BATTLE DAMAGED M113 ARMOURED PERSONNEL CARRIER (Tamiya)

This is a 1:35 scale kit from Tamiya of the M113 armoured personnel carrier as used by the Canadian Army on the United Nations UNPROFOR peacekeeping mission in the former Yugoslavia.

On 24 April 1993 this APC was damaged beyond repair when it drove onto an anti-tank land mine during route reconnaissance of the front lines in Srebrenica, Bosnia-Herzegovina. The APC was part of Golf Company, 2nd Battalion, The Royal Canadian Regiment. Injured was Lt Cameron Ellis; as well as WO Hickey; Cpl Jane and Cpl MacDougall; and Pvt O'Neill. The vehicle is now part of the collection at the Canadian War Museum. It was completely restored in honour of 30 years of service by the M113 APC family to the Canadian Armed Forces.

The entire top/roof had to be rebuilt to eliminate the large armoured heavy gun turret and to add a new flat sheet (of trading card cardboard), and to add a new smaller ring turret, and a new hatch.
The license plate is the very unique "35000" registration, and is a tiny photograph of the actual plate on the real vehicle. I look the photo then shrunk it down to almost nothing, then printed it on the colour laser printer and cut out the final plate to glue directly to the hull. With a magnifying glass you could read the word CANADA on the top of the plate.
Work began on 3 August and was completed on 26 August.

It appears I used a sepia setting on the camera, and now have to re-take all photos.

This is the real damaged APC in the former Yugoslavia in 1993.

M113 armoured personnel carrier

M113 armoured personnel carrier

M113 armoured personnel carrier

M113 armoured personnel carrier

M113 armoured personnel carrier

M113 armoured personnel carrier

M113 armoured personnel carrier

M113 armoured personnel carrier

WINNER of the CAPCON 2017 "Canadian War Museum Award" for a model of an item from the museum's collection.
30 September 2017.

The real one at the Canadian War Museum in Ottawa.

BATMOBILE (c.1960)

In honour of Adam West, the best Batman, here is a metal die-cast kit of the Batmobile as it looked prior to the filming of the 1966 TV show. It is a plastic chassis and interior, with a cast metal body.

"PIRATE SHIP"

This is a WoodKrafter Kits (Basic Boat Series) wooden kit of a pirate ship.
Crude, but a fun weekend project. Kit purchased at the Great Glebe Garage Sale for $5.

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.