WW2 thats a right purty Mig you have there!!!

Draken thats a great looking drakenwagen n accompanying heavy metal!!

John you're a machine mate!!! Looking great!!!

Draken - as follows is the list (to the best of my knowledge) of all the RN & Commonwealthships used in the Korean Conflict . I know Airfix do HMS Belfast in 1/600 or was it 1/700, but in her WW2 guise. You can get injection moulded 'tribal' class destroyers (the Canadians used a couple ) too. Mach 2 do a 72nd LST as well. Anyways here's the list - 

ROYAL NAVY

Carriers

HMS OCEAN (my uncles ship!), HMS TRIUMPH, HMS THESEUS, HMS GLORY  - all  'Colossus' class light fleet carriers roughly 13,500 ton standard displacement, 700' long, 48 aircraft embarked

HMS UNICORN - aircraft maintenance vessel/light fleet carrier, 20,600ton full load, 640' long, 35 aircraft. Usually RN depot ship at Sasebo.

Cruisers

HMS Belfast (now museum ship in pool of London), HMS NEWCASTLE, HMS BIRMINGHAM - 'Town' class light cruisers 11,500 tons, 12 x 6" guns, 613 feet long

HMS JAMAICA (the galloping ghost of the Korean coast), HMS CEYLON, HMS KENYA - 'Crown Colony' class light cruisers 10, 725 tons, 12 x 6" guns, 555 feet long (visually similar to 'town' class but shorter and lighter)

Destroyers

HMS COCKADE, HMS CHARITY, HMS COMUS, HMS CONCORD, HMS CONSORT, HMS CONSTANCE, HMS COSSACK - 'C' class destroyers 362 ft long, 2500 tons, 4 x 4.5" guns, 10x 21" torpedoes.

Sloops/Frigates

HMS ALACRITY, HMS ALERT, HMS AMEYTHST, HMS BLACK SWAN, HMS CARDIGAN BAY, HMS CRANE, HMS HART, HMS MODESTE, HMS MORECAMBE BAY, HMS MOUNTS BAY, HMS OPOSSUM, HMS ST BRIDES BAY, HMS SPARROW, HMS WHITESAND BAY. 

These were either 'Black Swan/modified Black Swan' class or 'Bay' class frigates.

Black swan - 1250/1350 tons, 299 ft long, 6 x 4", 4x 2 pdr pom-pom, 12x 20mm.

Bay - 1600 tons, 286 foot long, 4x 4", 4x 40mm, 4x 20mm.

Support ships

RFA MAINE - Hospital ship 7432 grt, ex Leonardo da vinci (1924) war prize

RFA FORT CHARLOTTE, RFA FORT ROSALIE, RFA FORT LANGLEY, RFA FORT SANDUSKY, RFA CHOYSANG

oilers

RFA ECHODALE, GREEN RANGER, BROWN RANGER, WAVE CHIEF, WAVE CONQUEROR, WAVE KNIGHT, WAVE LAIRD, WAVE PREMIER, WAVE PRINCE, WAVE REGENT, WAVE SOVEREIGN.

ROYAL AUSTRALIAN NAVY

HMAS SYDNEY - as 'Colossus' class

Destroyers

HMAS ARUNT, HMAS WARRAMUNGA, HMAS BATAAN - 'Tribal' class destroyers 2520 t (full), 377ft, 8 x 4.7" 4x 21" torpedo tubes.

HMAS ANZAC, HMAS TOBRUK 'Battle' class destroyers 3290t (full) 379ft, 4 x 4.5" 1 x 4", 8-10 40mm,  8 x 21" torpedoes.

Frigates 

HMAS CONDAMINE, HMAS CULOGA, HMAS MURCHISON, HMAS SHOALHAVEN - 'River' class frigates - details as 'Bay' class.

Royal Canadian Navy

Destroyers

HMCS CAYURA, HMCS ATHABASKAN, HMCS HAIDA (museum ship, now the only surviving 'tribal'), HMCS IROQUIOS, HMCS HURON, HMCS NOOTKA - as 'Tribal' class destroyers.

