Today I finally had a chance to work on models for the first time in over a month. I've been overwhelmed with a whole mess of things coming at me all at once; including more work than I can shake a stick at. I'm thrilled to be working, yet was pleasantly surprised at the chance to take a day off today. This gave me a chance to get some modeling done and boy did it feel good!
This will be a short update given how little Ive been able to build as of late.
I'll start with a couple fun projects that had been delayed a bit too long. This first one is my SE-5A for the Canvas Eagles game. I finally pulled all the masking, added the propeller and front of the engine cover; and then added the landing gear and the top wing to this bird:
Next up I started to work on my Monkeemobile again, hoping to get to the point where I could finally close it up. I painted the interior and the roof cover, but I didn't get pics of them. Later, I started the top part of the engine and got it all completed:
Next I dry-fit that to the body after adding the headlights and split grill:
Looking pretty good. That's when I ran into a snag. The engine I built first has disappeared. Until I find it, I can't do much more to this. Hopefully I'll find it soon; it's not like it's a tiny piece for cryin' out loud!
Moving right along, I decided to try and get closer to my 700ct goal. Since I finally got the Pershing II missile system, I was eager to get started on it. The first thing I found was an interesting concept: the missile was broken down into six parts that had to be assembled:
I started by cementing two of the quarter sections together to make halves, then I cemented the two warhead halves together:
Next I put the whole thing together:
Not bad, but it's going to take a lot of cleanup. What an ordeal that was trying to get that all lined up!
Speaking of ordeals, next I started the chassis. This was not good: this kit went old school requiring you to take the chassis rails and cross braces and assemble them into a perfectly lined up and squared off chassis:
After that, I had enough. The rest of this went back into the box for another day.
I didn't stop there with the difficult builds. I pulled out the Russian Armored Train and went to work on two more of the quad maxims. What a mindbogglingly frustrating adventure that was! I did manage to finally get them assembled; after having them break apart numerous times every time I tried to adjust them or add something else. They are not perfectly aligned, but they are done!
First Part:
Second part:
Anyone who says anything about them being misaligned can assemble my last two for me and show me how it's supposed to be done!
Once the guns were done, I assembled and installed the mounting posts for these quads on the two places they needed to go. One goes on the little ZIS-5 truck:
Which then gets mounted on a flatcar:
The space in front of that truck will be holding a 47mm anti-tank gun.
The second quad gun goes on the engine and tender:
Once I get the rest of the P/E on the two long flatcars (one holds the truck and gun, the other holds the BT-5) and on the two smaller flatcars, this while thing will be ready for paint.
FINALLY!
After all this crap, I decided to go back to something simple. I pulled out the Command Boxer and started the second color on the three-tome camo pattern:
Later on I'll add the third color. Then I'll be able to clearcoat both Boxers and the Fuchs and decal them all, give them washes and then get them finished.
After this, I figured it was time to move on with my Japanese Patriot system. I finished off the trailer; adding the wheels later after these pics were taken:
Next I went back and painted the interior of the cab. Then I assembled the cab and added it to the main chassis:
I know it appears that the cab is leaning forward, but I assure you it is straight. The whole thing is an optical illusion. I should know; I kept checking the cab alignment every few minutes!
That being said, the cab is set up so it does tilt forward to show off the engine. I thought that was pretty cool!
Here's a couple shots of the whole thing put together. This is pretty impressive:
All I have now to do with this is assemble the Patriot missile boxes and mount them on the mechanism that raises them up to fire. I'm looking forward to getting this painted along with several other models.
That's all I have for this short update. It ain't much and probably will be the last for a while until I can get more of these jobs done. So enjoy them now and remember, comments are welcome. I probably won't be able to respond to anything until Sunday at the earliest, so don't worry if there's no replies by me. So let me say up front: Thanks for looking in.
