Bringing Plastic to Life

Body and Suspension and Tires - Oh My!

2011-10-18T20:21:00.001-04:00

Today I finally got to start putting parts together, always the fun portion of the project... Started with attaching the suspension to the lower half of the body.

Once the super glue dried I continued with the tires. I unfortunately broke a pin which was to hold a back wheel because the super glue dried to fast for me to properly manipulate the part. I had to eyeball it and hold the part steady while the glue dried. I'm sure the Germans won't mind my almost perfect alignment.

Have a Seat

2011-10-17T20:17:00.008-04:00

After the tires I completed touching up the chairs with the painted black leather using Tamiya XF-1 Flat Black. Using toothpicks glued temporarily with hot glue sure makes painting easy.

Tires

2011-10-14T20:42:00.008-04:00

Just finished repainting the five tires black after having to airbrush the Schwimmwagen since the rims had to change color.

Airbrushing Session

2011-09-24T20:23:00.013-04:00

Today the weather was perfect, the kids were taking a midway snooze so I got to enjoy a much needed airbrushing session! The Schwimmwagen in Tamiya Dark Yellow is sure looking nice.

Airbrush Prep Work

2011-09-19T20:12:00.015-04:00

I have decided to change the main color from Tamiya German Grey XF-63 to Tamiya Dark Yellow XF-60 since I already have a Tamiya 1/35 German 6x4 Truck Krupp Protze in German Grey in my scale model collection. In general I prefer German Grey but I want to diversify the colors used in my collection and the Dark Yellow fits the bill nicely. Tonight I prepared everything that will be airbrushed as soon as I get a chance.

Tamya 1/35 scale WWII German Schwimmwagen

2011-09-06T13:51:00.008-04:00

Today I took out an old kit from my stash, a Tamiya 1/35 scale WWII German Schwimmwagen Type 166. Purchased sometime between 2000-2002, I had started the kit by spraying the it with white primer then airbrushing it German grey. I was starting my first job after studying and time was lacking. Scale modelling was put aside for a few years while focusing on getting started in life... I've decided that now is a good time to get back to this kit...

Below I've attached several parts to the upper hull of the vehicle.

Casey the Red Baron

2011-08-27T12:16:00.011-04:00

I wonder if Casey's birthday gift had anything to do with his choice of fighter plane at the amusement park?

Happy Birthday Casey!

2011-07-18T21:09:00.004-04:00

For Casey's 5th birthday, I finally presented to him his WWI Red Baron Fokker DR-1 Triplane.

He sure liked it, especially the turning propeller!

Happy Birthday Casey!

Touch Ups!

2011-07-17T12:25:00.012-04:00

Today’s the day and at the last minute I had to repaint the nose section since the propeller rubbed on the white section when I was adjusting it with a paper clip back on July 14th. A lot of masking and a can of spray paint did the job and all looks good (had a bit of a panic with family due to arrive shortly).

Tonight’s the night to present the gift, hope this unique present will please Casey...

According to my notes, it took me 35 hours to build not counting any research time.

Complete!

2011-07-14T12:15:00.010-04:00

My goal was to complete the project for Casey’s 5th birthday which is on July 18th. My wife kept telling me I it would be close and with only 4 days left (technically 3 days since his party is on the 17th) and tonight I am very glad to have competed it. It wasn’t an easy build but was lots of fun and it will sure look great hanging from his ceiling. I had some difficulties making the propeller spin properly but got it to work thanks to a paper-clip and the machine guns look menacing! Can’t wait to present it to him at the party!

Iron Crosses

2011-07-04T12:12:00.004-04:00

Tonight I finally got to place the iron crosses on the tri-plane! I’ve been waiting a long time to get to this point and find that it has added a lot of personality to the aircraft.

Fixing Old Wounds...

2011-07-03T12:07:00.007-04:00

After a long delay I finally found the right moment to go outside when there was no wind, not too hot, not too cold and the family was quiet. I painted the repairs from the January crash and completed the white areas, everything is looking good!

Casey’s First Kit

2011-05-15T22:06:00.022-04:00

Today I had Casey assist in assembling the parts to the shuttle. Despite the beginner level even I had some difficulties joining some parts together. Together we completed the assembly and placed the stickers, I choose Discovery since it is my favorite shuttle and also an appropriate name. It’s a small little project that will be proudly displayed by its new owner in his room. Hopefully this will be the beginning of a new past time for him…

Got Paint?

2011-05-13T22:00:00.001-04:00

With a bit of disappointment I found out that the kit is all in white plastic when I thought that the black markings were painted or separate pieces of plastic. It’s the first time I buy a snap kit and was not aware of this. Since Casey who is 4 ½ is too young to paint such details I decided to go ahead and paint the shuttle black sections and accessories. Nothing fancy but just enough to give it a nice appeal, two coats of flat black should do the trick!

