1/48 Su-25 Frogfoot

This is the Monogram kit - which has some fit issues, heavily raised detail, and some horrid intakes. It also (from what I've heard) represents an early version sent abroad to an air show, hence the additional antennae on the nose which apparently were not on the rest of the planes. Incidentally, those additional antennae don't do so well with moves and inattentive housekeepers.

It was my first experience using Polly Scale paint, which sprayed beautifully. I suspect, however, that the underside blue is not quite right.

Kit: Monogram
Scale: 1/48
Markings: VVS
Date: 2002
Aftermarket: None

1/72 A-37

In what has since become a pattern for me, this project was a quick and easy one after a more involved conversion (the Tornado). It's built out of the box, the only addition being the tarmac section (just like the T-34B, I needed to find a way to make it sit squarely on its wheels). Admittedly, the gray is a bit darker than it should be...

Kit: Hasegawa
Scale: 1/72
Markings: 19th TAAS, 51st TFW
Date: 2001
Aftermarket: None

1/32 Tornado GR.1

This beast is the first 1/32 project I tried. And, after getting my feet wet with the seat in the A-4, I did a bit more aftermarket work. It includes resin seats and avionics bay details from CAM. Decals came from Xtradecals.

Kit: Revell
Scale: 1/32
Markings: 17F Squadron, RAF
Date: 2001
Aftermarket: Resin seat and avionics bays, decals

1/48 (?) A-4

The kit is from Fujimi, and this was one of my earlier efforts at actually correcting a kit. The seat was pretty horrid, so I replaced it with a resin one. There were no gear wells to speak of, so I boxed them in with sheet styrene (no detailing this time around). Weathering was done with a mixture of gray acrylic paint, water, and a drop or two of dish soap, applied over a gloss coat and allowed to dry before wiping off the excess with a damp cotton swab.

I'm not entirely sure the Fujimi kit is scaled to 1/48, even though that's what it said on the box. Given the way the aftermarket seat fit in, I suspect it might actually be 1/50.


Kit: Fujimi
Scale: 1/48 (or 1/50...)
Markings: VA-212
Date: 2001
Aftermarket: Resin seat

1/48 F-4J Phantom

"Showtime 100" was the F-4J flown by LT "Duke" Cunningham and LTJG "Irish" Driscoll on 10 May 1972, when they became the first American Aces of the Vietnam War. Needless to say, I did this one BEFORE Representative Cunningham resigned from the House of Representatives and sentenced to prison.


Kit: Monogram
Scale: 1/48
Markings: VF-96
Date: 2001
Aftermarket: None

1/144 B-52

This one is sort of a "replacement" model. I had originally built one in Junior High or High School, getting a kick out of the fact it was in markings for the 92nd Strategic Bombing Wing at Fairchild AFB, near where I grew up. However, the decals didn't react well to the flat coat I used, and shriveled up.

Fast forward about 10 years and I came across it again (and this time used an acrylic flat coat, less likely to wreak havoc).

Kit: Revell
Scale: 1/144
Markings: 92nd SBW, Fairchild AFB, WA
Date: Summer 2000
Aftermarket: None

1/72 T-34B

From 2000, this represented my first foray AWAY from what "the box" said to do. As packaged from Hasegawa, the modeler can build a USAF or Japanese T-34B. I didn't want to do an Air Force or Japanese T-34... I flew for the Navy, and I wanted a Navy T-34. The minor catch: I flew T-34C's in flight school, this was a T-34B. The difference is up front - the C model has a turboprop engine, the B model is reciprocating. This means a vastly different front end. I wasn't up to the task of rebuilding the entire front end, so clearly I would be doing a T-34B. Fortunately, there's a restored one at the Museum of Naval Aviation. Acquiring pictures from the internet was my first foray into researching a model, and I got the "navy" markings, numbers, etc from decal sheets I ordered from Squadron.com. The "boomerang" antenna behind the canopy was the first thing I scratchbuilt. Finally, this was my first effort at salvaging a damaged canopy.

The "tarmac" is sheet styrene cut to shape, spray painted gray with some light, random darker gray, and expansion joints drawn with a roller-ball pen and straight-edge. As built, the model was tail heavy, so I needed something to cement the wheels to in order to keep it sitting right.

Kit: Hasegawa
Scale: 1/72
Markings: US Navy, NAS Sauffley Field
Date: Summer 2000
Aftermarket: Markings from multiple sources, scratchbuilt antenna

1/48 F/A-18 Hornet - Blue Angel 3

Built in Summer 2000, this was my first use of acrylic paint (Testor's Model Master Acryl) and Future floor wax for the gloss coat. I chose markings for Blue Angel #3 in honor of LCDR Keiron O'Connor and LT Kevin Colling, who perished while flying with the Blues on 28 October, 1999, when I was still living in Pensacola.

Kit: Monogram
Scale: 1/48
Markings: US Navy Flight Demonstration Squadron (Blue Angels)
Date: Summer 2000
Aftermarket: None

1/72 YF-22

I started this one in college (during those semester break trips home), but didn't finish it till I escaped Florida and set up housekeeping in Oak Harbor, WA. This was also the first one I was able to paint with an airbrush, an Aztek A470.

Kit: Testor's
Scale: 1/72
Markings: Prototype
Date: Mid 90's, 2000
Aftermarket: None

1/48 F-14A

The last one I did before moving (mercifully) away from Pensacola. This one, too, was done mostly with aerosol cans - the last one before I acquired my first airbrush. This one turned out well enough - and has survived moves well enough - to still merit a display spot on the bookcase, instead of back in the modeling room.

Kit: Monogram
Scale: 1/48
Markings: VF-142
Date: 1999
Aftermarket: None

1/72 F/A-18 Prototype

This one was a gift from my sister for Christmas of 1998. It made for a quick and pleasant distraction from the more involved painting (strictly due to the size) and poor fit of the B-2.

Kit: Monogram
Scale: 1/72
Markings: Prototype
Date: 1999
Aftermarket: None

1/72 B-2 Siprit

College meant building only during semester breaks (1 month in the winter, 2-3 months in the summer). After graduating and setting up housekeeping in Pensacola, I could devote slightly more attention to my past-times. Although I was to find, as many other builders, that "real life" tends to intrude (work, moving, etc), I was able to build more than I did in college.

This was the first project I did in Pensacola. Most of it is spray painted, using aerosol cans in a makeshift cardboard spray booth on the deck of the apartment.

Kit: Testor's
Scale: 1/72
Markings: 509th Bomb Wing
Date: 1999
Aftermarket: None

1/72 YF-23

Another one from the relatively early days. It's among the last ones that are completely brush painted.

Kit: Testors
Scale: 1/72
Markings: ATF prototype
Date: Mid-1990's
Aftermarket: None

1/72 T-45

Another one of the older ones in the collection (and currently needing a slight bit of refurbishment). A Christmas present (as memory serves, dad figured the paint scheme looked "Christmassy" - at least compared to all the gray and camouflage on the shelves...) in high school, it was completely brush painted - which is a bit of a chore in gloss white.

Kit: Testors
Scale: 1/72
Markings: TRACOM
Date: Approx. 1993
Aftermarket: None

1/72 F-14D

The oldest still in the collection - because it's the only one from my early days still suitable for display.

Kit: Testors
Scale: 1/72
Markings: VF-101
Date: Sometime in the early 1990's
Aftermarket: None

Welcome to Black Diamond

After a few years' worth of posting some of my work (at places like ARC and FSM) I thought it might be a decent idea to put it all in one place. And since the hosting is free, why not?

The site, obviously, is still under construction.