OFFICAL NO AFTERMARKET Group Build

jmabx,

Nice work on the Flamingo? Not sure what that is but I like the carved out scoop.

Railfan,

Cool scratch building idea, I like how you are always thinking away from the box!

Progress is slow as I am working now...Dam! Anyhow pictured is the lower 1/2 with the plates that are above the tracks being removed so the tracks can be assembled on the lower 1/2 with out interference and clearance for painting. The link & length bits (1/72) with some longer sections molded in lengths.

Also pictured is a 1/8" aluminum tube that will replace the (GASP!) kits barrel.

Not sure if I will model the hatches open or not...? Regardless its best to thin now rather than later on.

If open I may scratch build a better gun breech, yet to be decided.

I like the progress on the Hezer Supression Fire. Even though it'll be a pain to do, be thankful you even have a job. No matter what it is, I can think of at least 100 people on the un-employment list that would do anything to get any type of job.

Mabe I out to follow this Hezer very closely, especially since I'm considering a switch to 1/72 scale armor (it's cheep, and doesn't take up a lot of space) I did a 1/72 scale Jagtiger a while back, and I'm pleased with the results (still need paint for it) Now, I just need to get another armor kit to cut up and turn into an abandoned tank.

Railfan 233,

The kit I chose is not  without flaws, I had to build the version captured in Warsaw yet the markings are different from the one I remember from a documentary on the uprising. Most of Dragon's new line of 1/72 scale kits are excellent builds & detail. I have a few out west and highly recommend them.

Kermit thanks for the comments! I'm not all that into cars but I like to model them. The only way I'll do that though is by beating 'em up and rusting them out. I did a '67 Firebird last year and posted it here. I've also got the '41 Chevy pick up waiting in the stash!

Railfan thanks for the kind words! This build was fun but your dumpster dragster looks like it'll be even more fun! Good luck with that. Can't wait to see how it turns out.

Jeremy thank you sir! All the weathering was done with a brush. After the tedious job of dry brushing high lights on the wing panels, I took white oil paint and streaked it across the wings, much like you would for the dot filter technique. Since I was nervous to use more than just white, I only applied white first to see how it looked. When I thought that looked nice, I applied a little brown and a little blue, sparingly but I think it does the trick.
Also, your Flamingo is looking pretty excellent yourself!

Damon thank you, you make me blush with a comment like that I don't think many people totally brush paint much any more (including me) so I was surprised when it turned out as well as it did. I received my regulator and moisture trap in the mail on Friday so I'll be back in business with the A-4 in no time!

Thanks again guys

I finished my SBD, sorry but I felt outta place here because I lost(deleted) my scratch built cockpit pictures accidentally. This Monogram kit was tough considering it was warped and a vintage kit. Well thanks for looking, but its not too great.

Thanks for lookning all comments welcome .

From what I see, the cocpit looks pretty good.

I know what you mean with the problems with the kit, I built it a few months ago, and it was tough. You did better with the paint job than I did on mine. I just shot it with flat grey primer, and left it at that.

Great job.

Beautiful work all around boys! Love the Dauntless.

Vetteman contacted me with the question to let you guys know he will be back in a couple of days. His computer died appearantly so he had to order himself a new one.... I'm sure he is foaming at the mouth enduring FSM withdrawal by now LOL.

Richard

kermit

 His computer died appearantly so he had to order himself a new one.... I'm sure he is foaming at the mouth enduring FSM withdrawal by now LOL.

I feel your pain Vetteman.

 I've had my computer die many times. Each time we send it in to get fixed, it comes home with a new problem (Computer #1, which I'm using now, is apparently missing it's soundcard, while computer #2 is missing it's soundcard, and won't register any input from the keyboard)

 It seems like the computer picks the most inconviniant time to die on you, when it's time to send off up-dates on a build here, or just about anything.

I can't remember how many times my computer froze up when I was up-loading to photobucket, and it took all my energy to restrain myself from going to the garage, and getting an ax, and comming back to destroy the computer.

I still havn't gotten the "Blue Screen of Death" yet.

Dam... I warned vetteman' his Comadore 64 was due for a melt-down! Oh well he deserves a new system to keep up with everything...I hear they have color screens now?

Railfan 233,

Before your time, the first generations of computers featured black screens with lime green graphics! Oh the progress and technology!

Anyone have a graphics card for a Atari 2600? (ha ha kidding!) yet Pac-Man was awesome on that system!

