1/72 MiG-27

I did this one at the same time as the MiG-23 below. While it made for some efficient assembly, the differing paint jobs meant the efficiencies stopped once I got to the booth. But, it was still a good project.

Kit: Hasegawa
Scale: 1/72
Markings: VVS
Date: 2006
Aftermarket: None

1/72 MiG-23

This project was one of two I did for a Soviet themed group-build on the FineScale Modeler forums. For those who haven't heard of them, group builds are where folks decide to build projects of a common theme while posting their progress and whatnot. The catch is, they generally have deadlines - and therein lies the rub for me, at least in this stage of my life - deadlines are just plain hard to meet for me. I still enjoyed the experience, and if your free time is more predictable than mine, group builds can be a fun way to partake of the hobby.

It was simple and straightforward construction. Decent fit and all that. Cockpit was simple, but the canopy doesn't allow too much of a view in there anyway.

Kit: Hasegawa
Scale: 1/72
Markings: VVS
Date: 2006
Aftermarket: None

1/48 F-15I Ra'am

This one was another relatively early attempt on my part at doing a conversion. The decals and a few resin bits (needed to make the F-15E into an F-15I) were from Isradecal. The kit itself, from Revell, went together quite nicely and the conversion was pretty easy. Weapons had to come from a Hasegawa weapons set, as none were included in the Revell kit. Testor's Model Master Enamels were used - the radome, for whatever reason, got a little gooned up - the paint started cracking. I lightly sanded it - not down to the plastic, but just enough for the cracked and flaked paint to go away. After a couple clear coats, it evened out and took on an actually nice weathered look.

The decal set includes numbers for just about every panel on the jet, so it takes a while. But the results are worth it. Weathering was with an acrylic sludge wash and pastel powder.

Halfway through the project I found out that the cockpit of the F-15I is flat black, for enhanced NVD compatibility. However, I had painted mine gray with black panels, in typical USAF/USN fashion. Oops!


Kit: Revell
Scale: 1/48
Markings: IDF/AF
Date: 2004-05
Aftermarket: Isradecal markings and conversion

1/72 Royal Navy Hellcat

Another simple project as I was finishing the A-6E (below) and the F-15I (to be posted soon). The kit is by Hasegawa and was a simple, straightforward build. It's out of the box, and I kept weathering light. Only my second WWII project, but there will be more - always nice to change things up every once in a while!

Kit: Hasegawa
Scale: 1/72
Markings: Royal Navy
Date: 2004
Aftermarket: None

1/72 A-6E Intruder

This project started out life as a gift from a friend. It's a Revell kit, but took some work. The cockpit was fairly heinous - to more or less rectangular stubs that were supposed to be the seats, and nothing else. Through the forums at ARC I was able to find a white metal cockpit on E-bay. But installing that would take some work. I had to remove a couple tabs from the fuselage in front of the cockpit in order to allow the white metal parts to drop in. This, however, had the side effect of compromising the cross section of the nose area. So, with some styrene sheet I did a little bracing. This provided support and framing for the white metal cockpit, but also gave me something to cement the radome to, restoring and maintaining the cross-section of the forward fuselage. (See below).


I also rebuilt the nosewheel well area.


I had to scratchbuild an air-conditioning intake at the right wing root out of Evergreen styrene strip, and made the air-conditioning heat exchanger exhaust (forward of the right main landing gear well) from scrap sprue I sanded to shape. I moved another intake scoop near the tail to match reference pictures, and scratchbuilt one that wasn't represented.





Finding the kit's markings uninspiring, I opted for Repliscale's "Libyan Raiders" sheet, portraying an Intruder from VA-85. Weathering was with a wash, and also pastels.

A more detailed description of the project is here.


Kit: Revell
Scale: 1/72
Markings: VA-85, USN
Date: 2004
Aftermarket: White metal cockpit, Repliscale decals

1/72 Harrier GR.3

This is Hasegawa's nice little Harrier kit. Built right out of the box, with only a simple panel line wash for weathering. I did this one as a simple build for the sake of my sanity while I was toiling away on the A-6E (to be posted soon).

