SPA Modeler

Superb stuff as ever Mark!

Thank you Tom!

Thank you Stuart!

I got more hopefully coming soon. Stay tuned!

Wouh Mark, this starts to be incredible!

Do you still find enough of kits in 1/72 ? I think you have build most of them by now ??

- Kari

I think Duke needs to compare his stash to the entire airfix 1/72 catalogue...
Amazing builds!

My apologies for the very late reply. I'd been out to San Diego Comicon for four days.

Thank you Kari! Yes I do; in fact there's quite a few I still need to get. I'm working on it.

Thank you Caesar! I have already built every Airfix 1/72-1/76 scale vehicle kits they ever offered. As for all the kits offered by Airfix; if you count everything I ever built; I probably have completed more than they offer in their catalog.

It's been awhile, so it's time for another tour. This time we've opened up the Hangar to work on some aircraft, the Spaceport is still slowly plugging along and the Motor Pool is still in full production mode. So, all aboard the Trams and get ready for a fun tour!

First stop is in the Hangar, here we have three projects going. In this first bay is the A-model Russian Yak-28R reconnaissance plane. It goes together very roughly as you can see. The wings are not attached at this time:


Later, additional parts were added and a copious amount of putty was applied to help streamline and refine this. Again, wings still not attached:


Interestingly enough, this box also included a Hobby Boss quick-build F-86 so I figured I'd start that too. I got this far before stopping. I'm still not sure what markings I'll be applying to this since I already have a couple US jets and maybe a Canadian one already:


In between all that, I continued to try and sand and fill and sand my two B-2 bombers. For some reason, I keep finding tiny divots and holes that refuse to stay filled when I sand these planes! I keep trying to experiment with different putties and fillers:


In that pic above, you can see where I applied some plastic that I'd melted in a jar of Acetone. The wings kept snapping open so I pressed a bunch of this inside the seams; added a quantity of Tamiya Extra Thin to smooth it out and make it hold better, and then took to sanding it later.

That concludes the tour of the Hangar, now on to the Motor Pool.....
In this first bay, we continued to work on the FAUN SLT-56 tractor, adding the decals to it:



The Trailer then got decals, but also the folding loading ramps which would be painted later:


In the next bay we have another German truck, the Armory model of the Tatra T-111 cargo truck. First the cab was built up:


I then followed up with the chassis and cargo bed:


Later, the cab was added, wheels installed. The the cab roof was dry fit in this picture. You can see why with the step in the cab at the rear:


Later the tilt was added and everything painted including the cab interior. The roof was then added. I lined it up with the front of the cab:


I couldn't let that step at the rear stand, so I took some styrene strip and cemented it to the back of the roof until it was flush with the rear wall of the cab:


When it was dry, I trimmed it down flush with the roof top and sanded it smooth:


Later paint made it look like no step was ever there:


This truck was then very close to finishing. By the way, I might not have mentioned yet, but this Tatra T-111 kit came with no instructions at all; and none were available on Scalemates or any other site. This kit was built entirely blind and I think it turned out quite nicely. I guess maybe I am a modeler now instead of just an 'assembler' LOL!

Moving on to the next bay, I continued to work on my two BTR-50PK's. The Egyptian one went together okay (it's an ancient PST kit) and the tracks were certainly easier to install, but that seam on the side needed to go:


I added some extra detail parts first before filling and sanding:


Next came the Tamiya white putty:


You can see that I started to paint the base coat on it too. Later when it was sanded smooth, I finished painting the base coat and added the camouflage:


Once that dried, the decals went on. They are most likely fictitious, but the scream "Egyptian" so that is what I used:


The Russian BTR also went together a bit better, until I got to the tracks, which I somehow managed to wrestle into place despite constantly breaking roadwheels:


Base paint was then applied


Then I found the photo-etch fret inside the box, so I pulled it out and added it to the model, followed by the last detail parts:


A full coat of paint came later:


...followed by decals. Yes, they silvered, but I was able to save the numbers. The Guards symbol was later removed and replaced by better ones that stayed flat:


That's as far as I got on those. They are close to being finished.

Over in the next bay I decided to start another Egyptian subject, this time it is the Trumpeter SA-6 Gainful. Tracks and lower hull were done first:


The upper hull had the detail parts added next:


Then I built up the launcher cradle:


Put them all together and we have this:


Base paint went on next:


Later on it got camouflaged and the final detail painting was completed.

Moving on to the next bay, I decided to make my Riich Models M109A2 into an Italian gun. assembly was fast and furious:


Paint went on next. Later more detailed work went on:


Moving to the next bay, I started another ancient PST kit, this one was a combo kit of a halftrack with a 38mm anti-aircraft towed gun . I started with the gun itself:


...followed by the transport cradle:


Once I put them together, I started painting it:


Naturally, if I built the gun, I needed to build the halftrack for it. This is the Zis-42M halftrack, which built up fairly fast:


Parts of it had been painted, the rest of the paint went on later:


That's what got done on these, on to the next bay where I started another large kit in order to clear the large box from the shelf. This is the Modelcollect MAN KAT tractor trailer used by the US Army. The chassis was done first; you gotta love the detail on these models:


The cab was then worked on, assembling all but the windows:



I then moved on to build the trailer:


More was added to the chassis, including the photo-etch:


The cab was then painted inside and out, and the photo-etch was applied to that as well:

And that's how that has progressed so far.

In this last bay is another US Army truck, this time the Heller Red Ball Express deuce-and-a-half truck. Again, the chassis was started first:




Next came the cab, hood, and cargo bed:


Paint went on next after all that had dried sufficiently:


And that concludes the tour of the Motor Pool, now we can check out the progress in the Spaceport...

Here in the Space Port, I did more work on the Millennium Falcon. All the top decals went on first:


The I added all the underside decals when the top ones were dry:


After that, I started to experiment with weathering and distressing this beast. I don't want it to look decrepit, but certainly well used; or rather "rode hard and put away wet" I started with some black wash in the deepest recesses:




That's as far as I got while I try to determine the best way to weather the flat areas.
And now that completes this latest tour of Maddog Manufacturing, thank you all for looking in and comments are always welcome.

Well, we’ve been a busy little bee, haven’t we?

Amazing output with quality work!

Once again Mark has not been sleeping much....

I love it! Especially that Yak and the Saber...

Millenium Falcon…. brings back fond memories when I built mine back in the 70s. You’re a machine, Mark!

Thank you Lyle! Now I just have to finish things!

Thank you Carlos! Still trying to figure out what country I'll give the Sabre to. I need to see what I already have built.

Thank you Tom! Yeah, the Falcon is certainly something to remember!