HMCS CRUSADER - as 'C' class

HMCS SIOUX 'V' class destroyer - 2091t (full), 363' long, 4 x 4.7", 2 x 40mm, 6 x 20mm, 8 x 21" torpedoes.

Royal New Zealand Navy

HMNZS TUTIRI, HMNZS PUKAKI, HMNZS ROTOITI, HMNZS HAWEA, HMNZS KANIERE - all 'Loch' class frigates 1435 t, 307 ft, 1x 4", 4 x 2pdr, up to 12 x 20mm, 2 x 'squid' A/S mortars, 1 x depth charge thrower.

I think that covers most of the RN & Commonwealth Navy ships that served in Korea, I may have missed some of the supply ships that the above is most if not all of the combatants! Hope it helps

Doc.

Draken, that Dragon Wagon looks great. I cant wait to see the final look!!!

Psycho, the MiG is coming along quite nicely! More please (when you can)

Doc, thank you for the great list. I am pretty sure that between Heller and Airfix several of those ships are available in 1/400 and or 1/600!

WWIIpyscho- Your MIG is looking great especially its base coat... smooth finish.  That's why I do armors because it will be impossible for me to do a very smooth finish.

Guys- The tools are DONE!  Applied Raw Umber oil paint to the wood handles then dry brushed the metal edges using MM enamel Steel. 

Closer shot...

The tracks were dry brushed with MM Steel too...

It is ALMOST DONE!  Applied MIG pigments to the tank especially its tracks and wheels.  Will post more pictures tonight when they are completely dry.  Can't wait to call it done...

A sneak peek at the tank commander... hope you can see how happy he is?

More tonight...

Looking beautiful DP!!! One quick critique though... the E-tool (folding shovel) is issued with an OD painted handle, not natural wood....  But absoulately gorgeous work!

Andy (DP), that looks awesome!  Very realistic!  I took your advice, and I went and bought some oil paint and thinner like you showed.  I did go armed with coupons though!

I'm glad to see ships being brought up.  I haven't built one since I was a kid, although I have some carriers in the stash.  I was hoping when some of the new kits of CVL carriers came out, that at least one would be of the later type as used in Korea.  No luck there!  I think the Chinese companies just find out what the others are going to make, and make one too!  I would like to have the Badoeng Strait, as she always carried Marine Corsairs.  The Dragon kits look nice, but waaaay too few aircraft.  What fun is an aircraft carrier with hardly any aircraft?  I thought at first that they might be going to release seperate aircraft sets, but they haven't.  As far as I can tell, nobody mainstream makes US aircraft of that era in 1/700.  I know Fujimi made some RN sets awhile back though.

Along those lines, I picked up a book at Half Price Books the other day called "Such Men As These".  It is about the Naval aviators of the Korean War.  I've only been able to read two chapters so far(I have to hide in the bathroom to be able to read in my house), but it is really good.

Has anybody seen the new Squadron F4U Walkaround yet?  I was curious about how much is devoted to the later marks.  I am going to end up buying it anyways, but still curious none-the-less.

I hope all have a safe Memorial Day.  And though they can't read this,  I salute all those who have made the ultimate sacrifice, so that I can live the life I do. 

Cheers,

Greg

Thanks guys, the Mig is done except the decals. I was supposed to send the ones that came with the kit back to get new ones since they are old and shattered when I tried taking them off the backing. That was like 2 months ago though, should really email tamiya back about doing that.

Stikpusher- Crap!  I wasn't sure about that earlier.  Will remember that next time... for now I will leave it because it just look as beautiful as your avatar.  Thanks for the feedback buddy!

Greg- Glad you got the oil paint and thinner.  For start, I would do a combination of 70/30% thinner to oil.  But for the wood handles... much less thinner so it'll appear heavier on the handles.  Remember those junk paintbrushes with white plastic rods?  That's what I use for wood handles... trim the brush to make it shorter so it will make nice streaks.  Good luck!

Guys- Another update on my Chaffee... today is a perfect day to finish it in memory of our soldiers. 

