2023 Build Review

After not completing a model at all in 2022, I bounced back this year with 11 builds and two refits of previously completed models, with two of the builds replacements for previously completed models, freeing up space (a new ongoing project). I finished the year with ten 1/72 aircraft, two 1/700 ships, and one 1/72 tank.

1/72 Aircraft

First up was a Revell F8F Bearcat, my first completed model since 2021 (I bogged down in three major 1/700 ship projects in 2022).

This was followed by two "replacement" builds - an ancient AMT SB2C-4 Helldiver and a Hasegawa F4U-4 Corsair, which replaced a pair of Matchbox kits. The new Helldiver doesn't completely replace the old one, which was a SB2C-1 - and actually a slightly newer kit - but it's a better kit, even if it did still require some kitbashing. Both the new kits are of aircraft from the same air group - the Bunker Hill (CV-17) in February 1945.

Next was a long-awaited build of my Uncle Harold Taylor's Checkertail P-51D named for my aunt Mary Nell, using an Airfix kit. I did a lot of work on the wing, the original of which was painted aluminum color, with seams puttied and sanded smooth.

Next were two Messerschmitt 109s - a Bf 109G-6 and a Bf 109E-4. They were both different Airfix kits and the second - the Emil - was just a beautifully engineered little piece. I'm not sure if it's the yellow or the camouflage but I am looking forward to a regular diet of 109s with different markings.

Then it was back to the Navy for a F6F Hellcat, this time a -5 in overall Glossy Sea Blue. It's a companion to Alex Vraciu's tricolor -3 from 2021 - which I already have slated for replacement with a new build since the paint job needs improving.

I also added a second Corsair build - another Hasegawa kit, this time of Tommy Blackburn's "Big Hog" F4U-1 using chipping fluid for the first time.

The year's least satisfying build was this Airfix Curtiss P-40B Warhawk. I'm not sure why, but I suspect it's the simplicity of the paint job.

Next was a refit of a prior build. I had built an Academy Wildcat in 2017 as Butch O'Hare's mount. But the kit is of a F4F-4, not a -3, and the paints I used are not quite right. When I ran into set of resin -3 wings, I decided that I would refit the 2017 build with the correct wings, paint colors, and better decals.

1/72 Armor

After a visit to the Tank Museum in the UK during "Tankfest" I finished my first tank model - a 1/72 PzKpfw III, Ausf. L.

1/700 Ships

Rather than continue work on my three major 1/700 projects in 2023, I decided to start with a repair job for my scratchbuilt U.S.S. Wasp (CV-7), completely in 1992 shortly after I finished law school. The masts needed repair, the camouflage needed updating to add a third color, lighten the darkest color, and change the pattern, the aircraft paint and decaling could stand improvement and the model badly needed a thorough dusting. It also picked up a little additional detailing along the way.

Next, I focused on another project which dates back to the same 1992 period - a good battlecruiser H.M.S. Hood. I used the Trumpeter kit as opposed to the original Tamiya kit I bought in 1992 and some of the PE designed for the Tamiya kit. Which not a good technical build, the paint colors and detailing were as accurate to current research as I could make them, including draping the ship's boats in canvas covers as they would have been while underway - which saved me the trouble of detail painting their exteriors!

Modeling Subjects

I gave in to the backlog of builds by adding another two build docks (#6 & #7 shown at bottom right) for cruiser-sized builds.

I also gave in to my OCD by preparing a detailed post on how I organize my modeling. [Click to Scale Modeling Organization, Database, Task Lists and Posting] (https://imodeler.com/2023/07/scale-modeling-organization-database-task-lists-and-posting/)

I hope to start 2024 by completing a double build of 1942 Lexingtons in 1/700, and then get back to some of the aircraft projects I have stacked up.