Dad was a son of wealth and enlisted in the Michigan ANG. Long service history in our family, broken only by me because the draft ended when I was 17 and I would not have volunteered for Vietnam in 1974.

Dad's grand dad was West Point 1903, I have the class photo and his ring. MacArthur's class too. George Morrison got sent to the Philippines, where he got diseased and eventually died in a VA hospital at 50.

Dad's dad was not in the service because he was the oldest and ran the family business (Gail Brick Plate) but his two brothers were Field Commissioned Officers who saw combat and survived the war.

I only relate all of this to drive home a point. There was a time when the country was full of people of all walks of life who stood up for what they believed in. Not so much any more. Now everybody seems to look out for No. 1 which is a game only the advantaged can win.

Yeah I can get George done before your deadline. In fact I am going for a Bondo weekend blowout. Stay tooned....

EDIT: one more Korea story. My second job out of architecture school, was with the firm Skidmore, Owings and Merrill, which set my course in life. My boss was a very kind man who I had a good relationship with. I found out that he was in the Air Force in Korea. Because he wore glasses like I do, he had washed out of single engines and had flown his training in B-25T's beofre being sent to asia.

http://articles.sfgate.com/2007-11-11/news/17268159_1_architectural-buildings-korean-war

One day I came back from lunch in 1983 with the Testors C119G and went in to Ben to show it to him. He spent an hour going over it, showing me the difference between it and the -c he flew out of one of those K- fields.

Very enjoyable, and of course I sold him the kit. But I have the latest one in my stash.

I built an IDF one 20 or so years ago. Came out ok. I have always been fascinated by their stand in the Golan in 1973.

Funny how you mention Korea and your father. My dad was drafted into the Army during that war, along with his cousin. Cousin was sent to Korea, while my dad was sent to 7th Army in Europe. That started a fued between their moms (sisters BTW) because the on was upset her son went to Korea and my dad did not. Like my grandmother had any say in the matter...

And yes, you still have just under 2 years left to get that F-84G in. Will that work for you?

Beautiful. I have always wanted to do a IDF Centurion, but I don't build tanks any more.

Years ago in London I found a seedy pub that had a name and sign related to the Korean Conflict, one of their army units. Two guys manning a mortar.

Dad was in the ANG in that era, but never got sent over.

My Father in Law was awarded his second Bronze Star from WW2 at Hamilton Field in 1951 but did not show up for the ceremony because he feared he'd be packed into a transport and sent overseas. He'd seen plenty of war up to then. BTW we have the medal.

Is it too late to get my F-84 G in?

Thanks guys, I'm glad you like it. For a 70s vintage kit, I am very pleased with the results. Lookings at the pics, I can see a few areas that need touch up of pigments dusting. Digital cameras highlight it more than the Mk.I eyeball. Gonna take it to show and tell at this weekends AMPS meeting.

I really like the lines and look of the Centurion as well. The basic turret looks almost like a Shermans, but once all the other stuff is added on it really takes on a beefy look. The Brits certainly got it right on this tank. Its' service life as a MBT spanned five decades. Pretty impressive if you ask me.

I think I need a Korean War shelf in my armor display area.... since I now have a T-34/85, M26A1, and now this. Plenty more in the stash...

WOW!  Stunning work on your Centurion, Stik!  Glad you got it finished.  Dust and dirt spot on... that's something I need to work on.

Excellent build with the Centurion Mk. 3 , Stikpusher 

I like how the mantlet cover is a slightly different shade of green and the weathering looks great as well .

I also like how the road wheels look .

The big scale armor sure looks impressive once finished

Well done Sir !

                          John .

Gamera

Well, I've been complaining about 97 degrees here so I guess I should shut up .

Pepper: Which Playboy F-14 is that? I had a 1/48th Fujimi 'Black Bunny' Tomcat back in college but it's trashed now. Someone wants $175.00 for this or even more crazy a 1/72nd kit???

Well, looks like the big record is one day closer ... I'm tired of the heat ... have not used my airbrush now for 41 days as the paint dries so fast, regardles of the psi or distance from the model, that it's dusty ...

