Maddog Manufacturing Open for 2024

[stikpusher]

Jun 13, 2024 19:02:49 GMT -5 dukemaddog said:

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.

Have a look here for some reference on paint scheme and marking... quite field applied...

tanks-encyclopedia.com/ww2/us/t26e4-super-pershing/

[dukemaddog]

So when this went into combat, it didn't have any stars or other markings except for those numbers? Hmm, this is going t be a boring looking tank! LOL!

[stikpusher]

Jun 16, 2024 14:01:33 GMT -5 dukemaddog said:

So when this went into combat, it didn't have any stars or other markings except for those numbers? Hmm, this is going t be a boring looking tank! LOL!

Perhaps some stars on the turret top and/or engine deck, plus bumper codes, but by 1945, most experienced units in the ETO had toned their markings way down.

[dukemaddog]

Happy fourth of July! It's time I finally started a new tour showing all the work we got done during the last half of June. So, all aboard the trams for the next tour of the facilities here and remember to keep hands and feet inside at all times.

Our first stop as always is the Hangar. Here we have a few things happening, mostly some paint being sprayed before my window screen was removed. In this first bay, the Beechcraft Super 18 and the Cessna 310 both got base coats of white:





Gonna be some touch up there before decals are attempted. In this next bay, my Russian Yak 15 got the top coat of green on it:



Later when that was dry, decals went on along with the canopy:



Yes the decals silvered pretty badly, we punctured them with a fine Exacto blade tip and slathered them with Solvaset, eliminating all that. However, the film covering these is matte so they still appear to be silvered. If I shoot this with a dull coat, it all should blend in. Meanwhile, the canopy frame was painted and the final detail parts were added::



In the next bay over, we have the Otter finally being assembled. The wings and tail went on and the landing gear was installed. Yes the one tail piece is drooping, that was fixed later:



Moving on to the next bay, we got the fuselage of the JRS-1 all assembled as best we could. Later putty and sanding was done to smooth this out:



In this final bay, we started another Matchbox kit of the Swedish Tunnen jet fighter. This was also given to me later after the Distressed Kit Auction. This was fast and easy to build as well, we got this far before I finally took pics:



Gotta love this canyons for panel lines! That concludes the Hangar portion of our tour, now on to the Shipyards.....




Here in the shipyards we upped our production a bit to see if we could get some of these launched. We had also started a couple that looked fast and easy, more or less.

In this first slipway we have one of our 1/72 scale motor boats under construction. After fighting the paint on the hull for too long, it is finally at least acceptable so the main decks were finally glued in place:



Later most of the interior was installed before the sprue holding the remaining interior parts disappeared:



That is where that is for now. Moving to the next slipway, we have the little Hunt class destroyer escort finally getting the railings and other photo-etch parts before paint:



This thing is 1/700 scale so the Exacto blade is there to show the size of this little thing. Later it got paint and decals, making it HMS Middleton:



In this next slipway, the hull of the Nitta Maru got paint on it:



Once that was dry, the decks and superstructure went on, followed by the stack. Additional painting was done as well:



Later on, decals went on:



The decals had been hit with Solvaset and naturally I messed up while touching up details:



I left that to be fixed later and started with all the masts and cranes, getting this far before moving on to other things:



Moving on to the next slipway, the USS Shangri-La got all the final details added. except the deck edge antennae. The Island was also cemented in place:



In doing the air wing and looking over the Regulus launch vehicles, I noticed that none were in firing position, so we took two and added a raised launch rail:



Afterward, we added all the decal markings to the deck. They didn't give enough of certain lengths so we improvised:



It may not be accurate but it works well enough for me:



And that concludes our tour of the Shipyards, now on to the Motor Pool....




