Maddog Manufacturing 2025 Grand Re-Opening!

[Mark Deliduka]

Happy New Year! After a nice relaxing Holiday season for all my "elves", all of them are back as Maddog Manufacturing is reopening for 2025 in a pretty big way. So, if everyone is ready, we can board the trams and start the tour. We'll start with the Hangar as usual, showing first the projects that did not get finished last year.

Remember to keep hands and feet inside at all times as we head on into the Hangar.....

 

Here in this first bay we have this F15C Eagle just waiting for cockpit masking and paint:

Another one in the next bay is waiting on paint, this is the Italian MB326K Impala:

In the next bay is the Boeing 727, mostly ready for further assembly but the kit gave resin landing gear parts and about a third of them are missing. I'm still trying to find the missing parts or source some new landing gear to replace them:

In these next two bays are the two B-2 Stealth Bombers that I've been working on:

A ton more filling and sanding are necessary on those two!

In this next bay is a bagged kit I got so I decided to get started on it. This is the 1/72 scale Heller F-84G Thunderjet in French Markings. Cockpit and nose intake were first built:

The next thing would have been cementing everything inside the fuselage and closing it up, but I still need to add 2grams of weight, so that will wait till I find my supply of weights. Meanwhile I cemented the wings together at least:

And finally in this last booth we have one I started recently, it was packed in the Mystery Box we had on our last Distressed Kit Auction. This is the 1/72 scale Hasegawa Jake on a Catapult. I started with the catapult:

Later moved on to the engine:

The rest of it fell together quite well:

It's bigger than I expected, but it's gonna look good:

That completes the tour of the Hangar, now on to the Shipyards to see what's on the slipways....

 

Here in the Shipyards, our first slip contains the HMS Westminster frigate, mostly just waiting for the extensive photo etch to be applied:

Next to it are two of the Butler Class destroyer escorts that came two to a box. Decals are missing so I'll need to source numbers from my spares box. Meanwhile, I did what I could to paint them up. Here is the first attempt at paint:

While that was drying, we laid the keel for the second DE, getting it to the paint stage:

That one then got painted up, starting with the decks:

Once they were properly painted up, I added all the final detail parts:

In these next two bays, the keels were laid down for two of the four Fletcher Class destroyers and built up to the paint stage:

One is an early, the other a late variant. Again, I already have both a Fletcher and a Sullivans already built; I'll need to source numbers for additional ships in this class for these.

In the next bay I have the Marine LCAC under construction. The pilot house was completed, the last of the superstructure assemblies that needed to be done:

Here's a shot of this monster ready for paint:

That concludes this part of the tour of the Shipyards, now we see what's happening in the Motor Pool....

 

Here in the Motor Pool, there's a lot that's been happening. Production has ramped up quite a bit here. We will start this time with some of the newest projects started so that more can be worked on when some of the models closest to completion get done.

In this first bay we have an M3 White scout car that I got from the Distressed kit Auction in December. It was mostly built already but some parts still needed installation. However, I went ahead and added the wheels and then the decals:

Later the seats went in. I still have to source some driver and shotgun seats though:

In the next bay is another Canadian vehicle; this one is a fuel truck on a Chevy CWT chassis:

You can see in that pic, I started with the wrong chassis so I needed to remove everything and rebuild this on the correct chassis which is longer. You can see the better fit here:

Speaking of fuel trucks, this next bay has a German one under construction. First of course is the chassis:

Then I built up the fuel tank:

Next I started with the cab interior and got it ready for paint:

Here it is pretty much ready for paint and then final assembly:

The next bay has another German subject, a Schwimmwagen that I'd started some time ago. I finally got a camouflage pattern painted on it, then applied a gloss coat and decals:

Next to this is the SdKfz 9 with the crane that had been giving me so much trouble. The cab fenders just weren't sitting right, and the hood over the engine did not fit right. So, some disassembly was done and some 'gentle' persuasion was applied to correct the sit of the fenders:

Once that was done, the hood was reattached so it sits better as well. Then the tracks were added and a camouflage pattern was applied:

I will be so glad when that is done!

Moving on to the next bay we got started on a more simple project, this is the Heller AMX-13 light tank. I have two more of these in the stash somewhere; I got a second one to make Israeli and the third was going to lose it's turret to a Sherman to make the Egyptian modded Sherman.

The hull was completed first; the wheels will go on later:

Later the turret was done and mocked up on this:

That is an odd duck; it's about time I had one in my collection....

