MiG-15 EGGPLANE (1953) (Hasegawa)

This is a 1:egg scale plastic model of a MiG-15 fighter/interceptor aircraft as used during the Korean War (1950-1953). It is a Hasegawa kit (TH22).

It is painted with various Vallejo and Tamiya airbrush colours, and with "smoke" paint.
I acquired it almost a year ago and built it immediately except for the canopy. I waited months until getting some new bendy plastic masking tape before attempting to mask and spray the silver onto the canopy. It turned out okay.

MiG-15 egg plane

MiG-15 egg plane

A real one...

MiG-15 egg plane

MiG-15 egg plane

MiG-15 egg plane

MiG-15 egg plane

MiG-15 egg plane

CORVETTE STINGRAY 2014 CONVERTIBLE (Maisto)

This is a metal-body pre-painted 1:24 scale 2014 Corvette Stingray Convertible (GM automobile) by Maisto models.
It takes 30 minutes to assemble and put on stickers. There are only 40 parts. Everything clips together or is held in with screws. A tiny useless screwdriver is provided.
I bought it at the Great Glebe Garage Sale yesterday and assembled it Sunday morning on the balcony as the runners came in to the finish line of the Ottawa marathon. The finish line is a on the road beside my home.
Only the side-view mirrors were difficult due to the attachment points.
The kit was just for fun and is not to be shown or displayed. It will be given to a friend who collects car models in his garages.

TUPOLEV Tu-98A "RED ARROW" (Avro Arrow CF-105) (Hobbycraft)

In the mid-1950s the Soviet KGB began an intelligence operation against Canada to acquire data about the new experimental Avro Arrow CF-105 programme. Eventually the Central Committee approved a plan for the KBG to acquire and pass on raw material from agents in Canada (thought to be related to the Gerda Munsigner spy ring involving Conservative party cabinet ministers) to the Tupolev design bureau with order to produce one airframe and a set of large-scale test models. The USSR was at that time seeking ultra-fast high-altitude interceptors to protect the country from invading US bombers and spy aircraft. Code-named "Kraznaya Strela" (Red Arrow), the aircraft was formally called the Tu-98A. The project was eventually abandoned when the MiG design bureau was selected to design and produce the MiG-25 ultra-fast, high-altitude interceptor. This is all conjecture based on one document (see below). There is some confusion as the Tu-98A designation appears to have been used by different USSR agencies for two different (but similar) aircraft, neither of which was deployed.

The model kit is the old HobbyCraft 1:72 scale Avro Arrow kit very slightly modified to the reflect what it is thought the Tu-98A looked like in about 1958. I began this kit in the late 1990s and finished it in May 2017.

Paint is Vallejo steel acrylic airbrushed on, with Tamiya smoke airbrushed onto the tail pipes. Decals are various sources.

Tu-98A "Red Arrow"

The KGB document reads in part that the CPSU directs the special offices of the KGB to organize a project called Kraznaya Strela (Red Arrow) through the Tupolev OKB to produce one Soviet version of a Canadian Avro Arrow CF-105 based on intelligence data, and to be designated the Tu-98A. The airframe was to be tested at the Zhukovsky air base. This document may not be true and is subject to verification by archivists.

Tu-98A "Red Arrow"

Tu-98A "Red Arrow"

Tu-98A "Red Arrow"

Tu-98A "Red Arrow"

AUSTRIAN VILLAGE RAILROAD TRAIN STATION - c. 1930-1960 (Pola)

This is a "Pola" model kit from West Germany in 1:87 scale of an Austrian village train station.
I bought it and built it all in one day. It cost $2 at a the RCR Flea Market this Victoria Day weekend. The wooden slats between the plaster walls are molded as different parts and attached after each is painted with an airbrush. All parts are molded in roughly the colours seen here, but all were painted for a better finish. Brushing was done for effects. Vallejo powder was used to grime it up a bit, and various greens and yellow grass-like material was glued onto the base. The windows have a clear plastic sheet glued behind each to give the look of glass.
All paints are Vallejo airbrush colours and matte clear.
Perhaps I can give it to a model railroader for an HO scale layout.

