Monogram’s P-47D Thunderbolt isn’t a great kit. In fact, it doesn’t compare well at all to the newer offerings by Hasegawa and especially Tamiya. But it’s a competent, fast-building kit, with surprisingly solid detail.
Well, except for the blast tubes in the wings.
I’m trying to build this one mostly out-of-the-box, but I just couldn’t abide these sad excuses for blast tubes. (more…)
As a kid, I never descended into the scrappy art of scratchbuilding. I was impatient enough as it was, and the idea of slowing down to play that game never entered my mind.
These days, I’m a bit older, a bit more patient, and far more in tune with my inner perfectionist. I still don’t go in for too much scratchbuilding, and honestly I’ll still spring for a photo etch or resin solution if it exists. But sometimes…it doesn’t.
Since my return to modeling, my scratchbuilding has consisted of seatbelts. I’ve been making them out of Tamiya tape, supplemented with buckles either snipped off of PE belts, or just fashioned from spare PE bits.
With the La-5, though, that’s starting to change. (more…)
I hate masking. Of all the various aspects of modeling, it’s probably the task I enjoy least.
Unfortunately, until model paints are replaced by nanotechnology and little pigment robots that can lay down exactly where you tell them with no hint of overspray, masking is a necessity.
With the Eduard Yak-3 and Zvezda La-5, I’ve recently found myself tasked with masking soft-edge camoflage for the first time since my return to modeling. (more…)