My modeling resolution for 2009

General Discussion General Modeling Discussion
1

Ok, here’s the followup to my thread from yesterday, showing what I finished in 2008.

I have the following kits started, but halted, and sitting on the bench:

Hasegawa’s 1/700 USS Essex

I got this kit at AMPS in April, 2006, and started it that summer. I’ve worked on it, off and on, but it needs to get finished. I’m adding some extra detail, including a hangar deck, opening the roll doors, portholes, etc, correcting the catapults (the Essex had only 1, to port), and finishing her as she looked on her maiden combat tour, around March 1943.

2 Monogram TBF’s

I built this kit as a kid, and when I returned to modeling, as a nostalgia builder, I got a couple copies, and am applying the things I learned since the last time I built it. I’m finishing these as -1C’s as well. But I’ve let them sit.

2 Monogram P-40’s

Same with these kits. The P-40 is one of my all-time favorite aircraft, and I built this kit, back in the day. These two, I planned on finishing as Pearl Harbor defenders, or at least, in pre-war livery.

2 Monogram P-47’s

I’m disappointed in myself that I didn’t finish these sooner. My friend Brian Spruyt won these in our raffle at Delaware Valley Scale Modelers, and gave them to me, since he built armor. I was going to finish them and give them back to him. Two months later, he had a heart attack as a complication from diabetes, and passed away. Now I’m sure he’s watching me and getting ready to smack me upside the head for letting them sit half-finished for so long.

Aurora SBC-3

Another nostalgia build. This was to be an exercise in sanding and rescribing. All the idiot marks are gone, and some lines rescribed, but I stopped working on this, when I couldn’t decide to use the completely false interior, or scratchbuild a more accurate version. But externally, not a bad kit, she cries out for finishing.

Monogram SBD

Another nostalgia build. What American kid who grew up in the '60s or ‘70s didn’t build this kit? I had a carrier deck display on my bookshelf as a kid, with all the Monogram USN planes. Seeing Jon Bius’ build (here and over at AgapeModels.com) inspired me to start, but I got distracted with other projects, so here it sits.

Monogram TBD

Another one I built back then, when I had learned a little more. Back then, it was a Midway TBD, this one will be a yellow wings bird. But it needs finishing.

Aurora F4B-4

Another kit from back in the day. I was enthusiastic to start this kit, because it’s a great scratchbuilding opportunity (no real cockpit detail, eg). But it will need some surgery to correct the spine. Somehow, Aurora molded the tail for the -4 with the spine for the -3.

Lindberg F11C

The grand old Lindberg Goshawk. Before Classic Airframes, this was the best version of this kit, despite the lack of cockpit detail, and the curious engineering for the tail feather and its half a motor. Another scratchbuilding project, that got bumped for other projects.

Pyro Hawker Fury

Another neat little kit, that got started, then lost out to other things.

AMT F4U

Here, I carried nostalgia too far. This is not really a good kit at all. The cockpit is completely wrong, it looks like it was designed for an X-wing, not for a Corsair. My plan for this one is to finish it as the prototype and give it to my buddy Doc, who likes Corsairs. I do, too, but I think I’ll get me the Monogram or Hasegawa versions, when this project is done.

OK, there it is. These are the projects that have gotten put on hold, for one reason or another. Boy, it sure looks like I like to do cockpits, engines and figures, doesn’t it? [;)]

My resolution for 2009 is to finish these kits. They deserve that, at least. I am not going to buy a new kit, nor start a fresh kit currently in my stash, until I finish these. It will be an exercise in discipline, and also, some of these are waiting for me to apply techniques or tools that I have but have not implemented (like an airbrush-have an old Paasche, and a compressor, but I have to put it all together and start messing around with it). It will be good for my modeling, in the long run, to jump these hurdles and move forward, if I want to call myself a modeler.

It helps belonging to a club, and this and other forums, because the community helps to encourage us and motivate each other. Also, I’m participating in a couple of group builds over at AgapeModels (2009 Dive- and Torpedo Bombers, Finish What You Started), that will help stay motivated and follow a schedule.

One other consideration: I will finish these, in addition to 1 kit in a planned seminar that we are holding in the DVSM. We are having a seminar, in which we all build the same kit, under instruction, if you will, of a master modeler, practicing techniques that we might not currently use, or improving ones we do, and then we’re entering them as a group in one of the competitions this summer. Right now, we’re talking about the Eduard 1/48 P-39. Since I have agreed to participate in that, I will carry that out, too.

This is tripling my output over 2008, but it isn’t impossible. And as I said, for me, I can’t call myself a modeler, with these kits sitting around me, mocking me for starting but not finishing.

So, there’s one resolution for 2009, Happy New Year, everyone!

Brad

2

I’m happy with procrastination and my “modeling” ADD.

Good luck though! I will give you this though; at least all yours are within the same period and mostly within the same cat. Unlike mine: 2x 120mm figs, 1x 1/35 modern dio, 1x 1/48 WWII bomber, and 1x 1/48 modern jet fighter! (That’s what I mean by “modeling” ADD!)

(maybe I’l take on your challenge next year … or maybe in '11 … or …)[;)]

3

Well, I’ll still be casting and painting toy soldiers, too. This just applies to plastic models.

And of course, I made the normal sort of personal improvement resolutions, too [:D]

4

Brad - I would like to invite you up to the “No More Excuses” GB. There are several of us who have “Shelf Sallies” taking up space . Wow all of these kits are Fantastic, [tup] I am a old kit builder myself. I will pull an old Airfix or Matchbox kit over the TamiG’s 9 out of 10 times. I am really impressed with your figure painting, I hope to be able to get that good someday.

