HI ! Here another project I been working on for a couple of years, now is the AVROCAR PROGRAM , not much people know that this program started by selling the ideal to create a flying saucer for the USAF and US ARMY , when US military officials visited the AVRO CF-105 ARROW program in MALTON ONTARIO , One of the main AVRO enginer 'Mr JOHN FROST' offer to US OFFCIAL to visit a secret test lab , where AVRO CANADA was working on VTOL project call Y1.. when they saw it the US OFFICIAL came back with an offer to subsadize the program , this project was call PROJECT 1794 SILVER BUG ..While working on the program , AVRO build a smaller version of the propose propulsion VIPER ENGINE , this version was call the AVROCAR , If you like to view more pics just follow these links: AVRO Y1 ( project US OFFICIAL saw at AVRO CANADA MALTON ,PLANT ) https://photos.app.goo.gl/ERhUtBqwV9pthSRx7 AVRO PROJECT 1794 (FLYING SAUCER project propose to US OFFCIAL) https://photos.app.goo.gl/Qy86TXs2uK4S1rCh6 VIPER ENGINE TEST SITE (IN PROGRESS) https://photos.app.goo.gl/a4U68zGFD4hUm1m88 AVROCAR VZ-9 PROTOTYPE 1 in is original airframe with the GROUND EFFECT JIG TEST site https://photos.app.goo.gl/BBQgQQuk8v2JQBPVA AVROCAR VZ-9 PROTOTYPE 2 in is last test airframe before cancellation on is test site at AVRO CANADA plant https://photos.app.goo.gl/CQR663YQcvpAuh4x5 CAE AVROCAR FLIGHT SIMULATOR ( IN PROGRESS) https://photos.app.goo.gl/Qy86TXs2uK4S1rCh6 Since this is an ongoing project they will be more to see later on , and I plan to upgarde it with completed and new projects Enjoy Jmarc

HI ! Here another project I have done in the past , if you like to view more pics of the project , just visit this GOGLE link : https://photos.app.goo.gl/8Md8WHC7JX9ZrfTb8 Enjoy ! Jmarc

Recently I airbrushed some Testers Fluorescent Orange paint and had something strange happen. While the paint went on well, as soon as I started spraying, gossamer strands were floating in the air all around me. At first I thought the moving air had stirred up some old cobwebs, but I noticed that they had a slight tint of color similar to what I was spraying. They didn't seem to be emanating from where I was spraying, they just sort of "appeared" all around me. They settled on things and did, indeed, look like cobwebs but were easily brushed away and did not leave any residue. Have I unleashed some portal to hell or can someone give me a more scientific explanation.

So I finally wrapped this one up a short while ago, and it is my 6th completion for this year. I’m almost on track for an average of one a month at this rate! This is the Tamiya classic Krupp Protze, with only minimal changes made. I did add the missing steering linkage, and of course added stowage items in the cargo bed. I also cut off and repositioned the windshield, then made a Zeltbahn cover for it using tissue and thinned white glue. The base colors are Mr Hobby Gunze Aqueous, and most of the detail colors are AK 3rd Gen and Vallejo Model Color acrylics. The mud is AK Splatter Effect Dried Mud with some Mr Hobby Dried Earth pigments to alter the shade, and Humbrol Dust Wash airbrushed on. Markings are for 24th Panzer Division in the Summer of 1942 that are combination of decals from my spares and kit decals. Stowage is mostly out of my spares bins, along with a few small 3D items that I printed. Thanks for looking, comments and critiques are welcome.

