Helo,

Didn`t know about you guys and 72 scale...now you know how much I pay attention to things  ...I`d be using my magnifier all the time instead of part time with my 48 scale kits..lol. I have a dozen or so 72 scale kits only `cause I can`t get`em in 1:48. I`d love to see a Commando in 1:48, besides vacuform.

Your kits looking good, keep up the good work!

Len

Stik, I never realized that Capt Fernandez's planes weren't available.  I have 4 F-86's in the stash, and other than the "Mig Mad Marine" Fujimi, I hadn't paid attention to the markings. 

Jeaton, where did you get the decals for your F-82? 

My main purpose for this post was to put us back on page one.

Cheers,

Greg

The decals for the F-82 are from an old Microscale sheet, 72-183.

Now we're doubled down on page 1

Stikpusher, score up another one for the braille scalers - heres my finished F-94B. Enjoy...

Now, whatever next... (though it will have to be a slow one, have a TON of other stuff to build now)

Doc

Good looking Starfire Doc!

Cheers,

Greg

Beautiful Starfire, Doc!  It's definitely gonna add to the front page of the group.  I've got mine on the shelf beside me and I've got the same decal set that you used.  I'll probably be swapping around the serial numbers on mine, Then I'll give it a different colour radome and I'm giving incredibly serious though to opening the canopy.  I did that with my ND ANG kit a few years back and it really made the kit look nice.  In the mean time, I'm making progress on the C-46.  I finished the majority of the interior and glued the fuselage together last night.  I was giving some incredibly serious thought to putting some internal ribs in the fuselage, but I chickened out.  So far it's turning out really good.  I've got the cargo doors open, the passenger door on the starboard side, and the over wing ports have been taken out.

Had I noticed them before I glued the fuselage together, I might have even opened up the under floor cargo doors on the starboard side.  Helo was right, the fuselage is going together wonderfully, only a wee bit of super glue and filler putty needed.  Hopefully I can get a majority of the engines/wings done this weekend and start on something else by the middle of next week.

Excellent work on the F-94B Doc

I'll have to go back a couple of pages and check again how you drilled out for the gun ports .

I'm yet to do that to my F-94 Build .

Andy , it sounds like you making good progress with the C-46 . However have the putty at the ready for those gaps on the wing leading edge between the fuselage and engines .

Did you cut the lower flaps on the cowl and gently ply them open slightly ???

As for me , it has been a bit of a slow week getting stuff done ; I'm not much further progressed from where I was this time last week ....

I airbrushed the Heller AD-3 Skyraider , gloss sea blue and have only managed to mask the leading edge on the Banshee and I'm about to start the same on the Panther .

I still haven't painted the Yak-18 or the other Mach 2 S-51 and the two PB-1W AEW Fortress's are still sitting in the spraybooth desperatly waiting for some paint . Hopefully I can get the two jets and helo masked tomorrow and I can have a big paint session spraying gloss sea blue on everything .

That's the plan for the weekend , I guess we'll see what happens !

                                        John .

Something else I just remembered was that Doc Win mentioned earlier about the M-4 Tractor being used in the Korean War , I found this pic in Squadrons Armor book ;

It does look a little different to the 1/72 Hasegawa M-5 Tractor , does anyone else make a M-4 in 72 or 76 scale ???

                  John

Hey Helo;

I haven't gotten to the cowl flaps yet, but it's on the list.  Did (or maybe it should be are) you use(-ing) the plastic or vinyl tires for your kit?  I was planning on the vinyl ones at this point.  I also went with the four bladed props.  Test fitting of the wing portions to the fuselage are showing it to be a pretty good fit at this point.  But things do change!  I wonder if cutting the flaps out might have made things fit better?

As for the M-4 HST, I' 95% sure that Milicast has one.  I had been under the impression that the M-4 was an older design and figured that the M-5 replaced it.  News to me!  Go figure, armour is not really my strong point, I'm more of an aircraft dude, m'se'f. 