Space Shuttle

2011-03-23T22:32:00.010-04:00

While in a toy store with my 4 year old son Casey we checked out the scale model aisle and the Snap Tite Space Shuttle caught my attention. We had built a rocket out of cardboard weeks earlier and Casey is really into rocketry. It was only 10 bucks so I decided to pick it up and hopefully start an interest in scale modelling for him. It also reminded me of when I was young and my father built me the same model, it was the first model I every had and so it will also be the first model for Casey (with his help of course).

I might as well fix it...

2011-01-13T23:17:00.000-05:00

Since I will have to add new tissue to the damaged sections I decided to correct another issue with the wings which I was not happy with.

The two white sections on the top of the wings had been painted flat white and unfortunately underneath was a gloss red coat which created an undesired cracking effect. It was light but noticeable so I went ahead and removed the sections so that I can add new tissue and repaint it with a gloss white.

Examining the Damage...

2011-01-09T23:06:00.001-05:00

Well, after yesterdays nightmare event I examined in detail and started the process of determining the repairs that will be needed. I removed the damaged sections as can be seen in the photo below.

Crash!!!

2011-01-08T22:26:00.002-05:00

Tonight I wanted to pick up where I had left off several months ago and continue work on the tri-plane. While setting up the plane and getting some cardboard to commence spray painting some red I knocked over the plane it took a 3 foot nose dive and it crashed into the floor!!! My wife who was upstairs heard a few curses and came running down to see what happened. The only damage was to the top wing bit it was major. The struts broke and pierced the top tissue and the wing fell off. I glued it back on and will analyse tomorrow what tissue needs to be replaced (lets just say I'm not in the best of moods).

Playing in the backyard...

2010-06-27T17:49:00.003-04:00

Here I am outside in my backyard spraying the completed body of the DR-1 with Krylon to harden the tissue. I attached the rubber band used to make the propeller spin to a coat hanger to make it easier to spray.

Signature

2010-06-24T17:41:00.003-04:00

The artist must sign his masterpiece…
Photo and signature is just below the machine guns.

Landing Strut

2010-06-18T17:37:00.001-04:00

The landing strut proved to be very complicated to cover with tissue due to the landing strut sticking out of the fourth wing. All I can say is that a bit of patience and a lot of cutting did the trick in completing this section of the aircraft. Despite being a hard piece to work with the challenge made it fun sub assembly to work on.

Dope & Krylon

2010-06-12T17:33:00.003-04:00

After a lot of research and testing several techniques, I came to the conclusion that the best method to cover the plane was to use a simple glue stick with tissue paper and spray it with fine particles of water then apply in a spray can Krylon clear finish. I tried the traditional technique of using what is called dope to cover the aircraft on a test piece and despite the good results the product earns its name for a reason. With strong fumes and less forgiving then the non-toxic glue stick and Krylon spray, the choice was not hard to make.

Landing Strut Assembly

2010-02-20T17:28:00.003-05:00

Despite the DR-1 being called a tri-plane due to its three principal wings, it actually has fourth one hidden in the landing strut as can be seen here.

Mid Wings Assembly

2010-02-14T17:25:00.002-05:00

Mid wings assembly completed.

Bottom Wing Assembly

2010-02-02T21:18:00.002-05:00

Tonight I completed the bottom wing assembly.

Stabalizer

2010-01-26T21:39:00.006-05:00

Just completed the stabilizer for the tri-plane which was a little tricky since multiple parts were needed to create the outer frame before placing the inner ribs which unfortunately proved to be a similar experience to when I was building the rudder but on a larger scale. With the help of a bit if tape I managed to build it and ensure that the whole piece remained flat. The total build time was 58 minutes.

Rudder

2010-01-19T15:23:00.005-05:00

Completed the rudder tonight, was a bit tricky since I had to glue the whole outer frame at the same time and make sure nothing moved out of place. Total build time was 38 minutes.

Top Wing

2010-01-17T15:17:00.004-05:00

Completed the first of the three wings (and the biggest one), all went well. I was not sure about smoothing out the edges since I was afraid that it would require a lot of sanding. I quickly found out that sanding balsa wood is too easy and only required a few minutes. Total build time was exactly 2 hours.

Microsoft LifeCam Cinema

2009-11-18T21:47:00.007-05:00

Today I decided to take the documentation of my hobby to a new level by adding a HD webcam to my workbench. I originally wanted to take an ordinary camera (2 to 3 mega pixel range) and have it take photos at regular intervals to basically "catch me in the action". I figured that I was already taking plenty of photos as the projects progress, why not have me in them as well... Unfortunately I could not find a camera that could do the job.

