A small step in the right direction?

Story here.  Maybe there is hope for the UK, though this may just be too little, too late.

The 2013 modeling project (week 12)

Well, after almost a month and a half, I finally got some modeling in.  At the present rate I’ll get 75 hours in for the year.  That is sad.  My only work was on the Hasegawa B-24D.

P.S> This is post number 1400 on this blog.

An I always thought of the Poles as the wiser men of Europe

This is INSANE.

70th wedding anniversary

Last year my in-laws celebrated their 70th wedding anniversary.  Not many couples make it that far.  Story here.  Sadly, since that story was written, my father-in-law has passed away.

Magazine review: RT Vol. 34 No. 4 (Fall/Winter 2012)

RT Vol.34 #4

As you know if you have read my previous reviews, I am of the opinion that the two of the best modeling magazines out there today are the magazines produced by the national chapters of IPMS in the USA and Canada.  The IPMS/Canada magazine is Random Thoughts (RT) and it is printed four times a year.

Like the IPMS/USA Journal, RT is wholly produced by volunteers and all of the content is from members.  In this particular issue, there are a wide variety of modeling subjects presented.  There is a wonderful article on a 1/144^th airliner in Air Canada markings.  The author finds a unique use for pearlescent nail polish.  I would have never thought you could airbrush it.

There is an article on a 35^th scale Valentine tank for the armor guys, a 32^nd scale CF-18B, an article on a 72^nd U-boat that was captured and used by the Canadians in World War II.  Finally, there is a long article on building the Eagle space vehicle from the TV show Space:1999.  (If you remember that show you are at least as old as I am).

One year memberships in IPMS/Canada are $24 CAN and can be had by sending a check to IPMS/Canada, Box 626, Stn B, Ottawa, ON K1P 5P7, CANADA.  I highly recommend joining.  You won’t regret it.

A great Christmas story

I know Christmas has passed, but I meant to post this at the time and things got past me.  The man who wrote the story is my maternal great-grandfather.  Story here.

Book review: American Aces against the Kamikaze

Book review: American Aces against the Kamikaze
Osprey Aircraft of the Aces #109
Author: Edward M. Young
96 pgs
14pgs color illustrations and numerous b&w photos

This book covers USN and a few USAAC pilots who claims some or most of their kills against IJN and IJA pilots in late 1944 thru the end of the war in 1945.  As the author readily notes, identifying what Japanese aircraft were kamikazes our escorts for kamikazes, as opposed to simply enemy aircraft on normal attack missions, is difficult if not impossible.

The book is a fairly typical Osprey book.  The book is well written without any obvious typos.  There are 8 pages of color side views, with 4 illustrations per page for a total of 32 illustrations.  The vast majority are, as would be expected from the subject matter, USN aircraft and those are in the overall Gloss Sea Blue (GSB). That personally isn’t one of my favorite schemes, however, the authors still managed to come up with some interestingly marked aircraft.  There are also a few USAAF aircraft for those who don’t fancy doing an aircraft in overall GSB.

If you’ve got the new 72^nd Eduard F6F Hellcat, then this book will be especially meaningful to you.  I’ve already picked out a scheme from the book for one of the Eduard Hellcats that I have in the stash.  I got this book off Amazon for about $13. I think it was well worth the price. I recommend it.

The 2013 modeling project (entry 13)

Date: 3/23/2013

Time:  7:40 p.m.-10:15 p.m.

Session time: 2 hours (actual building time.)

Total time for the Year: 17 hours 23 minutes.

Yes, after an almost two month drought, I’ve modeled.  The bad news is I started something new.  There were a number or reasons for that.  The bottom line is that I now have a Hasegawa B-24 in the pipeline.

The 2013 modeling project (weeks 9, 10 and 11)

Yes, three more weeks of no modeling.  I haven’t modeled since the first week of February.  The drought was finally broken this week.  but I am now way behind.

Magazine review: RT Vol. 34 #3 (Summer 2012)

Yes, Summer 2012.  I am way, way behind in reading and reviewing.  As always, RT is a great magazine.  This issue has part #2 of a GREAT CH-113 article an a nice article on building a 72nd scale LCVP.  If you are not a member of IPMS/Canada and IPMS/USA you are missing out on some great stuff.  Join today.