Stik- Thanks for the information!  One day I will build either Bismarck or Arizona... I absolutely agree with you about MM Acrylic... worst ever.   I had about ten bottles when I first returned to my hobby few years and I got rid of them last year even tho most of them were unopened. 

Andy, the Graf Spee has been in the works for nearly two years. But roughly over half of that time period was sidelined for various reasons with no work going on what so ever. It is my first 1/350 large ship and was a learning process all the way thru. Conceivably I could see it taking 3 months if it was my only project going, I had all my research done ahead of time, no snags were hit in the finishing process(the biggest cause of my work delays), and if I was more experienced in ships. Don't get me wrong, this is a great kit for the novice ship builder, but planning ahead of time cuts down on delays in ships more than in armor or aircraft. It also looked more intimidating than it turned out to be. And beware of Model Master Marine Acryl colors- worst adhesion ever on those. Primer is certainly a requirement with them. Something different in the formulation compared to my experiences with Model Master Acryls. For ever 3 to 4 steps forward on painting it was often 1 to 2 steps back due to adhesion problems. But as you can see, stubborn persistence pays off.

Stik- Outstanding work on the ships... wondering how long did it take you?  I want to build ships again but my biggest concern is that it will take me a whole year just to build one while I can few armor builds a year.

Andy the Draken- Jeez, you are a building machine!  Lovely work on the M-26 and hauler...

Draken Andy & SP: Hooray!!! Great work guys!

Ok Draken, your latest bevy of builds has been added to the front page. I really like the Dragon Wagon/Patton combo Very sharp work there.

As for me, I have just been finishing up a few 1/350 ships that I have been working on for awhile- the Graf Spee and a couple of Type VII U-Boats. I should have them all finished tomorrow evening and then can resume work on my H-13 and F-86.

"Commando to General Kirby!  Commando to General Kirby!"  ~Rae Don Chong in the movie "Commando"

The C-46 Commando made it safely to work on the bus!  And the .7Km walk along the road and up THE HILL to the school.  Here's the pics, I don't think that any one is better than another so take your pick of them for the front page, Stik!

On second thought, only the first one seems to be in focus...  Not sure what the heck is going on there...

Here's some pictures of other things I've done during the build that I've posted before but for some reason didn't make it to the front page.  I'm pretty sure with the artillery that I've never asked for them, since I wanted to be done with ALL of the artillery.  Unfortunately I've shipped some kits home since I won't be finishing them all by Sept. 3 when I leave.  And I'm also pretty sure that I never posted final pics of the Dragon Wagon, so it's likely that they're all my fault. 

Here's the Academy Dragon Wagon and Trumpeter M-26:

Here's the ICM Tu-2 that comes in their "Korean War" box with a Yak-9D/P kit.  This is an absolute bugger to build!  Nothing fits, too much flash, and the parts are WAY too thick.

And I had to make a second Airfix Universal "Bren Gun" Carrier after the little weasels at my last school stole mine.  Here's the result positioned on a Matchbox 'mini-diorama' base.  I think it's the one for the Humber scout car.

And here's all of my allied artillery that I've done with the build.  The Airfix 40mm Bofors, the SHQ 105mm Airborne Howitzer, the Revell/Aurora 105mm M-1, and the ACE 105mm M-1/M-101 with SHQ figures.

This set is Communist Artillery:  The PST 152mm Gun, the PST 122mm Gun, the PST 76mm Gun and limber, the UM 122mm Mortar, and the Imex 82mm mortar and figures.  It's really fun doing the figures!

So, tonight it's up north for fried chicken and beer, tomorrow is a trip to the War Memorial Museum to take some other teachers on a guided tour, and then to a Saffie (South African) restaurant!  A friend of mine just got back from a trip home to Jo-burg and brought me some Ostrich jerky!  Delicious!  I'm going to have my wife bring some bison jerky as a return gift. 

Sanderson 91 , I must say the cockpit detail on both builds is absolutly awesome

Like everyone else , I look forward to more great WIP pic's .

Stik your H-13 build is coming along really well ; The engine looks like a mini build in it's self

Andy , great stuff on the kit bash P2V-5 Neptune . The WIP tips will help a lot when I do my build and it looks like you got a reall good fuselage join between the vacu-form front section and Hasegawa mid/rear piece ;

Excellent work Sir

John .

Sanderson: Wow, that's some sharp work on those cockpits Very nice!

Draken Andy: Thanks for the photos of the Japanese mini-subs. Seems like you could almost do them in 1/48th scale considering the size. And nice work on the Neptune too.

Sanderson, nice Invader and Thunderjet. Keep up the great work and keep the progress pic updates coming!

Draken, I like that Neptune Good luck on finding that cowl. Perhaps some scotch tape applied to your cat's paws until he reveals what he did with it might be in order... I wish that Revell made one in 1/48.  I will be watching the updates here too! I am glad to hear that you are feeling better. Salud!

On topic again! 