Here in the Motor Pool, a lot has been happening. In the first bay, the M10 Achilles got decals. They may not be accurate, but I couldn't find anything that matched what I had in my decal spares box, so I chose what looked best and ran with it:



While on the subject of British vehicles; in this next bay we started on another British tank, the Challenger III. First was the lower hull:



The roadwheels and sprockets went on later:



While waiting for them to dry, we built the turret. Only the basic assembly was started:



The upper hull was worked on next, not much to do there, but here it is dry-fit on the lower hull:



Then the turret was added to the dry-fit upper hull:



Moving on to the next bay, we are finally are able to move forward on a shelf queen that was stalled because the main gun trunnion assembly was lost. Well, it turned up:



You can see from this dry fit in place, why this stalled:



The gun was finally installed into place:



We then dry fit this in place so the front superstructure panels could be added:



The shells were then added to the interior:



Things were moving along well until it was time to add the side walls. That's when we saw that the front panels were way off alignment, so off they came again:



Naturally during this whole attempt to fix the upper superstructure, all these decided to break off and try to fly:



I'll leave them off until the upper structure is finally assembled properly and then these will go back on.

Moving on to this last bay, we have the T26-E4 which got the front spaced armor installed on the front. Don't worry, that fingerprint disappeared:





Later we added the stowage rails on the rear deck that were added to this tank:



This was now ready for paint so a base of Olive Drab was sprayed:



This was shot outside and I didn't adjust the color when editing this but this next shot shows this tank after we modulated the base coat with a lighter OD green:



Finally we raided the decal spares box again and came up with some markings that most closely matched what I saw in ref pics. I also took some artistic license and added a star in the front so friendly forces wouldn't mistake that plate armor for the front of a Panther and I added the star in top of the turret for aircraft recognition. We also added the machine gun on top, the antenna, and repaired one of the stowage racks on the back:




And that completes our tour for this week (month?) I hope you enjoyed it. Thank you all for stopping in; comments are always welcome!

[kyledehart5]

Great tour!! You’ve got some super cool projects going on there. Love the Beechcraft. And those matchbox kits are always fun. Love all of the shipyard work. An excellent update.

[dukemaddog]

Thank you Kyle! I have so many projects I want to get done, most of these recent ones are simple, quick build models that I can clear out of the stash fast. I'm hoping to increase the production rate soon.

[dukemaddog]

Time for another short tour of Maddog Manufacturing today! Anyone wishing to join this one, feel free to board the trams and remember to keep all arms and legs inside at all times.


Our first stop in the Hangar, has a couple projects going. In this first bay, we got the interior of the Cessna 172 painted up and the instrument panel detailed:



Later it was fitted inside the fuselage. You'll note I tried something different, masking the windows before installing them:



This will be painted and decaled later.

In the next bay, we got the pilot figure of the Swedish Tunnen painted, as well as some other cockpit detail:



Later, all was closed up, masked, and shot with silver basecoat. Decals went on next:



Yes, those are the original kit decals. They went on surprisingly well considering their age. However, some still required some 'persuasion' in the form of Tamiya Extra Thin cement.

In this final bay, we didn't get much done on the JRS-1, but the main canopy was masked and installed. A few more detailed parts to add and this will be ready for basecoat:



While that was drying, we decided to get the engines installed inside the cowlings:




And that is our tour of the Hangar for now, on to the Shipyards.




Here in the first slipway, we are starting a new destroyer for a Group Build for anything that floats on another boards. This is what was chosen:



The keel was laid down and the bridge sections and forward superstructure were built up. The rear stack and structure are only dry fit at this time:



It doesn't show here but the rear superstructure is cemented down and additional detail parts were added. We're hoping to get paint on this soon:



In the next bay, we have been trying to get this massive Japanese PT boat out of the slipways and out to her base so extra work has gone into this. First off, all the railings have finally been rigged:



Later, all the extra additional parts were added to the superstructure. The main mast is only dry fit here for removal to prevent breakage later:



This is when I realized that the one side of the superstructure was missing parts that would normally block the view of the interior, so we scratched up some bulkheads for that side. It's a good thing I hadn't glued down the main superstructure:



After that was trimmed and painted, windows were installed and some additional touch up painting was done:





Superstructure was then re-installed in a dry fit and additional hull detailed were painted. There's still lots to do on this but it is getting closer to being done:



The frustrating thing about this is it gives me stickers, not decals and they are all on a single piece of glossy plastic. I'm not sure what to do about that at this time.


Anyway, that concludes the tour of the Shipyards; now on to the Motor Pool.



