Hired Some Employees

When I was a kid I hated painting the pilots that came with Airplane Kits. I should re-state that with some honesty; I didn't hate it, I didn't know how to yet and I hated my finished (usually not finished) figure. Through the years I learned technique, I learned what colors to have on hand to do figures properly and I got better. When I was building lots of RC aircraft I really had the chance to practice my skills on pilot busts.

My garage Diorama needs figures so I browsed the G Scale offerings, others I could find from Fujimi, a couple from Tamiya and the random figure from various kits. I found this Testors/Fujimi kit dated 1988 and picked it up as a start.


Detail is good and I have some options for positions although none of the positions stands straight up to work under a car lift. Need to go stock up on my skin tone colors now. I have my eye on a few other kits with 1/24 1/25 scale figures I can use. I plan to re-visit a thrift store that I saw the Tamiya "Campus Friends"  had a few figures and couple Vespa Scooters if it is still there it is coming home with me.

I started on another piece for my garage, an engine hoist. Looking at a tool catalog and using my scale calculator I think I have a good start.

That's it for now.

-Hobby Dude]]

The Garage

If I am building items for a diorama and I have all these great ideas for it why not just get on it?

Some of my big ideas include covering a 4'x2' shelf with garage, parking lot, paint booth, maybe a drag start with a light tree. This endeavor proved to a bigger project to start with as I started sketching it out.
I decided to make a garage for a smaller shelf that could later be a module in a bigger project.  I like this idea of using modules especially for what I originally had in mind making it a lot easier to relocate at a later time.
I grabbed some foam board and craft sticks at the dollar store and broke out the razor knife and straightedge and got busy. It will have the footprint of about 1'x2' White glue worked great for assembly.
I rustled up some scrap clear plastic from packaging (a good reason to buy a pie) made a few windows which later I plan to add a photo of some scenery on the outside.

My ending result so far is 3 walls. I have not secured the walls down to floor yet this pic is me just laying out to see how it looks. 

I had some trash left from a broken window fan and with some bits of plastic and imagination, I was able to make a car lift.

I still have to make my garage front, decide whether to make the space where the orange 32 Ford is sitting an office or a car display and I did start on a staircase for the office option. The area under the awning is where my GMC Tow truck will park. I also plan to make a flat frame only for the roof and then wire up with lights. More to come!

• Hobby Dude

When It All Comes To A Halt

Somebody said that life throws you a curve ball sometimes and mine came across the plate with a numb and tingling hand. Many years of guitar playing, jobs with stress on my hands, bad posture, bed, pillow etc. All showed up at once as back/shoulder pain and a very numb left hand. After a few x-rays, carpal tunnel and spinal arthritis are confirmed. Modeling has recently been very slow and mainly in the planning of colors for future builds. I await my next steps to get out of pain and numbness so I can get back at it.

I allocated a nice bit of room on a shelf to build a garage diorama and in the stages of sketching it out. I have experience with microcontrollers like Arduino and the Raspberry Pi so a few ideas are blooming with some features I want to add to my garage like a remote bay door, remote lights and whatever else that may come about like lighted signs.

A few months back I had started to build a few items for my garage and I plan to build many more scratch built items.

I saved the plastic gift and club cards they are easily cut, glued and painted to make many things. Here I made a parts washer. Aluminum tubing, some plumbing screen, old paint brush and a few decals.

Bamboo kitchen skewers and some basswood yielded a nice little tire rack for the shop.

Gift cards, basswood, and bamboo skewers made a decent workbench. The drawer works with an aluminum handle.



I had a few metal foil tools I glued in place. I plan to make a few more of these.

I found a Free Scale Calculator App on the Google Play Store to make measurements I am sure there are many calculators out there but I will pass on this one:  Model Scale Calc

So until next time get a good chair to model in, treat yourself to a new pillow, don't buy cheap shoes, stretch often, get up and exercise so we can all do this a long time.

• Hobby Dude
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

REVELL 1:25 57 CHEVY BLACK WIDOW 2 IN 1 - PT. 2

This kit comes with one single bench seat and since I was not doing a race car I wanted to do something different with interior without the roll bar and bench seat. I dug through some parts and found some 67 GTO bucket seats I chose instead. I also went thru metal scraps for some interior detail ideas.

