The Challenger continues!
In Part 1, the Challenger itself got built and received it’s initial paintjob.
In Part 2, I shifted direction to work on the display base.
This Part 3 has been a long time coming, as the Challenger got sidelined for a time so I could focus on finishing off the Me 262A-2a.
In this build post, it’s all about the weathering, and making a second attempt at a display base. Read on! (more…)
Part I | Part II| PART III
It’s amazing how our tastes and interests change over time, isn’t it?
When I was a kid, the vast majority of the models I built were jets. Mostly 1/72 scale. It was only relatively late in the game – into junior high and high school, that I really started getting interested in World War II subjects. And even then, I kept building jets right up until I wandered away from the hobby. In fact, I’m pretty sure this 1/48 A-7E Corsair II was the last kit I completed in my first modeling “career”.
When I came back to modeling in 2010, I found I had no desire to build modern jets. None. Zero. Instead I found myself drawn to World War II and then Great War aircraft. Modern stuff, I figured, was all boring, naptime gray, and didn’t have the same historical import as subjects from the two most important conflicts of the 20th century.
Then, somewhere along the way, I began to get some small urges. I think Eduard’s MiG-21 line might have had something to do with it, or the glimpses of some stellar builds on various contest tables. I snagged a handful of modern 1/48 jets…but never touched them.
Last year, things came to a head. I decided that, damnit, I was going to build a jet. And more than that, I was going to build it in 1/32 scale. I even started accumulating a stash of 1/32 jets. Then I started working on Academy’s F-16I Sufa kit, and it was a slog from the start. Nothing went right, and I daresay it stole so much of my momentum that it kept me from at least one and maybe two more completions in 2013. After fighting it for something like two months, I finally said enough, and put it away in such disgust that I decided to abandon 1/32 jets and sell off my small stash of them.
Instead, I opted for 1/48 as my scale of choice for jets. Started snagging some kits with the proceeds gained from selling off the 1/32 stash, even.
And now that the Messerschmitt Me 262A-2a is behind me and the Challenger 1 is rolling toward completion, it’s time to finally buckle down and BUILD. A. JET. (more…)
Between family and work commitments, I can really only realistically make it to two shows per year - the Austin SMS show in October and San Antonio's ModelFiesta, which went…
Part I | Part II| Part III | PART IV
It’s time to wrap this puppy up! The 262 has been a long time building, and finally, in Part IV, it all comes to completion. Strap in – here we go!
Picking Up
In Part III, I walked through my technique for masking and painting the putty lines on the Me 262. The result exceeded my expectations:
Part IV promises to be a longer post, bringing the build to a conclusion, or very near to it. Buckle up, and let’s dive in.
The Combat Workshop's "Sprue Cutters Union" is akin to a group build, only with blog posts instead of builds. This week's topic: What glue(s) do you use - and how do…
At last, we come to the reason I cracked this kit open in the first place. When I first stumbled upon Me 262A-2a Wk.Nr. 111712, I was intrigued by the unfinished appearance of bare metal covered in a latticework of putty. I’d seen this on other late-war Luftwaffe aircraft, but for some reason, when I saw it on 712, I had an epiphany. I knew how I could recreate the putty effect. And so I tracked down Trumpeter’s kit and got to work.
Part I | Part II| Part III
It’s been some time since this blog has visited the long in-progress Messerschmitt Me 262A-2a. In Part I, I walked through some early test-fitting and the build-up of the cockpit.
Part II is usually all about the construction, but honestly, the 262 built rather fast and uneventfully. So rather than focus on that, I’m going to use Part II to cover both the construction and the first phase of painting – up through the bare metal finish.
The Combat Workshop's "Sprue Cutters Union" is akin to a group build, only with blog posts instead of builds. This week's topic: How do you find time for the hobby? For…
I can count the number of bases I’ve built with one hand. Hell, with one finger. When I was a kit, I made a very poor water base for Monogram’s OS2U Kingfisher. It was my first and last foray into placing a build into its natural habitat.
For 2014, I aim to change that, beginning with the Challenger.
My inspiration? This one maddeningly low-res photo. I’m not intending to recreate it exactly, but kinda get somewhere in the vicinity. More snow, more mud, more elevation…
I don't really make much hay about it over here, but Doogs' Models has its own dedicated Facebook page, which as of today just crossed 3,000 likes! Now, that's a…
