Helo;

There's three available in 1/72 scale, and an LCI in 1/76 from two manufacturers.  The 1/72 are Mach 2 (Armageddon), Airfix, and Pegasus.  The only one that I haven't built is the Mach 2 because of its price.  The Airfix is nice, low priced, and has respectable detail and nice crew figures.  The Pegasus unit is almost toylikle, nearly entirely snap together, but has decent enough detail, a water like base, and nice crew and infantry figures.  The LCI's are from Sgt's Mess (no assembly, just a single piece to clean up and then paint) and Milicast.  If I had to do it over, I'd go with the Milicast.  I think it was the same price as what I paid for the Sgt's Mess unit and it looks to be a much nicer shape and cast, as well as having nicer detail to it.

I've also got the Airfix LCM III, and built the Trumpeter LCM III.  I've got the Dragon/DML at home, it comes with infantry, crew, separate infantry weapons, different poses for them, and both the DML and Trumpeter kits come with frets of PE parts. 

Also at home is my Lindberg LSU.  It comes with a Pershing tank, and although it's intended for WWII it also served at Inchon and Wonsan.  I'm not going to motorize it...  The boxes SAY that it's 1/72 scale, but the tank works out to about 1/87 and the crew and boat measure to about 1/100 or so.  I'm still gonna throw it together for the build.

On an unrelated note:  I'm searching around for a display venue for my kits.  One possibility is the local VFW at Camp Casey.  It's an 'open' post, you don't have to be a member to drink or have fun there, but you ought to be with a member when you do.  A couple of the members have said it'd be nice to show them.  I'm also thinking of getting a shelf unit so that I can display them at home away from the fluffeh kitteh who likes to play a lot while I'm at work.

Have fun with those sea craft!  I have.

                         As to the airbrush issue. The fitting you have is reffered to as a barb fitting. The bare  hose is pushed onto this fitting and then clamped. Zip ties work well here.My German side is reflecting .Pardon me.

                                                  Greg"Detailfreak"Rowley 

Thank's for the landing craft info , Andy

I posted some in-box sprue pic's of my recently aquired Mach 2 LCT-6 landing craft back on page 126 .

I have the instructions stuck up on the wall above the workbench and I'm constantly looking at the build sequence diagrams .

I would really like to make a start on the LCT-6 but I have a lot of builds in the spraybooth awaiting painting , so I suppose the sensible thing to do is wait a little bit and finish the other stuff ..........

                        John .

I have continued with working on finishing some more armor builds ; Unlike the LVT-3 Amtrack which I started only recently and completed yesterday , these next finished builds were started during the first 6 months of the Korean War GB and I'm very happy to have finally finished some more 1/72 scale armor .

Two Jeeps from the Academy P-51D Korean War Mustang kits ;

Next is Italeri's M20 Armoured Utility Car ;

Here is Italeri's M7 Priest ;

Tomorrow I'll have Revells M16 Halftrack and the Airfix DUKW 353 ready to post and then the Revell Churchill AVRE Bridge Layer following on .

                                 John .

Can't wait to see that armour finished!  I've built both the Italeri and the Airfix DUKW, the Italeri is nicer detail, better fit, but the Airfix has the canvas cover.  I've got the Matchbox/Revell and the Nitto/Fujimi M-7's in the stash.  They might be next after the C-46.  I'm going to have one in deployed mode and put the canvas on the other and have it in transit.  Gonna be fun making hoops for the canvas and gluing the painted TP on.  Maybe I'll go with the camo gauze...?

On the C-46, I've got the flaps and gear on.  I went with the metal gear from Scale Aircraft Conversions (SAC) and I'm kinda disappointed with it.  For the price of $20 [USD] I got an exact replica of the plastic units from the kit, but cleaned up with no flash and made of metal.  The problem with shape and dimensions still exist, along with issues involving where the attachment points are and how well they're made.

