Very nice work deafpanzer, I'm very much looking forward to the finished product. Its a shame we cant get all these built models together in the flesh! Speaking of finished products, I had a bit of a mad weekend and got not one but two P0-2 biplanes finished. The one for this GB is the KP 1/72nd recent re-issue and is in the early 1951 markings of a machine of Pak Den Siks night bomber regiment. Hope you like...

Theres another one to add the the finished works folder stikpusher and for my next build Im going to turn to one no-one seems to have done. Im going to do the 1/72nd AZ models Taylorcraft Auster AOP-6. 

Doc.

Guys, I was able to order THREE bottles of Mr Surfacer 1000 from Great Models yesterday.  Many vendors were out of stock...

Anyway I did alot of work on my Chaffee for last two nights.  It has gone thru pre-shading and painting stages and I am very pleased with the result. 

Remember I use MM enamel exclusively for armor painting and I found a great article about choices of Olive Drab paints.  It was recommended that I use MM Olive Drab #1711.  Weathering will definitely make it look little darker afterward.  The base paint was thinned as much as 50/50 to allow pre-shades show thru if possible. 

I don't think I need to do any post-shading and move on to the next stage chipping the Chaffee.  Or maybe detail painting... thanks for looking!

DP: I understand it has something to do with Gunze's labeling. Seems that as a toxic substance it's supposed to have some warning label or some such. Since the label is in Japanese the FDA or whoever decides on labeling in the US says the warning label isn't kosher.

Gamera, I agree about how hard it is getting Mr. Surfacer.  In the past my LHS would sell those but I haven't seen it for a while.  I will ask them why next time I shop there.  I don't think I saw any at recent model show either.  I am running low so gonna order few soon...

SP: Nice! I love getting the plane together so I can start my favorite stage- painting!

DP: Looking good! Mr. Surfacer is Mr. Cool I love the stuff, since it's getting more and more of a pain to get it in the States don't know what I'll do when I run out.

John: Again, best wishes for your dad.

I would very much like that F9F Panther book Greg I'm sure we can work something out .

I tried uploading a couple of WIP pic's of the MPM Gloster Meteor and F-94B Starfire but the computer kept freezing up ; I must of used up to much of the monthly download quota looking around ebay and the internet for Korean and vietnam War models .

I'll save the pic's for later in the week . I did manage to get the wings glued back on the second PB-1W [B-17] Flying Fortress , like the first PB-1W , Academy have the wing dhedrial to high and I basiclly had to pull both kits apart . One PB-1W has the radome positioned on the roof while the other is a belly radome . I also finally got around to glueing the wings and tail planes and fin on the Airfix Short Sunderland , another build I started last year and is waiting completion . I'm aiming for a 5 day airbrushing session over the Easter break , the tuesday after easter monday is ANZAC Day here in Australia , a lot like Veterans Day for you guy's in the States . So with my brother is at home during that time , hopfully I can get some airbrushing done . Sitting in the spraybooth are the C-46D Commando , Yak-9P and 18 and the O-1 bird dog . Also I hope to have the C-54 together and ready for painting as well  .

I'm busting to start the three night fighters , F3D-2 F7F-3N and the F4U-5N but I'll have to clear the back log of other builds first .

On the home front , dad will be having some tests done and then some Chemo to treat his lymphoma , he has an appointment later this week for a bone marrow test and the rest of the treatment will start after Easter . we're hoping he doesn't have to wait too long to have all the necessary stuff done and be back on the road to recovery .

I spent haeps of money this month on kits but I'm really happy with all of my scores , especially the rare/hard to find kits .

Got to dash , I'll post some pic's later in the week .

BTW , nice work on the Panther and Sabre Stik , Deafpanzer's tank is just awesome too .

                    John

John (helo), oops!  We may have been bidding against each other.  I was trying to get another F3D to do as EF-10B, and I was trying to score some Starfire decals too.  I was actually trying to get those for you.  Small world eh?  I have an extra copy of the F9F Panther in Action book too if you want it.  I can't remember off hand if it has engine shots though.  Got a bid on an F3D, with a Panther and Buckeye right now.  Hopefully, it won't get bid up too crazy.