Another French subject was started in the next bay. It's one of my Secret Santa gifts, an ACE French VBL with the anti-tank Milan rockets. The lower hull was started, and that's about as far as I got on this:

In this next bay is a Japanese anti-ship missile truck, which makes sense for an Island nation. This is so cool. Assembly had already started last year, but this was more or less completed to the paint stage in the past week or so:

It's made so the missile tubes can be elevated:

Later on, a base coat and camouflage pattern was added:

Recently while going through the stash, I found a Dragon Jagdpanzer IV L70, so that got started ASAP when I found it. This is going to be made Syrian so that I'm that much closer to my goal of building all the WWII German equipment in Syrian service. Here it is in the next bay over all mocked up:

Another long term shelf queen was brought out to the next bay where some adjustments were made and the tracks added. This is my Sherman recovery vehicle (M35? TRV)  which has been sitting far too long. With additional parts being raided from other unbuildable UM Sherman kits, I'm getting this closer to being done:

In this next bay, I decided to start an IBG Italian Ro truck.I have two; one has a gun on the back and the other is a cargo truck. I opted to start the gun truck first, starting with the engine and gearbox(?):

There are 17 parts in the engine alone. Seventeen....parts:

Next the chassis had to be assembled practically from scratch. All the parts were provided, but they all needed to be built:

That's another 12 parts. And here they are all put together, sans engine.... so far:

After that I jumped ahead to assemble the gun for this:

In these last few bays are the main battle tanks I'd been working on last year. Didn't have the time to bring them over the finish line last year, but these will probably be the first ones for this year. This first bay has the British Challenger I Mk.3 already camouflaged:

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Later the gloss was added and decals applied. You can barely tell, but they are on there:

Next up is the Australian M1A1 Abrams, all camouflaged as well:

That one got the gloss and decal treatment too:

Finally, there's the Canadian Leopard 2A6M. It got camouflaged as well:

Gloss and decals followed, as with the other two:

Again, hard to see those decals. They get harder to see when the cage armor is applied. This is mocked up right now:

That will get dulled and weathered before the cage armor is more permanently applied. That completes the tour of the Motor Pool for now.

 

Oh, you thought we were done? Oh no, we are heading out now to the Space Port....

Out in our Space Port, we still have work being done on the Millennium Falcon. Recently the side docking bays were completed:

Later the quad gun mounts and seats were built up:

Here they are closed up:

This isn't the last. Out in our back lot we have a Blacksmith shop going up next to the Lumber Mill. The basic walls are up now:

Later the forge got started:

And finally, while going through the stash again; I found this Faller kit of a car dealership so I figured that was a fun project to add to the back lot here. I started with the showroom first:

The roof was then built and dry-fit on top so I can paint inside:

Just for fun, I added some of my civilian vehicles inside as show cars:

They won't be permanent; I was just having some fun.

Now that concludes this tour of Maddog Manufacturing on this Grand Opening day. Thank you all for taking the tour and remember: comments are always welcome.

 

[Jmarc]

SSSSSSSSSame to you and your family , may 2025 be the best for you and model more than ever ...lol!.. Great year beginning .. LOve the deno show room  !...

 

 Keep them coming just can get anought of your stuff !..GO,GO,GOOOOOOOOOOO

[Mark Deliduka]

Thank you Jean Marc! I have a lot coming down the pike so far. Stay tuned.

[Jmarc]

SSSSSSSSSSSSSSurely will !..but do not making me wait to long cause at my age ,I might fall into sleep ..lol

[Mark Deliduka]

Well, it's a new month and time for another short tour. This one will be focusing on the Motor Pool since that has been where almost all the work has been happening. The rest of the plant is being re-organized and therefore nothing else has been able to happen. So,  all aboard the trams and let's go see what's happening.

The first bay of the Motor Pool has the French AMX 13 tank which has now been painted:

After some more detail painting and a glosscoat this was then decaled:

Once we find a glue that will hold the tracks together, we'll add them and then weather and finish this tank.

In the next bay is another French vehicle that we've been working on.  This is the little VBL scout car sporting a Milan anti-tank missile launcher. When seen last, it had the basic chassis built up. Now we were able to add the suspension:

The interior and sides were then added:

After the interior was painted, the top was installed and some additional detail parts were cemented into place:

The Milan launcher was pretty delicate but fairly easy to build:

A base coat was then added:

Later the camouflage pattern and detail parts were painted and a gloss coat applied. Once dry, the decals were added:

That's all we have on that one, now to see what's in the next bay. Here is the German SdKfz 9 with the crane that has finally been rigged. I had to improvise since a vital part went missing ( as usual!) so this is how I rigged it:

Moving on from there we have another Shelf Queen that is finally progressed now that parts had been found. This is the M35 TRV after it finally got the crane parts:

Later this was painted a base olive drab:

Now to source some decals since they've disappeared and then we'll have this ready for finishing....finally!

