Scale Plastic Aircraft Modeler member interview
Mark Deliduka aka Duke
Rowland Heights, California
The story of my user name is quite simple. Because of my last name 'Deliduka' where the 'duk' is pronounced 'duke' I've been called "Duke" or 'the Duke" by others It especially helpful when there are a lot of other guys in the room named Mark. One of my bosses in the past, when he saw my initials “M.A.D.,” started calling me Maddog. So, when the time came for me to choose a user name for all my online game and Forum accounts, I combined the two into "Duke Maddog.”
When my wife found out about my new user name, she decided to make me an avatar. She chose an angry puppy; gave him a crown, a sword and a purple cape that she added an 'M' to; all through the magic of photoshop. Then she sized it to the common avatar sizes. And that is where my avatar comes from.
1. First model kit?
First ever model was a 1/48 scale Aurora Sabre Dog that I built on the kitchen table with my mom. The first ever model I built by myself and kept was a 1/72 scale MPC Profile Series Focke Wulf FW-190 D-9. I still have that model!
2. Preferred scale?
For aircraft, vehicles, real space, as well as small boats; I prefer 1/72 scale. For ships, my preferred scales range between 1/450 scale and 1/700 scale, depending on the subject.
3. Preferred subject or subjects?
That's hard to narrow down. I build such a wide range of models within the limits of my chosen scales that that I really can't say. I can only offer that anything that truly catches my fancy is preferred.
4. Favorite model built to date?
That's a toughie as I have so many favorites.... I'd probably have to say that, as of now; it is my 1/72 scale Dora rail gun.
5. Hardest model built to date?
Hmm, there's a three-way tie for that one. I built two Maquette kits and an Armageddon kit that fit that description. The Maquette kits were a Ka-60 and a C-75. The Armageddon kit was the 6.5-foot-long Panzerzug BP-44 Armored Train. All three of the kits required a belt sander and a chain saw to cut, shape and refine the massive block of misshapen plastic I assembled from the parts. In the case of the train, one car had to be heated in boiling water and clamped between two boards to remove the double warp in the whole train car.
6. Holy Grail kit?
The 1/24th scale Chitty Chitty Bang Bang car. I've wanted it ever since I saw the movie as a kid. Never seen or heard of any available except once and it was given to another modeler. Heartbreaking. I seriously doubt I'll ever get that one though.
7. Favorite kit maker?
Right now it's Modelcollect. They have a full range of 1/72 scale modern Russian vehicles that nobody had ever even considered bringing out before and they are all so super detailed and extremely well engineered.
8. Favorite glue or glues?
Testor's orange tube glue as well as the two Tamiya liquid glues right now. Coming in a close second is Gator Grip glue.
9. Favorite paint?
Model Master enamels. Easy to mix, paint and airbrush for me. I'm also so used to using them that they are too easy for me and cover so exceptionally well for me. I'm going to be heartbroken when I can no longer get them.
10. What started you as a modeler?
Amazingly enough.... my mother. She had built models in her childhood and youth. When I was born I was an obnoxious, hyperactive, borderline autistic, borderline ADD kid that always seemed to need attention. If I was quiet, it meant I was asleep or lying bleeding out somewhere. One day I was driving my mother crazy looking for attention (I was six about to turn seven) and so she gave me two aircraft carrier models and a battleship model she had built in her youth. I took them and played with them until they broke and came back to her saying "Fix them mommy!" She handed me a bottle of Elmer's and told me to go fix them myself. I took the glue, took the models and went into another room. Three hours later, my mother realized she hadn't heard a peep out of me and started tearing through the house with visions of me bleeding out running through her head. She finally found me in an upstairs room meticulously holding a part in place patiently waiting for the Elmer's to dry enough to hold the part. That's when she realized that introducing me to model building would be a great distraction, interest and focus for me as well as a way to get some peace and quiet! It was soon after that when we had moved and got settled in at our new place that she brought out the Sabre and built it with me at the kitchen table. With the exception of a two-year break after I moved out in my early 20's, I haven't stopped building since.
The rest, as they say.... is history.
Oh, and if anyone is interested, as of the date of this questionnaire; I have completed 1514 models; all of which I still have.
