Maddog Manufacturing Opening for 2026

[Mark Deliduka]

Well, it's June and wow, where does the time go? Time for another tour again so let's all board the trams and get ready for a long but hopefully interesting tour. I know these long tours can be trying, but I do have so much to show. 

First stop is the Hangar, where we have a few interesting things happening. In the first bay we started a German Glider of Eben Emael fame:

This thing had a bunch of photo etch and resin parts for the interior but since so very little could be seen of it, I left it out. This later got painted.

In the next bay, I started a kit I'd wanted in my collection for a very long time, and Israeli Vatour fighter bomber. This was a tough kit to work on, but I kept going because I wanted this plane. First all the fuselage and wings were assembled, sanded, filled, sanded and sanded:

Later, paint was applied, I chose the scheme for the one that shot down an Iraqi Hunter:

Decals were applied and the landing gear finally installed. This bird is practically done:

Moving on to the next bay, I finally got started on my "secret Santa" build, the Italian CH-47 Chinook. Got it built, assembled and started painting before I realized I hadn't documented anything before. Oh well, here it is sporting it's camouflage pattern:

In the next bay I found another started kit of a special Forces Chinook that I'd gotten in a Distressed Kit Auction, so I decided to move on with that one, adding the engines and other details:

Later this got a base coat of paint, a Testor's Model Master color called Helo Drab that I found in my paint stash:

These two are moving along well so far.

That concludes this tour of the Hangar, now on to the Motor Pool....

In the Motor Pool here, there's not much actually happening, all that got done so far was the start of the new German KF-51 Panther tank they started recently. The basic hull and suspension with tracks are all finished so far:

So, since there's nothing else to see, let's move on to the Shipyards where things have been real busy. There were a number of empty slips so we started laying keels down for a good number of destroyers and a light cruiser.

This first slip has the German Z-28 destroyer who's keel went down first:

Later all the details and weapons were added, bringing this to the paint stage:

Paint went on and this is ready for the final touch-up and details:

The next slip here has another German destroyer, the Z-31. Keel was laid and the superstructure then started:

Final superstructure was completed, along with a few detail parts and paint was applied:

Just a few more details and touch-ups to go on this.

Thee next slip has another German destroyer, the Z-43, whose keel went down fast:

The superstructure went up pretty well on this:

Finally paint and a few other details added before moving on to other ships:

While clearing out the Hobby Room and re-organizing the stash, I found an Airfix box labeled Famous Destroyers of WWII. It contained four complete kits of famous destroyers: The HMS Cambletown, HMS Cossack, HMS Hotspur, and a German Narvik-class destroyer, all in 1/600 scale. Well, I just had to start that set, so all four keels were laid down in the next four slips, starting with the HMS Cambletown, which I've wanted in my collection forever:

Later she got a base coat of paint on her decks, superstructure and hull:

While that was drying, the HMS Cossack went down in the next slip:

This too got the base coat on decks, superstructure and hull:

The next slip saw the HMS Hotspur go down:

Which also got the same base painting:

Finally in the last slip, the German Narvik destroyer went down:

Once again, base painting was done:

Finally in this last slip, the keel was laid down on another old kit I'd been wanting to build, the USS Springfield guided missile cruiser. This is an old Renwal re-popped by Revel and I couldn't wait to get started:

I kept the superstructure parts, the deck and the hull separate for painting and I'm happy with the results so far:

Finally in this last slip, the Japanese Shimokita  Assault carrier was started, as it is a Distressed kit that had no box:

Later the island was done:

This was then installed on the carrier and additional details were added:

This is another fast model so it should be done fairly soon. 

Well that concludes this tour, although I feel I'm forgetting some projects. I guess we'll see them in a later tour. Until then, thanks for all who stop in, comments are welcome always.

 

 

[Jmarc]

Yes SIR ...I agree time fly ...AH RIGHT..........lots of cool stuff you got there , especialy the ship section ..love it ... Keep them coming never have anought ... GO,GO,GOOOOOO

[Mark Deliduka]

I know it's only been a short time and not too many people have taken the last tour, but I managed to get so much more done, I'm ready to start another one. All who wish to join me, please board the trams and get ready for another busy tour.