In this next bay we have the Syrian Jagdpanzer IV that has been painted, glossed and decaled. The top is just fitted on:

Later we removed the top to add and paint the tracks. The hubs had been added to the wheels too:

Moving to the next bay, here is an Iranian Chieftain tank that i finally got around to starting. The basic hull was built first:

Then the bogies, wheels, and upper hull were added:

After that,  the turret was started:

That was as far as I got on that. I then restarted work on this Italian truck in the next bay again. The engine and some additional parts had been added to the chassis:

While that was drying, I started on the 100mm gun that sits in the back of this truck:

Later the cab was built up:

'
Sometime after that, there was a glue spill and this is the result:

That had me thinking I wasn't going to be able to finish this, but I decided to just say eff it and move on. The cab was installed and the hood (or bonnet for those across the Pond) was built up:

The truck bed was then built up:

I decided to dry fit the gun to see how it looks:

Once I was satisfied the bed had dried sufficiently, I added it to the chassis:

The gun was then installed in place:

'
Since I could not figure out how to make that damage look like something done in battle; I decided to try my hand at restoring this cab. It was a basic job that started with sanding off the blob and then trying to carve out a new door. I then shaved some sprue pieces to make the door lining, door handle and grab handle. It ain't perfect but from three feet away it should look good enough under paint:

Compare to the other side and you'll see how crude that work is:

But at least I'll be able to finish it now. Moving on, we have this next bay holding one of two HEMMTT tractor trailers; this first one is the Patriot truck. The chassis was started first:

I really like how Trumpeter did these chassis assemblies.

Engine, engine cover and additional chassis parts were then added:

Next we built the basic trailer where the Patriot launching system will sit:

Here they are mocked up so far:

In the next bay is the second HEMMT truck and trailer. Here is the chassis built up for that one:

The cab interior was built and then added to the chassis:

The remaining engine cover, platform and detail parts were then installed:

Next I built the AN/TPY radar trailer; it went so fast and easy that I forgot to take pics. Here you can see it as it's mocked up with the tractor chassis:

Finally, in this last bay, we returned to the P.1000 Ratte. The tracks had been giving me fits trying to get them to stay on and stay tight. I also realized they did not give me enough links to complete all six tracks. So, I went to work gluing on the track runs as tight as I could make them which was a towering effort all it's own. I finally, (or so I thought) got one side done:

I then completed the other side, and added the top hull to the lower one to see how it looked:

Note the soldier on the top to denote scale. The tracks were on, but later when I transported this home to paint, several links came loose.

Meanwhile, here's a couple pics to show how this 1/72 scale monstrosity looks next to a 1/72 scale German Fuel Truck.... and the soldier on top as well:

Definitely gonna need a whole lot more fuel trucks!

That's the tour of the Motor Pool for now, as we swing back around through the back lot, you'll see what we also started an HO scale gazebo for a Central Park train layout. First the base was done:

Then the roof was built, and the light that was included was added to the center of the roof:

Here it is all mocked up, ready for paint:

 

And that concludes the latest tour of Maddog Manufacturing. Thank you all for stopping in and taking the tour. Comments are always welcome.

 

[Mark Deliduka]

Here's another short tour of the Motor Pool, since we managed to only get a few things done this past week.

In the first bay we started a new project it's another IBG Chevy CWT truck. This one will be an RAF truck. The cab was built first:

Next the Chassis...

Finally the rear bed was built and went so fast, I didn't get progress pics. Here's the whole truck fully built and ready for paint:

In the next bay is the Iranian Chieftain. It got all the detail parts added to the rear hull:

The troublesome Italian 3Ro is in the next bay sporting it's camouflage paint:

After gloss coating it for decals, I realized the wheel hubs hadn't been painted, so I got them painted:

Then while looking at the instructions, I realized that four racks needed to be made for Jerry cans. Naturally they were photo etch:

Those will be painted and filled with the cans before installation. Then we'll get the decals on it.

Finally in this last bay, I got the patriot TEL completed and added to the trailer:

That is now ready for paint. That's it for the Motor Pool, as I mentioned, its a short tour. Still, we can check out the progress of the Gazebo on the back lot.

It got painted overall, and the deck and stairs got a wash of dark brown:

You can see I gave the railings some top rails of mahogany. The roof got painted next; it'll get a wash and drybrush treatment soon:

Naturally the underside of the roof needed painting too. I gave it mahogany joists and the slated roof got the same pant and wash as the main deck:

A few more touchups and effects and this will be done.

Thank you all for looking in and taking the tour. Comments are always welcome.