Kit: Hasegawa
Scale: 1/72
Markings: 4 Squadron, RAF
Date: 2004
Aftermarket: None

1/48 Typhoon

This was the first one I finished in my second house in Oak Harbor. It was also the first WWII subject I did, a "genre" I had been wanting to do something from for some time. The kit was an old Monogram one I found on the cheap online. The decals had not aged well so I hunted down some aftermarket ones. Admittedly, the weathering turned out to be a bit overdone. As you can tell, this is also about when I started trying to take better pictures too.

Kit: Monogram
Scale: 1/48
Markings: RAF
Date: 2003
Aftermarket: Aeromaster Decals

1/48 AH-1

I got this old Monogram kit on-line somewhere. Either E-bay or a classified post on AOL (back in the days when AOL comprised the extent of my awareness of the internet). The kit decals weren't really all that interesting, so I searched for some aftermarket options and found a sheet from Twobobs. The sheet had options for AH-1's from Japan, Jordan, and Bahrain. I settled on Bahrain for two reasons - First it had a 1 color paint scheme that used a color I already had (the camouflage schemes for Jordan and Japan would have required either a mail order, or a long drive, for more paint). Second, Bahrain was the first port call we had on my first cruise - after 160 straight days at sea. And there you have it.

Kit: Monogram
Scale: 1/48
Markings: Bahrain
Date: 2002
Aftermarket: Twobobs Decals

1/72 SH-60B

This was a quick, out-of-the-box build of a Hasegawa kit that included a resin and photo-etch Penguin missile. I'd found it on sale at a hobby shop in Seattle, and snatched it up because I hadn't build a helicopter yet, and wanted to give it a shot.

Kit: Hasegawa
Scale: 1/72
Markings: US Navy, HSL-51
Date: 2002
Aftermarket: None

1/72 F4D Skyray

As I spent more time with the hobby - not only building, but talking about building, and checking out honest-to-goodness model shops - naturally I came to hear about this company called Tamiya. I found this little gem of theirs on sale at Skyway Model Shop in the south end of Seattle. Hearing such good things about them, I figured I should try one out.

As you might imagine, there are plenty more Tamiya models in storage waiting to be built.

Kit: Tamiya
Scale: 1/72
Markings: US Navy, VFAW-3
Date: 2002
Aftermarket: None

1/72 EA-6B Prowler

The first of what I'm sure will be many Prowlers. It was also the first project I submitted to be a published gallery. The Hasegawa kit is pretty solid. I added to it with CAM Decals and the Eduard photo-etched brass set, which goes a long way toward dressing up the cockpit.

Kit seat (left), and seat with Eduard brass.

Aftermarket cockpit installed

Kit: Hasegawa
Scale: 1/72
Markings: US Navy, VAQ-139
Date: 2002
Aftermarket: CAM Decals, Eduard Photo-etch

1/72 MiG-29 Fulcrum

This kit was a gift from a friend. I think I had built the same kit earlier in my modelings days (complete with thick brush marks, fogged canopy, and the rest). It has some fit short comings, and the tailpipes aren't quite right, but at the end of the day, it looks like a Fuclrum. I added aftermarket decals to make it a little more interesting than the more typical, spartan USSR markings.

Kit: Revell
Scale: 1/72
Markings: VVS
Date: 2002
Aftermarket: Eagle Strike Decals

Happy New Year!

Thanks, everyone, for stopping by. The counter speaks for itself (88 visitors in only a few days??? And I've only linked from ONE forum!). I'm glad you all have taken the time to see my humble efforts so far.

Do drop by in the future when you have the chance... I'm still posting projects from about 5 years ago so there's plenty more to come before I get caught up. And don't be afraid to use the "comments" feature; I once had an instructor who said "You're ALWAYS a student in an airplane." And, in this hobby, I believe you're ALWAYS a student when you're building airplanes, too!

All the best for your 2008!