dsteingass Posted May 3, 2012 Report Share Posted May 3, 2012 WOW! I can't tell you how much I am digging that armored train!! DId the kit come with any extras of the PE bitz? I would hate to lose or bend one of those awesome hinges. Is it possible that you could take a close-up shot of that hatch hinge next to a ruler or something for scale? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Deliduka Posted May 4, 2012 Author Report Share Posted May 4, 2012 Thanks Dave! I'm glad you like it. It is definitely an interesting build. I'll see if I can get a pic of those hinges for you. And no, so far they have not given any extras. I've had a few heart-stopping moments when I thought I'd lost one! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Deliduka Posted May 14, 2012 Author Report Share Posted May 14, 2012 Okay people! I have a nice looooong update here for you all. It's been a couple weeks and I've had some great Hobby Days to get things done. I apologize in advance for some of these pics. They were taken with my camera phone and it isn't always easy for me to get clear shots. Anyway, on with the Factory Tour. First off, I'll update you on my C-130A Hercules. As I'd mentioned before; I'd broken three propeller blades and lost one. Well, time to modify one from an old C-130 kit that was unbuildable due to warped parts. Here is the comparison of the two blades. One is obviously bigger and wider: So, I placed one on top of the other and marked the dimensions of the smaller one on the bigger one: Next I carved away the excess to get the basic shape of the blade: Next I sanded the blade so that it had the same contours and thickness of the original blade. This is the result: You can see how well the new blade matches the others here: After that, I repaired the other two broken blades, and then added the broken landing gear and one of the broken off landing gear doors. Here it is before I touched up all the paint and other details to finish it off: Moving right along, I was able to finish the sanding and filling for the F-18 Hornet. Looks good now. I also added the canopy to the cockpit as well: That Hornet is now ready for the canopy to be masked and for it to be painted. While doing all that, I finally got all the support beams on the mooring tower of my R-100 airship model. I painted the small tower windows and now this tower is finished. It just needs to be fastened to a base so it doesn't topple over when I put the R-100 on it: By the way, all the open windows in the base of the tower were 'glassed' in with Testor's clear parts cement and window maker. Now all I have to do is find the three little engine pods for the airship, get the tiny propellers on them, and then decal the thing and it'll be done. Moving on to armor, I did all this work at St. Crispin's Hobby Day Monday. First thing I did was paint Rommel's Car with a basecoat of grey: Later on, after that had dried for awhile; I finished detail painting the car and added the wheels to see if they'd all sit right: Looks good to me so far. I did notice that the front fender was put on wrong. I'll have to fix that. Next I made some progress on my bus. I got the interior built up and cemented to the chassis: I then decided to assemble the main body of the bus: The top of that bus is not attached. I'll cement that together later when I get the windows inside. Here's a dry-fit of the body on the chassis to see how this is going to look: That is so cool! I love this little model! Fast forward to Friday when I got to go in and help set up the Hall for the Saturday Hobby Day the night before. I had brought some things to work on that Saturday but after having gotten everything set up; I found I had some time to work on some things. Earlier that week, my friend Harmon and I had built my train display base. So I decided with the help of my friend Ken to try and determine my track and building layout for this base. Here is the preliminary layout for the tracks and station we came up with so far: The tracks will extend all the way to the end of the board. The main straight line on the one side will hold the Panzerzeug BP-44 armored train that is six and a half feet long. Well, on Saturday, since I was all fired up to do rail models, I decided to get started on a big project. Remember this monster? Well out she came and this was the first ever assembly I did on this model: That's eleven pieces on that assembly, and I had to make sixteen of them! This is what they were for; here's the first of the rail trucks assembled: I later fixed that gap issue on the side of that wheel truck. Some time later, I managed to finish the four inside trucks: Then I went to work on the four outer trucks: Now seeing that made me want to see just how big this bad boy really was. So, I