denders

Jeroen, I saw a FB post by Special Hobby about your build.

Chris, walking in the front door, to the right is a room that contains aircraft models. I have to admit that I didn't really check out the rest of the shop. I spent at least half an hour to perhaps an hour walking in circles around the room looking over everything. I finally decided on the F-15E. The sticker on it was ~$140, he gives a club discount if you belong to a local club. I don't belong to any local club, but IPMS membership was good enough for the discount. The price may not be a great deal, but I was going to buy something to support an LHS even if it isn't my LHS. (Nothing even close to it in my area.) I'll probably stop by there again if time permits when I'm on my way past on I81. I've also stopped in Front Line Hobbies in Staunton too. There was a shop in Salem that I visited one time, but they've closed up since.

Thanks, crazypoet. Okay, I"ve got a couple of questions. Colors and what if, perhaps. I was forwarded photos of Blue 4 in Winter White camo. I was planning on doing it with worn winter camo. But, Blue 4 in the photos appears to have been wrecked soon after being painted white, so it doesn't look worn at all. (The photos haven't been posted by the donor, so I'm not going to post them, sorry.) 1. One thought is to paint the model as it might have been before the winter white paint. 2. Winter White paint, RLM 00 Wasserhell/Water-white??? I have three books with colors in them. One is Luftwaffe Colors, 1935-1945 by Ullman from Hikoki Publications, Crecy which show it to be a white with a slight bit of yellow, very pale. The second book is the Monogram book on German aircraft shows RLM 00 as clear. The third book, the AK Real Colors book has printed in it a representation of an original color card and RLM 00 looks kinda pale gray, but perhaps that's the representation of clear. Thoughts? I would have thought that it would be whitish gray, very pale. I sort of think there should be some difference there from the white in the insignia. I'm using MRP paint, and they don't have anything that I think is suitable, so I'm planning on mixing a color. Also, progress, paint on the bottom of the upper wing. Thanks!

Fuselage is closed up. Need to work on seam lines.

Still working on decals.

Another update, although, I've not done much in the last 10 days or so. We were traveling and I picked up a book on the battle for Italy in WWII which has been taking a lot of my time. Several pictures. Since I want this to be OOB, I've created some seatbelts with lead sheet and brass wire. I've also added some wiring/plumbing using lead wire. Otherwise, everything is from the kit. The left fuselage half has a bit of warp to it. Next step will be to close up the fuselage.

We were up to PA for a long weekend (wife's 50th high school reunion). And on the way, we stopped in Steven's City, VA at All Nation Hobby and Model Supply. It's a nice shop, wish there was something similar in my area. They had a bunch of kits from someone's collection including quite a few of Tamiya 1/32 kits. I bought this one, but it was a hard to make choice. It would have been nice to have a 3-5K budget. But then that would have been more than I had space for in the vehicle. My wife has commented that perhaps I need a larger vehicle for models. They don't appear to have a web site, so you have to stop in. They're open Tuesday thru Saturday, something like 10AM to 6PM. So, if you're passing by on I81 and the time fits, stop and have a look, support a LHS even if it isn't your LHS. It's guaranteed that I'll stop in the next time we're through there.

I started on the decals last evening. I feel like I need to order a case of Micro Sol.

Making Progress.

Thanks, Carl. The wings and fuselage are joined, and the wing struts are in place.

The Pzl is in the painting process and it's rainy and damp here today. And since I don't want to paint while it's rainy and damp, I thought I'd start the next model. I'm planning on doing the box art aircraft OOB. Working on small bits and preparing for painting RLM02 when I can paint. Lots of detail in the cockpit. I believe this is the carburetor intake. The seams need a little work. I think a little Mr. Surfacer 500 will do the trick.

Okay, black stripes on the fuselage and khaki on the top of the wing. I kinda feel like I need more khaki and more light-blue-gray on the bottom of the wing. Definitely more khaki on the right wing to match the left wing. Working out how to do this.

Thanks, guys! I've done pre-shading on the wing. This is the top. And this is the bottom of the wing with the underside paint color.

The wings are together, and the seams filled. I'm going to paint the wings and fuselage separately, then join them and fix the seam at the leading edge of the joint point and touch up paint.

Something different. K48501 Kotare 1/48 Halifax Mk.II -EXCLUSIVE LIMITED NUMBERED EDITION

The tail surfaces are in place and working on the wings. The MGs in the fuselage were a chore to get in place. I should have done more testing fitting before closing up the fuselage.

Well, home from various travels and back at it. I forgot about taking a photo before closing up the fuselage.

No, it was in Hampton, VA. It's in a different location each year. It was in Madison, WI last year, this year Hampton, VA, next year Fort Wayne, IN (2026), and Huntsville, AL in 2027. One of the things I enjoy is meeting other LSP or LSM participants. I met Phantom (Mike), Bob (not sure his username on here, BiggTim (Tim), and Radub (Radu) last year. I saw Mike, Bob, and Radu this year and met Mark (Dodgem37) this year. Mike, Bob, Radu, and I had dinner with some other folks on Friday evening. I was hoping to meet a few of the others who were there this year. Hopefully will meet others next year. Edit: Oops, Mike is Recon on LSM, IIRC.

Oh yeah, my wife has suggested that perhaps I need a larger vehicle.

If he had had them at NATS, I just may have bought one. I actually went looking for it.

So, my haul from NATS. First the registration packet contents. I did buy a shirt too. What I bought a Squadron. The sanding sticks were free. What I bought at the Z-M booth. No, I didn't get lucky in their raffle this year. What I bought at MicroWorld Games. What I bought at one of the other vendors. I assume it's Hasegawa plastic and it contains various Eduard detail sets included. Bought at David Doyle Books. The Dioramag has an article of a ship model with ocean water. I thought I'd check it out in reference to the Nimitz project. From Casemate books. I had chosen to attend the paid airbrushing seminar by Grex. I wanted to do a little testing on a grex airbrush. I didn't know they also hand out a 'goody bag' with stuff from various vendors. The first one is the model that they pre-glue together for you to paint on. It is also Grex's 30th year. In the end, I bought a Grex airbrush to further test out. I don't care for the trigger handle, though. I also wanted a 0.3mm airbrush with a 'fan cap'. I have a Creos 290 but that is a 0.5mm and blows way too much paint for my taste. Your registration packet contains one raffle ticket and I added enough to have 25 tickets in it. 4 of 25 hit. The Verlinden books I already have (for decades.) I also have two of the P-61 kits in the stash with Monogram on the box. The fellow who handed me the Special Hobby kit seemed to be excited about it. He gave me the impression that it's a new release. I have to admit that I don't follow what's happening in 72 scale. All in all, I had a great time. I was tired by Saturday. I met some new folks, saw some folks from last year, and saw some fabulous models. I had my 1/32 Bf110 and 1/32 Ki-100 there, but no awards. Not even a poker chip.

Some of the models in this category that interested me. Mike's, I think he's Recon on LSM.

I don't have photos of everything in this category. This was 3rd Place.

There is a Spitfire that placed 1st and I don't have a photo of it, not sure why. Sorry, Scott, if you're a member here. This was 3rd Place. This was 2nd Place.

Yeah, there is a 9V battery visible in the photo. It did have red LEDs in the engine area to make it look like the engine was running.