Say, a thought occured ... I could build an armor model - modern - spray it desert yellow or sand and get the dusty look without weathering ... No/Yes ? :-) ...

Stik, the tank looks awesome and I see the weathering took care of the Future issue ... I've never sprayed it or used it for anything other than clear parts and also, use Solvaset sparingly and as a last resort, prefering to go with the MS red/blue products ...

Think I'll go for a swim and come back to my builds after dinner ...

pepper

Hi Stik, your Cent came out great!  That has got to be one of the better looking tanks of all time.

Cheers,

Greg

99% of the time, Future gives me no problems. The 1% that I have had all involved Solvaset. No worries though.

Anyways here she is... my Tamiya 1/35 Centurion Mk.3 in the markings of 29th Brigade, 8th King's Royal Irish Hussars during Winter 1950/51 when the Centurion was first blooded in battle helping to stop the Red Chinese tide.

stick a fork in it... she's done

Well, I've been complaining about 97 degrees here so I guess I should shut up

I've had weird results with Future so I've stopped using it for anything but clear parts. I generally use Testor's Model Master acrylic clear gloss and matte for everything these days and haven't had any bizarre results.

Pepper: Which Playboy F-14 is that? I had a 1/48th Fujimi 'Black Bunny' Tomcat back in college but it's trashed now. Someone wants $175.00 for this or even more crazy a 1/72nd kit???

Pepper, that is actually what remains of the interaction between Solvaset and Future. In anything more than minimal amounts Solvaset melts Future and leaves a milky white residue behind that I have not yet been able to figure out how to remove.... Tried thinner and a few other things, and while they reduce the effect, none remove it completely.

I am doing the final weathering today (letting the paint dry now-pigments up next) and will have pics of the finished tank up soon.

Gregbbear

Pepper, at least it is the dry heat!  Ha ha.  Just kidding.  It has been too darn hot down here too. .

Greg

Heya Greg:

101 right now so we're one day closer to the big record  - I remember my Mom always talking of the 'dry heat', but hot is hot :-) ... at least we've only had a few days when the humidity was out of sight and those are miserable ...... wish I could help with your a/c, but ...

Stikpusher - in the 2nd picture of  your armor, is there a wee bit of silvering on the the right side of the star decal on the front of the turret or is that a camera glitch ?

P-80 out of the box while the helo remains tucked away ... the 1 piece molding of the entire framework of the helo is absolutely amazing ... I want to get a good start on the jet before tackling the helo ... haven't build  one since the way old days and that was of the Revell H-19 ? ... was following one on eBay recently but when the price went over $20, I bowed out ... it ultimately sold for $47 - geez Louise ... I also just saw a black Tomcat (the Playboy version) listed for $175 ... I guess there are people who will pay these prices, but not me ...

Everybody have a great day and build, build and build (you too, John :-) !! ...

pepper

Well here is one thing I recall about the Israeli Centurions.They have numerous basic Mk.s that were the starting point for the mods they later made. One common modification made during the early 1970s was replacing the original engine with a US made diesel. They also upgunned theirs to have the standard L7 105mm gun across the inventory.  In 1973 it was possible to see diesel and gas engined  Centurions of differnt Mk.s fighting in the Golan in the same area. And configurations changed from their original accquisition and introduction into IDF service until their replacement and retirement as MBTs.

I would check the kit measurements against the posted ones on line to see if it really is 2mm to short. In metric that shouldnotbe too difficult. Its a lot more fun when your doing it in feet/inches...especially when its a big subject such as a ship...

Hi Stik , thanks for the help ;

Here's a sprue pic I just took of the Airfix Mk. 8 Centurion ...

It's interesting you mentioned about the hull being lengthened , the article on converting the Airfix Centurion to a Mk.5 IDF tank , says to the side hull pieces are 2mm too short and to extend them first by removing the central trio of track roller mountings then divide each into three parts by verticle cuts between the mountings for the central bogie units and then cement plastic strips into the cuts and glue everything back together .

