Now that’s really cool Steve! 

OK boys, I'm having some issues, the nose sits too high. You can tell by looking at the wing root. most likely self inflected, so I dissasembled the halfs and glued the newly aligned side and will attach the other side when that dries. My suspicion is that the I didn't attach the rear bulkhead correctly in the nose so I attached it to where is will end up, if that makes sence. I'll get it, I invision it turning out great.

Anyway, on the the Typhoon. I had to stop to get some weight for the nose. I got some today so back on it I go.

I also ordered and received some AM decals for the MiG 29.

My great uncle was Polish so I'd rather build Polish than Russian. Looks like a nice set. They come with all the decals and not just the markings.

One last thing, while I was home for Christmas, this is what my wife bought me for my birthday earler in the month.

A high quality replacement for our old American flag and a high quality Coast Guard flag to replace the old one I had for the last 40 years. She also framed that old flag for me and is now hanging proudly behind me in my hobby room. It came from my old cutter's mast back in 87.

That was a really risky method to give it some texture and more life. You pulled it off well. I would have tried a bit and scrapped the idea due to the fear of screwing up the whole kit. Well done, I like how it came out.

BK

TheMongoose

GA I’ve never seen that done, tell me more!

 

Well it's quight easy actually.

Walnut Hollow Creative Versa Tool with Versa-Temp Variable Temperature Control & 11 Woodburning Points (Tips)

I used a hot iron/ woodburning tool to melt the plastic. I used the flat tip to make the ridges.  You have to be careful, you can't go at an angle only press up and down. 

Hope this helps.

GA I’ve never seen that done, tell me more!

Very cool GA, stinky but cool.

BrandonK

GA, looks good. Your are definately making some progress.

Steve, you're flying along too. Two kits at once, that makes my head hurt trying that. Both look to be cool kits for sure.

BK

 

Added zimmerit with a woodburning tool :)

GA, looks good. Your are definately making some progress.

Steve, you're flying along too. Two kits at once, that makes my head hurt trying that. Both look to be cool kits for sure.

BK

I assembled the cockpit area but nee to touch the paint some. I also glued the rear fuse to the wings. Tomorrow I'll start assembly of the nose. This might be a good kit to get some masks for.

I also started on the Typhoon. Just like the Blenheim I started with black baseing.

GA now I see your pics, nice start.

I finally got organized and sat down to start the Blenheim. After washing the parts I sprayed everything NATO Black and then RAF interior green for the interior and metal for the engines and gear struts. I also started on the fuse. Airfix split the fuse into 4 pieces, kinda like a modern twin engine jet. Not sure why they did that so I'm a little intrested on how the seam is going to fit.

Is imgur easy to use?

Bingo!

GA I could see your pics yesterday but they are gone now. Maybe something on the hosting site side?

German, I too cannot see your pics. Not sure what's up with that.

Mongoose, wow isn't enough to say about how good that looks and how fast you put it together. First one done and a great job too. Excellent work.

BK

Mongoose, your Spruance turned out fantastic . That's something to be proud of especially being your second ship! I'm glad you enjoyed your gift. Now I'm going to start on yours and the 2 form my other Santa.

GA, I'm having trouble seeing your pictures

Well I started my StuG.

5 hrs later..................

It's went toegether easy, a small amount of flash and mismolding to clean up. I've thinned the fenders so there more to scale.  I'll probably add scratchbuilt schrcen ( :-)) and zimmerit with a woodburner tomorrow. 

Mopar Madness

... That was fast!

 

I'm on the perfect vacation...My wife and teenage daughter are wathching a marathon of "Project Runway"...leaving me to my bench while on vacation for 10 days! Needless to say it was quick in terms of number of days but I bet I have over 40 hours in the build at least. Seems like hours went by while doing just a few pieces of that PE railing but I took my time, fitted every piece at least twice.

Very cool ship! That was fast!

Mongoose,

Great job on the Spruance! I don't think I've done pe on a ship yet, but I remember the masts being very fidgety in plastic on the two Sprucans I've built. I hope my first attempt is as good as yours.

Wow, nice spruance!  Never have done a ship but that's the one I want to do but I  1/350.  Nice job and fast!

Brandon - A huge thanks to you for running this Secret Santa group build! The ship I got took me out of my comfort zone but also let me use some techniques from my airplanes.

The end result is probably one of the best models I've built. Other than helping my younger sons build battleships this is only my 2nd ship. Ohh, and every piece of plastic, PE, and decal called for in the instructions has made an appearance on this ship. I had 1 scary moment where a piece flew off the tweezers but landed behind my coffee cup and was recovered in less than 60 seconds lol.

Here are the final glamour shots...USS Spruance DD963.

MCW (Model Car World) paints, mottled under-coat using 1 shade darker and lighter than the base coat to simulate age, decals above waterline misted with base coat to age them too, Tamiya panel line wash used around all doors/fittings/corners for shadowing, final finish with 2 matt coats of Vallejo varnish.

Beautiful build. Can't believe only your second ship.

Here’s a few teasers before the finale...waterline decals and dull coat left to do.

 I decided after doing the bow to paint the pe rails before attaching them. The bridge walls were so close to the rails that I wouldn’t be able to paint the inside of them now that the ship is assembled. Turned out for the best though because the lacquer paint holds up well on pe. I just touched it up where needed after the superglue dried. 

I sprayed a 50/50 thinned down mix of the light and dark gray over all decals and i also misted on the color over areas where deck plates come together and on the decking itself to blend it all together. The decals were just too bright compared to pictures I looked at.

Sailing_Dutchman, that is a cool looking kit. I have'nt attemped any armor yet, I can't wait to see what you do with it.

Mongoose, you have the patience of a saint. Looks great.

BK

Looking good so far Mongoose. That PE's not so bad once you get use to it.

Sailing_dutch those afv club kits are nice! Looking forward to seeing that one.

Nicely done.  I hate ship PE in 1/144, can't even imagine in1/700.  

Goldhammer I can’t wait to see an update on the Vindicator!

”Redemption” was a good nickname for this kit. You’d swear modelcrazy read my one and only build on a ship and challenged me to do better! Here’s a good string of photos installing and painting the bow rails...and i didn’t ruin anything 

First i bent a small section around a nail which seemed to be just a little smaller in diameter than the curve i needed, allowing for pe to spring back some.

Just got this in the mail:

A bit late, but it is a nice kit.

Mongoose, nice job! PE masts are the bigest struggle for me in that scale. Yours turned out great looking. I AB them, they stay together better that you would think. In fact, I think brushing may damage it more easily.

Ahh the water.

In short, I use hard Styrofoam, cut out an area for the hull, cut and sand the wake and waves. I then add strips of paper applied with medium acrylic gel to cover the Styrofoam texture and this also adds small ripples. When that's dry, I'll go over that with another coat of med acrylic gel. I then paint the base with a blue base color and paint it again with a thinner slightly lighter color. I add cotton for the bow wave and wake using acrylic varnish. I will then go over everything with several coats of acrylic varnish to add depth and shine. Thats it in a nutshell.