Webcams did come to mind early on but the resolution was too low (VGA quality which is not even 1 mega pixel). A few days ago I found out about the Microsoft LifeCam Cinema which can shoot 720p video and up to 4.7 mega pixel photos, much more then what I had been looking for. And it also just so happens that it was on special and I had a gift card making it an easier purchase to justify to my wife since it wouldn't cost a penny!!! The retail price at Future shop is $99 and I got it for $63, that what I call a good deal!

So after testing it on my computer I drilled a small hole in my office which is next door to my workshop and passed the USB cable through, then clamped it to the shelf above my workbench. I then realized after a few adjustments that since the camera will never move I could eventually make a stop motion movie of me building a scale model from A to Z (future project).

Below are photos of how it is setup in my workshop.

Fuselage Complete

2009-11-14T10:16:00.006-05:00

Just completed cutting and gluing the ribs to the fuselage of the aircraft. In all I am surprised at how quick it is to build and fun. The fuselage has taken a total of 4 hours and 27 minutes to complete.

Triplane Body Assembly

2009-11-09T09:37:00.005-05:00

This evening I started to assemble the body of the triplane with a new type of glue that I have never used before called "UHU hart". I was told that this was excellent glue to use on balsa wood since it dries quick and clear. The glue is from Germany and there is no English/French writing on it (instruction on the tube are in German, Greek and two other languages that I do not recognize) and I was a bit sceptical (especially at $10 for a 35ml tube) but just as the guy at the hobby shop stated it works very very well (no buyer remorse).

Fokker DR-1 Triplane

2009-11-07T09:29:00.009-05:00

My son Casey who is 3½ will be getting a new room soon with a transportation theme (cars, trucks and planes) and I thought what better then a large plane suspended from his ceiling. Unfortunately plastic models are too small and so I opted for a balsa wood kit which to be honest I have never built before or even considered building.

I chose the Fokker DR-1 Triplane for several reasons:

This particular kit is laser cut so the parts just fall out unlike tranditional balsa kits.

It was on special for $30 instead of $50!

A Red Baron Triplane, what could be more classic!

So over the next few months I will be working with new materials and hopefully turning my favorite hobby into a fasination for my son!

Finished the V-1!

2009-11-06T08:26:00.004-05:00

Tonight I finished the V-1 and am happy to have another project completed under my belt. I've tried several new techniques which have taught me valuable lessons for future projects. For the first time I experimented with spraying a clear coat and figured out how to mount a flying model on a stand. Overall it was a simple model which allowed me to improve many skills/techniques, the Tamiya V-1 took 7 hours and 11 minutes to build.

Mounting the V-1 (third attempt)

2009-11-04T21:36:00.005-05:00

When I cam to remove the alligator clips placed on October 31st the movement was too much despite being very delicate with the model and it snapped the glue bond again! After doing some research I decided to drill into the V-1 and insert the plastic rod into it with some krazy glue. Unlike my previous attempts I decided to glue the rod straight instead of at an angle since the V-1 was designed to fly straight and level due to its gyroscopes.

Despite my hesitations of drilling a hole into a nice model, it worked very well and is sturdy. Looking on forums and web sites no one was really clear on how to mount an aircraft with an acrylic rod, drilling a hole appears to be the best method.

Mounting the V-1 (first and second attempt)

2009-10-31T21:33:00.002-04:00

With the V-1 complete I proceeded on gluing the plastic rod to the model with krazy glue. I tilted it at an angle and once dry I glued the plastic rod to the picture frame. Everything was going well until I started to manipulate the frame once the glue had dried; the V-1 snapped from the rod and fortunately unlike its real counterpart did not explode on impact. Sustaining no damage from the fall I glued a second time. Since the plastic rod was firmly glued to the base and that I had the V-1 at an angle, it was very hard to keep it in the correct position. I had to resort to using alligator clips and large Popsicle sticks as shown in the photo.

The Thin Black Line

2009-10-30T21:28:00.003-04:00

After removing the 3M painter’s tape and leaving the Tamiya masking tape on the red section of the hull, I masked the grey area with more Tamiya tape. I then preceded to hand paint the black line with Tamiya XF-1 “Flat Black”. Looking at the photo below I am very pleased with the results!

Painting the Hull Grey

2009-10-24T21:20:00.003-04:00

I used 3M painter’s masking tape on top of the Tamiya tape to cover large areas of the red hull as well as the inner hanger area/doors in preparation to airbrushing the rest of the hull grey.

Below is the freshly airbrushed hull where I used Tamiya XF-19 “Sky Grey” acrylic paint with X-20A Tamiya thinner.