 

[Jmarc]

VVVVVVVVVVVnice as usual , I have enjoy the tour and will come back for sure ... Keep it up !.. GO,GO,GOOOOOOOOOOO

[Mark Deliduka]

Thank you Jean Marc! I will.

[Jmarc]

On 2/16/2025 at 4:24 PM, Mark Deliduka said:

Thank you Jean Marc! I will.

NO.NOÉÉ I thank you for the intertainment and motivation !.. 

GO,GO,GOOOOOO

[Mark Deliduka]

Here's a small update for this month, I haven't gotten much done due to my Hobby Room being in full upheaval as I try again to clear out old stuff and reorganize.

All this is once again all armor and vehicles. So here we go.....

First is my Patriot system that got a basecoat of green:

Then my HEMMTT with the radar trailer also got a basecoat, this time in Tan:

It's kind of hard to tell, but the color is consistent. Then I got started on a couple new models. First is the Armory Lance missile. I only got as far as this when I had to stop due to frustration with very tiny pieces. The very first piece I clipped from the sprue promptly fell on the floor and disappeared!! This is going to be a long tough fight:

I then moved on to something else; a model I've had for decades and decided it was finally time to build it. This is the Pegasus Hobbies German Maus. I started with the wheels, but only got them on the bogies so I didn't take any pics of that, The first pic here shows the work I did on the upper hull:

Then I built the turret:

And now it's starting to look like the rolling pillbox that it is:

Afterward, I got started on the THAAD. Here is the ever-familiar HEMMTT chassis:

I got the rest of it built up afterward:

While that was drying, I built up the missile tubes on the TEL:

Then I mocked everything up and shot the basecoat of tan on this too:

Finally, the last model I started was one I'd been putting off since it's a Tiger Model kit. They have outstanding detail, but the fit and size of several tiny pieces; along with vague instructions, make this beast a, real bear to build. This is the MRAP that I started by building the chassis first:

I then built the driver's cabin interior, sans steering wheel; they always pop off and disappear as I make my effort to close the cab:

The rear has a bit of an interior as well, so I might just be building this with the rear ramp down:

I then added the side walls to the whole thing:

It's not a bad interior; I might have to fill it out with a bit of stowage. Not much mind you; just enough to make it look a little busy in there:

Painting of the interior happened next, at least on the seats:

Finally, most of the hull parts were added to this to complete the bottom of it:

It doesn't show well here, but I painted the chassis and suspension; I should have turned this on it's side:

After some touch up and additions inside, this will be ready to close up.

That concludes this short tour, thank you for stopping in and as always, comments are welcome.

 

[Mark Deliduka]

Another month and another tour. This time we have some progress to show in the Shipyards so we'll head over there to see it before moving on to the Motor Pool. All aboard the trams and let's get this tour started....

Here in the shipyards we managed to get the base coat of grey on the LCAC. Later we'll get the center painted and then gloss for decals:

Moving on now to the Motor Pool, we have progress in this first bay with the Maus now ready for paint. All the bogies and tracks are installed and she's ready to go:

In the next bay we managed to complete the Lance missile and the launcher:

Later additional P/E and printed parts were added:

The missile was then painted to ready it for decals:

In the next bay, we got the decals applied to the HEMMTT with the radar trailer. They are all quite small so hard to see:

Later the additional detail parts were added, bringing this to the weathering stage:

Meanwhile in the next bay, the THAAD got decals and some detail parts as well, bringing this almost to the weathering stage:

In this next bay, the Patriot missile system got the base coat of green on it:

Later we installed the wheels, camouflaged it and then applied the decals. Detail parts to be added later:

Finally, in this last bay we got started on the Foreart HIMARS, starting with the chassis:

The chassis was later finished off and the driver's cab started:

And that completes another short tour of Maddog Manufacturing, thank you all for stopping in, comments are always welcome!

[ghodges]

Looking good Duke! Is the "pockmarking" on the surfaces of the Maus supposed to represent bullet hits and battle damage, or is it just indicative of rough/coarse metal plating being used in the manufacturing process?

 

Gil 

[Mark Deliduka]

Thank you Gil! I can't be sure what the pockmarking represents. This was replicated from the Kubinka Maus, so if they used it for target practice before adding it to the museum, then that could be a reason for it.

[Jmarc]

AAAAAAAAAs usual just love it ... keep them coming ..GO,GO,GOOOOOOOOOO

[Mark Deliduka]

Well, it's been over a month since I was able to open up for another tour. It's been a crazy, stressful and frustrating month so in order to prevent me blowing my brains out, I've taken every opportunity to work on my hobby. Our Hobby Day Mondays and Hobby Day weekends have been a tremendous help for me and has allowed me to make a ton of progress. This will be a good long tour, mostly in the Motor Pool since I'm rapidly closing in on my latest milestone and want to get to it as soon as possible. That being said, I've been indulging in a couple of projects in the Space Port, so we can start our tour there.

