Maddog Manufacturing Now Open for 2022!

[Dukemaddog]

Joe, thank you. I did want to start the deck with a uniform color before adding the streaks from the aircraft, but you might be on to something there.

Jed, thank you. I do wish I could increase the speed and fury a bit, but life keeps getting in the way. Hopefully soon I'll have more finished models to show. Meanwhile, I have another tour to start.


Welcome back. This is gonna be a very short tour, at least compared to what I've done in the past. We won't even need the trams as everything happened in the Motor Pool. Let's go in and see what's happened this past week. It's air conditioned so the heat won't bother us.


We'll start with this Dragon M1128 Stryker MGS that I got. It went together so fast, I didn't even stop to take pics!


Here it is after twenty minutes or so:





There were three pieces of photo-etch to put on this. One on the bottom, the other two on top:





This little thing is now ready for paint. Wow, only thirty five minutes of work. Now if things would cool down enough to start shooting paint... Until then, we went to work again on these. I could even consider them shelf queens of a sort since it's been about a year or so since we first started them. These are my Japanese mortar towing trucks; there are two kits inside the box. The first one had been built some time ago as an open topped vehicle with the mortar in firing position. The second one will be a closed topped one and towing the mortar. Here's where that one is right now:





Here they are together. These are both almost ready for paint now too:






Next up, we got the torsion bars on the IT-1 Drakon tank:





Later we added the roadwheels, but I apparently didn't get pics of that. I did get pics of the roadwheels installed on the T-62 though:





We then turned it over to check wheel alignment. Looks pretty good so far. We'll see how good when the tracks go on:





Meanwhile, we went to work adding the hatches and all the other bits and bobs to the turret to finish it up. When it came time for the grab handles, the instructions said to use copper wire. Well, I didn't want to mess with wire, so we pulled out my stash of styrene rod, chose a size that looked about right and then started installing them. We drilled holes in the turret sides and then measured out the length of rod and cut them to size. We bent the one end and then cemented it in one of the holes in the turret:





Later, when they were dry enough, we bent the other end and inserted it into the second hole as shown by one in the pic above. We had cut the styrene rod long enough that the tension caused from inserting the other end gave it a natural bend that looked perfect:





We then mocked up the whole tank to see how well it has come together so far:





Looking good so for if I do say so myself. After building all those T-64, T-72 and T-80 tanks with all the greeblies on them, I still say this turret is too empty!


That be all for today; as I mentioned, it's a very short tour. Thanks all for looking in, comments are welcome.

[JCON]

Short tours are better than no tours!!!

[Dukemaddog]

True. Hopefully soon I can show more. Stay tuned.

[Dukemaddog]

It's been awhile, so time to start another tour. There's a bit more to show here so all aboard!


We'll be diverting this tour slightly to stop by the parts warehouse first. There you'll see some of the behind the scenes work we've been doing to organize, condense and streamline all the excess parts that get left over or left off the various models that we do. We started with the small container holding pioneer tools and other accessories. They were all painted as best we could and then the many that were still attached to sprue parts were removed from them. That way, all the tools and accessories are free and ready for use. Before we started, the container was practically bulging from all the parts in it. After removing all the sprue parts, this is what we have:





The next box was the weapons box. This holds all the rifles, machine guns, hand held anti-tank rockets, tripod mounted weapons, mortars etc. Once again, they were painted and then most of them were removed from the sprue parts. Some of the sprue sets had ammo crates that are supposed to attach to the machine guns. They were put in that small glass vial at the top left. Again, before this, everything could barely fit due to the large quantity still attached to sprue parts. There's quite a bit more of them than the tools, but still, loads of room for more:





This is the small box containing the sprue parts we snipped off all those tools and weapons. They don't look like much, but they sure did take a lot of room:





That container is considerably deeper than that pic suggests.


Wait till we start on my stowage parts box!


Okay, it doesn't matter much, but I just wanted to show why productivity has dropped lately. That took considerable time and was very needed.


Now on to the production buildings where we finally did get a few more things moving forward.



We'll start once again in the Hangar where one small project was started as a 'palette cleanser' so to speak. In here we got started on a German Horten flying wing. This is the new Revell boxing that we received as a gift. First part of course is the cockpit:





Here's a shot of the instrument panel that will be getting a decal later:





Then this was flipped and the engine exhaust cones were added:





On the bottom of part of the fuselage, the cannons were added and the framework around the forward landing gear bay I believe:





The wings were then assembled and now here is where we are before detail painting starts:







Now on to the Motor Pool. Lots was done here, starting with the finding of the missing wheels for the Rolls Royce Armored car:





These were later added to the car, but the front axle broke (it's a Roden!!!) so I didn't get any pics of them until after I'm sure it has dried solid enough to hold the car.


