From a friends estate that was missing instructions and decals so I painted the markings (Chose an easy squadron to do!). The kit still builds up well and has very few fit issues. Biggest one for me was the canopy that did not fit without a bit of elbow grease. May not be accurate but I'm happy with it.

In the early 1970's, two submarines were modified to carry out covert missions to recover discarded Soviet missile pieces and to tap underwater cables in the Sea of Okhotsk. One of the submarines, Halibut, had a large hanger previously employed for Regulus Missiles. It was outfitted to tow and service a camera and sonar tow body, timed The Fish. It also received a saturation diving chamber on its stern to allow saturation divers to install cable taps and recover items at depths of 400-600 feet. A second submarine conversion was perfumed on USS Seawolf, the second nuclear submarine constructed by the United States.. Originally equipped with a liquid sodium cooled reactor (which had some unique problems), it was conveyed in the late 1950's to a pressurized water reactor. In the early 1970's, it became the second Special Operations submarine. In this case, the hull was cut forward of the sail, and a 52 foot hull "plug" installed. This section had both an internal saturation diving chamber as well as a compartment to service and launch towed body "Fish". The submarine also received fore and aft thrusters (installed between the upper deck plates and the pressure hull) and later a set of skids to enable it to sit on the ocean floor during cable tap operations. A prior incident in which the submarine had just "bottomed", ended up settling into the ocean floor, with sand and bottom creatures entering the reactor condenser seawater cooling openings. Hence the installation of the skids. Seawolf operated in this guise to 1986, sharing Projects duties with Halibut and later when Halibut was retired in 1976, with Parche, which received Halibut's saturation chamber. The 1/350 scale model is an Iron Shipwrights resin hull and 3-D parts kit which depicts Seawolf in her later configuration.

Learned that Model Motorcars Ltd was placed into voluntary dissolution on March 18th. The company traded for more than 25 years supplying CD instructional roms and books and a large range of after market items for builders of the 1/8th scale Pocher brand, both older Rivarossi and newer Hornby kits.I Marvin Meit the principal owner passed away in December 2025, probably triggering the eventual closure by any partnered left in the business.

