Bringing Plastic to Life

England!

2009-09-20T20:21:00.004-04:00

I decided to use a picture frame as the base for the V-1 and used Adobe Photoshop to turn a color photo of an English landscape into a sepia/grainy photo which may have looked like a real photo from the Second World War. I placed my order at Wal-Mart to get it printer (only 19 cents) and now all I need to do is find a nice picture frame.

Happy Birthday

2009-09-12T21:43:00.006-04:00

Yesterday was my 30th birthday and it was celebrated with family today in Trois-Rivieres. My wife had asked me what kind of cake I wanted and having seen some photos of aircraft carrier cakes while doing research about the U.S.S. Midway I had asked for one. I was a bit doubtful that I would get my request but my lovely wife actually went ahead and had her friend make one for me. It looked great and tasted good too!

More Photo Eteched Nets

2009-09-09T20:21:00.004-04:00

I completed replacing the plastic nets on the deck of the Midway with photo etched ones. It looks nice but I have had a few incidences where I had to re-glue them due to mishandling, I have learned to be careful when manipulating the deck piece.

Photo Eteched Nets

2009-08-16T13:57:00.003-04:00

Today I started to replace the plastic nets with photo etched ones, its tricky working with photo etched parts since they are so thin but they sure look nice!

Finally Finished Drilling!

2009-08-14T21:35:00.005-04:00

Having started back on May 25th its taken several months but I have finally completed drilling the holes into the deck of the Midway. Working between 5 to 15 minutes at a time over a period of 82 days (or almost 12 weeks) I drilled 2092 holes taking a total of 7 hours and 4 minutes (yes I timed it with my watch). The work was long but I believe that the results were worth it.

Airbrushing a V-1 Belly

2009-06-25T21:35:00.001-04:00

This evening I took took out my airbrush for the first time this year and airbrushed the belly of the V-1 Tamiya XF-23 Light Blue. The instructions indicated using Tamiya AS-5 but this is a pre-mix spray can which costs almost as much as the model and the XF-23 was a very close match.

V-1 Assembly

2009-06-22T22:34:00.006-04:00

I decided to put together the V-1 scale model which consisted of only 7 parts (this must be the smallest scale model I every built) and quickly realized that the seams between the two halves of the body where not flush. I ended up spending about an hour sanding the seams smooth but the model looks very nice. I also decided to cut off the spinner at the tip of the V-1 for fear that I would break it while manipulating the model, hope it won't be too hard to align properly when reattaching it.

In the photo above the air intake looks crooked , this is normal as has been placed temporarily so that it can be airbrushed. Also the yellow rod at the end of the exhaust is a temporary aid for painting purposes.

The Jig is Up!

2009-05-25T15:36:00.003-04:00

I wanted to recreate the holes which criss cross and cover the flight deck just as I did with the hangar deck back in October 2008. These holes have a cross in them and are used to attach aircraft and equipment securely to the deck.

I used Adobe Photoshop and printed out a template with the criss cross pattern on a transparent sheet of paper used to print labels. Whats nice is that the paper has a low tack so it is easy to remove afterwords. I decided to use this system for following reasons:

The jig system worked well for a straight linear part line a hangar deck but not for a Y deck of a carrier.
The carrier deck has details that I do not want to drill into which I cannot see properly with a jig.
The alignment of the jig as it was being displaced on the deck to drill a new set of holes was difficult and not precise.

I have worked for about 40+ minutes so far with the new system and the alignment is excellent. Unfortunetly I estimate that I will have several hours of drilling before all is complete.

Modeling Workbench

2009-03-03T20:24:00.001-05:00

FineScale Modeller April 2009 editor made a request to its readers to submit photos of there workbench for a future article. Hopefully my picture will make the cut...

Cuba!

2009-02-14T15:33:00.006-05:00

While on a one week vacation in Cuba I was enjoying the annual Great Scale Modeler 2009 on the white sand beaches of Cayo Santa Maria at the hotel "Melia las Dunas".

View Larger Map

F-4S Phantom

2009-01-25T21:35:00.004-05:00

Today I completed the last of the fighter squadrons with this set if six F-4S Phantoms. Compared to the other two squadrons the Phantoms had a lot more masking during the paint job due to the black and gray stripes. I also drilled out the exhaust to add extra details.

EA-6B Prowler Refueling Probes

2009-01-10T22:12:00.000-05:00

Just like the A-6E Intruders I installed refueling probes on the pair of AE-6B Prowlers. Unfortunetly I dropped one on the floor and the probe is painted light gray. It just so happens that I painted my workshop floor light gray as well back in November of 2008 and considering its small size I never found it again (surprise surprise).Fortunately using a bit of extra metal from the photo etched set I was able to recreate another one.

