Maddog Manufacturing Open for 2024

[TJ]

As always, incredible stuff. How you keep everything separated amazes me

[406 Silverado]

Impressive lot of builds going on Mark. After looking at all of this work going on I get in a dang tailspin. WOW!!!!

[kyledehart5]

Really awesome update, as always. Some cool new projects too. And I love how the Robert e Lee is looking. Great update!

[dukemaddog]

Mar 19, 2024 23:41:41 GMT -5 stikpusher said:

Mark, here are the instructions for the Revell Tug


Revell Tug Instructions

Thank you Carlos! That is a tremendous help!

Thank you TJ! It's easy to keep them separate when you put everything back in the box when work is over.Sometimes it's a pain going back to some of these larger box models, but it sure does help.

Thank you Joe! I'm always thrilled to see you post. Sometimes I put myself in a tailspin when I sit down at the workbench and try to decide what gets worked on first.

Thank you Kyle! Once in a while it helps the Mojo to start a new project, especially when dealing with a lot of these large models that barely fit on my workbench. I'm pretty happy with the Robert E Lee as well, even though there is so much wrong with it. It's gonna look fantastic from four feet away! LOL!

[kyledehart5]

I hear you there. I only show people my models from across the room. No close examination allowed. 🤣🤣🤣 Not that anyone is looking at them to begin with.

[stikpusher]

Anytime my friend! You're quite welcome and I'm happy to help when I can.

[deafpanzer]

WOW! Your factory has been working OVERTIME definitely. Looking real good!

[handiabled]

Amazing Mark! You have some sizable builds going on!

[dukemaddog]

Kyle, I hear ya! Yet, I still take them to shows and contests when I can. I just love showing what I do, regardless of the quality!

Thank you Andy! There's definitely been some hours spent!

Thank you Handi! Yes, quite a few indeed! Soon I'll be getting to the 'klonk' stage where I have everything assembled on them and will be smacking the outer wings and fuselage ends against things as I try to maneuver them around!

Thank you again everyone!

[stikpusher]

After this milestone, everyone I’m sure is now waiting for you to hit the 1000 score… then you can take a breather my friend. 😉

[dukemaddog]

Thank you Carlos! I won't get there faster by burning out on vehicles, so I'm trying to get some Big Box items built to make room. Don't worry, I'm just as eager; if not more so to get to the 1000 mark! Stay tuned my friend, we'll get there!

[dukemaddog]

Well, it's been nearly a month since the last tour, so we are due. As there has been quite a bit of progress during that time, this will be another two-part tour due to the extensive amount of things to show.

So, all aboard the trams for the latest tour!

The Hangar is the first stop as always and here is where the majority of the progress has been. Starting in this first bay, we have some Russian ordinance. This was a short run kit that I got in the Distressed Kit Auction some time back. These finally got some paint on them and since the stand to the flying one went on walkabout, we modified one to hold it:



Not too shabby...



In the next bay is a project that got started because of all the white we were spraying on the Concorde. so, while I had the white out, we shot a white on the fuselage of this Canadian Otter to get a jump on it:



Now on to the next bay, we have another started project; something that had been crying out for me to start. This is the Eduard Profipak Israeli S-199. The cockpit sans instrument panel was started first:



After that the basic fuselage was assembled:



Then we completed the rest of the fuselage and slipped the cockpit sub-assembly inside to dry fit so we could see how it fit:



Looking pretty good so far. Next we worked more on the Italian Macchi C.205. The canopy went on after some more sanding had taken place:



The the canopy was masked; it was easier to do it while installed on the aircraft:



Next stop was the paint station, where this got the undercoat. Once it was dry, we masked it off for the upper coat:



The upper coat went on after that:



Followed later by the darker green splotches since we still had that color in the color cup after spraying the T-34:



Moving along, we got some more progress done on the two Reapers (that I mislabeled as "Predators") shooting a base coat of Light Ghost Grey over them both:



Once that was dry, a gloss coat was sprayed and we got the decals down on the British Reaper:



I'm waiting for word from my nephew to see if he knows a particular drone he's flown the most so I can model it.

