popeye the sailor

sweet!

can you imagine..........if that gun can actually fire!

I use Testor's for plastic.....only in isolated cases will I use something else. I've heard that in time CA becomes brittle and breaks apart easily.....of course most of the time. models aren't moved around too much. cleaning and packing is usually the OMG time for drag, the wells around the engine compartment are modified to some degree.......usually to allow more room for the exhaust. no harm nor foul in auto racing

touching ! again, I thank you all for your concern. might be coming to an end, 'cuz I'm starting to get that nagging feeling. I do have something in mind, but I'm having trouble finding 1:25 scale conspicuity tape {decals}. I won't say it's impossible John........the M&M Fun Ship was a 'seat of my pants' build. the moment must have been right for it though, because thinking up all the ideas for it was so easy and without any real thought. it also went together faster than any project I have done in the past. the Andrea Gail was the other really fun scratch build........no one would ever know that the basis for her was the Boulogne estapale {Billing kit}.........Jeepers, I still have the rest of 'em to complete! I'm glad to see your well....and I hope your admiral is the same......tell her I sez Hi browsing though sites, I saw garage stuff kits........made me think of you Gary. your Auto repair and Mack boxes are really cool where I have been mess'in with HO buildings, I had an idea to try something along those lines, although at a much larger scale it's not a moot thought yet.........one never knows. I have a couple of life projects to do in the meantime {auto & home}..noting that involves blood {I hope}......and then.......

sharp look'in plane Rob......very nicely done!

some models are scored to show how much to remove for the wheel wells. if it doesn't, it's a scratch builder's dream good idea to remove the chrome trim.......it was considered extra weight on the drag strip!

Anzio Annie got it's name from the seige at Anzio Italy..........I believe the Germans actually named it Richard. Richard and Leopold were sent over to Italy to aidse in the seige........they expended their ammo, but failed to do much damage before they were moved to Cititaveccia, ahead of the allied forces. when they saw that they couldn't get the railguns out of Italy, they scuttled them........Richard was badly damaged, but Leopold had minor damage. Leopold was brought to the U.S. and on display in Aberdeen, Maryland.....but there is another K5 on display in Petersberg Va. might be a mix up........Leopold might have been named Anzio Annie, and Richard was named Anzio express. these are the nicknames that the allies called them, because of the sound the shells generated. I bookmarked some sites if you would like them. I need to get back to Leopold one of these days

thanks..........the feeling is mutual I enjoy being here. it will be better when I can get moving on something!

submarine races? how do you know who's ahead

WOW Greg! this is one awesome project very well done indeed! are you going to add canvas to the truck?

this is likely a reproduction from Round 2 models.........the molds they are using are the old molds. MPC was another company that had some poor model kits. the mold seams and pin marks are terrible! I've got a small stash of these kits amassed at the time being. it blows me away that you have the L6 engine! I've got the Monogram 59 & 60 Chevy Bal Air, and NEITHER of them came with the stock engine! I had to order a pair from Shapeways. Atlantis is another company that sprung up in the past few years.......they bought up some of the old molds too. nice to see the nostalgic kits again.........but they should have revamped the molds before using them I should show you what I'm doing to a 57 Chrysler 300............OH, the evil in it all! swell job on the model by way!!!!! 👍

hello all! I do apologize for the extensive hiatus, but I thought I'd make an appearance to let you all know that I'm well and not knock'in on Heaven's door. so many things to think about..........so many thing I want to do.......I seem to be in the clutches of some sort of builder's block. I've started a few projects, but so far, I haven't found anything to peak my interest....I tend to drift back into the hole at the moment, I'm in the middle of revamping the shelving in the living room, so I can add more finished projects. I've also been selected to attend Jury duty the end of this month....I really don't want to do it.....but we'll see how it all pans out. for those who know me, I have always tried to put as much into my models as I can........some even exceeded my envisions. but the last few builds haven't shown my visions, and that is disheartening......great expectations, but they seem to fall short. imagination has always been the mother of creativity for me. I thank you all for liking the model I'm glad that I was able to find the model in the box...........opening a box, you never know what your gonna get. to open a model this old, especially a wood kit, is a crap shoot. you find one that you can utilize most or all of the parts, or you get one that needs a lot of love and replacement wood. I have been lucky in this respect, although I did add some basswood into the model to make it look more complete.....the upper plane of the wing and fuselage. added missing aspects added to the model, but I feel that the absense of rigging knocks it down quite a bit I know I sound like my own worst critic, but it stands as an example of what I'm talking about.........my vision of adding it wasn't realized in the finished model. I either goofed in adding the provisions for adding it, or I overlooked what it would take for adding it.....could even be a mix of both. don't get me wrong......I like the way it came out, but this one aspect subtracts from the overall apearance of the model. the wing was a bit warped.....but looking at the finished model, I was correct that it wouldn't be that noticeable in the finished model. it was fun adding the cockpit, even though it's just the basic....anything is bettter than staring into an open cavity the machine guns were another fun thing, even though the plane went into service near the end of the war, and most were not fitted with them {mine is going to go down fighting}. an open cowl without an engine was blasphomy!.........even though it doesn't stick out as far out of the opening as I would have liked, it fills the openness perfectly flying models......if you intend to fly them, does tend to leave out some detail.........could be that it might make the model harder to balance. but as a static model, one can go totally mental in adding the most trivial of detail, to arrive at a more complete representative of it's subject. I feel I did that.........not 100%, but enough that it will sit on display with my other models I like it........and I'm glas you all agree! I hope to be back soon, just as crazy as ever

