The In My Stash GB

Thanks for the comments on the Abrams guys!

Paul that is one good looking build. Can't wait to see the finished kit.

Bear nice looking build so far.

Dave that is one big ship nice job.

Sorry for my lack of absence, life is getting busy. On the plus side the Abrams is now ready to go to the paint shop. If I am lucky I might get it painted next week I hope.

Okay, I know that this was like #6 on the vote list of my stash builds but I was looking for a quick and easy project that I could finish in one weekend.  I thought this was it but I have not done very many short run builds and I forgot how long it takes to clean up parts and dry fit things on these kind of kits.   Still, I managed to get almost all of the assembly done, just a little more fill and sanding to do and she is ready for paint.  OH ya, and the vac form canopy which I have never attempted before .  Hopefully just one more weekend.  This build will be sent to a friend of mine who donated the kit.

It is sure great to see some work published in this thread.
It will be alot of fun watching the large variety of projects
that are in que.

Results may vary, but they are looking GOOOODDD this time!

What is that thang, razordws?  Buck-Roger's ride? LOL
I may be able to offer some advice on vacuform canopies.  Email me
with any questions you may have during the process.

Here's a Mig picture.  You can see some styrene sheet work.
The inboard intakes are fubarred in this kit.  I hope i can scratch
up something that will be worth the efforts! 

I keep telling myself that since the Mig-31 is a roughly-built aircraft
with many old fabrications technologies, perhaps it is fitting that the
kit be equally antiquated.  Just the same, The Mig-31 is a solid interceptor,
so perhaps the final model product will be too.

Cheers w/ Beers.

Paul The cab of your choo choo is outstanding, you did a great job on the weathering, can't wait to see more.

Dave Nice rocket  who's ship is it?  Duck Dogers maybe

IL2 I feel your pain with poorly molded kit's.  I'm spending lots of time scraping off excess flash & lots of putty.

Progress report main wings installed, horizontal stab dry fitted should be installed tonight, main gear struts have been cleaned up and should be ready for paint.  I still have the nose gear to clean up.

Keep up the great work all.

Cheers

Bear

Dave that is one interesting looking build.

IL2 ditto to what superbear said on poorly molded kit's. Your bird is looking go through.

Update for me the Abrams has been washed. And I hope to paint it tomorrow if I am lucky.

Finally got the bad boy outta the box and was gonna do some detail work.  That is until i saw how much OD i had to paint.  Jeez this birds takes a lot of that.  I can't wait until i do the outer skin   So i loaded up the airbrush and painted and painted and painted........

Mist looks like you're going to O.D. on the O.D.  

That rocket thangy for all those who asked is a German V2 A9.  This particular version was intended to be delivered to the eastern U.S. via a two stage rocket booster (not included in the kit ).  The pilot was supposed to bail out just before impact (I wouldn't want to be that pilot if the U.S. captured him) and was to be directed to the target by surfaced u-boats off the coast.  Sounds pretty far fetched but desperate minds do desperate things.

razordws wrote:

That rocket thangy for all those who asked is a German V2 A9.  This particular version was intended to be delivered to the eastern U.S. via a two stage rocket booster (not included in the kit ).  The pilot was supposed to bail out just before impact (I wouldn't want to be that pilot if the U.S. captured him) and was to be directed to the target by surfaced u-boats off the coast.  Sounds pretty far fetched but desperate minds do desperate things.

Wow - that sounds like a desparate idea indeed.

V2's were flying at highly supersonic speeds on theire final attack dive.
Their most terrifying trait was that they could not be heard from the ground,
striking without warning.    Bailing out at supersonic velocity would be certain
death, even with the best ejection systems available in that day.

results may vary wrote:

thought I would give everybody a look before I close up the cab

WOW.  That is SHARP!!!  Do you have to close up the cab, do you really have too...