Raptordriver very nicely done! Nice clean build, nice paint job, looks great to me! Too bad you lost your progress pics though. It woulda been nice to see inside.

I remember the old computers with the green graphics. I recall playing such great games as Oregon Trail on them. The first computer I remember my parents owning was an Acer that used the dos operating system, of course. I also recall our printer had those ridiculous perforated edges that you had to tear off your 2 page elementary school essay. Ah, the good ol' days.

Oregon Trail... I remember that from when I was a kid! You had to cross a river without tipping the wagon I think. That was around 25 years ago! Cool!  

Raptordriver - Nice work on that old kit! I built a couple of them when I was younger and believe that I still have one in the stash somewhere. If I remember correctly, they didn't fit together too well but it looks like you got it fittin' alright! Paint looks great too.

SuppressionFire

Before your time, the first generations of computers featured black screens with lime green graphics! Oh the progress and technology!

Anyone have a graphics card for a Atari 2600? (ha ha kidding!) yet Pac-Man was awesome on that system!

Acually, I wouldn't mind an Atari 2600 game system. I have a playstation 2 and a Wii, but I can't figure out any of them (I don't recommend 1st-person shooter games on Wii)

With the lime-green graphics, that may be what I'm looking for. For what ever reason, I can't see black text on white backgrounds 100% clear, but when you give me lime green text on a black background, I can see clearly what is written. It's wierd, I admit, but that's how I like it.

Also odd, I took a step backwards, and my favorite computer to use is an old E-machine I got from a church yardsale with Windows 95. (speeking of which, does anyone have a spare Serial mouse or knows where I can get one?)

Everything on the modeling front here with me is comming along. It's taking more skill than I thought to build a dumpster (who would have thought, a metal box that holds trash would be so complicated) but I'm not giving up on it.

 I also made enough progress on that locomotive to warrent an up-date photo, which I'll try to get up soon, with some new photos of the Dumpster mobile.

I'm starting to think about some new ideas, now that there is a conversation about old technology. It's a bad and dangerous thing to get me thinking

Here's a photo of the dumpster car. I havn't been making as good progress as I've been hoping for. I have shortened the frame, and started adding details to the dumpster portion of the car.

I also have an up-date on the scratch-built NW/2 locomotive. I have added hood doors (as well as open doors for an exposed engine) and I have added an (admittedly sparce) cab interior.

Here's the open doors for the engine. Photos of any locomotive engine are scarce on the internet, and photos of the NW/2 itself are very hard to come by, since they were one of EMD's first mass-produced locomotives, and have been scrapped for the most part. Because of that, I'm going to modify a 1/25 scale car engine and fake the interior enough that it wouldn't be super noticable.

Here's the cab. I decided to leave the door open, and I may go the figure route for the rear platform for interest (like a hunter exploring the unit during a break from tracking turkeys)

 That's the high-lights from my bench for now. Unfortunately, school is upon me (August 16th) so things will come to a virtual halt untill I get my homework sceduals worked out (I think my hobby may become a weekend thing, where I work like mad to get as much done before Monday)

Thanks everyone! You are right Jeremy, the fit is horribibble.

Railfan 233,

Scratch building a entire model takes a lot of skill, good job on both your locomotive & dumpster mobile!

Acually, I wouldn't mind an Atari 2600 game system. I have a playstation 2 and a Wii, but I can't figure out any of them (I don't recommend 1st-person shooter games on Wii)

With the lime-green graphics, that may be what I'm looking for.

The Atari 2600 was full color, actually it was a video game system hooked up to your T.V. The older computers featured the lime green text on a black background.

Thanks Supression Fire. I think I have a re-make of the Atari 2600. I know WAL-MART and K-Mart both sell game systems like that, and I try to pick up a different one when I have the extra money for it.

I don't know why, but the simplified graphics and simple functions appeal to me most. Mabe I out to turn that old T.V. and one of the Atari re-make systems into a mini-arkade system.

Start with a housing made out of plywood, paint to liking, add TV and gme system, feed buttons and joystick through pre-drilled holes, feed cables out back. Then plug in and enjoy. That sounds like it'll be fun.

Railfan 233,

Old school cool! I like your style Railfan 233, nothing wrong with getting back to the basics of life. Too many are slaves to the modern world & all the technological gadgets that comes with it. Soon they will need a treatment center for 'Blackberry with drawl' when its system crashes now and then.

Speaking of 'crash' I wonder how our fearless leader is making out with his new PC?

Hetzer progress!...the horror... the horror.

