Clunkmeister

I like the way you think! A good old belt sander will also work in a pinch. Seriously though, if you’re competing at a Nationals level, that simple little bit of silvering will sink you badly. It sucks, but it’s life. And what sucks even more is that I DON’T get silvered decals. Ever. Until now.

Burn it all to eradicate the plague!!!

Well, I don’t have the necessary man bun to accomplish that with honor, plus, I sure as hell don’t have a neck that I’ve ever been able to find

It’s silvered all to shit around the edges

To me, the most fun and rewarding contests for me have always been the peer judged shows. Yes, in some instances, an entire club can come out and sway the vote, but that also means they each entered a model. Eagle Quest also made it impossible for people to vote for their own kit because they put your entry number on the top of your ballot. Those shows were fun, fair, and rewarded skill and daring along with precision.

Yes you can, and it’s what I usually do.

I placed this decal on my Val literally last minute, and guess what? How bloody embarrassing is this…..

I got a laugh out of this one.

I loved that P-51A That burned out tank freaked me out. I could almost smell the corruption coming out of that

Looks like LSM struck out this time around. Personally, Smitty and I weren’t expecting anything, but Smitty’s brother had a couple really nice cars, and Recon had some stunners. In IPMS, if you’re a trophy hound, build a small, simple model, and build it flawlessly. Big, short run, resin, or complicated models never seem to do well, because there are no points for merit, only for execution. WW1 always gets cleaned up by Dr.1’s..

Yep, say hi if you see my ugly Texas face.

I must have missed ya! Are you going to them banquet? If so, come by and say hi.

Right next to it…..

This model was a real pleasure to build. Highly, highly recommended

I’m calling this one done. I have not weathered it at all, nor have I bombed it up. Yet. Pearl Harbor aircraft were basically new, or next to new machines, having seen no combat before that fateful day, so I will give it some basic exhaust and oil staining, and possibly a bit of minor salt staining. I’m placing it on a table at the IPMS US Nationals tomorrow, and this is as far as I’m willing to go, today. It looks good, alignment is decent, and it’ll give a good account of itself tomorrow and Saturday. It’s not a Nationals winner, but it’s a decent and straight build. This aircraft was the flight leader on the first wave of dive bombers, and sortied from the carrier Shokaku. The special color was for formation assembly after the attack was completed. Ill add some better pics in a bit

Looks much better now, no doubt

Yep, I caught it in the picture last night. It’s fixed. It turns out the issue was the walkway, not the orange. The starboard side was too far outboard. So I added a bit on the inboard edge, and removed the same amount on the outboard edge. Fixed

Yep, I caught it in the picture last night. I’m going to see if it makes sense to try to spray it in. It’s yellow/orange after all, and it might be tougher to do right than it looks. But I’m going to try to fix it. The Orange was apparently applied on ship, which is pretty cool. Also, the early war Japanese equipment was built pre war, so the finish was much tougher and less prone to peeling off in sheets

Well, I changed horses mid stream… These are the brand new Art Scale Kits decals that I received quickly, before they’ve been released, with a promise that I will give an honest review after the Nats. So I have applied the scheme I like the most: the attack leader from Shokaku.

I’d be open to suggestions regarding picking winners. I use the kids in the neighborhood because it’s pretty much independent from me. I do make sure to exclude “cute” builds like AEG planes, etc, as they’d obviously win, but if y’all want to toss it around some, after all, I just facilitate the GB. Y’all are the ones who make it happen with all y’all’s amazing builds. I think two fine models won, so I’m good here either way.

I’m not quite that charitable. I think someone just didn’t care one bit.

And now for a slightly less enthusiastic concern. FYI, I’m NOT a builder of Trumpeter’s kits, so I have yet to experience many of the letdowns and pitfalls others talk often about. Until now. I’m a believer in putting your mind to everything you do, and whatever it is you attempt, you give it ALL you have. Slacking off or failing due to improper prep is nobody’s fault but the person who failed. Trumpeter apparently spent the best part of two decades to get this kit right, and in fact, the plastic appears good. But then I run into crap like this…. And in case you don’t know, this is Trumpeter’s offering for airframe stenciling. I actually feel like they slapped me in the face. Chinese lazy workmanship on display for all the world to see. This garbage has soured me on their entire attempt here, a d now, I remember reading about how Trumpeter’s decals SUCK. I now wonder about the accuracy of all the decals. But, it’s an OOB build, although this garbage will be nowhere near my model. Yes folks, that is Trumpeter’s idea of airframe stenciling. I’m actually offended at their total lack of respect towards all of us.

I will certainly give Peter with many of my dollars for several copies of this set. Amazing stuff!

Aaaand like a fool, I put the wing meatballs are too far inward. Respraying. 😂