Now for the larger stuff. In this bay we have another attempt at shooting a gloss coat on the Concorde:



I was not satisfied with the joint between the tail and the main fuselage. However, to facilitate things we did what I should have done long before: we built the stand that came in the kit:



Now this is much easier to maneuver without having to touch it and dirty up the white! It also made it easier to add the additional Mr. Surfacer to try and smooth out the troublesome joint again:



Moving on while that dried, we have in this next bay both of the T-16 Badgers under construction. Both cockpit modules had the clear parts masked off to prepare for paint:



The engines were added to the main fuselages of both planes and the main fuselage halves were cemented together. You can see one of them had already got the cockpit module attached:



Afterward, the other cockpit module was attached and the wings were installed on both planes:



Later their first color went on. I'm not exactly happy with this shade and I may re-shoot another one....or not:



Now for the next big model, we go to this next bay where the Tu-95H (also mislabeled as the "Tu-142) is being built. I wasn't happy with the way the inside nacelle on one wing was sitting; there were too many large gaps along the nacelle and wing. The only thing to do was to remove it and re-set it correctly so that that the gaps are gone:



Once re-set there was still a bit of putty needed at the top joint where the nacelle meets the wing:



Naturally doing all that caused the main landing gear to break, so this was fixed to dry along with everything else:



While that was drying we moved on to the front fuselage section where the canopy was installed:



This was then masked when it was dry:



After that, the rear fuselage and the front fuselage were joined together. Now you can get some idea of how big this thing is as it is sitting on a standard tray table:



Naturally you'll be able to see how incredibly messy my bench is, but hey, it can't be helped....

Moving on, we then installed the wings:





I had to pull the entire tray table out to fit that thing! Here's another view of this thing on the tray table:



Later on, this Big Bird got it's first color:





That will all be masked when it's time to put the main bare metal silver coat on. First, we still need to add some of the lighter greys on certain areas first.

Now this tour has been quite extensive already so we shall continue the tour in the Shipyards and the Motor Pool in the next post.

[dukemaddog]

And now to continue our tour of the Shipyards next.

In the first slipway here we have the Japanese PT-15 that finally got the base coat of grey on it:



In the next slipway, we continued work on the deck of the USS Enterprise. Some masking was pulled off, but the the yellow stripes were painted on the deck:



Later, the remaining elevator stripes were masked off, the yellow painted on it and then we added the red stripes on these same elevator stripes:



After some touchup, this deck is done:



Finally, in this last slipway, we worked on getting the railings on the Robert E. Lee looking more even and refined. Additional parts were added and the seams on the upper cabin and deck were filled as well:






That completes our tour so far of the Shipyards and so we move on to the Motor Pool.

Production has been picking up, starting with a small shelf queen project that I wanted on the display shelf. This is the Military Wheels 1/72 scale Russian Field Kitchen. We had started it some time ago, found the box again and decided it was time to get it finished. First off the kitchen and limber were completed:



Here's an idea of how small this is too:



The horses were in four parts. Seriously. Two body halves, the head and the tail. They seemed pretty desperate to add some kind of 'detail' to this model! It didn't help that the parts were all so badly molded that massive sanding, carving and other adjustments needed to be made:



Finally we got them painted:



Moving along to the next bay, the Syrian PzIV got a partial run of tracks from the spares box. More will go on this when additional track pieces are found:



Overall it's looking pretty good:



Next are two Distressed Kit Auction winnings. These were mostly assembled by someone else before they gave up and donated them to our club for our Auction. First is this Dragon StuG III ausf H that they had added photo etch zimmerit to:



This is going to be a Syrian StuG, and yes, there are pictures of several of these in Syrian service still sporting their Zimm. We started on the tracks for this for now:



Our last Syrian tank is this Trumpeter T-34/85 that they had given up on because one of the idler wheels disappeared. I conjured up a replacement pair and added them to this tank:



Next the tracks went on:



Someone else added those metal fenders, saving me the trouble....

And then this got basecoated with the dark green:



Then the decals went on. These are Braille Strike decals and went on well. I just forgot to trim them very close so some judicious cutting with a very sharp Exacto knife got them the right size. You can also see in my clumsiness, I messed up the red triangle on this side. Nothing a little paint can't fix:





Lastly, I've been talking about starting my P.1000 Ratte to make into a carrying case for my small scale vehicle contest entries. Well, one Hobby Day Monday I made good on that statement. No, it never existed, or was ever used. Yes, this is in 1/72 scale. No, I don't think I will count it as one of the collection....mostly because it is pure fantasy that never got built or used. But I am building it.

