Maddog Manufacturing Now Open Here.

[chromdome35]

WOW, now that's an update!

You may have more kits underway than I have in my stash (at least tell my wife that).

That gun truck looks nice!!

[deafpanzer]

Sorry to hear about your PC and health issues... hope they will be sorted out soon. I loved your Rocket the Raccoon!

[406 Silverado]

Now THAT......is an update right there Mark (dukemaddog). LOTS going on in this thread. What scale is Rocket?

[stikpusher]

Nice update Mark! That Russian mortar is on the same carriage as the 8” Howitzer that I built this spring for our AMPS 12 hour build GB. I know that you have your work cut out for you there!
Love the Rocket figure. He is too cool!

[dukemaddog]

Thank you Brian! That's actually about half the kits I have underway. Feel free to how this to your wife and tell her that.

Thank you Andy! The PC is sorted so far; health is a bit better, but I do need to find out more. Rocket is coming along. I am thrilled with him so far.

Thank you Joe! I have more to show but I didn't want to overwhelm all the Forums I am on. Rocket is 1/12 or 1/8 scale I think; I haven't really noticed the scale on the box or anything. He stands about a foot tall sans gun; plus or minus an inch or three.

Thank you Carlos. Your mortar is what motivated me to get started on mine. I also have the same chassis under a 152mm gun to start as well. Rocket is coming along, hopefully I can get him finished soon. I just have to find out how to get him mounted on the stand.


Thanks again guys! Stay tuned, more to come.

[stikpusher]

I’d say drill the stand and Rocket’s feet in the appropriate spots and use wire to get a nice secure contact with CA or epoxy.

[handiabled]

You always amaze me Mark with the number and quality of your builds

[armornutii]

  Ok I'm gonna hide in thr corner and cry. No really, Mark you are a machine.

[dukemaddog]

Thank you for the awesome comments guys! Armornuttii, I know how you feel; I get that way every time I go to a model contest. Now I have more to make you cry here, but it's not much so you probably won't shed too many tears.


My apologies; I have been gone for awhile, but now I have time to actually start a new tour of Maddog Manufacturing. This will be a rather short tour, as I've had a lot going on and not as much time to work on anything much except when I got to Hobby Days. Even then, Hobby Day production was down.


Anyway, without further ado, let's board the trams and get this tour started!



Once again, we start in the Hangar.


Not much to show, but we did get started on two models that two friends purchased for me at the latest Distressed Kit Auction back in June. These were the Matchbox F-6F Hellcat built up to this point:





Next was an ancient Airfix Avenger as part of that deal. We got it this far:





Again, short tour, that's all there is in the Hangar. Now to check out the work in the Shipyards....



Over here in the shipyards, only a small amount of work has been done on a couple of the small boats. First, the Vosper's Perkasa boat hull was masked for painting the lower hull:





Next, we got all the greeblies added to the front and second decks of the Japanese PT-15 torpedo boat:


First the front deck:





The extra holes are for the railings that will be going on last. And now a shot of this with the first two forward decks cemented in and the rear deck just dry fit in place:





This is almost all ready for paint at this point. The decks and greeblies and deck houses all have the same Neutral grey color.



Moving on to the Motor Pool, there's been a little more done than in the previous departments, starting with a couple French vehicles that are based on the AMX-13 chassis.


First is the AMX-61 102mm self propelled gun. We got it all assembled to this point and then promptly lost the gun mount assembly seen in the lower right of the picture:





Looks like that won't be done for awhile until that sub assembly shows up again, or a new kit is purchased. Story of my life, especially recently...


The other French vehicle is the DCA. We first got all the main roadwheels on it:





By the way, the plastic is not that blue....


Later we assembled the radar set in parts as we tried figuring out how it was supposed to look. The instructions show it facing aft and I wanted mine to be facing forward:





You can see above that while sub assemblies for the radar set were drying, additional parts were added to the turret. Later we got things figured out and assembled, as well as most of the remaining detail parts that won't break off during painting and handling:





Finally, the lower hull for the Israeli Shot Kal Gimmel was assembled:





We also had gotten the same assembly done for the Shot Kal Dalet but since it looks the same, no need for a pic.


​Additional progress was made on the Russian 240 mm tracked artillery piece; the tracks were added to the bogie assemblies:





Later on, all the sub assemblies were put together to see what adjustments would be needed:





Last but not least, we got almost all the assembly done on the South African Eland-90. The only problem now is that the main gun has gone missing so until we get another, or find the sprue that has it; this one will sit unfinished for awhile:







Finally, in our semi-rarely used spare workshop, we have a couple little projects happening.