Moving on, we went back to a Shelf Queen that had been sitting for three years now. The reason was because of the extreme (for me!) difficulty in mounting the wheels and suspension. I swear these must have been torn off and/or torn apart at least five times each time until we finally found out how they were supposed to go. I came to the conclusion the fenders we'd glued on earlier were causing all manner of trouble so we popped them off to finish this. Almost three hours hours after starting this again, here is the result:





Looks like a dead bug lying there like that. We had to reinstall several interior parts that had broken off in the fight to mount these right.


That was enough of that! I then set upon a much easier kit to do; this time it was a dual kit of two Japanese armored scout cars that we started. These are from the air self defense force, most likely used for perimeter patrol around air bases. They went together fast; here is where they ended up before I remembered to photograph them:





Later on we painted the interior with the base Green Drab using a brush. While we were at it, we also painted the bodies as well:





Next we painted the extra detail pieces (wheels, window frames, etc) to have them ready to install later:





That is where we left off on those. We then went back to the last two Russian tanks I have left to build.

Starting with the Drakon IT-1, we installed the tracks on the wheels and sprockets. You can see this is one of ACE's earliest kits by the roughness of the molding:








Here it is all mocked up, ready for paint:





We later shot paint on this. I had found a rattle can of the Dark Green I use, and sprayed with it. That was an ordeal as the can would not stop spraying once it got started. Therefore we only sprayed an incomplete coat, while catching the remainder in a clean bottle to use later:





The next one was the T-62B. Tracks were installed here too, as well as fuel cans on the back end:





This got the rattle can treatment as well:





You can see we had started spraying this one as it has a more complete coat.


That was a far as I could go with those so I decided we should start a couple more vehicles. Since we were doing tanks, it was time to get started on the last Leopard I need to complete the entire Leopard line...until they bring out a new version....


The torsion bars all had to be individually installed. While they were drying we assembled all the wheels while they were still on the sprues. You can see the start of that here:





Then the upper hull and rear plate were done with all the additions needed, including photo-etch:





Later the wheels were added, but we left the drive sprockets off until it was time to start the tracks:





The turret was completed next. I like how they molded the anti-slip coating right on the turret:





Here it is mocked up, almost ready for paint:






Finally, one last vehicle we started was this Trumpeter HEMMTT LHS (Load Handling System). I'd had it on my list of models to start so it was time.


Naturally, we started with the chassis; as always with these big trucks. Trumpeter's chassis was all one piece making it easier to assemble than the Modelcollect version of this type of truck:





Next was the interior of the cab. Fast and easy:





Next we assembled the engine cover. Once again, Trumpeter molded the cover and deck it sits on as one piece, all that was needed was to add all the detail parts. Much simpler than Modelcollect, while not compromising any detail:





Next we assembled the load handling system itself. This was a bit difficult due to the vagueness of the diagram. Looks impressive though:





Then the bed of the LHS was added to complete it:





Finally, we assembled the container box...all two pieces of it. I then mocked it up on the truck; it fits well:






Moving on to our Shipyards, we find that the main gun turrets of the Italian battleship Vittorio Venetto have been completed:





First we checked how one of the small turrets sat on the deck:





We then test fitted one of the largest ones and the four smaller ones on the ship:





With her boats installed and the main turrets and superstructure mocked up in place, she was finally launched and sent to the dock for final fitting out:





There is still some photo-etch parts to add, as well as some other details. I also need to find the scout plane they say was packed in this kit, but I never saw it anywhere. I might just be overlooking it. Once most of these are added, we'll be able to start painting.


And that completes this tour for today. Thank you all for looking in, comments are welcome.

[JCON]

Good job, spare parts are always good for custom work and dioramas!!!

[Dukemaddog]

Thank you Joe! Yes, loads of spare parts do help alot. In fact, I just recently sorted a few more; separating the furl drums and jerry cans from the other storage, as well as pulling out and reboxing the extra Russian fuel tanks that go on the back of their tanks. I was surprised at how many of those I had. Anyway, on with the tour...

Once again, another short tour. Just haven't had enough bench time. Thanks to Hobby Day Mondays, I am able to catch up. This tour shows the latest progress we got done.


Starting in the Hangar, we have a project that was started as a dual build with another guy on another Forums who's also building the same plane in 1/48 scale. Mine is in 1/72 of course.