"It's Fronkenstein" "You're puttin' me on?" "No..." "Well then why isn't it Froderick Fronkenstein?" "It isn't, it's Fredrick Fronkenstein." This time around we have another bust from Pestilence Labs from 1974's Young Frankenstein series - the Doctor. The kit is a pretty simple kit consisting of the 1:4 scale bust, castle base, the "How I Did It" book, and the 2 parts of the collar that flies open during the Act Normal! scene. I would have to look hard to find any problems but one thing I would have to guess is whys does the Doctor appear to be looking down? I have a theory that I'll keep to myself, as it's an excellent likeness. (@Pestilence image) To change things up a little I decided to do the base first. It's a simple pile of stones and decided to leave them blend into the overall look - so simple grays and blacks with light gray mortar were used. Moving on to the face I added my regular pink/purple mix. While I was waiting for it to dry, I painted the book with some of V's Cavalry Red. Adding some various flesh colors I got the color I was happy with.Looking closely at his hair it seemed that he had very dark roots with some bright highlights. It's also quite obvious that they had Wilder in a lot of mascara. Finally I had to look it up to find out he had blue eyes. While that was drying I turned back to the book to add the gold lettering. Finally, it shows him in a dark (black?) tuxedo jacket with a white shirt and collar. Not wanting to use just black and white, I used V's Black Gray, and their Off-white. Just recently I noticed the buttons on his shirt were dark. I'll have to make that change. Thanks for looking. ~~~

A easy, basic kit of the Bull Frog. With the exception of the cockpit clear piece, the fit was good. Had to use stars & bars and the HMM 261 (actually a 268)from a Fujimi kit as HB got theirs wrong or were not included. The instructions had no interior color call outs which I thought was strange. Maybe someday Academy will re-issue their 48th kit again.

Hi ! Here another project I have done in the past , this is the WILIAM BROS kit with a little lve..If you like to view more pics, just follow this Google link : https://photos.app.goo.gl/bAq7npPZ9eL4NCUX7 Enjoy ! Jmarc

This is the rather old (ancient) Airfix Re-8 kit. It's not very detailed by today's standards but with care it builds up into a nice display model. The only thing I did to it besides the rigging is to replace the kit's scarf mount as it looked like it was made from 2 inch pipe and used different figures for the crew as the old Airfix one's looked deformed.

This is the Hasagawa (HAI!) 1/48 Ki-44 Tojo kit. I built this just for my shelf mainly to get 1 model built before getting ready to go the Nats. This is a very nice kit with plenty of detail, so I built it OOTB except for some PE belts added to the kit seat. Since the finished cockpit could be added into the fuselage from the bottom and the fit was so good between the major components (the tail planes are just sitting in their slots here) I decided to take the unusual path of painting the wings and tail planes separately from the fuselage. I also decided to paint ALL of the markings, using no decals, cutting my own masks from tape using the decals as a guide. Painting things separately really simplified masking off around the tail plane roots as well as the leading edges of the wings. There's lots of little "buggers" here and there on this one, but they're due to my working fast and not showing as much care as needed if this was meant to be a contest model. Still, it's a very colorful scheme for my shelf and I've finally replaced the old Otaki Tojo that I built decades ago and had bit the dust some time ago. Comments, questions, and critiques welcome as always! Gil

Having a few collections to complete I decided that Childs from the 1982 movie The Thing was desk on the table. He is part of the Childs/McReady controversy in that who was the Thing at the end... The kit came in 7 parts - the bust, base, gloved hand, whiskey bottle, and 3 appendages. The likeness is spot on and the casting as usual with Gillman is nearly flawless. With this piece, the Yagher, the sculptor, gives away two of his ideas of how things ended. Number one the base is created to look like a generator, which answers McReady's question :How's the generator," and Garry answers "It's gone, MacReady!" As a sidebar Garry was his last name. On the character list he was M.T. Garry. The Yagher also gives his opinion of whether Childs or McReady, neither or both were infected. From the front Child's portrait is spot on. But from the back you see his head is split open and all sort's of gooey things are emerging. As usual I start with the portrait. I don't get to do dark skin all that much so I was glad I picked up a number of Army Painter skin double triads (6 colors that all blend) . I started withe the darkest one, and then I really didn't like many of the companion colors as they seemed too desaturated. I had seen another painter use oranges to highlight the skin, so I turned to my set of rust paints. A few different layers and I was liking what I had so far. Turning to the back of the head I added various reds and oranges to make the wound. My thoughts on wounds and blood is that a little goes a long way. I went too far, so I got some Agrax Earthshade to darken down the crevices and ended my session there. Coming back to it the next day to see disaster struck. I had angled the bust face down at an angle so the wash would dry in all the recesses. What it did was to rundown the head and then gravity would take it around to the bottom which from that angle was the face. I now had this dark stripe running across the face and down to the chin where it dried. I tried lightly getting it off. It didn't really work that well. So I got out the paints and had Take 2 of doing the portrait. After getting it fixed, I sprayed it with a matte clear to protect the new paint (which I didn't do the first time). Tragedy struck again as the matte clear coat instantly frosted. I had heard that if you quickly spray it with a gloss, the frost goes away. The frost did go away - mostly. Disgusted, I chose to walk away rather than whip it off the wall. With everything that happened I was so disgusted that I forgot to take WIP pics, so all I have left is the finale shots. Thanks for looking.

