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CDW

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  1. CDW
    A dry fit along the way to the finish of the Swordfish construction. Many modelers have said this is the finest fitting, best engineered kit Tamiya had made. Those comments came a decade ago. Perhaps there are even better kits from Tamiya today, but I can vouch for the engineering and fit of this model. Goes together very well indeed.
  2. CDW
    I knew guys who destroked the 400's as well. A 327 crank and I forget which rods they used. I think it came out to around 350 cubic inches, + or -. Big bore, short stroke. Hand grenades. 😁
  3. CDW
    Is that a Henry J in the strip tank?
  4. CDW
    The 400 was my all-time favorite small block Chevy to build as a street rod mill. I used to harvest the 400 blocks from junk cars and keep them in my garage for engine building. While many sought out the 4 bolt main bearing blocks, I preferred the 2 bolt mains and would have the bolts added at the machine shop for the 4 bolt setup. It turned out a beefier, stronger, main bearing cap setup IMHO. You just can't beat the torque performance of a 400 small block in a street machine. Loved it. Great bore-stroke ratio.
  5. CDW
    Thanks OC I was doing some reading on the Swordfish this weekend. As you probably know, she came into the war an outdated old bird, but she stayed in service during the entire duration of WW2. She served in the North Atlantic under severe conditions, doing anti submarine duty. While often times weather was too severe for the more modern aircraft to even be on the flight deck, the Swordfish was airborne, doing her thing. She was radar equipped, too.
  6. CDW
    Here are the results of this weekend's labor. Masking and painting all the main pieces. With a few unexpected interruptions, was unable to get as far along as I wanted. Over the course of this week, want to get the remainder of the model finished. We shall see. The colors used are Tamiya flat white; Tamiya gray violet (gray + a dash of purple); Tamiya dark green (IJN green + green); Tamiya rubber black The color call outs call for Tamiya rattle can colors for the gray violet and dark green (AS4 and AS9) but I detest rattle cans, so I mixed it by eye to my own until I was satisfied with it. The wing roots are not finished. Flat black walkways need to be masked and painted on. v
  7. CDW
    My dad was a real hard-nosed sort who wanted me always to do the right things...When the Vegas first came out, I went to the Chevrolet dealer and put in my custom order. Picked out all the options I wanted, the colors, etc., then gave them my down payment and waited for it to be built. In the meantime, I came home and told my dad about it. He said, "let me see that contract". He summarily marched my happy butt back to the dealer (he knew the owner well) and demanded I get my deposit back and canceled my order. Said I had no clue what I was doing and had been shafted. He then took me new car shopping and showed me how it's really done. He gave me my first lesson in new car buying negotiations 101. 😎 My dad was the real deal, for sure.
  8. CDW
    You did phenomenal to get 100,000 miles out of your Vega engine. Most of them ended up with a cracked block or head before they ever got that far. Bad casting, I guess? If I remember correctly, they were aluminum.
  9. CDW
    JCT The Vega is BEE U TEE FUL! I always loved that body style back then...it looked like a mini Z28 Camaro. Too bad the stock ones had such a crappy engine. Everyone I knew who bought one had terrible service life out of that power train. But man, they made one helluva sharp looking race car in my opinion.
  10. CDW
    Beautiful Lancaster. I assume the bomb bay is fully detailed as is the cockpit and gunner's stations? Wheel wells?
  11. CDW
    The 750 HP Pegasus radial engine. Paint used: Tamiya semi gloss black for engine and attached parts, Mr Metal Color Iron for dry brushing engine, Mr Metal Color Chrome on intake manifold. Completed cowling with radial engine attached inside Paint used: Tamiya Flat White for main cowl ring; a mix of Tamiya Metallic Gray + Red on the forward cowl ring; Tamiya Titan Gold for the exhaust shroud on forward cowl ring; Tamiya semi gloss black on insides of both cowl pieces/rings
  12. CDW
    This one took a little shaving and sanding for a good fuselage halves fit. There is a cross member on each side of the cockpit tub/tubing that sticks out a bit too far for the halves to close properly. No big deal, just a part of the dry-fit and adjustment process.
  13. CDW
    Thanks for all your likes, comments, and encouragement. if it seems like I am rushing through this just a bit, I am. There is an IPMS regional event locally within the next two months and I am trying to get a few things ready to take along. The finished models will all be for sale at the show by the way. I enjoy the build much more than I do collecting finished models. Typically, they sell rather quickly and that helps keep my kit build supply funded.
