I’ve always enjoyed building Accurate Miniatures kits. They are nicely detailed, assemble reasonably well, and always result in a good looking model. I hated to see them go out of business, but I was glad to see MRC pick up their name and toolings. While we won’t see any new Accurate Miniatures kits, we can continue to enjoy the ones that were produced!

I think one of their best kits was their Yak-1. It came in a few different boxings and variant, but all were good fitting, easy to assemble kits. If their kits had any shortcoming, it was lack of decal options. This kit was no exception- one option. And while their decals are great, sometimes you want to do something a bit different.

Thankfully, Linden Hill Imports and Lift Here! Decals came to the rescue. Read the rest of this entry »

New forum member Joe Vizcaino posted this very unusual P-47, which was used as a formation ship for bombers. You don’t see schemes like this very often- great work, Joe!

Finally done with my very FIRST WWII aircraft, a P-47 Razorback “Assembly Ship.”

A lot of fun and learned a lot.  Ready for another!

Agape forum member Brian Scott (F104-nut) shared this great build of Tamiya’s large scale P-51D. Great work Brian!

Well finally got the shelf of doom project that was start in 2011. Feels good to get her done. This kit was real fun to build. Model paint with tamiya paints. For the NMF i used Tamiya TF-17 Gloss Aluminum spray paint . Decals are from Superscale. This is my third plane built from the 352nd FG Blue Nose Bodney . I plan on building more from the same Fighter Group soon.

I am a big fan of cheap, easy to build models that are reasonably accurate. I am certainly no rivet counter, but I suppose I could be described as a rivet estimator. I could count rivets, but I choose not to, and I am happy with looking at a model and saying “that’s pretty close”.

Hobbyboss has taken a lot of heat for their 1/48 Easy Assembly kits. And to a certain extent, I can understand the criticism. Their P-40M was quite oddly shaped, even for someone with relaxed standards like me. I built it, and thoroughly enjoyed it, but it’s shape was so obviously odd it was a bit comical. Their P-51D was a better effort. I’d certainly recommend it, as well as the 1/48 UH-1. While they also had some minor shape and detail issues, for a rivet estimator, they worked out just fine.

With the most recent in the 1/48 Easy Assembly series, the P-47D, Hobbyboss has continued to improve the kits. This one looks like a P-47D, and while I’m sure folks with a more critical eye than I have would find faults in it, I was quite happy with how it looked overall. Read the rest of this entry »

Occasionally I do commission builds of aircraft. it’s a way to help fund the hobby, and add to the family income in a small way. One trend I’ve noticed is that quite often, my customers ask me to build Special Hobby kits.

Special Hobby is a Czech producer of short-run model kits. Most kits are multimedia, containing injection molded, photoetch and resin parts. Many have vacform canopies. They tend to be quite detailed, with generally accurate outlines and detail, and the various parts look very nice.

However, I’ve discovered why so many folks ask me to build them for them. Building a Special Hobby kit is quite a challenge. This Fiat G.55 Centauro was no exception. Read the rest of this entry »

Certain World War II aircraft seem to possess characteristics that are almost life-like.  The P-51 Mustang was aptly named, as it looks every bit a thoroughbred. The Spitfire’s shape brings to mind a grace and beauty that is almost feminine. The P-47 Thunderbolt has a brutish look says “bad things are about to happen to you.” The P-40′s open radiator seemed custom made for a shark motif.

But the I-16…. every time I see it, I can’t help but think of the Oompa-Loompa’s from “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory”.  Read the rest of this entry »

Joshua 4

1 Now when all the nation had finished crossing the Jordan, the Lord spoke to Joshua, saying, 2 “Take for yourselves twelve men from the people, one man from each tribe, 3 and command them, saying, ‘Take up for yourselves twelve stones from here out of the middle of the Jordan, from the place where the priests’ feet are standing firm, and carry them over with you and lay them down in the lodging place where you will lodge tonight.’” 4 So Joshua called the twelve men whom he had appointed from the sons of Israel, one man from each tribe; 5 and Joshua said to them, “Cross again to the ark of the Lord your God into the middle of the Jordan, and each of you take up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Israel. 6 Let this be a sign among you, so that when your children ask later, saying, ‘What do these stones mean to you?’ 7 then you shall say to them, ‘Because the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord; when it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off.’ So these stones shall become a memorial to the sons of Israel forever.”