 

Here in the Space Port, I started a fun little project that a friend had gotten me; a 1/72 scale Flying saucer. It is a great little diversion to work on between vehicles. First, we built the interior that it came with. It has astronauts too! It's pretty basic, but it is a small saucer:

Later on the undercarriage went on:

She's a great little thing! And no, that is not paint; it is the bare plastic that the kit was molded in. I'll be spraying a metallic blue on that just for kicks:

The next thing in the Space Port we've been working on is the Millennium Falcon. In this shot you can see where we started on the engine deck. It's about a third done here:

The other areas that were installed underneath were also added before that pic was taken. The next shot here shows the entire upper hull completely done:

The gun tub and the radar dish are just dry fit here. All the landing gear legs were completed as well in preparation for working on the lower hull:

Finally, all the engine inserts were added to the rear section:

And that concludes the fun tour through the Space Port, now we'll start in the Motor Pool tour. We might have to break in the middle of it since there is so much to see.

 

Here in the Motor Pool, we'll start in this first bay with the continuation of the US Army M142 HIMARS by Foreart. The cab interior had been completed so a bit of color was added:

Once that was dry, I tried installing it inside the cab. It fought me on that:

And this is supposed to be the best rendition of this subject in 1/72 scale! Finally, some "gentle" persuasion convinced it to go together correctly:

The rest of the assembly went well on the chassis:

The launch cradle was then assembled and was fairly easy to do:

The launch tubes however were not a satisfactory fit:

It all eventually got sanded smooth and put together. However, again this model was a disappointment: No provision was made for the launch cradle to elevate and lower; you have to pick one position or the other. I'm working on a way to make that happen. Meanwhile, I decided to start the Dragon HIMARS which was panned because Dragon molded the windows closed and gave no interior. Well, I decided that wasn't acceptable. I drilled out then cut out the windows on the cab:

Then I raided the copious spares box to find some reasonable facsimiles of the interior parts provided in the Foreart kit. Some chairs, an instrument panel, steering wheel and console parts modded to fit and we have an interior:

Granted, most of that will be barely visible once the cab closes and windows go in. I still painted it and once closed up it will look close enough to the Foreart interior from outside:

Chassis assembly was much easier and smoother that the Foreart kit and even a bit better detailed:

The beauty of this kit is they do provide a way to make the launch cradle raise and lower with these parts:

It didn't take long to get this fully assembled and the painted:

It shouldn't be too much longer on those two HIMARS....

One other Marine subject I started was a Pegasus Hobbies M-46 Patton tank. I started with the torsion bars first:

I then did the turret while those were drying so they would stay aligned:

Later the wheels and sprockets went on, followed by the tracks:

This beastie was ready for paint:

And so paint it got:

Now I thought I had Marine decals for this, but I don't so I'll have to get some ordered, so this one will be waiting a bit.

Moving on, I got started on a few models I found while clearing the storage unit, some because they were fast and easy, and others because they've been sitting on my shelf for far too long waiting to get started. One of the easy ones I started briefly is the Dragon LRDG truck with the 20mm cannon. I might have one of these built but if I do, I'll find a way to LRDG modify it. I first started with the chassis:

The cab was next:

And that's as far as I got with that. Mostly because of this next model. Talk about a long time Shelf Queen; I found this Churchill that I'd built when I was about ten or eleven. It looked like this when I found it:

Yes, really rough! So, I got to work fixing all the messes I made back then, filling gaps mostly:

Later it got repainted and even a bit of preliminary weathering. Now I need to search for some Canadian decals for this:

In the next bay is my other fast and fun project, an ancient ESCI kit of the German Opel Ambulance. I got this far before I remembered to take pics:

Now I know I already have one of these completed, so I decided to make this look a bit different. I painted the cab in a camouflage pattern and then painted the box a straight dark yellow. Kinda like the back of the truck got demolished, but the cab and engine were intact; so someone decided to take the box off the back of a broken down ambulance and fasten it to the truck hat had no bed:

Now I just need decals. BTW, the windows were filled in with Micro Crystal Clear window cement since this had no window clear parts.

