4th ANNUAL SECRET SANTA GROUP BUILD: SANTA'S NEW SLEIGH: AIRCRAFT

Should I be concerned - the box from my secret Santa started to tick this afternoon..............

On another note - has anyone else had problems getting onto the Forums since Fine Scale revised thier website?

Here's some Christmas cheer for you guys...

ETA:  interesting, the html editor allowed me to embed video, the preview allowed me to see the video, but when I post, there's no video!  Grr....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mk4woNRD7NQ

carsanab

To Whom It May Concern.....

TIME TO CHANGE THE SHREDDED NEWSPAPER AT THE BOTTOM OF THE BOX!!! OH AND KEEP IT AWAY FROM WATER!!!!

Q.: Can I feed it after midnight?!
A.: NO! But can open it!

Yppee!! Only 16 hrs. to go!

The days are down to hours now, can ya stand it any longer. On the home stretch now so hang in there fellas, this time tomorrow we will have our pressies

Steve

So who's going to be the first victim on Cmas? Anybody here in Japan? Australia? How about Europe?

We have a couple in Europe.  Is it Christmas there yet?

It's Christmas now on the east coast.  Merry Christmas everyone. 

Merry Christmas from Texas!  I'm up playing Santa Claus, taking a short break but looking forward to finally opening that package that arrived a couple of months ago once all the family arrives in the morning.

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL MY FRIENDS!!!!!

There just has to be something special about a day that makes us all feel like little kids again!!

Enjoy it all to the fullest with your families and friends!!

Be safe all

Carlos

Its Christmas day and all the waiting is over, but like some others I have to wait till morning when my daughter gets here to open the presents. So till then I have to wait. Make sure we post pics of the opening of pressies

Steve

A very MERRY CHRISTMAS to all of you!

A big thank you for my Secret Santa, Oliver (ollie here on FSM) for sending me this great model:

Academy's 1/35 AH-1W Super Cobra with NTS update; one of my favourite helos. The others are Black Hawks and Little Birds (write that up for next year!).

So I guess this makes me the first victim! Now let's see the other ones.

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL!!!! Visiting my son out of state and will not be back till the 27th to open mine.  Can't wait...

A big thanks to my secret santa, Matt (mph34 on FSM, I believe.) Not only did he figure out my favorite airplane, he also gave me sanding sticks to go with it. Just what I needed! More pictures to come once the two-year old goes to bed, then I will decide what I want to do with it. Thanks again Matt!

Looks like we're enjoying a pretty good Christmas this year.  Happy happy, merry merry everyone.  I would like to say Thank you to Paul, btp2k2, for his awesome gift for me.  First off, the wrapping paper....

See what I've had to endure the last month and a half!  But, beneath the paper was a model that will challenge my paint skills to strive for a great NMF.

F-84G for the win here!  I'm a fan of the WWII stuff, but I also fall for the early straight winged jets.  Awesome!  Thanks Paul!

Merry Christmas everyone!

Mike

Glad I made the right call.  You should enjoy this kit - lke most Tamya kits, they almost build themselves.

To Chris {kg4gpg} thanks for the Su-25.   I have been looking to buy this kit for the Bear Trap GB. 

Sorry - no photos from the opening.

Merry Christmas to everyone!  

Bingo! Got this awesome SBD-5 and a flight deck display base from Dennis-"Bullet21".  Thank you so much for this great gift my friend. Merry Christmas to everyone.

Regards,

Jeff

First off - kudos to Lofweir for arranging this! This looks like its becoming a great tradition on the forums and I'm definitely having a lot of fun.

Carlos (carsonab) nailed it for me! Thank you so much for the Me262. The last one I built was in the mid-70's and was a 1/72 blister pack. A perfect combination of "WWII Luftwaffe or modern jet"!!!

Now come on folks - no fair taking a shower before the pictures!

Merry Christmas !

Many thanks to Jeff (Firesmacker) for gifting me with an Accurate Miniatures B-25C/D kit, high on my list of subjects to build, with a bonus of the Quickboost gun barrels.  And if that were not good enough, he also sent me the tee shirt!  It's from the Navy Firefighter School, Great Lakes Illinois.  When you get to be my age you appreciate a warm t-shirt!  Thanks, Jeff!

Merry Christmas to all!

So now that the kid is down for a "nap" I can take a look at this thing. So here is the parts picture.

I'm thinking if I feel really brave when I build this, I want to do the experimental JAWS camoflage scheme (sometimes called the "jellybean" camoflage. I need to improve my airbrush skills first, though.

Hey Mike! Glad to hear you enjoyed the Disney Princess wrapping paper so much! I was going through the bin of rolls and thought that was perfect!

