Whatcha workin' on, and how's it going?

Presently I am working on a Regulus One launch diorama. I plan on scratch building almost all of the support equipment, launcher, fuel bowser, launch van and whatever else I remember as being part of the equipment used. Its slow going but I feel when I am done it will be something that is part of my past.

I'm slowly getting the decals put on the Monogram F-9F. Earlier this morning, I started painting the Hasegawa's 1/72 F-18C, F-18D and their OA-4 (doing the Marine series of aircraft in 1/72nd). Still have the Hasegawa 1/48 A-4C, ME-109E and a Monogram F-4J waiting their turn to be painted. The other day, the decals came in for the 1/72 and 1/48 EA-6B so I will toss a coin to see which scale Prowler I will start next? And theres a couple hundred more kits just waiting to be built. At my pace, I figure I will have them all built by the time I reach 130.

Too much! And it is taking too long....no time to talk, must work.

Hi folks,What am I building? Finishing up a Revell Germany T-6 trainer,working on 1/48 b-25 , detailing the parts of Tamiya Wildcat and interior of my 8th P-51,can you have too many mustang's? oh and I finally got my wing root joints right on my Monogram 1/48 P-40B after building one as per directions. Trust me install top wing panels after mounting the mainplane...and use some plastruct.

Just started Acadmeys 1/72 Storch, got about 15 others in the box inculding a Taymia Me-109 and a Hasegawa Mitchell, both in 1/72. The Mitchell is a great kit, I have one compleated and will be posting pics soon.

Anthony,
I'm pretty sure that somebody makes a set of photo-etch dive brakes for the Hasegawa SBD. Might be Verlinden; I'm not sure.

What I'm working on:
(At least for tonight) My thesis... and an Academy 1/48 F-86F Sabre. I'm writing the thesis tonight but i'm taking modeling/cigarette breaks. (Maybe more breaks than work, i think! )

How's it going:
The thesis is such a pain! I need to have this section by tomorrow afternoon and then the whole thing by friday 10:00am... There's still a ton of data to process.
The F-86 is coming along nicely. i tried my hand at "scratch building" (if you could call it that) by making some seat restraints for the ejection seat. I posted some pics here in the A/C forum in the F-86F thread.

Back to the thesis...

Mine is Hasegawa 1/48 SBD-4 Dauntless. Very detail cockpit with excellent fitting. But the dive flap holes are molded closed. I have to drill them all out(315 of them!!) I think the Accurate Miniature one is better. Anyone can give me some suggestion? Thanks.

Going to be starting a revell 109g (Italian markings). Also my big project (still doing research on the subject) a diorama featuring the main areas of Pearl Harbor. Ford Island, the sub pens, drydocks, 1010 dock, and the shops will all be included. Finally found some very detailed pictures. Been researching since 1991, have changed my mind on much of the process thousands of times. The 109g I will be starting, I hope, within the next two weeks.



joe

The airgroup for Trumpeter's USS Hornet. Three dozen 1/350 scale aircraft so far in various stages of completion. Some will have folded wings; all are awaiting painting.

I've got too many to list....

All that comes to mind is the 1/144 F-20 and F-1C kits I have...

I have a bunch that're on my table, and a good amount in their boxes

And one Revell F-18 Blue Angels I don't wanna bother with.....

Thanks, everyone, for contributing to this thread. It's motivating to read about others' projects. I've made some more progress on my F-4J. Last night I finished painting and marking the plane's missiles. Using a tip I picked up from Swanny, I used Pactra tape to make the colored bands on the Sparrows and Sidewinders. Next up: I want to paint the bombs and landing gear.

Regards,

-Drew

Hello Drew, and the gang. I'm currently working on a Revell/Monogram F-84E Thunderjet. I'm doing this one straight out of the box. Not sure when I'll get around to doing modificatoins of my own. So far I've completed the cockpit, and that's it. I wasn't able to find much to refer to on this one since there were so few of these made, but what I have found has been very helpful. The detailing on the cockpit isn't entirely accurate, but it looks pretty good to me.

This kit has two options; F-84E stateside version and an F-84G Korean War version (tons more of these were actually built). Not sure of which direction I'm going to go with it yet, but I'm kind of leaning towards the Korean War version. So, I guess I'd be working on an F-84G rather than an F-84E. Oh well, they are pretty much the same plane with a few modifications on the 'G' version. The decals on the Korean War version are bit more interesting lookng to me too.