Hull Red

2009-10-14T22:13:00.001-04:00

With the hull painted with Model Master Acrylic “Insignia Red” (Flat) FS331136, I masked the hull with Tamiya tape to proceed with the next step in painting the remainder of the hull grey. Unfortunately I masked it too high and had to start redo it because I did not leave enough space for the black line that will be painted between the red and grey sections.

England!

2009-09-20T20:21:00.004-04:00

I decided to use a picture frame as the base for the V-1 and used Adobe Photoshop to turn a color photo of an English landscape into a sepia/grainy photo which may have looked like a real photo from the Second World War. I placed my order at Wal-Mart to get it printer (only 19 cents) and now all I need to do is find a nice picture frame.

Happy Birthday

2009-09-12T21:43:00.006-04:00

Yesterday was my 30th birthday and it was celebrated with family today in Trois-Rivieres. My wife had asked me what kind of cake I wanted and having seen some photos of aircraft carrier cakes while doing research about the U.S.S. Midway I had asked for one. I was a bit doubtful that I would get my request but my lovely wife actually went ahead and had her friend make one for me. It looked great and tasted good too!

More Photo Eteched Nets

2009-09-09T20:21:00.004-04:00

I completed replacing the plastic nets on the deck of the Midway with photo etched ones. It looks nice but I have had a few incidences where I had to re-glue them due to mishandling, I have learned to be careful when manipulating the deck piece.

Photo Eteched Nets

2009-08-16T13:57:00.003-04:00

Today I started to replace the plastic nets with photo etched ones, its tricky working with photo etched parts since they are so thin but they sure look nice!

Finally Finished Drilling!

2009-08-14T21:35:00.005-04:00

Having started back on May 25th its taken several months but I have finally completed drilling the holes into the deck of the Midway. Working between 5 to 15 minutes at a time over a period of 82 days (or almost 12 weeks) I drilled 2092 holes taking a total of 7 hours and 4 minutes (yes I timed it with my watch). The work was long but I believe that the results were worth it.

Airbrushing a V-1 Belly

2009-06-25T21:35:00.001-04:00

This evening I took took out my airbrush for the first time this year and airbrushed the belly of the V-1 Tamiya XF-23 Light Blue. The instructions indicated using Tamiya AS-5 but this is a pre-mix spray can which costs almost as much as the model and the XF-23 was a very close match.

V-1 Assembly

2009-06-22T22:34:00.006-04:00

I decided to put together the V-1 scale model which consisted of only 7 parts (this must be the smallest scale model I every built) and quickly realized that the seams between the two halves of the body where not flush. I ended up spending about an hour sanding the seams smooth but the model looks very nice. I also decided to cut off the spinner at the tip of the V-1 for fear that I would break it while manipulating the model, hope it won't be too hard to align properly when reattaching it.

In the photo above the air intake looks crooked , this is normal as has been placed temporarily so that it can be airbrushed. Also the yellow rod at the end of the exhaust is a temporary aid for painting purposes.

The Jig is Up!

2009-05-25T15:36:00.003-04:00

I wanted to recreate the holes which criss cross and cover the flight deck just as I did with the hangar deck back in October 2008. These holes have a cross in them and are used to attach aircraft and equipment securely to the deck.

I used Adobe Photoshop and printed out a template with the criss cross pattern on a transparent sheet of paper used to print labels. Whats nice is that the paper has a low tack so it is easy to remove afterwords. I decided to use this system for following reasons:

The jig system worked well for a straight linear part line a hangar deck but not for a Y deck of a carrier.
The carrier deck has details that I do not want to drill into which I cannot see properly with a jig.
The alignment of the jig as it was being displaced on the deck to drill a new set of holes was difficult and not precise.

I have worked for about 40+ minutes so far with the new system and the alignment is excellent. Unfortunetly I estimate that I will have several hours of drilling before all is complete.

Modeling Workbench

2009-03-03T20:24:00.001-05:00

FineScale Modeller April 2009 editor made a request to its readers to submit photos of there workbench for a future article. Hopefully my picture will make the cut...

Cuba!

2009-02-14T15:33:00.006-05:00

While on a one week vacation in Cuba I was enjoying the annual Great Scale Modeler 2009 on the white sand beaches of Cayo Santa Maria at the hotel "Melia las Dunas".

View Larger Map

F-4S Phantom

2009-01-25T21:35:00.004-05:00

Today I completed the last of the fighter squadrons with this set if six F-4S Phantoms. Compared to the other two squadrons the Phantoms had a lot more masking during the paint job due to the black and gray stripes. I also drilled out the exhaust to add extra details.