Today in the United States, we observe Memorial Day. It’s a day when we pay homage to those who have lost their lives in defense of our country. Most Americans will go through the day paying scant notice of the solemnity of the event. Our nation has lost touch with the sacrifices that were and are being paid for freedom.

Yet a trip to any military cemetery stands as a silent reminder that a price has been paid for our freedom. And because this is a fallen, sinful world, wars and rumors of wars will go on, and if we are to be free, the price will continue to be paid.

We should look to God’s Word for guidance. Just as Joshua spoke to Israel, we should tell our children what those stones of white mean- of the great sacrifice that was paid, over many years, because of the great blessings God has given us. Evil will always assault freedom. And freedom must be ready to stand in opposition to tyranny.

“Freedom is not free” may be a bumper sticker for some. But on this most solemn observance in our American holidays, we must testify to the fact that freedom has a price in blood.

And just as our warriors died for our freedom from earthly tyranny, Christ died on the Cross, shedding His blood, to pay the price for our freedom- freedom from an eternity in Hell. Make this day one of remembering your freedom, and if you are have not asked Jesus to be your Lord and Savior, please consider doing so today. If the price our warriors have paid, which is so great a price, is precious to us in this world, how much greater a price has Christ paid for our eternal freedom?

Mark Strasser posted this very colorful 1/48 Hasegawa TF-104G in German markings. Great work Mark- it is a stunner for sure!

Agape forum member Steve Cook shared these photos of his gorgeous Hasegawa Learjet build from a few years ago. Great work on this Steve!

My fascination with building World War II Russian aircraft shows no signs of slowing down! It’s a part of aviation history I’ve not learned much about in the past, so it’s been fun doing research for these builds. One of the aircraft series that I’ve found particularly interesting is the Lavochkin fighters.

While the LaGG-3 did not astound everyone with it’s performance, designer Semyon Lavochkin went back to the drawing board, and after adding a radial engine and some other improvements to the fighter, came up with a winner. The La-5 was the first in this series of radial-engined Russian fighters. Read the rest of this entry »

Forum member Gil Hodges shows you can get a great looking model with an old classic, some hard work, and a little help from your friends! Gil used Agape member Mark Buchler’s resin upgrade set to convert Lindberg’s classic F11C-2 kit into a BFC-2. If you’re interested in Mark’s resin set, head over to the Modelshack and take a look! It’s a great upgrade set that will not only upgrade the F11C-2, but also allow for the BFC-2 conversion. Thanks for sharing your great work with us, Gil!

This is the 1/48 Lindberg kit, converted to the later BFC-2 and detailed using the Modelshack resin update set.

The “doped silver” was done with Alclad White Aluminum, the tail planes in MM Gloss White, and the top wing with MM Chrome Yellow (over Tamiya Fine white primer). The prop is Alclad Chrome over MM gloss black enamel, with decaled tip colors. The cowling is Testors Beret Green, which is the closest match to the decal sheet green markings. I also used Alclad Gloss Klear Kote to seal the decals and gloss the whole model.

The model is rigged with 6 mm ceramic fiber (Wonder Wire). This stuff is GREAT! Just cut it to length, flex it into the holes, and add a drop of glue in the holes to secure it. No need to paint it or stretch it taught! The markings are from the Yellow wings Goshawk sheet. They performed flawlessly!

This older Lindberg kit was a breeze to build, even with the resin conversion spine, compared to the Classic Airframes F11C-2 kit. If you want to build a 1/48 Goshawk, I recommend finding this older gem and ordering the Modelshack resin set.