Speaking of Panthers, has anybody laid eyes on the Hobby Boss 1/72 Panther?  With the Hase, Matchbox, Revell, and (maybe) others, I wish they would have covered some fresher ground like an F2H-2, or the F3D.  I saw the AU-1 Corsair again, as a future release for them in 1/48th.  Italeri just re-issued the -7 Corsair.  The last time, it came with the correct cowl and decals for an AU-1 of the "Death Rattlers".  Anybody know if they did that this time?

By the way, awesome stuff guys.  I haven't really been around much lately, so I got a real visual feast catching up!  The story of the defecting Mig pilot is fascinating too. 

Cheers,

Greg

Stik, great process on your jets!   Hard to believe how much jets have transformed since Korea War...

Guys, finally started the PAINTING stage!  I always have my stuff primed before I paint.  It really helps capture the paint better.  That's my opinion...

I am a fan of Mr Surfacer primer paint.  I used 1200... the thinnest of all three.

I hope to do pre-shading tomorrow evening if I am not too tired from all of the yard work.  Thanks for looking...

Here are my F9F and F-86 I am working on for the Monogram Mafia GB:

both are almost ready for paint...

Dr Win, based on the info posted by Helo, I say the Beagle is a go. It may not have flown combat sorties in theater, but they were certainly in theater and viewed as a threat by the UN, and so fall under my rules of inclusion. I am guessing PLAAF markings would be appropriate.

Deafpanzer, your Chaffee is really starting to come together well. One sharp looking little tank.

Draken, I was able to get some Korean War markings for my F-94B from Expert's Choice, but my kit and decals are in 1/48. I do not know if they do 1/72, which I am guessing yours is.

Helo H-34

I also tracked down a 1/72 Hasegawa OV-1 Mohawk and Fujimi AH-1G Cobra . Amazon.com had a AC-119K Stinger Gunship and Old Model kits had a B-57G Canberra .

                                   John .

It's too bad that you've already got that Fujimi Cobra.  The best G model on the market is actually the old Monogram unit!  And the only issue it has is that the canopy has a big gap at the bottom of the front.  Other wise, it's beautiful!  The Matchbox Cobra is a nice piece of work and one of only two kits in existence in 1/72 scale that have the SUU-11 .30 gatling gun pods.  The other is the Airfix O-2 (and the ones that come with it are garbage!) which I usually arm with LAU-7 rocket pods.  You're going to have to watch out for the wings on that Mohawk.  They're a b*tch and a half!  And you're definitely going to want to spruce up the gear bays.  Somewhere I've got some pics of the late model OV-1's and details of the aerials and what not.  They had a camera in the nose that took horizon to horizon pics!  And the SLAR does some BEAUTIFUL work!  Scientific American magazine did a big article on the SLAR back in the eighties, another piece of info that's definitely back in the states.  You're going to love those Italeri kits, the 119K and the 57G.  I had a blast with them.  The 119K is actually a wonderful kit to build, and mine turn out nice until some jerk sat on it in my dorm room.  The Canberra is the first 'mod' kit that I ever did, you have to cut the nose off of a B and add the G nose.  I even added the 'camera's behind the glass part.

I have a pretty decent collection of Gunships and lots of references on them.  The best kit of the AC-47 is the ESCI kit, and the AC-130's by AMT/ESCI/ERTL are a pain in the NECK!  The bottom of the fuselage doesn't like to line up.  But they're the only H and U versions out there.  Also, the Italeri AC-130A has the long nacelles for the engines instead of the short ones.  *derp*  You can buy a resin conversion online, but I don't bother. 

Back to the Korean War Build subject...

What sheet of decals did you get for the F-94, I'm looking for one for the Korean based birds.  Also, don't use the wing gun pods, the Korean birds didn't have them, they used nose guns.  So you'll have to fire up the motor tool and dig a bit into the nose.  I had to do that for the one I built a couple years ago for the ND Air Natl. Guard collection I'm doing back home.  I've got a dirt cheap 'disposable' motor tool here that runs on a single AA battery.  Yeah, not very capable, but it'll do the one thing I need it for once and then I don't give a damn if it dies.  And that one thing is digging out the guns in the nose of my F-94B.

