Howdy, all!
Do you remember the projects you completed where you thought you had “turned a corner”—that is, you finally put a group of skills together into one project and brought it to completion?
Given that this blog is centered on scale models, I can think of a few projects that fill the bill. I consider these the first real fruits of my labors after discovering Scale Modeler (and later, FineScale Modeler) magazine, Solvaset, and Squadron Green Putty, and after acquiring an airbrush.
1979-ish, Monogram 1/48th scale Hawker Typhoon. It was the first model where filled seams and painted with an airbrush. It turned out fairly well, all things considered. I think I was still using Propel cans, and the limitations with them didn’t help the project. I seem to recall that shortly afterwards, I got a compressor for the airbrush. For the life of me, I have no recollection of what became of the finished model.
Around the same time, I built a Guillows’ 1/16th scale stick-and-tissue Spitfire model, just to show Dad that I could…
1980, Revell 1/32nd scale F4U-1 Corsair. I was inspired by Sheperd Paine’s “Pilots, Man Your Planes” article in one of the “Special” issues of Challenge Publications’ Scale Modeler. He had done his usual superdetail job on the model. I tried to duplicate some of what he did to his model. I used masking tape to make seatbelts, I made the landing gear springs from wire, and I cut and dropped the flaps. I left the wings unfolded, and didn’t do a whole lot to the rest of the model. Like the Typhoon, I was still using the little square bottles of Testors Flat Enamels, so the colors were a little bit weird. I also went my own way with the markings—I built the model as Tommy Blackburn’s “Big Hog”. I painted the letters freehand, and rather than seek alternate markings with the red surround (not that I could have afforded such a luxury), I used a 3/0 brush and Testors Flat Red to “convert” the kit insignia to the pre-September 1943 version. Again, I was rather pleased with the end result. The model went to a friend and I never saw it again. I have a strange feeling that it became an air rifle target…
1981, Otaki 1/48th scale F6F-3 Hellcat. This one put everything I had learned to that point together. The model was built, the seams were filled, and the scheme was airbrushed. I applied the decals with Solvaset, and I did a little “toning down” and “weathering” with some washes. I added some paint chips, and I was really happy when I finished the model.
1984, Nichimo 1/48th scale Ki.43 “Oscar”. This was a further extension to the process started with the Hellcat. In this case, I did more paint chipping using an alternate method—I used a silver Tamiya paint marker on certain areas of the airplane before I added the camouflage colors. I had switched to Polly-S acrylics, and I “chipped” them with a tight roll of masking tape right after the paint had started to dry. I added more chips to the markings once the decals were on using the paint marker again.
1985, Monogram 1/48th scale P-51B converted to an Allison-engined P-51 with the Koster Aero Enterprises vacuum-formed conversion kit. This was my first vacuum formed kit. Also, using the knowledge I gained from reading Bob Steinbrunn’s cockpit detailing article in FineScale Modeler, I did a lot of scratch detailing in the cockpit. I really started to learn how to use alternate materials—the injection molded cannon barrels from the Koster kit were rather softly detailed, so I removed the various details and replaced them—I used vinyl tape for the bands and fine wire for the recoil springs.
From this point on, I coasted on my abilities. I was back in college, so my model building time was a bit limited. It didn’t stop me from scratchbuilding a seat or adding plumbing to landing gear, but those were the exception rather than the rule.
After college, I started hanging out in the hobby shop. And I started learning more. One of the locals brought some models in that had a really convincing finish—the camouflage colors weren’t “solid”—the upper surface olive drab was actually many different shades of olive drab, and the panel lines were highlighted. In a sense, it was probably what “The Spanish School” was originally devised to be. This was in 1988, and it was about the time Verlinden was really making inroads into the American modeling scene, but the guy told me he had been doing it for years. He said all you have to do is vary the colors and make the whole thing look good.
Undeterred, I took a Tamiya 1/48th scale F2A Buffalo from the shelf and refinished it. I removed the decals and smoothed the paint, much as I did on a Monogram B-17 in 1984. This time, when I painted it, I thought about those other models I saw, and tried to emulate the procedure. It worked. The result was rather nice, if I do say so…
1989, Monogram 1/48th scale B-29. This was the first model I totally rescribed. It was an eye-opener, for sure. I used a lot of filler to cover my mistakes, of which there were many. In the end, I was happy with the result. The model was sent to the Valiant Air Command museum. I have no idea if it still survives…
1990, Revell 1/72nd scale F-89. My first really successful bare metal finish was achieved with Floquil silvers. Since then, I have tried several methods. My go-to these days are the Vallejo Metal Colors, but for a while I used a highly thinned mix of Isopropyl Alcohol, Future, and Tamiya X32 Titanium Silver over a gray primer base. The impediment to continue using this method is the fact that SC Johnson discontinued Future, and I'm not convinced any of the alternatives folks are using would work. With the Vallejo stuff available, there really is no need to look elsewhere.