Hi ! Here another project I have built 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/3nTShbbboiZmwKkC8 Enjoy ! Jmarc

This month I was able to finally get another Shelf Queen off the Shelf of Doom. Three years after it was started, the 1/600 scale Academy USS Enterprise was launched: Now she's off for her shakedown cruise. Thank you all for looking in, comments are welcome.

Like my good friend here Mark Duke Maddog, I am going to start an all subject build thread here to keep on rolling with whatever my ongoing project(s) will be. I’m gonna lead off with this one My latest resurrection project from the Shelf of Doom… I started this for a So.Cal AMPS Panzer IV GB about 10 years ago I was going to replace the kit tracks with some AM tracks and eventually settled on some Modelkasten indy links Since I wanted to do a DAK Panzer I decided to replace the crew figures with a set from Verlinden and the kit decals are replaced by a set from Bison I got most of the basic assembly finished, but then hit a snag when I tried to fit the AM tracks to the kit sprockets. The sprockets were too wide as engineered. So I put it onto the shelf of doom after getting this much completed So yesterday I decided to pull this one off the shelf and tackled the reason for the stop first. I cut the sprockets in half, sanded away some of the middle section until they would fit the MK tracks, then glued them back together. Then a test fit onto the lower hull This won’t be my main project, but I will be chipping away at it for the next while until it is finished.

I just finished the classic 1/32 Hasagawa Hellcat, first released back in the early '70s. I built it as an F6F-3 on the Princeton and "shot the works" detailing and correcting parts of it. BUT.... the main accomplishment was PAINTING the cat-mouth artwork on the cowling. The interior is a combination of Verlinden resin parts for the floor and side panels and HodgePodge PE parts for the main instrument panel (with film instruments), the seat, and side wall detailing. I also scratchbuilt the engine water injection storage tank behind the cockpit since it would be visable through the -3 side windows. The rudder pedals are HP PE parts (with Grumman on them!) but I had to scratchbuild their frames. The kit only had a hole for the tail wheel, so I scratchbuilt a well for it. The main gear bay detailing mysteriously stopped half-way back in the tire well, so the rear half of each of them needed to be detailed with strip plastic. The wells also needed to be closed off at the rear and their outlines around the tire wells corrected so that there was a curve along their inside edges along the top. You can also see the HP PE gear up-lock hooks added in each well. The kit's aileron hinges were solid blobs so they were cut off and replaced with HP PE actuators that have the proper see-through underside to them. The kit engine is almost a kit in itself and VERY complete for its age. All I did was add plug wire receptacles and ignition cables made from solder wire. The cat-mouth artwork is a combination of masking and painting for the eye and mouth outlines and teeth along with detailing for and around them added using black and red very fine point Sharpie pens. The hardest part wasn't the artwork itself as much as making sure the masking for both sides was even and symmetrical from all angles! The approach light in the leading edge of the wing was added using an MV lens with a clear cover made from packing tape. I scratchbuilt a Mk.VIII gun sight (8 parts!) and also added the bullet proof glass panel behind the windshield that the kit omitted. The dropped flaps and open cowl flaps are a kit option. The kit has indented scribing on the wings and forward fuselage, but I had to scribe in all of rest of the main fuselage and tail panel lines using a razor saw. I added position lights to the rear fuselage above the tail hook and on the fuselage spine. Also note the blue formation light that was drilled, painted, and given a UV cured resin lens top on the outer part of each top wing. The wingtip lights are drilled and painted clear plastic that was then sanded and polished to shape. I also used aftermarket brass .50 gun barrels, each one cut to its proper length. I added brake lines and gear actuator struts to each of the landing gear and also drilled out their scissors links. The tires are aftermarket resin. I also added MV lens IFF lights under the rear fuselage bottom and the -3 landing light under the left wing. All in all this was a fun build that only took me about 3 weeks. It was also nostalgic as I originally built it back in the late '70s. Now I have to figure out if I can get one more built before the Nats! Critiques, comments, and questions welcome as always! Gil