EA-6B Prowler Refueling Probes

2009-01-10T22:12:00.000-05:00

Just like the A-6E Intruders I installed refueling probes on the pair of AE-6B Prowlers. Unfortunetly I dropped one on the floor and the probe is painted light gray. It just so happens that I painted my workshop floor light gray as well back in November of 2008 and considering its small size I never found it again (surprise surprise).Fortunately using a bit of extra metal from the photo etched set I was able to recreate another one.

A-6E Intruder Refueling Probes

2009-01-05T22:05:00.002-05:00

I recently realized that on the photo etched USN SUPERCARRIER set by Gold Medal Models I had ordered back in May of 2008 contained refueling probes for both the A-6E Intruders and the EA-6B Prowlers. I had previously attempted to create theses probes myself with small wires and bits of plastic without success (it is a very small part to create!). When I saw the parts located underneath the helicopter blades I immediately got to work painting and installing them on the nose of the aircraft which was not an easy task but I am pleased with the extra level of detail it provides.

A-6E Intruder

2008-12-28T14:54:00.006-05:00

Today I have completed the set of six A-6E Intruders. This happens to be one of my favorite aircraft and perhaps one day I will model a much larger scale model of the plane (will probably be easier to detail then the 1" long aircraft seen below).

Tamiya 1/48 V-1 (Fieseler Fi103) "Flying Bomb"

2008-12-25T21:11:00.010-05:00

Today being Christmas I received from my lovely wife a 1/48 scale Tamiya V-1 (Fieseler Fi103) "Flying Bomb", a model that I have had my eye on for a little while now. Containing only 16 parts and 20 decals (this is probably the first time I have seen a model with more decals then parts) this should be a fairly quick model to complete.

A-7E Corsair II (Photo Update)

2008-12-14T22:17:00.003-05:00

Here is a new photo of the A-7E Corsair II which was taken with a Canadian 1 Cent Penny to display the scale of the aircraft.

EA-6B Prowler

2008-12-03T12:37:00.004-05:00

While working on the six A-6E Intruders I added the pair of EA-6B Prowlers to my assembly line since they are very similar with exception to there final details. Notice that the word "MARINES" is displayed instead of "NAVY", I made this remark while examining real photos of the EA-6B aboard the Midway.

My Photo

2008-11-26T13:42:00.009-05:00

I work for Cardinal Health (Pyxis) and today we had a photo session organized for all employees interested in having there picture taken with there favorite hobby, interest or passion. Obviously I brought some scale models/supplies to the office and had the following photo taken of me working on my Tamiya 1/35 German 6x4 Truck Krupp Protze.

A-7E Corsair II

2008-10-22T12:54:00.008-04:00

I have completed the first set of aircraft the A-7E Coraisr II, eight down, eighteen more aircraft to go! The aircraft look large in the photos but they are barely an inch long.

Here you can see the full squadron.
Added US insignias, Navy writing, drilled out the tail pipe.

Notice the refueling rod added to the side near the cockpit

Display Case

2008-10-19T15:13:00.002-04:00

Today I purchased a glass display case to protect my scale models from dust while displayng them for all to view in my home office. I got it on special at a new store that opened up near my house called JYSK for $66 cdn (normally selling for $100 cdn).

Starfighter Decals!

2008-10-01T09:05:00.001-04:00

Today I received the Starfighter Decals I ordered and I must say that they are much better then the decals supplied with the ARII kit. The scale looks more appropriate and the "NAVY" wording decals are outstanding! I can't wait to apply them which should be very soon since I have pretty much completed the A-7 Corsair II's.

USAF National Insignia

2008-09-24T21:02:00.005-04:00

While finishing up the A-7 Corsair II's I quickly realized that the number of Insignias that came with the scale model are not enough for the number of aircraft I am to display aboard the Midway. Having 26 aircraft that requires four insignia each for a total of 104, unfortunately the decal sheet provided by ARII only supplied 68. I am guessing that ARII assumed that not all the aircraft would be used or that the insignia would not be placed under the wings...

So with a bit of searching on line I found the web site www.starfighter-decals.com who sell a nice decal sheet with 432 USAF insignias as well as 245 decals worded "NAVY" as an added bonus. With shipping to Canada only $7 USD, that's a hard bargain to beat!

Midway Air Wings & Squadrons

2008-08-27T21:26:00.010-04:00

There is a wide variety of aircraft included with this kit (some of which never actually flew off of the U.S.S. Midway) and after some research I have narrowed it down to the following aircraft to be displayed based on a 1986 model of the Midway (pre EISRA-86):

Below is a screen shot of the different airwings to be used with the excess plastic removed and stabilizers fins glued, next stop the paint shop!