For humour value, I'm going to include this link:

http://cgi.ebay.com/KMC-1-72-Boeing-727-200-Model-Kit-/330581039863?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4cf82a5af7

I'm sure that the auction has ended, but there's NO FREAKING WAY that the KMC 727 kit is worth over a thousand bucks US...  NO WAY!  What ever he's got in that pipe, he needs to stop bogarting it and pass the kuchy to the left hand side, Naw mean?

Hey draken:

With the latest economic report frm American Airlines, I'd bet you could buy a real AA 727 (now sold off or mothballed) for that price :-) ...

Question for the armor buffs - was the Sherman turret cast so it would have that pebbly look to it ?? ... I'm tellin' you guys, armor is quite a bit different than airplanes (yeah, so what else is new ?) ... m'thinks I'll stick with things that soar ... and you armor guys don't tell me that armor 'soars' ... only when donkeys fly, sez me :-) ... or maybe if a driver makes the wrong turn and heads over a cliff ? ...

Thanks,

pepper

PS  I posed my airbrush adapter question to the Airbrush group here and was rewarded with a bunch of great suggestions ... I've found, thanks to them, the correct adapter to hook up my new double action brush to my Paasche hose ... woo hoo and almost  ready to go ...

Now, I need to find some help with the teardown/cleaning sequence for a double action ... the manufacturer provides no 'manual' for any of their brushes andas  I've never even held one in my hand until this one showed up at my doorstep, I don't know where to start ... suggestions on that ??

pepper kay

Now, I need to find some help with the teardown/cleaning sequence for a double action ... the manufacturer provides no 'manual' for any of their brushes andas  I've never even held one in my hand until this one showed up at my doorstep, I don't know where to start ... suggestions on that ??

Pepper, be sure to check the link I posted below... it offers all information you need to clean.  I use it all the times when I first got my AB. 

deafpanzer

Pepper, be sure to check the link I posted below... it offers all information you need to clean.  I use it all the times when I first got my AB. 

Heya Andy:

I was just getting to that link and now that I have, Thank You, Thank You ...

I think maybe even an old duffer like me can understand and apply the instructions ...

After getting a good 'feel' for the brush, I'm going to try the features that make it so interesting, i.e., you can set both the air flow and the paint flow to achieve the results by locking the functions down with adjustment nuts ... hence, I can do the squiggly Luftwaffe camo  (or other such paint schemes) with predictable results and not having to hope that I pushed and pulled the exact same amount each time I sprayed ...

Thanks again,

pepper

PS  Mini review to follow after I've tried it out ...

John: Nice stuff but I love the jeeps, they must be tiny in 1/72nd scale.

Pepper: I think any cast part to a Sherman would have a rough texture to some extent. Check out Disaster Master's 'Reciple for Disaster' post over on the armour forum. He builds a M4 and goes into a great deal of detail on how and why he does what.

I normally just spray some thinner though my airbrush when I'm done painting. Then I put some more thinner on a cotton swab and wipe out the head and pull out the needle and wipe it off. Every month or so I soak the whole thing in a container of thinner and clean it out with a small brush I ordered from Paasche. Soaking may not be the best thing to do since mine leaks some and I'm afraid soaking it in thinner may have eaten away at the rubber gaskets. My two cents anyway- I'd go with DP's link before anything I say.

I'm almost done with the DUKW and M16 Halftrack , however I wanted to add some 1/72 figures to both vehicles using sone of those Imex and Esci soldiers ...

Imex suggest painting the figures overall Humbrol 117 U.S. light green , which is close to Gunze H-303 (FS.34102) or H-340 (FS.34097) .....

Is this the right uniform color for Korean War ???

                               John .

First off, I LOVE THE AMTRAK!  It looks fantastic.  Your others (jeeps, priest, M20) are really cool too.  In one of the profile pictures, you could see one of the LVT's marked with chalk.  As of the '90s, we still did that, to identify stuff like wave, chalks of infantry, and ship etc, well and graffiti.  When we got the applique armor kit that gives the Amtraks a ribbed appearance, I liked to put "Ribbed for her pleasure".  Cool stuff.

