Ed's Coronavirus shutdown model building

[Ed S]

This is a journal of what I've doing during this shutdown time. As I may have said, we sold our house in Feb, and were planning to go on the road in our RV in March. Well, obviously, things have changed. We are now staying in my sister's spare bedroom. I have a tool box of modeling tools, supplies, and kits that I am currently working from. This means that most of my scratchbuilding and conversion supplies and kits are boxed up in a storage unit and mostly are in the back of the the storage room. Of course. But I have access to a few kits without unloading everything. But at least I can't complain about not having time to play with my toys.

Because my tool box is limited, I am only using 6 jars of craft acrylic paint and a few tubes of oil paints. So everything is brush painted with colors mixed from black, white, red, blue, yellow, and burnt umber. I do have my FS595 card deck to match colors.

This first model was done in early March, just as things were starting to get serious. My wife was at a sewing/quilting show for a couple days, so I built a model for the 48hr Challenge over on BtS. This is the old (as in original bagged) 1/72 Aifrix Westland Whirlwind. It was built out of the box and painted and marked as a USAAC plane in North Africa.

[Ed S]

Here is the new mold 1/72 Airfix Curtis Hawk 81-A-1, P-40B built out of the box as a AVG Flying Tigers fighter. I did break off the .30cal gun barrels and had to replace them with stretched sprue. It was painted with my custom mixed acrylics and weathered lightly with oil paints and pastel chalks.

[Ed S]

This is the 1:144 Panzer Korps kit of the Challenger and the Warrior. A friend had this 2nd hand and thought I needed to work on something smaller than my usual 1/72 scale.  They were mostly assembled, but some parts were missing. I had to make a new barrel for the 30mm on the Warrior and scratchbuild a new smoke launcher and a new fuel drum for the Challenger. They were brush painted with my acrylics and weathered with oil paints.  The giant quarter gives the scale.

This is the fuel drum in work. My cutting matt is marked in 1 in squares.



And the fuel drum on the Challenger.



Finished kits

[PR19_Kit]

1/144 scale tanks? 

Whatever next!

They look amazing Ed, no way you'd know what scale they are without the coin next door. 

Your Whirlwind and P-40 look terrific too. 

[AeroplaneDriver]

Wow...pretty good results from 6 pots of paint!  Really love the 1/144 armor.  Very impressive! 

[Ed S]

That's it for completed models. I do have a couple in work. First if a old (original bagged) Airfix 1/72 CAC-13 Boomerang. It is being built as real world CAC-19 in foliage green camo. I am working on decals and markings at this time. If it seems that I am overdoing the "old" kits, I bought a box of old Airfix, Matchbox, Frog and others for a lot less than market value. These old kits are quick, easy and fun little projects.





I have started work on a Panzer III auf N. This is a (yet again) old kit but ESCI this time. Also in 1/72. I am adding some details and will finish it with battle damage.

[zenrat]

Good work Ed.

[Dizzyfugu]

Nice, I like that Operation Torch Whirlwind a lot. 

[Old Wombat]

 

[NARSES2]

Nice, I like that Operation Torch Whirlwind a lot. 

As do I, and I may well do a similar one using the Special Hobby kit 

[chrisonord]

Very nice Ed,  hope you  are all ok over there, and keep up rhe great  work 
Chris

[Ed S]

Very nice Ed,  hope you  are all ok over there, and keep up rhe great  work 
Chris

We're doing pretty good. The wife and I are mostly staying put. An occasional trip to the grocery, but otherwise avoiding going out in public. We both fit in the high risk category and aren't taking chances.

We had been planning on moving into our RV in March and being on the road as much as possible. But that is on hold. It is nice that I have time to model, but most of my tools, supplies, and kits are in a storage unit since we sold the house. And unfortunately most of them are at the back of the unit.  But my wife is happy, her sewing machine and much of her fabric and supplies were accessible.

Here is my latest. The Boomerang. Painted as a late war CAC-19 in overall foliage green and weathered to look a little faded and worn. Considering it's age, the kit was really not bad. It fit well and only required some putty on the belly where the fuselage halves and center wing section come together. And there was not much detail. A poor looking seat and an atrocious pilot figure. We all know what those old molds looked like. The carpet monster got the pitot tube so it was replaced with a piece of straight pin.

[zenrat]

I do like this kit.  They are of their time but go together OK.
My transfers were horribly yellowed (it was a blister pack issue) but yours look OK.
Good job.

[TomZ]

Looks good. I like the paint job!

TomZ

[NARSES2]

I like the paint job!

TomZ

As do I 

I've fond memories of that kit. It was of a time when Airfix were prepared to bring out a kit of anything