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 →
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 →
We model builders are usually enthusiasts and history buffs. At least, that has been my experience. This interest is usually fed by books, magazines, museums, history podcasts and even travel to historic places. But what is an enthusiast if he or she cannot own, hold and display something? Be it models, memorabilia, reproduction items or... Continue Reading →
I've uploaded a video with a demonstration of how I paint and weather my propeller engine exhausts. I demonstrated using the supercharger on the 1/48 Tamiya P-38 Lightning. I did not invent this technique! I first read about using thin coats of brown paint to simulate rust in JM Villalba's FAQ book. I added Tamiya... Continue Reading →
I've uploaded a video with some tips and a demonstration of how I finish radial engines. For those who have been following the blog for a while, this video features much of the information contained in my Modeling Radial Engines article from last year. The engine I am finishing comes from the venerable 1/48 Hasegawa... Continue Reading →
When it comes to building models I think most of us strive to develop the skills that will get us consistent results with few surprises along the way. The idea being that consistency will lead to a lot of successfully completed models on the shelf. But it can also lead to that feeling of rinse... Continue Reading →
A Little History Lockheed began developing the P-38 Lightning in 1937 and in January 1939 the prototype made its maiden flight. The Lightning was a unique looking aircraft with tricycle landing gear, twin booms and a central pod bristling with guns. It had two 1600HP liquid cooled engines and fully loaded it weighed some 10... Continue Reading →
I have been a 'consumer' of scale model related videos on YouTube for some years now. Some are great and some need work but all required some effort to get finished and published to the masses. I have been thinking about doing some how-to videos for a while. It only took a global pandemic and... Continue Reading →
In the Spring of 2019 I made the trip to Dayton Ohio in order to attend WrightCon and to visit the Museum of the United States Airforce. My collective 6+ hours in the museum felt incredibly rushed because there is simply too much to look at. The report of my USAF Museum visit also seems... Continue Reading →
Unless you are making a UAV, your model airplane will have a cockpit. After radial engines, cockpits are probably my favorite part of an aircraft build. Today's kits typically come with excellent detail right out of the box that just need paint. Of course, there is always room for an aftermarket resin set or some... Continue Reading →