First off, the chassis to the 1/24 scale Packard was glued inside the fenders since anytime we tried adding additional chassis parts, the whole chassis kept breaking apart:





Hopefully, this will stay glued; this plastic is so brittle it barely holds together!


Finally, for fun, we've been working on the ancient UPC model of a Roman Racing Chariot. No scale is given, but based on the size of the guys, it is probably somewhere between 1/50-1/56 scale; possibly 1/48 at a stretch. First, the Roman crew was painted up with the colors available at the time:





Later, they were completely painted, waiting on washes and drybrushing:








Two of the horses were done next; the other two will be black stallions. The two whites will need a bit of touch up:





Finally, the chariot itself was built up and then painted. It said to make the chariot black but I decided we were going to paint it white:





You can see some of the other details were painted as well. Later all the painting was done; all that's needed are some touch ups and then the decals can go on:










And that concludes this latest tour of Maddog Manufacturing, I hope you enjoyed it. As always, comments are welcome.

[kyledehart5]

What an incredible thread from start to finish. I think I'd like to become a permanent resident of the factory so I can keep an eye on the latest projects. I also love building a bit of everything but the scope of your work is awesome. Great work. The Romans and their chariot are really unique and too cool.

[handiabled]

Amazing as usual Mark. I think I looked at my bench twice since mid summer....

[dukemaddog]

Thank you Kyle! You're welcome to come by anytime!

Thank you Handi!

[ogrejohn]

That's a lot of nice work Mark!

[stikpusher]

Once again Mark, you've presented a very eclectic update! All true variety of subjects. If I have to pick a favorite from these subjects, it just has to be the Roman chariot... that one is way too cool!

[406 Silverado]

Oh BOY!!! I've not been as active on here this week as I would've liked to have been so I missed this when you posted it Mark. The amount of things that you build and at the level you build always surprises me. These are all coming together very well buddy.

[dukemaddog]

Thank you John! I can't wait to get some over the finish line!

Thank you Carlos! I love showing and working on a variety like this. I also love the Roman Chariot, when I got it I couldn't wait to start it!

Thank you Joe! Stay tuned, I have more coming!

[stikpusher]

Great update Mark! Rocket is an excellent way to close out your recon report.

[dukemaddog]

Thank you Carlos!

[dukemaddog]

Despite more issues happening, we managed to get more progress done. The next tour of Maddog Manufacturing is preparing to start. All aboard the trams for this next trip through Maddog Manufacturing. remember to keep hands and feet inside the trams at all times.

Once again, we'll start in the Hangar.


Some time before, knowing that the weather was going to improve, we masked off the various aircraft that we planned to paint. The Hellcat got Silly Putty in the cockpit and wheel wells:





The Avenger was masked off the same, with tape and Silly Putty:



With the weather more amenable to airbrushing a couple days later, some of these finally got their first paint.

The two Spitfires got their undercoat:

[IMGhttps://modelersalliance.org/galleries/wip-british-spitfire-mk-ix-a-jpg.129969/full[/IMG]



Followed by the Russian Il-2M3 Shtormovik:



Then we shot the blue on the Russian Be-4 flying boat:



Followed by the white underneath the Avenger:



Once the paint dried sufficiently on the Avenger, more masking was applied for the second color:



I masked the tail wrong; it was supposed to be an angled white section; I masked the entire moveable part. That's how it's gonna stay. The intermediate blue went on next:



Finally, when the intermediate blue was dry, we masked off the blue for the final color which will hopefully go on later this weekend or next week:







That finishes the tour of the Hangar, now on to the Shipyards....



This next one was a kit I got in a Distressed Kit Auction; I had thought it was a 1/72 scale boat. So we got started on it, getting the hull and some major parts assembled:



That took all of five minutes. Another fifteen to twenty minutes later, it looked like this:



That's when I realized this is actually more like 1/96 scale, The crewmen and stubby torpedoes kinda gave it away. Oh well, it is all finished assembly and ready for paint so I will finish it and leave it on the shelf.





That's all that was done in the Shipyards, so on to the Motor Pool....


Here in the Motor Pool, things have moved on better. First off, the little Russian fire truck got a better coat of red paint on it, prior to moving forward on the finishing:



The M48-A5 has been finally masked with Silly Putty for the second of three (or four) colors on the camouflage:



Meanwhile, further progress was made building the detail parts and sub-assemblies for the Russian 280mm tracked artillery piece:



Still a lot more pieces and sub-assemblies to do for that little gun. I feel like it's taking forever, but at least I can see progress every time I take more pics.

