-2A is on the right. Plan view above.

Profile view:

WIP_Italian_Falcon_Va.jpg

Upper angle view:

WIP_Italian_Falcon_Vb.jpg

Okay, now that I got that done; here is my latest progress on the Italian F-16...

First I masked off the canopy which was later trimmed down when it was dry:

WIP_Italian_Falcon_VI.jpg

Once that was done, I shot the underside with Light Ghost Grey. It is tough to see in these pics, but then I am shooting grey paint over grey-molded aircraft:

WIP_Italian_Falcon_VII.jpg

I also later shot the nose with Dark Gull Grey, and when all that was dry, I masked off the bottom and the nose:

WIP_Italian_Falcon_VIII.jpg

Next came the Dark Ghost Grey on the top and on the tail fin:

WIP_Italian_Falcon_IX~0.jpg

Again, very difficult to see. The Dark Ghost Grey is dull whereas the bare plastic is still shiny.

When that dried, I masked off the tail fin and front part of the upper fuselage:

WIP_Italian_Falcon_X.jpg

Then came the Gunship Grey over the remaining exposed plastic:

WIP_Italian_Falcon_XI.jpg

The next morning, I removed all the masking tape. Not bad if I do say so myself:

WIP_Italian_Falcon_XII.jpg

Later on, this got a coat of gloss to prepare it for decals:

WIP_Italian_Falcon_XIII.jpg


Now, since a couple of the colors were the same as the F-16; I also worked on the Italian Harrier jet alongside the Falcon. First came the canopy masking which was trimmed again after it dried:

WIP_Italian_Harrier_XIV.jpg

Next came the Light Ghost Grey on the underside. I had shot it right after tyhe Falcon. You'll have to trust me on that given how difficult it is to see.....

WIP_Italian_Harrier_XV.jpg

Later came the masking, just like on the Falcon:

WIP_Italian_Harrier_XVI.jpg

So, when I shot the Falcon with the Dark Ghost Grey, I also shot the topside and sides of this Harrier with the same color:

WIP_Italian_Harrier_XVII.jpg

Later, when the masking tape came off the Falcon, I also removed it from this Harrier:

WIP_Italian_Harrier_XVIII.jpg

There you can see the two colors on this plane. Finally, I shot a coat of gloss on this in preparation for decals:

WIP_Italian_Harrier_XIX.jpg

Next up, I added the canopy to the Japanese F-2A:

WIP_Japanese_F-2A_V~0.jpg

It fit surprisingly well. Naturally, I masked it off at the same time as I masked the Italian jets:

WIP_Japanese_F-2A_VI.jpg

Finally, when it came time to start painting this aircraft, I took a bit of artistic license on this plane. The instructions call for a dark green underneath the aircraft with a Navy Blue topside. Yet, on the box top photograph of the real aircraft; the underside appears to actually be an Intermediate Blue color. It probably was a trick of the light when that pic was taken, but I like the look of the blue on blue scheme better so I shot the underside of this plane with Intermediate Blue:

WIP_Japanese_F-2A_VII.jpg

Later I masked off a portion of the underside and the nose (which had already been painted a Dark Gull Grey when I painted the Falcon nose):

WIP_Japanese_F-2A_VIII.jpg

This wasn't masked completely because I will be coming back to the Intermediate Blue later to refine the pattern on the top of the plane. Meanwhile, I shot the Navy Blue color in an oversized pattern in the same splotch pattern indicated on the instructions:

WIP_Japanese_F-2A_IX.jpg

Later on I will be going back over the top, adding the Intermediate Blue to the areas between the Navy Blue splotches with my Sotar fine-tipped airbrush. Right now this is sitting aside waiting till I have time for that.

 


Well, that is all I have on my aircraft; time to check out my latest armor progress in the next post....

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And now for part two of my update; the armor models....

 

First up, I decided to try and progress on my Russian Zil-5 truck. I added the windshield and the side windows to the cab, along with the headlights:

WIP_Russian_ZIS_5V_Truck_X.jpg

From the looks of things, I didn't cut that front windscreen very well. Time to pull that out and replace it.

Moving on, I was searching through my stash for one box containing the instructions for another model I was working on and I 'stumbled' over this RAF Airfield Service set that I'd already started some time ago. So, it was time to move forward on these trucks. First off I painted the interiors and assembled the cabs. First came the Bedford truck:

WIP_RAF_Airfield_Set_V.jpg

The top is only dry-fit on there. Next came the Tilly:

WIP_RAF_Airfield_Set_VI.jpg

Then, since I made the Bedford into a fuel truck instead of a cargo truck; I had the cargo truck bed parts left over. Just for fun, I assembled the truck bed for the Bedford. Maybe I'll make it into a trailer or something.....

WIP_RAF_Airfield_Set_VII.jpg

Next I started work on the German MAN truck. I decided to try something different when painting this. I 'assembled' the cab, closing it up with Silly Putty to hold it together:

WIP_German_MAN_5-ton_Truck_VII.jpg

I then added all the remaining bits and bobs underneath the truck bed:

WIP_German_MAN_5-ton_Truck_VIII.jpg

Later, I added more Silly Putty to the cab and bed to cover the green that I wanted to remain green:

WIP_German_MAN_5-ton_Truck_IX.jpg

WIP_German_MAN_5-ton_Truck_IXa.jpg

Next I painted the second color, a NATO Black:

WIP_German_MAN_5-ton_Truck_X.jpg

While doing all that, I also masked off the German M-109 Paladin since it shares the same camo colors as the MAN truck:

WIP_German_M109_XX.jpg

WIP_German_M109_XXa.jpg

Later on, when I shot the NATO Black on the truck, I also shot this gun:

WIP_German_M109_XXI.jpg

After all this, I wanted to do something simple. I pulled out the Vauxhall ambulance and shot the finders and other sections with the Olive Drab ANA color:

WIP_British_Vauxhall_Ambulance_VII.jpg

Later I painted the rear area with the 'stone grey' they called for in the instructions. I used Dark Gull Grey, since I had it out to paint the noses of my two aircraft. Here it is dry-fit to the lower part of the ambulance:

WIP_British_Vauxhall_Ambulance_VIII.jpg

Later on, while looking for something else to move forward on; I found my German Br-58 Panzerlok and decided it was time to paint that. I started by painting the underside and wheels. I used an Oily Black on this as a first coat:

WIP_German_Br_57_Panzerlok_X.jpg

The lights were really washing this out. I then started painting the camouflage pattern on the side. I got this far before the fatigue really set in and I fell asleep:

WIP_German_Br_57_Panzerlok_XI.jpg

That pic was taken the following day.....

 

Okay, that completes the depiction of my marathon efforts on my hobby bench these past three or four days. I apologize for the lengthy post, but I'm thrilled to have gotten this much done.

Thanks all for looking in, comments are welcome.

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