For my next project, I chose the 1/48 Tamiya kit of the Douglas F4D-1 Skyray, colloquially known as the 'Ford'. Like many, I was surprised (and elated!) when in 1998 Tamiya released a kit of this relatively obscure late-fifties Navy aircraft. But I've always loved the look of this jet, with its' sleek, futuristic lines. The Skyray, and its' contemporary, The Vought F7U Cutlass, were perhaps the most radical aircraft designs to enter full production. It's a shame that engine problems (with the Cutlass) and control/stability issues (with the Skyray) prevented these innovative designs from realizing their full potential. For a jet with a short service career, there are a number of excellent references. The ones I used were: Warpaint Series No. 117, Douglas F4D/F-6 Skyray & F5D Skylancer, By Tony Butler; Killer Rays - Story of the Douglas F4D Skyray and F5D Skylancer, by Mark Frankel; Naval Fighters Number 13 - Douglas F4D Skyray, by Steve Ginter; US Naval Air Superiority - Development of Shipborne Jet Fighters 1943-1962, by Tommy Thomason. I also purchased Modelers Airguide 20, Douglas F4D Skyray, by Any Evans, and I must say, for the price, it was a huge disappointment. It's beautifully printed, on high-quality paper, but with just 38 pages, and with only one or two photos on most pages, there isn't much bang for your buck. And none of the photos have captions. You'd think a publication geared specifically toward modelers would have photos or drawings of the cockpit and other details, and at least have captions for the photos, but nope. This was my first purchase of an Airmark/Modelers' Airguide publication, so I don't know if this is typical of their products. But for $30, I felt cheated after buying it. Construction began with the cockpit. I used the Cutting Edge resin F4D cockpit set, which is an improvement over the kit parts, especially the cockpit coaming and instrument panel. I assembled and painted both the kit cockpit and the resin set, just in case I had issues fitting the resin cockpit in the fuselage. Both cockpits were airbrushed Model Master Dark Gull Grey, with side consoles painted Tamiya Semi-Gloos Black, and details picked out with dry-brushing and colored pencils. The instrument panels were detailed with individual instrument decals by Airscale. To be clear, once painted, the kit cockpit, which comes with the original Douglas ejection seat, looks fine. But it's very simplified compared to the real thing, and is missing a lot of details, mainly in the instrument panel coaming. The kit coaming is featureless, with just a hole in the top for the gunsight reflector glass. The actual coaming is open on top, through which you can see the back of the instrument panel, and the top of the gunsight mechanism and reflector. The Cutting Edge set replicates this very nicely. Late in their service careers, many F4D's had the Douglas-designed ejection seat replaced by a Martin Baker Mk V seat. The jet I was building had this upgrade, so I substituted the factory seat with a proper Martin Baker Mk V seat I had in my spares box. It was airbrushed Tamiya Acrylic NATO Black, with cushions various shades of green and drab, and seatbelts painted light grey. The ejection seat pull handles were from a pre-painted set by Eduard. Before closing up the nose halves, I glued a lead fishing weight in the tip of the nose to keep the kit on its gear. The kit engine exhaust is simplified, and lacks an afterburner nozzle. I added a photo-etched flame holder from an Eduard detail set, and used a spare exhaust nozzle from a Revell F-18 Super Hornet to fashion an afterburner nozzle.The rear fuselage and exhaust shroud and nozzle were sprayed Tamiya Titanium Sliver. I then over-sprayed the nozzle and exhaust interior with Tamiya Metallic Grey. There is no intake ducting, so I just painted everything inside white and moved on. The landing gear was assembled as per instructions, and detailed with brake and hydraulic lines made of wire. They were sprayed Tamiya Acrylic White, and gloss-coated with Future. A wash of Tamiya black Panel Line Accent Color was applied, which really popped out the nice detail on the struts and wheel hubs. Like its' cousin, the Douglas A-4 Skyhawk, the Skyray was designed with leading edge slats, which deployed automatically based on dynamic air pressure. On all Skyhawks, the area under these slats was painted Insignia Red. But on the Skyray, photos indicate this wasn't usually the case. Very few squadrons had red under the slats. The few photos I could find of Fords in the markings I wanted to use seemed to indicate that the area under the slats was painted Gull Grey, instead of Red, so that how I painted mine. The drop tanks were painted white, with Tamiya Semi-Gloss Black noses. This color is a good match with the black on the Cutting Edge decals I used. The kit also provides a NavPac, a pod containing VHF navigation and low-frequency marker-beacon gear. It was painted white, with a radome tan nose section. This pod was carried only when squadrons were land-based, and were usually not used when deployed aboard a carrier. Once the nose section was glued to the upper and lower fuselage halves, the topside was sprayed with some of the last of my dwindling supply of Model Master Acryl Flat Gull Grey, and the underside was left in Tamiya white Fine Surface Primer. The underside primer was polished with a cloth to give it a nice glossy sheen. There were a few seams that needed filling and sanding on the leading edges of the wings. The nose radome and fin tip was sprayed Tamiya Semi Gloss Black, and the anti-glare panel was masked off and sprayed Tamiya NATO Black. Skyrays had the leading edges of their wings and pylons finished in Corroguard, a metallic grey-ish protective coating, so these areas were masked off and sprayed Tamiya Titanium Silver. The vertical fin, however lacked this coating. Once painting was complete, the landing gear, tanks, pylons, Sidewinders and NavPac were attached. The distinctive yellow and black 'barber-pole' markings on the drop tank refueling probe were made by first spraying the probe Tamiya Semi-Gloss Black, then wrapping a thin strip of masking tape around the probe, followed by spraying it Tamiya Flat Yellow. The kit provides three markings schemes: two Marine Fords, from VMF (AW) 114 and 115, and a Navy jet with the very elaborate markings of VF(AW)-3, the Blue Nemesis. Instead, I went the aftermarket route and chose a jet in the eye-catching scheme of VF-162, The Hunters, Bureau Number 134757. My references had several photos of this jet during various periods of its attachment to VF-162. The decals came from several sources: most of the markings, including the black with yellow stars decals on the elevons and rudder, came from Cutting Edge Decals sheet #48089, F4D Skyray Pt 1. The national insignias, intake warnings, and stencils came from SuperScale sheet #48336. I used very few of the stencils, because all the photos in my references showed little to no stenciling. Since I included the NavPac on my model, I had to alter the decals slightly to reflect when the squadron was land-based at Cecil Field, Florida in 1960, before it deployed aboard USS Intrepid for three cruises. To do this, I had to change the nose number from 1xx-series to 2xx series, and change the air wing code letters from AF to AH. An AeroMaster letters and numbers sheet provided the necessary markings to make the changes. Like all my model aircraft, I like to display them with an open canopy, to show off the detail. The kit is designed to be built with a closed canopy, but fortunately, it's an easy job to pose it open. The Cutting Edge cockpit set comes with the hydraulic cylinder used to open and close the canopy, so the only real difficulty is in placing it properly. If the Cutting edge instructions are correct, this cylinder is slightly right of centerline, but I could find no photos to conform this. I also added the vertical metal bars seen inside each side panel of the canopy, and a compass at the upper right edge of the canopy. This was made of scrap plastic, with a decal instrument placed on the front. Two rearview mirrors were also added to each side of the canopy bow. The boarding ladder came from one of the 1/48 Hasegawa A-4 Skyhawk kits I have in my stash. It was modified to look more like those used on the Skyray by shortening it, adding wheels and other details to match pictures in my references. It was painted Tamiya Red, and dry-brushed with Tamiya Flat Aluminum paint, then weathered with Tamiya dark grey Panel Line Accent color. The ladder was then attached to the model with white glue. Tamiya's 1/48 F4D-1 Skyray is an outstanding kit despite its'age, with precise fit and sensible engineering. The only real drawback is a lack of intake ducting. With care, it builds easily into a beautiful replica of this radical, delta-winged Navy interceptor.