Ah, well, it is inevitiable, I guess... 

arki30 wrote:

mph34 - I hear you about AccMin kits, they are intense.  My Avenger is going to take some time to work through, but the detail is just fantastic.

arki30,

Which AccMin Avenger kit do you have?  (I know, I could look all the way back at the first page at your list, but what fun would that be?!)  I have one of their Avengers (actually it came as two in the same box) and am anxious to see your build.  I have been a little hesitant to start them, so your experience will be helpful to me... 

Speaking of Accurate Miniatures...

As I looked over my Stormovik last night, between wiping the drool off the side of my mouth because I want to start SOOOOO bad and have nowhere to work , I noticed that the control surface in the cockpit is clear, with a decal.  According to the directions, I am supposed to paint black around all the instrument faces and then put the decal on the back .  Now, as you can probably tell, I have not done a whole lot of aircraft in recent weeks, uh, months, wait, make that years, so my question to you goes something like this - anyone have any good techniques for doing this?  I am worried I am going to smear black all over the wrong parts, but the instruments are so small, I can't figure out how to mask them.  I am open to suggestions...

aah i see alot of progress going ono cool always love to see what everyone is up to.

and i see boyd got board posting by himself lol just messing with you . well off to bed and up for work :(

kenny

bbrowniii wrote:

arki30 wrote: mph34 - I hear you about AccMin kits, they are intense.  My Avenger is going to take some time to work through, but the detail is just fantastic. arki30, Which AccMin Avenger kit do you have?  (I know, I could look all the way back at the first page at your list, but what fun would that be?!)  I have one of their Avengers (actually it came as two in the same box) and am anxious to see your build.  I have been a little hesitant to start them, so your experience will be helpful to me...

It's the TBF/TBM Avenger with Lt. George Bush markings from VT-51.  Whether or not I use those markings is still undecided.  I've completed AccMin's SBD-5 Dauntless dive bomber and it was a fantastic kit.  Complicated, must follow directions, time consuming, but great detail. 

bbrowniii wrote:

Speaking of Accurate Miniatures... As I looked over my Stormovik last night, between wiping the drool off the side of my mouth because I want to start SOOOOO bad and have nowhere to work , I noticed that the control surface in the cockpit is clear, with a decal.  According to the directions, I am supposed to paint black around all the instrument faces and then put the decal on the back .  Now, as you can probably tell, I have not done a whole lot of aircraft in recent weeks, uh, months, wait, make that years, so my question to you goes something like this - anyone have any good techniques for doing this?  I am worried I am going to smear black all over the wrong parts, but the instruments are so small, I can't figure out how to mask them.  I am open to suggestions...

Without knowing the specifics of the kit, I'm assuming the IP has all the holes punched out in the plastic for the instruments?  If the entire IP is intended to be black, then just paint it black and put the decals (acetate?) on later.  There's probably a backer piece that sandwiches the decal against the IP.  If the IP is a different color and just the areas around each instrument are black, well, you'll just have to be careful when painting. Seriously, don't be suprised if you have to go back and touch up goofs.  I do all the time.  And I mean all the time

bbrowniii wrote:

I noticed that the control surface in the cockpit is clear, with a decal.  According to the directions, I am supposed to paint black around all the instrument faces and then put the decal on the back .  Now, as you can probably tell, I have not done a whole lot of aircraft in recent weeks, uh, months, wait, make that years, so my question to you goes something like this - anyone have any good techniques for doing this?  I am worried I am going to smear black all over the wrong parts, but the instruments are so small, I can't figure out how to mask them.  I am open to suggestions...