TTYL!

Andy thanks for all the info on those Vietnam Birds I recently puchased .

I just checked my ebay account and the AH-1G was the Monogram kit , mini masterpieces 1989 kit .

There are some F-94 Decals still available ,1/72 Microscale F-94A,F-94B MA,PA,ANG.USAF.Korea .

Thanks also for the tip on not using the wing gun pods on the F-94B .

             John .

Helo H-34

I also tracked down a 1/72 Hasegawa OV-1 Mohawk and Fujimi AH-1G Cobra . Amazon.com had a AC-119K Stinger Gunship and Old Model kits had a B-57G Canberra .

                                   John .

It's too bad that you've already got that Fujimi Cobra.  The best G model on the market is actually the old Monogram unit!  And the only issue it has is that the canopy has a big gap at the bottom of the front.  Other wise, it's beautiful!  The Matchbox Cobra is a nice piece of work and one of only two kits in existence in 1/72 scale that have the SUU-11 .30 gatling gun pods.  The other is the Airfix O-2 (and the ones that come with it are garbage!) which I usually arm with LAU-7 rocket pods.  You're going to have to watch out for the wings on that Mohawk.  They're a b*tch and a half!  And you're definitely going to want to spruce up the gear bays.  Somewhere I've got some pics of the late model OV-1's and details of the aerials and what not.  They had a camera in the nose that took horizon to horizon pics!  And the SLAR does some BEAUTIFUL work!  Scientific American magazine did a big article on the SLAR back in the eighties, another piece of info that's definitely back in the states.  You're going to love those Italeri kits, the 119K and the 57G.  I had a blast with them.  The 119K is actually a wonderful kit to build, and mine turn out nice until some jerk sat on it in my dorm room.  The Canberra is the first 'mod' kit that I ever did, you have to cut the nose off of a B and add the G nose.  I even added the 'camera's behind the glass part.

I have a pretty decent collection of Gunships and lots of references on them.  The best kit of the AC-47 is the ESCI kit, and the AC-130's by AMT/ESCI/ERTL are a pain in the NECK!  The bottom of the fuselage doesn't like to line up.  But they're the only H and U versions out there.  Also, the Italeri AC-130A has the long nacelles for the engines instead of the short ones.  *derp*  You can buy a resin conversion online, but I don't bother. 

Back to the Korean War Build subject...

What sheet of decals did you get for the F-94, I'm looking for one for the Korean based birds.  Also, don't use the wing gun pods, the Korean birds didn't have them, they used nose guns.  So you'll have to fire up the motor tool and dig a bit into the nose.  I had to do that for the one I built a couple years ago for the ND Air Natl. Guard collection I'm doing back home.  I've got a dirt cheap 'disposable' motor tool here that runs on a single AA battery.  Yeah, not very capable, but it'll do the one thing I need it for once and then I don't give a damn if it dies.  And that one thing is digging out the guns in the nose of my F-94B.

TTYL!

Hi Andy ,

Those new aircraft additions sound great .

I might think about a C-45 as well

I also have the Special Hobby Firefly but it's way down the list of yet to start builds . I'm not a big user of ebay but I had a go at bidding on a Matchbox F3D-2 Skynight , I bid a ridiculous outrageous price and won !

In the "Buy it now" section on ebay I bought some 1/72 F-94B Starfire Korea based decals and another Monogram F7F-3 Tigercat . The F7F-3 kit I already have was missing a tail plane .

In another moment of madness I bought yet another Matchbox F3D-2 as I started thinking about the missing aircraft in my Vietnam War stash and the EF-10 [F3D-2] will go nicely .

I also tracked down a 1/72 Hasegawa OV-1 Mohawk and Fujimi AH-1G Cobra . Amazon.com had a AC-119K Stinger Gunship and Old Model kits had a B-57G Canberra .

It's been quite an expensive last few day's ....Oh well ;

I did start the MPM RAAF Gloster Meteor Mk8 and the Heller F-94B Starfire , so some WIP pic's to come soon .

                                   John .