Happy Easter all, I'm celebrating by dispersing these completed vehicles to their respective armies. First is the two Ambulances going to my US Army: The Ford Model T Ambulance from WWI by RPM in 1/72 scale: The next one is the ACE 1/72 scale WC-18 Ambulance: Followed by the IBG 1/72 scale Japanese 917t truck: And last, although it's not quite an armored or soft-skinned vehicle; it is a vehicle going to my British Army. This is the HO/OO scale Airfix Saddleback Tank Shunting Engine: That's all that is completed for now. Thank you all for looking in, comments are always welcome.

Happy Easter to all. I'm celebrating by launching these two ships into my collection in their respective Navies. First up is the US Coast Guard Icebreaker Eastwind, a Revell box-scale kit from the 1970's: Followed by the Fujimi kit of the 1/700 scale modern Japanese LST 4151: That's it so far, I expect a few more ships making their way down the slips soon. Stay tuned and thanks for looking in, comments are welcome.

In 2022, I met Lewis "Pat" Patteson at the Spirit of '45 event in San Jose - at the time, a spry 102-year old. He kidded us that we didn't have the best plane of World War II on the table, the Lockheed Vega PV-1 Ventura. I asked how he came about that opinion, and he said he flew them. I'd met a guy who flew PV-1s from Attu in the Aleutians to the Kuriles in Japan, and Pat said, "I did that, too!" That evening I went home and hit my PV-1 references and found multiple references to Pat. He flew two dozen 1400-mile trips to Shimushu and Paramushiro in the Kuriles, including flying the crucial photo mission to survey Paramushiro's air bases. Pat and I got to be friendly and he shared his stories, gave me a mess of photos, and even gave me two VPB-135 patched (have to get a Navy G-1 to sew one on!).

