Maddog Aircraft Manufacturing 2013 Production Line

[Duke Maddog]

Greetings all and a Happy New Year!

A New Year brings a new Production Line Thread showing all my works in progress for the year. So far modeling-wise, I'm off to a pretty good start; especially in trying to clear out a lot of shelf queens that have sat for far too long on my workbench.

Let's start with all these oldest models that have languished for awhile. First off, I got the chassis painted on my Airfix Dennis Fire Truck. Yes, I know it ain't an aircraft, but I'm not going to start a new Build Thread in autos for only one project, especially since I don't work on cars enough to keep one going. I just wish there was a Forum where I could just do one Build Thread with everything included in it.

Okay, enough of that, here's my models:

I was going to dry-fit the body onto this chassis to show how it's going to look, but I lost a vital assembly that will keep me from ever finishing this model. I have NO IDEA how it could have gotten lost; it's not that small!

Anyway, moving right along....to my aircraft this time...

This is my old MPC P-61 that's been giving me fits. The one landing gear kept breaking, so I reinforced it with several wrappings of sheet styrene around the weak joint. So far it's holding. Then I filled some seams and added the clear parts (which aren't so clear due to the former modeler who started this thing) and finally shot a coat of flat black over it:

Yep! You guessed it, I broke another landing gear, this time the nose wheel. I'll repair it after I get the 'vacuform' decals on it.

Along with all of this, I polished up and then shot a coat of Alclad Dark Aluminum on the wings and horizontal stabilizers of the DC-6. Later I started to mask off the wings and horizontal stabilizers in preparation to shoot a coat of Alclad Airframe Aluminum to the fuselage. Haven't done that yet, so no pics to show yet.

Next up is my Airfix Vicker's Valiant bomber. I thought I was ready for paint on this, but then I re-noticed the short-shot wingtips. Here is the start of my fix for those:

Finally, on to some newer projects. Since I was already shooting paint, I got some paint on the following two models. This first one is the Tamiya F-84 Thunderjet that finally has a coat of silver on it that is acceptable enough. Now to put on the decals:

Next is the Tamiya Corsair that has been shot with blue overall. Yes, there's some touch-up needed on the leading edge of the wing; that's already been taken care of. Now to clearcoat this and add the decals:

And to wrap this up, I'll be showing a lot of the progress I've been making on the Mi-26 Halo helicopter. This has been getting scary but man, is this looking impressive!

First of all, I finally started to assemble the main rotors. I got them all done now; all I need to do is add the top cap above the main hub. This is showing the rotors sitting on the Airfix Valiant box that is covered with a towel. It was the largest flat surface I could find to hold this thing!

Next I assembled the tail rotor which was a little model in itself! Here it is sitting next to the main rotor:

Now to put this into perspective. Here are the two rotors next to a 1/72 scale VW Volkswagen. See what I mean about scary?

Again, since I was painting; I added the camouflage pattern to this monster helo and set it aside to dry while working on other projects. It looks pretty impressive if I do say so myself:

Finally, for fun, I test-fit the rotors on this big bird to see how it will look. Wow!

Well, that's all the progress I have to show for this new year so far. I'm starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel for most of these models so far; I hope I can get them done soon.

Thanks all for looking in, comments are always welcome!

 

[Leopard2]

Nice start into the new year. I suggest you put an electric motor into the Halo, hang it upside down from the ceiling and use it as fan :laugh:

Joe

 

[Duke Maddog]

Thanks Joe! That Halo won't be upside down, but I have no choice but to hang it from the ceiling. It's too big to sit on a shelf!

 

[Duke Maddog]

Here's another small update on my latest aircraft work for this past week.

I put decals on the F-4U Corsair; now it is ready for dullcoat and all the final assemblies:

Now on to something a bit more involved. I had joined a Helicopter Group Build on some other Forums and I figured it was time to get started on it. I chose this kit to build for that Group Build:

Of course, one always starts with the cockpit. Here it is all painted and decaled:

The cabin got finished next:

Once all that was dry enough, I closed it all in the fuselage halves. I had a devil of a time getting the rear rotor to be able to turn, but I finally got that to work....so far:

That's as far as I was able to get on that helicopter for that day. As I was building this tiny thing (it's only about five inches long) I kept thinking 'why are these parts so small? I'm so used to all the Big parts on my Big Halo!'