My latest project was a vinyl kit, the Pegasus Triceratops. Even though I've been building models since the mid 1950's (not a typo) this is my first vinyl kit. It was a very enjoyable build!

This is for the real old-timers. In an episode of the old “ Sky King” adventure series, the one entitled “Sky Robbers,” Penny flies a small, single engine, low wing monoplane with fixed landing gear. She wins the Lady’s Pylon Race in it. Can anyone identify what that aircraft is? Thanks. (I hope this is the correct place for this thread!) Nick Filippone

HI ! Here another project I have done in the past , if you like to view more pics , just follow this GOOGLE link : https://photos.app.goo.gl/oY8cW5E3w14HXcSQ6 Enjoy ! Jmarc

The Silicon Valley Scale Modelers had a contest called "Build Your Name." Unlike Frank Babbitt (who did a Ki-84) or Eugenie Ray (whose pre-marriage initials were E.T., hence her little spaceship), I had no obvious options. I built the plane flown by Robert C. Buchholz of the Fourth Fighter Group (you can read his full story here: https://obscureco.wordpress.com/2026/04/12/metronymic-mustang-building-lt-robert-buchholz-p-51d-10-from-the-eduard-172-kit/ ) who was not a close relation (although his name is spelled like my family's was before they immigrated from Hamburg in the 1880s). The Eduard kit is a step up in detail and accuracy from the Tamiya kit, but a step down in ease of construction. The surface is detail is... well, a bit overdone. Some areas of construction, like the instrument panel/rudder/windscreen, don't fit very well. The 108-gallon tanks in the kit don't fit particularly well; with Eduard's Brassin line, one could be cynical and say there was a reason for that. Different variants need you to scribe or fill lines; pay particular attention if you do a D-5 with a fillet. All that said, the cockpit looks great, they give you tank options we've never had before, and a bit of modeling is rewarded. I used True North paint for the red and white trim and Alclad II for the fuselage. The wings were puttied, sanded and painted with Floquil old silver.

Here it is finally finished, my build of the Academy M3A1 Stuart Light Tank, in the markings of the USMC 3rd Tank Battalion on Bougainville in late 1943. The kit comes with a fairly comprehensive interior, but I added some missing details in there, as well as some on the external extra fuel tanks and some reinforcement iron bars on the rear fenders that photos showed. I replaced the kit headlight brush guards with some 3D printed ones and an engine exhaust screen that I printed up from files that I bought off of Cults3D. Paints are primarily AK Real Colors, along with AK, Vallejo, and Humbrol acrylics. I used the kit decals, and surprisingly they did not cause any problems as Academy decals often are reputed to do. And just for some size comparisons, this thing is pretty small… Bigger than a jeep Much smaller than an Easy 8 Sherman and pretty close in size to WC-51 3/4 ton truck… Thanks for looking, comments and critiques are welcome…

Hi ! Here a project I have done in the past using the MONOGRAM kit , if you like to view more pics, Just follow this link : https://photos.app.goo.gl/5ujTjFCJ6F9YiyTn6 Enjoy ! Jmarc