Maddog Manufacturing Opening in SoCal AMPS

Wow, despite the fact that I felt like I had no time this past couple weeks to do anything in the Hobby Room; I managed to get a surprising amount of work done. I had been working only about thirty minutes to an hour at a time over the course of the past couple weeks; Hobby Day weekend was the only time I could marathon some builds. Now I have a ton of progress to show, so brace yourselves; this is gonna be a long tour through Maddog Manufacturing. All aboard!!

Lets start in my aircraft hanger.

Some time back I tried shooting another coat of gloss on my 737. It fell down and got a lot of debris on the fuselage. I tried wiping the debris off but this is what happened to the decals:



Anybody know where I can source another set of decals for this model? I would love to someday finish this before I die!

Moving on; I had a similar thing happen with the wing of the commission build Hellcat. This time, I left the debris to dry in place:



Once it was dry, I simply wiped it off, flaking it away. Lesson learned:



Just another coat of clear to smooth that out and I'll be able to move on.

Earlier in the week I had shot another coat of gloss on the S.R.-53 to get it ready for decals:



Later on at Hobby Day I applied the original decals to this:



You can see how some of the decals were curling. I had to put about seven or eight coats of Micro-Sol on this to lay them down. In the process I lost one of the registration numbers which came off on the brush and then disappeared. I'll have to try and source another one somewhere. The bottom decals went on fairly well:



After I'd gotten the decals sufficiently laid down, I finally added all the extra bits like the landing gear, gear doors (most of them; the nose gear door disappeared) the nose probe and the canopy on this model:



You can also see where I started painting the fire streak(?) missiles. They are all done now and so the next pic you'll see of this aircraft will be in the finished Forums.

While applying decals to this, I also added the decals to my two helicopters which had been waiting for them. First came the Nigerian Hind:





Then I did the Australian HAP Tigre:





Next I just have to dullcoat this, remove the masking, add the wheels and weapon systems then mount the rotors and this bird will be done. The next pics of this will be in the finished Forums.

That's all did on my aircraft so far. Moving on to my shipyards, I did get some work on my Izumo carrier too. Since it had been masked off for the deck to be painted; I shot a coat of dark grey on the deck surface:



Later when this was dry, I taped off the deck; carefully trimming around the perimeter to uncover where I wanted the lighter grey to go:



Now to shoot paint on the hull and island assemblies. That will hopefully come later this week.



Now we can move on to my armor models in the motor pool assembly bays. I did a lot of work on these little beasties and even started two more models. So, let's get to it.......


I'll start with the Russian Fire truck. After all the filling I did with the acrylic filler, I shot another coat of red on this truck:



Later on I painted details and trim; added additional parts like the hoses and ladders and wheels and ended up finishing this off before I remembered to take pics. Pics will be in the finished Forums.

Next I worked on the crane for the Russian BREM recovery vehicle. It was a fairly easy assembly:



Here is how it looks dry-fit to the vehicle:



The top hull is also dry-fit into place. That's gonna take a lot of work to look good.

Moving on, I painted the MACK truck. Here it is all dry-fit together:



Later on I added the roof to the cab. There was a lot of seams that needed to be filled so I added some Mr. Surfacer 500 to them and let it dry:



After some judicious sanding, I had a nice smooth roof top:




Now, as you all recall I was working on some Volkswagens. I had gotten the pickup version to the paint stage and shot a coat of black over it already, So, I moved on to the big nosed version of this bug (designated Type 230/3) to get it caught up. I painted the interior first:



Then I sanded the top of the car to smooth out the gaps and seams and then masked the windows for painting:



After that, I assembled the whole thing, making sure the gaps were as closed as I could get them. I still had a few to fill:





Afterward I finished by adding the roof racks and fenders along with some other small bits:



Now it was ready for paint so I shot a coat of black on it:



All that was left was to add the wheels, remove the masking and then weather this beastie; along with the pickup version. Pics of both of them will be in the finished armor Forums.