The seats have headrests I have yet to paint. I made some Sub-woofer boxes out of basswood for the back. I wanted to move to a floor shifter with the buckets and found this strip of metal to add to the top of a console I would need to make. I came up with some tiny chrome air cleaners and other metal bits for some speaker grills. I used Plastruct strips to make and shape a console.



I used Testors Fabric Tan and Tamiya Racing White(aged/off-white) on the seats then used some red sewing thread and acrylic clear to hold it in place to add piping detail to the seats.

Still more detail to be dome on the seats and a final flat clear on the tan and gloss on the white. I used the same Fabric tan on the speaker boxes and interior floor followed with Sand Brown flocking.

A top of a Pringles gave me some clear plastic to simulate the clear acrylic used on sub boxes. I found a couple spares Raspberry Pi heatsinks I sanded the black off the fins and used the red sharpie on to make a couple of power amps for the subs. Little metal detail to add to detail I will mount these above boxes and add wiring later. I still have the door panels and dash to get busy with.

These are the colors I used so far (all lacquers):

• Tamiya fine surface primer
• Model Master Fabric Tan
• Model Master AMC Sterling Silver
• Model Master Gloss clear
• Tamiya  TS-7 Racing White
• Tamiya TS-65 Pearl Clear
• Tamiya TS-74 Clear Red

Now on to the body... I pulled the body out of the other kit just to show a comparison of how much I chopped this.

After primer, I started with few light coats of the AMC Sterling Silver Metallic 3D. Once I was satisfied with a base coat I locked it down with Model Master Clear Gloss, then onto few light coats of Tamiya Pearl Clear to start off with some depth to the paint right off.

I started adding light coats of the Red Clear alternating it with light coats of Pearl Clear getting deeper looking paint as I went along buffing between each coat.

For some reason the digital images make it look somewhat orange peeled but I think it is the pearl creating an illusion as it doesn't look that way in person I hoping finished shot maybe in real sunlight might be different than the collection of LED spectrum I have on it here on the bench. More coats and more buffing to go then onto the engine... So far I am having fun with this kit.

• Hobby Dude

Cling Free Models

One thing I have always loved about hobbies is the way limits are only set by yourself. There is a simple excitement in finding things outside the realm of things found in hobby shops to solve problems or enhance your hobby.

As a kid, the hobby shop guy told me how to use sewing thread dipped in clear nail polish to make spark plug wires for model cars. I tried it it was a terrible mess but it gave me the idea that there was a freedom you could have at creation if you were willing to think.

I built my first stick balsa planes around the same time and it all became possible because the hobby shop guy told me to get a ceiling tile and wax paper to build my plane, by the way, it was a Guillows Fairchild 24 build by number. Previously I had been deterred from the project at the cost of a building jig I thought I needed.

Years later when I raced off-road R/C cars we found that hand brushes glued upside down in Tupperware bins filled with Simple Green was the best thing for cleaning tires and making the rubber tacky for the next heat. Best of all it beat fancy expensive traction compounds.



Hobbies make you innovative, it tickles your brain unlike other things do, helps you find a solution that might be in your kitchen drawer, down the floor polish aisle in the store or in your wife's sewing kit.

At this point in my rambling, you may wonder what the title has, if anything to do with this post, well it does.

I both wet and dry sand models in prep for painting and building as well as buff them. When dry sanding or buffing,  I have noticed a large amount of static build up where it's done, even with a tack cloth. I set it aside for a moment and it starts to yank particles in the air back to it. I use the Tamiya Paint stand a lot to hold bodies, parts etc. so I grabbed my Static Guard and sprayed the stand's underside and boom no static on the body or parts when I set it on the stand. I also sprayed the underside of my table and that really helped on sweeping up the dust from my sanding.

I occasionally build R/C planes from Foam and I plan to try this when I sand and cut the styrofoam that usually clings to anything and everything. I have to admit I have not heard anyone comment about battling static when dealing with plastics, but maybe someone might find this useful.

• Hobby Dude

Revell 1:25 57 Chevy Black Widow 2 in 1

Walked into the local hobby craft chain store and found several of these kits on the closeout shelf for $7.79. The boxes were dented in but didn't appear that damage was sustained inside. I figured even if the body was damaged it still had an engine and plenty of other parts so I gambled and grabbed two of them.