Starting once again in the Hangar, we have the Italian CH-47 Chinook getting the canopy on and some additional touch up on the paint in this first bay:

In these next bays, we have a few freshly started projects going, starting with this Iraqi Eurocopter in this next bay. I finished the interior, but the pic didn't turn out, but these shots of the tail and the main rotor did:

In the next bay, we started a US Army Waco glider, starting with the fuselage with some interior. I didn't do much in the interior because it will barely be seen through the tiny windows:

Later the cockpit was done so I also decided to dry-fit the canopy to see how well it will fit. Pretty good so far:

Later the cockpit was painted up and the canopy glued in place:

Finally, everything was assembled except landing gear to make it ready for paint:

In the last bay here, I started a British Horsa Glider as well since if I have a Waco, I should have a Horsa too. With these last two completed, I'll have gliders from all four major combatants in Europe during WWII. First of course was the cockpit:

Picture's not the best, but you get the idea. Later that was painted and the canopy installed:

Before that, I had also assembled the wings and tail sections too:

Finally, everything was put together to prepare for paint:

That concludes the Hangar portion of our tour, now on to the Shipyards...

Here in the Shipyards, this first slip had more progress done on the USS Springfield, getting paint and final detail parts on:

Of course, some additional painting will be needed, but she's getting close to launch

In the next few slips, we have all our German destroyers under construction. I found another one I didn't know I had, the German Z-7 so I laid the keel for that and started building it up:

Later came paint, more detail parts and even some photo-etch:

That photo etch was a ridiculous exercise in frustration! It's far to thin and delicate to keep straight and I barely even got it to stay on the model! Nevertheless, I added some more, and touched up some additional parts and got this closer to being done:

The next slip has the German Z-28 which got more paint and some details:

Antenna masts and final details went on next, all that's left is additional touch up paint:

The next slip has the German Z-31, getting it's first coat of paint before additional parts go on:

Later all her weaponry, detail parts and masts went on and got painted for the most part:

Finally in this next slip is the German Z-43 getting it;s first coat of paint before details were added:

Later the details were added and some additional painting done. Like the others, this one is getting close:

Now we move onto the next slips that have my British destroyers in progress. First up, the HMS Cambletown getting painted and details added:

Followed by the HMS Hotspur in the next slip getting the same:

And in the next slip, the HMS Cossack got the same treatment:

These Airfix kits are pretty basic but they were the only opportunity to get these ships back in the day. I'm loving this getting them finished!

Finally in this last slip, I started this tiny Japanese MSDF ship that I found in the stash. I found it interesting in that the box art has the LST 4151 in the background that I'd previously finished! It went together very fast:

That concludes the tour of the Shipyards, now on to the Motor Pool.

Here in the Motor Pool things have picked up a bit, with a few new projects started while working on previously started models.

In the first bay here we have the German KF-51 Panther getting it's roadwheels installed:

The turret was then assembled and later added to the hull to see how it looks so far:

The open holes were where some 3-D printed parts were supposed to go but I'd lost them, until I opened another kit and found them inside there where I thought they belonged since it had 3-D printed parts too. They got installed next:

Next the tracks went on and base paint started:

This will be in the standard German three-tone green-brown-black pattern. No way am I doing that digital pattern! I don't even like how it looks! 

Moving on to the next bay, we got started on a US Army Bradley with BUSK armor on it. This is an amazing kit that went together very well. It even has an interior:

Since the rear hatch can be dropped, I'll be painting that up. Until then, I got to work on the upper hull, adding all the detail parts. It's just dry-fit on the lower hull right now:

The turret came next; my apologies for the poor photo. Still working out the kinks on my new camera:

Everything is looking great so far. Once the interior is painted, this is going to finish up fast:

I found an old Italeri kit that I didn't know I had, it's an Italian AB-40 that was converted to ride the rails. Basic assembly went fast:

Later all the detail parts were added. This beastie is ready for paint:

Last but not least, we have the US Army Buffalo A1 MPCV that I started. This was where the 3-D printed parts were for the Panther, since this also has 3-D printed parts. I had to question the kit makers; some of the printed parts were not necessary to print they could just as easily have been molded. I was also frustrated by the fact that they did not mold backup parts for the 3-D printed ones. You lose or break one beyond repair and you have to do without. Anyway, on to the progress, I got the basic interior, chassis and wheels done:

I then started painting the interior:

It looks a bit crude here, I'll be touching it up but not much will be seen though the windows anyway as you can see here with the top dry-fit into place:

Additional detail parts and some more painting were done next:

It's sure looking pretty interesting. I'm hoping to get more done soon. Meanwhile, in the back area, were the buildings are all worked on, we have a new one I started since the box was all torn up. It's a bombed out house that's currently ready for paint:

I hope you enjoyed the tour, I appreciate all those who stop in to see everything. Thank you all and remember comments are always welcome!

