1/48 Tamiya P-38 Lightning – My Miss Virginia

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 […]

Earning Your (Modeling) Stripes

When I got back into the hobby my initial goal was to incorporate some new technique, or tool, or anything “new” into each one of my builds. At first it was photoetch, then resin bits, then some basic scratch building. After I got the hang of pre and post shading, I turned my mind towards […]

Fool Me Once

Last year I wrote a post about the expensive kit myth where I compared prices of kits from over 30 years ago. The summary was that the comparison is very difficult because the kits from today are entirely different products from years ago. As a bit of an update, I came across a very interesting […]

Model Airplane Maker on the Plastic Model Mojo Podcast!

I wrote about subject of models and social media a short time ago. Never being one for having the latest tech, I found myself wondering how I was going to get through an 11+ hour drive to WrightCon in the spring of 2019. Then I remembered I had an iPod! I found plenty of podcasts […]

Model Airplane Maker… now on YouTube

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 […]

Next Level Builds

Here is where I am: Competent model building and painting and when the stars align, I might get a result worthy of the display case and a competitive contest entry. I can confidently say given enough time and interest in a subject; I can tame almost any kit. Which is a good thing because I […]

Are we builders or finishers?

I have to admit: this post has been one of the harder ones to write (and to find images for). The content is not controversial but I am trying to make a comparison which is difficult to support with data. That said, in no way is this post meant to be a declaration of a […]

1/48 Hasegawa RF-86 Haymaker

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 […]

Tips and Tricks for Modeling Aircraft Cockpits

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 […]

1/48 Tamiya Ki-61 Hien (Tony)

Do we really need a new Tony? I always find it hilarious when I hear: “Do we really need a new kit of the [insert new kit] when the old [insert kit from ancient times] is perfectly fine?“ I have heard and read arguments in support of certain Monogram, Aurora and Revell kits from 40+ […]