Maddog Manufacturing Opening in SoCal AMPS

We've had three weeks of awesome productivity here, so it's time for another tour of Maddog Manufacturing. Once again this will be a bit of a long tour, so please remember all safety requirements and enjoy the tour!



Our first stop as always is the Hangar. We have a couple of started models, and a few Shelf Queens that are receiving attention too.



In the first bay here is the British Spitfire Mk. XIV. We got all the paint damage repaired from when the paint cracked under the gloss coat:





Later the white stripe had to be painted on, so that was done. Yes, I decided to do it by hand:





After that dried, we shot the whole thing with a gloss and added the decals:





Other details were painted and most final parts were added. Later the rockets were added and this was declared done and sent to the Dispersal Field.


In this next bay we returned to the Fleet Air Arm F-6F Hellcat. This one got a shot of light RAF grey on the bottom:





Later, it was masked off and the upper green color was shot:





After some Silly Putty application we'll be able to shoot the second color. Looking forward to that!


In this next bay we have a shelf queen that was started some five or six years ago, packed up in the box again and promptly lost. While organizing and going through boxes, it was found again and so work commenced in this to get it done. This is an R-4D helicopter used in the Korean War and we had it built up to the basic fuselage stage. When we brought it out to work on it, the first thing we did was use this model to teach a couple kids how to airbrush. Later, we went back and painted the interior and then sanded smooth the seams that showed up in the paint:





Next was the addition of photo-etch parts and the assembly of the tail rotor:





Following that, we got the main rotor assembled, which was quite the ordeal given the weak attachment points on the blades. We got it done though:





A little dry fit showed us what we were dealing with:





Later we started on the main landing gear. We got the main support struts installed, but had lost the main gear legs so this is where we left off at the time:





You can see the main rotor is still dry fit. Now a day later, we found the main gear legs and added them, then added the tail wheel and strut along with a couple more detail parts:





Here you can see why this was packed away in the first place: Vac-Formed canopy. Well, in for a penny, in for a pound, we got the frames painted first:





Any suggestions for installing those would be awesome. Meanwhile, we masked off the cockpit with more Silly Putty and got it ready for paint:





Which went on a short time later:





That was later shot with a gloss coat for decals which will go on later. This is where we stopped on that.


Moving on to the next bay, we have the start of an Egyptian Tu-16 Badger. I have a second one that will be done up in Iraqi Air Force markings too. For now, we got the cockpit assembled and dry-fit inside the cockpit module:





We then assembled the wings since they were so easy to do:





Further progress required paint that we did not have so we put this aside to start another fast and relatively easy kit; one I had never previously built before. This is the Heller F-94D in 1/72 scale and we started with the cockpit which was then cemented inside one half of the fuselage:





Later that cockpit was painted but before that, we built the main wings:





Later on, after adding the right amount of nose weight, this was all assembled together; puttied and sanded and readied for paint:





Later the cockpit canopy was masked and installed and this got a coat of flat black paint as a primer so we could see what issues this was going to have:





That's where we stand now with that. This completes the tour of the Hangar,now on to the Motor Pool.




Here in the Motor Pool, we have a number of things happening, some of which are new, and some are borderline shelf queens.


First up is this frustrating Armory ZSU-23-4 Shilka. Amazingly enough, we managed to get the torsion bars and wheels installed, followed by the individual link and length tracks. In fact one of the road wheels does not have a torsion bar because when I was trying to position it; the torsion bar sprang from the tweezers never to be seen again. So, I realized that the tracks touch this wheel top and bottom so it was cemented into place with the tracks themselves holding it into place.


Later photo etch parts were added to this:





Once they were all dry, we sent this to the spray booth where the base coat was shot. Honestly, I never thought I'd ever get this model to this stage, but here it is, shot with a darker green than it's supposed to have due to me being out of the proper green:





​In order to try and lighten it up, we took some Euro Dark Green and modulated the color over it. This is the first pass, later we did more and it improved a bit:





Once that was dry, we shot a gloss coat on this, gave it a wash, decals and other attention:





After this a dullcoat was applied and weathering done during it's shakedown run. Then it was sent to the Dispersal Yard.


In the next bay is another shelf queen, started some six years ago, packed up again in it's box and promptly lost. It was found in the same box as the helicopter so I figued it was time to move on this one. This is the Trumpeter SdKfz-9 with a crane. The basic chassis had been already done, so we continued to finish up that part, mostly adding the roadwheels, drive sprockets and idlers:





The main floor was then worked on, mostly assembling all the parts for the driver's and passenger's compartment. It's just dry fit on that chassis:





The base of the crane was then built as seen here:





That's as far as we got on that one. In the next bay we started another German truck, the Steyr 1500. The box was so messed up we just had to build it. Basic assembly was pretty good for a short run kit:





The remaining parts and some photo etch was then added:





Later this was shot with paint in the spray booth, but no pics of that.