 

[Jmarc]

WWWWWWWWWait for me.....Just love this one also ...my favorute this time  are the WACO / HORSA.. you will need to start an C-47 to pull them in the air ...lol.. Thank youuuuuuuu and keep them coming , cause I alrerady have bought my ticket for the next one ...

 

GO,GO,GOOOOOOOOOOOO

[Mark Deliduka]

Thank you JeanMarc. LOL! I don't need to start a C-47; I have one hanging on my ceiling already waiting for them. Stay tuned, another tour coming soon.

[Jmarc]

9 hours ago, Mark Deliduka said:

Thank you JeanMarc. LOL! I don't need to start a C-47; I have one hanging on my ceiling already waiting for them. Stay tuned, another tour coming soon.

CCCCCCCCCOOL !...I definitly will and ready for it ..

[Mark Deliduka]

Today marks the culmination of another week of solid building, thus there's enough here for a new tour. So without further ado, anyone wishing to join this latest tour, feel free to board the trams and get ready for another exciting tour of the facilities. I must apologize for the quality of some of these pics; the auto-focus went out on my new camera and so I've been having to do things manually with not so successful results. I am using the best photos I was able to take.

As always, we start in the Hangar. Work has picked up a bit in here. In the first bay here we have a new kit I recently acquired from Brookhurst Hobby's collections tables at the back of the store. This is a little Australian Navy helicopter they've dubbed the "Squirrel". It's from Mach 2 so it's a very crude and difficult model to do. After some fighting, we got to this stage:

Naturally right after this, the tail rotor and one of the tail stabilizers went walkabout, making this impossible to finish unless and until these parts are found or suitable replacements installed

Later, despite the missing parts and to try to make it look better, it got it's base coat of grey. :

Moving on to the next bay we have the Iraqi Eurocopter finally assembled:

Later it got a base coat of paint but that will be shown later. In the next bay is a kit I got from the Distressed Kit Auction that was mostly started. So, I assembled the main fuselage and painted it, later adding things like the canopy, engines and other detail parts. Then I built up the main rotor  to get this:

Later the rest of the helicopter was painted:

In the next bay, the F-86 that had been languishing was finally painted in a camouflage pattern I chose because I hadn't ever built an Italian Sabre. Here it is all painted up:

Later this got landing gear and I'm planning on giving this one sidewinders too.

In the next bay, we have the C-46 that I'd gotten from a friend who'd purchased it painted and mostly unassembled from a thrift store. After some finagling and interior painting, this was finally assembled. Putty was then applied in places where gaps, steps and seams appeared. Given this is a Williams Brother's kit, there were a few...

In the next bay, my British Horsa glider got it's full paint work done:

Now to get decals and landing gear on this and some more detail painting done and it'll be finished,

Speaking of gliders, we have the US Army Waco glider also sporting it's complete paint work. This one will also just need landing gear and decals for completion:

 

That completes the tour of the Hangar, now on to the Shipyards....

In the Shipyards, only one model got attention, the USS Enterprise which had been languishing for three years while I searched for the assembled missing island to no avail. It had been sitting like this for all that time:

Finally I got fed up with the fruitless search and purchased a new kit of the same model:

Using that I was able to finally build and complete a full replacement for the island that is still missing:

Finally I can move forward on this model. Detail parts and some touchup painting are all that's needed besides the air wing (all of which I'm also taking from the new model) and this beastie will finally be done:

Moving on to the Motor Pool, things have been active here. In the first bay is the German KF-51 Panther that got the camouflage pattern on it:

Yes I went with the standard Bundeswehr pattern, it fits my German army more perfectly, and I hate the look of that digital camouflage so this was my choice. All that's needed are decals and weathering and it'll be done.

In the next bay, the US Army Buffalo got the full basecoat on it, although additional detail parts are needed on it:

They went on later. In the next bay, the M2A3 Bradley got the interior finished:

Later I'll add some Value Gear inside, once I find the container that has all of it. This then got all the basecoat on it, ready for final completion:

Next I worked on a couple simple models I got from Brookhurst during our SoCal AMPS Build Night. The first one in this bay is the ICM Russian gun truck. It was so fast and easy, I got all the way to this point before I finally took some pics:

The other fast and easy ICM kit was the cabin trailer that the instructions said could be an ambulance, repair shop or command post:

I decided to go with a repair shop since I didn't have any of those, so I added some factory furniture I got a decade ago:

Later that got painted. This also means I won't be cementing down the roof so this detail can be seen. 

