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

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 .

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.

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...

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?

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?

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.

SP: Very sharp! Really like the way you did the dust cover over the mantlet and the overall weathering. Very convincing, subtle and not overdone. Great job sir!

Bondoman: Thanks- great story. Never served in the military myself and I thank God for the guys that did so I haven't had to.

On the darker side I spoke too soon about the MM matte finish. I sprayed a tank I've been painting and weathering for over a month the other night and must have put the matte finish on too heavy since I've got white areas where it pooled. Thankfully I was able to use fine sandpaper to remove some of it and hope I can use a few pin washes to cover the rest.  

Stik, AWESOME Centurion!  Way better than mine.  I'M UNWORTHY!

On another note, the postman arrived today and brought another kit.  I now have the PST 37mm AA gun.  I took a few pictures of this item when I was at the Korean War Memorial Museum and noticed one on eBay.  Yesterday's mail brought two more Matchbox F-86A's and a replacement F2H-3 Banshee for the one that the kid stole and destroyed.  I think that the first kit I'm going to build when I get back to Korea is going to be either the Lindberg LSU or the Revell-Ger. Privateer.  I noticed on the web that a guy in Japan kitbashed the Privateer with an Academy B-24.  Since I can get the Liberators dirt cheap in Korea I may have to do that.  I'm also considering breaking a collection in my stash here at home and including the old ICM 'battle dmaged' A-1 Skyraider to my Korean War kits.  That would be seriously sweet to have sitting on my Verlinden resin aircraft maintenance diorama base.

TOO MANY IDEAS!  TOO MANY KITS! 

....and never enough time Draken. I love those old battle damaged kits. Built most all of them when I was a kid and have a definite nostalgic spot for them. I did all the fast movers I could get..Phantom II, Super Sabre, Skyhawk, Fishbed... I dont think I ever saw the Skyraider. That one would be perfect for here!

Bondo, I understand about the family history. On my father's side I am the second generation American Soldier, considering that he was an immigrant here. He joined the Air Guard after his stint in the Regular Army, I think to get him close to avaition. He loves planes and worked around them most of his adult life. He ended up in a unit that had come back from Korea, the 452nd Bomb Wing, as aircrew on B-26s. I hope that my son will one day serves as well, but I do not push that on him at all. It will be his choice of his own free will as far as I am concerned.

Gamera, I'm gald you like the weathering. I was trying to go with a not so heavy dust look, as this is supposed to be a winter tank when dust is not so prevelant.

Hi Guys:

Started the Shooting Star ... ugh, lots of flash and big connectors on the sprues ... have spent a great deal of time doing parts cleanup and sanding parts that mate ...

Here are some photos of work to date ... paint starts tomorrow ...

For a way-old kit, everyting looks pretty good but for the flash ... appears  to be pretty accurate in measurement ... I don't ike the idea of gluing two parts together to make each fuse side ... seems as if when I have to do that, something always comes out crooked :-) ...

pepper

PARTS TREES

RIGHT FUSE SIDE SHOWING BREAKDOWN

COCKPIT

Pepper, it builds up quite nice. I did this one about 15 years ago. My first use of Metalizer paint on that build. I built the front and rear fuselage portion and left the rear free for removal as the instructions showed. Too bad I broke and lost the rear fuselage dolly...

Pepper, looking forward to seeing your F-80.  Is it me, or does the kit come with both Lockheed and Misawa tanks?  It also looks like there are Mustang tanks too.  Napalm?  I really think the F-80 is super cool, and I hope to get one or two done for this GB also.

Stik, "Saggin Dragon", my all time favorite!  Cool!

Here is my Sherman as of a couple of days ago:

I haven't been able to touch it since I took the picture.  Getting there though.  For my first tank in a long, long, time, I am happy with it so far.  Makes me want to build more!

Cheers,

Greg

Greg, that kit does (or did) come with the standard and Misawa tip tanks, as well a couple of Napalm tanks or 1000lb bombs for the wing racks. And yeah "Saggin Dragon" had some great nose art! The Sherman is coming along great. Careful now, once you start down the path to the dark side (armor kits), forever will it dominate your destiny... consume you it will!"