Let There be Light! (in the hangar)

2008-08-13T20:13:00.016-04:00

I received in the mail today the electroluminescent strip lamp I ordered on eBay. I had to make a quick test to see how it would look and and am very happy with the results (much better then the LED's). There is a slight blue tint to the light but the advantages of the electroluminescent strip lamp outweigh this detail. Notice that we can even see details such as the hangar door decals inside the ship clearly, I am anxious to complete detailing the inside and add aircraft.

Paint it Red

2008-08-09T15:05:00.004-04:00

After masking the hull hangar deck I took out my airbrush today and painted the hull for the second time. Why the second time, well the week before during my vacation I painted the hull Tamiya flat red (XF-7) and it looked like red primer (hideous, although probably more realistic to the real thing). So I sprayed the hull with white primer and resprayed it with Tamiya red (X-1), this time round I am pleased with the results.

The $5 Computer

2008-07-30T21:15:00.005-04:00

I use the internet for 95% of my research when working on scale models and I will often walk back and forth between my office and my workshop to examine photos. This was starting to annoy me and one solution I did come up with was printing out the images but it wasn't the same.

After looking through my computer spare parts box I realized that all I was missing to build a PC was a monitor and a case. Since I am on vacation I have the extra time to work on building a computer case out of wood and took a walk to the local flea market where I picked up a very nice flat 17" CRT monitor with a low profile for only $5. After installing Windows 2000 on it (it's a Celeron 500MHz) and a wireless mouse I now have easy access to all of my reference material.

Electroluminescent Strip Lamp

2008-07-30T07:52:00.007-04:00

I was looking for a way to illuminate the interior of the hangars for the U.S.S. Midway and my initial plan was to use white LED's. I went out and bought the necessary circuits and tested it out only to be disappointed with the outcome. I did not realize that the white LED's would create a spot light effect as well as being too big and obvious as it stuck out of the ceiling of the hangar.

I did some research and stumbled upon a post on the Fine Scale Modeler forum where it was discussed how to light up a Star Wars Millennium Falcon engine using a electroluminescent strip lamp. after seeing some screen shots I was really intrigued since this product can be bent and cut into the shape you want.

Searching for a site that sells the product I found Miller Engineering web site where the product was available in blue or white. For the Millennium Falcon blue is the perfect color but for me white is what I need. Unfortunetly the price is a bit high and the format of the product (light dimensions) was not ideal. A quick search on eBay found exactly what I needed (10"x3" light strip which is the same dimension as the hangar deck) at about half the price (including shipping).

Below is a screen shot of what the product resembles:

Paving the Hangar

2008-07-26T22:42:00.002-04:00

After a lot of hesitation and research I decided to paint the hangar deck Tamiya NATO black (XF-69). Why the hesitation, well as with any aircraft carrier the state of the deck will change overtime from a flat black when refresh/updated to a light gray color during extensive use (just like a highway). Since I am not an expert in wreathing I decided to go with the cleaner look of black deck. Flat black was my initial idea until I realized that the island bottom half is also flat black. I wanted to have a slight contrast between the main flight deck and the island so I opted for the NATO black instead.

I first started by painting the walls Tamiya flat white (XF-2) which was the easy part. To airbrush the NATO black I first had to mask the walls because on the real ship the black goes up the wall several feet. it was not easy to mask the walls due to the size (11mm high) but the extra attention to detail was worth the trouble. I then added decals to simulate the red/yellow checkered lines around the interior hangar doors which can been seen from the exterior hangar door.

Reference Material

2008-07-21T11:38:00.005-04:00

For anyone interested in building an accurate U.S.S. Midway scale model and needs detailed reference material there is a very good site which I have based most of my research on: called Midway Sailor (www.midwaysailor.com).

Hangar Walls

2008-07-06T21:26:00.008-04:00

With the hangar deck glued to the hull I started the laborious task of cutting and gluing together the various walls which make out the hangar deck. This took a few evenings to complete but it definitely looks a lot better then my initial plan of using straight walls (like a box). Using the red outlines which I had made by tracing the scaled plans of the hangar deck I was able to create a fairly realistic depiction of the actual hangar deck.

Elevators

2008-07-01T21:14:00.006-04:00

The Midway has two elevators in the hangar deck, creating boxes out of styrene sheets will give the impression of seeing into the depths of the hull. I did some testings and they can be easily seen by any of the three hangar doors so detailing these features is important.

(hangar deck view from underneath)

(elevator located in the stern section of the hangar)

Hull Wiring Guide

2008-06-29T21:50:00.008-04:00

I will be painting the hull section soon and need to glue the hangar deck in. My dilemma was that in doing so I would no longer have access to insert wiring needed for the two white led lights to be installed later on. My original plan was to pass the wiring immediately and have two wires sticking out of the bottom of the hull where I had drilled two holes that will be hidden by the pedestals. What bothered me with this idea was that for the rest of the time I would be working on the kit I would have wires dangling in my way.

