Thunderbird or not?

And I'm back.

I still have been building. I have to admit, I haven't been as enthusiastic as I should be, but I guess work can do that to you, even if the work you do is related to the hobby you love. Or maybe that also works detrimentally the other way as well.

Tamiya released this gem of a kit, and seeing it in Japan earlier this year made me want to build it right away. And here we are. Finished in June 2015.

Hello again everyone.

Ups and downs. And up again.

Some time since the last share. And its about time I got back!

Its been a busy time. Now I am actually working at a place where I am actually surrounded by what I love, and I am honestly happy to be doing what I am doing right now. Here's to making this last!

I finished this Tamiya 1/48 Sea Harrier last September, after having constructed and painted it in under two weeks of purchase. Many would comment how unbelievably fast that is, but I think they're missing the point of having fun with a hobby. I do 30 minutes an evening, walk the dog when waiting for paint to dry, and totally, completely unwind. This it a great feeling, letting go of everything pressing during the day and just totally doing something focused and fun. And it is fun, putting plastic airplanes together. Especially great looking plastic planes.

I first saw the Tamiya 1/48 Sea Harrier in the 80s at Nova Fontana in Greenhills, and it was the bee's knees then. Building it today, I have to admit it really is a child of the 80s, like me. Glad to acknowledge that some things, despite dated engineering, still come up looking sharp.

Uncles and plastic

It was sometime in the early 80s when my late Uncle Rommel (something about the name already betrayed his interests) purchased and built in front of these four young boys a T-34 tank. It was just an ordinary looking thing, but the way he built it was just downright interesting. He bent the fenders. He punctured the sides for battle-damage. He dirtied it up so much it actually looked like a tank!

And so as a tribute to that exciting time, I build this exciting little kit. Its the old Tamiya T-34; in all its vintage glory. But looking at the bent fenders, the scruffy, dirty weathering, and the smell of drying paint brings back those days.

Phabulous

The F-4 Phantom has, and always will be, a favorite of mine. The bent-wing, bent-tailed, gas-guzzling dump truck that poses as an interceptor may not be pretty, but you have to admit if an aircraft ever got pumped up full of steroids and testosterone, this would be it.

My first Phantom kit would probably be the old 72nd Matchbox kit (I think I posted about that a few years back). Then my mom sent me this massive box with 5 Revell F-4Es - the old Thunderbirds set, back in the 70s. Oh what joy - the dogfights we had then. Then I remember one of my favorite uncles getting a 48th scale  one. Yes, they come in bigger sizes. 

This is a tribute to all those Phantoms of the past. The Italeri F-4J, done as the CAG bird of VF-102 "Diamondbacks" circa 1968. Along with another Italeri J, done as a "Tomcatter" of VF-31, they were all part of a nice club display involving Phantoms we did to celebrate its 50th year. 

Keep on building.

So I laid an egg

And the egg hatched. Leave it to the Japanese to think of something as crazy as making airplanes look like... eggs. Its up there with anime eyes and manga hair. Here's the Hasegawa F-4J Phantom eggplane. Mean and menacing isn't it? I got this online and I had a ball building this - the utter lack of reference photos and panel lines just blew my mind and I loved every single second of it. And it isn't just the Phantom. Hasegawa released a whole slew of eggplanes in the 1970s and its all back with a vengeance. Kabuto Koji!!!

Bug me

And it took me 6 months to actually realize that it is now the year 2008. Its getting to be long and rare since the last post, but we'll try and remedy that. A lot of plastic has been cracked open and built since November, and a lot of memories are being build up with every build. And that's the point of it all, isn't it?

At any case, here's something I got from a very memorable trip to Manila. Its one of the newer kits from one of the newer kit makers in the block. And if this is anything to go about the shape of things to come for the hobby, then its never been a better time to be a modeller.

Its the 1/48 Hobby Boss F/A-18A Hornet. It took me three trips to Greenhills to decide if I really wanted to get it, but I did in the end. And what trips! I ate at Chowking once, Max's twice, and Yellow Taxi (a pizza place) once. Its all about the food now.

What a pfeiling!

I hated to do it, but there are so many puns with this plane's name. This is the Tamiya 1/48 Dornier 335A Pfeil (Arrow). Its a big kit, and a beauty to build. It is so seriously nice building, I am so relaxed throughout the entire process. No worries with fit, markings, decals anything. It even comes with a metal nose weight. Tamiya even provided a massive printed camo scheme guide which you use a template for painting. If this is how model kits have progressed from the 80s, then... WOW! Keep 'em coming! I Pfeil good!