MIG pigments have been applied to the tank especially the tracks and wheels.  I used Rubble Dust and Africa Earth which has little redness. 

I still need to apply MIG pigment fixer... will do in few minutes.   Also I used a very good No. 2 pencil on the tracks and corners & edges of the tank where heavy traffic would be.

More pictures coming up...

That's a sharp looking Mig you have there WW11psyco , I hope you can get a set of replacement decals .

It's been raining quite a bit these past two days and with the rain peltting against the back window I haven't been able to stick the spraybooth exhaust out the window .

So instead of airbrushing I got stuck in on two more previously started Korean War builds and have them almost ready for masking ....

RVHP Boeing PB-1W "AEW Fortress" (Academy B-17F)

The WIP pic's are buried somewhere between page 20 and 60 ; I had these two together late last year but discovered that Academy molded the side fuselage wing join with too much dhedrial . So I tried to remove the wings on both and ended up pulling appart the fuselage halves as well .

Anyway I have finally got them back together and they both just need a little sanding around the roof area and I can start to mask .

The F2H-2P Banshee and F9F-2 Panther are ready to sand the seems , so I'm aiming to have all four into the spraybooth shortly .

Great work everyone .

                                           John .

Heya Helo!

That's a beautiful pair of birds you've got there.  Did the RVHP kit come with both radomes or is it two different sets.  I'd like to build a series of AEW a/c, even have the Academy B-17 and a vacuform radome back in the states, but that kit looks super-sweet!  I'm presuming it comes with decals, my TF-102 kit did.

I've got an Airfix Banshee in the states and I'm hoping it comes with the recce nose like some of the others did in the past.  If not, I'll still build it as a -2 version to sit next to my -3.

I'm really impressed with all of your projects that you have going on at once, and your storage methods for them.  I'm SUPER limited for space and equipment, or else I'd be doing the same, never letting the grass grow under my feet.  I also have a personal policy (at least in the past) of not starting a new kit until the one on the bench is done.  Back in the states that would result in months of non-modeling sometimes when I hated a kit or was waiting for a part!  Here, I'm more willing to prepaint, then start a bit on one, move to another, and then come back.  I've still never had more than three at a time here in Korea, though.  Currently, I've got the Milicast M-32, the Dragon Wagon/M-46 and I've prepainted my Otter in 'sky'.  Lemme tell ya, it was an absolute bastage trying to find something that was even close to that color!

Great work on the MiG Psycho!  Can't wait to see it in completion!  With all of the damage that some of my kits are receiving as of late, I may end up putting nearly all of them up by the ceiling.  That way I could have the Corsairs and Mustangs strafing and the Sabres battling the lone MiG!  And, of course, all of the RN stuff as far away from the USAF as possible!!!

Andy , the RVHP set comes with two radomes , here's some scans of the instructions and decals...

Box Art ;

Instuctions ;

Decals ;

The set is a little expensive and there is not a lot on the decal sheet but at least you get two radome's for the price .

Watch out for that wing fuselage join on Academy's B-17 , probably the first thing you would need to do is file the fuselage section where the wings join up . That's what I'll be doing when I start the SB-17 build sometime in the future .

You would probably fall of your chair if you knew how many projects I have going , not just Korean War builds but lot's and lot's of other builds......."the horror ,the horror"

Even the night shift elves weren't impressed when I informed them that 'we' have signed up for a second tour !.........Their reply was "Who's We Sucker"

Anyone ever fallen asleep at the hobby bench ???

                               John .

Helo H-34

Anyone ever fallen asleep at the hobby bench ???                              

No... but my friend used to tell me he had visions of me passed out at the hobby bench... a nearly finished bottle of a German alcoholic beverage close at hand... the stereo in the room playing Wagner... and me muttering over and over, " sieg heil... seig heil..."

