Maddog Manufacturing 2017 Production Line

[speedgraflex]

Following your work is the same as taking a master class in model building, Duke. I am of the opinion that physical models must still be built; not everything is understood with rendering. It’s not possible. Also hand sculpted designs by kit makers are often superior jobs to the newer CAD ones, but I don’t subscribe to rivet counting, really. What I do subscribe to is if an airframe was engineered by hand initially, an interpretation by hand may be useful. Have you seen the fella in the UK who built a Spitfire and Mustang by forming parts in 1:5 scale??

http://www.spitfireinmyworkshop.net/

[Duke Maddog]

You honor me more than I deserve. I'm no Master so I can't offer a Master Class in modeling. I can show how to build multiples at once and also attempt to show how to keep improving on the basics. I also feel that by showing my mistakes, mishaps and issues; I can learn from those who no longer have to worry about them due to their skill set far exceeding any of those issues.

No, I hadn't seen that guy who did the Spitfire. I haven't had much time to wander the 'net much lately. Thanks for the link, I'll check it out.

[speedgraflex]

I keep learning from you, so keep doing what you do, Duke! The Dora, Mach X... there are some real works of art modeling from what you do. I agree with your sense of perspective and support your approach. One of the internet modelers wrote a bit of a personal argument about supportive comments in forum settings. He felt it was a waste of resources. I prefer kindness in all ways, and have found kind comments from you to personally pick me up when my ego has been cracked or shattered by the difficulties of building... or painting camo, particularly Luftwaffe late war patchy no primer camo, lol. We all fight second guessing and take shots at our own mistakes, but I find your advice and experience to be worthy of a master class. I don’t give praise without thinking about the way I want to be understood or how I want to be understood. I think your energy and focus are both ace level.

Addendum: the link to the fella online... he takes years to build one subject which is more of my groove I think than yours but wow... inspired work.

[Duke Maddog]

Thanks Bruce. I also appreciate great supportive comments and try my utmost to offer then to others when I have the time. I know how effective they can be. I have posted many times on a number of Forums that positive and supportive comments are what keep me motivated to continue building; especially when I hit a roadblock or a difficult step I cannot master. The more comments I get, the more I want to build on.

That being said, I've not done much lately, but I may have something to show soon. Stay tuned...

[Stuart]

Superb work all round Duke - I really like that collection of aircraft you have in progress.

Is that 737 in 1/72?

Cheers!

[Duke Maddog]

Thanks Portman! Yes, the 737 is in 1/72 scale.

[Stikpusher]

Nice current batch of builds Mark. I am really liking the Cobra and the T-80. Those two are just my speed! And like all the others here, my hat is off to you for your ability to handle so many projects at once! And complete so many regularly! Well done my friend!

[Duke Maddog]

Thanks Carlos! I am hoping to get something completed soon! Until then, enjoy this latest update....


Well, here's my progress on all the models I've been working on this past week and a half. I had a major setback this past weekend when I tried to shoot a clearcoat on my Boeing 737. It got badly messed up and I did something that I never ever did before: I threw this model in frustration. It is fixable, but I'm going to wait until I am no longer pissed at this one.

Moving on to my other aircraft, I shot another more complete coat of white on the Jetstream:



Later I masked off the top and tried to shoot a coat of metallic on the Jeststream. It needs some work:



I also shot the tan color on the Dagger:



Now I just need to mask some more to add another bit of Olive Drab to this. Then I'll be able to clearcoat and decal it.

Since I was still painting, I shot a basecoat of Olive Drab on the P-40. Here it is still a bit wet around the wing roots:





Later I made a poor attempt at color modulation here:



After sufficient drying time, I masked off the top and shot the Neutral Grey underside:



After all that painting it was time to take a bit of a break. I made an attempt at assembling the five pieces of canopy on my AH-1. I started with the top piece and added the two rear pieces to it and let that dry first:



Later on I added the two forward side pieces to complete the canopy:





Finally, in my aircraft; I started the stencil decals on my F-15E Strike Eagle. I got this far before I decided to call it quits for now:





I do have to hit a few of those with some more Solvaset. I plan on doing that and then sealing these before moving on to the rest. That way I have a 'handle' for shifting this plane around.



That's all I have on my aircraft for now. I did a ton of work on a number of my small scale armor models. For starters, I re-shot the basecoat of Dunklegelb on the Schturmtiger for a more even coat:





Next I painted the two other camouflage colors on the model. These colors were hand painted:





After that, I took a toothpick and added the dots for the ambush scheme on this tank:





Once that was all dry, I decided to experiment with different glues for gluing on the tracks. I took three of the indy tracks and glued them on with Tamiya glue from the orange-top bottle. You can see them on the drive sprocket:



On the other side, I glued the lower run of tracks on the wheels with Gator Grip Glue:



So far, both seem to be holding fairly well. We shall see whether they will stand up to painting and weathering.

Another model that needed improvement was the tank trailer from the USAAF re-supply set. I re-shot the OD on this to cover the patches I exposed when I sanded and fixed certain places:





Now this is ready for a gloss coat and decals.