Since we're looking at German subjects, this next bay has an IBG German Maultier halftrack. I decided to build this because the running gear for the tracked portion is supposed to be better and more sturdy that Roden's Maultier. So I started with the engine:

There's ten parts in that engine, and then the photo etch fan. The chassis was built next and the engine mounted:

The cab was a fast and easy assembly:

Here it is dry-fit on the chassis. It is gonna take some finagling to get that to fit:

The bed was then built up:

While that was drying, the tracked suspension parts were installed:

They are stronger than Roden, but still pretty delicate. The IBG instructions did not make that easy to build

Decided to dry fit everything again to see how tough this was going to be:

It's gonna be a nice looking model!  Later some preliminary paint went on:

Then the tracks were installed (they were link and length and very, very tiny! I'm stunned I didn't lose a single one! I did break two though...), more paint added and decals applied:

Not much longer on that one!

Another German  subject I started, once I found the box; is the early version of the SdKfz-9 halftrack with the crane. The one I built before was the Late version. Once again, started with the engine:

Followed by the chassis and roadwheels:

After that I'd had enough!

Moving on to the next bay, we have another punishing model; the IBG Lancia 3Ro cargo truck. Punishing because once again I had to assemble 17 parts into this tiny engine:

I then finished up the chassis and mounted the engine:

The truck cab was just as difficult as the previous one; and this one wasn't messed up by a glue spill:

The bed was a bit better, but those railings sticking up kept me on edge:

Because there was no way to paint and weather that when the upper grid went on, I went ahead and painted and weathered that ahead of time:

It's kinda hard to see in that pic, but it's there.

Moving on from there, all the next bays have Soviet/Russian subjects in them.Some are old PST kits I found, others are ones I've had for decades and decided it was time to get them built. Others, well.....

First up is this Russian M-20 Howitzer, an ancient PST kit. I assembled all the sub assemblies and I'm waiting till they dry sufficiently before putting the whole gun together:

Next is another old PST kit. I had already built the gun that came with this halftrack, so now it's time to build this Zis-42. It was fast; I got this far before I needed a break:

Later I painted this because I still have the color out after painting something else:

I'll get to the tracks later. And yeah, windows by Micro Crystal Clear....

Moving on to the next bay, we have another ancient model from a company called ZZ Models. I'd been sitting on this and two other kits from this company due to the resin and photo etch parts in them. Well, now it's time to build them. This first one is the Russian PRV-10 system, and the first thing yo do is build the resin box:

The radar is full on photo etch. I had to assemble that whole framework. The white blobs are Gator's Grip Glue that dried nice and clear:

Surprisingly enough, that flat part glued in very nicely on the framework:

Here it is propped up on the box so you get a general idea of where it goes:

Finally, I added the frame and then mounted the radar:

Now that that was all done, this is where this whole kit went off the rails. For the life of me, I could not get the crossbase off the pour block. It doesn't look like it much but two pieces broke off and flew when I tried cutting it off the block.  Therefore I decided that it doesn't matter how inaccurate this was gonna be, I was going to steal a base from my spares box, modify it as necessary so that I have a base that this sits on:

After that was built, I stuck a pin through two discs, cemented a ring on the other side so I have a way to attach the cab to the crossbase and still allow it to turn:

I glued the one side to the cab and later glued the base to this other disc:

It works:

In the next bay I started the Russian P-15 radar system. This one is truck mounted so I built the truck first, starting with the suspension and lower cab:

Next I assembled the resin cabin where the crew sits to monitor this system and dry mounted it on the chassis:

You can see where the rough casting made it necessary to fill it. These are extremely short-run kits! The radar dishes were built next on their frame mast:

Here it is propped against the cabin showing you a rough idea where it is supposed to go:

This is an even better demonstration of how it is supposed to look:

Later it all got mounted and a preliminary coat of paint was applied:

The dishes themselves have extensions in front, but the resin extension pieces could not be cut from the pour block without shattering them. Ask me how I know. Back to the sheet styrene to make the end pieces for the extensions:

Later those got mounted but I didn't get any pics. Now in this last bay, my final project is the Russian P-18 radar system. It is another truck mounted radar, and this one is NATO code named "Spoon Rest" and it's one of the two radar systems I need to complete my SA-2 SAM site. First I built the truck again starting with the chassis:

Later the cab was built up interior and out and painted, and the resin cabin was built, filled and sanded and the photo etch tower was built. Here is the tower dry mounted on the fully finished truck:

The radar for this is gonna be a real bear to build!

And that concludes our long and extensive tour of Maddog Manufacturing for this half of April. Stay tuned, more is coming. Thank you all for looking in comments are welcome!

 

 

 

[Jmarc]

LLLLLLLLLLLots of good stuff in this week report ..especialy the radars. Just love thos e.. Keep them coming ..GO,GO,GOOOOO 

[Mark Deliduka]

Well, it's May and I have a short tour to offer everyone.  All aboard the trams everyone!