Speaking of my big Halo, I finally got the decals on the whole fuselage. The only decals left to add are two stencils on the rear clam-shell doors and the decals for the main rotors. Then I'll be able to dullcoat this and finish it up:

Well there it is; all my latest work done from Friday until today. It ain't too much but I finally feel like I'm getting close to finishing something again. I can't wait!

Thanks all for looking in, comments are welcome!

 

[moon puppy]

 

[Phil]

I suggest you put an electric motor into the Halo, hang it upside down from the ceiling and use it as fan

Joe

:yipee that's quite good I like that made me laugh!

Now I know why you have Maddog in your name! Holy .... that's some lineup!

very good production line there!

If you have troubles with broken gear legs Duke, drill them and insert brass rod and Ca them - they will never break again - it's my standard fix

 

[Duke Maddog]

Thanks guys!

Phil, that's a great tip. I think I'll try it on my DC-6 first since that nose gear strut seems to have problems staying intact.

 

[Duke Maddog]

This just a small update on one of my aircraft.

I finally was able to get the decals on this Thunderjet. This may have said "Tamiya" on the box, but at no time did this model ever act like a Tamiya kit! This also applies to the decals, as when I tried to apply them, they broke apart on several occasions; especially under the tail surfaces. Oh well, I'm leaving it that way as it would take too much to try and fix (I know! I tried!)

This thing is getting sealed with a gloss coat and then I'll add the landing gear, gear doors, underwing stores and other detail parts:

Stay tuned for more, I hope to have some progress done on a couple more aircraft soon. meanwhile, thanks all for looking in, comments are welcome.

 

[moon puppy]

what did you do for a mask on that Mark?

 

[Duke Maddog]

what did you do for a mask on that Mark?

The canopy was masked with Hobbyco Liquid Mask which allowed me to mask the clear areas and leave the canopy frames unmasked for paint. I have found that Hobbyco makes the absolute best liquid mask of any company. The missing silver on the mask happened when I had to tape off the faded OD to re-shoot some silver on the wing root after I fixed it.

 

[Duke Maddog]

Just a real quick update since I managed to get a few hours on the bench today. I spent it getting all the fiddly bits on the Mi-26 Halo, painted the details on the rotors, and added the landing gear and rear clamshell doors.

Here it is:

Here's a shot of this 1/72 scale helicopter next to a 1/72 scale Russian staff car to show the relative size of this monster helicopter:

Now all I have to do is do some paint touch up; re-coat it with dullcoat and remove the clear parts masking and this beastie will be done!

Stay tuned!

 

[jknaus]

Man that looks nice. Awesome work
James

 

[Duke Maddog]

Hey all, here's a small and simple update since I haven't been able to get too much done.


I managed to get some progress done on my A-109KM helicopter. Here you can see the clear parts are in and the last of the detail pieces are on it (at least the ones what shouldn't break off with handling). I also had gotten some of the seams and joins filled and sanded down:

Next I built the main rotors and then masked the clear parts up in preparation for painting. I'll fasten the main doors on with some white glue or something simple so that after I paint this I'll be able to remove them again and pose them open if I want. I'm thinking of having at least one of these doors open....

Well, that's about all I have to show for all this so far, at least on my aircraft. Stay tuned, I may have more coming sometime later this week.

Thanks all for looking in, comments are welcome.

 

[jknaus]

Cool
James

 

[Duke Maddog]

As mentioned in my Armoured Fury Manufacturing Thread, I was getting some airbrushing done, mostly on my aircraft models. First off is my DC-6. I sprayed another final touch-up coat of Alclad on this model; once again trying to fix a couple blemishes that I just can't seem to eradicate! It seems every time I'm ready to put on the decals; some other "zit" pops up! So, I fixed what I could and sprayed a final coat and that is it! The decals are going on this next, regardless of what else I find. I'm sick of re-spraying this stinking model! It's getting WAY too expensive buying all this Alclad!

Also, you'll notice that I painted the grey on the wings that was applied to make the exhaust stains easier to clean off:

Moving along, I also basecoated my South African helicopter for a Helicopter Group Build going on elsewhere:

While all that was drying I made some more progress on my Secret Santa gift from one of the other Forums; the Ju-88 S-1. I painted the cockpit and then installed it inside the fuselage:

Next, I assembled the fuselage, added the tail surfaces and the wings; then closed it all up by adding all the clear parts. Well, almost all the clear parts; one decided to disappear; it is supposed to go in the round hole on top of the fuselage behind the cockpit:

I don't know what I'm going to do about that. It is a textured piece of clear and I have no way of replicating it so all I can do is try to finish this and hope that someday the stupid part re-appears!