Pepper, that Sabre is awesome too.  What a great build of a great plane.

Draken, rain?  What is this rain stuff you speak of?  Have fun at the museum.

I finally got a set of old Esci KW decals for a reasonable price.  They are a little yellowed, so on the window sill they go.  Here is the profile:

I haven't got much done lately.  I am supposed to be studying for a promotion test at work.  That and I changed out the window regulator and motor in my Mustang today.  Royal pita!

Cheers,

Greg

Hi All:

I've another question and need some help ...

This new fangled double action airbrush that I received has no assembly instructions with it ... as I've only used single action, I've no idea how to take it apart to clean it, etc. ...

I've Googled for an answer but have come up with a blank ... the manufacturere does not provide anything but a parts list, so no joy there as well ...

Can anyone point me in the direction of finding an assembly/breakdown sheet for a double action brush ?? ...

Thanks,

pepper

PS  More WIP photos of the Sherman up tonight ...

Heya Again:

One more thing - the Revell Bell helo I ordered and paid for,  from Brookhurst Hobbies, on April 22nd, 2011 has still not shown up and, even after 5 e-mails to them, have received nothing but a very early e-mail telling me they were out of stock and had back ordered it ...

I do believe that between 4/22 and 7/1, that an appropriate kit could have been found and sent on to me ...

This all For What It's Worth only ...

pepper

PS  Thanks again all for the tips on the Sherman and the compliments on the Sabre Jet ...

Great decals Greg and thanks for the compliments on the Amtrack .

I was looking through the Armor in Korea book again and saw this pic ;

Andy (Draken) you mentioned earlier about puttin a canvas cover over the back of a M3 Halftrack , I'm thinking of trying that as well with the Airfix M3 Halftrack ;

I also saw some pic's of the M15A1 Halftrack , I wonder if these are available in 1/72 scale as plastic kits ???

I seem to be making good progress with stuff on wheels and tracks , so I have started on the Academy U.S 2.5 Ton Cargo Truck and Ambulance ;

I pre-painted most of the pieces and have glued the truck windows in place and will do the same to the ambulance next , then glue both chassie and cab pieces into position .

All is going quite well

                               John .

I posted this pic from my Squadron Armor in Korea book a few pages back ;

The center pic shows a LVT 4(A) Amphibious Tractor , I was looking around on Tower Hobbies web site and saw this Dragon 1/72 LVT (A) 4

Am I correct in thinking that the Dragon kit is the same as the pic from the book .

I also saw the Pegasus Landing craft at Tower Hobbies as well ...

Nothing bought as yet , just filling the shopping cart with birthday gifts for later this month ;

                               John .

Helo:

DANGIT!  Can't remember which company, but someone does an M-15 Halftrack.  I've got the M-19 from Milicast, it might've been them.  Other thoughts are Retrokit, SHQ, and Sgt.'s Mess.  If I can remember later tonight I'll have a go at searching for it.  And I've heardd incredibly excellent things about the Dragon LVT-4(A)!  I wanna get one m'se'f and I've seen them on eBay running around $30[USD], which I think is too damned steep.  And they didn't have one in my LHS today, nor did the LHS have the Academy Banshee I need to replace the student acquired one from my collection.  But I did get paint, including a spray FLAT COAT!  WOOHOO!  First tiem I've ever seen it in Korea.  $90 worth of spray paints, dang!  Also picked up some books on the war at the book store, they have a HUGE English language section there, as big as a mall book store in the US.

And, HEY!  since you're starting the Academy truck, here's the model building site link to my kit build.  You'll like what I've done to the Academy unit!

http://sites.google.com/site/modelingthekoreanwarin172scale/home/ground-vehicles-of-the-korean-war/allied-armour/us-support-vehicles-includes-towed-artillery/academy-cckw-353-gmc-truck

All:

The trip to the Korean War Memorial Museum was fun, they've rearranged a few things and re-opened the 'three services' room.  I got pictures of all of the KW equipment and a few other items here and there.  One of the problems with the Museum is the poor lighting, my crappy little point-n-shoot digital doesn't do anything inside justice.  But I got lots of pictures anyway.  I'll be posting the link to my gallery at photo bucket as soon as they're all loaded.