I suppose, if I have to order an M-4 from milicast, I might as well also pick up another M-39...

"...Two days they said, we've been here nine..."

Different war, but the quote matches my moving experience related to the internet at my new home. The new residence was wired for satellite and not cable (or at least not within the past two decades), so the fifth guy they sent out finally got us hooked in yesterday just as I was leaving for work.... I can now resume the helm here.

As far as the move goes... potentially I may have the building area of the new man cave opertional this weekend.... next week certainly. 

Greg, you are right... I would rather have dental work done than go thru that again...  I hate to say this but I have too much stuff!!!

 Deaf, most most of my builds survived the move well. I had one the was lost to an unrelated accident a couple days before and one had some damage here during set up, but nothing too bad thankfully.

Draken, sorry to hear about the loss of another build to a little thief... makes you want to implement your own Sharia at your work, doesnt it? Very nice work on the latest completed builds! You are correct on the almost done vs done pics... I suppose I can use an almost done for the page one roster...

Helo, the official nomenclature on a 105 howitzer Sherman in US Army ordinance parlance is M4 (105mm) or M4A3 (105mm). You can add HVSS if it has the later style suspension, as the ones in Korea would have for a M4A3 (105MM) HVSS. The M4 variant would have been phased out and sold or given to other countries after WWII under Military Assistance programs.

Jeaton, very nice work on the classic old Monogram F-82... now if only Revell would upscale that kit in to 1/48. I have read all for too many horror stories about the Modelcraft kit to seriously consider that kit....

It's nice to be back...

Dr. Win-  Beautiful work on that F-94!  I love those jets built the period between WWII and Vietnam War.

Stik- Welcome back!  Glad most of your models made it to new home... go to Lowe's or Home Depot and get those awesome metal cabinets from Gladiator.  They were so easy to set up and they look cool too! 

Well I do need something to hold the rest of the stash now that I can get it all out of the cartons... But Lowes will be my destination, not Home Depot...their cusotmer service ticked me off some time back (acting like they are doing a huge favor to perform their job) so I dont give them my business any more.

Stik- Yeah, thats where I brought my set from... Lowe's.  Always liked their customer service too.  I spent about $500 on those sets... brought two floor cabinets and one wall cabinet along with many gimmicks such as shelves, hooks, trays and wall panels. and it was worth every penny.  I know it was a big investment and I plan to be in this hobby for a very time...

Looking forward to have you back as soon as you are settled. 

I'm happy that your move to a new residence went okay Stik , although waiting all that time for the internet to be connected must of been quite frustrating to say the least .

The pic DP posted above of his spraybooth and work area is awesome !

I'm very lucky to have an entire room for my stash of kits and indoor spraybooth as well . Which leads into this question about a couple of 1/72 helicopter kits I spied in the stash while waiting in between airbrushing coats of paint this afternoon .

At first I was looking at the Russian/Soviet Helicopter kits and started to wonder if the Russians were flying any of their Mil Mi-1's around just inside the Chinese boarder during the Korean War but I couldn't find any reference to that in any of my Helicopter books , particulary the Soviet Military Helicopter books I have .

So I then started thinking about the 'modern era' aspect and came up with a couple of options ;

One is an AZ Model kit of the Hughes MD 500MD . There are five decal options and one is for the South Korean Air Force .

The other kit is a Zvezda Mil Mi-8 , I was wondering if it would be suitable for the North Koreans ???

At this stage I have no idea what the color scheme and markings would be on the North Korean Mil Mi-8 , all I found on google so far was a list of Nth Korean helicopters which included the Mil Mi-24 / 8 / 4 / 2 and even some knockdown kits of the MD 500D from Germany ?

Anyway it's just a thought , the South Korean MD 500MD seems like it might be in current use , I just dont have any reference pic's as yet to the North Korean modern Helicopters in use .

                                 John .

Heya Helo!

