A few more kits on hand

I recently acquired a few more kits to keep me going, as well as some more paints and a few new brushes. My wife also got me a new airbrush for Christmas, something I've been needing for a while now.

The first kit is the Tamiya 1/35 Tiger I Initial Production:

 This kit was purchased for a SIG build on the International Scale Modeller forums. This is an out of the box build as I just didn't have the money to get any PE or resin upgrades. Oddly enough it's the first Tiger I've ever built even though I've been a model builder over half my life.

Next up is the Revel 1/32 Spitfire Mk IIa in the new tooling:

This kit was also purchased for a buddy build on the ISM forums. Again a pretty much out-of-the-box build although I will make what upgrades/corrections I can as I go along and with materials on hand. Since this buddy build lasts all year I may break down and get some resin upgrades if money will allow.

The last new kit is one I've been after for quite a while now, the AMT 1/25 Kenworth K-123 Cabover:

This is a more personal project, although I may also enter it in an upcoming group build. My uncle drove a truck like this from the late 1960s/early 1970s until he retired. He was an owner/operator and leased it to C&H Transportation of Dallas, Texas for his entire driving career. My uncle was a Marine in WWII and had some severe PTSD (although it wasn't called that back then) issues after the war. He started long-haul truck driving as a form of therapy and stayed with it from very shortly after coming home. I think finally being able to buy his own truck was one of the proudest days of his life. I plan to build this kit and finish it to resemble his truck. My cousins are going to go through their photo albums for pictures of my uncle and his truck to assist me. It's builds like this that bring something a bit extra-special into the hobby for me.

Ju 88 started

I decided to go ahead and get started on the Revell 1/32 Ju 88 kit. Opening the box revealed quite a few sprues of rather large parts. Everything is so BIG! After looking through the sprues and reviewing the instruction manual I was worried that I might not have enough paint on hand!

One thing I've decided is that I'm not going to try and document every single step for this build. If you search on Google you will find there are already several good reviews available in both written and video form. I'm just going to try to document the highlights and/or trouble spots I run into. 

Construction begins with the cockpit. Or more precisely, the starboard cockpit wall. There are several other parts that are attached to it before it is painted. Color callouts in the instructions are all for Revell paints that aren't available in the US. Looking online I did my best to find color equivalents but some of the lists I found left me scratching my head in confusion. In the end I used Tamiya XF-22 RLM Gray as the base color for the interior as shown here:

Detailing the parts with black, white, and leather brown brought it to life. Here it is with the other bits I've been working on:

I still need to give it a wash and some dry brushing to show wear. As you can see the cockpit area all by itself is nearly 4 inches in length! Once installed in the fuselage and with the canopy parts in place the cockpit area will be a bit over 4 inches by 2 inches, a lot of area to paint, detail, and weather!

This is a BIG box!

While she was out running errands prior to Thanksgiving my wife stopped by a hobby shop to look for a particular kit for me. They didn't have the one I want but did have something else that's been on my list. Even though it was a bit on the expensive side ($50!) she brought this home for me:

This is a huge kit. Well, compared to what I have been building at least. The wingspan is 24.8 inches (63.0cm) and the length is 17.8 inches (45.3cm), quite a bit larger than anything I've built in a very long time! In years past I have built larger models but it's been a very, very long time since I tackled something this size.

The kit is produced by Revell Germany. One of the things you'll notice if you look at the artwork carefully is the lack of a swastika on the tail of the bomber. German law prohibits the display of the swastika as a Nazi symbol. They don't include them on the decal sheet so I will have to source aftermarket decals when the time comes. There are also a lot of aftermarket detail bits available from Eduard (photo-etch for interior and exterior, resin wheels, etc.) but I'll have to make do without since it would more than double the price of the kit!

I'm going to try and take my time with this one. Given the scale there is no excuse not to take my time and try to paint as much detail in the cockpit as possible, especially given the huge canopy area. My primary concern at this point is whether I'm going to have enough paint when it comes time!

Revell Ford Custom update

The Revell 1/25 scale Ford Custom is pretty much finished. All that's really left is getting the body painted and attaching the last chrome bits. I need to get some paint before I can proceed.

