Anthony's entries

[anthonyp]

Eh, I was just kidding.  I was in a ranting mood last night (long week).

I've been tempted to put an E-3 radome on the thing and take a couple of Evan's suggestions he sent me for it, combining it into some sort of large flying one stop shop.

I think I'll still go Air Jamaica with it, though.

[nev]

Does anyone have a worse livery than Air Jamaica?    

[anthonyp]

Air Jamaica rulz!!!!

Anyways, progress, of sorts...

I've started to paint the monster, with, get this, paint that could qualify as a time traveler!  I bought this bottle in the early 90's, forgot about it, then found it earlier this year, still usable!!!  Sorta...  It's Testor's Insignia White, and it's gloss paint...  I still hate gloss paints.  I will always hate gloss paints.


It's got some work to go through before being anywhere near complete...

In the background are an SH-2F for the Imperial Iranian Navy, and an old Revell USS Long Beach which would qualify for a Phoenix Build had I found it in the stash prior to this GB opening up.  I'll explain more in a moment...

Meanwhile, on the other side of the bench...

I've got no pics of her, but the CAGN Hood has entered a pre-commissioning rebuild.  I've decided to give her a proper hangar, as opposed to the tunnel to an interior elevator I had before.  I also removed the forward guns for replacement with some that JoeP sent me a few months back.  She should look better than she did before.

The CVV Deutschland, though, I do have a pic or two of.  I waterlined her, and lost the mast for the moment.


And here's the Deutschland with two escorts (in the midst of refits themselves... again, would be Phoenix GB entries had they not been in storage prior to January...).


And that brings me to the afore mentioned USS Long Beach model.  Actually, at this point, it's a model of the ex-USS Long Beach (I'll illustrate why in a moment).

Here's the ex-USS Long Beach as she looked in mothballs for the last 15 years.  I built her at a much younger age, tried to match the box colours, and failed miserably at matching even those off-colours.


Next pic is of the first stage of deconstruction of the ex-USS Long Beach.  Subtract the remaining forward superstructure (where the missiles were loaded) and fair over the aft hole, and you've got the ex-USS Long Beach as she actually appears today in Bremerton.


And this next pic should illustrate a bit better where I'm going with this build.


My intention is to rebuild her as the prototype Strike Cruiser, USS Long Beach CSGN-9.  I've found two pics of the proposed refit, but they're good starting points.

Next is another model that should be a Phoenix GB entry, but no pic existed of it (though Rally was an eyewitness to it sometime late last year).  It's a pic of an SF-23S Phantom III Space Fighter.  It's essentially a YF-23 with the engines replaced by the FAST Packs from a Hasegawa Macross VT-1.  I opened up the cockpit to redo the displays and joystick.  I was asking for NASA decals at one point to finish this thing, but now that I know how to make my own, no worries!

I was wanting to just spring this on everyone when completed, but I'm in a sharing mood...


And that's it for pics tonight!

[Shasper]

I feel for that F-23. . .    Looks wicked mate!

SHas B)

[John Howling Mouse]

Not only gloss paint but you used WHITE gloss paint and hand-painted at that?
You are a glutton for self-punishment, aren't you?   ^_^

And that F-23 sure looks like a great concept.  You can do so much with white, grey and black.

[anthonyp]

The cool thing about the SF-23's engines is the thrust bells actually gimble!  Hasegawa did an incredibly good job of engineering their Macross kits to not only be accurate, but sorta functional!

I've gotta take pics of all my Macross VF-1's one of these days.  I even whiffed imaginary VF-1's (which is funny, considering it's a fictional aircraft to begin with   )!

And Baz, I hand paint all my planes.  There's just something about the act of painting with a brush that really makes this hobby fun for me; reminds me of how I built as a boy.  Heh... my favorite brush is one my dad used;  he probably used it to paint that B-52 I posted pics of a month or so ago.  Get this:  It's a Testor's brush that's about 25 years old!!  But it's a special one.  It's the only Testor's brush I've ever seen that has brown bristles, not the black ones I've used since I started building back in the 80's.

That brush just RULES!!!!

Actually, now that I think about it, can I add the SF-23 to the Phoenix GB?  It's been under construction since about 2001, and Rally saw it last year sitting on my bench.  I HAVE A WITNESS!!!!

[John Howling Mouse]

Actually, now that I think about it, can I add the SF-23 to the Phoenix GB?  It's been under construction since about 2001, and Rally saw it last year sitting on my bench.  I HAVE A WITNESS!!!!

Is good to enter.
High five!
Great success!

^_^  

[Shasper]

There's just something about the act of painting with a brush that really makes this hobby fun for me

Word man!

Shas B)

[anthonyp]

No pics, but I designed some additional decals for the SF-23, reattached the canopy, and begun retouching the paint.  Also mocking up various ways of covering up the intakes without performing surgery.

And instead of rebuilding the HMS Hood, I started construction on a new helicopter destroyer for the USN based on a JMSDF DDH (it's actually the JMSDF DDH's hull, trimmed up, with a Sprucan mod superstructure and USN weapons).

[anthonyp]

Heh... nothing like procrastination...

After I don't know how many months (about three, maybe?), I sat down at the workbench today and started work again.  Repainted (again) the SF-23, and figured out I need to buy new glossy white paint to get the MSCT done.

I doubt the ships are going to be finished, as they require a lot more work than I'm ready to do.  I need, like, a really bad weather day to just hole up at the workbench and go at the builds.  But, NOOOOOooooo, mother nature decides to give us one helluva nice Spring and Summer!  Does nothing for my modeling...  (wheeeeee, golf!  Let's chase a little white ball around, while drinking and smoking cigars, only to hit it eventually (God willing) into what appears to be a gopher hole...)

[ysi_maniac]

And that F-23 sure looks like a great concept.  You can do so much with white, grey and black.

Both sentences, agreed.  

[Joe C-P]

And instead of rebuilding the HMS Hood, I started construction on a new helicopter destroyer for the USN based on a JMSDF DDH (it's actually the JMSDF DDH's hull, trimmed up, with a Sprucan mod superstructure and USN weapons).

You sound like me - I get interested in a new project, and the previous one shifts off to join the pile of partial builds.  ^_^

Get that Hood finished!  :ar:

JoeP

[anthonyp]

Well, decided to cut my losses on the ships, and concentrate on the other builds (I've got two more I'd like to enter... Rally saw them, just like the SF-23, I swear   )

The SF-23 is getting a slightly different nose scheme than before.  Still need to paint the high temp carbon-carbon tiles (dark grey).  Also redoing the dorsal tile scheme (getting rid of the big black section, going with two smaller patches on the forward "OMS" pods, similar to the real shuttles).

The MSCT has the first two coats of gloss white, with at least another one coming (on top).

The other two models I've got that I found recently are the 2001 Orion II spaceplane that I'm doing up in a space shuttle tile scheme, and an X-32/F-23 hybrid that looks much, much better than just a plane old X-32.

Meanwhile, the ships entered mothballs.  All of them.  I just can't seem to finish any of them before another idea hits me, or I pick up another kit.  (Speaking of which, I found a USS Ramsey kit, which will make a good basis for a CSGN.)

[anthonyp]

DANGIT!!!  So close, and yet so far.

Finished the painting of the MSCT and the SF-23, but did not get the decals on them (the MSCT has about 1/4 of them, the SF-23 none).  The ships... let's not talk about the ships...

Like Shas, I'm looking forward to next year's "Phoenix Revisited"!