Hey gents I was in Richmond on travel and visited the local Hobby Town store.  It was big and clean.  While there I sent pix of truck models they had to our resident expert Scott and he asked me to get two of them-which he will turn into bling at upcoming shows!  Happy to give the assist (i wonder if I will get a percentage of Scott’s awards for this?!!)

I was a bit shocked when the young man clerk never heard of IPMS so they don’t give the usual 10% here.  That said the store has well stocked paint racks and a good tool selection.  Would be worth your dropping in when in Richmond.  I picked very very (yes double) sprue cutters intended for Gundam models, 2 trucks for Scott, and paints.

-Chris

Hey folks, Chad suggested an ad to join our club at the Strasburg  Emporium.  I put an ad up on their bulletin board while on a road trip to Lexington this week.  I stopped in Staunton to visit Front Line Hobbies and Christian agreed to post a flyer there too!  Who else can do this to spread the word?  Chad and I have the soft copy of the flyer and can send to you to put up at a location you visit.  Help get new members!

-Chris

Gents, I am not a fan of the V-22 since it appears to be a death trap, but nonetheless here is a very cool shot of it at night approaching a refueling aircraft.  The prop edge electric charge in this photograph gives this Osprey a ghostly appearance.  Enjoy!

-Chris

Hey gents.  Here is a funny for us all.  Everyone can relate…am I right!!!

-Chris

Gents, just wanted to take a moment to speak to our “Raven-Hood”.  It is such a positive thing to see almost 30 guys who did not know each other (most of us) before we started the Shenandoah Valley Modelers reach out and help one another.  Just this week, John offered to take some entries for me to the National Capital Model Soldier’s Society event on September 7.  John passed to me a whole lot of pricey stuff he gave to Scott for free when we met on Monday.   Chad has made 3D items for several of us who asked him for only a cup of coffee in return.  Mark served as a head judge and represented all of us at the Charles Town Cruze-In car model contest.

I know there are many other instances of members of our club helping one another – perhaps a lot were “quiet” and done between two or three members with no fanfare.  All of these instances speak to the rapport and camaraderie between us sprue-dudes.  Go Raven-Hood!

– Chris

As you probably saw in my email earlier this week, Beacon Models out of the UK has set up a Kickstarter to fund a second round of Spitfire and Bf-109 kits. They met they’re funding goal in just 2 days, so it was a huge success.

Those who attended this month’s meeting were able to see the kits that were released in their first production run.  There were a few people interested so I went ahead and pledged support for the highest tier while they were still offering discounted pricing.  That package will give me 6 of each aircraft.  I want to keep 1 or two of each, but I’m happy to sell the extras to members at cost.  They are expecting to ship in November so I may have them in time for the Dec or January meeting.

If anyone is interested in buying for themselves or knows someone who may be interested, the link to their Kickstarter is below.  New model manufacturers don’t show up too often so if you’re interested in 1/144 models, please consider contributing.  They have big plans for the future, but it all depends on how well these first releases go.

View the Kickstarter here:  https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/beacon-models/the-few-part-2/

My first resin cab build is completed! This is the ultimate kitbash! I used an AMT Mack Cruiseliner chasis and drive train. All Mack top to bottom, thus the Gold Bulldog emblems.

The resin cab had to be hinged and attached to the chasis. Plastic hinge system wouldn’t work as the cab is quite heavy. I used coat hanger wire and a plastruct tube to create the hinge. It worked great!

I used Chad Kennedy’s 3-D printed 2 hole Bud wheels and fellow club member KJ Humphreys custom made tires! They look so authentic! Thanks guys!

The trailer is an AMT Gulf fuel tanker. Matlack truck lines were known as the pipeline on wheels.
Decals are custom made by Modeltruckin.com / Jerry Reeter.

Note: Modeltruckin.com will take their last order on August 31, 2024. Noone knows if the big rig decal company will be purchased by someone else. Buy em now before it’s too late.

– Scott

Okay gents; I bet none of you have as robust quality control team as I do.  Most of them may look lazy, but they are just waiting (too eagerly) to criticize my work.   I think I better unionize myself and fight the man…uh…the dog!

– Chris

Hey friends!

A friend of mine is a former AH-1W pilot from HMLA-269. I have a 1/35 Academy kit but I want to put decals for his helo on it. No one makes 1/35 decals for his unit. Flying Leathernecks did make a sheet for 1/48 but I can’t find an Italeri 1/48 anywhere. It’s out of production.

Any tips on getting a decal sheet made for 1/35?

The flying leathernecks sheet image below.

Luke’s helo was SN 42. I need to get his tail number as well but… any tips?

Nick

P.S. We won’t be there Saturday as we have a work day at church.

I’ve been periodically scouring the internet for reference photos showing the F-86 engine being maintained or swapped.  I finally have a decent collection so I figured I would share them here in case anyone else might find them useful.  I also have a book somewhere that has some photos so once I locate that I’ll add some of those photos as well.

There are several nice kits out there that allow you to build with the engine exposed, and I’m currently working on a set of 3D printed parts for the Trumpeter 1/144 kits.  Should look nice beside my MiG.

– Chad