Finished interior showing dashboard

 Engine compartment

 Underside showing exhaust and fuel tank

Preview of what the finished model will look like

This is a great kit. The parts all fit well, there is minimal flash to clean up, and it builds into a solid model. About the only thing I can really complain about is that the instructions are a bit vague on the exact placement of some parts, especially on the engine and in the engine compartment. I strongly recommend that the builder take the time to dry fit repeatedly before gluing assemblies into place. One example in particular is that the steering pump has an end that fits into a hole in the firewall. Nowhere in the instructions is this shown. It is up to the builder to discover this and figure out how to fit these parts together when the time comes.

Unfortunately this is something that isn't uncommon in plastic model kits. Most have gone to simple CAD generated line drawings with minimal text. In the past instructions were highly detailed and each step was fully explained and accompanied by precise drawings. Those detailed instructions do take much longer to produce and require the services of experienced technical writers and draftsmen to create. The simpler instructions coming in today's kits are adequate if the builder takes the time to dry fit parts, and they do help to keep kit prices lower so I guess it's a trade-off we'll just have to live with.

Revell 1/25 scale 1957 Ford Custom ("Tudor")

I've been working on this kit for a few days now. I'm quite pleased with how it's going together. Parts fit is very good and the assembly is well thought out. Detail in some areas is soft but that's to be expected from a kit in this price range.

Assembly starts with the engine. The left and right halves of the block/transmission line up very well and go together with no unintended gaps. The seam is tight and easily removed.

It really begins to shine when painted and with the other parts on.

I did deviate from the instructions a bit by altering some of the colors called for. Simply put I don't have any gold paint nor the money to get any, so I used silver and certain Metalizer colors that I have on hand. I also decided to go ahead and work on the interior while I waited for the paint and glue on the engine and frame to fully cure.

The blue is Tamiya XF-8 Flat Blue, which happens to be a very close match to the Dresden Blue from the Ford color brochure for this car. The grey patterned areas are decals provided in the kit, and the door and window handles are painted with Model Master Chrome Silver. The only change is that I used Testors Dullcote to get a flat finish rather than the gloss of the uncoated decals.

More as construction progresses.

A new kit for the stash

While we were out and about yesterday we stopped by Hobby Lobby. They had several kits marked down for clearance. I was about to pass them by when I spotted this one:

  

Originally $25.99 marked down to $15.99, too good a deal to pass up!

The box contains two bags of white parts (body in one, all the rest of the white sprues in the other), one of chrome, one with clear parts and optional drag slicks in separate compartments, and one bag of wheel pins. There is a folded instruction booklet and a sheet of decals as well. There is no excess room in the box - it's stuffed! The kit offers the option of building either stock or drag racing versions with optional parts for both.

Box art:

 

Manual and decals:

Parts sprues and bags:

The only release year info I can find is 2012 so it does look like all parts are new tooling. There is very little flash, the exception being the tree with the rear seat and front seat back. Otherwise the molding is crisp and clear. Detail is typical for a model of this scale and price range. Ejection pin marks are minimal, although there are some on the inside roof of the body that will have to be cleaned up.

I plan to do a bit of research before time to paint the exterior comes. One thing I did find already was a brochure listing Ford colors for 1957:

This will come in handy for gauging the color match when the time comes!

I've always wanted a pickup truck!

As a break from working on the Hummel and Arizona I started on the Revell 1/25 1956 Ford F-100 Ed Roth kit my wife bought for me. I neglected to take photos of the chassis build but here it is completed, painted, and awaiting bodywork:

A closeup of the engine and cab:

And a preview of what it will look like with the cab and bed on, first with tonneau cover:

And then without:

The bodywork has been primed and is awaiting paint. Just need to decide if I'm going with the kit gloss white or something else that will go with the red frame and cab trim.

Goodies for my stash

I used to have a stash of 30 or 40 kits waiting to be built. Not big by some standards - I know guys who have literally hundreds of kits in closets and on shelves - but decent. That was a long time ago, before moving out of Texas, going to college, getting married, moving again, that sort of thing. I'm slowly convincing my wife that just because I'm still working on one kit doesn't mean I can't buy another for later on. Not sure she believes me just yet but I'm persistent.