The RoKAF still fly the 500MD's, I see them fairly often over my area.  TOTALLY different sound compared to the -4's and -60's!  As far as the NKAF (DPRK-AF), I know that they have Mi-8's and -17's, and I've read in a Janes Defense Weekly several years ago about the buying some used -24's from somewhere (don't recall where) in exchange for some military hardware.  I don't know what model of Hind is being used, and I can't get enough resolution from Google Earth to find out. 

Do a google search for Google Earth North Korea (or DPRK) and you'll get POOP-LOADS of cool stuff.  One group went so far as to mark every single SAM site in the country.  If you go up the East Coast to Wonsan and the island to the north and east of that harbour, there's a HUGE submarine base!  If you go inland from there, you can see shore battery emplacements and if you zoom out a bit and go down the coast there's the standard "Star of David" SA-2 SAM emplacement on a number of mountain tops.

Yes, I have very little to do in my spare time at work... 

Working on the Commando, I've got the center fuselage/under wing section in and attached the wings.  Okay, it's a SERIOUSLY f'd up joint.  But it's no where nearly as bad as your's, helo!  My cockpit canopy fit in nearly perfect!  I was incredibly surprised!  I had several problems when test fitting, but they seem to have been cleared up by now.  I'll be letting the fuselage sit for a while, a day or two, before working on it any ore.  Now onto the engines, props, gear, and deciding what's next on the agenda.  I'm thinking about maybe some Communist figures or support vehicles.  Maybe a CCF IS-2 or ISU-? tank next!

I have not been as busy with a move before ever!!! Workign as hard here as in the initial stages of my deployment overseas in 2005 Almost as tired too... I should have all the little last odds and ends settled this afternoon...

Helo, the modern choppers would be great... I would love to see some of Mr Il's Hips, Hinds and a ROK Loach...

I found a pic or I should say a 3 sided artwork profile of a Nth Korean Mil Mi-8 ...

My FS paint reference file doesn't list any matches for the Humbrol 114 Russian Green or the underside color of 147+89 Matt light grey+middle blue to either Gunze or Tamiya acrylics .

In any case I'll make a start on Mr II's Hip C ......He should be most pleased , he looks quite happy in the pic Stik posted !

                                  John .

Just use  your favorite Russian Green and something along the lines of a Luftwaffe Light Blue such as RLM78.

Humbrol 114 was close to the Darker Green of the Mitsubishi F1 JSADF colors in the Gunze line. It is more of a Medium Green than a Dark Green.

Well , in between airbrushing coats of paint on some of my builds , I decided to have a closer look at the Zvezda Mil Mi-8 Hip C .

Looking at my acrylic paint inventory I saw that I had some Gunze H-302 (FS34092) Green and some H-67 (RLM65 Light Blue) . I think these two colors might be suitable for the North Korean Mil Mi-8 .

The instructions call for the interior to be flat gull gray , so I went with Gunze H-315 and airbrushed the interior  fuselage halves , cockpit and cabin pieces .

Once the paint had dried , I then glued in the fuselage windows and fitted the cockpit/cabin interior into one side of the fuselage .

I must say that the fit of everything is quite good , however in my excitement to close up the fuselage halves , I didn't notice that the cockpit bulkhead wall is just a fraction too wide and it caused a very slight gap at the front roof section , but it's no big concern .

I filled the gap with some superglue applied with a tooth pick but the rest of the fuselage fitted together really well .

There is no space for fishing sinkers in the front of the Hip C , so I added a couple up on the roof inside the rotor/engine transmission covering .

This is a great kit to put together and I'm really suprised how quick the build has gone so far .

A little sanding and puttying tomorrow and then I'll fit the front canopy in place and she will almost be ready for masking for painting .

                                          John .

Very nice John! I think your choices of colors sound pretty good... You're sure making quick work on this one (as usual!) ( do love the Hip. It is quite a big beast to see in flight. Very powerful roar to hear and feel when it's nearby.

Nice Hip John!

Stik, glad to see you survived the move.

Decal update of sorts.  Scouring the world for decals....  I'm not mentioning any old stuff, since it could be spotty finding it, so these are current or recent releases.

