I have the Eduard 1/48 F4F-4 Wildcat late Weekend Edition kit (item #84204). One of the four markings options is for a Wildcat of VC-13 on USS Core (CVE-13) in August 1943. This aircraft has the ASWN I scheme (dark grey, light gray, white) for the Atlantic. The decals include US national insignia with the red border, with the option for the blue border. According to the color scheme and decal placement notes on the instruction sheet (pg. 13), the upper wing insignia is blue and red with NO white for the star and side bars; this insignia is directly on the dark gray upper wing surface. (The same insignia is used on the lower wing surface which is white. Is this really correct? I am quite sure the US national insignia of the time had the white stars and bars on all placements 9upper left wing, lower right wing, fuselage sides). The fuselage insignias are red, white, and blue, but the wing insignias are red and blue only. My scan of this instruction sheet page is attached. Can anyone prove or disprove these markings? I have had no luck so far in trying to confirm or deny this via references I have checked to date. Thank you in advance for whatever help you can give me in this matter. Bob

HI ! Here another project I have done , they are WWII LUFTWAFFE ENGINE TROLLEY ..2 are DML one modified and the other is TAMIYA one..If you like to view the WIP on these project , I have set up an GOOGLE pages for them , just follow this klink: https://photos.app.goo.gl/VY2hRBuNmaWU8Qkr7 If ypu like to view the other 1/48 LUFTWAFFE accessories I have done in the past , just follow this link : https://photos.app.goo.gl/zhJFfqQfHVEFkKgn6 Enjoy ! Jmarc

Recently moved to Monroe CT and am looking for hobby shops in the area. Any and all suggestions welcome! Thanks in advance!

Figured it was time to update interests.....

Even though it's May, I did complete these last month. It's just been a while before I could post these. They are not the best and yes, wheels and tracks are floating but that's because of the pad I was placing them on to shoot these picks. Anyway, without further ado; here's my latest round of military vehicles: First up is this IBG 1/72 scale Canadian CWT60 Ambulance. The fit was tough, so it's not the best: Next up is this Master Box 1/72 scale Austin Armored Car Mk. III. Easier build, despite some very delicate parts: Next up after this is the UM Models 1/72 scale M4 Sherman with the Dozer Blade. UM engineers their German vehicles much better than their Shermans and this one was no exception, fighting me all the way. Out of the six UM Shermans I had started, only two were ever completed. This is one: And a detail shot of the dozer blade itself: Finally the Trumpeter 1/72 scale M1135 Squad Engineer Vehicle that was an interesting build and a tough fight to get that dozer blade correct: And that is the last of these so far. Stay tuned, there's more coming to the finish line; meanwhile comments are welcome. Thanks to those who looked in.

This is May, but these were completed last month and so are being shown now. First up are my two German Z-class destroyers whose construction had not been documented in the tours. First is the Tamiya 1/700 scale Z-37: Next is the Tamiya 1/700 scale Z-39: The next ships to launch are the Nichimo 1/500 scale Japanese battle ship IJN Mutsu: Yes, I did forget to glue down the center section, that has been remedied... The final ship to be launched is the Nichimo 1/500 scale Japanese carrier IJN Shokaku: My apologies for the backdrop; I couldn't find a white background big enough for this large ship. Thank you all for looking in, comments are welcome.

The Soviet Union had both diesel (Zulu V, Golf I & Golf II) and nuclear powered (Hotel I & Hotel II) ballistic missile submarines. Originally, the Project 629 (NATO: Golf I) and Project 658 (NATO: Hotel I) submarines carried three R-13 missiles of short range (300 nautical miles) and had to be fired by the D-2 launch systems from the ocean surface. But units of both the Golf I and Hotel I class were modified and upgraded to Project 629A (Golf II) with the D-4 launch system, which allowed underwater launches of the new R-21 missile of 700 nautical mile range. The upgraded Project 658M (NATO: Hotel II) carried three R-21 missiles in its extended sail structure. The Hotel II class had two VM-A pressurized water reactors and twin propellers. The VM-A reactors were first generation and problematic, with a major casualty on the Hotel I K-19, as well as leaks. The Hotel II model is a 1/350 scale kit from Takom. I replaced a thin set of photo etch parts which were low rails on the aft deck. I modeled the submarine with one of the missile hatches open on the sail with an R-21 missile in the tube.

Hi ! Here another project I have done in the past using the ByPLANE VAC-FORM kit , If you like to view more pics, just follow this GOOGLE link: https://photos.app.goo.gl/o3euAhmr7SPmfyCr8 If you like to view all the LUFTWAFFE project I have done in 1/48 scale , jsut follow this link: https://photos.app.goo.gl/zhJFfqQfHVEFkKgn6 Enjoy ! Jmarc

Any suggestions on where I can buy individual parts for Paasche airbrushes?

I'm trying to track down a Vac-Form 1/48 scale kit of a B-47. At one time, it was available through Sanger Engineering in the UK. Also, might be associated with a gentleman named Gerald Elliott. Last year, I was briefly in email communication with Mr. Elliott but have now lost contact, and Sanger is not responding to emails. If anyone has knowledge of this kit and/or Sanger Engineering, I would appreciate any information. Thank you! Larry

I have always liked Tester's Dullcoat, but sometimes it dries to a semi-matte rather than a dead flat finish. I recently read on-line another modeler say that he lets a bottle of Tester's Dullcoat sit until the "flattening agent" (you know what I mean, all that 'stuff' that gathers at the bottom of the bottle) settles to the bottom. Then he draws/pours off a quantity of the solvent. This increases the concentration of the flattening agent and depending on how much you draw off, the finish that can vary all the way up to dead flat. I decided to give this a try. I took a new bottle of Dullcoat which had settled completely and poured off about 1/3 to 1/2 of the carrier/solvent. I was a bit afraid that it might be spotty or have flecks of flattening agent in the finish so I tested it on a scrap piece of plastic with a flat paint on one side and a high gloss black on the other. i thinned the Dullcoat as normal for my airbrush and gave each finish a coat. The matte finish was still matte, no surprise. But the high gloss dried to a DEAD FLAT and there was no flaking or spotting on either finish. I then tried it on my current project that had gloss and matte surfaces plus decals and I got an even dead flat finish over all. 60 some odd years of modeling and I am still learning.

I just tried singing into the IPMS store several times, but it keeps saying my username or password is incorrect, which it isn't. I even went to my back up list to make sure I had my information correct. Just curious if anyone else is having trouble or if there is a issue going on with the store. Thanks Rocky

Hi ! Here another project I have done in the past , of course it,s scratchbuilt , if you like to view more pics, just follow this link: https://photos.app.goo.gl/D9qpLCVdg9Xxmqup8 If you like to view the other maritime project I have done in 1/48 scale , just follow this link: https://photos.app.goo.gl/cpC5Q6puZkJTQ2mHA Enjoy ! Jmarc

Here another project I been working on the side these days , So far I have completed the 2 drones and working on the carrier box and launcher ! If you like to view the complete WIP on this project , just follow this Google link : https://photos.app.goo.gl/jrWyBiNZSJHCUknZ9 If you like to view all the DRONES I have done so far in 1/48 , just follow this link: https://photos.app.goo.gl/mjGm69hDKYaDuFNX6 Enjoy ! Jmarc

This is the 1973 release of Airfix's Ju-87 Stuka done in a winter camo scheme. It's OOTB with the exception of the prop disc. I also worked on the stand to make it look like frozen terrain from the air. Very basic kit, of course, but went together well with care. Decals were no good so those are after market ones.

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.