In the Motor Pool here, we have been trying to get things caught up on some projects, and started a couple more. In this first bay, we finally managed to get the superstructure of this French gun fully assembled. It took a bit of a fight, with us having to remove almost all of it and rebuilding it:



Later we installed all the broken wheels back on and then added the tracks when they were dry:



We may get this painted soon, along with about seven other projects.

In this next bay is another project I've been wanting to do for a good long time. It was about time to start on this US Marine M274 Mule with a recoilless rifle on it. Basic assembly was easy:



This model is barely an inch long. Later I'll post a pic of it with an Exacto blade so everyone can get an idea of how small this is.

Later on the detail parts were added and the photo-etch parts installed. After they were dry, we started on the photo-etch railing around the bed:



Eventually, the railing got installed all the way around:



The recoilless rifle was only dry fit so off it came to be painted separately, while we painted the rest of the vehicle:



That one is about ready for completion. That being said, let's look into the next bay where we started a German flatcar again, only this one is sporting a 128mm anti-aircraft gun. The bogies were started first, we did one, then the other:



There are some extremely delicate pats in there that don't necessarily fit well in that so you can see why we delayed doing the second one for a bit:



After that the basic flatcar was assembled:



While that was all drying, we started on the gun, making the barrel first:



Several detail parts later and after the trunnions were built, this gun is starting to look like an AA gun:



We then built the mounting box for this and dry-fit it on the flatcar:



The gun mount was the added to the gun sub-assembly and now it's looking more like it should:



Again it's only dry fit so we were able to get some additional parts on it to complete the sub-assembly:





Finally, we got started on trying to replicate a wood colored base. I'm only partially pleased with the result; more experimentation will be needed:





And that concludes our tour of Maddog Manufacturing once again. Thank you all for joining the tour; I hope you enjoyed it. Comments are always welcome.

[kyledehart5]

Sweet progress!! Love the work you’ve got going on. I think your wood base looks pretty good too. Always enjoyable to have a tour through the factory

[dukemaddog]

Thank you Kyle! I'm thrilled that you are one of my most regular tour attendees!

[TJ]

Mark another grand tour of MD Manufacturing. Cool stuff happening. Really like that Tunnan

[dukemaddog]

Thank you TJ!

[dukemaddog]

Wow, it's been over a month so now it's time for a quick tour of the facilities again. This has been a slow month due to some other obligations and a serious injury that I've mostly recovered from. Also, this will be the last tour until I return from my vacation to Florida on September 14th. I'm going to visit my family and celebrate my mother's 90th birthday with her.

So, without further ado, let's board the trams and see what the latest progress has been happening at Maddog Manufacturing.......




Starting in the Hangar, we have in this first bay the JRS-1. We got the wing masked and then painted yellow. After it dried, we applied the decals:



Later, the main wing was cemented to the fuselage which had also gotten the decals applied:



Afterward, the support struts and the outer pontoons were added to the wing. The pontoons will get support cables later:



Still a lot to do with that but I still need the screen in my window before I can airbrush again. Until then, we shall move on to the next bay where
we started a 1/72 scale DC-9 in Hughes Airwest markings. This was a kit that I'd picked up at the San Diego Model Show. It had the parts for two almost complete kits inside and the yellow one had been started. Some parts were missing as you'll see soon. First, the wings and tail were all assembled and cemented to the already built fuselage:



Now we discovered what some of the missing pieces were. The previous builder had built the engines, but neglected to put in the end parts:



These went in okay, but the other set was missing so one engine has no end pieces. Not gonna worry about it. We installed the engines anyway:



Later, we shot the metallic on the wings and tail:



After that dried, we masked off the wings to try and shoot some yellow on this using a rattle can:



So far the yellow has been a dismal failure so no pics until I can get it right.....

Meanwhile, we looked at starting the second kit in the box, and found one more part that was missing: the main cockpit windscreen. So, using the original one as a template, we marked where the windscreen struts are supposed to go so we could fashion some new ones and use clear sheet to add the panes:



Later I found a third DC-9 kit that had both Hughes Airwest and TWA markings, so now I need to source another airline decal sheet for a 1/72 scale DC-9....

That's it for the Hangar for now, let's head out to the Shipyards to see what's going on..