Here are all of the components and/or sub assemblies for the main track bogies. The drive sprockets are already finished:



We had to make 32 of these rocker arms... or was it 36?



This kit gives you springs so that the bogies articulate:



Here's a close up of the drive sprockets:



And finally, here is ONE bogie consisting of 44 parts in that one assembly.... I need to make eleven more:



While that was drying, we finished up the majority of the main hull and turret:





Now in this back lot, given how much lumber we use, we are building a new Lumber Mill:



This is also a tribute of sorts for my paternal grandfather who was not permitted to serve in WWII: he owned one of these and because it was a vital industry back then, the government made sure he stayed on and supplied them throughout the war.


And that completes this tour of Maddog Manufacturing for this time. Thank you all for looking in and as always, comments are welcome.

[jeaton01]

I'm trying to keep up with your production, Mark, but you are ahead of me two or three to one and gaining steam!

[kyledehart5]

Nice progress. Everything from the shipyards on throughout the rest of the tour is looking excellent. I have particularly been enjoying the Robert E Lee. And great job on those vague horse shapes.

[BattleScale Collectica Show]

looking forward to seeing more of that Concorde. I've always loved that bird.

[dukemaddog]

John thank you! I am trying to step up production a bit since I need to clear space. Those big box kits sure take a lot of space!

Kyle, thank you! I am enjoying aspects of the Robert E.Lee, those railings have been a major pain! Hopefully soon I'll be able to get past them, I am seeing a dim light at the end of this tunnel.

BSC, thank you! Glad you stopped in for this tour. Concorde should hopefully be sporting decals soon! Stay tuned!

[dukemaddog]

It's been a pretty good couple weeks and so we have enough for a new tour. This one will be a bit shorter but there is still lots to see. So, make your way to the trams and all aboard!


In our first stop in the Hangar, we have a number of projects moving forward, including another troublesome model like the Concorde, but that is further in. First we have progress on this Israeli S-199. We completed the wing assembly which consisted of ten parts and dry ft that sub-assembly to the fuselage:





Since it fit so well, we added the cockpit from underneath; after adding the instrument panel first, and then cemented everything in place. The canopy was added here too:





Since masking the canopy was so difficult, even on the plane, it was removed and paper towel was used to mask the interior so that the base color could be applied. It was then glossed for decals after the paint had dried:





Finally here in the last bay we have the troublesome B-66 Destroyer. After multiple spraying, sanding, stripping, spraying etc. I finally decided to just move on. The silver coat was good enough so it was polished and decals were applied:





That is it for this short tour of the Hangar, now on to the Shipyards where small progress was done in our workshops building the weapons for the PT-15 MTB. Here is the second of the 20mm guns for this boat; the first had been built before:





We also completed the torpedo tubes (mostly); one part went missing. I intend to build these with one set of tubes closed and the other set of tubes open and ready to fire:






That is all we have here for now. On to the Motor Pool where we've been working on a number of projects that need to be finished.



In this first bay of the Motor Pool, we have the British Achilles tank destroyer. This will be the first one of these I ever built. It's a UM kit so another tough fight here. First the running gear was installed:





The kit included photo etch strips to bend into shape and cemented to the top of these bogies. Naturally, as with all UM kits of Shermans and Sherman variants, these photo etch parts go AWOL no matter how hard I try to keep them from disappearing! So this time I wasn't waiting to find them; I have too many UM Shermans sitting incomplete because I'm waiting to find these parts! I figured I'd try plastic styrene strip. It was more difficult that I expected but I forged ahead, starting with getting a basic bend done and then cementing them to the bogies:





When these were dry, they were bent over and the other ends cemented down. Once they held, I added the upper run of track to push them down:





You can see they look very misshapen, not at all like they were supposed to be. But they are ON, and with enough paint and weathering, they will be darn near impossible to see. Hey it was an experiment that partially succeeded, I don't know if I'll try it again, but the opening there is possible. While that sat and simmered, the turret was completed with all but the ready ammunition:





By then, the tracks were dry enough so I completed the track runs for both sides:





All that is really needed now is the oversized bolts to be added to the turret and upper hull and this is ready for paint:





In the next bay we have the Egyptian Su-100 assault gun. This kit provided resin parts to replicate a vehicle used by the Egyptians, so they were added to this. The full run of tracks were added as well:





It's amazing; this model is from the same company as the Shermans and yet it goes together so much better than any of their Sherman kits! Anyway, this was got it's tan base coat and later a gloss coat to ready it for decals:





Following this is the Syrian StuG III completed and ready for paint after I added the track runs to this:





Because of all that photo etch, this was primed with a black primer to hopefully seal all that Zimm so the brass color doesn't shine through and that the base paint holds:





Sinister looking vehicle right? Where's that Haunted Tank?!!


Base paint went on well and looks great so far I think. Then the gloss was applied for the decals:





Now I wish I knew how to build the spacial monut they made for the Italian SAFAT machine gun that they mounted on this. All the pics are too far away, fuzzy or both to get a clear view, and any search attempts to find it went every which way but where I wanted it to go.


That leads us to the last Syrian tank, the PzIV in the next bay. As you can see, about half of the tracks had been installed while I went looking for the same type to complete these track runs:





I wanted to replace those Godawful vynil tracks that came in this kit. Searching for the same type of track that was already on it resulted in enough to finish these track runs. The turret shurtzen went on as well:





Finally a base of tan was appplied and later the gloss for decals:





Last but not least, the Ratte had been creeping along as Rattes do, I now have four of 16 bogies completed:





And that completes our short tour for today. Thank you all for looking in, comments are welcome!

[dukemaddog]

Another couple weeks of work on the Hobby Room and at Hobby Days, and there's loads to show. It's time for another tour so all aboard the trams and remember to keep hands and feet inside at all times.


Our first stop again is the Hangar. Our first bay shows the work done on the P-38 gifted to me by a friend and fellow IPMS member. Basic assembly was fast for such an old kit:





It was found to be a tail sitter so we added weight to the nose, hit it with Gator's Grip Glue and left it to dry:





The landing gear was then added and when dry, tested. More weight was needed inside:





The shiny you see is from the accelerator used to speed the CA glue. After that dried, we shot a neutral grey on the bottom since we were also using that color in the Shipyards:





Time to let that cure for a bit and so moving on to the next bay, we have decals applied to the Israeli S-199. I chose the least colorful version because it was the only one of these birds to score two air-to-air kills in the 1956 War:





In the next two bays, we have the two Tu-16 Badgers. All the hatches were installed and the bottom color re-sprayed:





This was later masked off and the base color for the two were sprayed. First the Iraqi Badger:





Followed by the Egyptian Badger:





We went back to the Iraqi Badger and free handed the blotches with the airbrush:





While that was drying, we went back to the Egyptian Badger and started on the more complicated pattern. First, out came the Silly Putty and rolls were laid down to cover the base coat I wanted to remain. The second colkor was then sprayed on:





That color was then covered up with the Silly Putty:





....and the third color was sprayed on:





When all that was dry, the Silly Putty was removed and this is the result:





Both these Badger birds are ready for gloss coat and decals now.


The Bear also got some needed attention in the next bay. The bottom of the wings needed a "burnt iron" color applied to it and then a dark Sea Grey over everything not "burnt". So, we shot a dark metallic color on select areas and then masked them off to spray the sea grey. The lighter greys on the nose radome and select panels was also painted and then masked when dry. Then the Sea Grey was sprayed:








Now that all that is done, additional masking will be done so the final silver/alminum coat can be sprayed. Hopefully that will be soon.


In this next bay is the start of a new aircraft model. It's an old Airfix 1/72 scale F-84F with Greek and Italian markings. This wil be an Italian bird for my Italian Air Force. The cockpit was done, just needs paint:





This final bay in the Hangar is another large model that I've been wanting to build for awhile, the Super G Constellation from Trans World Airlines. The cockit, wings and tail were all assembled:





That completes the Hangar portion of our tour, now on to the Shipyards....