Dr Win

Gentlemen, cracking work on all the builds going on, I feel like I'm falling behind! Finally made a start on the P0-2 today, well two of them, one Im going to do as a VVS machine and sell on fleabay. The other will be a 'Bedcheck Charlie' for this build (KP have reissued the kit with Korean war markings folks, grab em while you can!) However I have a few questions about some communist aircraft types to pitch to this forum - 

1) Does anyone know of an available 1/72nd kit of an IL-12 'Coach'? I'm just re-reading William E Burrows excellent 'By any means necessary' and it describes Ralph Parrs 10th and final kill of the war as one of these transports. 

2) Here's one for Stikpusher, apparently the Chinese (or even the Russians) flew IL-28 Beagles close to the border of North Korean airspace and were sighted by UN pilots. Could we include them as appropriate to this GB? Just debating buying one...

3) On a similar note has anyone else come across any reference to Beriev MBR 2bis flying boats being used as ASR birds by the North Koreans? I remember seeing it mentioned somewhere, whilst plausible Im still dubious...

Doc.

Hi Doc ;

I checked through one of my Korean War reference books , "The United States Air Force in Korea" ; It's an 800 page soft cover book and it mentions a couple of things about the iL-28 .

In the Winter of 1952-53 , FEAF estimated that the Communists attained a strength in Manchuria of 1,485 aircraft , including 100 iL-28 jet bombers . Further down the page it reads "designing to show off their newest air weapon , the Reds flew two IL-28's along the Yalu river on 17 December 1952 at the very moment that Sabres were patrolling on the other side of the river "

You may already have this info but I just thought I might add that bit of text from the book .

                                  John .

Helo and Doc Win;

I haven't seen any info of Chinese jet bombers operating over the DPRK, and so far haven't found any info on the flying boats (that doesn't mean either of those things DIDN'T happen!  Just that I haven't found proof.), but I'm still looking.

In other news; WOOHOO!  Package from home with the two most recent FSM's (props to FSM!) and several boxes of plastic.  I got the Octopuss F&F-3(N), the Special Hobby Firefly, a Hobbycraft C-45 and decals for a USAF bird from that time, and a box of British soldiers.  Will be nice to have some Tommies to add into the figures i've got.  I already have some Aussies that I haven't painted.

The Octopus Tigercat looks, uhm, interesting.  Lots of flash, a few parts aren't really the correct shape, and the props are separate blades glued to a center hub.  Having said that, the detail is exquisite!  And they give you two vacuformed canopies in case you screw up the first one.  Decals are included for a blue vehicle and the very weathered black version that served with VMF(N)-513 at K-6 in Pyongtaek.  I've also got the Monogram kit with the Cobra Company conversion.  I think that I'm going to go ahead and do both of them and have them side by side or flying in formation.

The Special Hobby Fairey Firefly is BEAUTIFUL!  Once again, a truly multi-media kit with resin, styrene, film and PE parts.  The molding is crisp and clean with no flash.  The detail is beautiful in the resin and in the styrene!  The engraved detail isn't trenched like Matchbox or Academy, and the decals look very nice.  Drawbacks to this are that there are no weapons to go on the hards points (Could use four rockets and two boms), and there's no option for folded wings.  Also, the rear canopy is different from the Airfix kit in that it doesn't indent in the fore end, it is a straight vertical edge, including a part of the painted fuselage.  A minor complaint, but i really do wish that it included a folded wing option.  It's hard to believe I'm wishing someone could copy Airfix...  Also, the decals for the aircraft operating from HMS Glory during the Korean Conflict does not include the strips.  It looks like I'm going to be doing some masking...

The Hobby Craft C-45 looks straight forward, there's no passenger interior so I may just paint the insides of the windows black for that area.  Or make some curtains for the windows out of TP or kleenex.  I've got Superscale Decals for a C-45 in post WWII USAF markings.  It shows a gloss grey fuselage, but the pics I've seen of the C-45's operating in Korea were bare metal with a white solar cap.  They were used for VIP transport and, primarily, for air ambulances.  No red crosses on the tails yet, that didn't happen until after the war.

