33 articles · 9.9K karma · 22 friends · active 1 hour, 42 minutes ago

I've been doing modelling for about 15 years now, having returned to the hobby I dabbled in as a kid. It was a steep learning curve but the Internet was a huge help in picking up tips and techniques and figuring out where to get the necessary tools. Now armed with several airbrushes and a spray booth, I feel reasonably well equipped to work my way through my growing kit stash. Luckily, I have just enough space for a good sized pile of kits, collecting being one of the great secondary pleasures of this hobby.

I build mostly 1/32 and 1/48 aircraft but also some 1/35 armor (WWII and Modern) and am now branching out into 1/200, 1/350 and 1/700 scale ships and subs. I also have a couple of the 1/72 giants, the U-Boat VIIC and the Gato under assembly, as well as an S-Boat.

As for my life outside the hobby, I am a teacher and one time administrator with a strong interest in history, particularly family military history, which has led me to archival research and regimental reunions to interview veterans. . I also enjoy international travel, cycling, hiking and archery, among other pastimes. I also love motorcycles but can't afford one currently.

Hasegawa Ki.84 Hayate “Frank” 1/48

Here is my Hasegawa Ki.84 Hayate “Frank” in 1/48. I will one day get to the 1/32nd version so I am re-examining this earlier build and I decided it was worth a few pictures. For this build, the two challenges for me were getting the [...]

M-26 Pershing- 1/35 Dragon

This is the Dragon M-26 Pershing in 1/35. I used Bison decals for a vehicle of the 73rd Tank Batallion, Korea 1950. I have always liked the look of Korean War Pershings and Pattons, especially with later track, so I had to build this [...]

F4U-1a Corsair: VF-17 - 1/48 Tamiya

This is the Tamiya 1/48 F4U-1a Corsair – an older build of mine when I first tried out Lifecolor Acrylics. These went on very smoothly but tended to clog the airbrush until I got them thinned correctly. The color differentiation [...]

B1 Centauro (Late Version) – Trumpeter 1/35

This is the Trumpeter B1 Centauro Late Version 3rd Series. Although I don’t have a lot of interest in modern armored cars with limited service, the Centauro just has such sports car like lines that I couldn’t resist building it. I [...]

A-4C Skyhawk – Hasegawa 1/48

This is the Hasegawa 1/48 A-4C Skyhawk, done up in the colors of VA-153 aboard USS Coral Sea during the Vietnam Conflict. The kit is slightly enhanced with a small Eduard instrument panel and seatbelts and some scratch built quilting to [...]

Challenger I Mk.3

Just one more armor posting for this week. I am doing my best to catch up with some of you guys as a new member. Thank you all again for your help and encouragement so far. It’s a big inspiration to keep building. This is my Tamiya [...]

IDF Centurion Shot Cal

This is my build of the 1/35 scale AFV Club Centurion Shot Cal – one of my favorite armor subjects. I did it as a vehicle serving in the Golan in 1973. A number of Centurions lost their side skirts in that intense action. I prefer the [...]

Char B1 bis -Tamiya 1/35

Hi Guys, This is one of my more labor intensive efforts for an armor kit. The French camouflage was complex to airbrush. I used homemade paper masks, based on scaled up reproductions of the Tamiya painting instructions (scanned and [...]

F-4J Phantom – photo light booth demo

Hi Guys, Here are a few pics to demonstrate my simple photo studio. I took these pics inside an Ikea Fabrikor display cabinet, fairly cheap and spacious. It is also quite well sealed against dust when I use it just to hold my models and [...]

TBF Avenger – Atlantic Scheme

Hi Guys, Here is my build of the great Accurate Miniatures TBF Avenger 1in 1/48. I actually had the Pacific version and had to buy Atlantic Scheme decals online. They were a bit old, so I substituted some of the stars and bars from other [...]