Here in the Shipyards, we have a good bit of progress to show. In this first slipway, the Japanese PT-15 got the torpedo tubes installed finally:





While installing them, we realized that the deck was flexing too much and the superstructure/cabins would not stay snapped in place. Some reinforcement was then needed so thick styrene sprue posts were cut to fit and glued into place to allow the deck to be more solid:








Later the two cannons were added, the cabin again is just dry fit:





Since a lot of the torpedo tubes and the guns were not painted, more grey paint was shot on this boat:





Moving on to the next slipway, the Shangi-La got the first part of the deck painted:





This was then masked off to spray the blue-grey color next:




The next color was shot and left to dry:





Finally all masking was removed:





This deck was ready to be installed on the hull. Naturally it took a bit of persuasion:





That isn't all! We opened another slipway and laid the keel for this next model. It's the Revell 1/72 scale Sunseeker Predator 108 luxury cabin cruiser:





And the final slipway was opened to lay the keel for the Mirage 1/400 scale German Tarantul-class missile boat "Hiddensee":





This was quick and easy to build so it got to the paint stage very fast:





And that completes this section of our Shipyards tour, now on to the Motor Pool....





The Motor Pool tour today has a good bit to show as well. In this first bay, we had to improvise with the British Achilles since the photo-etch set disappeared. With the help of a Dragon Sherman kit, and some strip styrene, we got this vehicle ready for paint:





The next bay shows the Egyptian Su-100 with it's base coat of paint:





Decals were applied next:





Additional detail painting was done after that:





That one is about ready to be finished off.


The next bay we have to see is this one with the Syrian Panzer IV. Decals had gone on this one as well:





This and the Egyptian Su-100 got washes but they didn't show up well in these photos. After the decals and wash had dried, here is my attempt to scratch build a mount for the 12.7mm machine gun:





Later on, I found a 12.7 mm gun in my parts box and on it went:





I have to admit that just looks so cool!


In the next bay, decals went on the Syrian StuG III:





In this next bay, we started this Trumpeter 1/72 scale BTR-70, which will be made into a Syrian BTR. Assembly for this went fast:





That completes our portion of the tour in the Motor Pool.


However, here in our miscellaneous assembly yard out back, we started a 1/24 scale Lindbergh 1910 Model T Ford. I've always wanted one of these and everyone should have a model of the first mass produced car ever:






And that completes the whole tour, thank you all for looking in, comments are welcome.

[kyledehart5]

Awesome update!! You’ve got some truly fantastic work going on. The camo schemes in the hangar really came out fantastic. And a 1/24 scale car? Who would’ve guessed. A great tour and everything is progressing nicely.

[dukemaddog]

Thank you Kyle! I appreciate the compliments; I love using Silly Putty for camouflaging things. Yes, every once in a while, 1/24 scale car will catch my fancy. That also helps keep things Fresh.

[TJ]

Mark I'll say it again you are a machine. All of the current builds look fantastic

[dukemaddog]

Thank you TJ! I'm hoping to show more soon. I got lots happening, but might not be able to post before next week.

[dukemaddog]

Wow, it's been almost a whole month since the last tour. It's time to bring out the trams and start loading up for the next tour. Quite a bit of work had been done so this might have to be broken up into two posts. So, all aboard fro the first part of this tour starting in the Hangar....


Here in this first bay we have the start of one of a few new projects. This is the cockpit for the Italeri 1/72 scale Australian UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter:



Later the rest of the cabin interior was added:



In the next bay over, another stated project that went so fast, it was already assembled till now! That is part of the reason I wanted this started; in trying to get rid of extra boxes, I'm looking for the fastest models to finish. This one fit the bill well. There were some gaps and seams that needed to be addressed so Tamiya putty was applied to this 172 scale Matchbox Yak 15:



These were sanded and smoothed out, and this is just about ready for paint:
'


The next bay has another of the larger aircraft I've been wanting to build. This is the ancient Italeri kit of the 1/72 scale B-58 Hustler. Cockpit and interior were built first:



While that was drying, we assembled the wings and engines:



When they had dried sufficiently, the engines were added to the wings:



In this next bay, we got the tail sections of the Constellation painted up:



That was all on that. More needs to be done on other things before we can move further on this model. Moving to the bay we have the Israeli S-199 that we lost a sprue for. So, out came a spare landing gear set from another Me-109 to be installed instead:



Later the sprue was found, but the landing gear had already dried and been painted. They were not replaced. However, this version of the S-199 did have the underwing cannons, so we were able to install those from the found sprue:



In this next bay we have the Canadian Otter getting the red paint on the wings and tail surfaces:



The white on the fuselage was masked off and the silver was sprayed on:



After all that dried, the two fuselage halves got the interior and windows added inside and then were cemented together:



That's all for that one now. In this last bay, we sprayed the final silver coat on the Bear:



Later all the masking came off and some serious touch up was needed:



Once everything was completely dried, we added the decals:



Finally the last things that needed to be done besides the fiddly end pieces were the propellers. After some time, we got them all painted and assembled:







That completes our tour of the Hangar, now on to the Shipyards......


Here in the Shipyards, in this first slipway, we went back to an old shelf queen and shot a coat of grey over this landing craft:



While that was drying, we moved on to the next slipway to lay the keel for this British Hunt-class destroyer from Mirage in 1/700 scale:



This one assembled quite quickly, but now we have to deal with all this photo-etch that comes with it:



That can wait. We move on to the next slipway to see the German Tarantul class missile boat is now ready for paint:



In this next slipway, we have a kit that was given to me almost fully assembled of the newest Japanese helicopter carrying cruiser the Kaga. I recently read that she had been modified with a new bow to accommodate the F-35s they are getting from the US. So, based on photos I saw, I decided to try and add those mods to this one to see if I can make it as it appears today. So, into drydock it was towed and the following was done so far on the bow:



The sides still need to be done, but the basic shape is there. Now while I figure out how to finish that mod, we can move on to the next slipway here to see the Sunseeker Predator 108 masked off to get the next black color on the sides of the hull:



That was tough and confusing, but I think we got it right. I hope so because the black was then shot over it:



More to come on that soon... I hope.

In this slipway, the USS Enterprise got masked off and the lower hull shot with red:



Once that dried, the masking came off and this was ready to move on. Now to find the island that got lost so I can finish this:



In this last slipway, the USS Shangri-La got the lower hull masked and sprayed as well:



Because of the big hole, there was a lot of extra overspray that got in under the tape, so when this dried, we taped up the lower hull and re-shot the upper hull:



While that dried, the island for the Shangri-La was assembled.....



.... then painted and finished off:



That's all we got done on this. More to come soon....



Now to continue our tour of the Motor Pool in the next post.

[dukemaddog]

Now here in the Motor Pool, we have a good amount of work that got done. We'll start in this first bay where we got four Swedish Light tanks under construction. One of the things that slowed me down on this was the tracks; I wasn't eager to tackle these tiny things but once I got started, I found they were not so bad at all! In fact they were quite fun to do:



The Exacto blade is there for size reference. Remember I had to do that both sides four times!

Finally, all got assembled, yet this tank needed some extra filler since the hull front did not close up:



I didn't show all the tanks with their tracks, but here they are in this sequence of painting pics. I tried to keep them in order of M-38 to M-40L but they might be out of sequence...

Base coat of green went on first:









These were then camouflaged next:









Then the decals went on:










And that's how it's done assembly line style!

Moving on into this next bay we have the BTR-70 Late that I didn't know what army to build it for. Then I looked it up and decided to make it Syrian. So, base coat of sand color went on first:



Then the Silly Putty was applied to mask the sand color:



Next we shot the green on this:



After all that, I love peeling the Silly Putty off and seeing the final result:



We had even painted some of the other details too. Then a clearcoat and decals went on:



In this last bay, we started up a German Land Wasser Schlepper since it was a very fast and easy kit to do. First the lower hull was done, except for the propellers:



Twenty minutes later, we have this almost fully assembled vehicle:



The cab is removable for painting. This should be finished very soon.


Finally in our back work area, we re-visited another shelf queen that needed another coat of red after extensive cleanup. This is the 1/24 scale 1929 Coca Cola delivery van:





And that concludes our tour of Maddog Manufacturing for the day, or is it month now? Thank you all for looking in, and coming on this tour. Comments are always welcome.