I was at a hobby store the other day with John Eaton "Jeaton" and he snapped up a T-33 rerelease.

I was at an airshow a couple of years ago with my buddy Airman Jim, who's retired and restores old radios for a hobby. They had a T-33 and he's talking to the guy...

"Ahh cud restoor thet radio for yall". Jim is from Memphis.

"That'd be swell, but who would be listening?".

Gregbbear

Pepper, looking forward to seeing your F-80.  Is it me, or does the kit come with both Lockheed and Misawa tanks?  It also looks like there are Mustang tanks too.  Napalm? 

Greg

Hiya:

Yes, Misawa tanks included ...I'll check on the tanks ... since it's been so hot this summer, I build on the kitchen table Mon - Fri while my wife's at work but everything is put away for Sat - Sun ...

Our big heat wave finally abated - 40 straight days over 100 ... however, the temps have dropped only to the very high 90's :-) ...

I'm going to start the helo build in the morning and after a review of the instructions, it looks as if there's going to be a lot of detail painting off the main body of the kit ... because of it's construction, most of the fiddly parts are in places that can't be reached after the top is put on the fuse framework ... so, lots of teeny tiny strips of masking tape to keep some edges paint free to aid  the gluing process ...

pepper

A question for the group ...

When I prep photos to add to this list, I resize them to 500 pixels wide ... ofttimes (almost always), when I post them, I see that tag underneath that says they've been 'resized' ... that's OK by me, but I wonder what size photos everyone else posts ...

I noted with stik's last set of pictures of his Centurion, that several were large and the rest were small, with the 'resized' tag underneath ...

Should I keep sizing the way I've been doing or post them in their original size - some as much as 3,600 pixels wide - or ?? ...

Thanks,

pepper

PS  our temps have gopne back over the 100+ mark - we had 1 day at 99.9 - what relief :-) ...

Pepper, I use Photobucket and I usually set all pictures at 640 X 480.  Sometimes at larger size 800 X 600 for those final pictures or with alot of details such as interior or figures.  3,600 sounds way too high... it will take longer time to download those pictures especially for those who have slower internet connections.

deafpanzer

Pepper, I use Photobucket and I usually set all pictures at 640 X 480.  Sometimes at larger size 800 X 600 for those final pictures or with alot of details such as interior or figures.  3,600 sounds way too high... it will take longer time to download those pictures especially for those who have slower internet connections. 

Hi dp:

That's what's confusing ... I use Photobucket as well and never have my pictures bigger than 500 x 500 at the absolute max ... most are smaller ... yet, I see pictures that fill my whole screen and I even have to scroll to see the whole thing ? ...

I'm aware of folks' slower intenet connections and that's why I size my pictures accordingly ...

'Tis a mystery to me for sure,

pepper

Maybe this will help you...

http://photobucket.com/faq/?catID=80&catSelected=f&topicID=632

First you need to click on the thumbnail so you can have the actual photo on your screen... then you will see a tab on top of the photo.  Your cursor has to be on the photo to make the tabs appear. 

Hey Guy's ,

There's a 1/76 Nitto/Fujimi M-30 Cargo Carrier and M-36 Jackson Tank on ebay that I was bidding on . I had $16 down on each one but have now been outbid at $16.55 . I'm not sure what each kit is really worth ?

Most 1/72-76 armor kits retail for around $20 at the hobby stores here in Sydney , I can't decide if these two kits would be worth paying up to twenty bucks each . Lately I've picked up a few IDF 1/35 Armor kits off ebay for $25 with free shipping ; It seems I can find big scale stuff for just $5 more than braille scale ......

Mmmmm what to do ........

                         John .

deafpanzer

Maybe this will help you...

http://photobucket.com/faq/?catID=80&catSelected=f&topicID=632

First you need to click on the thumbnail so you can have the actual photo on your screen... then you will see a tab on top of the photo.  Your cursor has to be on the photo to make the tabs appear. 

Thanks for the tip ... I read all the way through and saw nothing that I'm already not doing ... I use PhotScape to manipulate my images - cropping, resizing and so forth ... and again, as I've said, nothing larger than 500 pixels in either direction ...

