The modeling underdog

The Nakajima Showa L2D2 Navy Transport Model 11. After overcoming my own stupidity and/or lack of technical skills, I managed to realise you can actually upload lots of pictures by just realising that a tiny little window has opened in your desktop. No comments, please... So, here are the close-up views as promissed. Please excuse some of them are out of focus, I'm sure you'll find of interest what's being focused instead of the subject of interest... Well, this is it for the moment. The Tabby saga is not over yet, for I have 2 more in the building process. Both of them in equally anarchic schemes that I hope will suit your gaudy and relentless spirits. In the meantime, I'll post some pictures of other models for you to consider building. Untill our next installment, take care and good luck, The modeling underdog

The Nakajima Showa L2D2 Navy Transport Model 11. As mentioned before, there are differences beetween a regular DC-3 and our subject of interest, the L2D. When doing the Model 11, those differences are not very difficult to reproduce. The Italeri kit is very simple in its fitting and most of the seams actually mimic part of the clad covering design so it was easy to fill and sand. With the conversin done and the model assembled I set for the painting process. Usually all of my cockpit and detail painting is done by brush, leaving the airbrush for the camo schemes and partial weathering. Painting the innards was done in several steps. The most important was to mix my own shade of interior blue/green since I was out of Tamiya's clear blue. I mixed Tamiya Blue (X-4 if I recall correctly) with H-191 Chrome Silver and gave the interior several layers until I was satisfied with it. Other colours used were black and silver for picking up dials, levers and general wear. Insignia yellow and...

The Nakajima Showa L2D2 Navy Transport Model 11. Even when the DC-3/C-47 family is famous by itself and its countless feats, I've always been fascinated by 2 of its most unlikely offsprings: the Lisunov Li-2 family (otherwise known as the PS-84 pre-1940) and the L2D series of japanese personnel/cargo transport planes. While the russian model is based on a rather heavy conversion involving changing engines, scoops, entry door/cargo hatch and several other items depending on what version you want to build, the japanese version is also a very involved conversion, but made easier based on the simplicity of changes. L2Ds were built in several versions, from the prewar L2D2 to the L2D4. All of them gave sterling service to the IJNAF, and with only some 485 built, their career spanned vast expanses of ocean in an effort to supply from air the IJN stations around the Pacific. Versions and specs of the L2D, coded "Tabby" by the Allies and called simply "Douglas" by its c...

When you talk about Junkers, it always comes to mind the rugged shape of the Ju-52 or the strange look of the Ju-87, the Stuka. Furthermore, some modelers focused on the "only aces" modeling stream will even look down on this little gem of early aviation engineering. The F.13 was the first practical, designed as such, passenger aircraft in the world. With its ruggedness, ease of flying, and closed passenger cabin, its career spanned all around the globe over 20 years and a bit more. Before and after the creation of Luft Hansa, it remained as the backbone of its fleet. While it outperformed most of the contemporary designs, it was also a bit small for the ever growing european routes both in passenger (4 seats) and mail or freight capacity, thus the G.23/24/F.24 and W.33/44 families were born. This family of planes, quite a common sight everywhere in Europe with its corrugated aluminum clad, culminated in the quite modern for the time G.31 and Ju-52. One of the least known and...

La primera entrada en un diario siempre es la mas dificil, pero en este caso sera simple: es la primera de este humilde diario orientado al modelismo estatico. Por una cuestion meramente idiosincratica, el mismo sera escrito en ingles para facilitarle la vida a los visitantes foraneos. Que lo disfruten! The first entry in a diary is always the hardest, but in this case I'll make it simple: it's the first entry in this humble diary oriented to model kit building. For very simple reasons, it'll be written in english to make it easier on our foreign visitors. Enjoy! Javier