[kyledehart5]

And another wonderful update. Everything looks like it’s coming along. I always love your camo work

[keavdog]

That Schlepper looks like a nicely molded kit. I don't know tracks but those look pretty intricate.

[dukemaddog]

Thank you Kyle! I enjoy doing camouflage, especially when working with Silly Putty.

Than you John! The Schlepper is a nice kit and for single molded tracks they are quite detailed.

And now for another tour.....

With a number of jobs coming up, my forum time will be extremely limited, so I figured it was time for another short tour of Maddog Manufacturing. All aboard the trams for this next tour!

Here in the Hangar, We have a number of things going on. After the huge planes were sent out for delivery to their respective air forces, I felt it was time to just work on a few smaller and easier kits. That brought me to these simple "Planes on a Stick". These are very old and have no interior to speak of, nor any landing gear; they were ideal for a simple start. Not to mention that they were both slightly started when I got them.

First is the Beechcraft Super 18. Assembly went fast, and some seams needed addressing:



Next was the Cessna 310; another fast and easy kit with no interior or landing gear. Thjis was a bit tougher due to the horrid yellow plastic it was molded in. It almost glowed!



In the next bay, we also started the Cessna 172 but only got the interior done:



For something different, we continued to work on this Australian UH60 Blackhawk, first painting the interior:



A quick test fit showed where attention was needed:



Once that was done, the fuselage was closed up:



Finally we opened this next bay again because the JRS-1 was calling, so we got started on the cockpit. This kit gave a photo-etch instrument panel and a film that goes behind it for the dials. It looks fantastic, but after this photo, it will never be seen again:



The kit also came with resin seats for the interior and naturally, I cut myself yet again trying to remove these from the pour blocks. You can see the faint red line on my finger, after I got the blood to stop flowing:



More sawing later and the rest of the seats in the main cabin were installed:



Finally, in this last bay, we got the interior of the B-58 Hustler painted up and installed inside one side of the fuselage. This later got closed up:



That concludes the Hangar portion of our tour. Not enough was done in the shipyards to justify touring them, so on to the Motor Pool:




Here in the Motor Pool, we finished u the construction of the German SdKfz-9 with the crane and now it is ready for paint:



In the next bay, we spent a lot of time on this next project. It has always been a dream to complete the T26-E4 Super Pershing with all the hydraulics and additional armor. So, I found the kit and some white styrene tubes and strips and went to work.

First, the lower hull and suspension was built:



Then we built the basic turret:



All the wheels and sprockets were then added and allowed to dry:



Next were the tracks and naturally one of the roadwheels had to be a pain and not cooperate:



While all that was drying, we returned to the turret to work on all the added equipment that was installed on this tank. First, the added mantlet armor and 'ears' were cut out and built; I had to layer some of these since I had no thicker sheets or strips of styrene:



Next these were added to the front of the turret. I had to cut off and replace the muzzle brake in order to install the main plate because it was too big to fit through that center hole:



Later we started the mounts on the mantlet for the hydraulics:



I didn't have exact measurements here so al this was done by eye; flying by the seat of my pants. I had some photos that helped a little as I was building these, but eventually, I came up with this for the hydraulics:



Sometime later I got them installed and the cover added. It is all quite crude, but it is done. I will be trying to refine this a bit later:



The last mod to the turret is the counterweight at the back that I built up:



Now except for refinements, this turret is done. Once I get the tracks and roadwheels to cooperate, I'll close up the hull and then start on the spaced armor on the front and other mods on the fuselage.


That concludes our short tour of the facilities for today. Thank you all for looking in comments are welcome. That being said, it might be quite a few days, or even a week or more to reply, due to the upcoming tight schedule I will be starting.

Thanks again to all.

[stikpusher]

Oh wow Mark! You’re doing scratch work to make the sole combat Super Pershing? I know there were at least 2 or 3 different Super Pershing configurations tested, but only the one with the added extra armor and external hydraulics actually went into combat.

[dukemaddog]

Thank you Carlos! Yes, I've wanted that sole combat Super Pershing with the added armor and hydraulics in my collection for a very long time. I'd bough this kit to make it almost eight years ago. Now I'm finally getting it done. I don't know what markings to use, but I might just use the kit markings anyway, even though it won't be accurate.