If you use an acrylic black paint, you should be able to just
paint the whole surface black, and then use a toothpick dipped
in windex to remove the paint from the glass areas.  That's my
favorite thing about acrylics: they are much easier to rework
than enamels.

kenny_conklin wrote:

i see boyd got board posting by himself lol just messing with you . well off to bed and up for work :( kenny

Actually, m'Lord, it is this humble squires goal to have an entire page of my posts and my posts only

arki30 wrote:

bbrowniii wrote:  arki30 wrote: mph34 - I hear you about AccMin kits, they are intense.  My Avenger is going to take some time to work through, but the detail is just fantastic. arki30, Which AccMin Avenger kit do you have?  (I know, I could look all the way back at the first page at your list, but what fun would that be?!)  I have one of their Avengers (actually it came as two in the same box) and am anxious to see your build.  I have been a little hesitant to start them, so your experience will be helpful to me...  It's the TBF/TBM Avenger with Lt. George Bush markings from VT-51.  Whether or not I use those markings is still undecided.  I've completed AccMin's SBD-5 Dauntless dive bomber and it was a fantastic kit.  Complicated, must follow directions, time consuming, but great detail.

arki30,

I am not sure if you saw it or not, but today on the Military Channel they had a one hour show devoted to the Avenger.  I taped it but have not looked at it yet.  I'll take a look and let you know what I thought and, if you are interested, I might be able to get a copy to you.

go for it boyd i want to see who the first person to accomplish that is

paul if that isnt the truth about those channels but i will leave the Military Channel on all day and watch the same shows over and over again

Mist086 wrote:

The Gospel according to King Kenny!!!!  This faithful follower does the same thing as my leige.  But i also DVR the entire Dogfight Series and Battlefront Series.  She who were's the pants get rather irritated at that.  She can't understand how many times i want to watch Zero Killers for.

I must be spolled! My wife and I have the TVs in the house setup with TWO DVRs!

She gets her stuff on the TV in the Living Room (think Lifetime & Hallmark Network) while I get my stuff on the TV downstairs (which happens to be in the same room as my modeling corner).

We don't bother the other's DVR recordings, which works just fine.  The downside, our daughter has stuff on both......

bbrowniii wrote:

arki30 wrote:  bbrowniii wrote:  arki30 wrote: mph34 - I hear you about AccMin kits, they are intense.  My Avenger is going to take some time to work through, but the detail is just fantastic. arki30, Which AccMin Avenger kit do you have?  (I know, I could look all the way back at the first page at your list, but what fun would that be?!)  I have one of their Avengers (actually it came as two in the same box) and am anxious to see your build.  I have been a little hesitant to start them, so your experience will be helpful to me...  It's the TBF/TBM Avenger with Lt. George Bush markings from VT-51.  Whether or not I use those markings is still undecided.  I've completed AccMin's SBD-5 Dauntless dive bomber and it was a fantastic kit.  Complicated, must follow directions, time consuming, but great detail.  arki30, I am not sure if you saw it or not, but today on the Military Channel they had a one hour show devoted to the Avenger.  I taped it but have not looked at it yet.  I'll take a look and let you know what I thought and, if you are interested, I might be able to get a copy to you.

No, I don't get the Military Channel although I wish I did.  I do love me some History Channel though!

Does anyone remember when Discovery years ago had the show Wings?  I think it moved to their HD channel, but I could be wrong.  Anyway, great show which I watched as much as possible.  At the time I wasn't building models, pity.

Kinda quiet in here....

Ya, not a lot happening on the modeling bench these days and work has been very busy so not much idle time to chat. 

I did pick up a couple books at the library on the Canadian corvettes though for reference.  Seems the Snowberry was one of about ten Canadian built corvettes for the Royal Navy even though they were manned by Canadian sailors.  Anyway, the RN issue was quite different from the Canadian issue so I'm outta luck for doing the Kamloops unless I want to do major surgery (which I don't). 

I seem to remember reading a book awhile back about the manpower crunch in the early stages of the war and the Canadian Navy were not expecting to have to man these ten corvettes (even though the Royal Navy purchased these they had no crews to spare for them) plus the six town class destroyers that were donated by the U.S. via the Royal Navy.  They ended up scavaging crews from other ships to get some experienced crews to go with the green recruits.  Got to the point that captains did not want to put into port because they would lose half their crew that they had been training and end up having them replaced with green recruits and having to start the training all over again.