Moving on, I completed the upper hull for the T-90 by adding the side skirts and extra armor:





This puppy is ready for paint now:



Since that was ready for paint, it was time to get the T-80 to the same level; or as close to it as I could. There is a lot of photo-etch on this after all. I started by adding more parts to the turret. The brass barrel is just dry-fit to the model:



Later on, I finished up the turret as much as I could:





Next I had to glue the two part upper deck together. I placed it here on the lower hull to hopefully get it to dry right:



It didn't, but it was easy to glue down straight later on when I added the torsion bars and roadwheels:





Later on, when all was dry enough, I added the side fenders to the hull:



Now to get all the photo etch on this model....


I wasn't ready for that so I decided to start another model; this time a Soviet ZIS-5V with a wooden cab. It was a quick build, more or less; once the parts were properly cleaned. I started with the chassis and the cab. The front of the cab is just dry-fit on for ease of painting the interior later:



I then built up the bed of the truck:



I then added the nose of the truck to the front of the cab and dry-fit everything together to see how it's gonna look:



After all that, I had done the decaling on the F-15 and when I stopped the plane; I figured I'd do some more decals on another model. I applied the decals to my Sherman with the minerollers:





Now to clearcoat this, dullcoat this; add the tracks, paint and weather it and I'll finally have this done!



And finally, I added a number of other details to the Russian carrier Baku and started the photo-etch parts. This has been a tough model to work on lately with all the tiny parts constantly breaking every time I try to move ahead on this. Anyway, I got a lot of additional parts on this; painted some details and started to paint other parts which aren't currently on this model. It might be hard to see in these pics. The island and 'cake stand' radar are both dry fit in place:






And that completes my latest week and a half of work on all these models. Thanks for looking in, comments are welcome.

[speedgraflex]

Hi Mark, I read your updates twice this morning than I took a nap and dreamt of I know not what, but coming back to look through your updates I am again amazed that you are able to put one project down and pick up another project without too much sweat n' pain. It seems so easy to do when you describe it. I am glad you are describing this technique. It's a really powerful lesson which I partially learned in art school when it comes to painting. See, what is great about model building is it is not simply manufacturing process painting simulation but has added light-shadow and even impasto art techniques embedded in its DNA. At least that's how I see it.
Most of the time I am assembly line factory painting until suddenly I am thrown into artistic techniques... but one technique that I "heard" early on from an instructor, which resonated in me but was not "learned" per se was "knowing when to walk away from a painting."

And every time I read through your posts I am reminded that this lesson is powerful. It is possible to learn incredible amounts through overkill, but in my mind that's a "Sith" approach. You keep working and working on something, keep adding layers and layers until that performance issue is resolved. The paint will shine or glow or look like patchy late Luftwaffe camo.

But that's not how to build models... or at least not how to build them and still feel any joy. It's better to be a Jedi and know your limits and step away when things are growing a bit... tense or complicated or both.

I have wanted to express this to you for some time now. I may have stopped and stated elsewhere that I am very much a "singular" builder, but your work reminds me that being open to the needs of the many... (wait, Star Trek? hm). Well you reminded me that I have a lot of lessons still to learn. Thanks so much!

I am excited to see that aircraft carrier in person!

[Duke Maddog]

Thanks Bruce for your insightful and thoughtful answer. I haven't always just added layers; I've had times when I stripped and repainted many times. One reason I am fighting so hard on models with white and metallic paint schemes is because those are two of my weakest skills. The third is a smooth and even gloss coat. Therefore, I feel if I keep at it over and over; someday it'll become easier and more consistent over time. I envy those who can simply close their eyes and shoot these paints and clearcoats; open there eyes and see a perfect coat the first time. There are so many people who are able to do it so well that they can't even describe how they do it; it is almost an unconscious act. I always have to fight to get results only slightly good compared to these Masters. Sometimes when I'm working on models, I feel like I'm fighting through a thicket of brambles while working on a particular skill set (gloss clearcoats/metallics/washes/whites). The most intense 'fights' get me a Third Place in a contest; sometimes a Second, but never any more than that. Too many others who get the Firsts and Best Of's seem to do flawless work without any of the struggles and issues I face every time I go on my Hobby Room. And they finish faster too; my C-118 would have taken most of them a month or three to finish almost flawlessly; while I'm going on two years of working on this and I'm still not done!

Personally, I don't care about getting the awards, my thrill is showing my work and sharing it with like enthusiasts who enjoy looking at it. I'm only using these 'placements' as a benchmark to describe the quality I would love to achieve that others seem to do without breaking a sweat. I would only consider myself a Master if I took a Best Of in a local contest or a First Place in a Nationals; only because they are the most visible 'benchmarks' that show I have achieved that level of quality in my work. I( don't know that those days will ever come, but I continue to strive for excellence while focusing on the enjoyment I get working on my models. If they don't 'measure up' by contest standards, they are still very pleasing to me and that is what is most important.


That being said, Bruce you need to make arrangements to come to Phoenix for the 2018 Nationals. I am already making preparations to bring my entire 700-piece armor collection and putting it on display there. You will be able to see the collection that you've only seen in the pics I sent you.

Okay, enough talk... I have models to try and finish before the IPMS Orange County meeting tomorrow night. I hope I can bring in four finished models.