 

And that concludes this tour of Maddog Manufacturing, thank you all who stopped in to tour and comment. Comments are always welcome.

[Jmarc]

 .. WAIT FOR ME ....WAIT FOR ME ...WAIT FOR ME ...

I already got my ticket ... WHOOOOOO , another  'TEAM ACTION' visit ..definitly the type I enjoy the most.. CHOPPER , FLYING MACHINES ,KITES ,PEDALO, GREEN WHEELERS.. It certainly was a good week on your side ...I'm goiing back to the pics with my KLEENEX boxe this time , I need another tour to satify my CRAVEEEEEEEE !

GO,GO,GOOOOOO.. never anought 

 

Jmarc  

 

[Mark Deliduka]

It's July now and Happy Birthday America and Happy Anniversary to me. It's time for another tour of Maddog Manufacturing so all aboard the trams to see what's happening now.

Our first stop is the Hangar which only had one project going this time, but it's a big one! I got started on the AN-225 transport, starting with assembling some of the wheels:

Granted that's about 1/5th of the wheels this beastie has, and each wheel consists of five parts. I'll be working through these gradually as this progresses. Next I started with the main landing gear bay. The first part was easy:

After that, every landing gear assembly needed to be built and installed one at a time. Each landing gear sub-assembly has 17 parts in each one and there are two types of main landing gear. Here's the first one installed into place:

Later I got the rest of this first type of landing gear installed. This is still only one-third of the total landing gear assemblies:

Once that was sufficiently dry, I installed two of the second type of landing gear to get them started: 

After that I got tired of dealing with all those tiny detail parts. So, I started on the engines, each of which had over twenty parts. I finally got all six of them finished and worked on their pylons next:

After some more sanding and finagling, I got all six engines mounted on their pylons:

After that I decided to start on the tail, cementing the two uprights to the horizontal part:

Note the Exacto knife in the corner to show how big this monster is...

After that, the instructions call for installing all these little posts in the wings to hold the engines and wing fillets. The posts came in these little rods that had to be cut into fourths to place in each hole. After drilling out the holes in the wings, I started by gluing the posts in place; then when they were dry, I cut off the top 3/4's and glued to the next holes, then cut them down again, lather, rinse, repeat until all the holes had posts:

Later, after sufficient setting time had passed, I added each engine pylon:

Later the wing fillets went on and as they all dried, I started the other wing with the posts:

Again, the engines and wing fillets then got glued on to this one and now both wings are completed:

Later on, I applied a thin coat of Gator's grip glue to each pylon and fillet to reinforce the CA glue and to fill any small gaps that remained. That is all drying now and waiting for paint.

That completes the Hangar portion of this tour, on to the Shipyards.

The Shipyards have been busier, several keels were laid down for new projects. The first of these is a Mahan-class destroyer:

Later after that was dry, the deck, hull and superstructure were painted:

Now we'll be able to get the detail parts all added. Meanwhile, another ship's keel was laid, this time a Liberty class cargo ship:

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Then the superstructure and some detail parts were added:

Later this was painted along with the destroyer:

One more keel was laid, this time for the USS Olympia. I had this in the stash for awhile, it's time to get it built:

The superstructure was then built and added to the hull later:

Once all that was dry, the lower hull was painted red and then masked when dry so the upper works could all be painted white later:

One last new project, the USS San Francisco was then laid down. I didn't get much further than this though:

One of the two current projects were worked on as well. The Japanese ship JMSDF Chikugo (mislabeled Chikuma) got a coat of paint on it:

More details will be added and detail painted and then decals will complete this little ship. Meanwhile, on the USS Enterprise, some touch up painting was done:

While that was drying, I worked on the air wing, getting them all built and painted. The the deck-edge details and other small assemblies were added and this bird farm is ready for decals and final details:

That completes this tour of the Shipyards, on to the Motor Pool which also had only one more project going. This is the Russian BAL-E coastal defense system truck, designed to take out ships offshore, The chassis was built first, of course:

Later the driver's cab, engine cover and command cabin were built and installed on the chassis:

Next, the missile tubes were built:

Once this was all assembled together, it got it's base coat of green:

It won't be much longer on that one.

That completes this tour of the facilities for now. Thank you to all who stopped in and commented, they are always welcome. 

We'll see you at the next tour.