so........this ends the log my friends. while it would have been nice to find the rpoduction date of this model, it is safe to say that it is an old kit.......likely from the 60's or 70's. for only $2.50, a boy could have just as much fun, as I did it was fun adding the extras, and with any model kit, there is no limit on what can be added. each model is it's own rabbit hole a huge thanks to all who looked in

a few day later, the last two bits were added.........the fuselage decals and the prop. I had sprayed the sides of the fuselage with sealer {flat lacquer}, but it was still a problem for the decals....the issues were still there. the decals broke and I had to piece them together.....I sprayed the fuselage again to lock them in place. I had some that weree encased in a white square {boxed in}.......but since I didn't used the white banners for the wing, I stayed with the plain look. I used the kit supplied prop to finish it off. the edges were sanded to tone down the fat look, so it wouldn't have the appearance of a wind up airplane. I didn't totally succede....but it looks better. I was going to do a wood grain like look, but at the last miniute, I said the heck with it. the hub in the center isn't as 'fat' as it should look, but an odd part from another model kit gave it some sort hub appearance. while the prop was still setting, I did reposition it a little and took the second picture....... the epilog is nigh!

I got back to the model a few days later and added a few other parts. the pilot's step and the grab bars for the tail were added. both sides are done.........I was holding off on the tires 'cuz I wanted to add the landing gear rigging. this was one of the features I decided not to do, since I didn't do the aileron and rudder rigging. ....getting near the end

hello all........been a busy couple of weeks. I picked at the D VIII every chance I got........decided to for-go a few bits of detail to bring it to a close. parts were made and painted........now the push to assemble them all together. I had problems with the decals for the most part........being a wooden model, unless the surface was sealed, they wouldn't stick good. there was also a huge problem with breakage.......not sure how old the decals were either, but I managed to use them anyway. the added wing struts were sanded to round off the squared edges....and then they got some paint. the trailing struts will be made after the wing is on the plane, so I can get a better idea of the length. the monent of truth finally came........ the underside tabs will need to be filled. the measurement of the trailing struts originates just above the trailing landing gear strut, to the aft tab slot in the wing. I made them from cast off balsa, finding that the die cut parts were too short. shaped and painted, they were added to the model.

getting settled in Patrick.........surprised how early I'm chiming in for this one

WOW! great diorame Alan! you've done a superb job with it! while I do agree that the figures don't have much detail, they give it detail in it's own. a diorama isn't really viewed upo close.......it is viewed as a whole and imagined as a snippet in time. you captured it perfectly! congratz on a model so very well done!

she's really coming along nicely Andy! did the kit supplied tires have the weight squat? kind of Ironic if they did...........to be moveablewith a flat spot would be a bit weird

I would have mentioned that there are many places where you can get aftermarket decals........Mega Hobby is one of them

I do have to apologize Andy for not looking in sooner.........I though this was the other log and since I had already looked in.......failed to look into this one of course.........I must have cursed you......I look in to find your on the mend here's one of my follies to cheer you up. I lived out in the country too........my younger days were farm life and fishing {go whenever I could get away}. during the winter, sledding and tobogganing was the norm, we on the other hand, used car hoods. I also liked to snow shoe.......there were a couple pairs left by the previous owners of the home, as well as some skis. I got this insane ides one time to go down our sled run with a single ski, since the run was formed very well by the car hood. I did well in the beginning, but it quickly went south on me, once I lost my balance, sending me right into a tree! .....didn't break anything, but I wasn't up to a second run either I hope you get better quickly. your doing a great job on the Hurricane........here's hoping you can get back to it

hello folks ....thanks for looking in this is the oldest model of this type that I've built.......the early stick n tissue are as far back as I go. kind of a let down in what I though I was getting, but I think it's come together rather well......I don't feel so let down anymore. not much has been done since the last update.........been rearranging the spare room to reduce the clutter that has been festering, concerning the admiral's puzzles. I just put together a cabinet for her to store them and that has been a great improvement. hope to get more done soon.......big thanks and to you as well Gary........enjoyed your last shadowbox and so glad to see you've started a new one!

hey ther Mike! sweet looking buffalo your progressing with...........love the paint work I used to be a member of James's original site...too bad it got taken down by hackers I believe he mentioned that he started another site a while back, but I failed to follow up on it {my loss}. thanks for the link

I got back to her on the 29th..........sanded the corners off the struts and added more CA to fill in the gaps. a supprt strut for the main cabane struts needs to be added. I cut them from the harder balsa and added them to the model. the next step is to finish sanding the struts to blend the joints in better and get them painted. from there I can cut the rear struts and put on the wing. more to come

the year has come and gone........here's hoping that 2023 is a fun filled year! I intend to make it so I finally got the Billing Slo mo shun....the model I wanted to get when I built the M&M Fun Ship. originally, I wanted to do an M&M racing boat, but couldn't get it to fly with the budget director........so I had to work with what I had. I still managed to pull it off I also got my first Eduards model of a Focke Wulfe BF 109D-9.........looks to be quite a project when I get to it! I had made a little more progress before the end of the year........silly I guess to hang on to them, waiting for more to accumulate. I had some time on Christmas Eve, waiting for my son to arrive, so I thought I'd open the holes for the cabane struts. I still need to open the holes for the trailing strut {the rear one}. how to set them up was confusing.........the holes under the wing looked too large, dreading how much patchwork would need to take place. how the struts locate and spacing was another question. I used a slower setting Ca for this, so I could position the wing properly........or as good as I could get........ it seemed a a bit off to the port side, so I added weight to the starboard side to counter it.....the wing is actually balancing on the struts amazingly well, making it a lot easier to adjust the struts and equalize their angles. with the wing looking good where it is, it will sit here to fully dry. now to enjoy the festivities