Hey Helo!  We had been talking before about the M-101 105mm howitzers.  Ther's one buy Ace that's out of production, and there's also one in the Revell (and Aurora!) CH-54 Tahre kit.  I've got both in front of me and am comparing them:  The Ace kit is actually larger than the Revell unit, and the barrel is straight at the end, which is correct.  The Revell unit scales out to somewhere around 1/80th scale, halfway between 1/72 and HO (1/87) scales.  It also has a taper to the end of the barrel which implies that it would be an early WWII tube, rather than the later straight tube introduced somewhere around 1943 or so.  This is also an issue with M-7 kits, none has the correct late/post war tube!  The Ace kit has a lot more parts and is much better detailed.  I'm still going to build both guns, one I'll use for an arty diorama, the other I'll put behind a vehicle on one of my floating bridges.

Also, for everyone, if you can find it, there's a US Army film in seven parts about the Korean war.  Essentially a propaganda flick, and it's obvious in some places, but it's got some excellent footage of equipment in action!  I got mine from a torrent downloading site, I can't recommend it, because for some of you it might be illegal to download things from THEPIRATEBAY.ORG.  I certainly wouldn't recommend a site like THEPIRATEBAY.ORG, because that would be suggesting you do something illegal.  So don't go to THEPIRATEBAY.ORG and download it, that might be breaking the law.  *hint hint, wink wink, nudge nudge, nowhatImean knowwhatImean, saynomore saynomore*  One thing that i noticed whilst watching this was an SP gun that looked a _LOT_ like an M-12, crewed by African Americans and it had a short gun tube.  Probably a 155, but it might have been an 203mm.  Does anyone know what it could be?  I would certainly be willing to buy an MM-12 and convert it if I knew what size tube I'd be trying to make.

Having said that, peace out dudes!

Deafpanzer , good luck with those resin tracks , even without any paint , the M24 is looking awesome

Dr Win it will be interesting to find out if those il-28's operated over Nth Korean airspace ?

Pepperkay kindly sent me a pic of the F9F Panther wing fold for my Hasegawa F9F-2 build . I was also thinking of using the CMK JR-42 resin engine I have , so I went searching around google for images of a F9F panther showing the engine under maintenance but as yet I haven't come across any . Am I right in thinking that the whole rear section of the fuselage comes away like the F-86 Sabre , if so I would be most interested in the support trolley which the rear section of the Panther would be sitting on ?

Speaking of engines , I also came across a listing of 1/72 resin engine at Roll Models ; So I ordered two R2800-44 engines for the AJ-1 Savage , two P&W R-134 Wasp engines for the Sikorsky S-55 [H04S-3] and two R2800-99w for the C-123 Provider 'Air America' project .

I have to search around for some S-55 [H04S-3] engine pics as well to help with the build .

                          John .

deafpanzer

Pepper, great work on your Sabre!  It is really looking great and colorful. 

Thank you ... it's up on its wheels now and looking even better ... about 25 more decals left to apply, then add the canopy, windscreen and drop tanks ... should have it all done by Sunday latest and will post photos then ...

pepper

Pepper, great work on your Sabre!  It is really looking great and colorful. 

Guys, little update on my Chaffee.  Continued to work on securing the stowage and it is finally done! 

Secure the .30 ammo boxes?  Checked.

Secure .50 cal ammo boxes? Checked.

Secure the stowage in the rear? Checked.

There's only one more thing for me to do before I apply primer paint on the Chaffee and figures. over the weekend... work on the resin tracks!  Hope it comes out OK...

Y'all have a great weekend!

Gentlemen, cracking work on all the builds going on, I feel like I'm falling behind! Finally made a start on the P0-2 today, well two of them, one Im going to do as a VVS machine and sell on fleabay. The other will be a 'Bedcheck Charlie' for this build (KP have reissued the kit with Korean war markings folks, grab em while you can!) However I have a few questions about some communist aircraft types to pitch to this forum - 

1) Does anyone know of an available 1/72nd kit of an IL-12 'Coach'? I'm just re-reading William E Burrows excellent 'By any means necessary' and it describes Ralph Parrs 10th and final kill of the war as one of these transports. 

