eharrold44

I think it's possible, given the right situation, but it's probably wild optimism on my part. I just wish they could make it happen, if only to make up for unceremoniously scrapping the CV-6 back in the fifties. I saw her at Norfolk a few weeks back, and she looked a bit worn out. She had a lot of wear showing around the waterline, similar to the Kennedy just before she was retired. I read somewhere that the maintenance on the Kennedy got pretty lax prior to her last deployment. Enterprise is still a big, impressive, proud ship, but she looked like she needed a fresh coat of paint.

This eBay seller may be on drugs. $40 for a Monogram P-40? $150 for an AMT Trans Am? Sure, why not.

It's interesting this film is being inserted back into the public consciousness. For a while there after 9/11, nobody wanted anything to do with escapist action. Or Tom Cruise, for that matter. I guess everything eventually becomes fashionable again. I don't mind the return of escapist action films one bit. Not every action flick has to be a grim slog filled to the brim with ShakyCam sequences.

Not having to go to eBay and buy AM stuff secondhand is "resurrected" enough for me. A new Devastator kit would be nice, though...

How many times has Accurate Miniatures died, only to be resurrected yet again? I love their kits, but I wish we didn't have to go through the drama (seemingly) every couple of years. Though I'm sure the drama is much more draining for the people who make a living through AM.

This is like Coca Cola announcing they're buying a fleet of shiny new delivery trucks. It's great for them, I'm sure the trucks will look sharp with their new graphics, but it doesn't mean much for the consumer. We were hoping to try a new flavor...

PM sent on the Revellogram Thunderchief kits.

I concur, the wheel bays could use some wear and grime. It's an absolutely phenomenal Viper, though. I love the uncommon paint scheme, and the weathering/shading is wonderful. Exquisite paintbrush work.

Awesome tribute to a very cool design. Always loved the lines of the YF-23, very graceful and sleek. It still looks cutting edge 20 years later.

Found this through a quick Google search. Para-film @ School Specialty Canada You may be able to find it cheaper by shopping around. That's just one of the first places that popped up. It's probably available from just about any place that sells lab supplies. Hobby stores sometimes have it, but in smaller rolls. The large 250' rolls will last you a very, very, very long time, with proper storage.

I love Para-film. It's absolutely the best material for masking clear parts I've ever used. Thank you so much for recommending it. Netz, I agree the round blade is a must. I took your advice and bought some #10 X-acto blades, and they worked perfectly. A straight edge hobby knife would probably end up pulling on the Para-film, instead of cutting it cleanly. The rounded blades went through it very smoothly. I used it to mask an F-14 canopy. The process of applying and trimming it was fairly quick and painless. I can see how it would be tedious to do the same thing to a Buffalo canopy,

I'm a noob as well, and here are some of the things I've learned since I started: 1.) Spend way more on tools and supplies than you do on models, at least at first. Having a well-stocked workbench is absolutely critical. Sounds like you're off to a great start in that department. 2.) You're definitely on the right track starting with cheaper kits. You will make mistakes, and you don't want to make them on a $70 kit. I highly recommend starting off on some Monogram jets; they're still very workable kits, despite their age and raised panel lines, and they give you some nice practice on bas

One thing I totally agree with is that your work should be the star, and not the fancy kits and resin parts. While fancy kits and resin parts are wonderful, a Monogram Skyraider built by a master will probably look much more impressive than a Tamiya with all the trimmings slapped together by a novice. It's not the kit that matters the most; it's the pride and craftsmanship that goes into the building of it.

I've always had good luck with auctions ending on Sunday night. The only other thing I can suggest is to make sure your listing is very thorough, with lots of pictures and a ridiculously full description. It puts buyers at ease, encourages bidding, and it offers some protection from jokers who may try to extort a refund from you with false/unreasonable claims. Also, it might help to look for similar items prior to posting an auction. Try to pick a time when your item will be one of the only ones available, if possible, to avoid direct competition with other listings. And yes, some of tho

Nail, head, hit. I'm a noob myself. Everyone wants to be the best at what they do, so I'm both awed and intimidated by other people's work. Having fun is the most important thing, though. There are plenty of affordable kits out there that will build up nicely out of the box.

More progress. The bang seats are in, and I assembled the main fuselage. Thoroughly prefitting the fuselage kept the gaps manageable. Thinned Squadron mostly took care of the seams, but I'm still working on the slight step in the plastic where the nose didn't fit well. Next up, adding some extra detail bits to the cockpit and inching closer to getting the rest of the fuselage ready for painting. I'm planning on using a combo of preshading and weathering with pastels to give it that "classic" grimy, low-viz look.

+1, I've bought things from that seller in the past. It's sort of weird, it looks like the buyer has no idea how to set a maximum bid. I'm in the "probably some kid crank bidding" camp.

I don't have one, unfortunately, but I found this listing on Google: OA-4M Skyhawk @ eCrater It doesn't spell out whether or not they ship worldwide, but it couldn't hurt to ask. It's listed as new in a sealed box. Might be worth a try if no one here can help you out.

Some more progress. Painted the brown hoods in front of the instrument panels, applied some washes, and did some more dry brushing to show some wear. You can see in some of the pictures that, in my haste, I forgot to eliminate the seam on the top of the RIO's instrument panel. Definitely another noob moment. This definitely won't be an open cockpit model. I'm still learning the patience a proper cockpit requires, and I'm still working on improving my washes. It should look decent through the canopy, though. Next up, getting the pilots and the ejection seats ready to go. I'll pr

I did find that article, it was very helpful. Thank you for suggesting it. I didn't even think of getting rid of the gears attached to the wings; that will make it a lot easier to build the fuselage and the wings as separate sub-assemblies. Link to the article, if anyone else would like to check it out: 1/48 Tomcat by Darren Roberts

Hey all- After a couple of false starts on some projects where I made a ton of noob mistakes, I feel like I'm finally in a place where I can finish a model and be reasonably satisfied with it. So, here's what I'm working on- Revell's F-14D Super Tomcat kit. I finally figured out how to dry brush the buttons and panels effectively, though I still need a lot more practice. The cockpit is still a work in progress. I need to airbrush the brownish-looking hoods behind the instrument panels, and I need to clean up the lines around the interior panels. I painted them free-hand with a shar

Innovation often happens in spurts. Look at computers; for a while there in the 90's, everybody was racing to one-up the competition with specs. Eventually you get to a point where everything out there is basically good enough, and it becomes much harder to separate yourself from the pack- so you try to innovate in other areas. In the case of warplanes, it's in electronics and stealth. Though like Neu said, there's still plenty of work being done to improve raw performance.

I just ordered a healthy amount of Para-film from an eBay seller I frequent. Only about $10 including S&H for 2 10' rolls, not bad at all. Should last quite a while. I also found a good how-to article with plenty of pictures on Hyperscale. Using Parafilm-M by David W. Aungst

I hadn't heard of Para-Film before. I looked up a couple of how-to articles, and I think it might be exactly what I need. Thanks for the tip.

Hey all- I'm still kind of a noob. I've been practicing painting canopy frames, using Tamiya tape for the masks. The results look okay, I guess, but not as sharply defined as I would like. I'm still seeing small paint bleeds along the edges. I've been taking small strips of tape, placing them on the edges of the windows, and then filling in the rest of the clear parts with other bits of tape. My question: will the tape method become more effective with practice (or a different approach), or is it worth it to just invest in some pre-cut vinyl masks? I try to be as frugal as possible, so