My images have a lower pixel count than a 640 x 480 ... all in all, I have no complaint with what I post; rather, I was just curious why some images are hug (need to scroll to see) and others aren't ...

Oh well - back to the kitchen table and the Shooting Star ...

Thanks,

pepper

Helo H-34

Hey Guy's ,

There's a 1/76 Nitto/Fujimi M-30 Cargo Carrier and M-36 Jackson Tank on ebay that I was bidding on . I had $16 down on each one but have now been outbid at $16.55 . I'm not sure what each kit is really worth ?

Heya Helo!

With the Oz$ close to the Murcan$, I myself don't go over $10 USD for armour like those.  They're out of production, but there's tons of them out and about.  It just takes time for them to appear.  I didn't pay anything over $10 for ANY of my armour off of eBay.  Some I had to specifically buy from shops in the UK or such, and that was regular price.  Most of the Nitto/Fujimi kits I only pad about $5-7 USD for.  If someone wants them for $16.55, they must need them a lot more than you, or the other buyer is the seller.  Illegal as heck on eBay, but I've run into it.

Hope that this helps!

Here's an awesome site I found for Helo and Doc Win!

Since we're all three 1/72 scale dudes, this site should be of eminent value:

http://designer.home.xs4all.nl/models/models72.htm

It's got all sorts of links for all sorts of aircraft, but what really intrigued me was a comparison/contrast of three of the several F-84 kits.  He does the Academy, Heller and the Hobby Boss Easy Kit in the same article.  I only wish that he'd done the Tamiya as well.

Have fun dudes! 

Awesome link Andy , thank's for posting it .

I didn't increase my bids on those two Nitto tanks .I too wonder sometimes about the price of items on ebay being pushed up ???  I did see that Hat/Armourfast have those fast assemble M-36 Jackson tank kits for $15 and you get two in the box . So I'll think about that for a while .

This arrived in the post just now ...

I'm not sure if that hedge cutter on the front of the Cromwell was fitted while in use in Korea , I can easierly leave it off . Looks like a nice kit though .

                                           John .

I would say no hedgerow device. No pics of Cromwells in Korea show them, and I dont believe Korea has any hedgerows.

Stik is correct, no hedgerow cutter for Korea.  On another note, seeing the Hat/Armourfast kits for $15 is quite normal.  I have seen that to be pretty much the Mfgr Suggested Retail for them all over.  They're VERY easy, often snap together, and the detail is more often than not incredibly good.  I can't say what it would be like for an open top GMC...  I would imagine that a lot of the detail for the interior and the gun would be missing, but I've not built one of them yet. Here's where I do a build of the Nitto/Fujimi Jackson:

http://sites.google.com/site/modelingthekoreanwarin172scale/home/ground-vehicles-of-the-korean-war/allied-armour/us-fighting-vehicles/m-36-jackson

I'd be very interested to know what the Hat/Armourfast is like in comparison.  It can't be NEARLY as difficult to build! 

Okay , no hedgerow cutter .

I went and looked at the Nitto M-36 build you did andy and as soon as I read "epic waste of plastic" , I started to feel better about not bidding any more on the ebay kit . In saying that , you still did an awesome job in getting yours together , especially given all the fit problems and it's kinda ironic she ended up sitting on the back of the M-19 Tank Transporter . It came out looking quite good despite all the fit issue's .

I bought the 1/72 Armourfast M-36 Jackson Tank kit , I also stumbled across a Matchbox F-86A and snapped up that one as well ..........Following your lead again Andy .

Slightly off-topic but I bought one of those 1/72 Retrokit resin IDF Sherman VVSS Ambutank kits and it arrived today . You get the complete hull and just need to add the suspension , road wheels , tracks , front crew hatches and head lights . They suggest the Italeri M4A1 kit but I think any M4A1 kit might work .

The resin hull is absolutly flawless , there are molded on tools which look really good , I'm quite impressed with the quality , I think it's a lot better than the Solfig/Millcast M32 resin tank .

It really is very , very nice .

                        John

I'm in with a 1:72 Academy P-51D (77 Sqn RAAF) and a 1:48 Trumpeter Sea Fury FB.11 (RAN)

Ok then MA101... we look forward to seeing your work here!