Landlubber Mike

I use Vallejo Air a lot. I love the convenience, no smell, easy clean up, etc. The problem I found is that they tend to gum up the airbrush, and in particular, their primers. I found adding the Vallejo thinner to the cup in the recommended amount helps a lot. At the end of the spraying session, I'll also open up the tip of the airbrush and clean out the nozzle and needle. Another problem is that sometimes, the adherence to metal is not the greatest. So, if you're taping, sometimes the paint will lift up off of the metal parts no matter how long you let the paint cure. I've gone to mostly using Mr. Surfacer and Tamiya as primers on larger items like fuselages, and then spray Vallejo on top. On my current FM-1 build, I primed with Mr. Surfacer, sprayed the underside with Tamiya Insignia White from the rattle can, and then sprayed the topside with Dark Gull Gray color using Vallejo Air. The rest of the parts of the plane (props, wheels, landing gear, etc.) are all Vallejo - primer, color, etc. I've also used their Vallejo Metal Color line and really liked it (you can see my F3F-1 and F3F-2 pictures on the non-LSM forum). I sprayed the Gloss Black primer (use their Thinner), and then the Metal Color on top. Quick cleanup, no smells, and color looks great.

Some impressive stashes here. For some, I wonder how deep they are. Frontal appearances can be deceiving!

For me it's the 1/200 Trumpeter Bismarck. Not me, but random picture I found on the internet to show box size.

Wow, perfect fit on the nose there Ernie, great job!

Great start Ernie! Lots of cosmetic surgery there

I'm pretty sure I ordered some hard to find aftermarket a few months ago from them and had no problems.

Nice! Looking forward to watching you pull off that paint scheme!

Good to know Carl. Any recommended places to find them? HLJ?

Holy cow! I didn't want to stray into any new subjects of models like Star Wars, but man, I might have to reconsider after seeing the pictures above.

Well deserved! Congratulations!

Thanks Phil for the kind words, really appreciate it! The Duchess looks really nice! It's about the same size as the Amati Pegasus it looks (which I'm working on), but certainly more ornate (and the Pegasus is a pretty ornate ship itself).

Nice work! I was looking at mine the other day and the decal options - did you decide which paint scheme to go with?

Lot of goodies there!

I was thinking also that having options in 1/35 might make for some cool diorama scenes, instead of folks trying to figure out if they can work 1/32 and 1/35 into a scene.

I went on my honeymoon to Australia and we stopped at Brisbane. What a beautiful country and fantastic people! And Steve Irwin's zoo near Brisbane was a magical place and one of the highlights of my life. Happy 2021 everyone!

Thanks for posting! At 1/48, I'm guessing that Blackbird is going to be pretty massive. I don't want to broaden my horizons (and kit stash) to other genres, but man, a Razor Crest would be super cool.

Well done!

Wow, you've been busy! Beautiful work! Can I ask, how did you build that storage rack? Were the glass panels pre-sized?

That's a real beauty Ernie, nice job! Would rather put out one stunner than half a dozen mediocre builds and yours is quite the stunner.

Great work John!

Great work! For a variety of reasons, I like the P-47N

Wow, some beautiful work there! Love your mottled camo builds - agree with Gazza regarding the PCM Macchi, just wow! How did you like the Gambier Bay? I just got it for Christmas with the PE sets and wooden deck.

Nice job! Shows how skilled you are putting together such a variety of subjects in great fashion.

Wow nice work guys! You still have 5 days left...

Isn't the Constitution a heavy frigate? There are a few kits out there, though from what I've read, there's all this controversy over the proper number of windows on the stern. I checked Bluejacket but didn't see any. When you get to the point of scratch building, I think you can find plenty of plans at the Smithsonian. A friend mentioned that they used to put out a catalog of the plans they have on file. Might be a place to look. I think I mentioned earlier that the Philadelphia Gunboat plans were amazing - some of the best I've ever seen.