Starting in the Motor Pool, we have some small progress done on the Iranian Chieftain. Using the pictured jig, we got the tracks assembled and installed:

In this next bay, we got the German Landwasserschlepper marked up with the decals:

Next to that is another German project, the SdKfz 9 Early version with the crane. This one got the engine and transmission installed:

In this next bay is an ACE kit of the British Forlite staff car. However, when I looked inside it had a paint scheme for a civilian car so that is what I decided to do. I got it all assembled to this point so far:

In this next bay is the Canadian Churchill. I didn't have the decals to make a specific tank so I winged it using the standard format for decals on Canadian Churchills to make this one look like a Canadian Churchill. It's done and incorrect, but this is how it's gonna stay:

Moving on to the next bay, we have the almost final assembly of the LRDG truck ready for paint:

Later we got the base paint down on the British LRDG truck:

More details were then painted. Note the machine gun in place of the 20mm cannon; I had lost the parts tree for the cannon, so I improvised:

In this next bay, I did some additional work on my Russian P-15 radar truck. A good friend told me that mesh was needed to be added to the radar dishes, so I found some that looked about right and went to work, adding it to the framework with Gator's Grip glue::

Here it is some hours later, all glued down and dried. This is how it's gonna look. I also had broken off the radar base from the truck and made it so the whole radar turns since that is how it's supposed to be:

Lastly in this next bay is the radar system for the P-18 radar truck. It took some doing and isn't lined up properly at all, but it is done:

Next will be some final additions and then assembly onto the truck. This radar will turn as well.

 

That's all for the Motor Pool, let's do a quick swing through the Shipyards....

In this first slip is the HMS Westminster, her hull is completely painted and now the photo etch details can be added:

In the next slip, the keel has been laid down for another British ship, the HMS Tiger:

Later the superstructure was added:

Finally in this last slip, the keel was laid for another ship. This one is the USS Alaska CB-1:

That's as far as I got on this. Thank you all for taking my tour and don't forget, comments are always welcome; thanks for looking in.

 

[ghodges]

Good looking progress Duke! 

 

Gil 

[Jmarc]

I agree. love your last report on mainly armour stuff .. just love the subjects soice.. Keep them coming , never anought !!!GO,GO,GOOOOO 

[Mark Deliduka]

Thank you Gil! I'm trying to keep things going....

 

Thank you Jean-Marc! Stay tuned, more is coming.

[Jmarc]

On 5/3/2025 at 4:46 PM, Mark Deliduka said:

Thank you Gil! I'm trying to keep things going....

 

Thank you Jean-Marc! Stay tuned, more is coming.

DEFINITELYYYYYYYYYYYYY !

[Mark Deliduka]

It's been awhile since I posted last due to a very brutal month of May for me, causing me to lose mojo and my drive to do anything. June has been slightly better which has allowed me to get a lot more done on my workbench again. I know many don't take my tours because of the length and slow load speeds; but today I have a long tour to try and catch everyone up who decides to join this tour. 

 

Trams are waiting, all aboard for those who wish to join.....

 

 

Our first stop is in the Motor Pool where my continued efforts to achieve my next milestone have been the focus of my work.

 

This first bay is a German Krupp Protze truck that I started from ICM. It was extremely delicate and required some finesse. First, the chassis and suspension parts were done:

 

 

The interior was added and attached to the chassis:

 

 

While that was drying, the bed was assembled:

 

 

Later everything was put together. This was starting to look like a truck:

 

 

Wheels and final details went on next:

 

 

Paint was applied next:

 

 

Afterward, decals were applied, bringing this truck very close to completion:

 

 

In the next bay I started a Hobby Boss armored train car, the panzertraegerwagen. Mostly all I did was build up the main car:

 

 

In the next bay over, I went back to another project, the SdKfz 9 with crane. The chassis had been mostly assembled, so the main body was started:

 

 

Once it was mostly completed, the body was installed on the chassis:

 

 

More details were added, and the engine closed in by the hood (or bonnet if you prefer):

 

 

Paint was applied next:

 

 

After adding the tracks, I built the crane and installed it. I then started the rigging:

 

 

Once that part of the rigging was done, more paint was added to bring this closer to the finish:

 

 

Moving, on; in this next bay we have the Iranian Chieftain that got additional details added:

 

 

Next is photo etch application....

 

In the next bay we have the final painting and detailing on the Russian P-18 Spoon Rest radar system:

 

 

I also made it so it will turn just like the real one:

 

 

In the next bay, I decided to start the PST ZIS-10 tractor Trailer since it's such a cool kit and rare in my scale. Firs was the chassis and suspension. PST is notorious for having the axle rods molded too short, so I pulled out some polystyrene rod to make the axles so the wheels were properly positioned and that the linkage connecting the transmission and differential would be the proper length:

 

 

 

It's almost a given that every PST truck needs this treatment...