Hope you enjoy the kit...can't wait to see what you do with it!

 I got an Italeri 48th scale A-4E/F from Paul E Styrene...which is perfect because I am a huge Scooter fan and have been very curious to see what is in the box. The decal sheet alone is worth it's weight in gold! Thanks Paul E Styrene!

The camera battery died so it's on the charger....I'll get a pic up as soon as I get the camera charged

Merry Christmas!

Thanks to Joe aka Skull Gundam for the latest addition to my modeling habit, the Tamiya 1/48 A6M2 Zero.

Sorry, I was not able to get any pictures taken but will post build pictures once I get started.

Merry Christmas to everyone!

John, I'm really glad you liked it. I looked closely at your web-site to try and find something you probably hadn't built yet. I was thrilled when I got your name so I could get you something nice like you did for me last year. Looking forward to seeing it all built up. Merry Christmas.

Regards,

Jeff

Thany you James (Lofweir) for hosting this SS and for being my own Secret Santa as well.

A little beauty; the Academy F4U-1 Corsair AND Squadron "ins action" book! The model came wrapped in paper labeled "Power" and the model marked "knowledege". That's pretty cool!

I look forward to adding this to my Navy fighter collection.

No pics to show yet as I am home alone in an ice storm so I will post some pics tomorrow. I believe Jeaton is my Santa and I want to say a big thank you for my present. It is a Eduard FW190A-8 and what a beauty it looks to be. Its gona be a great build, thanks Jeaton if you are my Santa

Steve

Aggieman: I'm glad you like it.  Ive seen some of your work and I know you will do it justice. 

Bondoman: I built that Corsair as my first plane not too long ago.  Its a nice kit, I just wish I had had more talent at the time.

I am not home 'till tommorow to open mine but I can't wait.  It's driving me nuts!!

mph34

To Chris {kg4gpg} thanks for the Su-25.   I have been looking to buy this kit for the Bear Trap GB. 

Sorry - no photos from the opening.

Merry Christmas to everyone!  

Glad you like it, I don't have or build a lot of 1/72 and really like the Su-25 and just happened to have that one.  I'm planning to do the two seater in 1/48 one of these days.

As for me, satch hooed me up as well.  Very humbled.  Gave me a nice classic airbrush compressor that I opened early because I though the big box was from someone else.  But inside there was a plain brown box and it clicked...GB, Do Not Open!  I waited patiently for today and wound up with the pictured item below:

Not just an awesome kit, but resin and PE to boot.  Gonna start the build in a couple days.Thanks to all, this is fun.

Chris

sidure

No pics to show yet as I am home alone in an ice storm so I will post some pics tomorrow. I believe Jeaton is my Santa and I want to say a big thank you for my present. It is a Eduard FW190A-8 and what a beauty it looks to be. Its gona be a great build, thanks Jeaton if you are my Santa

Steve

Steve, I thought I put a note with my name in the box.  Oh well, yes I'm the guilty party and I am pleased you like it.

Hope you enjoy the build, Bondoman.  It looks like everyone had a very enjoyable Christmas, and looks like it will be a great year of building, gluing, and painting.  I spent the day, unfortnately, working, and am stuck at the office again today, so we'll be doing the grand reveal this evening.  Pictures, of course, to follow as well.  However,  would like to share some things I have learned during this group build.

1.  It is, indeed, a great deal of fun to give the secret santa gift.  It is also quite enjoyable (and frustrating) to stare at that box under the tree, knowing it's a model, and wondering what might be in there.

2.  It is a great deal of work to run a group build, and a greatly appreciate everyone's patience with me as I fumbled my way through it.

3.  This group build is possible because all of you are willing to come together, as a community, year after year, and keep it alive.  My hats off to all of our group build members from this year and from years past that have made this group build a success.

4.  And finally, and this is the most important thing:  Every gift I send out next year is totally getting wrapped in Disney Princess wrapping paper!  :)

Merry Christmas, all, and a Happy New Year!

Steve--you must have mystic powers my friend! That very kit was sitting right at the top of my "The next winged-thing I build" list.

 Sorry I didn't get the pic up yesterday but we had a housefull, and 3 spoiled grandkids can sure keep a fella hoppin' I tell ya!! 

As soon as the season winds down I'm gonna tie into her, already scouring the instruction manuel and plotting.

To our host-Thanks for letting me in. This was my 1st SS GB but not my last, already picking out what to send next year!  To Steve (aka Sidure) Merry Christmas! I couldn't be happier-love it man, great pick.

And to all the members of this elite squadron of renegade styrene junkies--MERRY CHRISTMAS ! !