Forum member Dale Hutchinson (Hutch) posted photos of his completed work on Airfix’s new-tool F-86 kit. Dale said “I really like how this one came out and I highly recommend this kit“. It looks great!

Agape forum member Mark Strasser built this very colorful Matchbox Seasprite OOB, using decals from his spare decals. it looks awesome, Mark- thanks for sharing this with us!

Agape forum member Steve Cook shared his great looking P-47D kit. Very unusual scheme, Steve. It looks great!

Agape forum member Mark Strasser shared photos of his very colorful Skyraider. It looks great- thanks for sharing it with us Mark!

New forum member Tom Zahler shared this remarkable story of how his family history and model building intersected. Great stuff Tom!

August 19, 1945 shortly after noon local time two Mitsubishi G4M1 Betty Bombers approach the airfield at Ie Shima, Okinawa.  They house the surrender delegation of the Japanese Empire.  My grandfather was there and tried to take a movie of the event, but the film tangled in his camera, instead he was able to take some photos that I have included here.

This was a special project for me personally.  It is something to look at history with photos your own grandfather took.

As far as the kit, it was a typical Tamiya.  It went together very well.  I was scared to death to airbrush white paint, but I think it turned out pretty good.  I used both X-2 and XF-2.  I used the Dark Dirt Wash and left some on the engines.  Some of the photos I have seen have shown quite a bit of oil leaking for the engines.  Also some of the windows near the nose I did not mask as they were painted over.  There were 2 Bettys, one with black props and the other I did with white props.  I used black green for the crosses.  The ones on the wings are a little crooked, but I do like the fuselage and tail ones.

I am very proud of this one.

The Yak-7 line of fighters has an unusual history. Originally designed to be a two seat trainer, flights tests of the Yak-7 showed that it was a more capable aircraft than the Yak-1, and it immediately began to be produced as both a two seat trainer and a single seat fighter. The -7V was a fixed-gear version of the fighter, specifically for training pilots as they transitioned from simpler trainers to the faster fighters.

Alanger’s Yak-7V is a rebox of the ICM kit. The parts are well cast, and have nice surface detail. The single piece canopy is very thick, and has overly heavy framing. Markings for a single aircraft are provided. Read the rest of this entry »

Honza has shared another stunning model build with us. This is one I’d never heard of. The Doflug D-3802 was a license-built MS 406 produced in Switzerland, with some changes and improvements. Something I found interesting was how much the wing looks like a P-51 wing. Honza did a wonderful job on this one- thanks for sharing with us!

There were no big problems, although there are some places that require attention:

• The cannons are too fragile (yes, I destroyed them)
• Antenna mast and pitot tube also
• You must glue the wingtips separately – they are different for the prototype and for other machines

These are just minor problems. Panel lines are deep and not wide, just as I like them. Very nice kit of an interesting plane (with interesting camouflage).

Agape forum member Aaron Long (RonnieRex) shared his finished work on this great looking Fw-190D. Aaron received a Third Place award for his work at the IPMS Phantom Phlashers’ contest on April 6th in Anniston, Alabama. Aaron said he used Eduard PE on the seatbelts, rear canopy, and wheels, MM enamel, alclad, Vallejo, Citadel, and Tamiya paints, and some bits of copper wire. Great work Aaron!

It’s always a good thing when Airfix releases a new-tool kit. It’s an even better thing when it’s a Spitfire!

Airfix fulfilled the wishes of many Spitfire fans with their recent release of the Griffon-engined Spitfire Mk. XIX. While the numbers of this particular model of Spitfire were never that great, it’s unique, clean look as a purpose built recon aircraft has given it a special place among modelers.

It follows in the footsteps of two other Griffon-engined variants that Airfix has released over the last few years, those being the Spitfire Mk. XII and the Seafire Mk. XVII. (Here’s to hoping for a Mk. XIV!) Read the rest of this entry »