Zotz makes a A/B-26 Invader sheet that has 14 different ships.  A few of them are USAF in Korea, to include the "6th Chadwick" and "Versatile Lady" featured in a Squadron book (VL is supposed to be here in San Antonio).  It is 72nd and called "Naughty Invaders" for B models which are the gun noses.  That is perfect, because the Italeri A-26 on sale at Luckymodel only comes with WWII markings.

Zotz also makes a sheet on the Auster AOP in 72.  I have no idea what planes are on it.  It is on sale at Greatmodels right now, but they have the wrong photo for the product picture (F-8 Crusaders, hard to get those mixed up).

For those of you that have a couple of Airfix/Mpc F-80's, and Heller T-33's laying around, and don't want to trust the old kit decals, Xtradecal has three sheets of F-80's and T-33's.  The first two are US and the others are non-US operators, so I will focus on the first two.  Number one has "Evil Eyed Fleagle" and a couple of other KW birds, and number two has "Beer City Special" plus others.

Finally, a maker called Blackbird has 72 scale F9F-2 Panther sheet.  It has two USMC and one USN bird.  They offer the sheet in 48th also, but their really isn't a shortage of decals in that scale.  This looks good since the new HB 72nd Panther only comes with one USN and one Argie bird.  That and with the Hase, who knows?  The VMF 311 markings are pretty much identical to the late war -5's, so if you have the Matchbox/Revell machine, you can use those markings, just substitute the model Id, and bu# by the tail.

If anybody knows what is on the Zotz's Auster's sheet, please share.

The Eduard M4 Sherman I mentioned before, has the old style suspension.  The new one is called VVSS?  On ground, Stik, I forgot what you said about whick Amtracs were used.  Have you seen the new Dragon ones?  Would either of them do?  I am thinking not, but it would be nice!

Although I am enjoying my Phantom GB builds, I am really looking forward to getting back to some WIP's for here. 

I just finished the book "Such Men As These".  I highly recommend it.  It is about the Naval Aviators in Korea.  Much more about the men, and less about the hardware.

I hope everybody is having a good weekend, except for those of you on the other side of the date line.  In that case, I hope you HAD a good weekend.

Cheers,

Greg

Great info on the decal sheets Greg

I used the Zolts Invader decals on my B-26 and they were great , I was hoping to find some Korea markings for the clear nose A-26C Invader but haven't seen any as yet !

On a seperate issue , the 1/72 Mach 2 U.S. Navy LCT-6 just arrived at the front door... 

Overall the kit looks quite good , with no excess flash on any of the parts .

There are 12 figures included as well as some chain for the front ramp and anchor

Instructions are on both sides of the single sheet are appear to be quite informative .

Should be a fun build and my first ship build ever !

Greg also mentioned about eduards early style M4 105mm , I was wondering the same thing and thought about buying another Hobby Boss M4A3E8 and using either the Eduard or Dragon 105mm Howitzer on the HB kit which has the HVSS suspension ???

                                                   John .

I just spied this 1/72 Dragon M4A3E8 105mm Sherman from a on-line hobby store here in my neck of the woods .

Am I right in thinking that the M4A3E8 is the later style Sherman with the HSVV suspension .

                                     John .

Cool looking landing craft John.

I thought the glass nose "C" from Italeri came with KW markings?  There is an over priced set of Esci KW decals from a guy on Ebay.  It has a B-26C along with a Yak-9U, F4U-5N, Mig 15, Sea Fury, and I think an F-86 and an F-51.  I guess it isn't the price, so much ($15), it is that his shipping is pretty steep for a set of decals.  Nit picky on my part, I suppose.

Has anybody built the Airfix A-26B/C?  The MPC release has some good options, but who knows how those old decals have stood up?

Using oil paints for weathering for the first time.  Going okay so far.