The aluminum barrel had too large of a I.D. to be turned on the drill for a taper effect. Chose a styrene tube instead. Shown is the gun cut apart, probably will add a scratch gun breech...why? b/c its detail that won't be seen & fun to build!

Everything turns, turns, turns. It makes it rounder & shown is the separation between the hub & tire being scribed deeper to allow easy painting later on. (poor boy lathe in action)

The horror. Yep the drive sprockets were jems to clean up. Also they needed to be narrowed as the center hub was too wide. The kits tracks had a 4mm space between tooth holes, these would have been around 5mm if glued as per kit engineering.

Italeri's revenge! These tracks are whats been haunting my nightmares for days! Yipes...no pre-painting these lill' gobs of plastic joy

YES! Progress on the Hezer! I like what I see so far Supresion Fire.

As far as technology, it's true about me being an old school thinker. I still think hard work is a good thing to make an honest living (how many teen-agers do you think will say that?) It seems like technology is slowly bringing the human race down, because everyone is adicted to it. I wonder what happened to good, honest work, and good moral values in today's society?

SuppressionFire

 

 

Cripes a'mighty! I don't envy you the clean up on those guys! Lookin' good so far though!

Vetteman is gonna have a lot of catching up to do once he gets back online again. He's missing quite a show.

On that note, I like technology, despite some of its short comings. Technology isn't to blame for society's troubles. People are to blame who misuse that technology, any where from Blackberry addiction to Facebook stalking to money laundering. Technology may be an enabler, but people need to take responsibility upon themselves. My computer will never hurt some one unless I use it maliciously. My cell phone will never hurt some one unless I text while driving. The list goes on.

That's just my rant, pay it no mind....

You may be right Oddman. I probably am too old fashoned. Then again, I don't know how to turn my cell phone on. I've had it for about a year now, and it has only been used a grand total of 6 minutes. All 6 of those minutes were from my dad trying to figure it out.

Railfan, aren't you a teenager? I wouldn't necessarily call you old fashioned. Every one's experiences are based largely on their circumstances. If you can get by without using technology, that is fine. Perhaps where you live and the things you enjoy doing don't require it. Nothing wrong with that.
If technology can make my life easier then I'm all for it. Now then, not to say I don't like working hard because to be hard working is a fine characteristic that I believe in. But I also believe in "working smarter, not harder". If some one approached me and gave me a choice to mow my lawn with one of those old school rotary blades with no motor, or a nice John Deere motorized push mower...well, its no contest.

I use my cell phone all the time, as a means to stay connected, mostly to my family and friends. Email is the same. Look at me now, I'm typing on a computer to stay connected with my modeling friends. I mean, I can receive picture messages on my phone of what my 5 month old son is doing right now....how cool is that? Keeps me involved, and I appreciate that.

Whether or not a person chooses to embrace technology is up to them. For some, its a commodity, for others its a burden. Just depends on your life style I guess.

oddmanrush

If technology can make my life easier then I'm all for it. Now then, not to say I don't like working hard because to be hard working is a fine characteristic that I believe in. But I also believe in "working smarter, not harder". If some one approached me and gave me a choice to mow my lawn with one of those old school rotary blades with no motor, or a nice John Deere motorized push mower...well, its no contest.

I use my cell phone all the time, as a means to stay connected, mostly to my family and friends. Email is the same. Look at me now, I'm typing on a computer to stay connected with my modeling friends. I mean, I can receive picture messages on my phone of what my 5 month old son is doing right now....how cool is that? Keeps me involved, and I appreciate that.

Whether or not a person chooses to embrace technology is up to them. For some, its a commodity, for others its a burden. Just depends on your life style I guess.

I do agree with using technology to keep in touch with friends and family. I also use technology when it comes to ordering on-line. I've gotten some failry good deals on Micro Mark.

I never have herd about "Work smarter, not harder" though. Mabe I am missing something....

Its just an expression. Basically it means simplify your work do get it done more efficiently, and perhaps faster, with less wear on yourself. You can do this through better time management, organization, planning, focus, etc.

Now, I'm not  talking about "working harder" in the sense of effort and enthusiasm. I'm saying don't make things more difficult than it has to be. This applies to modeling as well.

Any how, don't want to derail the thread. By the way Railfan, good work on the engine! That's a great deal of hard work you got going on there! I see you have some hatches open. You going to scratch build some internal components for the engine?

Thanks Oddman.

  It's sort of both yes and no with the open hatches. I'm acually going to take a 1/25 scale car engine and modify it to look more like a locomotive engine.

