Surfacing

[sabredog]

OK, I'm pretty much back to business as usual for now. The kids are doing great, I'm still here, and while not exactly normal things are turning out to be not so bad after all. Sorry about my moment of animal panic - won't happen again.

Any way, now that classes are back in session for myself and the girls a routine is helping us come out of water-treading mode and my imagination is sputtering to life again. I have two kits to finish for the Region 7 IPMS competition and while looking for a kit for my 12YO to work on for the same competition (she settled on an F-16 eggplane) I found out that the original Leif Ericson Cruiser kit is being repopped and sold by Round2 Models.

It has all the original parts - including the clear red drives and lighting kit (shades of my childhood Enterprise and Klingon D7 phasering at each other while suspended from my bedroom ceiling). Even has the chrome spinal laser emitter for the nose.

SO here's the link for any who are interested. I had rebuilt the docking bay on my kit of the UFO Mystery Ship glow in the dark version, with photoetch gantry, catwalks and control room, but the glow in the dark plastic is a pain to work with. This new kit has the regular gray plastic which will be easier to deal with.

http://round2models.com/models/amt/leif-ericson/product

I also have an article I am polishing up that is a new scout ship and colorful crew (w/ deckplans) that I will post in the next couple of days once I finish drawing the plans. I had started it before chaos hit around here and picked it up again last night.

Anyway, thanks again to everyone's kind thoughts and help, and I'll gradually be around more often instead of occasionally lurking. Glad to be back.

 

[far-trader]

Good to hear, looking forward to more

 

[whartung]

Do you do scratch work? I think it would be neat to see a nice, actual Scout ship model. I don't know how much detailing/weathering you do, but just think a plastic/card/resin/wood/whatever solid model would be a neat project, and make for some nice photos.

 

[sabredog]

I've done some scratchbuilding - diorama bases and such, but a Type S wold be a nice project. After the show in 4 weeks I'll need something to wind down from the builds I'm trying to finish now so I'll revisit that concept then.

It would be pretty easy to make with sheet styrene and Miliput...I have some spare pilots in 1/72nd ans 1/144th scales (1/144th would probably be the scale to do it in for space considerations unless I fiberglassed the hull) I could use for the bridge crew....

I'll get back to you around the end of September and work on the project. It'll be fun for my Traveller group, though my Leif Ericson kit is also being built as if it were a Traveller HG design. Even has bay weapons cut into the nose shield and shoulders of the main hull. Photos will follow when I'm done with my current Ki-61 and MiG-3 show models.

 

[sabredog]

Oh, examples by way of two of the several kits I showed at last year's contest - the 109 won Best Axis Battle of Britain Subject, Spitife that won the Johnnie Johnson Memorial Best RAF Aircraft, and a Hellcat (that got honorable mention): BTW - these were all on commission so I sell these things, too, to order....in case once I get the scout done anyone wants one of their own. But more on that when I get to doing it.

None were scratch built, but at least it shows the level of quality and detail i will build into even a production kit. And a scratch built scout will be pretty easy - it'll be making the paint job interesting and the small details work that will be fun. I have built wooden R/C boats (steam launches and motorboats) by scratch but a Type won't have any compound curves. Like I said - I'll subscribe to this thread and get back to you on it after the show and I get the girls into a routine in their new schools.

 

[Icosahedron]

Glad you're back, Sabredog. Don't worry, panic is normal.
Some nice looking models there.

 

[sabredog]

Glad you're back, Sabredog. Don't worry, panic is normal.

Yeah, but I should have at least had the presence of mind to grab my towel...I stashed a few around the house in case of future emergencies now.

Some nice looking models there.

Thanks - right after the show I'll finish up my Leif Ericson and post the pics here. It'll be done up as a ship from MTU.

 

[Dragoner]

Good to hear everything is better, Sabredog and those are some nice looking models.

 

[Mithras]

Very nice models, are they 1/72?

 

[sabredog]

1/48th - my eyes aren't up to Braille Scale, though I do have a monster 1/32nd SU-27 and a couple of 1/72nd helicopters in the pile for "someday". But 1/48 scale allows for me to have enough space to add wire looms and cabling to the cockpits, brake lines, and all sorts of other details the kits don't have, and still be small enough to have room in the house to display them.

