popeye the sailor

hey there folks ...still hang'in in there! I had a follow up on Thursday and everything looks good.........happy times! I've taken Sat & Sun off from work to give me a little more time..........work doesn't like it, but I don't care. I have been wearing knee high compression socks up to the procedure date........now that it is done, I have to wear thigh high compression socks.........very strange. I'm glad that this is temporary....it feels very weird. I don't usually put the weight in the narcelles Lou........the more frontal the weight is, the better it will do the job. there is the cavity at the nose, under the cockpit........I have a 2 1/2 oz wheel weight {for cars} that will be perfect. I'll just cut it to the amount I'll need, and go from there. this kit has the flatted tires {detail}..........another method I like to use, is to make a stand {platform}, and glue the plane to it. I did that with my F15 Eagle I don't think I have a log on this one........it's a willy-nilly camo job. this does the trick if all else fails I suppose that an 'aerial' stand can be made for it.....eliminate the gears altogether. been there, done that too as mentioned, I've always seen the gear doors open on most planes.........this one must be the exception to the rule. I do have a number of the Devil dog pictures, and none have these doors open.........just the side band door and the nose door, so that is how I will build it. if these doors were in the open position, it would make the model look quite bland........there is no real detail in there to speak of. there is just a hole for the gear root to locate in....it would need some serious aftermarket I don't think there would be a difference.........early or late production........I think this is the nature of this beast I'm still looking for the part.......darn thing is about the size of a half dollar for pete's sake....it couldn't have gone far. there is one place I haven't looked though........I just thought about it now

look'in superb Ekis! the more you add, the more detailed it looks again, the melding of stone and wood is fantastic......gives it so much realism and visual appeal! great job !

nice finish on the church are you going to modify the roofs for the cloisters? looking really good!

the dreaded sprue injection points.........some of these point can be very intrusive! these remind me of the 'five and dime' kits I used to pick up when I was younger.........then again, I've built a few of the more refined kits, that gave me just as many fitz!

superb job on these two Mike! your progress is really nice. they really bring me back to the monogram kits I built long ago........>I've seen them.............>temped to pick them up. I noticed those tabs that need to be cut off the cabane struts.........did you use them to handle the fuselage halves? super silvery finish

nawwww.........a bit of trouble to paint the stripes, but they look darn nicer! good you were able to correct the glazing problem for the windshield...........I had that problem a loooooong time ago! ever since, I've never done anything for clear parts. sweet look'in model.......love the way she came out! luv the detail........well done

it's something I'm looking into Ken. on most planes though, these doors are open........I've not seen any that require the doors to open for the gears to go up. {long pause here}..........I did some looking........I have picture of the Devil Dog and none show the doors open. I went on line and looked through a number of images.......I found only two with these doors open to some degree. and then this one........could be landing........could be taking off........but it appears that on the ground, these doors on the narcelles are closed. I've never seen them work like this before. they will stay closed....just as well, since I really didn't feel like hacking up the model anyway

the narcelles were added to the wings once dry and painted. a dry fit was in order the seats were added to the cockpit. I later found that the seat on the front bulkhead can't be used.........to be used in the windowed version B 25J. since it wasn't cemented in place for any great length of time, it was removed and relocated to the waist gunner position on the starboard side....there are two on the port side. assembly of the nose guns was also done....the flooring and the side gun mounts. I will need to sand the detail off the nose and upper glass to create the 1J nose all this is to be closed in. I would have gone further on the model, but I found that one of the engine mount parts {#6} is missing darned if I know where it went.........this is not a small part. there are only two rooms where I have had this box open..........I am still looking for it. the sprue clearly shows that the part was on it.........held in place in four spots. I may have removed it for some reason......I hope this was the case and I put it somewhere.........it not making it back in the box. if I can't find it, I may have to buy another kit. I ordered the decal set before I knew of this..........I hope to have news on this one soon

in a blurry photo..........it shows that the inner walls of the fuselage has been painted. I used the Chromate green, used in the Memphis Belle project, but I greened it up a bit more. the narcelles were assembled.....since the majority of the plane will be done in the Navy Blue, they will be assembled along with the wings. there is a bit of hind sight here......if the landing gears are in the down position, the gear doors should be in the open position. with this model, the two main door are closed.........strange and a cause for thought. the tail section was assembled as well........ the cockpit and bomb bay sections were painted in the chromate green...

the next section to assemble was the bomb bay, which also serves as the wing roots. it was assembled and then sandwiched in the fuselage halves to allow it to set. the bombs were assembled next........ there is some fairly decent detail in the bomb bay compartment as well.........paint will accent it. a cross section shows the arrangement I did add most of the inner fuselage parts as well.........ammo boxes and communication equipment. this is not a new kit..........it has been around for quite a few years. Monogram put out a few kits around 1981.......a B 25H, and B 25J. there is also one that can easily be modified into one of the Dolittle planes. it was produced in 1965, as part of the Pacific Raiders series by Revell........the big difference though, is that it was moulded in 1:64th scale. Accurate Miniatures put out a B 25C/D which would also be a good candidate. this Revell kit is from the Monogram moulds.