TTYL!

Gott'em all loaded!  One hundred and forty one pictures.  Nothing really unusual to see, a couple things I made notes of for the pictures, but nothing really sticks out in my mind as strange for us KW era builders.

http://s1193.photobucket.com/albums/aa345/the_tunnan/Korean%20War%20Memorial%20Museum/

Draken Andy: Thanks for posting the photos of the museum!!! Great stuff! I found it interesting the tow mounts on many of the vehicles being painted red and that many if not most of the APCs had the doors open with no chain or anything across the rear so I'm assuming you were allowed to go inside them?

Gamera

Draken Andy: Thanks for posting the photos of the museum!!! Great stuff! I found it interesting the tow mounts on many of the vehicles being painted red and that many if not most of the APCs had the doors open with no chain or anything across the rear so I'm assuming you were allowed to go inside them?

 

Weirdest museum that I've ever been in.  As a historian I almost freak out at the number and placement of the drink machines!  They're EVERYWHERE!  You can carry a soda around with you throughout the museum.  And even though they have original books, documents, etc. on display from one and sometimes two millenia ago, flash photography is perfectly acceptable!  They have some original equipment, towed artillery, projectiles, pistols, arrows, from long ago, and they're sitting out, not in climate controlled cubbies.  It really boggles my mind that no one touches or handles the stuff that's EASILY within reach.

As far as the outside armour with open bays, YES!  you can go in them, you can climb on a lot of the armour,

[Me and a friend's son on the M-110] you can go up onto the corvette and walk around on it, there's so much that you can do at this museum that is strictly forbidden in other museums.  One of the best exhibits is a compressed air powered small arms range.  It's a really fun shooting gallery!  And they also have a modern destroyer set up so that you can see life on a ship.  There's crew quarters, dining facility, and C3I center.

I'm well versed in the conduct of the KW and in the equipment, I often give guided tours for other English teachers.  I've been to the museum well over twenty times, I love the place!  And unlike the3 docent led tours, mine take almost six hours and include the equipment on the grounds as well.

They're always adding new things (the corvette and the torpedo parts are an example) and reviewing the exhibits.  I have to go back at least once every three months or so to verify what's there.  It's always a trip and a half and it's only a short cab ride (or walk if it's a nice day) from the tourist district of Itaewon (Western food!).  I tend to do a tour and make a day of it.

Glad you liked it, and there's always some detail pics of certain vehicles if you ask nicely and allow me some time to get them. 

Wow! I don't think I've seen a museum that allows flash photography much less climbing on the hardware or having an open drink inside.

Sounds like one heck of a museum, if I ever should get out to S Korea I'll be sure to visit. And I meant to comment on the corvette shot up by the N Koreans- daaaaaannnnnnnnnnggggggggggg............

The photos from the Museum are awesome Andy , thank you for posting the link .

Would of been a great day looking at all that history ........Awesome stuff

Thanks also for the link on your Academy 2.5 Ton truck ;

The engine detail is amazing and I copied the pic's into the computer as I just ordered anothe Academy 2.5 Ton Cargo truck and I'll have a go at cutting the hood and front doors to display them in the open position .

I also ordered the Dragon LVT(A) 4 along with the Pegasus LCVP and two Army trucks , also Trumpeters LCM III , you mentioned you had built the Trumpeter landing craft , so I'll follow your lead .

Today I got most of the Cargo truck put together ;

As Andy has said on his web site , these Academy Military Vehicles are a real joy to put together and everything fits quite nicely ;

Tomorrow I should have the Ambulance together ,

 So things are progressing nicely ; In fact I broke out the Academy Dragon Wagon and Revell's 1/76 M-24 Chaffee and gave the parts on the sprue frames a few coats of Green . I'm really getting moving on my 1/72 Armor stash now .