Here in the Shipyards, we continued to work on the Sunseeker Predator 108. Lots of little parts being added to bigger parts and some decals being applied, but nothing worth shooting pics for. I did shoot one pic of the Predator interior now that it is done:



I also saw how the some of the tinted windows needed some black paint on some framework, so we masked off the parts and painted them black on the inside:



That way when they are installed the black will be gloss on the outside....

All there is left right now is to finish the instrument panel decals and then close this upper cabin up. Then we'll see what else needs to be done before this is finished.

In the next three slipways, we got to work on three Soviet Submarines from WWII. This was a kit that included all three boats:



Now one of these had been started and has been a shelf queen for at least two decades. It was the first one, the Type D. One thing I wanted to do was put these on their stands so they would stay in place while things dried. Unfortunately, they did not add an crossbar for the stand pieces so we improvised:



Later, all the missing pieces that I had not added in the past were installed on this hull and conning tower. Now this Type D is waiting for paint:



Next, a stand for the next one, a Type L:



Yes it's shorter, I was running out of that size sprue. However, the hull and conning tower were built up and all the detail parts installed. This Type L is waiting for paint:



Finally we started on the last one, a Type S. Yes, I built a stand for it, but you don't need to see another stand for this one. The hull was put together first like before:



Before too long, the conning tower was built and all the other detail parts were added. This Type S boat is waiting for paint:



Just for fun, here's all three of them together:



That completes the tour of the Shipyards for now, let's move on to the Motor Pool...




Here in the Motor Pool, there's a couple of started vehicles and more work on my monstrosity.

Let's start with the German Staff Car. This is a snap together kit, but I'm using glue here and there. The first thing we did was to shoot a metallic color over all the body panels and such:



Later, details were painted when the metallic color had dried:



Finally, some assembly got done:



That's all for that one now, in the next bay we started a Chevy wrecker for a group build on another Forums. First was the tiny engine:



Next the cab which will go over that engine:





And that is where we stopped on that one.

In this final bay, we continued to build all the bogies for the P.1000 Ratte until they were all done. Afterward when everything was dry, we installed them all on the lower hull and then snapped the upper hull on them so they would dry in the proper position to lock into the connection points on the upper hull skirts. Here is what it looked like:





Now all I need to do is figure out the rear idler wheels and why they are fitting so loosely. Then maybe we can start installing the tracks if possible.

Still trying to figure out what camouflage pattern I want to put on this; the box art pattern is just too butt-ugly!!

Maybe an ambush pattern................


And that completes this tour of Maddog Manufacturing, I hope you enjoyed it. Thank you all for taking the tour and comments are always welcome.

[keavdog]

DC9 is looking good Mark. And I like your idea on the sub stands - I just finished a kit with similar stands and they are awkward even when gluing. Great idea.

[kyledehart5]

Another excellent and exciting tour!! Firstly I hope you’re doing well, sounds like a rough month. Secondly, I hope you enjoy your vacation!! Love the DC9. Yellow is always tough. And the shipyard. Wow!! 3 subs at once. That’s excellent. Also I’m a big fan of your tiny wrecker. That’s too cool.

[stikpusher]

Nice update Mark. I love that you're building the JRS as 1-Jig-1! Do you know the story of that aircraft at Pearl Harbor?

What scale is the Ratte? 1/72?

[dukemaddog]

Thank you John! Yes, those stands needed to be done; there was no way to keep those boats upright.

Thank you Kyle! It has been a rough month, getting to the bench at times helped get me through it. I am certainly gonna enjoy this vacation, I sure need it! Yes, yellow is tough; especially when you have a rattle can that doesn't want to cooperate! I'll get this beat soon though. Those subs were sitting forever waiting to be built/finished. I'm glad I finally found the box and took the time to get them all done. as for the wrecker; I hope it goes together well enough, IBG kits are notorious for being difficult to build.

Thank you Carlos. Yes, the instructions said that 1-Jig-1 had been sent out to look for the Japanese fleet after the attack, but beyond that I don't know much. That's why I picked that scheme to do. Yes, the Ratte is 1/72 scale. I am still planning on using that as a carrying case for my smaller 1/72 scale vehicles. Because it was never actually built, it won't be included in any future small scale vehicle group pictures, nor will I count it as one of the collection.