Today I had the ingenious plan of gluing two small straws cut up where the bottom section is glued to the holes I had drilled and the top section slanted at a 45 degree angle would reach the side of the hull and accessible behind the hangar walls. Now I will be able to work on the ship and when I am ready to wire it and will simply have to insert the wiring from underneath and it will follow the path of the straws up into the hangar for wiring.

Keel Completed

2008-06-26T21:38:00.003-04:00

I finally finished scratch building the keel section to make it as accurate as possible to the real thing based on photographs I have found while the ship was in dry dock.

Keel Updates

2008-06-17T21:34:00.000-04:00

I have been hard at work updating the keel section of the ship. Below you can see the original keel and the updates made. I have not yet completed the keel section but it is coming along quite well...

ARII Hull Errors!

2008-05-26T11:05:00.013-04:00

Since I have completed the initial parts of the hangar deck I have been preparing the hull itself. Before I can glue the hangar deck I need to drill holes for the two pedestals and pass two wires for the LED's to be installed later on.

While working on the hull I started to examine the propeller shafts and rudders where after a bit of research I found the following errors:

ARII kit comes with four rudders, Midway only had two.
The four propellers have five blades each, in reality the two exterior propellers have only four blades, not five.
The two inner propellers center are flat and not round like the exterior ones.
The hull's keel splits in two towards the stern (back end) where the two inner shafts connect, in the model there is only one keel on the center (this will be a challenge to correct).

Correcting the rudders should not be too difficult, modifying the propellers will be a bit of a challenge. I will also try to add the metal lines which I suspect are used to guide water flow which lay between the propellers and the propeller shafts.

Holes and even more holes!

2008-05-19T22:30:00.004-04:00

I have finally completed drilling the holes needed to cover the hangar deck, I counted 769 holes drilled in total! It took a couple of hours to complete and I did it in several sessions over a period of one week since after about 20 minutes of manual drilling my fingers would start to hurt. I did some tests placing the hangar deck inside the hull and setting the flight deck on top and the results were very nice. Unfortunetly I will have to repeat the process later for the main flight deck which has a surface area about twice as large, I'll save that for another day.

The Jig

2008-05-08T22:40:00.008-04:00

I wanted to recreate the the holes which criss cross and cover the hangar and flight deck. These holes have a cross in them and are used to attach aircraft and equipment securely to the deck.

I used Adobe Photoshop and printed out a template with the criss cross pattern which I then taped to a small piece of styrene. This now became my Jig and will be used to accurately align all the holes on the decks with the proper spacings. The next step was to take a 0.5mm mechanical pencil and make the pattern on the deck where afterwards I will take a small hand drill and make small holes but not go through the styrene sheet. I have made some small tests and applied two coats of paint on another piece of plastic and the results were very nice. My only regret after completing the dots is that I should have used a transparent piece of styrene so that I could see easier where I am placing the dots.

Below is a photo of the jig on the hangar deck, if you look carefully you will see the pencil marks to be my guide when using a small hand drill.

Photo Etched Sets Arrive!

2008-05-06T21:44:00.007-04:00

Today I received the Gold Medal Models (GMM) photo etched detail sets I ordered from www.goldmm.com. It is not in 1/800 scale but the difference in size is very small and I believe acceptable. I will have a few challenges since the USN SUPERCARRIER photo etched set is not actually intended for the U.S.S. Midway, however I have seen it adapted for it in another model from research I have done and I believe that I can do the same. This will be my first time working with photo etched parts.

1/720 Scale USN SUPERCARRIER

1/700 Naval Figures

1/700 USN NUCLEAR CARRIER DECALS

Hangar Wall Layout

2008-04-28T20:10:00.004-04:00

Originally I was to have straight walls in the hangar, however after doing some research I was able to find a photo which had the layout of the hangar deck. With the aide of Adobe Photoshop I resized the image and printed it out to scale. Afterwards I taped it to the styrene sheet and with a red marker made an outline for future reference.

Below you can see the deck with the wall outlines on the hull. Also notice in the stern section (back) the elevator shaft and in the bow section (front) to the port side (left) the stairway shaft which I have added for extra detail.

Cross Section

2008-04-24T21:10:00.008-04:00

Here we can see the cross sections needed to support the scratch built hangar deck. I determined that six were needed to give proper support and make sure the deck does not slope inwards. Fortunately there were two slots designed to hold batteries which the styrene sheets fit perfectly and helped keep everything aligned properly.

You may also notice that in red I have signed and dated the model as an artist would sign a canvas painting. This is a tradition I have done with every model I have built since I was a child.