I'll get a pic taken of me when I get all my current KW builds finished , I'm only a quarter way through the Korean War stash , so it will be what I have finished so far and me ......

                        John .

Helo;

The engines on the soft skin vehicles should be one of three colours:  Flat black (radiates heat the best), flat grey (standardization colour), or manufacturer's colour (HIGHLY unlikely, but in mine I just wanted to show of teh Studebaker ancestry).  Definitely not metallic of any type (unless it's a replace single part.

If I recall, I painted the engine of my Dodge Ambulance flat black after accidentally painting it flat grey.  Unfortunately, I haven't written up a review of it yet.  Gonna have to correct that tomorrow!  The pictures of it are on my photobucket models gallery.  There's a TON of them there!  I even put in a couple of stretchers and the posts for the stretchers in the back.

They start on page one...  

http://s1193.photobucket.com/albums/aa345/the_tunnan/#!cpZZ21QQtppZZ20

Here's where they get interesting.  :)

I used a couple of the IMEX ammo carriers as stretcher bearers, made a stretcher for them, and put a slightly modified dying DPRK soldier on it.  They're moving him from the back of the ambulance to the Batalion Aid Station.

Hope this all helps!

the_draken

Helo;

The engines on the soft skin vehicles should be one of three colours:  Flat black (radiates heat the best), flat grey (standardization colour), or manufacturer's colour (HIGHLY unlikely, but in mine I just wanted to show of teh Studebaker ancestry).  Definitely not metallic of any type (unless it's a replace single part.

WHOOPS!

Should be flat grey for the Dodge engine.  I'd found it in a photo online after I'd already painted it black like Jeep engines.

I'll repaint the engine for the Ambulance before I install it into the chassie , thanks again for the tip ;

I like the idea of the two stretcher bearers and the scratch built stretcher ..... I have some stretchers from Revells UH-1D/H Huey I could use for my Ambulance build , revell's kit also has some support post I could use as well .

Looking through my Armor in Korea book again I saw this pic ....

Italeri have the Morris Quad Tractor in 1/72 scale ;

The LHS still has their Armor kits at 25% off , so I ordered the Italeri kit , also in the Armor book is a picture of the M-8 Armored Car ...

Again Italeri have one in 1/72 scale and I ordered that as well .

                                                        John .

Yo John!

Airfix also produce the Morris tractor, but I'd definitely go with the Italeri, as it's the original ESCI/ERTL/AMT molds.  Much better fit and better plastic, also.  The Italeri M-8 is a really nice kit but has one particular foible.  I wonder if they forgot about the coaxial .30 cal for the turret until the last second.  It's molded INTO a joint on the sprue trees.  One half of the body of the gun is the sprue tree.  This is a SERIOUS PITA to work around, you literally carve it off of the joint.  Otherwise it's just like the M-20.  Comes with the parts for the quick build and the standard chassis.  I did the rear wheels as a quick build leaving the fenders to cover lost detail and kept the extra rims and tires for cargo in the trucks.

For stretchers in the ambulance I just used stretched sprue and tissue paper painted green.  It's also a good idea to include a rolled up stretcher or two, that's even easier than making a used stretcher!  Just glue the two posts together and roll a sliver of painted tissue around it.  I used a clear thick Korean art glue for mine, but Elmer's white glue would work also.

You can check out my build on the Ambulance at that same website, it turned out really sweet, I used it for my diorama.

Sabres!  Sabres everywhere.

So, looking at the frontpage, it seems as though we're all about getting the sabres done for the different countries.  And the different marks as well.  I've noticed that there's no F-86A in 1/72 scale.  So I went looking and found that the only A model done in 1/72 is the ancient Matchbox kit that hasn't been re-released by Revell yet.  Probably with good reason, all of their re-releases are of unusual subjects that were only done by Matchbox.  And since the market is quite flooded with entirely well done and low priced Sabre kits, I'm sure that it's just good business sense not to pop it out again.