 

[BlackBat242]

1/48th - my eyes aren't up to Braille Scale, though I do have a monster 1/32nd SU-27 and a couple of 1/72nd helicopters in the pile for "someday".

A friend of mine has a giant stack of 1:144 aircraft kits... mostly prop & jet fighters.

Now THAT'S "Braille Scale"!

 

[sabredog]

LOL...I tried that scale once but the plastic kept melting in the electron microscope!

 

[Andrew Boulton]

Nice work. My dad was in the IPMS back in the '60s/'70s, and I did a lot of modelling when I was younger. Becoming a lost art these days

 

[sabredog]

Yeah, fewer kids show up for the club meetings and the Junior category entries at the shows are dismally sparse. Its kinda like RPG's anymore - you'd have to duct tape the average kid to a chair to get him to sit long enough to develop the patience and imagination to build a model/play a paper & pencil game.

 

[aramis]

I have found kids will gladly play RPG's... if they see adults doing so, and are allowed to play WITH adults.

I also see the same number of lunchtime RPG groups in the high schools, if not more groups, than I did as a student. And the groups themselves are not smaller, either.

It's just not being done where most adults will see it, and much of it is purchased either online or in big-box bookstores (B&N, Borders, Waldenbooks, etc.) and mall outlets (Game Keeper), not typical FLGS's.

 

[sabredog]

Thats how I got started: the local wargame / hobby store was called The Warclub (it had a Maori warclub hanging over the door) and it was split into two halves. The front end had all the models and games, including display cases lining the wall filled with miniatures of all kinds but mainly wargaming types. The back of the place had fore pool table sized tables with stools for playing wargmes.

It was opened in 74 an thats when I started hanging out with the "old guys" who played Napoleonic and WW2 miniature wargames. I cut my teeth on those and the early Avalon Hill/SPI games until D&D, showed up. I played that until Traveller, and since no one knew what to make of Traveller (everyone though it was too much work to make up a universe) I decided to run it.

Since I was already part of the regular weekend group, as were several other kids, playing these things with adults was perfectly normal. The adults listened to the kids and the kids didn't act like jerks. It's kind of weird to now remember I was running games with adults 2-3x my age in them, but then I was also had command of the Coldstream Guards and 95th Rifles in the seemingly never-ending miniature battle of Waterloo we had running. So us kids were just part of the gang.

I rarely see that sort of thing anymore, but then I rarely see any shops like that either. The one here in Portland - Bridgetown - has tables but the only people who ever show up are overwhelmingly Warhammer types. And they remind me a lot of the minis they use so I try to keep my hands and feet inside the car at all times.

 

[whartung]

Those are nice looking models, sabredog. I especially like the 109. I really like the mottling.

I was always a fan of 1/48 myself. Especially for WWII, the models come out pretty much "the right size" (though that 1/48 B-29 I made back in the day -- heh, that was a monster).

I never got to the level of finishing that you're at. I would paint them up and slap the decals on them, but I never really mastered the body filler for the seams, much less adding details (or cutting flaps, like you're doing). I felt it was a reasonable accomplishment when I managed to not get glue all over the canopies -- heh.

But aircraft were always my thing, never vehicles. And I always basically loathed tri-cycle geared planes, they always tipped. More a problem with WWII planes than modern jets, but I recall my friend trying to solve that problem. The good news was that he filled the nose with glue to weigh it down. The bad news was that the glue he used was model cement, lol. So his jet fighter had a runny nose.

doh!

Thanks for sharing the photos.

 

[sabredog]

Those are nice looking models, sabredog. I especially like the 109. I really like the mottling.

Thanks, the 109 and Spitfire were a "matched set" for a guy from my old agency who commissioned them because he collects those die cast jobs you see in stores. He thought mine were better. The 109's then had less mottling - lighter or none at all, and looked cleaner. I have some lat war ETO G-6's that have a more used look to them - like Hartmann's or some from JG54.