I have another kit I'll be starting soon (I hope). A Revell/Monogram B-52 Stratofortress. That thing looks scary just sitting in the box. I'm sure once I get started on it it won't be that bad. It's just getting up the nerve to get after it. I'll probably start on it later this week. Not sure what to start on after that though. I'll probaby start on a tank and then maybe move on to a smaller plane, a much smaller plane.

That's all that I have going on right now.

Once again I bought something because it was interesting, not because everyone else has done it. This one is a Junker 288 "C" 1/72 scale made by Huma-Modell of Germany.
It sort of looks like Swanny's FW-189.

On the one hand I am having difficulty with paint color (it's all in RLM numbers as opposed to Testors) but then this thing never made it past the prototype stage, so the colors could be fudged without difficulty.

There is a review online for this so I am using info from that to help me out.
http://www.kitreview.com/reviews/ju288reviewbg_1.htm
For instance I've learned that the plastic is softer than I would find on an academy.

As it stands, I tried to come up with a "Black Green" and ended up with a black that "might" look green if you looked long enough. This is the cockpit mostly.

Gluing has so far been a learning experience. The anti-seam capilary method works some times, so I am getting better.

Monogram/Pro Modeller Ju87R-2 Stuka dive bomber. Just started painting the cockpit interior.

I find myself going back to so-called "completed" models and adding antenae and details, and lots of touch-ups. This site, in general, and this forum, in particular have been invaluable to me as I pursue perfection in this challenging hobby.

Over and out.

Hi Drew & the rest of the guys,
I'm working on my first Accurate Miniatures P-51, A-36 & P-51A - scale 1/48 ( just started ), an Airfix 1/72nd Sunderland - almost finishes painting it, I had to put frames on the turrets as the kit part had none, an old Revell 1/32 scale Zero, I spruced up the engine with plugwires and breather tubes, as well as the cockpit with detail added to the seats, floor, controls etc. and some figures in 1/16, 1/6 ( Dragon lady ), 1/35 diorama German 2 Cm Flak gun with bunker. Then there is the rest that I have to finish plus the commissions I working on. I'm lucky in the sense that I can spend at least five hours a day in my workshop without the wife starting to nag.

What am I working on? What am I not working on. I have too many kits in some state of assembly.
Airfix Hudson, Battle, Firefly
Matchbox F4D
Hasegawa F4U-1, F9F-8
Heller F4U-1A, P47N
Esci FJ2, F8U
AMT F4U-1, P36
Revell AG Priest
Revell PT109
Monogram UH-1C, Mosquito, P47 Razorback, P47 bubbletop, F7F
Tamiya M3 Grant, Pz II

Just about every one stops when it gets to seam filling and sanding scratch removal. It gets very boring and I look for something else to put together. A couple are finishing problems. What color are Battle wheelwells? The instructions don't say, and I haven't had much luck in research. Some others have totally unrealistic parts, and I haven't replaced those yet. And there are a ton more on the market to buy.

Tamiya 1/72 Mosquito FB MK VI. Dislocated my right index finger in a freak accident. Slowly getting better, but can't airbrush yet. Question: Tamiya lets you pose the side cockpit window open if you want to. On the real airplane, was this supported by a support arm? Any Mossie experts out there?

ATB

Pete L.

I agree Drew - I love reading about what people are working on and how they're solving problems, creating new techniques and such....

Right now I'm working on a Revell of Germany 1/72 Fairey Swordfish. I had done some research to add more detail to the cockpit (It's not detailed at all - just two "L"-shaped seats). I had grand plans -but in the end I got impatient and decided to just build it "as is" out of the box.

The fuselage is together and the wing halves are assembled. I now have to decide the order of the next few steps. (assemble then paint - or vice versa) Its tougher with a small - tight fitting biplane like this cuz there are some areas that will be a real pain to get at once parts have been assembled.

I also have to do some research into the colors. The color info given with the model isn't very good - especially since the paints they refer to aren't available locally. It might be an "adventure in mixing" - I already have so many shades of military grey, blue, and green in my paint stock - I should certainly be able to brew up a batch thats right.

If you still have brush strokes on the F4, you might want to wait till the future has had a chance to really set up and then give it a very light sanding with a very fine grit sand paper just to knock down the peaks a bit. Then apply the next coat of future.

Good luck !

