Far from it. Actually, after studying these excellent pictures sent to me by my new friend Steve Baker, I am beginning to think jet engines are almost every colour EXCEPT silver! This is the Pratt & Whitney J58 and these engines are found on the SR-71 Blackbird. I am currently building Revell's obscenely large 1/48... Continue Reading →
1/48 Tamiya F-14A Tomcat: A Cultural Phenomenon
If you asked me in my pre-teen years, I am pretty sure I would have said the F-14 was the coolest of them all. Sure, maybe the F-15 was the king of the skies and maybe the F-16 was the nimble one that could fly circles around everything. And the F-18? Well, I guess some... Continue Reading →
History & A Build: The Battle Off Samar and the 1/72 Arma Hobby FM-2 Wildcat
After all these years, I am still fascinated by World War 2. One of the reasons is because this conflict is simply chock full of stories of extreme bravery. Whether you are into reading about armor, airplanes, navy or marine units, there are endless tales of sacrifice, bravery and guts. Sometimes bordering on the insane.... Continue Reading →
The Tomcat Build Continues with tips for painting wheels
I have just finished the third build video for the 1/48 Tamiya Tomcat. This one was about finishing all of the subassemblies ahead of painting the big turkey. As I have mentioned previously, there are few build challenges with this kit so this video shows one strategy for quickly painting the tires on the landing... Continue Reading →
The Tomcat Build Continues with a new video
I have just finished the second build video for the 1/48 Tamiya Tomcat. This one was about finishing the build of the fuselage and painting the engine exhausts. Generally speaking, these are not the most exciting aspects of a model build, except when it comes to sealing up the fuselage. Most of us have developed... Continue Reading →
Tips and Tricks for Jet Cockpits
I am more of a Second World War prop airplane builder but I sometimes dabble where I am not supposed to. I have recently started a build of the lauded 1/48 Tamiya Tomcat. Unfortunately, most of my Cockpit Finishing Techniques had to be thrown out of the window. That is not necessarily a bad thing... Continue Reading →
Academy’s Battle of the Planets Phoenix
There are a lot of reasons why we build models. For some it is an interest in a subject like airplanes, tanks or ships. For others, it is an interest in history and how these vehicles were used. But sometimes we are just looking to go back to a happy place and enjoy a trip... Continue Reading →
Eduard 1/48 Ki-115 Tsurugi – Definitely a suicide airplane
A little History Most people do not know much about the Pacific War aside from the highlights: Pearl Harbor, Midway, Guadalcanal, Iwo Jima, kamikazes and a couple fairly large bombs to wrap things up. I'll admit, I've been keenly interested in this theater for decades and I am still learning new things about it all... Continue Reading →
1/48 Zvezda Mi-24 Hind – A model of the most destructive military force ever conceived
Let me tell you a little about myself: Born in the 70s and grew up in the 80s. A decade that started with feathered hair and ABBA, quickly morphed into synthesizers, cocaine, big hair, wedge shaped sports cars, pastels and silk suits. The 80s also featured a Cold War with a clearly divided world and... Continue Reading →
Paint “Marbling” Now On YouTube
Whether we are pre-shading panel lines, post shading, black basing, dot filtering, mottling or marbling, the goal is to find a way to weather or distress the paint finish and otherwise to bring some interest to the surface of the model. When I first got back into the hobby (circa 2007) the finishing technique that... Continue Reading →