This is the Kitty Hawk 1/48 F-35C. I will be using Red Fox 3D decals, Reskit resin exhaust, Furball decals for the VFA-86 scheme, and I also added the Eduard 3D Brassin ejection seat. I started off with the cockpit as usual. I cleaned up the panels to prepare for the Red Fox 3D decals. These look great and fit perfectly on the instrument and side panels. The decal set has the option of the instrument panel display “on” or a blank screen for the “off” mode. I looked at the kit ejection seat and it is not very well detailed. I researched this kit and found some folks noted the kit ejection seat is too tall and if you wanted the canopy closed it will not close because of the seat. I opted to use the Eduard 3D brassin ejection seat. The seat is very detailed and the instructions also offer other details that can be added. Care is required to trim the parts off of the carriers as they are very delicate. There are eleven different parts as well as a sheet of photo etch and decals for all the warning placards. I am currently finishing up the cockpit assembly and details then moving on to the nose gear bay and then the weapons bays. You can see all the photos and details from the start in the build log at: https://davidsscalemodels.com/build-log/1-48-f-35c-vfa-86-sidewinders/

Many denigrate Matchbox kits as overly simple and toylike. For the aircraft ones they add in overly done panel lines. However, there must have been a different sort of designer that worked on their biplane kits 'cause they are pretty nice. Well engineered, they go together easily and as the Brits say they "look the part". Maybe not the most detailed, but pleasing to the eye. Plus they did kits of subjects other companies wouldn't touch such as the Stranraer and Heyford and this one, the Siskin. It's OOTB and the rigging is stretched sprue.

This is Glencoe's rerelease of the 1958 Adams Vanguard rocket kit. The launch pad and 'crew' are identical to those in their Thor missile kit. The difference here is in the addition of the tower and the actual missile itself. The launch pad and tower are full of mold seams that need to be removed and you have to make sure everything fits before you paint it. The tower was pretty fiddly as it is in 11 pieces and the instructions aren't the clearest. But with care it actually went together rather easily. However, to get the inside painted, you need to paint the parts first before assembly, contrary to my usual practice. The decals went on nicely, but the color scheme is problematic. They give you decals for six different missiles and each one has a different scheme illustrated on the back of the box. The odd thing is that the colors called out in the instructions do not match any of these. Only six Vanguards were produced in reality, so I took some liberty and used the instruction colors to make one of the later missiles. In a brief interweb search I actually did find one photo of these colors in use, so I don't feel too bad. The launch pad and the one officer figure are fixed to the base, which I made, but the missile and tower are not to facilitate possible moving or storage. There should be some cables between the tower and the rocket but I couldn't put them in place and keep the rocket and tower removable so you'll have to use your imagination.

Any idea when the next IPMS Journal will go to press? Jan/Feb. 2026?

Hi ! Here another project I have done in the past , those are alla scratch built except for the MONOGRAM bomb trolley , if you like to view more pics of them , Just follow this Google link : https://photos.app.goo.gl/DeL9YyyGUW6qSDhY7 Enjoy ! Jmarc

Yep. as a Medusa collector a friend got me this lil one. I'm guess it's it's based on a 75mm size. Nothing special about the build. I "had to" change the base, and it's the first time I tried a free hand marble look. Thanks for looking. All done>

So I am calling this one done, aside from the crew figures. The kit itself was built OOB, although I did add a Combat Series brass machine gun pintle mount and took an Academy M1919 Browning .30 cal. from my spares bin for the gun itself. Most of the stowage is Value Gear, aside from the jerry cans, which are a mix of Tamiya, Academy, and 3D printed. Base paint is AK Real Colors. Most of the kit decals self destructed due to age, so replacements came from my spares... [/url Thanks for looking, comments and critiques are welcome.