Hey Stik ,

I've had one terrible experiance with beer and scale models ; I'm not much of a drinker but once I airbrushed a number of Canadian Helicopters and was really happy with the masking of the red and yellow paint scheme , so I went and celebrated my hard work with a couple of HAHN premium light brews and when finished I decided to remove the rest of the masks from the Helo's . Well , I wasn't watching what I was doing and kicked the leg of the small card table I had set up and then watched in absolute horror as all 6 helicopter builds suddenly became airborne and crashed into the ceramic tiled floor , completely destroying each one . Since then I never go near my builds after having a light breer or two...

A very sad and pathetic tale of woe .

                                           John.

See, this is what happens to me when I drink and dry-brush.  ( Well, not actually doing any dry-brushing, but that's what fit the best.)  I've started my Milicast M-32 Sherman ARV.  Milicast states that their kits are 1/76 scale, but  I have a hard time believing that given that 1/76 scale vehicles of other brands are either super huge against them or that the Milicast are so close in scale to HO kits.  At any rate, I started this on Sunday, it's now Tuesday evening before bedtime, and I took Monday off.

I now have the entire thing together and painted OD Green.  I'll be doing the tracks and tires tomorrow, it's too damned close to bed time.I want to put at least one figure in this, perhaps a driver as well, and I want to do some rigging on the A-frame.

Talk about a learning curve!  The bubbles in the resin were so huge and common, it was scary.  Now, don't think that I'm ripping on Milicast for that, that's just a function of resin kits and I understand it!  This is just one of my earliest ever resin kits, I'm still learning and adapting.  Some problems with bubbles:  The middle of the A-frame beams, the center of the mortar tube, the center of the mortar k-stand, all over the hull...  The hull and some other bubbles I was able to fill with putty and sand, the rest, well, I'm finding new uses for Testors' tube glue all the time.  My kit seemed to be originally designed to have a turret interior which was later dropped for a solid turret.  A _LOT_ of parts were marked off and not supplied.  Some were supplied in situ and still marked on the instructions.  I'm guessing that it underwent a serious redesign at some point.  some parts were left off of the instruction sheet, maybe they were forgotten about?  Others, it was obvious that they had been forgotten about and not included.  A good example being the spare tracks that were not crossed off on the instructions but were included in situ on the hull of the tank.

I'm hoping to get to decals tomorrow so that I can get to the figures and weathering on Thursday.  I've got tae kwan do practice tomorrow evening and then talk to the wife at around 9P or so, that's gonna delay the project a bit.  Meh, whatever.  I need the exercise and miss my wife. 

Too much stuff posted to comment on all of it so I'll just say 'nice work guys!'

Psycho: Beautiful job on the NM finish - gosh NM finishes are such a PITA to get right. Flawless work there. And decals for a MiG-15 shouldn't be too hard to find though I don't know about N. Korean ones.

Simpilot: Good to see you again.  I swear it's been ages since I've seen you around, unless I've just been missing your posts.

BTW: May miss the even the extended deadline with the M46. I am going to try to finish some stuff for a change instead of pulling something new out. Working on a WWII Japanese SPG now and would like to finish it off. Funny I watched 'A Bridge Too Far' yesterday and am tempted to pull out and start a British Sherman. I even have a tank commander that looks like Michael Caine... but I WILL resist temptation!!!

Gamera

Too much stuff posted to comment on all of it so I'll just say 'nice work guys!'

Simpilot: Good to see you again.  I swear it's been ages since I've seen you around, unless I've just been missing your posts. 

and yes it has been ages. Getting back going again but not going to be able to meet any deadlines so just going to be in the grandstands and finish long forgotten projects as time allows. Totalled my car last week. I am a ok so no worries there. Looking forward to getting back to the bench to work on MY stuff, after I do my bit for a present.

Gamera and Simpilot.. there is a two year extension on this GB... unitl July 2013! That was to co incide with the 60th anniversary of the Cease Fire. That is "for the duration " So I would imagine that ought to be enough time for most projects...

Stik- Two years extension!?!?!?!?  You got to be NUTS!   Only kidding, I think this is great.  Now I am thinking about building another one since I have the time next year.  Maybe a M3 Halftrack if they saw action in Korea?  I am sure they did... I am going to google about this.