Earlier; as I was going through the stash to pack up some kits to put in storage, I came across yet another Military Wheels Volkswagen. It was a Type 87 modified for use in the desert for the Afrika Korps. I had already built a Type 87, but the kit had parts for the original unmodified bug: the Type 60. So, I pulled that out to work on it too. I started by building the interior as usual:



Then assembled the body. Here it is dry-fit together. You can see this was a more crude model than the other two bugs:





You can also see the huge gap between the fenders and the engine cover. I had thought that I could press that together when I glued it on so I moved on and puttied the top with Mr. Surfacer 500. I put that on thick:



Afterward I sanded it smooth and then added the windows to this:





After test fitting it I realized the gap was too big to just squeeze out so I had to add some sheet styrene to the bottom of the engine cover:



I let it dry and then trimmed it down:



With a little sanding to blend the edges, this looks almost normal:



You can see the gap below the engine cover is gone. This was ready to glue into place:



I glued this all together, then used my acrylic putty to fill the seams. This bug was ready for paint:



I later painted it black, then unmasked the windows and added the wheels and fenders and other bits. Like the other bugs, you'll see this next in the finished armor Forums.

Since I was painting, I also shot a dark Panzer grey over the StuG that was given to me by a friend:



After it dried, I used a lighter grey to modulate the color:



After a coat of gloss, this beastie got decals:





After a dullcoat and some weathering, this StuG was done. This will be joining the bugs and fire truck in the finished armor Forums.

Finally, while packing up models for the storage unit, I also came across this little Italian Lince armored scout car. It looked simple and easy to build and I wanted more vehicles for my Italian army so I kept it out to start.

Beginning was fairly straightforward:



Later I added the full interior to this with grandiose ideas of modeling this with the roof open so everyone could see it:



That was a cramped little area! Later I added the upper part of the hull:



Afterward, I realized I had no idea how to paint the interior and since I was at Hobby Day with no access to references; I just decided to close off the top. ACE gives you a great photo-etch part for the roof:



Then when that was dry, I started adding the wheel struts underneath:



This little thing is now ready for paint.


Alright, that completes this tour of Maddog Manufacturing again, I hope you liked it despite it's length. I hope to have more done later this week, and I'm also hoping to get my finished models posted soon as well. Stay tuned, more to come. Thanks all for looking in, comments are welcome.

Small update for now, just showing the last work I got done in my attempt to finish a few more models for 2018.

First of all, I had gotten the decals on both sides of the 737, and when I tried to fix something, I gripped the fuselage in the wrong place and too hard:



Fortunately, I was able to fix it. The wrinkling however, is permanent; I had no way to avoid that or fix it so, I just have to live with it:



I had so many issues with these decals curling, all attempts to get them to lay flat failed. One side of the fuselage looks like someone's burnt face it is so wrinkled. So, since I couldn't get them to lay perfectly, I just continued on with this, clearcoating it with several more gloss coats, then installing the wings and landing gear and gear doors. "Old Burnt Face" is now completed and can be seen in the Aircraft Forums.

Moving on, I was so close to finishing the Lince armored car that I went ahead and added the wheels and re-built the roof brace:





Despite my best efforts this turned out to be quite a wonky little beast where nothing is aligned. I did manage through some finagling to get all four wheels to touch down. This one can be seen in the finished armor Forums now.


This third one is the M-992. I started the camouflage pattern on it; painting the flat black first as well as painting the tracks:





You can see I hand painted it; I was too fed up with this thing sitting on my bench to deal with Silly Putty. Maybe in the next one.

Later I painted the brown color on this to complete the camouflage pattern:





I then detail painted this and then glosscoated it; added the decals and dullcoated it. This one is now on the completed armor Forums as well.


That closes out my 2018 production line. I may get some work done on other models before the year's end but it would be so minor that I will save it all for my next year's Thread.