This next build is something different. It is the Takom 1/350 Zeppelin Q-Class Airship. I will be building it as the LZ59 (L20) Airship. The LZ59 after completing its second bombing raid on Britain the airship started having engine problems on its return. This plus the strong winds from a weather front caused the airship to veer north towards Norway. It ended up crashing in the water Jasund, Norway. The first week I worked on the forward and aft gondolas. The kit has all the windows on each one molded in. I decided to open them up. The forward gondola has a large window area on the nose. I ended up using some 32 gauge wire and replaced the kit parts by making my own framing. The top and side windows were then made with small strips of clear acetate. The side windows on both were drilled out and filled with clear acrylic gel. Both of these are held on to the lower panels via lots of small photo etch struts. The forward gondola wasn’t bad as it had the large supports which were access to the inside of the main airship. The aft gondola was a lot more delicate. Getting the struts lined up and placed correctly required some tedious work. With the gondolas mounted to their respective lower panels I started working on the main airship. The Q class ship is similar to the P class ship except for length. The kit is designed for both P and Q classes so this kit has a center section to make it the correct length for the Q class. The fit was pretty close but it still required a bit of putty to cover the seams. I am currently working on the main airship. The airship has a total of four engines. One on each gondola and two mounted on outriggers. These are also mounted with photo etch struts. The struts go to the main body as well as the aft gondola. I should be starting on painting this upcoming week as well. You can see all the photos and details from the start in the build log at: https://davidsscalemodels.com/build-log/1-350-zeppelin-q-class-airship/

On the Neptunes equipped with skis, did they retain the landing well doors or were they removed? I've seen photos that suggest they were removed but they aren't great so I'm not sure.

Hi ! Here another project I have done in the past , using the NATARES resin kit , if you like to view more pics, just follow this link: photos.app.goo.gl/78Y7uXTqrS7w7PuQ9 Enjoy !

HI ! Here a project I have done in the past ! of course it's scratch, if you like to view more pics, Just follow this GOOGLE link : https://photos.app.goo.gl/C2rCdGza3E7o7W3m6 Enjoy ! Jmarc

I have a love of all things Battle of Midway, and I like building planes crewed by people I knew. This scratches both itches - this is Torpedo 3's T-3, flown by MACH Harry Corl and ARM2c Lloyd Childers. I got to know Lloyd through the Battle of Midway Roundtable, an on-line study group, and as it turned out he lived over in the LaMoraDa area (Lafayette/Moraga/Morinda - just through the Caldecott Tunnel here in the San Francisco Bay Area). His favorite restaurant was Acapulco, a Mexican place in my hometown of Alameda! Not only did Lloyd enjoy homey Mexican places, he happened to be the only rear-seater in Torpedo 3 to attack the Japanese Mobile Fleet (Kido Butai) at Midway and live to tell about it. I wrote his story for the December 2005 issue of Flight Journal Magazine (you can read an updated version at https://obscureco.wordpress.com/2026/01 ... or-in-172/), but I dilly-dallied on building the TBD, maybe because I was hoping a new AND accurate kit would come out in 1:72. Alas, no (not yet, at least). I'm working on a Midway display at the USS Hornet Sea, Air and Space Museum, and I took on the TBD; I had collected as many TBD models and parts as I could over the years, so I thought I'd be best to tackle it. So here it is. The basic airframe is Airfix, with the rivets NEARLY sanded all the way off, and some scribing lines added. The interior is mostly the White Ensign photoetched set, with the seats, bombardier/second pilots side consoles and radioman gunner's floor taken from the Valom kit, which also contribute the torpedo, landing gear (cut to the right height), wheels and radio antenna mast. The instrument panel was scratch-built; belts came from photoetched parts intended for an SB2U Vindicator. The flexible .30-caliber gun is a Miniworld item modified with the right grips and the flash suppressor on the real thing. There's also the small windage sight on the barrel, made from a 1:700 photoetched anemometer. The clear parts are from a Falcon vacuformed set. There's a scratch-built set of radio gear under the turtledeck ahead of the radioman/gunner if you look hard enough. In the bombardier/co-pilot's seat is a scratch-made life raft. Lloyd told me that standard operating procedure on torpedo missions was to remove the Norden bombsight (in a compartment under the pilot, which the bombadier was crawl into, and then open a set of doors just behind the cowling to sight) and to take the life raft out of its compartment and belt it into the unused seat, where it could be accessed easily in the event of ditching. In the case of T-3, the engine had thrown so much oil Corl couldn't get the rear canopy open, and they had to swim for it (Corl dragged the badly wounded Childers to the safety of the whaleboat from USS Monaghan). It came out OK for a kit from 1969!

Hasegawa Ki-84 Frank. FineMolds KI-61 Tony. Fujimi Ki-43-1 Oscar and Fujimi B6N2 Jill.