  Since photos are fairly uncommon with locomotive engines, I'm going to fake it and try and make as convincing an engene as possible (I'm partly hiding it behind a pannel I made with scrap styrene) It should be easier to do since I plan on heavily rusting the area, and partly hiding it with vegitation, too.

Railfan - Your Dumpster driver is coming along nicely and your switcher is looking really good! Nice work!!!

SF - You're a modeling maniac!  I've tried the "poor man's lathe" many time with varying degrees of success. I'm curious as to how you "true" the parts in the chuck so that they don't spin off balance... that's my main issue. That was a great idea to help out the road wheels and taper your barrel! Good luck cleaning up the drives!

Ladies n Gentleman, Boys n Girls, and Children of all ages, I am BACK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Withdrawal I have heard said here ??? Man I can tell ya that is a HUGE understatement My sister was saying something about tranquilizers yesterday, all I could do was read emails I got from the forums

I do see you all have made catching up quite a task so here goes, Oh and please do forgive me if it takes a day or two to get finished pictures on the front page as there is still a lot to do to get this computer all set up and organized for my simple mind.

Railfan 223 Roscoe's Monaco looks fantastic, very well done I like your use of the guitar strings and the little how to tutorial. Gives me an idea for my aircraft builds. Very nice work on that little arsenal too they look like they could be picked up and fired. Your locomotive and Dumpster Mobile are coming along very well, I am impressed with your skills and the way ( as was stated above) you think out of the box. Just cant wait to see what you come up with next.

Kermit first thank you for passing the message along for me I do owe you at least a pint or two for helping me out. Hey how did you know I love hot-rods anyways, You are right my mouth is watering over this one. Are you gonna build it ? With your weathering skills it should be a walk in the park for ya

Oddmanrush I just cant get over the fact that you brush painted that P-47, she is a stunner. The paint job is no less than beautiful, and I like the gear bay detail you added to it, and the unusual markings you chose for her.

Jmabx I am really enjoying watching your Flamingo come together, very nice work so far. However I am gonna hold ya to the seat belt promise you made, as that will top off an very nice cockpit.

Raptordriver a very well done SBD indeed. Sadly I feel your pain due to the loss of pictures, as I just lost a bunch of them. I know what a nightmare the old Monogram kits can be, not only did you finish it you finished it very very well

Supressionfire your Hetzer is progressing nicely, I really like your mini lathe idea, That gun is gonna look mean too, maybe you should point it toward the drive sprockets as you work on them. I wish you lots of luck and skill on those puppies. From seeing your work before I know you wont need the luck or skill to make them look great as you already have the skill, but I will wish it to you anyway.

I hope I didn't forget anyone, and I promise to get finished pictures on the front page as soon as I can. Man its good to be back

jmabx

Railfan - Your Dumpster driver is coming along nicely and your switcher is looking really good! Nice work!!!

SF - You're a modeling maniac!  I've tried the "poor man's lathe" many time with varying degrees of success. I'm curious as to how you "true" the parts in the chuck so that they don't spin off balance... that's my main issue. That was a great idea to help out the road wheels and taper your barrel! Good luck cleaning up the drives!

Use a wood dowel (toothpick in this case) that is a tight fit & keep it close to the chuck. Start slow and straighten out wobbles before you sand / scribe. This is a Black & decker 3/8" chuck drill with a dial to adjust to any speed. RPM is key to success, I set to max. RPM and feather the trigger until confident work can rev up. Also keep the drill secure as possible & brace your working hand securely against the table.

vetteman42,

Glad to have our fearless leader back!

vetteman42

Ladies n Gentleman, Boys n Girls, and Children of all ages, I am BACK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Withdrawal I have heard said here ??? Man I can tell ya that is a HUGE understatement My sister was saying something about tranquilizers yesterday, all I could do was read emails I got from the forums

YES! VETTEMAN IS BACK!

(Sorry about the yelling, I'm excited that you are back)

So, what killed the computer?

 With the tranquilizer, was it a red liquid? If so, I feel your pain. I need some of those for a CAT scan once, and it knocked me out for the rest of the day (I still can't remember anything except going to the hospital, and getting the mysterious red liquid)

Balance and order restored to this build

Railfan old age killed my computer, it was 12 years old and had a long productive life. It lived through 3 hard drive transplants and a video card or 2. She did go kicking and screaming though.

Oddmanrush the comic in your sig cracks me up as I have had those thoughts my self