I can't believe you did this!

 My Dad has been the biggest reason for my journey into modeling. When I was 4 years old he bought the Revell/Monogram 1:48 B-17F "Memphis Belle", as I was obsessed with the movie and the bomber. According to my parents, I left the dinner table not to be seen again for a while. I was quiet... too quiet, and they discovered me on the floor with the B-17 box "carefully" twisting off the fuselage parts and fixing them together with scotch tape.

About this same time we were getting ready to move so the B-17 was boxed up until we were settled in. I would have been 5 and this was the summer months, my Dad and I began working on the B-17 again. And it's a memory I still remember. He was the builder, and my job was to find the parts from the instructions. We built our Memphis Belle, it hung over my bed while we lived in that house. I remember being so excited that I finally had a Memphis Belle B-17. Over the years of living there, Dad and I added more 1:48 Monogram kits to the ceiling, and it was the same routine, he'd build and I'd find the parts for him.

My Dad will openly admit that I've surpassed him in modeling abilities. There are times that I "take it too far" as he will jest. And I'll admit there are many times he's correct. But in 2020, I was rushing to build the marvelous Tamiya 1:48 Ki-61 Hien for online Group Build in a vain attempt to win a prize I had my mind set on. 

Well, I didn't win, sadly I didn't even finish the model. No instead I actually ruined the model trying to recover it. I was quite depressed about this, as it was the height of COVID I couldn't just go out and order another one. I felt very defeated and upset with myself for messing up so foolishly. 

My Dad saw my frustration, and I pointed out that his U-boat was broken. He then told me "Why don't you fix it"? 

I was floored by this! You see my older brother orchestrated the buying of this kit, Revell 1:72 U-boat VIIc, for my Dad's birthday nearly a decade ago. And I was always under the impression that this kit was very special to him. 

He said that he had already built it, taken it to a model show, and won a prize for it (Gold) and that he wanted to see what I could do with the model. 

My Dad's U-boat model in the Nanton Model Show 2015

I've always wanted to build and distress one of these U-boats, and so I took him up on his offer. My older brother I don't think was very impressed that I "ruined" our father's model. But I had the blessing of my Father to do whatever I wanted to with this project. 

It was a good summer project, and I finished it in about a month and a half's time. I made a video showing off the restoration of this project, and in the beginning, I dedicated the video and project to my Dad. 

I got many comments about this project relating to my Dad. "Your father will be proud of this" "Your Dad must have been very pleased with the end result"  "I'm sure your Dad is pretty proud right now"

To be honest, I think that he liked it, but there wasn't much of a "joy attack" I think most viewers were expecting. And I do remember that when I showed him the model with just the dark blue and grey on the upper sides he didn't think that it looked good at all. But once he saw the lower side painted he changed his mind. 

My next project was the Tamiya 1:48 F-14A. I wanted this kit for over a year and I finally got my hands on one. I bought this kit as a therapy project, and after a few weeks of working on it in October, I put the kit away. Something had happened in my life that prevented this build from being the therapy I needed. 

Finally, in late June 2021, I decided that I was going to finally finish this F-14! I wanted to see it sitting on my display case. I just wanted to get this kit done as best I could and in the way I wanted. 

I bought some Sundowners decals "Miss Molly" as I'm a big fan of their markings. And I asked my younger brother to paint up the Pilot and RIO figures with Sundowners helmets. Mind you these are hand-painted and in 1:48th scale. 

He's a very talented painter and his skills on these pilots were jaw-dropping to everyone that saw them. Several people to who I showed these online were in disbelief that these weren't decals. 

The joke around the house was that people weren't going to pay any attention to my model and just look at my brother's exceptional figure painting. And they weren't wrong.

Well after weeks of work, and many late nights that bled into the early mornings. August 16th, 2021, I finally had my F-14A completed.

I've said it many times I'm a Tamiya fanboy and I'll proudly die that way. This kit was something else, something, unlike anything I've ever built, even in the Tamiya product range. It's practically a dummy-proof model kit that anyone at any skill level could build if they can just follow the instructions. 