Simpilot: Ouch, sorry about your car but glad to see you're ok. Deadlines? Heck it's just a hobby, no big deal, take your time!

Stikpusher: Ahhhhh, two years, even at the rate I move I should be able to finish the M46 by then!

Thanks!

Andy , I like the look of the Millcast M-34 Recovery Tank

I was looking on Millcast web site and I'm thinking of buying one , did you get other Korean War resin armor from Millcast or just the M-34 ?

              John .

Helo;

I picked up the M-18, M-39, M-32, M-19 Dual 40mm, M-3 W/40mm AA, and the LVT-3 from Milicast.  I also ordered the 1/72 scale chain and the M-3 halftrack stowage.  Overall I'm really happy with their products.  Some comments:  The M-18/39 didn't come with instructions, the pour stubs on the tracks are really finicky, and (as with all resin kits) there's a fair number of bubbles.  The problem with the bubbles is that in this scale they're comparatively massive.  A tiny bubble can cause an entire gun tube to be in two pieces.  I also didn't like the M-2 .50 cal MG's; they're in four pieces and teh barrels break every time I try to remove them.  I bought a pair of the Academy Deuce and a halfs  for the ma deuces.  I  also wish that the tanks had the tanks came with separate track/wheel systems, it would make painting and assembly much easier.

Overall, I'm really happy with my purchases.  I'm looking at maybe ordering a few things from them again in the future.

Andy , You must have read my mind , as I was looking at the pic you posted of the M-32 and was wondering how difficult it would be to airbrush the road wheels and tracks seeing that they appear to be in one molded piece. I think I'll go for the M-32 anyway along with the LVT-3 . A while back , Stikpusher kindly posted some 3 sided profile diagrams of 3 different LTV's , I was thinking of trying to modify an airfix LTV-4 but it looks to difficult for a non-armor builder like myself , so the Millcast is probably the better way for me to go .

There's an artists rendering in my Squadron , "Armor in Korea" book which shows a M32A1B3 at Pohang , helping to change the rotor head on a HRS-1 (H-19) ; I've cut away the transmission/rotor covering from my H-19 and would really love to add the M32 to the dio ....

Thanks for the info on the Millcast resin armor , it is very much appreciated Andy .

                              John .

stikpusher

In remembrance of the 60th anniversary of the Korean War, this GB kicks off on June 25th 2010 and runs thru July 27 2011  now 2013. Any kit from any active combatant, land, sea, or air is allowed. Also allowed, in light of the current standoff in Korea and any commemorative schemes/events, are any current equipment from the ROK, DPRK, or USA currently stationed in Korea. Previously started and crossover builds are welcome. The main point is to build, have fun as such, and remember. This war saw many firsts- first jet vs jet combat, first wide scale use of helicopters in many combat roles, first open combat between the superpowers in the Cold War, the first modern 'limited' war. If you have a question about eligibility, ask away. I will do my best to get an answer for you ASAP.

****Edit- due to great participation and by agreeemnt of many participants, the end date has been extended to match that of the 60th anniversary of the Cease Fire July 27 2013.

troublemaker66

stikpusher:

In remembrance of the 60th anniversary of the Korean War, this GB kicks off on June 25th 2010 and runs thru July 27 2011  now 2013. Any kit from any active combatant, land, sea, or air is allowed. Also allowed, in light of the current standoff in Korea and any commemorative schemes/events, are any current equipment from the ROK, DPRK, or USA currently stationed in Korea. Previously started and crossover builds are welcome. The main point is to build, have fun as such, and remember. This war saw many firsts- first jet vs jet combat, first wide scale use of helicopters in many combat roles, first open combat between the superpowers in the Cold War, the first modern 'limited' war. If you have a question about eligibility, ask away. I will do my best to get an answer for you ASAP.

****Edit- due to great participation and by agreeemnt of many participants, the end date has been extended to match that of the 60th anniversary of the Cease Fire July 27 2013.

 

Wow! Now, will this be the longest running GB in forum history....seriously asking, not being a wise guy as usual... I have to check my stash...might have a few eligable kits so I can jump in!