2) Here's one for Stikpusher, apparently the Chinese (or even the Russians) flew IL-28 Beagles close to the border of North Korean airspace and were sighted by UN pilots. Could we include them as appropriate to this GB? Just debating buying one...

3) On a similar note has anyone else come across any reference to Beriev MBR 2bis flying boats being used as ASR birds by the North Koreans? I remember seeing it mentioned somewhere, whilst plausible Im still dubious...

Doc.

Good to have you back Pepper, you and Draken should enter something in the Natural Metal GB III. Great work all the NM on the F-86 and C-47 guys

Helo H-34

Glad to here that your back on your feet Pepper .

The F-86 F-30 is looking really good ;

The Aircraft nose art decals are really cool , did the yellow band around the fuselage fit okay ?

                       John .

Hi John:

There wasn't a decal for the yellow nose, so I painted that ... the black stripe was a decal and I used it ... it goes all the way around and fit perfectly ...

There are more than 100 decals on the sheet - probably 3/4's of them are stencils and I'm not going to apply all of them ...

One thing for a future build of a Korean War Sabre Jet - I'm going to paint white where the yellow bands go, fuse and wings, because the yellow is not as 'dense' as i would like ... because of some issues with masking tape (Tamiya brand), bits and pieces of the wing stripes tore off, so I had to use two of them on each wing ... fortunately, I have another F-86 decal sheet so I can put the stripes on the wing bottom ...

pepper

Glad to here that your back on your feet Pepper .

The F-86 F-30 is looking really good ;

The Aircraft nose art decals are really cool , did the yellow band around the fuselage fit okay ?

                       John .

Hi All:

He'eeees Back !!! ... after 2 hospital visits and a ton of other crap, I'm finally up on my feet and getting after some projects too long standing idle ...

This is the F-86-F-30 I started as my 3rd build here - maybe 3 is not so much a charm as popular superstition would have it :-)

   Ready for paint ...

   The beginnings of the NMF ...

   NMF on and masking of some panels underway ...

   Getting a fair number of decals on this side already ... a ton of 'em left to go, though ...

pepper

Great job on the Gooney Bird andy

I must say you have set the lead in getting builds completed and their all really good .

I printed out a copy of your first aid dio to use as inspiration on my K-3 Pohang airfied dio . I haven't built a aircraft dioramma before and I've been thinking of trying to simulate a flat dirt section on the back half of my display board and the front section has 12 of those eduard PSP plates fitted together for the aircraft undergoing maintenance to sit on .

I wanted to park the two PB-1W's [B-17] at the rear . I have those Noch grass mat sections but a lot of pic's in my reference books show more dirt than grass around the airfields .

Deafpanzer , your workmanship and detail on the M24 is just amazing ; I agree with you that stikpusher will be pleased about everything being stapped down !!!

I've never been a big user of ebay in the past but I came across some decals listed in the 'buy it now' section . So I bought some 1/72 F-94B Starfire decals for a korea based bird .

Hopfully they will arrive in a couple of weeks and I will add the Heller F-94B into the mix .

Great work everyone .

                       John .

Whelp, got the Gooney Bird decaled and done!  It's hanging in my class room at the moment.  Pic related!

Sorry about the grainy picture, this was taken with my Android phone and zoomed in,  Here's some more pics!

I used the Italeri WWII version and scrapped the decals.  The decals that I did use came from a variety of sources; Monogram B-36 kit, leftovers from the F3D-2, and Superscale USAF/U.s. Air Force set.  I never did find a GOOD picture or three view of a USAF high vis scheme, and my TO 1-1-4 (circa 1983, which did have that!) is back in the states at the moment.  The silver is AS-16 by Tamiya (same thing Helo_34 is using!_ and the fabric control surfaces are painted Testors' flat aluminum bottle with the trim tabs painted Testors' flat steel.  The red is Testors' flat insignia red and the solar cap is Krylon gloss white.  Gear and  select panels are Academy bottle flat aluminum.  The cheat line is a Korea 1mm black artist's graphic tape, and you can't tell that it's raised at all!

