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.

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

This is the Muroc Models 1:72 kit of this weird test article, a glider used to verify the aerodynamic qualities of the JB-1A unmanned flying bomb (which flew for a total of five seconds when it was finally tested). Apparently, it didn't like slowing down - landing it was a challenge, and its landing gear was unsprung, giving it a suspension not unlike that of a shopping cart. I built it in three days - it's a simple kit, and I added detail to the cockpit, plus some nose weight so it sat right. The yellow is ModelMaster deep yellow.

Now that all the excitement and activity from the display are all over; and the collection is packed away again, I was finally able to get a good amount of progress done on some models I've wanted to build for awhile. These are the results. Five new ships and boats have come off the slipways this month, starting with the Hobby Boss British HMS Astute submarine in 1/700 scale: Next are two modern French Frigates from Freedom Model Kits in 1/700 scale. First is the Aquitaine: and then the Normandie: Yes, they look the same except for the pennant number, but one is built to focus on antisubmarine warfare, and the other is a multi-purpose frigate for anti-air and anti-ship warfare. Aquitaine is the multi-purpose ship. Next to launch is the old Revell 1/131 scale USS Defiance coastal patrol boat: Finally the last ship is the old Revell 1/500 scale SS United States cruise liner: These last two ships were Distressed Kit Auction buys and so the decals were not the best. Despite my best efforts using even the Nuclear Option: Solvaset I still had silvering that I could not eliminate. On some of the Defiance decals, I actually used Tamiya Extra Thin cement to try and get them to lay down with some measure of success. One more thing: the SS United States was rigged with stretched sprue, and the Defiance's railings are also stretched sprue. Thank you all for looking in at five of the eight models I finished this month, comments are always welcome.

Now that all the excitement and activity from the display are all over; and the collection is packed away again, I was finally able to get a good amount of progress done on some models I've wanted to build for awhile. These are the results. Three new aircraft have been completed. All of them are British, starting with this 1/72 scale Bobcat British Harrier training jet: That was given to me by a friend as a gift. Next are two British Biplanes, starting with the Cooperativa 1/72 scale British Fairey Swordfish: Followed by the Matchbox 1/72 scale British Fairey Seafox floatplane, used on the HMS Arethusa cruiser as a scout plane: Both the Swordfish and Seafox were rigged with stretched sprue. And that's all I have so far. Thank you for looking in at three of the eight models I finished this month, comments are always welcome.

Here we have a lil one from the now defunct (unless they're hiding somewhere) UGH! Models. It's the Romulan Chowder Class Fighter. A pretty simple kit - A very clean casting led to a super simple build. I added the wooden disk just to make the base a little sturdier looking - Looking up the ship it was a green and I picked the closest color I had and then moved on to the eagle. The first chink in the armor was what was supposed to be decals... I don't know what it was. After a soaking it had no indication of ever coming off. Was it even a decal? so having ruined the illustration what was I to do? Go freehand of course - Oh boy! 8-[ Tried my best. Thanks for looking.

HI ! Here a project I done a while back , using an HEINKEL HE-162 a friend (ALAIN CADIEUX) gave me , I restore it and create this litttle project , the tow is from TARMAC and figures from MONOGRAM .. If you like to view more pic, just follow this GOOGLE link: photos.app.goo.gl/82wVYgUqRMJnPeD57 Enjoy ! Jmarc

Does this website have a record of national convention contest results by year? I was a 2008 2nd or 3rd i think, automobile category.

About 12 years ago we took the kids to the Museum of Science and Industry in downtown Chicago. We took a tour through the U-505 submarine which was captured by the U.S. Navy on 4 June 1944. Back then I purchased the Yankee Modelworks 1/350 TYPE IXC U-BOAT full resin kit. This sat on the shelf for many years. I decided to finally build it as the U-505. While being full resin there is not a lot of assembly but there is a sheet of photo etches to detail it. I also have some details I need to scratch build and decals to make specifically for the U-505. I will also make a nice display stand as well. To start with when I first purchased this kit there was a huge resin mold base along the bottom of the hull. At that time I used my jewelers saw to trim the base off and sanded the keel line. I started with assembling the rear screws and rudders. The screw shafts are brass rods and the rest is photo etch. I then added the front diving planes. Next I started adding the deck details. One thing the instructions do not discuss is the mooring posts that are present on the deck. I used styrene rods and slightly heated one end to give them the mushroom top. These were then added to the correct locations on the deck per the reference photos. I am now working on the conning tower. While there was no hull assembly since it is molded in resin the deck and conning tower still require some clean up of the details. I used a scribe and hobby knife to do the clean up. There is a couple of small mold imperfections on the conning tower so these were filled with putty. You can see all the photos and details from start in the build log at: https://davidsscalemodels.com/build-log/1-350-type-ixc-u-boat/

Just finished the old '70s molded 1/48 Heller RF-84F Thunderflash. This one one gave me some trouble due to my own doing during the build. I used a very well fitting AMS resin interior set to spruce it up some and also scratchbuilt some cameras (entirely bogus in form) to fit in the recon windows. Although not shown the resin set included to well fitting intake ducts for the wings. I also sanded off all of the raised panel lines and rescribed the entire model. This was the major problem.... after using some gloss black and then spraying some rattle can Tamiya TS-30 silver on, the paint crinkled in many places as you see above! This probably happened because didn't take into consideration the sharp cold snap here in FLA and I sprayed it when the room temp was probably well below 60degs (maybe even in the 40s!). This was the first time in 25yrs it'd gotten that cold in "Gil world" (the garage) and I even had to thaw out my water pipes that weekend! Oh well.... live and learn! This pic shows the model after it'd been stripped back to bare plastic. I used oven cleaner (the stinky kind) for 90% of the paint removal and then used a paper towel and some cotton swabs dampened with some Alclad thinner to scrub off the stubborn patches and to get into the creases and corners. I then resanded the model with 400 and 600 grit sanding sticks. The oven cleaner worked its way inside the windshield and rear canopy so I popped them off and replaced them with parts from a spare Monogram F-84F kit. This also allowed me to use the open Monogram canopy, as well as opting to replace the Heller main landing gear, tires, and gear doors with Monogram parts. Luckily, the Heller kit camera windows, which I'd sanded and polished to fit, only needed some repolishing after the stripping process. I then reprimed the model with Alclad Gloss Black to serve as a base for the NMF. The 2nd time around I opted to airbrush on some Alclad Aluminum for the NMF instead of using more Tamiya rattle can paint. Things then proceed normally for the rest of the build. The markings came from a collection of Thunderflash/Thunderjet decal sheets, as well as some spares box stars/bars and USAFs. I opted to mask and paint the checks on the tail fin instead of using decals. On to the rest of the pics! This model has more warts on it than any I've built in the last decade! But, at least it's done and on the shelf and I can now go back to concentrating on my T4M! Critiques, questions, and comments welcome as always! Gil