Cheers,

Greg

Thanks Greg! I have begun the slow process of getting my hobby area set up. I know it will be operational by Friday providing no suprises occur.... As far as Korean War Amtracs go, the main troop carrier varaint was the LVT-3 Bushmaster type. The LVT-5 with the 75mm howitzer turret was also used in Korea.

John, yes that Sherman kit would work for a Korean War build. Nearly all in service US Shermans had been built or rebuilt with the HVSS (AKA E8) suspension by the time of the Korean War.

SP: Glad to see that the move went pretty well, at least hopefully you won't have to go though all that again for some time.

John: Very cool looking Mi-8. When the 'Red Storm Rising GB' kicked off I looked at several Soviet choppers but decided not to jump in yet another GB when I can't seem to finish what I'm working on now. Very cool helicopter and it looks like a nice model.

Greg: Have the Zotz A-26 sheet in 1/48th. Haven't used any of it yet but everything is well printed and you get three sheets of decals to hold all the schemes. Besides the US ones there are several very colourful South American planes.

Great work all around folks! I did start some work on the M46, gluing the little PE fiddly bits to the hull. I suppose maybe I'll have her done in two years

Nice deals for me on eBay the last weekend.  I picked up two more Academy/Hobbycraft 1/72 F-86's, a T-33, and a Short's Sunderland.  I hadn't planned on Sunderland being in my collection, but when you can snag one for $13 including postage, well, what the heck!   The F-86's will just be different decal schemes; One in SAAF, one USAF, one something else that's USAF.  I'll maybe make an RT-33, maybe just leave it as a T-33, who knows...  I don't know when I'll actually get them in hand, maybe a month from now when my wife gets here in Korea.  It's a pain to mail things from the states because there's no more surface freight from the USPS.  Everything is airmail and the price is considerably higher.  I usually have my wife mail me kits when she send my medicine (not available here in the RoK!?!?) every few months.  She also throws in my magazines, too!

Well, happy modeling all!  I love the quick progress on the Mi-8, Helo!

OOPS , I forgot that the 1/72 Italeri A-26C Invader has Korean War markings , what I really ment to say was , I was looking for decals for a silver finish A-26C Invader

Anyway back to Kim Jong-il , Mil Mi-8 , I decided to mask the canopy before installing it , as it is much easier to handle the canopy .

 So she is already for the spray booth ....

I have left off the front engine intakes because I want to pose the Hip with the rear cargo doors open and I don't know if I'll need some more weight up front ? This way I can add more fishing sinkers if required later on .

This has been my fastest build for quite a while and the Zvezda kit is excellent in fit all round .

I just ordered another Mil Mi-8 and a Mil Mi-17 along with Dragons M4A3E8 105mm Howitzer

I'm not sure if the weapons system is fitted to the Nth Korean Hip C but she might look a little naked with out the rocket pods !!!

So it's off to the spraybooth

                                       John .

John: Dang, I'm going to have to pick up a Mi-8. I generally don't do 1/72nd but that's a really nice kit. And it's good to see 'Beloved Leader' looking over your build!

Anyway here is the Dragon M46. Gee, that's some fantastic box art.

I started a little work on her. It came with an extra set of link tracks, a turned metal barrel, and a pile of PE parts for a great price. I'm happy to get the kit but kinda sad since some fellow had assembled all the aftermarket extras and then passed away before he could start on the kit and his wife tossed the whole shebang on ebay. Poor guy  

I realize I'm stating the bleeding obvious and it's difficult to find actual pic's of current DPRK military Aircraft on the net as I spent most of last evening looking . All I really wanted was an artwork color profile of a Mil Mi-24 Hind and Hughes MD-500D but didn't find anything as yet .

I was tempted to break open the 1/72 Italeri Hind D/E but with no idea of the color  scheme for the DPRK the kit is sitting on the bench still with the shrink wrap on .

I did see a decal sheet on the net for the 1/48 Monogram Mil Mi-24 with I thought was a red star with a circle around it but it didn't mention anything about a North Korean Hind .

Anyone know of a color  profile of the DPRK Mil Mi-24 Hind ? or the 500D ?

                                John .