So, I've been working on the Testors Skymaster, the Minicraft Bonanza, and the Tamiya Acura NSX. The Skymaster has been going all right, but the Bare Metal Foil on the Bonanza leaves a lot to be desired, and I haven't decided what to do about it yet...I accidentally put tiny scratches while burnishing the foil, and can't seen to remove them.

But I just read about the Tamiya Con in April, I've decided to enter my NSX, and my latest Tamiya Mercedes CLK GTR in the box stock category, since I live 45 minutes away. It will be my first show, and I'm excited!!! But unfortunately everything else has been shelved to meet the April deadline.

I stopped when that old refueling "fish-bone" decal desolved on me!! Arghh!!! Now, this project is out in the hangar until I get a replacement. Still haven't found one though.

Noel

I started the Revell/Frog Fairey Gannet last week, nice to see that Revell put a multi -language note in the box, apologising for the lack of detail/flash etc, due to the age of the moulds. It's good to be able to get such a rare kit. Anyway, At the moment I'm building cockpits, not too much detail as you can hardly see through the canopies!, but enough to know it's there. I've built wheel wells (when was the last time you built a kit with no wheel wells moulded in?). Next up will be the exhaust's.
Pete

Hasegawa P-51D Mustang. Going fairly well, at the moment. You can see the progress at: http://www.vairhead.com/nerd

I'm just coming off 3 weeks of vacation (started December 19th), and here's what I've managed to accomplish...

On December 19th I got a call asking for a 1/350 Fletcher commission by Christmas Day...I worked straight through the weekend and the customer picked it on the 22nd, Monday afternoon...that netted the missus her new leather sofa (just in time for the NFL playoffs).

I banged out a 1/48 Academy F4U-4 for an upcoming exhibit on the USS Intrepid, and I finally finished my 200mm 101st Airborne D-Day Figure from Mirage.

I am in the middle of the Hasegawa 109G-6, doing it as Hpt. Duilberg's III./JG27 aircraft...I masked and sprayed the canopy this evening, and she's ready for Future, will hopefully have it done by the weekend.

I'm about 75% of the way through a limited run 1/350 IJN Tone heavy cruiser, 90% through a 1/350 Arleigh Burke from Panda, and I've just opened the box of the Hasegawa Fw-190D-9, waiting on Squadron to deliver my Eagle-Cal decals so I can start on that one...also have another G-6 sitting here, I simply MUST do Hermann Graf's red nosed G-6...I know, I know, it's like the JV44 D-9s, everyone does one, but it's a pretty paint scheme nonetheless. As soon as Hasegawa retools their A-8/A-5 kit, I'll do Graf's 190 as well...

Ok, so I need a hobby...

Jeff

Just started a Tamiya 48th Beaufighter but also doing a "fast and furious" Dragon Typhoon Class submarine (350th) and the Revell 72nd PT 109 which was going to be a quick out of the box but has turned into a fully researched, modified rebuild! and lastly to show my versatility (or inability to stick with one thing!) a Tamiya Porsche 962 with a Studio 27 decal sheet from the 1987 JPSC.

I've got 5 in the works! Actually it's 2 of one bird and 3 of another. I'm working on an A and B version of Testor's SR-71 and two D,and an F version of Revellograms F-105. All in 1/48. They're just waiting for paint. Structurally they're done. Just paint, decals, and additon of the "add-ons" (i.e. ordnance, well doors, gear, etc).

I got a 1/48 tamiya p-51d, 1/48 tamiya mig-15 clear edition, trumpeter 1/24 p-51d, 1/350 tamiya enterprise, 1/48 revell-monogram f-100, and trumpeter 1/32 wildcat. hands are a little full, especially with my college classes starting monday. the trumpeter mustang is my main focus with the aircraft from my enterprise as something to do while my mustang dries.

Hey Drew,

I am working on an F4U-1D Corsair (which reminds me I have to post a request for some more help..)

I guess technically I am still working on a Soviet BMP-1 as well, but I have not touched it for a few weeks.

I am perhaps the slowest builder in the world! I average about one model a year, usually 'cos I've so many other things to do. Right now I'm working on a vacform and white metal kit by Dynavector of a De Havilland Sea Vixen. I decided to model the aircraft on the catapult about to launch. I managed to find a resin pilot looking to his right, where the Launch control should be, but at the moment I am stalled on reference for Flap detail, and I am going to have to scratch build the wheel brakes and undercarriage bays from photos. Like I've said before, if it was easy I wouldn't do it.