No, the longest running GB honor (or I should say honour) goes to the Fleet Air Arm GB, where I got my inspiration from. As far as I know that has been going on for at least 3 years now... and no end date in sight!

But yes please do jump in! I know I have several (a score or more) kits in my stash that all qualify and would like to add a few here. Especailly that Tiger M46...

stikpusher

 

No, the longest running GB honor (or I should say honour) goes to the Fleet Air Arm GB, where I got my inspiration from. As far as I know that has been going on for at least 3 years now... and no end date in sight!

But yes please do jump in! I know I have several (a score or more) kits in my stash that all qualify and would like to add a few here. Especailly that Tiger M46...

Gladly... I beleive the -3N was the only variant used in Korea.

Stik, HQ Squadron of 1st Marine Air Wing HQ used at least 1 regular -3.  Tail code "AZ".  It appears in a couple of Squadron books.  Some other AZ aircraft that I have seen are an R4D, and TBM-3E too.  I beleive Helo John has the R4D in his line-up.

If anybody is looking for some Korean War stuff on sale, Luckymodel has a few things.  They have the 700 scale USS Bon Homme Richard for $21.99, 1/72 A-26B for 12.99, 1/72 HO4S-3/HRS-1 for 7.99, and even a T-6 Texan for 5.59.  Not bad!  It is truly amazing how much cheaper they are on Italeri, Academy and Hobbyboss.  It just goes to show you how bad the importer marks that stuff up(here in the US).  They are even considerably cheaper on Aires, and Quickboost.  MRC and Stevens  really gouge us poor American hobbyists. :(

Thinking about getting the Sword RF-80.  Anybody here build one?  What do you think?

Cheers,

Greg

Since I didn't babble on long enough earlier......

Recently, I went looking for Wolfpack decals.  They are located at www.millcreekconsultants.com.  While there, I found something I had been looking for high and low, the EF-10B (F3D-2Q) in VMCJ-2 colors.  What does that have to do with Korea?  Nothing really, other than I saw where you could make requests for future sheets.  Seeing as how it is hard to get Korean War markings for several planes that are readily available, such as the Starfire, Twin Mustang, Skyknight, Panther, Banshee, Privateer etc., I thought I'd make such a request.  The owner replied rather fast even.  He said that he would keep it in mind, but he didn't get many requests for KW aircraft.  Which brings me to why I brought this up....  I am sure there are some of you here that would like to build some of those (and more) aircraft, but are having trouble getting decals.  If so, please write Mark Bilas an email that you too would like a KW aircraft sheet (or two).  His address is:  mark.bilas@millcreekconsultants.com.

If you haven't seen any Wolfpack decal sheets, then you should have a look.  Each sheet has around eight interesting aircraft.  Some sheets are quite eclectic.  They are supposed to be some of the best researched decals out.

Thanks for your support guys.  I have a stash of planes that I want to put here, but aren't marked for Korea.  For example:  the new Italeri F4U-7 (reissue) has the parts to build an AU-1, but the reissue doesn't have the decals.  The RoG Panther has Blue Angels and a post-war plane, Heller F-94B is non-KW craft, RoG Privateer is no-go, got a good old Airfix/MPC Banshee?  good luck with those decals, and the list goes on....

What do you guys think?  Anything that you guys are missing?  It would be interesting to see what is on everybody's list of wants.

Cheers,

Greg

Just off the top of my head , those B-26 Korea based Invaders had some really cool nose art , also the F-51 comes to mind as well and the C-47 Skytrain "Kyushu Gypsy" and C-47 Flare ships .

I would have to check my reference books for more options ,also some UNITED STATES AIR FORCE /ARMY / MARINES lettering in black ,white and yellow in different sizes .

                            John .

Sounds like a great idea... we have a few folks here who would seem to be good candidates to send him a few worthy suggestions... Personally I would love to have markings for Manny Fernandez' F-86. The #3 US Ace of the conflict and overlooked decalwise. He Jabara often flew one another's aircraft.