The only real problems that I had with it were that the windows didn't sit all of the way into the frames, the clear parts were actually too big for the window holes.  And the tabs for the horizontal stabilizers were far too thick.  Without trimming the slot the stabs would leave a 3mm gap between the mating surfaces for the stabs and fuselage!  I've got the kit in light grey plastic also, and test fitted the parts for that kit when I noticed that I was having problems.  I think that it's a function of the mold being older and the OD green plastic bein slightly softer or something.  Because the older grey kit had nice fit.

Anyway, I'm hoping to see Helo's kit some day.  For now, I'm pondering what to do next.  I'm thinking maybe some of that Milicast armour would be quick and easy in the evenings...

DP: Great to hear you had a good vacation, Florida is nice this time of year before it gets hot and humid. And nice to see you got your battieries charged to get a pile of work done on your Chaffee.

Quick update... loved the instructions that came with Alliance Model Works PE!  Verlinden folks, please make a note of this... because I don't think I will buy another PE product from you.

Straps have been added to most stowage last night.  Don't we hate to see our leader Stikpusher picking up our stuff falling off the fenders?   Straps added to jerry cans... should I leave it roughed up or make strap smoother?

Ammo box and canteen on right turret are now secured.  Notice the back of canteen?  It looks better now instead of just glued on.

Straps added to all packs and canteen on left side of turret.  I need to fix one of straps now... just a drop of zap-a-gap CA will do. 

Thanks for looking...

Helo- Loved the shades on your Skytrain!

Guys- Yeah I am back from my week long vacation.  Trip to Florida was great and relaxing.  I have been busy working on figures for my Chaffee.  I just wanted to let you know what I have been doing...

The commander...

I have to admit that I was very disappointed with the quality of this especially it was coming from Dragon.  There were excessive seams everywhere that required alot of scraping and sanding.  The facial features were not that great... similar to Tamiya.  I didn't have this issue in my 2-3 previous Dragon figure sets.  Maybe this is an old DML kit or it was done by different manufacturer...

I scripted all lines and edges to make it look better.  Look at the collars above and below to see the difference.  After looking at the pictures I think I need do more on the straps and gears...

The weapons from Dragon set was not too good either that for the first time I stole some from Tamiya set.  Here's the proof...

Guns are not glued... dry fitting only.

I hope to have all figures and Chaffee primed over the weekend.  But first I will add straps to the stowage on Chaffee suggested by Stik.  I brought this PE set...

Thanks for looking... have a good one!

Hi Andy [Draken] ,

I tried sending you an email of some of the WIP pics from the AJ-1Savage , RB-45C Tornado and the one's I posted on this page including the C-54 Skymaster . However the email with the pic's attatched kept getting rejected and were not going through to you as they exceeded the 'mail limit'

For some reason they kept coming out way to big and I don't know how to re-size them . I'm not the brightest bulb in the pack when it comes computers [and most other things] .

Also when I finally got on to image shacks site to view my pics , all I could find were some helicopter pics I posted back in 2008 . I couldn't find any of my recent stuff and there were hundreds of pics that I have never seen before . I must be navigating their site incorrectly ?????

I'm disappointed you can't see my WIP pics , I guess as a last resort I can put them on a CD and post them to you .

Have you been able to see any of the pics I've posted or has this just been something that's only happened recently .

Anyway I think I'll tone down the darker center  wing panels on the R4D-1 Skytrain , I think  what spoiled the overall look was the three darker panels on the roof of the skytrain . I'll definitly lighten those  three panels and as you say cliff , just a light dusting over the wings .

Tamiya's rattle can AS-12 Silver is a synthetic lacquer , I doubt if the paint would go directly over the airbrushed tamiya acrylic , so I suppose I'll have to re-mask .

I hope there some way around you getting to view my pic's Andy , I only know how to use image shack for hosting pic's and my younger brother had to type out step by step instuctions for me . I asked him about photo bucket and using that instead but he say's even he had trouble figuring it out ; and he kinda has a bit of a "short fuse" when things don't work out the first or second attempt , so I try not to bug him about things too much , he still holds it against me from thirty five years ago when I was pushing along in the billy cart and the seat broke and got a little grass burn and gravel rash on his behind ; Some type of "scared for life" trauma scenario . I fell of my skate board and bike all the time and skinned my knees and the like , I turned out normal

             John .