Thats looking great so far Draken! What did you do for the NMF?

Working on a Thunderjet diorama.  I've got the Tamiya "Thunderbirds" kit, it was the only one of their brand available at the LHS.  I'm putting it on a Verlinden WWII a/c revetment base and using some spare figures and some Airfix WWII aircrew figures as well as adding the Hasegawa fuel tank truck and the Academy tug with bomb cart.  Also included are some milicast fuel drums and ammo cans.  The a/c is to the point of getting the decals (rainbow chevrons on the tail and wing tanks) and the base is essentially complete.  Now it's on to the support vehicles and ground crew.

And that's where it stands so far.  I'm going to work on the tug which kersploded when my cat went spastic and knocked it off of y desk, then the fuel tanker, then the figures, and finally, an all night decaling session!

I hope that you guys are happy with the progress so far.  The Tamiya kit has some really nice things going for it; the open machine gun compartment, nice seat, good interior, excellent detailing.  The downside is that you can only make a G version and there are some fit problems with the fuselage and wings.  Another downside is that it only offers two options for underwing stores:  Fuel tanks and 2000# bombs.  I really prefer the Academy kit as it offers a deployable speed brake of two types, the option of making an E or G, and a plethora of underwing stores.  I also find that the Academy kit has better fit in general.  But that open machine gun compartment, WOOHOO!

John, I'm sorry to hear about your parents. I hope they are doing better.

That Centaur dozer is really cool looking! After following Shellback's Sherman dozer I'm beginning to want to build something like that myself.

Andy , I'm sorry to hear about those vehicle / armor models going missing ; I can only guess how upset you must be feeling , I do hope you can get them returned in one piece .

There's been no progress on my two dozen on-going Korean War builds ; Both my parents have had hospital stays of late , so there has been quite limited bench time .

To cheer me up a little the Milicast Centaur Dozer arrived yesterday

Lokking at the instructions it appears to be a fairly straight forward build

Hopfully before too long I can make a start on the Centaur Dozer along with the M19 and M39 resin armor vehicles

John .

Dang it!  That stinks Draken.  Sorry to hear about that.

But, thanks for the cool link.  It took me awhile to look through them, as I was at work.  Very interesting stuff.

Cheers,

Greg

Gamera

That kid... well he needs a good whack or two across the tush. Don't know if the Korean school system allows that or not....

I'm sure the traditional Korean parents do not view thievery well and will physically apply discipline accordingly if caught.

That kid... well he needs a good whack or two across the tush. Don't know if the Korean school system allows that or not....

AW MANG!  I thought that I'd gotten away from that...

Turns out that yesterday afternoon some weasels came into my office ans stole over 13 tanks.  I can only place 13 in my mind as having been on the shelf, but I know that there were more.  What's worse is that they only stole PARTS of some of them.  And a few are just too expensive to replace.  The M-1 90mm DP gun is gone, but the trailing arm wheels are still there.  The M-40 GMC is gone, but the M-30 supplying it is there.  And they ripped the M-46 off of the trailer for my Dragon Wagon (it was glued on with chains).  And My M-36 that I'd spent so much time super detailing the engine is now gone.

I'm so upset right now.  The good thing is that the Vice Principal is even more upset than I am.  He knows how much work went into them and what they mean to me.  Also, some of the teachers are aware and the info is flying through the school at the speed of rumour.

I might possibly get a few of them back.  I'm not so much worried about the cost or the work, but about how the kid that took them views them.  They weren't ever meant as toys, they were meant to help the kids learn about their own history.

Such a sad day for my school. 

Thought that you guys would like this.  Sorry about the StumbleUpon link, it wouldn't work without it. 

Here's a link to a series of photos taken in the Korean War.  I hadn't seen any of them before now.  And they're pretty good!  Enjoy!

http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/5UFgFn/:1MJFt$w5O:Mz0DIif!/blogs.denverpost.com/captured/2010/06/17/on-war-korean-war-60th-anniversary/

Looking good guys!!!! Hope to get a few bits done on my Corsair soon sighhhh

Thanks Helo! Ya know, Bell choppers have never been beauty queens... except for the Cobra. But they all do have a certain functionality in thier looks that trumps the homely looks...

Your H-13 is coming along nicely Stik

I was recently reading through a book on the XC-142A Tilt Wing VSTOL aircraft and the book mentions about one of the first successfull attempts with VSTOL was with a modified H-13 ;

A rather ugly looking prototype , not that the insect like look of the standard H-13 called be called pretty .

John .

Yeah, it is usually interesting to see what happens when you incorporate new techniques into a build. I am looking forward to progress pics Ghostrider.

Well I finally got some OD paint onto my H-13. Not much progress, but it is progress. I forsee a lot of touch ups...

