SPA Modeler

BlackSheep214 wrote: ↑Sun Dec 14, 2025 8:16 pm Wow…. You nailed this one out of the park! Well done, Gary!

Thanks a lot, Tom!

Stuart wrote: ↑Mon Dec 15, 2025 5:55 am That's a cracking build Tony, very nicely done and well deserved of a photo-shoot!

Thanks, Stuart! Much appreciated, dude!

Tojo72 wrote: ↑Mon Dec 15, 2025 8:11 am Gary your pictures put your great builds over the top

Thank you so much for the lovely comments, Tony!

When this one was built, probably in 1991-'93, I was working on a model almost everyday. I remember staying up late to get a part finished many times, and sure enough, I was turning them out regularly back then. Remember, this was pre-internet and a time when a new FSM magazine was looked forward to with great anticipation. It seems that I didn't really know that much about building models but I had the enthusiasm in spades! I wish I could attain that level of interest and involvement again!

I do have some modeling inspiration going at the present and want to take full advantage of that; hopefully in the months ahead, I'll have new models to display. I have several that have been finished in the last decade that haven't been photographed yet and I hope to change that soon! Thanks for all your interest, my friends!!

Beautiful work Gary! Your airport photos of your builds are always the icing on the cake with a cherry on top!

Gary Brantley wrote: ↑Sun Dec 14, 2025 6:01 pm

speedgraflex wrote: ↑Sun Dec 14, 2025 5:33 pm Bravo, Gary! These 2017 shots are wonderful. A small picky note photographer to photographer—shot 2 in the series the top edge of the canopy and the roof line of the background building have unfortunately fallen visually on top of each other and I think that’s slightly confusing and takes away from the composition. Otherwise, really beautiful images taken with a great deal of panache! Are you going to publish these in a book?

Thank you, Bruce! That means a lot to me. Man, you're sure right about that 2nd shot, and of course, that would be the only full-view I have of the SB side. I need to be more aware of those sight line conflicts in the future. I did once think about having a book made of airport images of my models; holding it to two pics per model would be tough and those would be hard to choose. Times about 40, iirc. But it would be fun to peruse, as would a book devoted to photos of my firearms.

It would be possible to extend the roofline of the building as it is and get it slightly above the canopy; Photoshop has some tools for this sort of thing. In the days of old we could airbrush a bit of extension. Nowadays we simply lasso the area and create a generative extension. I don’t know how you feel about using AI, though. Pro? Contra?

Stikpusher wrote: ↑Mon Dec 15, 2025 12:48 pm Beautiful work Gary! Your airport photos of your builds are always the icing on the cake with a cherry on top!

Many thanks, Carlos! Your wonderful comments mean a lot to me, my friend!

speedgraflex wrote: ↑Mon Dec 15, 2025 1:13 pm

It would be possible to extend the roofline of the building as it is and get it slightly above the canopy; Photoshop has some tools for this sort of thing. In the days of old we could airbrush a bit of extension. Nowadays we simply lasso the area and create a generative extension. I don’t know how you feel about using AI, though. Pro? Contra?

I have some serious reservations about AI in general. As a retired teacher, I can see many pitfalls in it. For creative uses? Well, I can see positive and negative outcomes. I don't think it's too soon to consider some sort of regulation concerning how it may be used to manipulate images, and consequently, history itself.

Beautiful Build Gary. Love that kit. When I was a teen, I built the Monogram F-14A and my older brother attempted the Monogram F-15. It was a a short lived pattern of sibling rivalry behavior that ended with me building 2 Monogram B-17G's and he attempting the Monogram B-29A. That is where it stopped. He gave up modeling then and there and here I am 40 years later still builiding

speedgraflex wrote: ↑Mon Dec 15, 2025 4:19 pm I agree, Gary. I feel we collectively opened the divide between makers and fans or creators and consumers in a way that cannot be closed, more makers are going to suffer as a result of quick results rather than traditional processes. I’m still drawing and painting by hand because really although I have worked digitally and I can, I’ve often found that I’m in places where pencil and paper are the only tools available. And not to fetishize making by hand I can compare and contrast the Lord of the Rings trilogy versus The Hobbit and quite clearly pencil, paper and miniatures was used on one show while the other was a larger digital development emphasis.

I totally agree! I was shocked by those Hobbit movies; adding so much that wasn't in the book at all and then leaving out parts that should've been in. Why couldn't they have just stayed true to the original?

cbaltrin wrote: ↑Mon Dec 15, 2025 8:48 pm Beautiful Build Gary. Love that kit. When I was a teen, I built the Monogram F-14A and my older brother attempted the Monogram F-15. It was a a short lived pattern of sibling rivalry behavior that ended with me building 2 Monogram B-17G's and he attempting the Monogram B-29A. That is where it stopped. He gave up modeling then and there and here I am 40 years later still builiding

Thanks so much, Chris! It's a good ol' Monogram classic now,I guess! I'll bet you brothers had the paint and glue flying back then, hammering together those Monogram beauties (and heavies! ). Do any of those builds survive today? Lemme guess...big brother took up golf?

No, my brother turned out to be a computer geek, not sure he has any hobbies actually, maybe woodworking...
Not sure what ever happened to the B-29--don't think it ever got finished. I left the B-17's at home when I left for the navy and my Dad claims:quotes: they got lost during a move. Personally, I think he sold them to an Arab for a daily delivery of eggs (That's a movie ref, do you get it ). I had build the B-24D "Moby Dick" as well -- really like that one. No idea what happened to it either.

This might help Gary
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZXyUPYPwWbg&t=522s