SamuraiPaddler

Thanks Rhino! Quailane, check out the 2nd paragraph of this article...it was a real quote from a 1925 report: Tuskegee article If you scroll down to the paragraph with note #23, you'll see the quote I used on the display. (It seems my original source was wrong in that the quote was from a 1925 report...the quote appears to have come from the years immediately preceding the Tuskegee airmen's successes). I decided to use it on the display because I feel the sentiment is sad but the "validity" of it was "funny" when taken in context of the Tuskegee airmen. Nothing exposes that quote for w

There's a lot going on here, so let me explain... I have an African-American friend who is 1) an aviation enthusiast 2) a comic book fan and 3) a native Alabamian. All those things combined to lead me to this idea. It's a 1/48 Tamiya P-51D with a few homemade decals and the rest from the spares box to make a "What If" Tuskegee Mustang. Those of you familiar with the opening sequence to the movie "Watchmen" will recognize the nose art influence, and those of you familiar with the Tuskegee P-51 markings will recognize the paint scheme. There would be plenty of errors if this were a legiti

It was passing through Birmingham, AL on Wednesday (2-23)...a coworker saw it on his way home from work and his wife snapped a picture for me. So I presume it started at Pensacola...although I have no idea where it's going or why it's going there!

In flight? Check. Detailed crew? Check. Appropriate level of weathering? Check. Awesome display base? Check. Falling ordnance? Check. VFA-213? Fail. So cool I don't even care that it's another Jolly Roger? Check. For my money, this is the way a model plane should look - doing what it's meant to do! This evokes even more action than your refueling display did...and I didn't even realize that was possible! Mike

Very nice! Really like all the color and the weathering mixed in to keep it all toned down. The kit's so nice, kinda makes you wanna do more, huh?

Hey guys, Finished another plane for the office - so just like my Italeri F-4J, this one might exhibit some accidental inaccuracies, inconsistencies, and things I flagrantly did incorrectly cause I just didn't care :D It's a 1/48 Hasegawa kit with TwoBobs decals. OOB aside from the addition of a pilot and building it gear-up (the gear fit perfectly with a little trimming). I realize these are VF-126 markings and VF-126 is not TOPGUN, but the patch isn't accurate either...plus, when the people at work see the patch, they'll understand the model more. Mike

It's a Hasegawa Scooter - what could go wrong? :wub: I recall a flawless fit and no filler was required anywhere. But that was for a strictly OOB build - I can't comment on what it might take to make it more accurate. The greatest thing that stood out was the fact that within days, I had a perfectly assembled model in spite of myself. The excellent fit and quick construction (quick without a compromise in quality) made it fun to build, and I didn't run into any problems or "gotchas" that you need to look out for beforehand. Now if I could just finish painting it...

Thanks guys! I remembered to bring my camera to work this morning...so here it is, seen as intended: In person, with my usual office lighting, you can't see the fishing line as prominently as you see it in the picture...so it looks pretty convincing. I like it so much, I think an F-14 will join it in the near future

Thanks guys! Will do It will be the first of several, I'm sure. In the meantime, here's a couple pics of it "flying" at home. I Photoshopped out the fishing line it was hanging from...and this is before the missiles were painted and attached. Another role I had for it was to try something new for me - all the panel lines (recessed on the kit) are just drawn over in pencil. I wasn't sure if it would look ok or not, so I tried it here figuring if it didn't look right, no big deal. Turns out, I like the way it looks even up close, so I learned something from this quick build I

Glad you guys like it - thanks for the comments! Glad to hear it, Rocat - now if I could only motivate myself more often

I decided I needed some model airplanes to hang from the ceiling of my office...and I also wanted an excuse to build a model without AMS and not feel guilty about it. It's slowly dawning on me that not every model I build has to be a swing for the fences...sometimes, I can have just as much fun if I spit one out in a week or two. So, putting those ideas together, I decided I could throw together an in-flight airplane and hang it from my office ceiling...the greatest modeling sins wouldn't be seen and 99% of the people seeing it wouldn't know it wasn't an award-winning model anyway (they prob

I'm for anything 213 in aftermarket - from their Banshee days up to right now...full color AND low viz. As it is, if you want a 1/48 Tomcat in anything more than high-viz 200, 201, or 213 as an F-14D or a Rhino as anything other than high viz 200 (and that baby-blue abomination doesn't count), you have what...the Italeri kit decals for the VF-213 F-4J and F-14A? Aside from some Hasegawa 1/72 kit F-4J and last-cruise F-14D decals, I'm not sure of anything (other than the usual 200, 201, or 213 as an F-14D) in aftermarket for the Blacklions. And even in 1/144 - aftermarket gets you the Ba

Very nice! I like the way your windscreen tinting turned out - you can barely see it but it's there - just like the look of the real thing. The engines look good too and I like the suitably worn paint scheme. More amazing than all of that though is that it's not a Jolly Roger But MOST amazing is that that's your FIRST Hasegawa F-14. Finishing at all is impressive, finishing it that well even moreso.

Very nice and subtle...that looks like a good compromise between overly done green or blue and having nothing. Splitting the difference like this, you might confuse the "go with color" faction and the "leave it clear" camp just long enough that they can enjoy the model for a little while

Very nice! Guess you have to get a Hase Rhino now and use a wing tank from it...and build the Hase up into another stunning Rhino - maybe Blacklion 200 ;)