Aurora kits rule [tup] I will be building the old Gotha Bomber for the Knights in the Sky II GB

Gotha

5

Thanks, Sean, I’ll check out the group build [:)]

I’m with you about Aurora. You probably remember, as I do, when they were just about the only one on the block who made some of these subjects. And if we noticed that something wasn’t quite accurate, there was no aftermarket resin or photoetch. We cracked open a radio and scavenged the wire and little bits out of it. Not to put down the aftermarket stuff, or contemporary kits, they’re fantastic. But I just like doing some of these things from scratch.

6

Well, here’s the first of the 12 kits, finished, a Monogram 1/48 TBF. I’ve finished her as a TBF-1C of VT-10 in the South Pacific, Fall 1942.

A view from the port side of the aircraft:

Colors are Tamiya Aircraft colors, Intermediate Blue over Intermediate Gray, with chalk pastels for weathering, especially to fade the upper surfaces, for the engine exhaust and for the wing gun blast smudges; and some washing for oil leak staining, and to pop the relief on the landing gear and wheels.

I added some interior detail, I hope you can see it well enough from these shots:

I added the radioman’s seat, in the stowed position, from some sheet styrene, with masking tape for the seat belt.

Here’s a shot of the middle cockpit:

and of the pilot’s office:

If you remember this kit from your childhood, you may remember that Monogram included a decal of a generic instrument panel, instead of a molded, detailed panel. I had the idea of making it a little more three dimensional, to dress it up. I made a photocopy of the decal, first, to use as a template. Then I cut a piece of clear plastic (the collar stiffener from a new dress shirt-never throw away anything!), and used the template as a guide to punch out the holes for the instruments. I painted that flat black. Then, I put the decal on a piece of styrene stock, cut to shape, and used white glue to attach the overlay. It looks a little better than the decal.

Here’s a shot of the aircraft from the starboard side:

I ran into a snag when installing the turret; it wouldn’t fit in the opening. The cockpit floor has a shelf at the back, and that shelf stuck out too far to allow the turret into place. I had to pry that shelf up a little, to get the turret in, but then, the canopy wouldn’t fit at that corner. At that point, I declared victory on this kit, and considered it a lesson learned for the second Monogram TBF I have on the bench, which is also ready to have the turret installed. I can remove that shelf, sand it down, then install the turret and then re-install the shelf.

Here is a view of this bird from above:

Despite the fit problems inherent to a kit with working features (which I disabled, by design), I enjoyed building this. I’m a nostalgia builder, and this really took me back to my early days. I had fun building it. I hope you enjoy seeing the results! And to Hammer-no aftermarket pieces touched this model (except the decals), all details came from the sprue box and old lamp cord!

Regards,

Brad

7

Herr Baron:

I realize I’m bringing back this thread from the un-dead.[:$]…but I was just sorting through my own AURORA SBC-3 kit ( nostalgia build ) deciding if building might now be feasible due to the on-line color profile paint schemes and the possibility of making my own decals.

Every so often, I do a Google image search for information on that aircraft but have yet to locate cockpit photos.

I’m curious if you have located a source for cockpit photos?[^o)]

8

Hey, Goose!

No, thanks for the bump! Regarding the SBC, I have the Squadron “In Action” number. I’m working pretty much from that. Do you have it? I can see about the photos.

9

And since it’s been bumped, I ought to give an update on these kits.

I finished the P-47 razorback, in 2009:

and I finished the SBD, as my entry in the first Monogram Mafia build right here at FSM. I finished it as an A-24:

I have revived the Essex build, and hope to finish it this year. I have the hangar deck roughed in:

and attended to cleaning up the flight deck somewhat:

The other kits are all still in progress [:)]

10

Well, that’s a bite in the bum! Apologies for the links rather than embedded images. That appears to be a function of the new version of Photobucket. I grabbed the same links I usually do.

11

Thanks !
I was unaware of a Squadron publication on that aircraft [:D][Y]

12

Hey, Goose, I dug out my copy last night, I’ll scan the interior photos. They’re few, unfortunately, but there are a couple b/w photos, plus a b/w line sketch of the rear gunner’s mount and turtledeck.

What’s really maddening is that there is no photo of the radioman/gunner’s seat. I think he had a pedestal seat, rather than a ring and bucket, as on the TBD. But there’s no pic in the Squadron book.

If there is an existing SBC anywhere in the world, this would be a nice subject for a “Detail & Scale” book.

It also occurs to me now to look up any builds of the Classic Airframes kit, to see if they’ve got pictures of the parts.

13

I also fixed the links to my images at Photobucket. Don’t know what happened before, but they were showing as links, rather than images.

14

Herr Baron,

i have used Google Images to call up anything relating to the SBC-3/4.
A Large Scale Models forum Airframes kit build did come up showing an interior but I don’t know what information the builder used to construct an interior.
Classic Airframes SBC Helldivers

http://forum.largescaleplanes.com/index.php?showtopic=31739

15

Thanks for the link, Goose! And I scanned some images last night, and uploaded them:

The control panels, both viewed from aft:

A shot of the starboard sidewall of the cockpit:

and a photo of the gunner with the machine gun deployed, and the sketch of the machine gun, stowed, with the turtledeck structure:

I can put these into a pdf if you’d like, and email them to you. Shoot me a pm with details, if you’d like.

Best regards,

Brad

16

Herr Baron,

Thanks for the photos of the interior.[:D][Y]

No need to convert them.

I’m able to download the photos and use the PDF995 converter to do that.

Just thinking about how nice it is that such information is available nowadays.

When I purchased and built my first AURORA SBC-3 kit in 1970, no such information was available .

Only the publication of Airpower and Wings magazines in 1971 began to make aircraft details available to me…

Thanks again !