Photo Gallery

07/03/04

My Photo Gallery

♠1/72 Scale Curtis SC 1 Seahawk

Kit by Xotic 72 of Aviation Usk

From it's humble limited run beginnings, a little rough with lots of parting lines all around, but very good engraved panel lines that match up from one part to the next.

I added a few details to a limited interior. Most of the parts you see here are made up from styrene sheet or shapes cut to replicate aircraft type gear that was in most planes as I could not locate any reference material save for one photo from my library that I used to get the correct camo pattern and marking details.

The engine got cleaned up and I added ignition wires, a solder ignition wire harness and once it was all ready, I added the pushrod tubes.

Here's everything ready to get sealed up inside the fuselage. After the basic paint job was done I applied washes using lots of thinner and a little black paint. It helps to bring out recessed and embossed details.

After cleaning it up, adjusting parts for fit and making up extra parts that were over scale or missing, I gave it a tri color blue/intermediate blue/white paint job. The decals came from my collection saved up over the years to match the subject. It is neither of the kit modeled subjects, but a cruiser based spotter recon aircraft operated at the end of the war.

One of the little rubs that occur when making models is that parts will turn up missing on occasion. In this case the center section of the vacuformed canopy so carefully cut apart was no place to be found. I used a bit from a blow molded plastic package and heat formed a replacement part. After dipping all the clear parts in Future floor finish and painting them then a second dip, it is hard to really notice my substitution.

I also added the radio antenna wire and used drops of Elmer's White Glue to act as the insulators on the line of stretched sprue. I plan on making a Cruiser aft deck section from scratch to display it and perhaps a second SC 1 when I get to feeling a little less scale impaired.

♣1/16 Scale Luftwaffe Ace

Kits by Tamiya

This is Tamiya's Luftwaffe Ace Kit built up two ways, one as Adolph Galland, the other as an unnamed Luftwaffe Colonel. The kit does give you two distinct heads but you have to provide for an altered stance. Another plus with the kit is that they provide all the molded on uniform details that are underneath the "Mae West" life preserver. The kit goes together pretty well with just a little filling required here and there.

The hardest part of the conversion process was removing all the molded in details of the "Mae West" harness that are molded into the torso. Painting for both figures are Model Master Enamels for the uniforms and most details using Tamiya Flesh Acrylic for the faces. After the paint had dried I used Oil paints and turpentine washes and dry brushing to bring out the details on the facial features.

I have a wartime photo that shows Herr Galland with his squadron mates, one of the things I noticed was that one of the figures has a folded set of maps tucked into his flight boots. I used cigarette papers to act as my maps. I also added an arm from another 1/16 kit to alter my "Col." figure and gave him a stretched sprue pipe to hold in one hand

To make the stances a little different I cut the shorter figure off at the knees and slightly turned the torso in relation to the legs. Slightly turning the boots as they were applied gave him an inward leaning stance to Herr Galland's pose.

After removing all the molded in details from the second figure's torso for the "Mae West" I had to replace them with some heavy foil pieces when I gave him the vest to hold behind his back as he leans in to confer with his commander.

♥ 1/250 Scale Admirable Class Minesweeper

Scratchbuilt from Sheet Styrene

This whole project started as a free download from the Digital Navy Website. The original project was for a Cardstock paper model. While it does make a fine little paper model, I figured I could do a lot better with it in Styrene, my favorite medium. After considerable web surfing to find as much information and as many pictures as I could to help in my detailing and construction efforts I have gotten to this point.

There are well over 500 parts in and on her not counting the brass and copper for bits that were better made from metal. I had to take a little break from all this mayhem to let my eyes readjust from the fine work. All the remaining details are tiny parts that I will get to add before painting her. Once painted I have to rig it and there was a lot of rigging to one of these things. Then there is the matter of a crew for my vessel.

There is a lot of work involved in one of these types of models, it really makes me appreciate a good kit! As it is now this is as far as I have managed to get with it.

♦1/35 Scale M3A1 Stuart Light Tank

Kit by Academy

This kit was a dream to put together. Over the years I have managed to mangle Tamiya's old M3A1 Diesel version into just about every variant of this series of tanks. It has it's problems and if you wanted one of these in your collection it was the only way to go for years. Then along came Academy. First they gave us the basic M3 Honey kit with it's interior and premium tracks in rubber or as individual track links with end connectors. This is the second in the line, judging from the Sprues in the kit they are also planning on bringing out an M8 Howitzer Carrier and an M5 Model as well.

Although they give you a very good representation of the interior of the fighting compartment I couldn't resist adding to it with a few extra details and judicious painting. I was fortunate in finding the AFV Interiors Website, they show you just about everything that was in one of these.

This was the subject of a build along on the Scale Hobby Forum site and there you will find complete build ups with all the extras that were added to the kit. Most of these were from bits of styrene and copper.

I also added the plumbing for the spare fuel tanks on the rear deck as well as a typical Marine Corps load for these as they were used in the Pacific Campaigns on the islands.

As usual for me, I added a wash and dry brush session before adding the final coats of Flat Clear to seal everything up. The washes help to give depth to the little details that would ordinarily be lost in a monochromatic paint scheme like OD.

♠ 1/48 Scale A6M2 Rufe Floatplane

Kit by Tamiya

This is Tamiya's excellently engineered "Rufe" Floatplane, it flew off of the Pacific Islands, specially designed freighter ships, and several of the Imperial Navies' capital ships. The kit itself is probably the least difficult in in terms of fit and parts lineup of any I ever saw. I added cockpit details, engine details and used both of the figures supplied with it as they are really quite remarkable for the scale and cost of the kit.

I also added the antenna wire from stretched sprue and used Drops of Elmer's White Glue to replicate the insulators. As these dry clear you have to paint them white. The decals provided in the kit give you a number of painting and marking options between early and later war AC.

If you follow the kit instructions to add the weight to the nose of the float you don't have to use the clear plastic crutch provided for in the kit. Eventually mine is going to go on a catapult rail on a scratch built Freighter center section display. It will be glued firmly in place so I don't really want to add the extra weight, The monster is going to be heavy enough as is!

♣ 1/35 Scale Bishop Self Propelled Gun

Kit by Alan of Czechoslovakia

This is what the British Royal Tank Corps fielded as their first attempt at self propelled artillery in the second world war. Basically a Valentine tank chassis with a 25 pounder field piece set into a boxed armor plate cover. As it comes in the box it is the first armor kit I ever got with a really well detailed interior. The fighting compartment details are quite excellent, right down to the ammo racks and ammo. The figures are all from Tamiya's and Italeri's 8th Army Desert Troops figure sets modified to fit the scene. I scratch built the trailer around a left over optional rear end from Tamiya's 25 pounder kit. They give you one open and one closed.

I added a lot of extra gear to replicate one on the move in Sicily as they raced with Patton to try and be the first to cut off the Germans. The kit has a large parts count from the box due to the individual track links provided.

Since it was on the move the barrel of the 25 pounder was covered. Since the interior of the fighting compartment was so cramped, most of the crews gear was stowed on the outside. They also had limited storage for ammo so they drug a trailer.

My favorite part of the model is the pudgy Sergeant Major bare chested atop the fighting compartment, doing some necessary foot maintenance with a can of foot powder as the young Second Lieutenant works with map and compass to ensure that they don't get lost as they follow a long convoy as it snakes up the dusty road.

☻This is a sort of Montage of a few other kits in my collection that I have digital pics of.☻