Monthly Archives: December 2014

Weathering Tamiya’s 1/32 F4U-1 Corsair, Pt 1

WeatheringCorsair1

After the painting (LINK) comes the fun part – the weathering!

No Clean Bird

Marine Corsairs weren’t exactly known for their cleanliness, and “Tojo Eats Shit” has to be one of the filthiest examples I’ve yet come across.

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There are so many factors at play here. Fading. Chipping. Gun and exhaust stains. Coral dust. Oil stains. All in all, it adds up to one thing:

Tons of weathering.

Let’s get started.

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Coming out of paint, the Corsair is already pretty weathered up through a combination of multi-layer chipping (LINK) and using a black base to manage tonal variation (LINK). But there’s so much more that can be done.
(more…)

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2014 – The Year in Review

YIR

2014 is just about in the books, and so it’s time for that annual tradition – the “Year in Review” post. Looking back at 2013, it’s striking how far I’ve come in a year. Life remains hectic, but in a far more settled manner. No layoff. No shattering of routines to make way for a new kid. No major shocks, just the unrelenting pressures of a challenging-but-rewarding career and raising three young children. On whole, I have very little to complain about (though I still find ways).

In terms of modeling, I feel like 2014 was a year of both growth and frustration. Overall, I completed eight builds, just one more than last year. I’d hoped to put in a slightly better showing in that regard, but a few false starts and one build abandoned only when the decals proved to be trash definitely hampered my summer months. I feel like I rallied in the fall, however, with two builds that definitely feel like big steps forward in the quality of my building.

A few thoughts, in no particular order, and then on to the builds. (more…)

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Should Tamiya Do a 1/32 Bf 109G?

Produktion von Messerschmitt Me 109

I know I’ve said in the past that Tamiya should not waste its time kitting a 1/32 Messerschmitt Bf 109. Maybe not on this blog, but certainly in various forums. Something along the lines of “there are already so many 109s, price, blah blah”.

Well you know what? I take it back. The door is wide open for a definitive Bf 109. At least among the later variants. By all accounts the Cyber Hobby Emils are rather the bee’s knees.

Let’s explore why… (more…)

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