Finally, I painted a gloss white on the underside of my Vickers Valiant bomber, then masked it off to apply the basecoat of green on the top. Obviously, the paint was too old and nasty. Now I'll have to strip this and try again when I can buy new paint. Man, I just cannot catch a break!

Okay, that is about all I have for this week. I may get more done this weekend; hopefully I'll finally have the decals on the DC-6! Meanwhile, feel free to check out my progress in my Armoured Fury Thread.

Thanks all for looking in; comments are always welcome!

 

[paddy]

I make this 10 ? in 2 months...and all from the guy that thought a month was not long enough for one Xmas charity build :laugh:

 

[Duke Maddog]

I make this 10 ? in 2 months...and all from the guy that thought a month was not long enough for one Xmas charity build :laugh:

This may be ten, but I haven't finished any aircraft except one in this year so far. I'm hoping to add some of these soon to the completed list.

Yeah, I still think a month is too short for a charity build; month and a half would work nicely though.

Thanks for posting Paddy! I appreciate it.

 

[Duke Maddog]

Hey all! For awhile there my PC was not working so I had no access to post any photos on here. So, while waiting for the thing to get fixed, I got quite a bit done on several projects. Now that I have the PC back; I'm going to get all these posted today, hopefully before my flu meds kick in.

I got a lot done on my armor; feel free to check it out in the Armoured Fury Forum. Now here is my aircraft.

First off, I found a two-bladed prop to replace the lost one on my Cessna 172 floatpane so I went ahead and installed the windows for this plane before assembling the prop to the nose:

Here it is with the propeller on the nose ready to install:

You can see there's loads of gaps around that windscreen that need to be dealt with. I'd already added some Mr. Surfacer 500 to start.

While that was drying, I painted the camouflage pattern on the A-109 KM helicopter that I'm doing for a Helicopter Group Build:

After setting that aside to dry, I decided to start another aircraft. This is the Testor's Ju-52; a later version. This one has waist guns, unlike the earlier one I built. I started this because the box is shot and I'm afraid of losing parts.

Here is the interior all assembled:

I later got all that painted but didn't take a pic. I'll remember to get one before I close everything up.




Okay, that's all I have for my aircraft for this week. I hope you enjoyed the factory tour. Thanks for stopping in, comments are welcome.

 

[Duke Maddog]

Hey all,

Another week and another small update on my latest progress.


Now, with all that going on, I didn't get too much done on my aircraft, but I did manage to get the windscreen on the Cessna sealed at the top. Now I have to seal the bottom of the windscreen and then I can mask this for the white basecoat:

My IPMS Orange County chapter is doing a Group Build of 1/72 scale Mustangs for the IPMS Nationals in Colorado. I have four Mustangs so I decided to start one of them. This is the Italeri Mustang that I'd gotten from the Distressed Kit Auction. It was started already, so I enhanced a little more of the work that was done and then built this up to this stage:

Well, that's all I had to show for this weekend. I also got a lot of progress done on my armor models. Pics are posted in Armoured Fury. Thanks all for looking in, comments are welcome.

 

[Duke Maddog]

Another small update for this week. It ain't much but I'll have more to show after this Friday's Hobby Gathering.

Okay, on to my latest progress...


Now for my aircraft, I glosscoated my A-109K and added the decals to it:

After this, I need to paint up the details, add the weaponry and install and paint the details on the rotors. A couple more days and this one will most likely be finished.

The only other aircraft progress I made was to sand smooth the rough, badly-painted basecoat on my Vickers Valiant:

After this, I painted it overall in a black primer to find out where it was still rough. Then I sanded again on the rough spots. I didn't get any pics of that. If you look at the above pic and imagine it painted black all over, you'll see why I didn't bother with another pic.


Well, that's all the progress I have to show for this week so far. As I mentioned, I'll have more to show after tomorrow. I'm looking forward to it; I'll have the whole day for building models.

Meanwhile, thanks all for looking in, comments are welcome.