Birthday Boy

Only a few minutes after I brought the kit upstairs son arrived home from nursery school and he was sure happy to see his plane! Happy fifth birthday Andy!

Painting it Blue

Today I started to paint the kit Tamiya AS-8 Navy Blue (U.S. Navy). While everything went well I realized I made an error in judgment when deciding to use a Tamiya spray can versus a standard hardware store spray paint like I have done with previous balsa kits. The Tamiya spray can is a fraction of the size and I ran out within minutes only being able to cover the top section of the aircraft. I estimate I'll need a second can for underneath and a third for a final coat.

Primer Time

Spent the past two days going in my garage and spraying primer on different sections of the plane.

10 Years of Scale Model Blogging!

It's been exactly 10 years since I posted my first scale model blog and time has sure gone by! With over 330 posts, 14 scale models completed and another 3 on the workbench I am very satisfied with what I have accomplished.

Statistics wise I am also surprised at over 17 thousand page views of my blog from all over the world and over 9700 views of the 6 scale model related videos on YouTube. I think one of the special moments I had was when my blog was mentioned in the April 2012 edition of the magazine "FineScale Modeller" which is the magazine that got me into the hobby back in 1995. While my objective has never been to get the most number of views or make money with my blog (which I don't) I take great pride in being able to share my experience with the hobby with everyone and hope to encourage others to try out one of my favorite past times.

While I have nothing specific planned for the next 10 years one item I do hope to look into is the ever maturing technology of 3D printers which I believe would make a tremendous difference in not only solving issues but also permitting more creativity. Just waiting for the prices to be reasonable at this point as I have witnessed recently the high quality of the printed parts it is that are now feasible.

Well enough rambling and now time to get back to the workbench!

Lung Protection

Spray painting more than usual recently I have been thinking about the health inpacts of such activities especially as I start to get older. I have already used those cheap dust masks but I suspect there effectiveness to be minimal at best...

A few weeks ago it was my 38th birthday and I received a $50 gift card at Home Depot. I had initially intended to buy some lumber for a shelf project but the idea got "shelved". But then I got the idea to get myself a high end air mask as seen in the photo.

The first time I tried it I could smell nothing while painting in my garage so I was curious and just made a crack between the mask and my face and what a strong smell of paint! So this 3M mask really works well and will hopefully extend my model making activities while breathing a bit easier...

Complete!

Well today I completed the U-96 and am glad to have accomplished another kit. While this is one of the smallest kits I have built so far I'll admit the low time to build (524 minutes or 8 hours 44 minutes in this case) is attractive versus the typical 30-40 hour range I experience with larger kits however I found it to be less fun to build as the parts are very tiny and there is not as much detail. Weathering also proved to be difficult and I find that on a shelf with other scale models it does not look as impressive due to the small size. Overall I like the kit but would probably prefer building it in a larger scale.

Guillow's Balsa F4U-4 Corsair Unboxing

Unboxing video of Guillow's Balsa F4U-4 Corsair in 1/16th scale. Will be starting construction soon  of this large kit for my youngest son Andy's 5th birthday present (Jan 2018).

A Christmas Gift

Well today is Christmas and what better gift I could get from my in-laws than a scale model! To be specific I received the Tamiya M1A1 Abrams with Mine Plow 1/35 scale American tank, a kit that I have had my eye on for a while now. 

The main reason I want to build this kit is because when I was about 14 I built one, a Revell kit I believe but could be mistaken. It was my first armored kit and I really enjoyed building it and it sure looked great! It was also built only a year or two after Operation Desert Storm so these tanks were all over the media.

While there have been upgraded version of the Abrams tank released I really wanted to build the same version I built as a teenager but at the same time use a much more modern and higher quality kit and this Tamiya model fit the bill perfectly.

It's Finished!!!

With construction of this kit commencing on April 21st 2008 and terminating November 16th 2016, I am glad to finally say that the U.S.S. Midway is now complete! It has taken 8 years, 6 months and 26 days to build over a period of 171 hours and 39 minutes which does not take into consideration all the research I performed. I have also built several other kits in between and have had many changes/challenges in my life such as the addition of my second (Terry) and third (Andy) sons as well as having a new house built and a major back injury that put me out of work for six months.

Building the Midway has also taught me that perfection in scale model building can take out a lot of the fun in the hobby and I have learned to seek a more artistic route to better enjoy this past time.

Building a Paint Shelf Video

Here is a video explaining how and why I built a paint shelf.

Happy Birthday to Me!

It's my 37th birthday and what a better way to celebrate than to receive some new kits! My brother-in-law was nice enough to give me a 1:35 scale Bell H-13H helicopter and a World War II German Type VII C U-boat in 1:350 scale.

The helicopter is a project I have been wanting to do for a while when seeing the kit a few years ago. I am a big fan of the tv show M.A.S.H. having seen every episode and though it would be nice to recreate the helicopter used in the series. Would be really night to even try to make a Hawkeye figurine with a hawaiin t-shirt!

As for the submarine, I have always liked German u-boats but wanted something small that would fit on my shelf and at 1:350 scale it is only 20 cm long which is perfect for a quick fun build.

Birthday Party

Well today's the party for my second son Terry's 5th birthday and here he is with his new plane! While it was a challenge to build the aircraft in such a short time I am very happy with how it turned out. Total build time calculated was approximately 49 hours and 8 minutes.

Spray Paint Fun

Just like the F-14 me and Casey made last year I decided to keep things simple and use the same Tamiya spray can to paint the fuselage. It's a nice classic grey color for a military aircraft.

Complete!

This afternoon I weathered the Schwimmwagen using Tamiya Weathering Master A Set (sand), applied a coat of flat clear, added the final parts (windshield frame, mirrors, etc), weathered some more then applied a second coat of flat clear. Tonight I installed the windshield to the frame using Elmer's white glue and this kit /project comes to an end after being purchased some 10+ years ago. 

I added up the minutes from my records and the total build time comes down to 1281 minutes or 21 hours and 21 minutes. Its a lot more time then I expected but I had extra rework to due because of initial painting I did when I originally purchased the kit and I paid a lot of attention to detail based on the research I did. Overall I am very please with the kit. It's a very small one (smallest in my collection) but the fact that I bought it over a decade ago always nagged me when I saw it unbuilt on the shelf. WW2 German innovation has always peaked great interest for me and what could be more interesting then a car that can swim.

Maverick

Today Casey and me finished assembling his F-14. He is pretty happy about his latest project and already wants to build another kit. Ironically tomorrow on the local cable channel what movie is playing... "Top Gun". Guess who wants to see it...

Spring Break Over and Another Project Complete!

Today I presented Casey the final product of our week long project. He was very excited to see the end result and was flying it all over the house. Fortunately he appears to understand that its delicate and so far no damage has occurred... This was a lot of fun and I hope these little projects will eventually increase his interest in the hobby.

Casey, the proud new owner of an F-18 model!

Me and Casey

Another kit to add to Casey's collection!

FSM Digital - "Blog that build"

I am subscribed to FSM digital service provided by Zinio and got to examine the April 2012 issue of FSM and see my reader tip located on page number 53. Still can't wait to get my hands on a printed copy but this was already very rewarding for me.

FineScale Modeler Tips

I just received an email from FineScale Modeler magazine Associate Director Aaron Skinner stating that my reader tip about blogging scale model projects will be added to the April 2012 issue of FSM. 

This news just made my day and I sure can't wait to get my hands on that issue!

Happy Birthday Casey!

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!

Casey’s First Kit

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…