Gold Medal Models

2008-04-24T11:37:00.006-04:00

Today I placed an order with "Loren Perry Gold Medal Models" www.goldmm.com for photo etched parts and a decal sheet to be used on the U.S.S. Midway. I was a bit disappointed that the site does not accept a direct credit card payments and initially I thought I would have to create a money order but fortunetly they do accept PayPal now.

I have ordered the following:

1/720 Scale USN SUPER CARRIER ($20)
1/700 Naval Figures ($6)
1/700 USN NUCLEAR CARRIER DECALS ($9)

Shipping was only $2 and I had to add 3% of the total to cover for PayPal fees which is cheaper then having a Money Order created and I would also get my items faster!

I have done some research and despite not being 1/800 scale it has been proven by other modelers that the 1/700 scale can be adapted fairly well. See this interesting article from SteelNavy.com of how Mark Leonard built an ARII U.S.S. Midway with some of the exact same parts.

Hangar Deck

2008-04-23T20:15:00.004-04:00

To make the hangar deck I used a piece of paper cut out to the maximum width of the hull. I then proceeded in trimming it to fit the hulls curvature. Once I was satisfied with the cut I then placed it on a styrene sheet with tape and cut the pattern out. With only a few slight adjustments which were probably due to the thickness of the styrene sheet it fit perfectly in place.

On the scale model is the paper mock up and below the styrene sheet.

Contruction Begins for the U.S.S. Midway!

2008-04-21T22:30:00.001-04:00

Below is a photo of some of the first steps taken in this project, I drilled out a hole on each side of the hull where the anchor is linked with chains inside the ship.

Details Plans for the Contruction of the U.S.S. Midway

2008-04-21T22:00:00.003-04:00

Today I have started work on the ARII 1/800 scale U.S.S. Midway aircraft carrier. This model will be the first one that I will apply major scratch building to it.

For this project I plan to do the following:

Open up the elevator doors so that a detailed hanger will be viewable.

Ceiling piping will be added
Details to the interior walls
Interior elevators

Add real cables for the arresting cables on the landing pad.
Raise the jet blast deflectors.
Add the doghouse to the island (the doghouse is an extension of the island).
Fold wings of some of the aircrafts which are not in use.

I have purchased several "Gold Medal Models" items to add extra detail including:

Photo etch Naval Figures (set of 100)
U.S.N. Supercarrier Decals
U.S.N. Supercarriers photo etch parts

New Kit - U.S.S. Midway

2008-04-14T12:25:00.003-04:00

Upon visiting the U.S.S. Midway located in San Diego California on October 20th 2007 I purchased the scale model of the vessel from there gift shop.

It is a Chinese ARII kit in 1/800 scale model measuring approximately 15 inches long and has 76 various aircrafts. I plan to make extensive modifications and super detail this kit.

I have since been fortunate enough to return to San Diego and visit the U.S.S. Midway a second time on April 7th 2008, this time taking lots of reference photos in anticipation of the construction of this kit. I was glad to have purchased this scale model on my first visit because when I returned to the gift shop they no longer had any left and from the research I did it is a hard to find kit.

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Tamiya 1/35 German 6x4 Truck Krupp Protze

2008-03-31T11:21:00.005-04:00

I purchased this model on eBay back in 2003, the trucks unique look caught my attention. I started working on it in November 2007, took a pause during December because of the holidays and I estimate that it should be complete sometime next month (April 2008). Below are a few images (there is still a bit of work left to do):

Tamiya 1/35 U.S. 107mm Mortar

2008-01-04T09:18:00.003-05:00

After roughly eight years I decided to start scale modeling again with the Tamiya 1/35 U.S. 107mm Mortar which I began in early 2007 and completed in late November of the same year. Thinking that it would be a simple project because of the projects size I underestimated how long it would take.

Cleaning all of the excess plastic was difficult due to the size and endless contours of the three soldiers. Painting went fairly well except for the soldiers eyes which I used a sewing needle to create the pupils, one of the soldiers eyes had to be redone three times before I was satisfied.

Because the scale model is just a mortar with three soldiers I needed to create a base and therefore this project became my first diorama. I used a small picture frame that I filled up with clay and sculpted it to give it a natural terrain look. I then applied Scenic railroad sand, added a rock that I found in my drive way and a small Scenic bush.

Tamiya 1/35 German Panzer Mk. II Ausf.F

2008-01-04T07:53:00.005-05:00

The Tamiya 1/35 German Panzer Mk. II Ausf.F (Panzerkampfwagen II) is the first scale model that I painted using an airbrush (Aztek 1000s). It was built in the summer of 1998 and was one of my last scale models built during my adolescence. This is also the only scale model which I kept from my youth and still possess as I threw out all of my other models and quite modelling for approximately 8 years. I have only recently reequipped myself and started to scale model again.