[jeaton01]

Well, done, Mark. The JRS in particular looks great.

[dukemaddog]

Thank you John!


Well it's been a good long time since I had a tour, thanks to work and a three-week-long vacation; so now it's time to get one started again. There's not as much to see now in the hangar as there is in the other areas, but I did make some progress since I returned from vacation. So, all aboard the trams and enjoy the tour!


As always, we'll start in the Hangar. In this first bay, we have a new model started, an F-15 C Eagle. We only got this far:



In the next bay is the DC-9, all painted up with the yellow. I just need to find the Hughes Airwest decals for this and then I can move on:



In this next bay is the Canadian Otter. The decals were applied and the cowl and engine installed. The propeller needs some extra work, but once that is done, this bird will be ready for delivery:



Finally, the last bay here shows the Navy JRS-1 Flying Boat. Decals were applied to the wing and fuselage:





Later the outer pontoons were installed:



Eventually, I got the tail painted and made ready to install it:



The instructions called for wires on the outer pontoons so I applied some stretched sprue:



Later the tail was installed as well as the landing gear:





And that was all we got done in the Hangar, now on to the Shipyards....



Here in the Shipyards, we managed to get the three Soviet fleet submarines painted up and ready for decals:



In the next bay, a lot was done on the Sunseeker Predator 108. First we applied all the decals to the instrument panel for the helm:



Once it was ready it got installed in the interior:



While all that was drying, the glass got installed in the side panels for the upper cabin:



Later the upper cabin was built up:



Once that was dry, the windscreen, glass doors and roof were added to the cabin, finally completing almost all the construction on this:





Later on the engines were installed underneath. The propellers were going on last to prevent any breakage and loss before this was done:



Finally the radar and sensor platform were built and painted. Here it is just sitting on top of the cabin. A few more touch ups were needed before that would be cemented down, as well as some final repairs and decals:






That completes this part of the tour through the shipyards; now on to the Motor Pool to a few more projects in the works.

In this first bay we are working on a Chevrolet CWT-15 wrecker for my Canadian Army. The first thing done was the cab which was shown in the last tour. This time the chassis was built up:



The cab was then test fit to see how it fits, looking good:



Later the rear bed was built, along with the wrecker arm frame:



Paint should start on that soon.

In the next bay, we went back to the P.1000 Ratte, adding all the bogies to the lower hull since they were finally all done. The idler wheels were also fixed so they would sit properly:



Later, I started to try and add the tracks to this since I'd been slowly snapping links together into lengths I could put together to make a full track:



It doesn't show well here but the tracks were way too loose so I made an effort to try and remove sections to make them fit better. I did this also because of a concern I might not have enough length to complete the other side. The results were way below satisfaction so I'll have to try again later.


Meanwhile, I started a larger scale car; this one is the 1/12 scale Ford Model T, which came in any color you wanted as long as it was black. So after basic assembly, it was painted black:



That was as far as we got with that. The next large vehicle, slightly smaller at 1/24 scale is a Shelf Queen that I was determined to get off the bench. First up, the chassis was painted again, with details added to the engine that won't be seen:



Then the body and fenders were dry-fit together, repainted again and glossed:



When that was dry enough, it was taken apart again and the interior woodwork was done along with the leather seat:



Then we did the roof; it was nice of Revell to mold in the wood grain detail:



No, I didn't remove or fill in the ejector pin marks. I didn't want to destroy all the great wood grain detail that I could not replace, and I didn't want this on my workbench any longer than it had to be; it had already been sitting here far too long!

The windows were added, the final interior parts like the steering wheel were installed and the whole thing glued together. The wheels and tires were then added to the chassis; it was quite a fight to get them to all touch the ground. Once that battle was won, the body was cemented to the chassis:



As you can see if you look closely; the radiator was missing, but I kept going. Decals were added next; I wanted to make this as colorful as I could to a point:





Finally, after a day or so, the radiator turned up and was immediately installed on the front, and the hand crank added. Headlight lenses were glued in too:



It ain't too much longer before this is finished.




That concludes this tour of the latest work being done here at Maddog Manufacturing; I hope you enjoyed it. Thank you all for coming along; comments are welcome.