 

Once that was done, the trailer was built up:

 

 

This truck was starting to look good:

 

 

I then started some painting on the tractor, and then added windows using the Micro Krystal Klear window cement since this did now come with clear acetate or parts:

 

 

After all that dried, the while thing got a coat of paint:

 

 

Moving on to the next bay, I had also started this Modelcollect tractor trailer towing a Tomahawk cruise missile launcher. Chassis and engine were first:

 

 

The rear parts of the tractor were added next:

 

 

While that was drying, I assembled the launch tubes:

 

 

Later I added all the panels for this and then built up the resat of the trailer to put it on:

 

 

As you can see it also lowers so I can position it in either launch or stowed position:

 

 

This is another long truck:

 

 

Next I added the windows and doors to the cab; and installed the cab interior to the chassis:

 

 

You can see I left the cab off to paint the interior and also to paint it separate to keep dullcoat from fogging the windows when I shot the rest of this. 

 

And then paint was applied. Due to delicate parts; I opted to freehand the camouflage with a brush:

 

 

Wheels were added, and the cab closed up, this one is close to being finished:

 

 

And the launcher still raises to the launch point:

 

 

And that concludes our tour of the Motor Pool; since no other work was done in the Hangar or Shipyards, we'll move on to the Spaceport...

 

 

 

Here in the Spaceport, a good amount of work got done. First though; I found this jun little kit in my stash and figured it had to be built:

 

 

It just needs paint now and some details and it'll be finished.

 

Speaking of Flying Saucers; in this next bay we got a lot of interior painting done. It still needs some touch ups, but overall it's close to done. Here's the four views of the interior:

 

 

 

 

 

Moving on to the next bay, we got the crew together, (sans Chewie who was out scrounging parts) for the Falcon, along with a few interested Stormtroopers:

 

 

Meanwhile the Falcon herself got the top and bottom hulls mated together:

 

 

Afterward, all the side detail was added all around:

 

 

 

Some of the crew decided to try out the cockpit seats:

 

 

All the final details are on this and she is now fully ready for paint:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And that concludes our latest tour of Maddog Manufacturing for this month. Thank you to all who took the tour, comments are welcome.

[Mark Deliduka]

And now for another short tour of the Motor Pool, showing some of the latest production we got done before the Fourth of July holiday....

 

All aboard!

 

 

In this first bay, we have the German SdKfz halftrack with the finished rigging on the crane. I tried so hard to make it all straight and conformed, but no such luck. At least I got it rigged and now I can finally add all the final detail parts to finish this off:

 

 

 

In the next bay we have the Italian Leopard now sporting it's "spots" or camouflage pattern:

 

 

Later the decals went on and this moved closer to the finish line:

 

 

Moving on to the next bay, we have the Iranian Chieftain now glossed for decals:

 

 

The decals were added, bringing this closer to the finish line:

 

 

Speaking of Iranian tanks, in this next bay I started another Iranian tank, this time an M60 Patton, since someone who won it in the Distressed Kit Auction gave it to me after the meeting. The hull and turret were started first of course:

 

 

Later, after adding grooves to the center of the wheels to make them look like paired wheels, (it is an ancient ESCI kit after all) I added them to the hull and started the tracks:

 

 

Later it got the base coat of paint:

 

 

Afterward, decals were added and detail painting happened:

 

 

That brings that one close to the finish line.

 

Moving on to the next bay we have another ancient ESCI kit, this one is the LKW 3-ton truck that has been sitting for awhile in the stash. Time to fix that. The cab was built first and painted inside:

 

 

The chassis was built fast and the the cab and bed were added to it:

 

 

Then came the final build up of the bed and the addition of detail parts:

 

 

The last of the painting was done; this one is looking like it will get finished soon too:

 

 

In this last bay, we have a new project barely started. It's an OT-62 APC. I realized I have one for my Egyptian Army, but I don't have a Russian one so now I'm plugging that hole in my collection. Chassis was started first:

 

 

And that is as far as we got on that one so far. 

 

 

 

That completes our tour of the Motor Pool for today. Have a happy Fourth of July and remember comments are always welcome. 

 

 

Thanks all for coming in!

 

 

 

 

 

[Jmarc]

WWWWWWWWWWWait for me.. I do not want to mist that ABERDEEN tour ...Well done again MARK....and looking forward for the next tour..GO,GO,GOOOOO

[Mark Deliduka]

Thank you Jean Marc! Hopefully a new tour soon!