denders

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.

This is Category 185 Conversions. (Forgot to take a photo of the marker.) I took photos of what interested me here. Unfortunately, I didn't take a photo of the 1st Place winner. The Ki-100 was 1/32 and I think the Spitfire was 1/32 everything else was smaller scales. This was 3rd Place. This was 2nd Place.

These were the only LSPs in this category and neither one was an award winner. This was based upon a Guillow's wood kit.

I took photos of what I thought were LSPs although while editing the photos, I'm not sure if they're all 1/32-1/35. This is not all the helicopters in the category. At least I have the models that placed. This was 1st Place. This was 2nd Place. This was 3rd Place.

More Photos This was 3rd Place. This was 1st Place. This was 2nd Place.

Yeah, I just found that my Kotare K-4 was in the Nashville, TN Distribution Center on August 7. Normally it then goes to my local PO for delivery. Now, as of August 12 it's in Portland, OR. I did some checking, if you change the first digit in the zip code from a 3 to a 9, that is a Portland area town. So, someone or something decided the zip code on the package started with a 9 instead of a 3.

This was 2nd Place. This was 3rd Place. This was 1st Place. There are more photos to come. I have things to do this evening and tomorrow and most of the next day are travel days.