the real red baron
boy i wish i could participate in this group build one problem my LHS doesnt stock monogram kits
Unheard of, in my experience...
I guess I may have to see what the owner/manager is thinking and help him see his way clear to increase his inventory of manufacturers... Am I to understand that he stocks NO 1/48 Revell aircrraft kits that are ex-Monogram kits? 1/24 cars? Ships? Armor? Sci-Fi? I find it difficult to believe that there isn't a single Monogram/Ex-Monogram kit in the entire store, in any genre... Too bad you missed this one Red... Woulda been both fun and helpful for you...
It would be.. unfortunate, were something to happen to that place... We'll just have to make him an offer he can't refuse...
But, all is not lost.. You can get plenty of Monogram kits on-line, both in on-line shops, and Ebay... In fact, I get most of my Monogram stuff via Ebay.. so don't give up hope.. If this build turns out to be a successful one, it WILL happen again, and you can take your shot then... Meanwhile, start praticing your scratch-building ideas... The easiest scratch-built part to make is a radio antenna, both the suspended-type, and whip antennas... Well, technically, it's "Thermo-forming", which also sounds better than "Sprue Stretching", lol..
From there, you can easily move to slightly more difficult tasks, making seats, instrument panels, intake gates, vanes and screens, etc... The sky's the limit... I HIGHLY recommend that you try and find a copy of How to Build Dioramas by Shapard Paine. Shep built the absolutely incredible dioramas for Monogram, using theor kits and many of their figures too, back in the 70s. You can view some of his incredible work here:
http://sheperdpaine.atspace.com/index.htm
And:
http://sheperdpaine.com/monogram/index.htm
Untill you are able to get a copy of the book, you'll find many useful tips & tricks there, in the diorama tip sheets that used to come with the models ranging from scratch-building to figure conversion & painting, washes, dry-brushng, resin/plaster parts-casting, vacuum-forming, etc., and each sheet has tips that, while being in a armor dio, carry over into the other genres as well..
Before I got the book, I used the tip sheets every build (even if the build I was on wasn't a Monogram kit), and that's what started me on the path to becoming what I'd call a "serious" modeler (for lack of a better term) and "Gizmologist/Imagineer"... Print those tip sheets out if you can, too...
IMNSHO, Shep's book is the "Modeler's Bible"... Thousands of modelers my age got their start because of Shep's work for Monogram, and that's the time-frame, when I was about your age,13 and just kept going... The firecrackers finally were relegated back to only being used for Independence Day and New Year's Eve... Started winning awards at competions too, with my first 2nd Place win, along about a year later in 1973, lol..... 
Bought the book first edition) in 1977, I think...
I don't have it anymore, but I do have a copy of the Second Edition I bought a couple years ago to replace it, and still use it... Why attempt to commit all that stuff to memory when a book is better anyway... There are used copies of both editions on the 'net, at AmazonDOT com, and at also at Barnes & Noble DOT com as well as "our" own Kalmbach Publishing here at FSM... But the used copies are a lot cheaper, lol... (Sorry Aaron/Matt/Mark/Megan, et al ... It's nothin' personal, ya know... It's just business...
I gotta help the kid save a few bucks in order for him to be able to... *snap* buy a subcription to FSM... Yeah, that's it... That'l work.... A subscription...) Again, It's just business, not personal...