But this leaves the entire field with no A model of the bird.  That wedge shaped windscreen, the different bulge, smaller airbrakes and nose, everything about it screamed "work in progress" for the design team.  So I've set about searching and found a few on eBay that aren't ridiculously priced and have bid on one of them.  Sad fact, it doesn't come with fuel tanks, but I have POS Hasegawa kit that is missing it's horizontal stabilizers that I can rob those from.  Maybe some better quality wheels, too!  When I get back from the states I'll probably build it.  And the colouring should be nice, as well.  The A models in the KW had the black/white invasion stripes as opposed to the black bordered yellow ID band.

Wish me luck!   And as far as the Commando goes, I MIGHT get to doing a few decals tonight after some touchups on the paint.  it's looking mighty nice so far, the only bad part is that the stinking canopy moved/shrank/did SOMETHING and now I've got big gaps all around it.  I have no freaking idea what happened, it was beautiful when I pulled the masking tape off.  I'll post some pics if I get around to it tonight.

Have fun all!

the_draken

Yo John!

Airfix also produce the Morris tractor, but I'd definitely go with the Italeri, as it's the original ESCI/ERTL/AMT molds.  Much better fit and better plastic, also.  The Italeri M-8 is a really nice kit but has one particular foible.  I wonder if they forgot about the coaxial .30 cal for the turret until the last second.  It's molded INTO a joint on the sprue trees.  One half of the body of the gun is the sprue tree.  This is a SERIOUS PITA to work around, you literally carve it off of the joint.  Otherwise it's just like the M-20.  Comes with the parts for the quick build and the standard chassis.  I did the rear wheels as a quick build leaving the fenders to cover lost detail and kept the extra rims and tires for cargo in the trucks.

For stretchers in the ambulance I just used stretched sprue and tissue paper painted green.  It's also a good idea to include a rolled up stretcher or two, that's even easier than making a used stretcher!  Just glue the two posts together and roll a sliver of painted tissue around it.  I used a clear thick Korean art glue for mine, but Elmer's white glue would work also.

You can check out my build on the Ambulance at that same website, it turned out really sweet, I used it for my diorama.

Thanks Andy ,

I'll have a go with some tissue and white glue for the stretchers , perhaps I could try the same thing on one of Italeri's fast assembly M3 Halftracks and make a canvas cover for the roof using some paperclips bent to shape and the tissue laid over it  ?

I actually have one of those Airfix Quad Tractors lying in the bottom of the spares box ...

Originally the kit was missing the rear roof section where the spare wheel goes ; I was thinking of stripping off the paint and re-painting the vehicle . I don't have the original Howitzer any more but I could use the CH-54 Skycrane Howitzer instead . there is also a small frame piece on the rear roof section and I think that it might be in one of the other spares boxes , I'm sure I have seen it from time to time .

Perhaps I'll re-do the Airfix Morris Quad along with the newer Italeri one when it arrives , seems a shame to leave her in the bottom of the box in the dark , there may be life left in her yet !

                              John .

Guys, I assume the S. Koreans were provided with some sort of jeeps or range rovers by the UN forces? Just wondering if any of you would happen to have any photos you'd be willing to share. I am curoius if they might have had a US style white star on the hood or the S Korean Yin/Yang symbol and what other sort of markings.

Thanks!

Gamera:

The only  jeep (one?!?!) that I've ever seen at the Korean War Memorial Museum has white stars and only states that is was used by allied forces.  I'm going to guess that after the hostilities started everything was white starred like in WWII.  The ones that you can see pictures of in the displays don't have any markings.  There's one that I've seen that was British and had the roundels with yellow border on the top and sides.  It was when the Commonwealth forces were still behind the Busan Perimeter [Nokcheon Line].From what I've been able to determine, everything really switched to completely white stars in the Incheon landing timeframe.

Hope that this helps!

Draken Andy: Thanks! I'd been mulling over adding a jeep to the dio I've been thinking about doing with my M46 and I thought a S Korean vehicle would be interesting. I was hoping that the markings might be different enough to indicate that it isn't US as well. Oh well...