[Louie]

Ladies and Germs,
I must express my elation when I got the call from my diecast dealer that my planes were in today. I hurried to his shop and I walked out of there looking straight ahead and as quickly as I could get to my car got those models in just in case I dropped one. I probably looked like I just robbed the place. Today I got the Corgi Australian Navy Seahawk, Model power P-26 Peashooter, A Witty Saipan Zero, A Dragon F4F Yorktown Wildcat, An IXO La-7, and an IXO Frank Japanese fighter. I don't know where to start. The Seahawk is smaller than I expected, doors don't open but that's o.k the fit and finish are good and I like the ANZAC stuff glad I got it. I want variety when it comes to my modern Helos and Jets so I get liveries from mostly other countries. The La-7 is a beautiful classic Russian fighter and it's fit and finish are good. It really sets my 1/72 warbirds collection off with it's bright colors and contrasts. The Frank is probably in the top 5 of all IXO planes to date. It is heavy, the colors are bright and vivid, the fit and finish of the model is superb. I am very impressed and now it and the Hien are my 2 favorite Japanese fighters in this line. The Witty Zero is in the Pearl harbor grey color scheme although this was from Saipan. As usual Witty makes the best Zero's when it comes to fit and finish and it has very sturdy fixed landing gear with rolling tires and the cockpit canopy fits snug and is perfectly clear. The Model Power P-26 Peashooter is gorgeous......It will go with the Easy Model Wildcat and Hobby Master SBD perfectly. It is really ,really heavy has fantastic details like Bombs,pitot tube, telescopic sight, antenna's, and spinning prop. The pre-war scheme is absolutely alive with color and very accurate crisp clean markings. The fit and finish is spot on. This little P-26 is in my top 5 MP offerings to date. The Dragon Wildcat was a freebie as it needed some repair but this accomplished let me tell you my thoughts. I consciously avoided this model because I felyt the canopy was a little large (the rear sliding part). I did not think it has that "clean" look that I sought. It is not what i expected. It is not severe and fits well and I am glad I got it. The landing gear hold up well and looks so complicated and detailed you can almost smell the hydraulic fluid and rubber......Detailed cockpit, clear canopy, Crisp markings and great fit and finish. I was not overwhelmed by the expected fiddly's at all. It is my first not last Wildcat for sure. No disappointments here, nothing broke, fell off, or got lost. All were easy to complete and display. A very merry mini Christmas indeed. Ho Ho Ho........ P.S. A great big "Thanks!" to Gerry at Big Guns Collectibles.
No matter who you get any of these from you will like the models for sure.

[mustangdriver]

You sound like me last Weds.

[Louie]

Yep gotta get that TBM now..........

[parsig9]

What a great day Louie! Isn't it great when none of them are duds? This happened to me this week some too. Must be the time of year. I got the DD Spit in a trade, Sundowners F-4, Witty Jumpin Jacques, Polish Mig from HM and both MZ commissions in like the last 10 days. When it rains it pours and I'm soaked.

[mustangdriver]

You won't be let down by the TBM tath IXO put oout. I will still get a Hobby Master or Corgi one, but that is only becasue I want one in Bush's markings.

[1250ships]

Wow, quite a stash.

I've been tempted by that P-26- just can't go for it in the odd scale. I guess if it was a carrier fighter I'd ignore it and get it anyway!

[Louie]

It (the P-26) looks really nice amongst my 1/72 planes especially the Lexington SBD but it really seems at home among my Model Power 1/48's scale wise weird but it can blend in either place..... I use micron 01 fine line ink pens for all my exhausts, panel line detailing, rivet holes, rudder outline ,flaps, trim tabs, aileron and gun port details. I draw in the details and rub off lightly. I can turn a good model into a great one this way. The Dragon Wildcat is a great model to wash with a light layer of ink and rub off it makes it look combat tested. After putting gun streaks across the wings over and under I outlined the wing fold lines and man does it look great. The ink comes off if you wet it so no worries about the future. I can't wait to get an IXO TBM and give it a wash and some weathering, oils stains, gun streaks, perhaps some paint loss etc....

[bsmith13]

Show us pics of your weathering!

Merry Christmas, Louie.

[Taff the Terrible]

Hi Louie, can you give us novice types some hints on how to do the weathering? I am itching to have a go but don't want to make a balls of it.
Congrats by the way on a great haul from Gerry's, you must be one of his best customers.
Taff

[Louie]

hi Taff, I am far from being an authority but if you have some basic black or brown acrylic paint available at any Hobby store or Michaels this is simple. You can mix a tiny amount with water and lightly brush your model so the paint gets into rivet holes and panel lines. (it washes off) I use a super fine line pen to outline my flaps and ailerons and access panels. Dab a small amount of paint or ink above and below guns and smear backwards toward rear of wing to simulate soot from guns. I also recommend doing this around engine covers to simulate oil and grim. Warplanes were fighting machines not beauty contestants. Lots of mud dirty hands and feet touched them. They often flew through explosions and fire and got grimey good luck.