It's an amazing model and I quickly realized why people would buy 8 or more of these kits, they are just stunning. I can't speak higher praises. The other thing that I like about Tamiya kits is that they have a strange ability to push me further with my modeling abilities. I learned a lot from this kit, as far as new methods of painting, assembly, and even rediscovered decaling methods I'd long forgotten. 

It was a very challenging project and one that I'm really ecstatic I completed. I think I sat at my table for a good half hour in pure unbelief that I finally had it done. 

 

The next day I was very excited to show off my F-14. My brother came in and saw it, and looked at the figures with a nod, not really saying much.

Later my Mum and sister took a look at it, and both (as I had predicted) commented mostly on the amazing figures my brother had painted for this.

I had become depressed at this point. I had expected this reaction and I didn't handle it too well. I was rather hoping that my Dad would forget about this and not see it. I thought that if I heard about the figures once more I was going to snap. 

But later that evening my Dad did come by and wanted to see this F-14. I begrudgingly opened the display case, and my Dad put on his proper glasses. He just stared at it for a while, and slowly commented his way down the model. And he did mention the figures... but to my surprise just briefly. 

"I can't believe you did this"

I asked him what he meant by that? And he said that with all the work I was doing (I paint in his studio so he's fairly up to date on what my projects are) all of that work, all of that time. I think that this is your best model. You've never built anything like this before. 

He then asked me about the carrier deck I was planning on building, and he became even more delighted. In all my years of modeling, I think I've seen him like this twice. Not that my Dad isn't impressed with my modeling, but to get a reaction out of him like this is something rare. 

"Is this going to be a video? I think people should see this"

Well, I nearly flipped over at that one! I know he watches most of my builds and he likes to see the comments on them. But he's NEVER, never once cared about my builds being a video. I told him that I recorded the entire build and that at some point in the year it would be a video.

I mentioned earlier that this project was designed to be a coping tool. I was dealing with the loss of a good friend and companion. I built this in dedication to her. She was beautiful and I just wanted to create a beautiful model. My Dad's reaction to it all was just praise I wasn't ready to hear.

I'm ordering the parts for the display base. I think I'll begin working on that soon. And my Dad is thrilled because I mentioned I need his help with that. And Mum, if you are reading this, don't worry, you've helped out too and when I get to that model I'll write up about you too.

Thanks Dad, none of this would have happened if not for you getting me started all those years ago.

Moebius 1:1000 U.S.S. Kelvin

I remember all of the hype almost like it was yesterday for the all-new 2009 Star Trek movie. A huge budget and a new crew playing all the familiar characters we've come to love over the years. Admittedly when I first saw the film I actually enjoyed it, but one of the things that I've never really liked was the redesign of the Enterprise. It never really had the same heart as other versions of the ship, and the writers seem to get their jollies out of destroying the Enterprise in the sequels.

The one ship however that I absolutely loved was the USS Kelvin. This ship has a unique design, and it feels right at home to other ships in the Star Trek universe. I kept hoping for one of these, and besides a cast resin model, there were no other options available. That is until Moebius Models announced that they were coming out with 4 new ships from the Kelvin Timeline. They included the USS Franklin, USS Enterprise, Spocks "Jellyfish Ship" and to my delight the USS Kelvin.

Moebius began production with the USS Franklin in 1:350 scale. And the announced that next was the Kelvin. I had expected to see it in 1:1400 scale, but I was delighted again when they said 1:1000! This was great as that is the size of ships that I try and collect. I was excited to have it match all the other ships in my collection. 

The downside however was that once the kit was nearly completed and set for sales the company Moebius went under and was sold to Pegasus Hobbies. I had seen a few test samples of the kit online and there were a few for sale online. But because the company was under these commanded huge prices.

Thankfully and to my relief Pegasus Hobbies released the kit again, with stunning boxart and plenty on the market to go around. We have yet to get the other 2 kits from Moebius and at this point I'm doubtful that we ever will. But I decided that now was the time and I finally got my hands on one of my favourite ship designs.

The ship has phase cannons that can be placed in the squared sections, or doors to have them closed. Oddly enough the Kelvin class also has phaser banks.

The bridge features several holes for a clear part to set in place.