[TJ]

I still am amazed, even after knowing your build style, how you can have so many active builds going at one time

[406 Silverado]

I continue to be blown away by how you can keep up with all of these different builds at different building stages and then again at the good outcomes in which comes out of it all Mark. All good modeling subjects and all are progressing nicely.

Love the Coca Cola Van btw.

[kyledehart5]

Fantastic!! Great update. It’s always a good day when we get a fresh tour of the factory.

[dukemaddog]

Thank you TJ! I have a bunch more going now too.

Thank you Joe! I try, but sometimes it can be a bit tough. Feel free to check out the finished van in the automotive forum.

Thank you Kyle! I hope I can start offering more fresh tours more often.

[dukemaddog]

It seems that I tend to start tours once a month now more or less, so I guess it's that time again. I have a rather extensive tour this time so without further ado, let's board the trams and see what's been happening around the manufacturing plant this month.....




Starting out tour in the Hangar we have in this first bay, the B-58 Hustler which now has two other metallic colors on it:





Later I went to install the landing gear but the nose gear strut has gone on walkabout so this was as far as I got on that:





An attempt was made to add the decals too, but even with two coats of Liquid Decal Film, they shattered like glass hit with a hammer. I need to now find some aftermarket decals along with a new nose gear strut....unless the original turns up...


Moving on to the next bay, I decided to get a few bagged kits built so that I could get rid of the bags. This was the first one I started, an Italian Macchi C202:





It was fast and relatively easy to build when it came to the sub assemblies:





I did have some issues trying to add the main wings to the fuselage, but I guess I did well enough to add the landing gear:





Next up will be painting this and finishing it up. I just hope the decals go on better than the ones for the C205 I did before...





Another bagged kit is this 1/72 scale Fokker DR-1 Red Baron plane that went together very fast and easy:





I got to paint it sooner than expected:





I then started another Eduard bagged kit, this time the Albatross:





It was also quite fast and easy to build:





After adding a few more details, this bird was ready for paint. Eduard offers quite a colorful paint scheme for this:





Some Model Master, some Humbrol and some Testor's square-bottled paints brought me to this stage:





After some more detail painting, this will be ready for decals.


Finally in this last bay, I decided to add the landing gear to my DC-9 and let it dry:





She sits pretty nice:





I had then set this aside as I couldn't find the decals for this version, so I waited. Then I found them in another DC -9 kit that had TWA markings so this one was able to get it's decals.




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



Here in the Shipyards, this first slip has the HMS Westminster getting her lower hull painted:





The next slip over we laid the keel for the little USS Freedom LCS and built up most of the superstructure too:





This is one very small ship:





That is as far as I got; I need to pull out my paints to get this moving forward. In the next bay, I decided to start another Big Box model, this is the 1/72 scale US Marine LCAC that had been sitting for awhile. First, there was a lot of Photo-etch that needed to be installed, so one day I sat and went through the instructions to find where all the photo-etch parts go. About 80% were done here:





There's still some photo-etch parts that need to be added later, but for now, I moved on and installed on the deck some of the deck fixtures that I had added photo-etch to:





That puppy is gonna take up some real estate! Some of the deck houses were built next:








This is where I stopped, the engines will be next to build. Until then, here's a preview with the assembled deck houses dry fit on the deck:





Finally in this last slip is a fun project that I thought it was time to build. This is the Pegasus Hobbies Nautilus from 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. First the interior of the main gallery was built:








Pretty nice detail for this area. Later I started to paint some of the most obvious items:








While that was drying, we added the bottom sub assembly to the keel of this boat. It's trhe bottom part on this sprue:





Next we added the big gallery windows and side extensions to the side of the hull:





The kit provides masks for all those windows. That is going to be an interesating exercise!


That concludes the tour of the Shipyards, now on to the Motor Pool.



Here in the Motor Pool, a lot has been done. Let's start in this first bay. It's another spare kit someone gifted to me so it was time to start it. I got it built and started the painting, now all I need is to install the wheels and the last few detail parts:








I'm thinking of making this a captured vehicle used by the allies.....


In the next bay is another German vehicle, an SdKfz 9 with a crane. This is the early version; I have a late version to start as well. I just have to find it.





