As for the four kits depicted above of which is my first four stash kits, I'd like the opportunity to tell everyone about the importance of each kit as it was methodically picked specifically for a purpose!
(Tamiya 1/48 Vought F4U-1A Corsair) This will be Corsair number seven. Why did I purchase another Corsair again especially after I built six (Corsair #1 Testors 1/72, #2 Tamiya 1/32, #3 Revell 1/48, #4 Tamiya 1/32, #5 Academy 1/72, and #6 Testors 1/72) Corsairs already. First off it's a Tamiya! You know we all have made a Tamiya kit at some time or another. Second, I wanted to see the difference with the detailing between the Tamiya 1/32 and the 1/48. Third and finally, as you all know by now, it's my favorite number one aircraft of all time!
(Italeri 1/48 Arado Ar 196 A) My fourth seaplane being the Arado and having built in the past a Martin, Kingfisher, and a Catalina, will be fun and interesting. I always wanted to build a Revell of Germany Arado, but I've never built a kit from Italeri. So for me, this became an obvious choice. It's also labeled as "Brand New Tooling" and has the markings not only for a obvious Luftwaffe aircraft but you can build a Japanese or an Italian Arado. Pretty cool but I think I'll stick with the Luftwaffe version, although the Japanese markings looked cool on the Arado but so did the Italian version. Decisions decisions. LOL!
(Hasegawa 1/72 Mitsubishi J2M3 Raiden (Jack) Type 21) I bought this kit for several reasons, it was 50% off and it's a Hasegawa. Like the Italeri kit, I've never made a Hasegawa kit so this will be interesting. Another reason is that this is a two for one kit, there are two Raidens to build from the 302nd Flying Group and has markings for both groups from the 302 Group. I think it's pretty cool to have the opportunity two build the same kit twice.
(Tamiya 1/35 Kampfpanzer Leopard) Finally a tank! I know, I know it's not an aircraft but I needed to purchase this kit for one reason and one reason only! A few months ago, actually to put it correctly, it was during the 2015 winter season. Wow, how time flies, don't we all say and know that! LOL! I purchased from Hobby Lobby a AFV Weathering Kit by Vallejo #78.406. It's a weathering kit for green military armour vehicles. Why did I buy it? Like the chicken that crossed the road, because it was there! LOL!
The weathering kit comes with a total of 7 acrylic colors for $14.99 plus you need to apply the 40% ubiquitous Hobby Lobby discount. You've got to love that! It came in at approximately eight or nine bucks. Not bad for my first weathering kit experiment. If I mess it up, it's not like I spent a ton of money on it. The kit comes with three model colors 822, 985, and 976. Two model washes 514 and 512. Finally it has a pigment binder 233 and a pigment color powder 104. What I want most importantly on this build is for the guys in the armour thread to give me some kind of direction and tips on how I'm doing. Everyone on this forum are A+ members so this will not be an issue.
Last but not least, I'm looking to have a ton of fun building, in some cases for the first time kits that I specifically bought with Mrs. Toshi for reasons described above. I hope I get as many reads and replies as possible for my builds so that I can continue to learn from you all plus it'll be fun for all of us! I think I'm going to create a thread with this same information repeated since it's has such an interesting story behind all these builds! As always, thank you forum members from the bottom of my heart for following my builds and allowing me to be part of this fantastic community of great people!
Toshi