The modeling underdog

A bit over 3 months ago, I wrote the last installment for TMU's 2008 season. Having improved both in health and time and since I'm enjoying a week-long holiday, it came to my mind that something had to be done about TMU: may be pass it on to somebody else's more capable hands or even shut it down. But, in the light of not having done any modeling at all in the last 3 months, it became painfuly obvious that modeling was no longer one of my havens in dairy life. What to do about it? Well, many times you read that one article about changing your modeling subjects of liking in order to relief all the stress of "serious modeling". And yes, it goes over cynicism and into caustic irony that a hobby intended to relax people, may end up stressing them out. So I went for an old and never really quite fulfilled modeling passion, that of submarines. I know it's a huge difference beetween subjects, but the TMU approach of "The less the better" came in handy t...

As odd as it may seem, and being in front of the computer at 2.04 AM, I just wanted to wish you a Merry Christmas and hope that you´re spending a lovely night with the ones you love. To the ones that provide me support, love and friendship, I can only say a big THANK YOU for all you do for me and because of me: My dad and sister, Ducky (my own, personal, immortal beloved), Zeta (who's stylish Modelmod Blogspot is a haven of good taste), Gabriel and his never diminishing ability to make me rant about everything, Adrian "Oh, thy great master of masters", Gustavo "Ben Ali al Majadu" and his astonishing Arabic Air Forces, the Hrubisko dynamic duo (both Raul and Santiago are plain great guys and modelers), Martin Lucero (I owe you so many e-mails that starting to write to you would be an excercise of style itself!) and all of the modelers and everyday people who have to endure my most verbose and contradictory nature. Blame it on the genes!!! And since we´re t...

As some of you may be aware, my health has not been at its best these last weeks. May be as a result of multiple reasons that lurk in my head from time to time and the natural stress they put into this thick skull of mine, pushing my body around to fulfill the daily tasks is sometimes a bit of an annoyance. Worst of all, my dubious modeling skills have started to dwindle down the road to perdition. One of my last "secret" projects is at s standstill just because the thought of rigging a biplane sends shivers down my spine. Also, the paint job and decaling are some of the worst i've ever done in my not so humble point of view. The only upsides in my life this time around have been a series of fortunate events, first of all to buy a lovely little mandolin wich, as the model kits, is more the victim than the igniter of my keen interest in things. I tossed an old friend out of my life because there was too much crap going on beetween us and hipocracy or mistrust are things I ...

My dear friends, Taking into account that I've been working non stop for the last wo months, I came to realize that TMU had not been updated. For this, I apologize sincerely, since my train of thoughts is aiming somewhere else and very far from modeling. Also, my health has come to the fore with some unattended issues that, from now on, I'll have to take care of. This upcoming weekend there's a contest at the Quilmes IPMS Chapter. The last one of this 2008 that's leaving thru the back door, both in modeling and living. Hopefuly, and given my dubious health honors its owner (or is it the other way around?), I'll be attending it and taking some snapshots about its models, modelers and atmosphere. So, till our next installment, take care and good luck. The Modeling Underdog.

New fighters for a new era : When the Civil War in Russia ended in victory for the revolutionary forces, there were 2 things that were pretty much clear in russian aviation: most of the flying material was either reaching obsolesence or woefuly war weary. Among many other designers, Polikarpov was to start producing the ubiquitous reconnaisance biplane D.H.9A as the R-1, but he was also laying the foundation of what would earn him the nickname "King of fighters" during the 20s and 30s. Open to new technologies and production techniques, Polikarpov set to design a single seat fighter of mixed construction, designated IL-400 (this meaning fighter, Liberty, 400h.p.). The heavy, low compressed and powerful Liberty engine was chosen and mated to a fuselage of all wooden construction and very clean lines. Wings, stabilizators and rudder were built out wooden formers and fabric covered. The front end seemed to have been hastily attached there by means of cutting an R-1 nose an...

I've been busy with a few job offers that popped out unexpectedly and need me to pay a lot of attention, thus the low update rate we're having here at TMU. If I had a modeling oriented career, I'd be building model kits for a living. Having to live, I 've to work... No pun intended, really. On the ther hand, modeling came to a nice pace these days and at least 3 models are ready for paint. So, hopefuly tomorrow morning I'll start spraying colors like crazy. Been there, done that, got the t-shirt saying "Always wear a protective mask, you moron". So stay tuned, there's more F1M and some news from Eastern Europe to come... Take care and good luck, The Modeling Underdog

Fujimi's 1/72 F1M2 Observation Floatplane Tells the story that many moons ago in Japan, there was a very serious accident at the Fujimi production plant. While building one of the Ki-36 test shots, a modeler pressed so hard on the fuselage/wing joint that the latter went off flying accross the room and hit one of the mould makers in the head. It's said that while laying half-consciuos on the floor, the mould maker cast a curse on Fujimi for hiring such a reckless individual to carry on the test shots building. From that moment on, any modeler around the globe who cares enough to build a Fujimi kit, has to face a most enigmatic series of mishaps during the build. And so it seems that what was a sharp looking kit in the box, with finely recessed panel lines and a basic interior with lots of potential for detailing, turns into a Sphynx-faced piece of plastic that unveils a riddle one after the other as you proceed with it. A few years ago, I received from a friend a partiall...