SPA Modeler

Geez Louise....I managed to eat a dougnut and put on socks (on the right feet). Awesome work.

Some really cool stuff you got going!

Never anything boring about your builds Mark, and I did like the Gift Shop - like Carlos said though, you do need a bar!

Another really interesting selection, and I was interested to see how you were building your armour. Do you always completely assemble them before paint?

I'm really liking the look of the Norseman - that's one Matchbox kit I've never built! It's looking excellent - such a shame you dropped it, I hope it all goes back together well. Talk about the law of sod.

I've always fancied building a Friendship too - what kit is it you're building?

Cheers Dude!

Thank you Carlos! The trimotor is actually a Fokker design according to the history blurb on the instruction sheet. If I recall it was first built in 1923, the real thing, not the kit.

And yes, there is a bar at the snack bar. Gotta have my share of spirits too!

Thanks Lyle! You still did more than me: I never got a doughnut...

Thank you Medic! I hope to be shooting paint soon.

Thank you Stuart! It depends on the kit; sometimes I'll leave the running gear off the tank if it is easier to paint and then add later. Otherwise, in many cases it's easier to just assemble and then paint them. Talk about the law of sod indeed. I do think I'll be able to get it mounted back on the floats properly soon. The Friendship is the Italeri kit. If you go back a few pages in the "Latest Acquisitions" Thread you'll see the box art.

Thanks again everyone! Enjoy the drinks at the bar as well as the snacks!

Duke Maddog wrote: It depends on the kit; sometimes I'll leave the running gear off the tank if it is easier to paint and then add later. Otherwise, in many cases it's easier to just assemble and then paint them.

Ah Cool - thanks for the tips Mark!

Duke Maddog wrote: Talk about the law of sod indeed. I do think I'll be able to get it mounted back on the floats properly soon. The Friendship is the Italeri kit. If you go back a few pages in the "Latest Acquisitions" Thread you'll see the box art.

I hope so - it looks great on floats!

Ah of course it is - I remember seeing it now.

Which F27 kit is that mark? Guessing airfix with the interior. Beautiful airplane.

Thanks again Stuart! Later on you can check out my technique for shooting paint on a tank with skirts: I use Silly Putty to hold the skirts in place temporarily to get the paint and pattern lined up with the rest of the tank. Afterward I remove the skirts and Silly Putty to detail the wheels and running gear (and install the tracks sometimes) before cementing them back on to finish the model.

keavdog wrote:Which F27 kit is that mark? Guessing airfix with the interior. Beautiful airplane.

Thanks John! It's actually the Italeri issue. Still has the interior.I agree, it is a beautiful airplane. I got this in our semi-annual Distressed Kit Auction. Three others had popped up in previous auctions and I was always out-bid for them. Finally I was able to get one! I started it almost immediately too!

Oh man, I was looking forward to seeing the Norseman come together. Hope you’re able to fix it. Gotta love the tri motor too. You’ve been busy, my friend.

Thanks Blacksheep! I'm fairly certain the Norseman will get back together again. I just have to be sure I hang into it this time! I'll also be working more on the trimotor, hopefully today. We'll see. Stray tuned, more to come.

It's been a pretty productive week for me so far so here's my latest progress on what I've been working on. Time once again to board the trams to see the latest tour...

Starting in the hanger portion of my plant, here is the latest, starting with my Norseman. I got the floats back on and managed to get another coat of white over it. There's a few blemishes to take care of but this bird is almost ready for the second color:


Next I felt it was time to move forward on my Swedish Vampire. I shot a green topcoat on it first:


Then when that was dry, I masked off the top to make this ready for the grey underside:


That is as far as I got in this. I wanted to get more done on my Southern Cross next.

I started by building the two outboard engine pods and sanding the seams:


I then added the last of the clear parts to the fuselage and later masked them with a liquid masking agent:


I'm guessing they had the side windows open during flight; there were no side windows included in the kit. It is a 1920's design after all.

Next I masked off the underside of the wing assembly to be ready to shoot an aluminum color on the wings:


So now I finished off building the third engine and adding the tail feathers to the back of the fuselage. I saw the pilot figure inside the box and thought it would be fun to pose him with his partially built plane:


Later on I added paper towel and Silly Putty to the big cavernous opening in the fuselage to mask it off for painting:


Since the channel on one side of the engine pods needed to remain paint free so they would glue onto the main wheel struts, I decided to temporarily glue in a plastic rod about the same diameter to both hold the engine pods for painting as well as mask the channel. I then shot the blue over the fuselage and engine pods:


Yeah, you can see where one engine fell off the front of the pod. Easy fix.

Well that's everything going on in the hanger portion of my plant; let's see what's happening in the Motor Pool side...

Over here in the Motor Pool, we have a couple tanks that made it to the paint stage. This first one is my British Centurion Mk.5 base painted with Humbrol Bronze Green:


It's actually showing quite light in that pic; not sure why.

The next tank I shot was the Australian Centurion Mk. 5LR, first basing it with the Humbrol Bronze Green and modulating it with Humbrol Olive Drab:


I did the same thing on my US Army M-41 Walker Bulldog:


After that, I found the P/E fret for the British FV-4005 and so started adding the photo-etch to it.

First the turret:


Then the hull:


I then checked the turret for ability to turn and fixed a couple minor sticking points. This beastie is now ready for paint:


Since I was already painting everything with Humbrol Bronze Green I shot this one too:




Yeah, that blob sticking out from under the skirts is the Silly Putty holding the skirts in place for painting. This does look more like the Bronze Green is supposed to look.

Afterward, I shot a gloss coat over all these and applied the decals, starting with the M-41 Walker Bulldog:




Then the Australian Centurion:




Then I did the British Centurion:





...and finally the British FV-4005:



That last one had very minimal markings. I will also lightly weather that since it didn't see much service.

As for all these tanks; all that's left is adding the tools and other detail parts; dull coating them and weathering them and they will be done. The next time you see them will be in the Finished Armor Forums.

And that ends another tour of Maddog Manufacturing; I hope you enjoyed it. Feel free to check out the gift shop and snack bar on your way out. As always, comments are always welcome.