She has bought me two more kits, one a delayed birthday present and another as a thank you for replacing the broken screen on her iPad. Here's what I have in my micro-stash:

 

I'm really looking forward to building these!

Arizona update

I've been working on the Arizona and made a little progress. I did end up repainting the decks in  lighter color. I've also been painting the superstructure but think it's getting redone as well. There has been a lot of controversy over what color scheme the Arizona was in on Dec. 7, but documentary evidence from just after the attack and some found in the National Archives in the form of an order from Admiral Husband Kimmel give a strong push to her being painted Sea Blue ("Mediterranean Blue" in Kimmel's order) with the tops of her number 1, 2, and 4 turrets being insignia red. Prior to that she would have worn Dark Gray on her hull and Light Gray on her upperworks. Given that by the time Kimmel's order was issued she carried OS2U Kingfisher spotter planes and the kit gives you O2U Corsair biplane scouts I'll go with the earlier paint scheme.

Here are pics of how the model stands now:

Overview

 

The fore and aft masts aren't glued yet, still need to paint them first. That aft mast was a real bugger to get built! Three legs, two platforms, and the aft fire direction tower all trying to slip out of place and not line up right. It took me an hour to get it done!

Paint comparison

 

It's hard to tell but on that last photo there are three distinct shades of gray paint. I've run into a problem in that the gray paints I have are either too  dark or too light. The paint on the #3 turret barbette is almost right and I'd use it if it weren't gloss - I just don't feel like trying to hit all the necessary surfaces with dullcoat after painting them. The gray on the upper deck and that on the vertical surfaces on the aft deck are just too darned dark.  Guess it's time for another trip to the hobby shop. Oh, darn....

USS Arizona

The USS Arizona, BB39, is one of the most iconic ships in history. Originally launched in 1916 she proudly served with the US Pacific Fleet. On the morning of December 7, 1941 she was moored alongside Ford Island in Battleship Row, Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. She had recently returned from a fleet exercise and her crew was enjoying the relaxed routine of a ship at dock on a lazy Sunday morning. Most of her crew were at breakfast when the general quarters alarm sounded, the last thing they expected to hear on that fateful day. For most of them it would be their last as Arizona was hit in rapid succession by a torpedo and two bombs. The second bomb was armor piercing and struck her forecastle near the base of one of her 14" turrets. Since she was at dock many of the normal underway safety measures were not in place and it was likely that some of her internal doors were not secured. Whether that was true or not the blast from that second bomb ignited her forward powder magazines. That massive detonation and the ensuing fires killed many of her crew and trapped hundreds more below decks with no way to escape. When she settled to the bottom 1200 men went with her.

Last night my wife bought me Revell's 1/426 USS Arizona. It isn't a kit I would normally buy for myself but I'm glad she chose it. It allows me to build my own small memorial to the ship and her crew. I only hope that I can do it justice.

I will update this post with photos as the build progresses.

UPDATE 1

Started building the kit and here is the progress so far. First up ia the hull. As with most ship models this comes in two pieces, left and right halves. There are alignment tabs on the lower hull that are supposed to help the two sides line up. Unfortunately they do rather the opposite and I ended up cutting them away to get the outside of the hull to align properly. Also pictured are the forward and aft sections of the lower hull. These can be problem areas as it's very difficult to get them to close up properly. I used regular 1/2" masking tape laid about 3/4" apart to pull the sides together tightly then ran liquid cement along the joint from the inside. Some seeped through onto the masking tape but a few minutes work with an X-acto and fine sandpaper will take care of that.

 

I also started painting some parts by hand. Most of the work will be done with my airbrush but there are some spots where that just isn't feasible. Both the forward and aft main deck sections will be done entirely by hand. This is the forward main deck. I used Testors Acryl paints, Earth Red for the base with a wash of  Armor Sand. I'm not entirely sure I like the result and may just go over it with a lighter color. What I need to do is find out what kind of wood her decks were and try to find a paint that will match. The dark color on the lower right is Tamiya Medium Blue, a very close match to the Ocean Grey that her upperworks were painted. It isn't cooperating to well, but then again it is a 20 year old jar of paint so I may be asking to much from it!

 

More pics to follow!