Moving to the next bay we have the start of another easy model; this time another german armored car (more modern this time) made by Revell of Germany. It was left behind at the hobby day hall, so I decided to build it. First was the chassis:





Next the whole body and interior was assembled. Then we added Silly Putty to the interior and added the roof so we can shoot the base paint on it:





That came later.


Finally in this last bay we went back to work on the little ACE Ford Stakebed truck. Some dry fitting was done to the chassis after we had painted the stakebed slats and the leather seats in the cab:





Later we finished the cab, except for the roof so we could get the windows in there later. The cab and stakebed were then glued to the chassis:





That's as far as we got with that, along with some touch up to the paint here and there. Hopefully thi swill be done soon!



That completes the tour of the Motor Pool, but the tour isn't over. We're going to detour into the Shipyards briefly so you can see the start of a new project that I'd been wanting to do fora very long awhile. This is the ancient Pyro kit of the Robert E. Lee Paddle wheeled Riverboat. We started with painting the waterliine on the hull and then adding the main deck to it. While that was drying, we started the paddle wheels. These required us to cement every paddle to each if the wheel sides as such:





You can see where we started by adding a few paddles to certain quarters of the wheel to hold it together first. Then all the rest were cemented into place. That was the first one. The second one is here:





Both wheels eventually got done:





This final shot shows the paddle wheels and the boilers dry fit in place on the main hull:





By the way, that model is a little over two feet long. It has been and interesting and fun build so far.




And that completes this tour of Maddog Manufacturing for this second week of December. I hope you enjoyed it and remember comments are always welcome.

Short tour Mark? Riiiiiiiiiight...

always a feast for the eyes!

And now for our tour of the Motor Pool. There's a lot going on here that also includes a couple of started models as well. So without further ado, let's visit this first bay here.



In this first bay we have the M103A2 Marine tank getting it's base coat:





After that dried, we added the decals and some detail painting. This one is very close to being done:





Speaking of almost done, in the next bay we have this Russian SCUD C that has been a bit of a challenge all this time. It finally got the correct launcher arms on it:





Then all of the new parts were painted up:





Later on we weathered the wheels and tires; put them together and installed them on this model. Some additional weathering was applied to the vehicle as well:





On this model, they had no call outs for decals, even though there was a full sheet of them included. Well, I had to add something, so this beastie now sports a Guards emblem on the doors:





Final weathering was added and the missile was sent out to be painted:





Yeah, that beastie is almost done too.


Moving on, in this next bay is the Stryker engineering vehicle. It's got it's basecoat of green, now we just need to find the decals so we can finish this one too:





In this next bay is a model we previously started, it's one of two GAZ AAA trucks that has been slowly worked on between other projects. Here we have the cab half built and the bed installed:





Only a few additional parts were added to this:





In the interest of working on something fast and easy, we pulled out this M109A7 from Foreart and got started on it. Hull was done first:





While that was drying, we completed the basic upper turret assembly by adding many of the detail parts to it. We had been having difficulty with the gun mount so that is why we went this route:





The hull was indeed fast and easy, we got wheels and tracks, detail parts and everything else installed that wouldn't break with handling:





Finally we got the gun mount sorted and were able to finish the turret almost completely:





Yes, that turned metal barrel and 3-D printed muzzle brake came in the kit, not aftermarket. It's coming togfether nicely:





Next we assembled the turret baskets and then added all the photo etch to this vehicle:





Moving on to the next bay, we have this long-term shelf queen. It's the Modelcollect 1/72 scale BMP-3 with full cage armor! It has to have been close to nine years since I picked this up again. First thing that we needed to do was to try and assemble the turret cage armor. This was the result of trying to get the main parts at least completed:





Here's our first attempt to mount it on the turret. I figured it would be easier putting the straight lengths of the rear cage on after the main parts had dried:





It got done, but still looks like crap! Even then something was off on it:





Our attempt to fix it resulted in the loss of a strut:





While that was drying, we went ahead and installed the tracks on the wheels and sprockets. These tracks will be covered in deep skirts so we only did the lower runs of track:





In testing this in the hull, we found numerous protrusions on the bottom of the cage armor that kept snagging on hull parts... and I hadn't even put in all the hatches and such:





Eventually, we attached all the hatches and other additional detail parts to the main hull. Some filing had been done on the bar armor, but it only helped a little:





I originally had hoped to paint this with the three tone camouflage, but that ain't gonna happen. Now that the turret is mostly completed, it got a coat of the base color that I'll be painting it:





After all that, we wanted to get back to a simple build, so out came this Academy 1/72 scale French Le Clerc tank. Upper and lower hull got assembled first:





Then the wheels and sprockets were added, later the tracks went on:





Finally, the turret was completed, the tracks added and the side skirts installed:





And that quickly, this was ready for paint:





Finally, in this last bay, I decided that the last Roden bus I needed to build should be done. Out it came and the main body and chassis were assembled:





We then added the interior and painted it:





The underside got the suspension installed afterward:





While that was drying, the pigeon loft was mostly built:





It made for a pretty good fit. This is only dry fit too, I want to keep it separate until everything was done before it gets cemented in place permanently:





After that,the lower part got painted, the wheels and fenders got installed and the main window covers went on:





Once that was sufficiently dry, the remaining headlights, steering wheel, and other detail parts were added:





The top pigeon loft was also painted and for fun, here it is dry fit again on the bus:





While that was drying, we went to work detailing the pigeon loft. Pigeons like to nest in straw, so we added some to the pigeon loft interior:





We used this rough twine cut into 1/8th to 1/16th inch lengths:





Then we slathered the floor with Gator Grip glue and poured the straw inside, pressed it down and then shook the loose straw out:


Now that the straw was in place, we started adding the screen material on all the sections we could before closing it up:





Once again the loft was dry fit in place, and the pigeons came home to roost:





I expect that in a day or so, we might have this bus finished!



And that concludes this latest tour of Maddog Manufacturing! I do hope you enjoyed the latest progress we've made here. As always, comments are welcome, thanks to all who came in to take this tour!

Thank you Carlos! I am enjoying all of those myself!

More aircraft on the assembly line now than armor. It's all looking good Mark! Not to much longer until your Robert E Lee is to be commissioned... and a real beauty she will be!

Being it’s a Pyro kit, and I think that model company has been gone for at least 50 years now… you’ll be fine with that one.

And now to continue our tour of the Shipyards next.

In the first slipway here we have the Japanese PT-15 that finally got the base coat of grey on it:



In the next slipway, we continued work on the deck of the USS Enterprise. Some masking was pulled off, but the the yellow stripes were painted on the deck:



Later, the remaining elevator stripes were masked off, the yellow painted on it and then we added the red stripes on these same elevator stripes:



After some touchup, this deck is done:



Finally, in this last slipway, we worked on getting the railings on the Robert E. Lee looking more even and refined. Additional parts were added and the seams on the upper cabin and deck were filled as well:






That completes our tour so far of the Shipyards and so we move on to the Motor Pool.

Production has been picking up, starting with a small shelf queen project that I wanted on the display shelf. This is the Military Wheels 1/72 scale Russian Field Kitchen. We had started it some time ago, found the box again and decided it was time to get it finished. First off the kitchen and limber were completed:



Here's an idea of how small this is too:



The horses were in four parts. Seriously. Two body halves, the head and the tail. They seemed pretty desperate to add some kind of 'detail' to this model! It didn't help that the parts were all so badly molded that massive sanding, carving and other adjustments needed to be made:



Finally we got them painted:



Moving along to the next bay, the Syrian PzIV got a partial run of tracks from the spares box. More will go on this when additional track pieces are found:



Overall it's looking pretty good:



Next are two Distressed Kit Auction winnings. These were mostly assembled by someone else before they gave up and donated them to our club for our Auction. First is this Dragon StuG III ausf H that they had added photo etch zimmerit to:



This is going to be a Syrian StuG, and yes, there are pictures of several of these in Syrian service still sporting their Zimm. We started on the tracks for this for now:



Our last Syrian tank is this Trumpeter T-34/85 that they had given up on because one of the idler wheels disappeared. I conjured up a replacement pair and added them to this tank:



Next the tracks went on:



Someone else added those metal fenders, saving me the trouble....

And then this got basecoated with the dark green:



Then the decals went on. These are Braille Strike decals and went on well. I just forgot to trim them very close so some judicious cutting with a very sharp Exacto knife got them the right size. You can also see in my clumsiness, I messed up the red triangle on this side. Nothing a little paint can't fix:





Lastly, I've been talking about starting my P.1000 Ratte to make into a carrying case for my small scale vehicle contest entries. Well, one Hobby Day Monday I made good on that statement. No, it never existed, or was ever used. Yes, this is in 1/72 scale. No, I don't think I will count it as one of the collection....mostly because it is pure fantasy that never got built or used. But I am building it.

Here are all of the components and/or sub assemblies for the main track bogies. The drive sprockets are already finished:



We had to make 32 of these rocker arms... or was it 36?



This kit gives you springs so that the bogies articulate:



Here's a close up of the drive sprockets:



And finally, here is ONE bogie consisting of 44 parts in that one assembly.... I need to make eleven more:



While that was drying, we finished up the majority of the main hull and turret:





Now in this back lot, given how much lumber we use, we are building a new Lumber Mill:



This is also a tribute of sorts for my paternal grandfather who was not permitted to serve in WWII: he owned one of these and because it was a vital industry back then, the government made sure he stayed on and supplied them throughout the war.


And that completes this tour of Maddog Manufacturing for this time. Thank you all for looking in and as always, comments are welcome.