Obvisiously a reference book or two will go a long way in helping build either a Korean War or IDF version as I think I need to check the measurements of the Airfix components and scale back to the real thing

Thank's again Stik

                      John .

The Centurion Mk.3 was the version used in Korea. The Mk.8 differed by having the later 20pdr gun barrel with bore evacuator, changes to the turret including a new split two piece TC hatch, a lengthened hull, and other detail differences.

Either of those books would be good reference material, especailly the second one. I have the Squadron, "In Action" book at it is a good basic referecene to the various marks of the tank.

Wiki has a good rundown on the Centurion. The more I learn about them, the more I like them. My next one will be a Suez 1956 Centurion... then perhaps one day an AFV/Club Aussie one for my Vietnam collection.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centurion_tank

Awesome stuff Stikpusher

She must be getting close to the finish line .

In regards to the Centurion Tank , I have a kinda on-topic /off topic question . I ordered a couple of those 1/72-76 Airfix Centurion Tank kits and one will be for the Korean war and the other for the IDF . I found a very comprehensive article on-line about converting the Airfix Centurion to an IDF version ; However the conversion is quite complex and the article's author talks in detail about many of the components and their technical terms . I really don't know all that much about the workings on most tanks , so I was looking around ebay for some books on the Centurion Tank and came across these two ...

and this one ...

I was wondering if anyone else had either of these books or perhaps a different publication ?

Well my timing could not have been better , while typing this post the doorbell just rang and Parcel Post just dropped off the Airfix Centurion I bought on ebay .

I opened the kit and the instructions read Centurion MK.8 , is this version correct for the Korean War ?

Anyway I would very much like to get a good reference book on the Centurion and I did see on ebay some 1/35 scale Centurions , I was thinking of trying to find an IDF version which wasn't too expensive and use it as a guide along with on-line article and a refence book to build one in 1/72 scale

                           John .

BTW , It's the middle of winter down here in Sydney , the temp today is 52 degrees and it never snow's .... 

well we are having another mild summer here.Not  blazing hot like some years,but just right. Yesterday I went out shooting with a buddy at a range thats in the foothills of the coastal mountains here. Typical temps of the upper 80s (dry) when we got there in the afternoon... but what suprised me was honest to God actual meltwater run off in the creek on the way up there... unheard of in August...usually that's long gone by June.

And now back to our regularly scheduled GB

Yesterday before shooting I attached stowage and this morning Matt Coat was applied on my Centurion. This afternoon I can get the final detail painting done (persicopes/vision blocks, dry brush bare steel highlights, mufflers) and antennas attached and weathering.

Pepper, at least it is the dry heat!  Ha ha.  Just kidding.  It has been too darn hot down here too.  Not in the one-teens like up there though.  I tried the a/c thing, and the one I bought from my friend didn't work for crap.  I moved my paint booth into my laundry room for a little while.  The little while my wife wasn't home!  I used non-toxic tamiya through my airbrush so it wouldn't leave a smell.  I hope fall comes early.  Or at all.

Keep cool, buddy!

Cheers,

Greg

Cool ?? that's a rumor :-) ...

We're now on our 40th straight day of 102 + F temps ... our record is 42 days and the forecast is for more of the same for at least 7 more days ... so, we're gonna  set a record ... this is one I'd rather not be part of and being a native (now displaced) San Diegan, I find it increasingly harder to cope with the highs and the lows ... of course, i could live in Maine or Montana - I have cousins in Montana and have visited when the temps were over 100 and below -40 ... thanks, but no thanks, and oh how I miss the beach and my sailboat  !! ...

I know winter is coming, but if like this past one, we're gonna actually have snow here (like last year) andd below freezing temps for a few months ...

You folks who live in the cold country have my condolences :-) ...

p

stikpusher

Truly a sight to behold Helo! You have turned out quantitywise in one year what normaly takes me two or three. Keep up the fire!

Well my Centurion is ready for a Matt Coat in the morning...