I have been scant with updates lately.........there are a few reasons for it, but one is the procedure I have scheduled on my legs. that has come and past my friends........I had it done yesterday. we removed the wraps that were on my legs this morning and it was a huge relief.......I felt like a freak'in mummy! there is very little residual pain.......the procedure wasn't bad either..........I actually feel pretty good. I think the more I walk now, the swelling that still shows will disappear and I should see marked improvement. now I hope the ulceration on the side of my left heel will go away. we shall see. I have a follow up appointment on Thursday........I expect to get a clean bill of health I do feel lucky that this is all I've ever had to endure.......others I know have had worse I have the same kit as Tom does........did......he already built his not feeling like doing other things to the planes I have going, I decided to bring this one out. I have a different angle I want to do on it..........I decided to do it as a PBJ 1J. this particular aircraft gets away from the Olive drabs and Army/Air Force colors, and do this one in a cool naval blue. during the time I've been tinkering with it, I ordered the decals from Mega Hobby........I got them with in three days! For the Gipper throws me back into the Olive color, so I will pass on that one for the time being. the US Marine Corps received surplus B 25's and used them for their missions and support of beachhead landing of Marine forces. this was nothing new for the Marines.......they often were the depository for obsolete and unwanted hardware from the other branches. originally, I wanted to go with a plane used in the Doolittle raid.........I still may in the future.......I did find a decal set that covers all 16 of them. I started to work on it a couple of days before my birthday.......pay no mind to the date on the pictures.....it's wrong......I know. I need to install the CD that came with the new camera, so I can read the manual........the paperwork I got with the camera says nothing about it. I assembled the cockpit section. it has some decent moulded detail.........I will paint it in later

I notice there are no tabs....the first things to go in a poor fit situation filler can be a big help here. look'in good in spite of the fit.

I did the same thing with the bulwark posts.........not enough if only the bulkheads are used, and not high enough either look'in good Tom!

hey.....I heard that there wuz a guy with no talent build'in a Bentley. I see they were blow'in smoke up my whazoo! sweet look'in model so far MD..........I see your brushing up on alternating detail {metal & canvas}. good to see you dove in with both feet......hope you enjoy your newfound past time look'in forward in seeing the finished model

turned out quite well Mike.......some models, they are as they are. some inaccuracies you can do with little trouble........some are nearly impossible. I'm still looking for that model that I've covered all the bases it will be interesting to see how different companies cover the same subject. on some models, I've done better adding the dash to the inside of the body, rather than the chassis. the grille.........you did great with it.......I'm sure you did some profane words with it

your village looks better and better every time you show your progress the detail you add is awesome..........really nice work!

sorry to hear of your fall....hope your getting better

it might have been a terrible kit.....but you did a fantastic job! can't have been too bad, if you built two of them sometimes it's hard to instill the realism in a model, but you didn't have to work too hard at it.......they are way over the top! superb looking bikes.........congratz!

I've seen kit that give the option to do it........never tried it myself. glad to hear your recovering well. I've got a procedure coming up as well.......got to adjust plumbing in my legs. no heavy recovery though. glad as well to hear you made it through the storms down there!

you've done a superb job so far Grant! really coming along and looks great it's too bad that such a nice kit has so many defects.......good you have back up to solve the shortcomings

good move.....best to keep the admiral happy nothing worse that an admiral's scorn. great progress.......really coming along nicely!

usually , no treatment at all would have been done to the glass. I have never used a varnish on plastic models. I hope you can correct this.........it is moisture / humidity. varnishes are equal with lacquers when it comes to moisture...it doesn't react very well.

superb job on the figures so far OC knitted skivvies..........bet they are heavy when you get out of the water...;) knitted suspenders? just a thought

me......I'd look at 'em and think I could never build one it took a co worker to lay one in my lap to get me going. I haven't heard from him since he left Wally....an older gent, I hope he is well.

following as well