  14. CDW
    Cockpit assembly and painting is done. Cockpit area inside fuselage is done. Added observation windows and forward firing machine gun inside fuselage, then joined fuselage halves. Going to try to have the basic aircraft assembly done by the end of the weekend , then begin finish painting. Paint colors used inside fuselage halves was the Sky, Green, and Gray mix; then Sand Yellow. All paints are Tamiya. Used Tamiya and Mr Color washes (brown and black)
  15. CDW
    Pretty sure that the Revell Black Pearl is a rebox of the Zvezda Black Swan kit. I am guessing Revell paid for the license to name it the Black Pearl and include the Pearl figurehead rather than the black swan.
  16. CDW
    If you're going to get back into aircraft modeling or just give it another try after a long time since you last built one, just about any aircraft model made by Tamiya I can highly recommend. Their models are very well engineered and one will have very few if any fit issues at all. Tamiya covers many WW2 and some modern aircraft. If you want to get into WW1 models, Wingnut Wings have a large range of 1:32 scale WW1 offerings. Theirs are also very well engineered. There are many Youtube build videos to reference for the Wingnut Wings kits.
  17. CDW
    I learned it from others, Denis. Not an original idea I came up with all on my own, but I tried it and liked it and continued using the method. One can also quite easily make their own seatbelts with it and paint them rather than using decals.
  18. CDW
    Very nice rigging work OC. The plastic molded parts of this kit are very impressive. This is a Zvezda kit, correct? That company has come a long way since they were new. I remember some less than stellar products but now they are right up there with the very best of the plastic molded kit makers.
  19. CDW
    The thing about the modeling clay: it stays soft and pliable/workable for 3 hours. It easily bends and conforms to whatever shape you want to put it in...and after the decals have been applied to it. It does not try to go back to it's original shape like "blister pack plastic" would try to do because of its memory. In other modeling scenarios where you might want to form a fold or other position, it does so readily with no problem, no resistance. In future build threads I do, you'll get a much better view of why I prefer this method.
  20. CDW
    No, it's not easier or better. Just my opinion and preference of course. Your mileage may vary. 🙂
  21. CDW
    My Eduard detail sets did not come with seat belts/shoulder harnesses. I used the kit supplied decals for these. I don't like using the decals alone as they lack depth and don't respond well for me trying to place them. I use a two-part sculpting putty called Pro Create and fashion it into a very thin layer, almost paper thin. Then I cut out my kit decals from the water slide paper after carefully trimming around them with my scalpel. The decals are then placed on the thin layer of putty. After allowing an hour or so for the putty to begin setting (but still pliable) and the decals to set, I carefully trim the putty all around the decal. Then I place these onto the seats. At this point, the putty is still pliable and can easily be conformed to the shape of the seat. When completely set (about 3 hours), the seat belts have become part of the seat itself. I should add...if you try this method, be sure to moisten a glass surface with water on which you will place your thin layer of sculpting putty. This will prevent your putty from sticking to the glass.
  22. CDW
    The Tamiya instrument panel is a very decently molded item. The kit supplies instrument decals that will greatly enhance the panel and looks great that way, but in this case I have the Eduard pre-painted panel face I'll be using instead. To prepare the kit instrument panel for the Eduard photo etch, all the raised detail must be filed and sanded away from the kit supplied panel. Other cockpit items must be prepared in the same way But the end result is worth the time and effort.
  23. CDW
    Traded it away long ago. Cars like that were too easy-come-easy-go back then and we didn't realize what we had. I had a good run of sweet old cars up until our youngest daughter was born in 1997. That's about the time I got out of it and prices sky-rocketed after that.
  24. CDW
    I was more interested in getting a picture of the fish I caught in the '80's than I was my '57 Chevy. 😕
  25. CDW
    When I was growing up here in Tampa, there was a barge converted to living quarters that was anchored at the mouth of the Hillsborough River in Tampa Bay. The owner was known as "the Cat Man", because he had dozens of cats running around his boat. A really weird guy, he was a hermit of sorts and rarely would one see him off the boat and on shore. He lived there for many years and finally died. Rumor had it the guy died on the boat and the cats feasted on his carcass. Don't know if there was any truth to the disposition of his dead body, but I saw him many times over the years on his boat with all the cats running around.

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