My NBFZ has experienced a nearly catastrophic accident and will require some significant repairs. The hull and turrets are intact, but the track and suspension are in many pieces. As I had a struggle with the tracks over the last several weeks to see them come apart while installing the right fender has forced me to take a break from that project for a couple months. I may start a different Trumpeter kit to stay active in this build. The break would take place in March/April time-frame any way as my wife and I will be traveling to Boston, MA next month to be present for the birth of our second grandson. I will still be visiting the forum to keep up with the excellent the rest of you are producing.

Just about finished with the Trumpeter MiG-29K. Armament to install and final touch up.

Finished the MiG-29. Here's a quick pick and I will post some more in the Finished gallery.

Wow. Very nice.

Looks great Joe.

Thanks Jeff, was a fun build. So far it's Hasegawa, then Trumpeter and then Academy as my most "modeler friendly" manufacturers. Course that's all I've built so far. Decided to build another Trumpeter, another 1:32 MiG, this time with a prop, MiG-3.

Hi Everybody

I have a Canadian Cougar AVGP for this campaign.


I got a start on it yesterday and have the lower hull completed. I actually got the suspension together without breaking any drive shafts (unlike the previous 3 models that I built based on the same frame)


This has been an enjoyable build so far, going to be straight out of the box. I haven't decided on the paint scheme yet, thinking UN but painting white for me usually doesn't turn out well.
Ron

Hey all.... I updated my build in the Constructive Feedback section....I did not want to overwhelm this campaign.
please see the up date and comment if you see fit.

~Chris

https://armorama.kitmaker.net/forums/243578&ord=&page=1

Nice MiG build, Joe. Beautiful weathering!

Thanks for the compliments, I appreciate it very much.
Joe

I'm in, doing the Maz 537 Tank Transport. I'll try my best to finish such a big kit. Ordering the P/E for it now. Maybe it'll get me out of this funk I'm in with modeling my Abrams. Change it up.

Hi fellow campaigners, here's my KV-1S at the moment. Main assembly 100 % done, next would be little adjusting and making the Masterclub metal tracks, my first ones, so wish me luck....

Hi Everybody

Made some progress on my Cougar. The top is on with no difficulties, so far a good relaxing build.


Next up is the turret
Ron

Finished a second Trumpeter kit just for fun Trumpeter 1/32 Mig-3. A bit of a what if, the aircraft out of the factory without paint.

VERY nice Joe ! The wooden effects with the varnish along with the contrast of the metal looks great. Thanks for sharing !

Ok so ive changed my entry now from my first initial post to depict the fury tank. So the team at work have got me trumpeter 1/72 italian ariete c1 mbt for my birthday this sunday. Quick look at the model and it looks the simplest kit of trumpeter ive seen. The lower hull has nibbs for the up hull so no alignment issues i can see the turret is simple aswell though only gripe is the drivers hatch and the turret hatches are moulded closed..so here we are with the unboxing

Joe,

The NMF is excellent, but the plywood finish makes the plane. Outstanding work!

Jeff

Thank you for the compliments, it was a very enjoyable build.
Jeff, any decision on your project, new kit or repair the old? Or are you in "Grand Baby Mode"?

Joe,

Congrats on the finish. I especially like how the silver finish turned out. Is it purely paint or something like foil? (sorry I've been out of the wingy thing stuff since my teens )

Cheers,

Tat

Joe,

I have been working on two builds each for 500+ campaign and Flak is Back campaigns while I recover from the Trumpeter disaster. When we get back from Boston, MA in April I will put the NBFZ in for overhaul. I believe I have identified a different set of single link tracks that have better connections that the kit tracks. They are a set of early PzKfw III tracks and sprocket.

Tat, I probably broke all the rules on the NMF. I put a base coat of Tamiya TS-17 on the metal surface areas, then sanded with various grits to a smooth surface. Then I used post it notes to mask off individual panels. I started with Alclad II Chrome and other colors, but while it gives a beautiful finish, it was fragile and didn't like tape or fingers. So I decided to use this build as a learning project. I began using several makes of metal paint, Model Master Metalizer, XTreme Metal, and Spaz Stix. For me, all three performed well and I enjoyed using them. I used Model Master Sealer for Metalizer after buffing all metal areas. I used pastels for panel lines and shading. The wood panels were Uschi wood grain decals. Apparently I haven't got a real good idea of how to use them yet, I tended to tear them a lot, and the grain is not prominent. I have seen some beautiful models done with the Uschi wood grain, so it's gotta be me. Am going to build another kit and do it in all wood again, just not sure which one. Here's some pics of the brands I used.
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Thanks Joe. Ooh those stuff are way too serious for me -- but it sure does give that very nice look to it than just putting on a silvery coat. Again my compliments to your work!

Pardon the ignoramus in me, but what's NMF?

Cheers,

Tat

It seems like smoke and mirrors, but painting NMF (Natural Metal Finish) (or some people call it Bare metal finish) is actually not that tough once you get used to it. It's one of those things that the more you do, the better you get. The paints have to be sprayed slowly and in a mist. It's not like normal paint where you use 2 to 3 passes with the last one fairly wet. The Metalizer paints take many misting coats, which build up slowly. There are folks who are extremely good at NMF and they can explain it much better than I can, and are much better at it than me. But it's one more thing that makes modeling the joy that it is. It opens up a lot of doors. There are some amazingly talented modelers that submit to this site as well as others. That's a great thing. It helps others gain interest and ideas into the hobby that we all love. It keeps the hobby growing.
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Tat, by the way, I looked at your builds, some really awesome models. Not a lot of need for NMF in tanks, but your kits and dioramas are really great.
Joe