The front vinyl tires went missing, so getting this done will have to wait. Until then. detail parts were added and a re-paint was done:





In the next bay I started another semi-big box model; this is a Japanese anti-ship missile truck. I got the main chassis and suspension done, and then completed the interior of the cab:





In the next bay is a Russian Gaz AAA cargo truck that had slowly been worked on. The interior of the cab was painted and window cement was used to make the windshield and rear window:





​Later the cab was closed up, again using window cement for the door windows:





You can see what a poor-fitting Eastern European short-run kit this is here.....


In this next bay, I tried to get caught up on this difficult IBG kit of the Holmes Wrecker. The cab was painted inside, closed up and the rear bed was built and dry-fit on the chassis:





After the rear bed dried, it was painted:





Later the wheels were installed and the chassis and suspension were painted. My go-to is Pollyscale Oily Black for all this. It's still wet in this pic:





Here it is all test fit together:





Then came the long hard fight to rig this thing. The kit gives you a string of some kind of flexible plastic which all glues tend to melt into nonexistence. It was all curled into a circle in the bag and kept it's curve. So, I used my trusty Gator's Grip Glue. Still, this stuff would not straighten out or glue tight, but I did the best I could:





At least it didn't melt.....


Finally once it was sufficiently dry, the whole thing was glued together:





Additional detail painting was done and decals were added later.


Finally in this last bay, the camouflage pattern was painted on the French Le Clerc tank that had been sitting for a long time:








Now that the tour of the Motor Pool is done, there's a small detour to take to the little used Space Port. Here we started the 1/72 scale Finemolds Millennium Falcon. This is the cockpit and entrance tunnel for the 1/72 scale Millennium Falcon from Finemolds:





I also started the radar dish that goes on top:





Later the cockpit and passengers will be painted up and detailed.


Finally, in the back area here we had been building a lumber mill. This project got more done on it. First, the workbend with the radial saw was added to the side of this after all the wood had been painted. A ladder to the catwalk was also installed. Pics don't show the wood grain painting very well:





The main roof was painted up. I opted for a mettalic look to it since no indication was given for what color it was, nor did the box art show the roof:





Later the roof was installed. It took some persuasion to sit properly:





The roof over the workbench was then installed as well:





Later the base was painted, accessories were added and the office was built and painted. This was then placed on the base. It's the blue building in the back:





Here's a shot of the back of the mill with the office and the coal bin and scuttle behind the office:





The office building is not glued down yet, it's just screaming for an interior that the kit didn't provide. It's very easy to see inside with that big side window. Once I scrape up the right kind of furniture and such, I'll complete that and then glue it down.





And that concludes out latest tour of Maddog Manufacturing, thank you all for joining the tour and always remember comments are welcome.

[handiabled]

Once again Mark such a wide variety subjects on your bench. Everything looks to be coming along great!

[kyledehart5]

Holy cow Mark!! You sure have a lot going on as usual. Another fantastic tour. I love all these super cool subjects you've got going on.

[dukemaddog]

Thank you Handi! I've had a few issues but for the most part these are fun and easy builds.

Thank you Kyle! I do like to keep things fresh with a good variety.

[dukemaddog]

And now for this next tour of the facilities....

Despite having extensive work on a couple jobs, we managed to get some progress down over the past few weeks. Certainly enough for another tour. So, all aboard the trams and let's get started.


As always our tour begins in the Hangar, where quite a bit has been done.

In this first bay is a new project, the Italian MB326K Impala. The cockpit was done first. of course:



Later paint was added and the decals applied to the instrument panels:



While that was drying, we assembled all the two-part assemblies, like the wings, wingtip tanks, and the three parts each of the rocket launchers:



After all that, the fuselage, tail feathers and wings were assembled:



After all that, it turns out this is a tail sitter so I'll have to find a way to add weight in the nose to bring this back on it's feet.

Moving on to the next bay, we have a Japanese Ohka Bomb that was sitting in the parts bin. Just for fun I started it, even though it most likely won't get done since there's no canopy for it:



The next bay has our two German WWI biplanes which finally got decals on them:



It's a good thing I coated those decals with liquid decal film, some places that did not get covered on the edge flaked off quickly.

