I just finished playing Dead Space (Remake) and it was a blast. Loved it! Solid 9.5 out of 10! And have been “coaching” our Chief Inspiration Officer @Wally_AMD on how to get around the USG Ishimura.
When I don’t play video games I dive into my other hobby; building scale model kits, specifically airplanes from the cold war era.
I just finished building the Tamiya F-16CJ Fighting Falcon Block 50. It was my first 1/32 scale built, and man, I loved it. There is a reason why the kit has a 5-star rating – everything about the kit is awesome, especially the removable engine, and the various weapon load-outs, not to mention the detailed cockpit and pilot.
I’m not a pro, but I humbly believe I did a pretty good job; it took me a little over a month to finish it, and overall, I’m satisfied with the result. I spent about 2 to 4 hours at night, in my garage where I’ve set up a small workshop for my new-found hobby. (I’m planning on building the F-4 C/D Phantom II next – one of my cousins flew one when he was in the IRAF, and I got to sit the in cockpit when I was 6 years old, I’ll never forget it).
Here are a few pics:
Engine and Cart:
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Cockpit (my favorite part to assemble):
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Pilot:
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Weapons and Seat:
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Done (I'll take more, better, higher-rez pics):
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What about you, are you into model kits?
oh dang you went all in on painting, ive only done that for one model ever, a dornier do-335. its been so long since i made a model plane, but i do have a model space probe i got from japan i would like to build and paint sometime. i guess the most recent models ive done have all been gundam, and those dont require glue.
Ha ha! Nice! How old is that model? When did you buy it?
I have a few pre-built Gundam robots, and to tell you the truth I'm itching to build one and paint it too.
i did a little research and the model is from 2010! i only got it a few months ago.
Be sure to share a few pics when you're done, I'd love to see it.
Really Cool!
Wish I had the patience for it.
Looking good, @Sam_AMD! This Military Aviation geek approves!
When you do the F-4, are you going to do it up in IRAF livery as a hat tip to your cousin?
If I ever get back into scale models again (I was into it when I was a kid) I really want to build a few Canadian fighters. CF-100, Sabre Mk6, CF-105, maybe have a second crack at the CF-101, CF-104, CF-188 and CF-116s that I built and lost long ago.
🙂
I would like to, but this kit does not include the decals for IRAF (the F-14 does).
Oh man, the Sabre Mk6 (F-86) is the way to go! A classic, so much history behind that plane. I wish Tamiya would make it in a 1/32 or 1/48 scale.
The big question for the Mk6 is this: What livery? RCAF European camo? Polished metal? Golden Hawks?
I think the Voodoo would be done in Lynx One livery, the CF-116 as Moose One when they used to do air show demos. The CF-188, man I could pick all kinds of sweet liveries for that one. Any of the Demo schemes, Silver Fox One, the list goes on. I'd also love to get my hands on a couple of CT-114s. Golden Centennaires, Snowbirds, and even an AETE livery.
Looks awesome! I used to build models when I was a kid, and I am thinking about getting back into them again. But - I need to keep it to one hobby at a time.
I watched a lot of PLASMO and other model-building YouTube channels for a while. They're what made me think about getting into it again.
I know the "kid in me" is what got me back into this hobby. I didn't have the patience and the funds to do it back in the day.
I have to ask, what's your hobby?
Currently, my hobby is making custom USB controllers for flight simulators. I'm mostly playing DCS. I'll post a couple pictures of my project below. I am making two consoles that I will mount as drawers in a desk. They're just sitting on boxes now while I test them out, so my setup looks pretty janky. I'm currently making the custom joystick that will go on the right-side console.
The learning curve has been crazy. I never programmed an Arduino before (or anything for that matter), and I had very little experience with soldering. So a few hundred hours has gone into learning - what parts to buy, how best to carve out the throttle and joystick, how to work with the cheap tools I have, how best to wire and solder things, how to program Arduino and Teensy controllers, and how to troubleshoot everything when it doesn't work.
Dude... that looks fantastic. I was a big sim geek back in the 90s, but never hand the funds to go with a full HOTAS setup. Heck, my folks thought I was off my rocker because I spent a whopping $80CAD on a Suncom F-15 flight stick. I regret tossing it out when I was in my mid-20s because two of the buttons died. That thing felt so good to use I think it would have been a prime candidate for a USB and sensor conversion.
Thanks!
I saw some videos on people converting old Suncoms to USB. I was thinking about getting one from ebay and doing the same. They're pretty awesome for their age. It's funny that you can spend $500 to $1000 on a HOTAS nowadays.
@BigAl01 - Yes, I'm about to step out and try a unique solution. I bought a few load cells to make a force-sensing joystick instead of a gimbal-based joystick. I hope I can get it to work since I haven't seen anyone do the same thing. I'll have to post it on youtube if it works well.
Making something into a learning experience almost always pays dividends down the road. Maybe you'll come up with some unique solution that others will want to try.
That's a fantastic job. I don't see an airbrush in your pictures, just the small paint jars. That suggests that you only use a brush to paint the models. I used to be into model making, and I had even entered (an won 1st place in the Novice division of the International Plastic Modelers Society) a Panzer III model I made back in 1975. After a few moves the models were pretty well banged up and the glue started letting go, so I gave it up. My older sisters husband (who passed a few years ago) was into the Japanese WWII aircraft and he had collected over 1,000 model kits. He only built about 50 models in total but they were extremely well done. It was his passion. Needless to say, my sister had to deal with all those model kits but she got a fair price from someone that took all of them with a U-Haul truck.
Sheesh! That was 4 years before I was born!