Decent amount of decals

The Black Widow was a 150 Utility Sedan that was developed by Southern Engineering and the kit has options for the carb or fuel injected engine and some nice decals for either version.

I inspected both kits at home and all was well, nothing was broken but this mold has been around for a while as there is a fair amount of flash for a Revell level 5 kit but that is part of modeling. I am not sure if one of them will get built up like the box art as I am not too much into stock cars but this one is a part of racing history so I might.  The second kit is going custom and  I have always wanted to chop a kit and had not to date so I got out my razor saw.

I had a set of larger wheels from an Impala kit I set aside and I think they are going to be a nice look for this build. I mocked it up with the wheels after I chopped it and I am excited to get building on this.



The chop went well, I dropped it 5mm and was able to get a nice fit when I glued it back, only a tiny bit of putty might be needed.  I checked the windshield and rear window and I have some to trim on the bottom of each but it looks like it will be nice fit without any gaps. Have not decided on a color yet but candy apple red keeps coming to mind.

Most likely it will get a bit closer to the ground and with a degree or two or rake.

I will post updates...

• Hobby Dude

Revell 1:25 Ford Bronco

I have few kits going and a couple of others finished but one of my teen sons talked me into building this one. This is a late 60's to early 70's Bronco Revell did and they did a nice job with it. I am still in progress, but very pleased with the kit.



The kit is Skill Level: 5 with 137 parts, I like the higher level kits, nothing really harder than a skill level 2 just more options. Going through a few other kits there is something to say about the quality of molding her the body parts are excellent and the rest of the parts follow along in quality.

I went with Tamiya TS-16 Yellow and Model Master Classic White for the body color, both spray-can lacquers. I stripped the bumpers and grill in Windex and painted with same white.  Model master Metalizers were used on engine, suspension and exhaust parts to simulate as much real metal as possible. I had some Moroso decals for the valve covers and Magnaflow ones for the exhaust system to dress it up a bit. The Molotow Chrome pen is what I am using for chrome parts.

There was minimal flash to file off and I appreciated the separate chassis. The engine was fun to build, I went with the '73 302 version.

I used the stock seat and door panel decals, they were a bit of a challenge to look decent, some Tamiya "Mark Fit Strong" decal set helped lay them down into the texture better. I added some grey flocking for carpet.

I am Ham Radio Operator so I cobbled together a mobile radio with Mic and Whip antenna for it. Mounted under the dash with a bent strip of metal. Still, some detail todo to the whip antenna. There is also an added Am radio antenna on the front left fender.

Still in Progress as I haven't added the windshield frame or any of the glass. Few wires are still on deck for the battery and brake lines, sidelights and lots more detail I want to do as well as a clear coat is needed for the body. I will post when finished.

 -Hobby Dude

I am not sure when I bought this Revell 40 Ford Pickup kit but I had bought it on a whim over a year ago. I had started building the engine and painted the body with some Rustoleum 2X spray paint and was reminded of a few things. First paint needs to be warmed up by sitting in a pan of warm water shaking it frequently. Second, shake the daylights out of it. Third shake it again. I am going to make a more specific post later on paints and what I learned but moral of the story here is unmixed paint is bad, and enamels are not for the impatient. I put the model away until this last summer when I pulled it out inspired to finish it.

I wanted to make it a flatbed and use the remaining bed to make a trailer. I had since purchased another Revel model a Tom Nancy dragster kit I was able to have extra axle etc. to make a trailer since that kit came with so many options. I decide it needs to look like a farm truck so I went about weathering it, adding some dents, glazing the paint etc.

I used basswood for the bed with some seamstress pinheads for the bolts. Constructed a rear bumper and hitch from aluminum tubing and scrap plastic. Using a pencil, lots of scraping I got the basswood to simulate some grain. Basswood is pretty bleached, to begin with, so some grain lines and damage get scraped in, using some thin shades of brown like a wash and tan paint you can get fairly close. I proceeded to make a rear tool rack, the kit had some wrenches on the chrome parts tree so they went in the toolbox along with some farm tools I made from scraps. The double barrel shotgun is for the wise guy that shot at my windshield.

This was my return to modeling, reminded me the fun of detail and dioramas.

-Hobby Dude