My 2016 Production at Maddog Manufacturing

[Duke Maddog]

Thanks Saltydog! My apologies for taking so long to answer. Yeah, I'm a bit of a mad dog modeler. I always try to get a lot done when I can find time for the workbench. Lately, I've had a real hard time getting to the workbench....


Thanks again for stopping in and commenting!

[Duke Maddog]

Well, I'm home now and just finished a two-day model building binge at Hobby Day Friday and Saturday. I actually have something to post now for once.


I'll start with a couple things I worked on before leaving on my trip. I did these while recovering from my biopsy. To start out with, I tried to rig my SE-5A. That was an unmitigated disaster. I got 65% of it done and then somehow everything unraveled. It's kind of hard to see but here's the results:





After that fiasco, I decided to do something simple. I put away the biplane and pulled out my Boxer Command vehicle and added the third camouflage color to it:





That one is now ready for clearcoat and decals. Finally....




After my vacation, I went to Hobby Day and these are the things I got done.

First off, I worked a bit more on my Hippy Ed Tribute plane; completing my Vigilante cockpit:





After that, I closed everything up inside the fuselage:



Later on, I cemented together all the parts that had been molded in half: wings, tail surfaces, vertical tail fin, bombs, drop tanks, etc. Once I'd done that I dry-fitted the wings to the fuselage to see how it looks. This is gonna be one big aircraft:





Moving on, I started on my armor again so I could get done with my last ones to make it to 700. I pulled out my Japanese Patriot PAC III system and completed the launch carriage for the launching boxes:



I then assembled all the boxes and got them mounted on the carriage and then added that to the trailer. This little vehicle is starting to look pretty good! It is much closer now to the paint stage, possible this weekend or so:



And, they made it so that the launching boxes raise into firing position:




After this, I pulled out my Pershing II system and tried to work on that. I really didn't get far on that: I just added a few extra parts to the chassis and sanded and fixed up the rocket:



After giving up on that, I moved on and pulled out one of the models I'd been wanting to build. I decided to start the Modelcollect T-14 Armata tank as one of my two CTA campaign models over on the Alliance.

I started out with the turret; getting it all assembled, but not adding any of the detail pieces yet. This kit does come with an beautifully turned brass barrel:



Next I moved on and added all the roadwheels to the lower hull:



Afterward I assembled all the parts to the upper hull, adding the side skirts and hatches, but none of the photo etch yet:



There were two boxes that went on in the back of the upper hull so I added the upper and lower hulls together to make sure they sat in the proper position:



Since I had these together, why not add the turret to see what this looks like? This is one beefy looking tank! That turret looks too small on top of that monstrosity:



That's all I got done on that so far. Next I pulled out the other model I was going to do for the CTA campaign on the Alliance. This one is the Hasegawa Leopold rail gun. I didn't do much to this one; I only cemented the two halves of the barrel together:



And finally, during all this (as mentioned in the Latest Acquisitions Thread) my friend brought me the Borax wagon train. I pulled that out and got started on it. Here's the first wagon partially assembled:



This is how it looked completed:



I then built the second one. It was a lot like the first so it went together fast:



Finally, I built the water wagon. That was easy, except I'm going to have a time sanding the seam on the sides. In this pic, the tank is just sitting on the chassis so I can get to the sides better:



Here's a final shot of the three of them all together. This is looking pretty good!



Now I'll need a nice long board to build a base on so these will sit well.

Okay, that's all my progress for this past couple days. I hope you enjoyed your trip through the Manufacturing Plant floor again. I don't know when I'll be able to do anything more, but all comments are welcome. Thanks for looking in.

[Stikpusher]

Nice varied bunch of projects there... Something old and something new... civil and military. I really like that mule team project. That will every cool to see once completed. You're making rapid progress on it so far. Does it come with the mules?
Did you make it to AMPS yesterday? I had to scrub going at the last minute due to a snafu... I really was looking forward to going. But I will be at IPMS on Friday!

[Stuart]

I agree with Stik Duke - Superb work as always and what a really interesting mix of projects. I'm looking forward to seeing more of the mule train - how are you planning on painting the mules/horses?

[Duke Maddog]

Thanks for the awesome comments guys!

Carlos, I did make it to AMPS and we got a lot of great things coming up. One of my favorite ideas will be a four-hour build competition in November next year: See if you can build a model in four hours or less. Doesn't even have to be armor, so I'm thinking a lot of guys will bring submarines to build! LOL!! They will even have a dehydrator there to dry paint faster.

The Mule train was quite fast to build, despite it's age. Yes, it does come with mules, as well as a shiny rope for the hitches. I'll use it but I hope to tone it down quite a bit. I may get to them next time. And yes, they do have all twenty mules!

Looking forward to seeing you at IPMS!