This is my first build using Microset/sol for decals, the results look awesome when the stuff works right, but I've had a few accidents trying to get decals to sit in the right places, so right now, my Sabre is waiting for a few replacement decals.

Hello, I still haven't finished getting my stuff unpacked from my recent move, so my -5N Corsair is sitting idle.  Soon, I hope to be back in business.

Cheers,

Greg

Hi everyone ;

Just checking in and sadly to report no progress on my Korean war builds . I've only been able to work on one build lately with things at home being very busy but it's nice to hear your still working on stuff Andy .

It would be nice if I could put some decals on one of my Korean War aircraft this weekend ...hopfully .

John .

Yeah, my H-13 has been sidelined to work on a couple other builds that have completion date deadlines next month. But I did make a bit of progress on her last weekend. Once I get some the initial OD paint on I will post some pics.

Wow!  So little traffic on this group lately.  I'll post just to make sure it stays alive. 

I've been focusing mainly on my larger aircraft lately so that I don't have to cart them home to the states in September.  I got sidetracked with the Matchbox/Revell Privateer when I found out that one of the dorsal gun turrets was missing its clear part and I have to have it to continue.  I sidetracked onto a couple of jeeps; one got  the M-2 .50cal removed and replaced with a water cooled .30cal HMG.  The other retained its .50 cal and acquired a towed US 57mm ATG and some crates for stowage.  I then decided to empty a couple of other boxes and produced an Airfix M-3 halftrack towing an SHQ quad .50 cal AAA on a trailer.I also added lots of stowage and .50 cal ammo boxes to the M-3.  Right now, the only thing stopping me from posting pics is to paint the ammo cans on the actual gun and to add decals to the trailer and M-3.  The two jeeps are going to be 'early war Korean' so they won't have stars.  The US 57mm ATG was the only real anti-tank weapon that the RoK had until the US brought in the bazookas, and then the more adequate 4.5" Super Bazookas.  It was only until the 'Supers' arrived that the allies had a functional anti-tank weapon.  The other available gear simply couldn't affect the armour on the T-34's.

Anyway, I might post a pic or two tonight, but they're not finished and shouldn't go on the front page.

Have fun folks!

Hey Guys, not sure if this mentioned before.  Since the Matchbox F9F-5 Panther and the RoG release of it don't come with Korean War decals, I put it out of mind.  But, I found out yesterday that one of Iliad's "Stars in the Sky" sheets has Ted Williams Panther on it.  The other three birds on the sheet are WWII (Dan Rowan, Clark Gable and Jimmy Stewart).  Of course I snagged it!  There may be life in my Matchbox Panther after all.

Cheers,

Greg

OK Greg, she has been added to the front page. And yes, I like the new Airfix too! I have built only one new kit from them, but I have bought a couple and am looking at several more down the road.

Thanks Stik!  Yes, she is done.  She turned out pretty good for a $8 kit.  I sure like the new Airfix.

Cheers,

Greg

Are ya calling the Mig finito and ready for the front page roster Greg? She is a beauty!

As far as one completed build a month so far this year goes, when you have over a dozen builds going in various stages of completion, the odds are pretty good that one will reach the finish line each month.

John, I went to order the F3D book too, and it wasn't in stock.  I am hoping that my LHS pre-ordered one.  Your Canberra builds reminded me, that I had one stalled from years ago.  It is an Airfix B-57 in 1/72, and all I did was attrociously glue the fuselage together.  I had managed to sand off most of the detail on the joint, so a total rescribe is in order.  As for Korean War stuff, I finished the Airfix Mig 15.  The Italeri Corsair isn't far behind.

My camera just isn't up to the task.  Neither are perfect, but I am happy with them.  The Corsair is going to get a bunch of weathering, along with some ordnance.

Cheers,

Greg

Greg , thank's for the tip on the Wolf pack decals for the Korean War F4U-4 . I just ordered some along with a few other sheets . It's been ages since I recieved any flyers from Squadron , probably because I haven't bought anything from them for a while .....'darn ebay' .

I just went looking at Squadrons site but I couldn't see the F3D Skynight in action book , only some 1/48 decal sheets . I went through their list of Squadron Signal publications but no luck there either . Mmmm.

John

Dang John!  What an awesome selection of builds.  You have some seriously cool subjects there.

Draken, the Airfix directions for the Mig stated matte black.  I used Floquil Grimy Black instead.  You mentioned gloss black.  I wonder if Airfix got it wrong?  Looks cool anyways.

I got my monthy Squadron flier in the mail yesterday.  I couldn't beleive my eyes, a F3D Skynight in Action book!  That will be a must have for me.

Super humid here this morning.  Darn it!  I want to shoot the clear this morning.  Flat laquer shouldn't be too bad....

Stik, one a month?  I wish I was that productive!