Moving on to the next bay we have the French DCA getting it's tracks on:



Later on we added almost all the photo etch to this. I wanted to let the turret P/E dry before adding the last P/E part on the other side of the turret:



Finally everything dried enough to add the final piece of Photo Etch.This one is now ready for paint:



Moving to the next bin, rapid progress was made on the Israeli Sho't Kal Gimmel. The upper hull plates went on, the wheels went on, and the basic turret was assembled. Then I noticed we put more than half the wheels on backward and had to pull them off and re-install them properly:



Later we tried to get the next Israeli Sho't Kal Dalet caught up but only got the upper hull plates on, the wheels installed (correctly!) and half the turret assembled:



Hopefully further progress can be made soon. I want to get these both in the spray booth at the same time.


Finally, in our separate Assembly Yard, we have progress done on a couple of unique and different models. First is the Packard in 1/24 scale. This beastie has been causing so many problems. First off, the instructions say to place the engine cover on and then glue the radiator assembly on since the engine cover is supposed to come off to show the engine itself. After adding the fire wall, we did just that, making sure it would dry right with tape:



You can see it didn't quite make it. That is mostly because the engine cover itself wasn't seated properly. While it was drying, we added half of the parts to the rear of the car. Some parts were missing, so I just need to find them somewhere in the hobby room to finish this part:



Naturally I wanted to see how well the wheels lined up and touched the ground. What I found was disappointing to say the least. This rear wheel was so misaligned that the car looked like it was lifting the back wheel to water a fire hydrant! Our attempts to fix it resulted in a shattered leaf spring , some of which was re-glued on:



Then I thought we should build the canvas top, and found this issue when we did:



Look on the left and you'll see how warped this was. Just like everything else on this warped brittle model, it was one more thing that made me box this up and stick it back on the shelf for now.

Finally, we did make some progress on the last fun little project. The horses and chariot are now glued together and mounted on the base. Now all that is needed is the reins and whip and we can call this done:







And that now concludes this latest tour of Maddog Manufacturing. Thank you all for stopping in and taking the tour, it's a pleasure to have you aboard. As always, comments are welcome.

[kyledehart5]

That’s quite an update. Another enjoyable trip through the factory! The birds are looking good with some paint on them. And the shipyard has some nice work on their oddly scaled little guy. Sorry to hear about the issues with the Packard. And I still love the Roman chariot kit. Too cool

[handiabled]

Amazing update as usual! You always have a great variety of builds going on!

[stikpusher]

Nice update Mark! I remember building that PT-212 boat as a kid. I think it's actually 1/96 or some smaller scale, and not 1/72. The AMX AA tank looks great! I can't wait to see some paint on it.

[dukemaddog]

Thank you Kyle! I did get a lot more done than expected. Hopefully soon, some of these will make it over the finish line.

Thank you Handiabled! Keeping a good variety keeps so many of them fresh.

Thank you Carlos! Yeah, I figured it was a smaller scale, so it won't be included in my 1/72 scale boats. You won't have long to wait, The AMX AA gun is already painted!

[dukemaddog]

Well we have had a pretty productive week this past week, so now it's time to host another tour of Maddog Manufacturing. The trams are boarding now, so all aboard and remember to keep hands and feet inside at all times.

As always, we start in the Hangar.

We had a great opportunity to bring out the spray gun and so base paints were shot on all aircraft needing it topside.

First were the two Spitfires:





Then the Russian Be-4:



You can see the paint was a bit too diluted so we took another shot. The second shot was far better:





And the Be-4:



While we had the better paint in the sprayer, we also shot the Il-2M3:



While all that was drying, we switched and shot the final Navy blue onto the Avenger:



Later that masking came off that and now the Avenger is ready for clearcoat and decals:



Personally, I do not know why the turret frosted like it did. I was certain the masking was sealed properly so I have no idea what happened. I will try to buff it out and shine it as best I can, but I am not going to go to outlandish lengths to make it as perfect as possible.

So that is all that has been done in the Hangar so far. You can see everything has been set up for the remaining camouflage patterns before clearcoat and decals. There might be a few aircraft crossing the finish line this month!




Since nothing of note has been happening in the Shipyards, we'll move on to the Motor Pool.