A-6E Intruder Refueling Probes

2009-01-05T22:05:00.002-05:00

I recently realized that on the photo etched USN SUPERCARRIER set by Gold Medal Models I had ordered back in May of 2008 contained refueling probes for both the A-6E Intruders and the EA-6B Prowlers. I had previously attempted to create theses probes myself with small wires and bits of plastic without success (it is a very small part to create!). When I saw the parts located underneath the helicopter blades I immediately got to work painting and installing them on the nose of the aircraft which was not an easy task but I am pleased with the extra level of detail it provides.

A-6E Intruder

2008-12-28T14:54:00.006-05:00

Today I have completed the set of six A-6E Intruders. This happens to be one of my favorite aircraft and perhaps one day I will model a much larger scale model of the plane (will probably be easier to detail then the 1" long aircraft seen below).

Tamiya 1/48 V-1 (Fieseler Fi103) "Flying Bomb"

2008-12-25T21:11:00.010-05:00

Today being Christmas I received from my lovely wife a 1/48 scale Tamiya V-1 (Fieseler Fi103) "Flying Bomb", a model that I have had my eye on for a little while now. Containing only 16 parts and 20 decals (this is probably the first time I have seen a model with more decals then parts) this should be a fairly quick model to complete.

A-7E Corsair II (Photo Update)

2008-12-14T22:17:00.003-05:00

Here is a new photo of the A-7E Corsair II which was taken with a Canadian 1 Cent Penny to display the scale of the aircraft.

EA-6B Prowler

2008-12-03T12:37:00.004-05:00

While working on the six A-6E Intruders I added the pair of EA-6B Prowlers to my assembly line since they are very similar with exception to there final details. Notice that the word "MARINES" is displayed instead of "NAVY", I made this remark while examining real photos of the EA-6B aboard the Midway.

My Photo

2008-11-26T13:42:00.009-05:00

I work for Cardinal Health (Pyxis) and today we had a photo session organized for all employees interested in having there picture taken with there favorite hobby, interest or passion. Obviously I brought some scale models/supplies to the office and had the following photo taken of me working on my Tamiya 1/35 German 6x4 Truck Krupp Protze.

A-7E Corsair II

2008-10-22T12:54:00.008-04:00

I have completed the first set of aircraft the A-7E Coraisr II, eight down, eighteen more aircraft to go! The aircraft look large in the photos but they are barely an inch long.

Here you can see the full squadron.
Added US insignias, Navy writing, drilled out the tail pipe.

Notice the refueling rod added to the side near the cockpit

Display Case

2008-10-19T15:13:00.002-04:00

Today I purchased a glass display case to protect my scale models from dust while displayng them for all to view in my home office. I got it on special at a new store that opened up near my house called JYSK for $66 cdn (normally selling for $100 cdn).

Starfighter Decals!

2008-10-01T09:05:00.001-04:00

Today I received the Starfighter Decals I ordered and I must say that they are much better then the decals supplied with the ARII kit. The scale looks more appropriate and the "NAVY" wording decals are outstanding! I can't wait to apply them which should be very soon since I have pretty much completed the A-7 Corsair II's.

USAF National Insignia

2008-09-24T21:02:00.005-04:00

While finishing up the A-7 Corsair II's I quickly realized that the number of Insignias that came with the scale model are not enough for the number of aircraft I am to display aboard the Midway. Having 26 aircraft that requires four insignia each for a total of 104, unfortunately the decal sheet provided by ARII only supplied 68. I am guessing that ARII assumed that not all the aircraft would be used or that the insignia would not be placed under the wings...

So with a bit of searching on line I found the web site www.starfighter-decals.com who sell a nice decal sheet with 432 USAF insignias as well as 245 decals worded "NAVY" as an added bonus. With shipping to Canada only $7 USD, that's a hard bargain to beat!

Midway Air Wings & Squadrons

2008-08-27T21:26:00.010-04:00

There is a wide variety of aircraft included with this kit (some of which never actually flew off of the U.S.S. Midway) and after some research I have narrowed it down to the following aircraft to be displayed based on a 1986 model of the Midway (pre EISRA-86):

Below is a screen shot of the different airwings to be used with the excess plastic removed and stabilizers fins glued, next stop the paint shop!

Let There be Light! (in the hangar)

2008-08-13T20:13:00.016-04:00

I received in the mail today the electroluminescent strip lamp I ordered on eBay. I had to make a quick test to see how it would look and and am very happy with the results (much better then the LED's). There is a slight blue tint to the light but the advantages of the electroluminescent strip lamp outweigh this detail. Notice that we can even see details such as the hangar door decals inside the ship clearly, I am anxious to complete detailing the inside and add aircraft.

Paint it Red

2008-08-09T15:05:00.004-04:00

After masking the hull hangar deck I took out my airbrush today and painted the hull for the second time. Why the second time, well the week before during my vacation I painted the hull Tamiya flat red (XF-7) and it looked like red primer (hideous, although probably more realistic to the real thing). So I sprayed the hull with white primer and resprayed it with Tamiya red (X-1), this time round I am pleased with the results.