Getting over my Chamorru Croup and finally able sit at the hobby desk for a while without coughing up a lung.  Not that sanding helps my situation any...  I'm back working on the P2V-5 Neptune.  It's the 1/72 Hasegawa/Revell-Germany bird with the Falcon Triple Conversion.  I had the fuselage assembled when I left (I can't remember if I even took pics or not.  I know I didn't post any.) and now I'm filling and sanding.  The upper nose (anti glare area) split right before I'd left so I had to re-glue it and figured I'd just leave the whole sanding job until I came back.  Three days later I'm on it!  Apart from my cat deciding to lose one of the engine cowls for me (ARGH!) everything is progressing quite well.  I learn something new from every kit that I build.

Suggestions for Helo_34 and everyone after me who does this:

Gunner's seat:  Use extra seat (no nose observer seat in -5) and trim HEAVILY on both sides, install support and use as rear gunner observer seat.

1:  DO NOT install the cockpit and nose gear bay until after assembling the fuselage.  I'll get to why in just a moment.

2:  Trim the hole for the nose gear bay prior to assembling the fuselage.

3:  Slide the cockpit into place, from through the nose gear hole mark where supports should be placed to hold it properly.  You can't use the fuselage bulkhead as a guide because it is too low for the -5.  The -7 has a higher cockpit floor and a bulged canopy not found on the -5.

4:  Install nose gear bay from above.

5:  Install supports and cockpit floor/bulkhead.  Install instrument panel, install seats.

Hope this helps ya John!

Assembled fuselage:

Dry-fitting wings, horizontal stabilizers and tip tanks:

I've also started another model for this Group Build.   While I was tired of the Invader, I picked up the Tamiya 1/48 F-84G.  This is a sweet little kit.  It's OOB with the exception of Eduard set belts and a few additions to the ejection seat.  Getting ready to start the decals.  I plan on using the kit decals for "Four Queens" which was a 58th FBS in Taegu in 1952.  Here are some pics:

Cockpit:

Guns:

Overall:

Thanks for looking!

Steve

Ok, wrong link on that first photo.  It's supposed to be this:

Hey Guys!

I've been lurking for a while as my Invader build has lost steam.  I haven't had a lot of time to build over the last five months or so, but have been loosely following this Group Build.  The panel line re-scribe and the the attachment of he Ozmods resin gun nose have caused various issues but I think I've gotten them all resolved.  Since I'm planning a NMF, the model needs to be free of any blemishes or else they will stand out.  In the pics, the wings are not attached yet, just locked in place.  I'm tring to decide if I want to paint and then attach or attach then paint.  The issue here is the extensive exhaust staining which will be hard to add if the wings are attached first.  Here are a few shots:

Since the cockpit is masked for now, here's a few pics of it:

Still lots to do, but I've gotten re-energized to finish this build.  Thanks for looking.

Steve

So, I'm back from my week long vacation on Guam.  Had a good time, got some awesome dives in, had a great time with friends.  I'm going to go way off topic here, but I took some photos of a Japanese WWII Type A two man sub while I was there.  It's sitting outside the War In The Pacific National Park T. Stell Newman guest visitors' center.  I really did search for a group on this topic and came up with nothing.  I know that there's only two of these above ground, one in Texas and the one on Guam.  I'm noticing that some of the details on the Guam unit are gone (small periscope on the conning tower, the wire guides on top of the tower, antenna on the top of the tower, etc.) based on some older photos of it on Guam that I found on the web.

If you or someone you know is working on this kit here's some awesome photos.  I know that there's two in 1/72 scale (A Japanese production and a Vac-Form.  I have both.) and might be others (Lindbergh? Resin?).  So pass this info around.  If someone wants to use my photos, that's great, just give credit where it's due.  :)

http://s1193.photobucket.com/albums/aa345/the_tunnan/Japanese%202-Man%20Sub%20Guam/?action=view&current=PICT0291.jpg

Gamera, I am looking forward to paint on her as well. But I have a couple or three builds at the 98.5% mark that I want to knock out first. Last night I did complete the engine by adding the intake and exhaust manifolds. I also hollowed out the exhausts better than the indents that the kit had molded in them.

Helo John & Draken Andy: Great photos guys, thanks for posting them. I love the mule toting the tail assembly, that would make a great diorama.

SP: I'd heard about Sioux crewmen packing flak jackets into the floor and on the seats to give a little protection but wasn't sure if later models got some sort of light plating around the vulnerable areas. Looking forward to seeing her all painted up.

BTW: Started reading Allen R. Millett's 'The War for Korea' that I picked up at the MacArthur Museum last year. If anyone wants an in-depth treatment of the subject Millett starts with various anti-Japanese resistance groups that sprung up with the occupation in 1910. So much detail I think my eyes are starting to glaze over.   

the_draken

Here's just one of the detail pics I took of one that was hanging out over last summer at the Fargo Air Museum.

This is the weblink to the photobucket page for that pic, just keep clicking <PREVIOUS> to see the rest of them.  There's some really interesting details on this bird that You'll want to look at!