Thanks Portman! I will have to look at the mules, but I'm thinking airbrushing them with a wash and some details (hooves, eyes, manes, etc.) They will most likely all be brown since mules are typically brown.

Stay tuned, I hope to have more done soon.

[Duke Maddog]

Okay, I had some time today so here's a small update on some other models I'm trying to get done.

I'll start with two of my large aircraft that need a silver finish. I decided to try something new that I'd been recommended: Vallejo's Liquid Metal coat. I shot it straight through the airbrush onto both of these aircraft and I'm wondering if I should have thinned it. It doesn't show very well in these pics, but there's a number of issues with these basecoats.

Here's the B-377:



And here's the C-118:



I started on the bottom with this one since it needs white across the top. I keep praying that I get a smooth, even finish but so far it is eluding me.


Moving on, I decided to get further along on my three German vehicles that have been sitting for too long.

All three were clearcoated for decals:



Decals were then applied. Here's the Boxer for the APC campaign:



Now the Boxer Command version:



And finally, the Tpz Fuchs:




Before all that, while I had the airbrush out; I had shot a basecoat of green drab over the Japanese prototype armored car:



I also shot the same basecoat on the Patriot system too since I had the color available:



It's kind of hard to see in these pics given how close the basecoat is to the original color, but it's there. I should be able to move on and get the second color on the A/C; as well as start detailing the Patriot.

Finally, while waiting for all these to dry, I started on a vehicle I've been wanting to start but was put off by the delicate nature of the suspension. Since this wasn't going to build itself, I bit the bullet and got going. Here is some of the suspension started; with the instructions showing what I'm supposed to do in the background:



Only six more of those to do.....

This also put me off starting this sooner. These are the rocket tubes for this model that need to be built. On the left is the un-started sprue showing all the parts for two rocket tubes. On the right is one of the sprues with the rocket tube parts put together into tubes. I have six of these sprues to do for all twelve tubes; I've completed three of the six sprues so far:



Now my cold meds are kicking in, so it's time to take a nap. Enjoy this short trip through the manufacturing plant once again.

Thanks for looking in, comments are welcome.

[Stikpusher]

On my phone screen everything looks great. But I really do need to have a look in a full sized monitor screen...

[mostrich]

Maddog, your three German vehicles woke up nice memories of my service time. Though the Boxer still was in development back then, the Fuchs (fox) was common equipment for us corps men.

The Patriot system kicks a**, too! Modellcollect seems to be the new standard out there.

[Duke Maddog]

Thanks Carlos! They might be a lot better on a large computer screen; but even on mine, it's hard to see any of the issues on the aircraft. I've blown up the small scale stuff so it can be seen better though.

Thanks Mostrich! It's good to know I can bring back good memories. As for the Patriot, yes, that does kick a**. It is however, an Aoshima kit, but you are fully correct: Modelcollect is the new high standard for small scale armor models! That is proven by their Pershing II kit; the T-14, and the SMERCH; all of which are under construction. Not to mention the four or five other Modelcollect Russian tanks I've already finished.

[Duke Maddog]

Well, I won't be building anything for awhile; so I'm gonna post what I did get done before I was forced to stop. The reason will be mentioned at the end of this post. Before that though, I wanted to show some of the issues I had with the Vallejo Liquid Metal. From front to back:









You can see most of it seems to be the paint drying before it hits the model. Once I get more of this, I'll try again; this time thinning it with alcohol as suggested on the bottle.



Meanwhile, I tried to get further along on my German vehicles. To start, I started installing the wheels on my Tpz Fuchs, along with some tools and other detail parts:



Next I started building the weapon station/remote control turret on my Boxer Command vehicle:



I continued by adding some bits and bobs to it:



Finally, I did the same to my Boxer APC. I added the gun to the remote turret and then added some tools and antennas, among other parts. I also started to install the wheels to this. If it looks like it is leaning, it's because it is. I only got the wheels on the one side:





And now for the reason I won't be building for awhile. I need to heal.

Yesterday while working at a house, I shot my hand with a 16-penny pneumatic air nail gun. The nail went more than halfway inside my hand at the base joint of my thumb, scraping the bone inside and creating whole new definitions of pain. Right now, my hand is braced so that it can't move; thankfully:



Any movement creates new adventures in screaming, intense pain. I am on strong antibiotics now. The only 'redeeming' thing about this experience was that I got to experience morphine for the first time. It did nothing to dull the pain at all, but it sure made it easier to deal with!


Okay, that is about all I have for awhile. My apologies for this and trust me; there's nothing you can say about my thoughtlessness and carelessness that hasn't already been said; nor is it worse than anything I'm feeling about my stupidity now. Meanwhile I'll just keep checking in once in awhile and possibly post. It does take forever to post with my left hand...