Then the day after it will be final painting, adding stowage, and finally weathering...

Stik- Missed your post earlier... it is starting to look real good!  Looking forward to see it weathered...

Expected high today in Moorhead, MN is 80F with only around 50% humidity.  A nice break from 90F and 95% humidity in Korea!  Pepper, you keep yourself cool and don't worry so much about the models, winter is gonna be here soon enough!

105.6?!?!?!?   For the first time the temp dropped under 80's today here in Indiana finally after 24 days of 90 degrees or higher this summer... It was 78 degree during my lunch break.   Just come over here and spray your build in my basement anytime! 

Hi All:

Just for the heck of it, I tried shooting some paint on my test model ... it was drynig less than an inch from the nozzle, so I either have to paint inside (my wife says 'NO - NO':-) or air condition my garage ... don't think either will work ...

I think i'll just build up to paint and wait until the temps go down ...

105.7 as i type and the hottest part of the day is still hours away ... whew !! ...

pepper

Hi All:

I think I'm back ... I still have the chest drain in and feel awfully puny, but I smiled when the sun came up this morning and i was awake to see it  :-) ...

One thing that happened just yesterday - Brookhurst Hobbies finally replied to my e-mails (6 in all), found my order, found the product and shipped it to me ... geez, I placed the order April 22 and received the product  August 8 ... not bad !! ...

The P-80 has just started but I'm tempted to either build two at the same time or switch to this ne ...

Here are the pictures ...

Thanks ever so much from us to all of you for your best wishes, good thoughts and prayers ... much appreciated and all worked ...

pepper

John: What can I say? You're like a modeling machine!

Greg: Sharp work there, love the headlight guards you're done on the Sherman.

SP: Looks like you're almost to the finish line. Slap a little mud on her and she'll be done

Truly a sight to behold Helo! You have turned out quantitywise in one year what normaly takes me two or three. Keep up the fire!

Well my Centurion is ready for a Matt Coat in the morning...

Then the day after it will be final painting, adding stowage, and finally weathering...

Excellent links you posted Stik , I'll be copying plenty of pic's into the computer for sure .

DP , I'm glad you liked the Revell 1/76 M24 Chaffee , I have Italeri's 1/35 Chaffee in the stash and look forward to building her sometime in the future .

Andy , just sit back and enjoy your vacation back at home , there's plenty of time for model building over the duration of the Group Build .

Greg , excellent work so far on the LVT-4 and Sherman

Thank's for the kind words on my recently completed builds everyone ; Since Stikpusher kicked off the Korean War GB just over a year ago , I decided to take stock of where I'm at after 12 months .

I've started 49 builds and so far have completed 9 Aircraft and 15 Armor builds ...

Another 10 builds that are about 95% completed ...

There's 15 more builds at various stages of completion ...

There's a C-46 Commando and P/F-80 which I didn't include in the above pic as I'm stripping off the paint as I wasn't happy with the finish .

There are currently 51 kits in the stash ...

A few more on order , mostly 1/72 Armour . I saw that UM Models do a SU-76 , so I ordered one along with some Hasegawa trucks .

I thought I may of had a few more completed builds in the display cabinet after the first year of the war , but family commitments have  come first this year , however I'm still quite happy with what I have built so far .

Keep up the great work everyone ....

                                           John .

And now I just stumbled onto this one... and mostly in color...simply incredible to view. Superb reference pics!!!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/dmclean2009/sets/72157619026844615/

Hey Guys, I just stumbled onto this site full of Korean War photos while doing an image search for British tanker uniforms. Some excellent photos, most of which I have never seen before. Enjoy.

http://cooper-johns.sorway.com/note/164/

Greg, the Amtrack and Sherman arecoming along great!

John, your latest additions are added to the front page.

You braile scale guys kill me with the rate you turn out stuff!!! NEXT GB I RUN---NO BRAILE SCALE BUILD FANATICS!!!! just kidding

Just working on stowage and smale detail painting for my Centurion today. Perhaps a Humbrol Matt Clear coat overall this afternoon.