 

Let's try that p-bucket link again...

http://s1193.photobucket.com/albums/aa345/the_tunnan/Aircraft%20and%20equipment%20-%20Photos/?action=view&current=PICT0357.jpg

Here's just one of the detail pics I took of one that was hanging out over last summer at the Fargo Air Museum.

This is the weblink to the photobucket page for that pic, just keep clicking <PREVIOUS> to see the rest of them.  There's some really interesting details on this bird that You'll want to look at!

Gamera, I am with you on wanting my gunship to be armored as well as armed. Hueys, Kiowas, and Loaches at least had armored seats. The Sioux has nothing... When every pound counts I guess even a flak vest or steel pot for the family jewels is out...

Helo, thanx for the pics. I went with a SWAG on my intake and screened it off. Of course first I hollowed out the intake with my Dremel, but with the screen on you really cannot see anything. Green Tea bags from Starbucks are made out of a very fine nylon mesh I discovered and make excellent 1/35 screens,helmet nets, etc.  I figured that rotor wash in forward areas would kick up a lot of dust, debris, plant stuff, etc and all could be sucked into the intake and make for a bad day.

Anywayshere is todays update:

completed motor with hollowed and meshed intake

cockpit bubble solid parts

Looks like I will have to scratch some belts if I do not use the pilot figure

main rotor

and everything placed on the framework for a pic

I still need to add intake and exhaust manifolds on the engine, the top framing to the boom, the tail rotor and tail rotor shaft, and the ground wheels on to the skid... almost ready for initial painting.

You guy's might find this pic interesting from Squadron Signals Bent and Battered Rotors Vol 3

Does the U.S. Army still use Mules ! ....................

I'm with you Cliff , at least with a Huey the metal doors offer some protection against ground fire .

I went looking through my old aircraft photo's I took many years ago at HMAS Albatross Naval Air Base just south of Sydney and found some pic's of the Bell model H-13H . There not the best quality as I only had a pocket 35mm camera in those day's , pre digital camera era .

H-13H undergoing restoration

I tried zooming in when I scanned the photo for a closer look at the intake pipe

I can't tell if there is any type of mesh screen over the opening ?

Finished restoration photo's

The only other pic I have of the flexible intake hose is a NASA 3 bladed H-13G

Unfortunatly it's the other end of the pipe that we're interested in ...

Wish I could of been of more help .

John .

Guess I'm a wuss but in a gunship I'd like at least a metal cab around me instead of an entirely open cockpit. Not sure if an UH-1 had any armour around the cockpit but anything would be better than flying around with your butt exposed to ground fire

Pretty cool, not sure it was entirely MASH but the H-13 is almost an icon of the Korean War.

Excellent progress on your H-13 build Stik

Squadron Signals H-13 Mini book is a great reference to the different versions of the H-13 and there are some nice close-up shots of the different types of machine gun and rocket mounts on the H-13

Here's a pic of the engine intake pipe

Some more pic's of the H-13D Korean War version

The boxed in version type looks interesting .

HTH

John

Gamera, yes the 2 in 1 refers to a gunship or medevac options. Although it technically is a 3 in 1 because it can also be built as a straight trainer or observation type. Now after doing a bit of research on the type I have learned that they were used early on in Vietnam as armed scouts with 2 x M-60 machine guns on the skids until replaced by the OH-6. I may have to buy and build another...

If Dragon was to release one I would be surprised. The few 1/35 chopper kits they have are actually 10-20 years old now. The UH-1 is originally a Panda release from the late 90s and the OH-6/MH-6/MD-500 dates back to the early/mid 90s. The MRC kit is supposed to be better but, I don't think I can find those so easily or so inexpensive.

More progress will happen today. I just need to find a detail shot of an intake to see if it needs to be hollowed out, left as is, or screened off before I begin my next steps.

Thanks Stikpusher!   Who knows Dragon will release one?  They have been releasing helicopters recently... 

Theuns: Nice, those SAAF Sabres are sharp looking planes.

SP: Nice looking chopper. I assume the 2 in 1 refers to the medivac option and the rocket armed version on the box lid?

DP, this kit is 1/35, and MRC makes the H-13D (the more common Korea War varaint) in 1/35 as well. Italeri makes on in 1/48. I shudder to think of one in 1/72... way too fragile! I keep hearing the MASH theme in my mind as I work on this thing...

stikpusher

Here are the beginnings. This thing sure looks insect like so far.

That was a good one... agree with you.  I am building a Huey right now and I am having too much fun that I want to build more helicopters in the future.  This is definitely on my wish list... wondering if there is a 1:35 scale out there?  I watched M.A.S.H. a lot with my dad when I grew up... great show!

more updates

engine completed

and placed (not glued) into the fuselage

Thanks Helo.

Here are the beginnings. This thing sure looks insect like so far.

The fuselage framing so far

And front and rearviews of the engine. I still need to sand down the gluing seams.