Stall Warning

The dreaded shelf queen. I’ve written about what to do with models that end up half built on a shelf. I’m now thinking about what causes the stall. I have some thoughts about that. But let’s start with my biggest stall yet: The HK B-17G. It started out great – the model was big and […]

Back to Base-ics

I have written previously about model bases for aircraft. I am still toying with the idea about designing and building bases that include graphics and information but in the meantime I decided to experiment with some round bases with some basic ground cover. There are a few options for round bases. One is a milled […]

1/48 Fine Molds Ki-15 Kamikaze (Babs)

I have always liked the look of golden age aircraft. The more streamlined the better. Something about polished metal, wheel pants and big engine cowlings. Aviation technology was changing so rapidly between the wars and it seemed as though every new model broke some sort of record. First flying in May of 1936, the […]

A Visit to the United States Airforce Museum

If Dayton isn’t the birthplace of aviation, it is certainly the nursery. The Wright brothers developed their 1903 flyer in Dayton and continued flying in Dayton between 1904 and 1910. The US Army also conducted its own early flying at nearby McCook Field during and after World War I. Its fitting that the USAF chose […]

2019 WrightCon Show

Dayton Ohio: Birthplace of aviation; home of the USAF museum and on the weekend of April 5-6 2019, the location of WrightCon, an IPMS Region IV show. Yes, Dayton is a bit of a hike for me, but given the fact that the USAF Museum is was on my bucket list, I had some annual […]

Whether to Weather?

Tough question. If there is a trend in the hobby related to finishing models, I’d say we are definitely in the weathering era. We are way past basic drybrushing, oil pin washes and pastel powders on our models. There has never been a time when so many purpose designed weathering products have been available. Moreover and […]

1/48 Tamiya G4M1 Betty – A Rescue Build

Ever take over a model and rescue it? I bought this one started from a friend who lost track of how he acquired it. My guess is that it was part of a collection of models he picked up as an IPMS club president. I generally shy away from these projects because there is usually […]

The Quick and Dirty Guide to Modeling the Corsair in US service

Should I begin by saying the most awesome airplane that ever was is the Corsair? Sure there are those who would quickly disagree with me and cite all sorts of hard data and common knowledge – but those people are wrong. This is a very quick and dirty guide to modeling one or more of […]

1/48 Hasegawa AH-64D Apache Build

An Apache?!? This one has been a long time coming because I have always been inspired to build an Apache. The inspiration came from my days of “flying” it in Gunship – a Microprose Flight Simulator. This was my first taste of a flight sim and I played the hell out of it. No, it was […]

1/48 Hobby Boss F4U-4 Corsair (early version) Build

Do we finally have a Corsair -4 worth building? In the wonderful world of 1/48 models, when it comes to Corsairs there are two alternatives: Tamiya and Hasegawa. These two companies seem to have split the variants simply: Tamiya has all the early war Corsairs while Hasegawa has the late war and post war variants. […]