RUSSIAN NAVY MINELAYER "AMUR" (1899-1904) (Modelkrak)

This is a quick build of a resin kit from Poland (Modelkrak) of the 1:700 scale ship "AMUR"; a Russian naval minelayer from the Imperial period. The real ship was built in St Petersburg in 1899, and was the world's first purpose-built ocean-going minelayer. The Amur was sunk by the Japanese using shore battery howitzers at Port Arthur during the Russo-Japanese war in December 1904. It is 91 m long and has two steam engines for the two screws. The hold carried 300 mines, which are dispensed through trap doors under the stern while underway.

I acquired the kit at the estate sale of Bill Wilson's collection on 03 May and quickly went to work.
The model is about 13 cm long. The Russian naval ensign on the stern post is hand made. The masts and yards are made from steel rod soldered together by me in a steep-leaning-curve attempt at soldering for the first time in 38 years. The rigging is real HUMAN HAIR from my wife (Thank you, Pam!). The smoke is from paint-dipped ear-cleaning buds pulled apart with tweezers. The water scene is made with two layers of gesso, with further gesso added to accentuate the bow wave and wake, etc. The gesso dries in a couple of hours and was painted gloss Tamiya gloss blue. Vallejo white was dry-brushed on for wave tips and bow wave and wake and foam. The base was a single-day project.

Russian Navy Minelayer AMUR

The real one...

Russian Navy Minelayer AMUR

Russian Navy Minelayer AMUR

Russian Navy Minelayer AMUR

Russian Navy Minelayer AMUR

SKODA M.1917 HEAVY HOWITZER (Takom)

This is the M.1917 Heavy Howitzer designed and built by Skoda Works for the Austro-Hungarian empire's armies in World War 1. Design began in 1909 and the final version of the gun (see here as belonging to Czechoslovakia) was produced in 1917 but never saw actual combat service in that war.
The first eight were built for coastal defence and attack of battleships. They were quickly transferred to heavy siege duty on the eastern fronts. The last gun (seen here) became the largest artillery piece of the new Czechoslovakian Army. The version here is how the gun would have looked in 1919 right after the Great War. As a footnote of history the gun was eventually acquired by the Nazis after the takeover of Czechoslovakia, and used against the Maginot Line in France, and at the siege of Sevastapol USSR. Strangely the box art on the kit shows two gun at Sevastapol, but only one existed.

The kit is by Takom (kit #2018) is in 1:35 scale, and is larger than most tank kits. Colours are Tamiya spray cans and Vallejo acrylic airbrush paints and powders.

This is a fantastic kit with well thought out engineering. The plastic barrel is even rifled! The only problem is the pivot point for the gun body on the cradle/carriage - these are molded as a single part on each side, but need to be separate so the whole cradle can be assembled and painted without the gun in place. I cut them off to do this.

Random Facts about the 1917 howitzer in Czech army service...
Calibre 420mm
Min/Max Elevation +40° / +70°
Traverse  360
Total Weight  112.7 tonnes
Shell weight  1000 kg
Crew approx. 200 officers and men
Time to Assemble / Disassemble  12-40 hours / 12-26 hours
Rate of fire  approx. 1 shell per eight minutes
Max. Range  12.7 km 

SKODA M.1917 HEAVY HOWITZER

SKODA M.1917 HEAVY HOWITZER

A real one...

SKODA M.1917 HEAVY HOWITZER

SKODA M.1917 HEAVY HOWITZER

SKODA M.1917 HEAVY HOWITZER

SKODA M.1917 HEAVY HOWITZER

SKODA M.1917 HEAVY HOWITZER

SKODA M.1917 HEAVY HOWITZER

SKODA M.1917 HEAVY HOWITZER

SKODA M.1917 HEAVY HOWITZER

SKODA M.1917 HEAVY HOWITZER

SKODA M.1917 HEAVY HOWITZER

HMS VICTORY - CROSS-SECTION - 1:200 (part 1)

This is a work-in-progress of the HMS Victory. It is a 1:200 scale cross-section of the famous sailing battleship commanded by Admiral Nelson and victorious at the battle of Trafalgar in 1805.
What is making this build so very difficult is that the box mailed from China did not have the instruction sheets in it. So everything is a guess based on photos of the real thing and of professional models of the Victory. It is an all-wood kit. Only the gun barrels are brass. The kit comes from China's Aliexpress.com and costs about $30.