1999/2000, Hobbycraft 1/48th scale P-26A. I had rigged models before, but none was really that good. This time, fresh off a trip to the IPMS National Convention and armed with some nifty stainless steel orthodontic wire, I set out to change that. The Hobbycraft Peashooter is a fabulous kit, and I did little additional work on the kit. When it came time to rig it, I cut lengths of the aforementioned wire and glued it in place with small drops of white glue. The model still sits in the display case, although it has developed a twist in the aft fuselage over the years. I should probably build another one of these gems soon…
The next big leap came only a few years ago, when I remembered that “This is just a plastic model, there isn’t a lot I could do to screw it up.” The model was the 1/48th scale Special Hobby Macchi C.200 that I’ve shared previously. I took the time and effort to detail things a bit more. I added the landing gear trunnions to make the main landing gear more authentic. And I added more and more of those little details to the model.
What I learned on the Peashooter and Macchi was put to use on the Aeroclub 1/48th scale Gloster Gamecock I finished last year. It was a vacuum-formed kit of a biplane with a scratchbuilt cockpit, wing struts, a lot of little details, and it was rigged. The rigging was different, though--I used Davis' Invisible thread looped through tiny "rigging blocks" and "turnbuckles" made from stretched Evergreen styrene tubing, secured with CA. It featured a metallic finish (aluminum dope), and most of the markings were painted on.
I used the latter skill to also paint the huge checkerboard patterns on a 1/72nd scale Fujimi Phantom FG.1, I like the method so much that I bought a Cameo Silhouette with the intention of cutting masks for my paint schemes instead of using decals. I'm not living under the illusion that I'll never use decals, but knowing how to do this frees me of the limitations of decals, namely being able to do subjects that are never covered by any of the aftermarket decal sheets.
To add to the story, today I bought some UV cure resin and a UV light to make my own lenses. With MV Products lenses being difficult to obtain, this will allow me to "roll my own" when I need them. Another tool in the toolbox, another skill in the portfolio...
What is the moral to the story? Keep exercising your skills, whatever your craft or hobby might be. You might not realize it right away, but these skills build upon each other through the years, and one day you complete a model that puts it all in play. And you’ll wonder—for a minute, maybe—how could you have done such work? Then you recollect all the projects that came before and led up to this latest effort…
It goes back to what I said a while ago on these very pages—it only takes an investment of time and a little effort to do good work. Keep on trying…
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Something I’ve touched on before has risen again on the various forii. I always get a kick out of the comments that come from the under-30's in the hobby. You know, the kids, the noobs, the folks who have only recently discovered the hobby.
I saw someone speak in glowing terms of the yet-to-be-released Magic Factory 1/48th scale F4U-2 Corsair, and how it is “head and shoulders better than the ancient Tamiya kit!”
Ancient? Tamiya’s kits arrived on the scene in 1996. They fit like a glove and exhibit Tamiya’s standard of excellence. I won’t rush out to buy the Magic Factory kits just yet…
Recall, too, that before the Tamiya kits made their debut, the options for a 1/48th scale Corsair were the 1996 Hobbycraft kits (which, had Tamiya not produced their kit, could have been a contender had there not been some unfortunate issues with the fit), the 1980 Mania/Hasegawa F4U-4 (still the standard for the -4 after all these years), the 1977 AMT F4U-1, the 1976 release by Otaki (still a fine kit, as I demonstrated a few years ago), the 1973 Monogram F4U-4, and the 1956 Lindberg F4U-5.
After the Tamiya kits came the questionable Academy/ Minicraft “reworking” of the Hasegawa -4 (that somehow acquired a bloated fuselage), the absolutely awful Minicraft F4U-5/5N, and the superb Hasegawa F4U-5/-7, and AU-1 kits, followed by what I can only determine to be the hit-or-miss Hobby Boss kits.
My point? Be careful when you call a kit “ancient”. By the same standard, the Accurate Miniatures 1/48th scale TBF/TBM and SBD kits are also “ancient”, but back in the day they were seen as absolute wonders. Before they came along, you built the Monogram kits (or Nichimo knockoffs) and either did DIY detailing or, after they appeared, used the Medallion Models resin sets.
Bottom line: these kits might be ancient to you, young pups, but to those of us who made do with the early 1950’s kits for years, they were—and still are—wonderful kits.
That’s all I have for now. Until next time, be good to one another. As always, I bid you Peace.
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