Cheers,

Greg

Allright Greg! Two more builds nearing the finish line! I am looking forward to seeing those all marked and finished.

Helo, now I see how you turn out so many builds... multiple going at once. I do the same thing but still cant match your volume. Although this year I have completed at a rate of one a month so far, which is pretty good for me! I wont be going to my next IPMS and AMPS Chapter meetings empty handed

Well lets keep up the great work guys. I will dig back into one of my KW builds here shortly to get some work of my own back onscreen here and do the lead by example thing (of course I can not match Helo and Drakens sheer quantity of subjects)

Greg , the Italeri F4U-5N looks really good along with the Airfix Mig-15 . I know I mentioned it before but excellent work on the camouflage paint scheme on the Mig .

As for me , I'm making steady progress on my multiple builds , trying to get as much done as I can every day and I finally have the Korean War C-54 Skymaster masked and ready for the spray booth .

I forget sometimes how time consuming it can be cleaning up the flash on all the small sub assemblies on the Mach 2 kits , I spent most of this afternoon filing and sanding the landing gear doors and struts and other little bits and pieces ; I'm about to do the same for the Thunderbirds C-54 as well .

There's a little sanding required on the C-119C and she will be ready for masking .

I keep finding little flaws with the fuselage join on the second PB-1W AEW Fortress build and I've been touching up with putty . So hopefully she's not that far from masking as well .

I guess three times a charm when it came to airbrushing the F9F-2 Panther AD-2 Skyraider and the HO3S-1 Dragonflys .

I'm happy with the paint finish on those four , so decals next and then finish pic's

Here's some other non related Korean War builds I'm trying desperatly to finish  , WB-57C , B-57G and WB-57F Canberra's

After two and a half years i'm nearly finished my Air America C-123B provider

Trying to get a CH-3E and a HH-43 huskie completed as well but I'm yet to fit the vacuform canopy's to the two C-46 Commando's .

Another Mach 2 C-123 provider , this time for the USCG (HC-123B) going along okay

Although I need to mask and re-do the yellow panels again on the Coast Guard bird . The North korean Yak-9P and 18 need the landing gear and wheels glued in place and I could add the decals to those and finish them off , along with the two Matchbox M40 SPG's sitting underneath the Yak's just need final assembly .

So lot's of builds about 90% finished and even more Korean War builds about 50% completed , so I'll keep working at it and hopfully some finished pic's soon .

John .

What colour did you paint the lower fuselage on the MiG?  I've seen camo with silver, grey, and gloss black. as options.  I'm not sure which I'm going to do my camoflaged one as.  I've got three lined up:  Silver DPRK, Camo DPRK, and silver with USAF markings from Okinawa.  I've got two Kopro and one Hobby Craft, and I'm not sure who really made the Hobby Craft kit.  Perhaps DML?  It seems really nice except for some flash, nice engraved markings.  But you can't get better detail than the KP kit, as nasty as it is.

On a side note; ready about the air war in Korea one thing comes up on a regular basis.  It's believed that the DPRK or CCF were flying radar  MiG-15's on night missions.  The version that would have been available at the time would have had the Izmrud radar.  The same one on the Hasegawa MiG-17.  This would be a very easy kit bash!

Happy belated ANZAC Day.  I salute all the brave Aussies and Kiwis who have sacrificed so much for freedom for many generations!

I was looking at Mill Creek Consultants (Wolfpak) website the other day, and low and behold, a new sheet with a Korean War Privateer flareship on it!  Two more of the six aircraft are Korean War  also.  There is an F4U-4 Corsair, and an RF-51D Mustang.  I had emailed the owner some months ago and asked him if he could include some Korean War aircraft.  He said he hadn't received much call for that, but he would try and do some in the future.  Well, Mr Bilas came through for sure!  I was wanting to build another RF-51 anyways, and I have been wanting to build the Privateer in my stash too, but had no decals.  Oh yea, the other aircraft are an RF-80 (don't think it is a KW one),  F-86D, and a T-28.  Needless to say, I ordered one.

This is a picture of my Italeri -5N and Airfix Mig 15 as of a few days ago.  I have since put the decals on and I am waiting to clear coat them.

Hopefully, I will have them finished before too long.

Draken, I am sorry to hear of your troubles.  Very frustrating indeed.  I was thinking about a Sunderland myself at one point.  I have a decal sheet of Commonwealth in Korea that has one on it.  John found some interesting stuff on converting the Airfix to a MkV.  I also have an article in a Model Aircraft Monthly from last year that has the conversion in it.  It seems Engines and Things has the radomes and engines to do the job too.

John, your "heavies" are looking good too.

Cheers,

Greg

John: Happy ANZAC day to you and your family my friend. Thanks to all those who sacrificed so that we may enjoy the freedoms we have today.