Sunday, November 13, 2011

Trying something new...USS Hancock

Well after visiting my local hobby shop yesterday, I though I would try something different for me.  I saw a Trumpeter 1/350 USS Hancock Aircraft Carrier (WW2), and it appealed to me.  Now I have built a U-Boat in the past, but this will be my first ship model of this size.  Opening the box, I found an excellent kit, well molded, and lots of detail.  I am going to pass on any PE for this kit, just want the experience of building a boat.  I was so excited about it, kind of pushed my other projects aside and laid down the hull last night.  The fit was ok, have to watch a few spot, mainly the bow piece, I put it on first to help line up the upper and lower hull pieces.  There is still some gaps(as you can tell from the pic).  So lots of putty, now to wait for it to dry and sand, then onto the flight deck.

Just one warning when starting a ship, have lots of glue on hand, almost half a bottle of liquid cement just doing the hull.

Friday, November 11, 2011

Lest we forget

In Flanders Fields
By: Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, MD (1872-1918)
Canadian Army

In Flanders Fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

Monday, November 7, 2011

First Attempt at 1/16 Figure

While at my local hobby store one day, I was eyeing the Tamiya 1/16 scale figures.  They looked pretty kewl, and I thought, maybe I should give this a try.  So I bought the Wehrmacht Tank Crewman.  It is a great kit, parts are well molded, very little flash, and great detail.  Instructions are straight forward, and goes together very well. I painted it with Vallejo Acryllics, including a couple of pin washes, some shadowing, and dry brushing of highlights.  I am not totally happy how it turned out, but I am going to do some more reading and studying of other people's work, and damn well try another.


Sunday, November 6, 2011

List of my models

Something new I have created, a list of models, past and present.  I did this using Google docs, what a amazing tool.  I will try to keep this list up to date.  Hopefully it will be helpful, ie if you are thinking about buying one similar or need advice on a particular model.

Kevin's Model List

I have also but the link on Currently on my Workbench section, so it will be available all the time.

Saturday, November 5, 2011

My Work Frame

Ever try to work on the bottom of your model, plane flipping back and forth on the tail?  Or break off an important piece?  Well I have done that, and have muttered a few curses.  Recently while looking at pics online, at my one of my favorite sites, AeroScale, I saw pics being displayed of the bottom of the aircraft, on what I would say resembles an overhead crane frame.  I thought, now something like that would be great to support a model while working on it.  So I open my drawer with my extra stryene to see what I could do. 

Well after a little cutting and gluing....this is what I came up with


Using some plastic i-beams and strip pieces I constructed this handy tool.  I just glued some scrap felt on the top to protect any paint that may have been applied.  I can see this as a good use for applied decals to the bottom.  So another tool to clutter the model desk and provide that extra hand when needed.

I will have to give credit to BlackWidow from AeroScale forums for providing the idea.

Do you have any ideas?  Give them a try and let me know how they work out.