Thanks all for looking in, comments are welcome.

Mark are the Mr Color paints acrylics or enamels and how did you like them?

Okay, this is a small update, and an all armor one as well. I did get a lot done, so it's small in reference to the number of models I made progress on.

First off, I got my Russian SG-122 clearcoated and then washed with a brown wash. My picture taking still needs some work but with the limitations I have, I think you can see this well enough. Here's the vehicle all glossy and washed up:



Now this didn't come with any markings so I decided to rummage around in my decal stash and found some that would fit. I applied these on both sides while it was still glossy:



You can see I also painted the tracks. Later, I dullcoated this:



Now all that is left is to weather this and then I can call it done.

While I was glossing and washing things, I also glossed and washed the Russian BREM:



Interestingly enough, this one also did not come with markings so I just dullcoated it:



I'm just going to add the remaining detail bits and then weather this and call it done.

Moving along, I pulled out my Diamond T wrecker. I had started the painting on the cab as you see here:



Afterward, I painted the interior, even though this probably won't be seen after I close it up:



Next I added the front windscreen:



I might have to adjust those windows. While waiting for them to dry, I started the assembly of the back deck:



After that was done, I pulled out my Chi Nu and also painted the tracks along with the SG-122 and BREM:

You can't really tell that much in this pic. Anyway, if I was painting the tracks for this, it was time to move on the camouflage pattern. So, I pulled out my trusty Silly Putty and masked off where I wanted the brown to remain:





By this time it was too cold to airbrush so I need to wait for a warmer day. Hopefully soon.

Finally I got to the project that I made the most progress on. The two Russian tractors received some significant work. First off, I assembled all the axles for these tractors, after painting the wheel hubs. Here is one of the two identical sprues with the work I did:



When these were dry, I added them to the two chassis. Here's the first Tractor:



And the second tractor:



Next I assembled all the parts on the cabs, excluding the delicate fiddly parts that would break with handling. This included the windscreens, dash boards and steering wheels. The dash boards and steering wheels can't be seen in these pics. This is the cab for the second tractor with the bed; it is identical to the first one except for the headlights:



Here are the two cabs side by side:



Next I assembled the interiors....such as they were. I basically added the seats to the cab floor:



With the steering wheels and dash boards already added to the cab tops, you can see they "spared no expense" with these interiors! So I went and painted everything up inside; knowing it wouldn't be seen well, I didn't get fancy. Here it is while still wet:



Well after they were dry, the next thing to do was to cement the cabs to the floors and close everything up:



Then I added these cabs to their respective chassis, making sure the right cab went with the right chassis. I then added the two other assemblies which hide the empty engine compartment:



Unfortunately for me, I didn't notice that you can see right through the grills on the side of the trucks till too late. I don't know if I can fix that now, given that everything is already glued in place. Anyway, here is the two tractors from the rear:



Now with that bare plastic showing, I knew I had to mask the windows so I could re-shoot these models. Therefore, I tried a couple different masking agents. First, I found this liquid masking agent from Model Detailers... and liquid it sure is! It runs horribly, so you have to place the masked area horizontal to keep it from running off the area you want to mask. After that fiasco, I went with the Tamiya tape that I had other issues with. The Model Detailers stuff is the purple tint on the windows of the one cab:




That's as far as I got on all those so far. I have to wait for a warmer day to try and spray these later. I am happy with the progress so far though. Thanks for looking in, comments are welcome. Stay tuned, more to come.

Thanks Robert. I do need to get some more liquid mask. I personally think the Hobbyco stuff is the best ever I've used. It's very gel-like and stays in place unless you move it yourself. It can dry very thick allowing you to have a good sized mask to keep paint away. I do need to find more.

Stay tuned, more to come.

Wow! Someone was busy on Hobby Day nice work, is the SA-6 a hobby boss kit? I've always wanted to do one in syrian camo if its mostly the same production