SPA Modeler

Well, three aircraft and a helicopter....

Despite having almost no time this month to do anything, I managed to squeeze in an hour or two occasionally on the bench. Thanks to Hobby Day though; which gave me a lot of time to work on things, I completed the following aircraft:
1/72 scale Hasegawa US Marine AV-8B Harrier






Yes, the canopy is a fogged out mess! That is the result of using Mr. Mask liquid masking agent. If it didn't remain sticky the whole time it was on the canopy, it dried up so bad I had to scrape it off with a chisel. The sticky part wouldn't even come off without major persuasion; it would just stick back to the canopy when I tried to scrape it off. I used Goo Gone to try and clean it; I coated it in Furture, you see the results of both attempts. I will try to source a new canopy and windscreen for this model. Until then, I'm calling it done. If I waited till every model part was found or damaged ones replaced; I'd never be able to claim completions!

Moving on.....
The next one is a 1/72 scale Revell German Ho-229 Horten Flying Wing "Blue 4":






Followed by a 1/72 scale Trumpeter FC-1/JF-17 Thunder done in Pakistani markings:






Finally we wrap up with another US Marine subject, a 1/72 scale Dream Models US Marine AH-1Z Cobra:






There you have it, the last aircraft built in 2022 . My apologies for the picture quality, I still haven't found my camera. Thank you all for looking in, comments are welcome.

Great additions to your collection. Are you going to try polishing that canopy?

Bummer about the canopy. Your production level is astounding Mark. Pakistan markings… very cool. I may have to look into more international markings. Great stuff

That sucks on the foggy canopy. Loving the builds. Well done, Mark!

Nice foursome there Mark. For a little aircraft terminology help, it’s not three aircraft and a helo, but three fixed wing and one rotary wing aircraft Helos are aircraft too! You might hurt their feelings
I bet like Lyle said you could polish up that Harrier canopy to clean up the fogging. Then a dip in Future and you’ll be all better.

Do you think that you might get any more builds finished before the end of the year next weekend?

LyleW wrote: ↑Fri Dec 23, 2022 6:41 pm Great additions to your collection. Are you going to try polishing that canopy?

Thank you Lyle! To be honest, I did try to polish the canopy. Even after the Goo Gone treatment and other attempts to remove the gunk. All polishing did was make the mess worse, smearing the gunk even more.

keavdog wrote: ↑Fri Dec 23, 2022 7:03 pm Bummer about the canopy. Your production level is astounding Mark. Pakistan markings… very cool. I may have to look into more international markings. Great stuff

Thank you John! I try to keep busy, although looking back I still wonder how I found the time to get this many done with all that was going on. Whenever I can, I try to find certain international markings to add to certain aircraft. It sure allows for more models to increase the size of the collection.

Thank you Blacksheep!

Stikpusher wrote: ↑Sat Dec 24, 2022 10:03 am Nice foursome there Mark. For a little aircraft terminology help, it’s not three aircraft and a helo, but three fixed wing and one rotary wing aircraft Helos are aircraft too! You might hurt their feelings
I bet like Lyle said you could polish up that Harrier canopy to clean up the fogging. Then a dip in Future and you’ll be all better.

Do you think that you might get any more builds finished before the end of the year next weekend?

Thank you Carlos! I'll try to remember that distinction. Maybe that Zulu Cobra was giving me such a hard time while building it because of my faux pas.As for the canopy, I did try to polish it and only smeared the gunk around even worse. Future didn't help; there was still too much residue still on there that wouldn't come off. I don't see any alternative but replacements.

Looking at my workbench I don't foresee anything close enough to complete in time. One tiny, slim possibility would be a WWI FWD 3-ton ammo carrier started by Reed West that I acquired. The build is practically done, just need to assemble the subassemblies, add details and paint. We'll see.


Thanks again guys for the awesome comments!

Great work Mark! Sucks about the canopy on the Harrier.

Duke man that was a heck of an effort to try and save that canopy Hope you can get a replacement soon. Looks like a great month for you. My favorite is the whirlybird

Thank you Mike! Yeah, it does. It ain't the first one to really mess up. I have an Mi-24 Hind in Nigerian markings that is done except for the canopy...

Thank you Mongoose! I hope I can find something as well. We'll see. Yeah, it was a great month; probably my best all year when it comes to finishing models.

Congratulations on adding four more to the shelf Mark! Sorry the Canopy fogged so bad on the Harrier