But aircraft were always my thing, never vehicles. And I always basically loathed tri-cycle geared planes, they always tipped. More a problem with WWII planes than modern jets, but I recall my friend trying to solve that problem. The good news was that he filled the nose with glue to weigh it down. The bad news was that the glue he used was model cement, lol. So his jet fighter had a runny nose.

I have a Tiger I and the T-34/76-85 series (along with some KV's and an ISU-152) in my stash...the major players of Tsushima Straits (Borodino, Knyaz Suvurov, Mikasa, Varyag), and the Oregon. I like the pre-dreadnought ships for their wind-up toy look and eccentric every-one-looks-different designs. And of course, the Arizona with like 10 lbs of brass photo etch to add to it for all the railings, gantries, and dress up the ship's boats.

But yeah, planes are the thing. I've only flown Cessnas and Comanches but every time I did I imagined I was in a P-40.

Oh, I fill the nose with lead birdshot and superglue. That keeps the nose down - my Thunderchief needed enough that it's probably close to the weight of the real plane.

I think I'll make the Type S 1/72nd or 1/144th. Figures for both are readily available and it won't take up the whole table. Don't think I'll do the interior on the first one - just try to get the dimensions and details right for a "curbside" version.

 

[whartung]

Thanks, the 109 and Spitfire were a "matched set" for a guy from my old agency who commissioned them because he collects those die cast jobs you see in stores. He thought mine were better. The 109's then had less mottling - lighter or none at all, and looked cleaner. I have some lat war ETO G-6's that have a more used look to them - like Hartmann's or some from JG54.

It's funny, and easier to appreciate when you're older, but as a kid it's more of "what's the big deal". My mom wasn't all excited that I managed to be fascinated with German aircraft, the FW 190 and the Stuka with the tank guns (what 13 year old wouldn't be interested in a huge plane with monster cannon hanging from the wings?? lol). But, those were the days.

But yeah, planes are the thing. I've only flown Cessnas and Comanches but every time I did I imagined I was in a P-40.

Yea, they don't quite maneuver the same. Hard to appreciate the power of these things if you've never seen them. We have the Chino Planes of Fame museum nearby and they have a show every year when they basically fly everything. H O R S E P O W E R.

Also, if you've never seen it, there was a show on the History Channel called "Dogfights" a couple of years ago. It may be on Netflix. Just an amazing show, with a bunch of 3D. Some of the most exciting television I've ever seen.

Oh, I fill the nose with lead birdshot and superglue. That keeps the nose down - my Thunderchief needed enough that it's probably close to the weight of the real plane.

A P-61 Black Widow was my particular nemesis...

I think I'll make the Type S 1/72nd or 1/144th. Figures for both are readily available and it won't take up the whole table. Don't think I'll do the interior on the first one - just try to get the dimensions and details right for a "curbside" version.

What do you think you might use to get the dimensions? I think the type S is simple enough to pull off, yet interesting enough for the detail oriented.

 

[sabredog]

I saw all the Dogfights episodes (thought the last ones they were struggling to make interesting) and I just found a copy of Dark Blue World(Czech expatriates fighting in the Battle of Britain) for less than 80 bucks. Even my kids love that movie.

Here's the one I've been keeping tabs on and waiting for: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BpA6TC0T_Lw

Looks pretty accurate - I was dubious about the 262 jet kills in the trailer until I looked it up and found that two of the Tuskegee pilots shot down 2 262's in one mission. Pretty Sierra Hotel, those guys!

For the Type S I'll just take the dimensions out of Traders and Gunboats and build the canon version rather than my own. I might build one of my designs (the Type S(k) Deep Survey Scout) later since that is what the players are using right now.

So if I build it to 1/72nd it ought to be approx 110cm long, at 1/144 it'll be around 35cm long. I'll make the basic form out of balsa sheet and blocks, then skin it with thin styrene so I can scribe panel lines, hatches, and windows. Various bumps and blades for antennas, and naturally the turret.

If I paint it the same way as I'm experimenting ways to painf my Leif Ericson then I'll paint the thing will metallizer lacquers to get different metal shades down, then very lightly mist a light gray/white on so the metal effect still shows through, but the overall impression is of white painted metal. So far the effect works out pretty well. I'll box in the bridge and have some old helicopter pilots I have as crew.