Here in the Motor Pool quite a bit has been done. To start with, here in Bay One, we found an ancient ESCI kit of a Hetzer that we were trying to sell. The box was busted up, and the thing had no nibbles, even when priced at a buck. So, out it came and the basic first steps were made. You can see here the main lower hull was assembled, but when it came time for the front plate to be installed, it broke while we were cleaning it up. So this is where it stands now:



Moving on to the next bay, we have the first shot of green on the base of the Russian 280m tracked artillery piece. Like the aircraft, I didn't like it. Besides, certain pieces were left off so they had to be added before we shot it again. You can see it here with the gun dry-fit into place:



Later, the base part got it's second coat:



Meanwhile, I felt it was time for the second tracked artillery piece to be started so we pulled out that and assembled the main gun first:



Later the base part was started, but a semi-vital piece is missing. I might just say 'screw it!' and move on anyway....



That is as far as we got on that one. In this next bay, we shot the base coat on the French DCA anti-aircraft system. It does NOT look this blue in person:



Later came clearcoat, a wash, and decals:



This one was later driven out onto the parade ground for breaking in by it's crew.

In this next bay, we decided to move forward on the Sho't Kal Dalet by completing the basic turret. For some reason, this turret was far more rough than the Gimmel turret was:



Later after some cleanup, the main gun was added to the turret and the fenders were added to the sides:



Now this is more or less caught up with the Gimmel. Moving on to the next bay, we have the M48-A5 Patton. The base had already been shot on, so the masking went on and the second color was shot:



Additional Silly Putty was added to cover the second color when it was dry:



And the third color was shot:



When it was dry, I hand painted some black shapes on the edges for the fourth color. They may be a bit hard to see in this pic, they look like shadows:



Finally, everything came off when it was all dry:



Later a clearcoat and decals went on:



After that, some dullcoat was applied, and the final details were added and this was driven off by it's crew for familiarization....

In another bay over here, the M1070 gun truck finally had some progress done. Base paint was applied to the inside of the cab and the outside:



The windscreen and side doors were masked off, both inside and out:



Finally, base paint was shot on the rear gunner's box, the clear parts and the other sub-assemblies, as well as a lighter OD on the anti-RPG panels:



That is where we left that one, but there's more. While organizing my parts, I found a small machine gun turret for my T-28 kit. I had just put that kit up and so I found it again and was able to finally have the whole kit again! This tank had already been basecoated green before the turret got lost, and so now, I am finally able to finish this Shelf Queen after ten years! Silly Putty was added for the second color:



Then the tan was shot:



Finally the unmasking:



This one then got final details added and was then turned over to their crew for breaking in.

That's all for today. Nothing esoteric this time, but still hopefully some interesting items in the tour.

Thank you all for looking in, comments are welcome.

[kyledehart5]

Another wonderful guided tour of the manufacturing plant. I did reach out of the tram one time to stretch and nearly lost a hand to be used as a spare part, so I'll remember to heed the warning next time. Airplane colors are looking nice, and the silly putty camo paint jobs have left a great result. I really like the gun truck too. Already counting down to the next tour.

[handiabled]

Great progress everywhere! Lots of paint colors flying around your bench!

[deafpanzer]

Excellent work on the camo using silly putty! That gun truck is going to be a real good looker!

[dukemaddog]

Thank you guys! I can't say enough about how well Silly Putty works. The wad I currently have comes from six or seven of the mini eggs you buy for a buck each (+ or -) and I bought a set of L'eggs panty hose for the big egg. The panty-hose I gave to the wife and the egg holds the same Silly Putty that I've been using for the past ten years or so. I'm even amazed that it is still going strong!


Stay tuned, more is coming soon!

[adt70hk]

Mark

I'm ashamed to say that I've not had a proper look through here before. It's quite simply stupendous. I lost count of how many builds I saw and can only imagine how many active builds you have on the go..... I only have two or three because of the space issues but have plenty of shelf Queens ... To have that many active builds on the go any one time it's quite simply amazing.

How are you finding the M1070 going?

ATB.

Andrew

[dukemaddog]

Andrew, no worries my friend. Yes, it can be a bit overwhelming looking through this. I don't knwo if you've been to my introduction post, but if you haven't feel free to go digging for it; I think you'll like the pics of my sizable armor collection. Who knows, it might even keep you motivated. I have no space for all my works in progress either, they tend to be piled up behind me when I'm not working on them. Fortunately I have a weekly Hobby Day event that allows me to bring a lot of these in to work on outside where I have more room to spread out.

The M1070 is coming along well; I am pleased with how easy this is to build. They also make it quite easy to keep sub-assemblies apart for painting and the photo-etch is quite nice. I'm hoping to get it masked off and painted with the camouflage pattern soon.

Thank you again and enjoy the tour