pulled out the connector trucks and the main carriage parts and dry-fit them all together. Man this thing is gonna be HUGE! This is starting to get scary! Okay, moving along, the connector trucks that hold the wheeled trucks together needed some reinforcement braces underneath for the pegs that go into the wheeled trucks. So, I took one of those plastic DVD title covers and cut 32 little shapes from it after having measured out the size I needed. Sorry Harry Potter! Here's how they look underneath these support trucks: Finally after about an hour of tedious sanding and fitting of these braces, I got all four trucks done: Finally, I pulled out the photo etch screens they had in the kit and hit them with a grey primer. When dry, I re-bagged them until I was ready to use them again: To wrap this up, I also finished my three little Japanese tanks and my C-130A Hercules, but my batteries ran out so I couldn't take the pics. I'll see what I can find in this house and hopefully get them posted later on. Meanwhile, that's my progress for the last couple weeks. Enjoy the pics, and remember that comments are welcome. Thanks for looking in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dsteingass Posted May 14, 2012 Report Share Posted May 14, 2012 Wow!- That is a lot of PE brass mesh! That is an amazingly BIG kit for 1/72 scale too! Does it fit regular HO scale tracks?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Deliduka Posted May 16, 2012 Author Report Share Posted May 16, 2012 Wow!- That is a lot of PE brass mesh! That is an amazingly BIG kit for 1/72 scale too! Does it fit regular HO scale tracks?? Thanks Dave! Yeah, you'd be amazed at how much is in this kit! Yeah, she's huge, but this was a massive gun. I don't think it does fit regular HO tracks; unless they have a wide gauge HO/OO track. That might fit this, but I doubt it. And now for another small update here from Monday's Hobby Day. First off, I was told that the bus seats were the wrong color and should have been a wooden color. Easy fix: Then I moved on. I decided to brave the A-Stoff again, and this time I was able to get it assembled without any more bloodshed. I did stick my fingers to this about 12 times though with the extra thin CA glue. The good news: IT'S DONE!! Time to put paint on her: I may try and go back to fill in some of those gaps in the support beams later before I paint this. It all depends on how soon I wish to deal with CA again..... Moving right along. I decided to start what I thought would be some 'easy' models, but they were from ACE so they weren't as easy as I was hoping for. Still, I love building ACE kits because they have such great subjects and really look good when done. This one is a German heavy artillery piece whose designation escapes me right now.... I have a bunch more detail parts to add to that, but decided to let it dry a bit before I put them on. Meanwhile, I started another ACE gun; this one a Pak 43 88mm AT gun. I got as far as the barrel before bigger things started calling me: And they don't get no bigger than Dora here. I attached all the photo-etch screens to the connecting trucks (?) like this: I also took some time to sand the wheel trucks and try to remove the seams on the sides. It worked somewhat, but a bit of Mr. Surfacer 500 was needed. You can see it applied to the sides of the wheel trucks in these next pics. I had added some additional parts to the wheel trucks as well. Here they are, all four connector trucks done and sitting dry-fit on the wheel trucks: What the hey, I couldn't resist pulling out the big gun supports and dry fitting them to these trucks to check it out again. The braces I put underneath the connector trucks really made a big difference! Well that's about it for now. After all it is a small update. Remember, comments are welcome and thanks all for looking in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ewahl Posted May 16, 2012 Report Share Posted May 16, 2012 When you are ready to coat this monster with Future, you are going to need a 55-gallon drum of it so you can just dip the whole model into the Future. It's never going to fit into a spray booth. Ed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Deliduka Posted May 16, 2012 Author Report Share Posted May 16, 2012 LOL! Yeah, I hear you! Fortunately, I am able to do this in parts. Various assemblies will be painted and decaled separately and the whole thing put together. Still, you're right. I'm gonna have to look into that 55 gallon drum of Future, after getting my 55 gallon drum of Panzer dark grey. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dsteingass Posted May 17, 2012 Report Share Posted May 17, 2012 Heh..hanging a cheap roll of painter's plastic might be the safest bet ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Deliduka Posted May 18, 2012 Author Report Share Posted May 18, 2012 Good idea Dave! I have a ton of those; I think I could spare one. ;) :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Deliduka Posted May 23, 2012 Author Report Share Posted May 23, 2012 Okay, time to stun everyone into silence again. Here's a small update showing the work I got done before I got sick on Monday, as well as a little work I got done today while feeling a little better. I'm still fighting this, and I'm hoping to get this all posted before my meds kick back in again. Okay, I'll start with aircraft. Lots of small steps done here; it almost seems unworthy to post. But, I got this done and I'm gonna show it off. I'll start with the AN 12 Cub. I completed the final assemblies on this model and removed the masking from the clear parts. I also broke the forward landing gear about four times in the process. For the most part, all I have to do is paint the canopy frames on the nose and tail and this puppy is done.....except for the obvious of course. Maybe someday I'll be able to call that one done. Moving along, I also got the bottom of the F/A 18 Hornet painted in a flat gull grey. Later, I'll mask it again and paint the upper part in a darker grey before I clearcoat this for decals: Next I decided to glue the R-100's mooring tower to a wooden base that I will be 'landscaping' later. Here it is: I also cemented on two of the three engine nacelles to this airship. I'm hoping to find the third one or I'll have to find something of a similar shape to scratch another engine. Here it is upside down: Finally, while looking for something else; I found the missing clear parts to my Privateer that I'd started so many many months ago. These went missing when the stinking model took a dive off a nearby table shattering the two waist positions off the fuselage, right after I'd already glued it all together. Well, I figured I'd better get these installed now before I lose them again. Here they are all rebuilt: Okay, that takes care of my aircraft. Man it would be nice to finish some of these darn projects! I'm getting sick of them sitting on my workbench! Okay, moving right along to my armor; here are the things I got done during Hobby Day Monday before I got sick. Aside from getting a little sanding done on the Dora, I managed to get two of my other guns completed to the painting stage. Here's the first one, a German K-18 10cm artillery piece: Next is my Pak 43 88mm anti-tank gun: I also added the windows to Rommel's Car and clearcoated it for decals: And finally, I assembled the hood over the engine of the bus. This bus is real close to being done. I like this little guy. Now to get the Command version! Here it is all dry-fit together: That completes this week's work. As you can see, a lot of small stuff got done, but at least I'm that much closer to finishing some of these models. Remember, comments are welcome and I appreciate everyone stopping in to see these. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghodges Posted May 23, 2012 Report Share Posted May 23, 2012 Well hey! I just happened to almost get ONE done today....... Just waiting for the intake covers to dry..... Those who can....do! The rest of us just envy........ GIL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Deliduka Posted May 25, 2012 Author Report Share Posted May 25, 2012 LOL! I've seen your work Gil; it is always worth waiting for! I would have had one done today too, if it weren't for that stupid canopy! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Aldrich Posted May 25, 2012 Report Share Posted May 25, 2012 (edited) This is one of those FEW times I wish someone made a 1/72 scale item in 1/35! Every since Tom Gannon's halftrack books came out, I have wanted to do one of the two armed buses the IDF used! Arii makes a 1/32 Isuzu bus that looks really neat but it is riight hand drive. Would mean LOTS of work to make it doable! Can't wait to see yours finished. :Smile_sceptic: Edited May 25, 2012 by Mark Aldrich Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Deliduka Posted May 26, 2012 Author Report Share Posted May 26, 2012 Thanks Mark! It actually may be finished by some time this week! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Deliduka Posted May 29, 2012 Author Report Share Posted May 29, 2012 Well everyone, despite my being sick; I managed to get a little extra work done that I feel is worth posting. It's been slow going on my aircraft mostly; and an endurance run on my armor, but I'm seeing some good progress. Hopefully I'll be back in the saddle fully soon. Meanwhile, here's what I got done so far, starting with my aircraft. As I mentioned, it's been some slow going. First off, I got the two-tone grey painted on my Hornet. Now she's ready for clearcoat and decals, then adding the landing gear and weapons loadout: Next, I also assembled the cockpit and nose section of the Privateer and added it to the main fuselage. There's a prodigious amount of bullet fishing weights inside that nose to keep this from flopping back on it's tail: That's one heavy model! Now to get all those filled seams sanded down so I can add the wings and move on. Finally, I got tired of the Aardvark cluttering up my workbench so I made some more small progress on this one too. I assembled the air intakes on the sides and added the base of the burner cans to the rear of this plane. Soon I'll add the tail surfaces and then see how much weight I'll need in the nose of this beastie to keep it level. Fortunately, Hasegawa was nice enough to leave a hole in the front of the cockpit to add it! The wings are just dry-fit on there for appearances sake. Moving along to my armor; these next projects are for the first ever Group Build on the AMPS Forums. They are doing a T-34 Group Build on the Small Scale Forum on that site. Here's the first T-34 I started for this Group Build. It's a Dragon T-34 Beute from 1943 and here is where I started with it: Later I found another Dragon T-34 Beute, this time on a 1941 T-34. I started that as well this past Monday at Hobby Day. I had to drill out all the holes in the roadwheels for the one T-34 first, then I added all the roadwheels to the two lower hulls: Later; after having assembled the upper hull and turret for the 1941 T-34, I added a few other detail pieces to the 1943 T-34. Here is where they stand now: These are mostly waiting for the photo-etch parts to be added and a few other detail parts. Once that is done; these will be ready for paint. After drilling out all those wheels and doing all that assembly, I decided to take a break for awhile and sand down the seams on the Dora's main gun. That was relaxing enough to allow me to start a photo-etch marathon on my Russian armored train. Before I show the train, here's the Dora's gun next to an Exacto blade for comparison: Now, as I mentioned I spent a good couple hours applying the photo-etch hatches and other parts to the rest of the Russian train's turreted cars. That was tough, but I managed to get them pretty well assembled. Now all that's left to do is the final detail parts and the quad-Maxim AA gun for the tender and this train will be ready for paint. Well, that's about all the progress I have so far. I feel I could have done a lot more if I'd been feeling better, but I'm pleased with what I got done with so far. At least I'm that much closer to completing some of these! Thanks again everyone for looking in; as always, comments are welcome. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghodges Posted June 2, 2012 Report Share Posted June 2, 2012 Hmmm....why not just use a pool cue for that Dora barrel? GIL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Deliduka Posted June 8, 2012 Author Report Share Posted June 8, 2012 Hmmm....why not just use a pool cue for that Dora barrel? GIL Hmm, that's an idea. I'd hate to try and hollow that out though.... Well, it's another week and yet I have a very, very small update to show since most of my work this week was mostly sanding and filling and sanding and filling; mostly on my Dora rail gun's wheel trucks. Now they are smooth enough for a coat of paint, and I've even skipped ahead a bit to add more parts to the wheel truck assemblies to further complete them. So, in armor, the only progress I made was on my Russian armored train. I attached all the P/E to all the cars; then I added all the final detail parts, including the machine gun barrels. Here it is all ready for paint: And, here it is with the first coat of primer on it so that the paint will adhere to the P/E: Now, after all the aforementioned sanding and filling etc. with the Dora, I decided to pull out something simple to build. I had gotten a Hobby Boss 1/72 scale UH-1C Huey from the San Diego Model Show so out it came. First thing of course is the cockpit and cabin interior: I then painted it up after it had dried a bit: Here's a shot of the Instrument Panel dry-brushed with a bit of light gray: Just for kicks, I decided to dry-fit this interior assembly into the fuselage halves to see how it fit. Much better than I anticipated: Now to dip the clear parts in Future and install them so I can make that last pic permanent. Yeah, it was a slow week for me. This coming weekend I'll be picking up the pace. After all, I have 7 models all ready for paint, so my spray booth will be humming this weekend! Until then, thanks for looking in and remember that comments are always welcome. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Aldrich Posted June 8, 2012 Report Share Posted June 8, 2012 Plus, When was the last time you saw a TRUE pool cue? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Deliduka Posted June 12, 2012 Author Report Share Posted June 12, 2012 Mark, I have to admit it's been awhile since I've seen a pool cue. LOL! Okay, on to my latest progress.... Okay, here we are in another new week and I have some more progress to show from Monday's Hobby Day. I haven't had any time to paint anything at home, so I got started on a couple new subjects while trying to move ahead on others. The first of the new models I started was one of my UM Shermans. I tried starting both but the one kit is completely unbuildable due to the way the parts don't go together. They don't even match the numbers or shapes of the parts on the instruction sheet! The other one started out pretty well. I assembled the lower hull and the turret, while adding the engine deck and driver's hatches to the upper hull. The other model I started was another ACE gun; an 88mm anti-tank gun like the Pak 43. This one is on a swivel base and has been quite the challenge to build: Some parts on the instructions are very unclear so I've had to try and guess where parts go. It's coming along pretty well so far. Now for the models I've been working on. Here are the two T-34's I'm working on for the Small Scale Group Build on the AMPS Small Scale Forums. I got the photo-etch parts on them now. Time to get them ready for paint now: Later on, I got some more parts on the main part of the Dora. I wish I knew what these parts of the gun are called. I'll have to come up with something. I'll call these the main gun supports since the main gun sits between these two. I have some of the detail parts on so far: Then I noticed (with the help of a friend) the main gap that went around the inside where the inside panel went to close these off. It took a lot of Mr. Surfacer 500 to fill these in: I had gotten some sanding done on this but not enough yet. It'll take awhile. I'm actually quite surprised at how much filling and sanding I have to do! In between all this, I needed to take a break from armor, so I worked on the little Hobby Boss UH-1C Huey Hog. I got her mostly assembled now; all she needs is her two rotors and weapons systems: That's about all I have so far for today. I'm hoping to get some color on all of my models that are currently waiting for paint later today. I have quite a few en queue on my spraybooth! Okay, I hope you enjoyed seeing my latest work so far. Stay tuned for more and thanks for looking in. Comments are always welcome. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Deliduka Posted June 20, 2012 Author Report Share Posted June 20, 2012 Ok, here's a short update. I only managed to get some base coats painted and a few details done while starting another model for the Summer Break Group Build on the LEM. I'll start with the small scale armor. I have two artillery pieces that have been basecoated. Now to camouflage them: German Pak 43 88mm anti-tank gun: German K-18 heavy artillery: Next, I basecoated two T-34's I'm doing for a small scale armor group build on the AMPS site. Note that I'm still missing a sprue on the one tank that is holding the turret hatch and the hull machine gun sponson: Finally, I basecoated the A-Stoff trailer and painted the wheels. Now to detail this with washes, drybrushing and weathering. You can see the places that shattered when I finally got that tank removed to re-set it. I may try to fix it later: Finally, for the Summer Break Group Build on the LEM; I started one of my three models. This is the 1914 Dennis Fire Truck. This is after several hours of blissful building; I couldn't believe how much fun I was having building this old Airfix kit! The Ladders are actually going to extend on this! Okay, that's all I have for now. I'll keep you posted on more later when I can get something done. Thanks for looking in, comments are welcome. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Aldrich Posted June 20, 2012 Report Share Posted June 20, 2012 Duke, I don't see how you keep up? I have the Monster, P-40 a Verlinden turret and Verlinden Middle East War set I am working on and when I sit on the floor, I am forever looking for the parts! :Smile_sceptic: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghodges Posted June 21, 2012 Report Share Posted June 21, 2012 Rollin'- rollin'-rollin'.........keep them models rollin'....... GIL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Deliduka Posted June 23, 2012 Author Report Share Posted June 23, 2012 Thanks for the comments guys! I'm hoping to soon have some of these done. Mark, I mostly just replace everything back in the box before moving on to the next model. Helps a little bit except when the box decides to spit out certain pieces (like an An-12 Cub canopy!) and I can't finish what I started. Stay tuned, more to come... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Deliduka Posted July 20, 2012 Author Report Share Posted July 20, 2012 Wow, it's been a month and I've been working my tail off. In between times, I've tried to find a few hours to slip into my hobby room and get some progress done on some of these models that have been sitting on my workbench for far too long! Okay, today I've managed to find some time to finally get some pics and get them posted. I've also managed to complete three more models; two armor and one aircraft. You an see them in their respective Forums. Okay, I'll start with the aircraft I've been working on. These are all the large aircraft I've been working on to try and get rid of some of the big boxes that are taking up space in my hobby room. This first one is the C-160 Transall which has been detail painted and is now ready for decals. I may even get them on later tonight..... maybe. Here it is in the spray booth after being shot with Future: Next is a little Trumpeter helicopter I got that has finally gotten it's basecoat. Now to detail paint it and then apply the decals: This next one is my Privateer that I finally managed to get sanded down enough to make it look okay. I went ahead and installed the wings. They were a bear to try and line up for some reason. This model seems so much harder to build than it should be! Later I'll mask off all the clear parts and wheel wells and paint this beastie. Near the end, I'll fix all the stupid guns that I couldn't keep intact for some reason! Moving along to my last aircraft, I decaled the cockpit for the Valiant, and then added weight to the nose of this aircraft. First pic is the back of the 'pit, the second shows the instrument panel Here it is all test-fit together to see if it would sit on it's landing gear properly: Yes, I did have enough weight in the nose for this to sit right. Now time to move on.... Okay, in Armor I have managed to get the following work done. First is the Opel Bus I've been working on. I pulled the body off (it was only dry-fit on there) and shot a coat of Panzer dark grey over it. EPIC FAIL! I guess the paint was too old or something, so I'll be making another attempt later when I can get some more paint: Later; after sanding some of the roughness off, I decided to add some detail parts, as well as the Photo-etch luggage rack and ladder: Next is the German Neubau Fahrzeug No. 1 that finally got a basecoat on it. This one seems to have applied more smoothly. Now to camouflage it: This next one is my third ACE gun I started some time ago. This is an 88mm anti-tank gun that has now been basecoated: These next two are two models I started for fun. This one is an Airfix Panzer IV I got from a friend. I figured a quick and easy build; and I may even use it in my wargaming army: This one is a Doc Models Italian CV-35 tankette that I assembled in less than an hour and then added a basecoat on it: My apologies for the blurry pic; apparently it's too small for my camera to focus on! These last two are two Dragon models I started; the Churchill III and the Churchill IV. Nice little models and the suspension was a breeze to assemble! Churchill III: Churchill IV: Last but not least, here's a shot of my attempts to paint a couple of car models I'm working on. One is a raffle prize I won at a St. Crispin's Hobby Day. It is Revell's Rebel racer Corvette. I tried to shoot some red on the body. EPIC FAIL: The next one is the Denis Fire Truck I'm doing for the Summer Break Group Build on the LEM. Here is the attempt to shoot some red on it. Another EPIC FAIL: You may not be able to see it in these pics, but the paint went on so rough and coarse, I may as well have been painting sand paper! I had wiped down all the model parts, kept them clean and free of dust and was very careful when I shot the paint. To no avail; these will need to be sanded and/or stripped entirely and done again. This is why I don't do civilian vehicles..... Okay, that's my Update for now. Hopefully the next one won't take a month to do. Hopefully also, I'll have more finished models to post next time I have the time! Thanks all for looking in; comments are very welcome. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WildBill50 Posted July 20, 2012 Report Share Posted July 20, 2012 Hey Duke, I thought the Modeling Gods took you so the rest of us could sort of catch up. Glad to see you were just helping the handicap on the ratio of all of our builds to yours. How do you like that Valiant? V-Bombers are the bomb... Bill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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