One of the things, I was actually disappointed with was the size of this ship. I know that the Kelvin Era ships are bigger than other Trek series, and this was done on purpose, but here is it with the USS Excelsior placed on top. The Excelsior at it's time was supposed to be the biggest ship ever built, and to many points it still is. But as you can see here the Kelvin saucer section is slightly bigger than the Excelsior! ( AMT 1:1000 USS Excelsior)

Something I never noticed on the Kelvin was the damage on the right side of the upper saucer. There's an exposed square with some internal details, and many other squares to replicate damaged sections of the ship that were repaired in deep space.

A bit of panel wash to better showcase the exposed details.

The underside of the saucer has a nice thick frame to keep the parts straight and level.

The underside of the saucer features more square sections for phase cannons.

Parts of the neck and upper hull sections. These include an aft shuttle bay and a forward deflector dish.

There are windows detailed on this model as small squares. For those who are planning on lighting this model, it's not impossible to do but a lot of work and problem-solving. 

Here is the lower neck and HUGE warp engine. This engine alone is nearly as big and a 1:1000 NX class starship.

A break in the warp engines for some clear parts.

These bands run along the edge of the saucer section. They are for my kit the most disappointing part, as the details on them are fainter than the rest of the model. They will also need to be filled in and cleaned as I can see they will have larger gaps between them.

Phase Cannon doors closed, and bellow the Phase Cannons. Oddly enough there are no open doors for the Phase Cannons to sit in.

A rather interesting display stand is the dedication plaque for the Kelvin. 

Quite a large section of clear parts for this build, plenty to light up should a modeler wish.

Part 27 is the shuttle bay doors, I'm not sure why this is clear?

You might be a bit confused with the decals as it looks like you get 2 of the same sets. Well, you sort of do. The top section of the decals is slightly damaged with little scuff marks. They look more like the wax paper got stuck and you lifted the decals. Bellow, they are clean and fresh, I find this to be a really nice addition by Moebius.

The instructions come in a nice book with a lot of descriptions for the stages and parts. Any beginner should have an easy time reading and assembling the kit. There is also a very nice full-colour paint and decal diagram with the real model kit used as a reference.

A rather interesting section of the model was the last pages of the instructions and this separate sheet demonstrating how you can create a multi-layered Aztec pattern on the model. I really like this addition for seasoned and new modelers to have a guide on how to create this really cool effect.

As the kit stands straight out of the box, I find this to be a really nice and fairly simple model. The details on the exterior are really quite nice and sharp, and I'm impressed with the comprehensive instruction guide. I'm pretty excited to get to work on this one, especially with creating all of the multi-panels of the aztecing. For beginners or seasoned modelers, I think that you will really fall in love with this kit. 

AK Interactive - WW2 US Army Air Force Colors RC5026

 I've seen ads for AK Interactive Paints and I've never tried them until now. There is only one shop close to me and they are quite pricey as a result. However, as of writing this post I'm building a Revell 1:72 B-17F Memphis Belle, and because the real Memphis Belle has been fully restored there is a lot of info on details of the aircraft. One mention was the Belle was painted with Olive Drab 41. And AK were one of the only companies that specifically make this paint.

Better still Olive Drab 41 comes in a boxed set with a underside Sky Grey, and Bright Green, for the splotches painted on the upper surface. All of this is perfect, and I managed to find the last box around for a while.

I've never used these paints before, but AK boast on their site that their paints are hardy and mix well with other thinners. I assumed that this boxed set was Acrylic, but the smell was awful and when I tried mixing with acrylic thinner the paint went grainy and mushy. So I cleaned out my airbrush and tried with Lacquer, and my did they paint put beautifully. Sadly no where on the box did they indicate that these were either lacquer or acrylics.

     Olive Drab 41 (RC259)               Neutral Grey 43 (RC261)                Medium Green 42 (RC260)

Neutral Grey 

Olive Drab 41

Medium Green 42

I have to say that AK really live up to their reputation of vibrant and lively colors. The pigments they use are very nice and bold. I do have some concerns about the Olive Drab 41 as it doesn't match the Memphis Belle and is quite a bit darker than I wanted. But it's a very sound and excellent looking Olive Drab.  In conclusion, I'm very pleased with the quality of these paints, and if I had easier access to them I'd be buying a lot more of these. They are easy to airbrush and clean and stick very firmly to the surface. I can see what all the AK fuss is about.