Later the top wings got mounted on the Albatross; this bird is about ready for rigging:





The Fokker also got the top wing on. Since this doesn't need to be rigged, All it will take to finish is a bit of touch up:



In the next bay, it was time to move forward on the F-15 Eagle. The cockpit got the paint and decals it needed:



Once closed inside the forward fuselage, this sub assembly was added to the rear fuselage:



Then the canopy was installed and will be masked before we paint this:



Finally, in these last few bays we have our airliners. All these are in 1/72 scale. The DC-9 that will be in TWA markings got it's coat of silver and white paint on it:



Later the fuselage was assembled. A re-paint will be needed due to issues with the seams:



The same silver and white was applied to the Connie before assembling that too:



In the final bay, the Boeing 727 got all the metallic parts painted. First the engine and tail parts:



Main wings were done:



And then the fuselage:



Then the fuselage was assembled. This will also warrant a re-paint due to fit issues, which were addressed with Tamiya grey putty:



The rest of this plane has resin parts for everything else: engine intake and exhaust parts, landing gear struts and wheels, and wing fences below the wings. The first engine parts were then added, and extensive CA glue filler was used to fit these:



That is where we stopped in the Hangar, now we head out to the Shipyards...


Here in the Shipyards, work focused on the one project, Jules Verne's Nautilus submarine. More extensive detailing was done in the interior. Books on the bookcases were painted, the globe was detailed and the keyboards on the organ were detailed; although that last part doesn't show very well in the pics:









Once closed up all this detail became extremely difficult to see:





....but I know it's there!

All this was then closed up inside the hull and additional detail parts like the tail and screw were added:



Later, since I needed something to hold this, I built the giant squid that is the stand to hold it:



That's where she stands at this point. I have considerable numbers of parts and P/E to add, as well as window masking before painting this. I'm going to go simple on this and paint it copper overall like the Disney Nautilus, but sill unsure about weathering the patina.



Now it's time to move on to the Motor Pool....

Here in the Motor Pool we started a number of new projects and did a bit more work on others that had been underway. First the ones already under construction. In this first bay is the Schwimmwagen that got the wheels on it:



This was later painted in a camouflage pattern. The the Japanese anti-ship missile truck got the rear bed completed:



Now for all the new projects started. In this first bay, we have a Russian Uragan MLRS truck which was started with the main cabin:



Afterward the rear bed was built, the rocket launcher assembly was built and they were put together:



The interior of the cab was painted next, in preparation for later exterior paint:



In the next bay, we started the three Academy Abrams tanks. One will be US Marine, the other Egyptian and the third Australian. Lower hulls were assembled first:



...followed by the turrets:



These were then left to dry before adding wheels and other details. Meanwhile, in the next bay, we started the Canadian Leopard with the bar armor. First the lower hull, wheels and tracks were built:



Then the upper hull and turret were built and added to the lower hull:



We're gonna paint this before adding the bar armor to it. That brings us to the next bay where we started another armored train car; this one is the artilleriewagen. We started with the most complicated assembly in the whole kit, the quad AA gun:



This was later fitted on the car after the upper and lower hulls where built and connected and the howitzer turret was built and mounted:



Later the final parts were added to this, all save the antenna which will go on last to avoid breakage. We had also primed the tracks black so this will stand out on the tracks. This beastie is ready for paint:




Moving on once again, we got some more work down in the Spaceport. The crew figures for the Millennium Falcon were painted up:



The cockpit decals were added later. This is a Finemolds kit so I was unpleasantly surprised that the decals broke apart so easily, but I managed to get them in the right place:



Here's a shot of the crew inside:



I'm not sure who I'll keep inside the cockpit, but it will most likely just be Chewbacca and possibly C3PO while Han, Luke and Leia will be posed outside. We'll see when the time comes.



And that concludes our tour of the manufacturing plant once again. I hope you all enjoyed the tour and thank you for coming along. Comments are always welcome!

[kyledehart5]

Outstanding work!! Particularly like your cockpit work in the hangar and the airliners are always cool. I absolutely love the Nautilus too. Too cool. And the millennium falcon. So many great projects

[dukemaddog]

Thank you Kyle! I got lots more coming down the pike!