I started with the cockpit as usual, in particular the seat. This sub-assembly has nine parts in it and I still have to add the photo etch. The cockpit tub only has five parts:





Here they are mated together:





Letting that dry, we moved on to any other sub-assemblies we could do. The main landing gear bays needed to be assembled (3 parts each) and then we installed them inside the lower fuselage:





There's some pretty sharp detail in there:





After that, we completed the rear fuselage sans burner can. All that was needed was adding the tail feathers:





There it sits until we can get to the photo etch....




Meanwhile, over here in the Motor Pool; we took a look at the Rolls Royce armored car. The decals on the turret roof were flaking off. Apparently the Solvaset didn't work that well. So, I decided that we should try some chipping technique using some light black to cover the missing decal parts. It's my first time ever trying this, so it is certainly far from being as refined as the Masters:





That was almost done so we moved on to others. The Leopard 2A7 was almost completed before. This time, we finished adding the smoke dischargers to the turret and installing the tracks. This beastie is ready for paint:





Finally, my Stryker MGS was painted and the wheels installed:





Just have to add the decals and then weather this one and it will be done.


That's it for this short tour. Once again, comments are welcome and thank you for taking the time to tour Maddog Manufacturing!

[JCON]

Nice lineup, I've been away from the bench to rebuild my deck, replaced the rotten porch roof posts yesterday before they fell apart... they were worst then I thought... could have used your expertise! But I managed to get em done...

[JED]

WOW, yet more fast and furious work. I like the little Japanese trucks

[Dukemaddog]

Thank you Joe! I wish I'd been there to help. Sounds like it was a big job.

Thank you Jed! Just trying to keep the bench humming to clear more boxes from the stash.

[ogrejohn]

Lots of nice work coming from the factory Mark! 

[Dukemaddog]

Thank you John! I'm hoping more of this work gets completed so I can start some new stuff!

[Dukemaddog]

Finally I can start another tour after a month of being away. This is all work I did either before we had to clear the hangar for the B-24 commission build; or after it was done.


Let's start in that Hangar....


The Horten's cockpit got painted:





We also painted the machine guns, not knowing if they were going to be visible:





Got the nose on. This pic is from before it was sanded smooth:





We then test fit the wings to see if there's any issues with the nose section:





Later we fastened the wings in place and closed up the cockpit:





Now that one is ready for masking and paint, so we moved on to the FJ-1 for my Pakistani Air Force.


We finished off the cockpit tub and added it to one side of the forward fuselage pod:





Next this called for the addition of photo etch shrouds as well as a four-piece HUD assembly using two photo etch parts and two clear parts. I lost the provided clear parts, so we took some clear packaging; cut it to shape and used it instead. Remember; this is a 1/72 scale instrument panel and HUD:





Here's a semi-closer shot of this, showing how poorly I did with the instrument decals and HUD:





That is a slightly larger than standard alligator clip, so you have a size reference.


Next we assembled the engine exhaust. This kit provided a full set of photo etch parts to build the engine with; but after the ordeal with the HUD; I opted for simple!





Closed up the cockpit inside the forward fuselage pod; then added the HUD/instrument panel assembly; then cemented to the rear fuselage:





That don't look too half bad in there:





We then immediately added the canopy and windscreen to this to protect the HUD and ready this for paint:







Now we are done touring the Hangar, time to head to the Motor Pool....



Here in the Motor Pool, we finally started painting the SdKfz 234/4 with the stripes for the camouflage. This pic was taken after I realized I had already started the second color:





We then painted the gun shield. Looking at these pics; I saw for the first time where one of my cats jumped up and tried chewing on the barrel. Gonna have to see if I can fix that:





My Hobby Room door kept opening overnight, allowing the cats to explore without my supervision. I fixed that by removing the strike plate altogether; it doesn't open on it's own now!


Moving on, while we were painting the SdKfz Pakwagen, we also added camouflage to the Geschutzwagen rail car. First the brown color:





Then the green:





Those two will be finished very soon. Meanwhile I felt like I wanted something simple and nostalgic. I pulled out this ancient ESCI ambulance and we got started, building the chassis first:





Then we built the cab, as much as we could and still paint the interior:





The box was next; this was simple, easy and fun:





This little thing is so close to paint now after about 15 minutes:





Next was a set of RAF Bomber Command resupply vehicles that we'd been tinkering with now and then adding a few pieces here and there between other projects. Well, these vehicles are now about ready for paint:





Then as the day was winding down, we decided to do a little upgrading to the factory floor, adding a few new tools and desks and such: These were from three kits I bought some years ago and finally found again, They are all resin and were quite difficult to build on some of these. First we built the compressor:





Then we did a lathe and a desk filled with tools and stuff; apparently is was overloaded. Gotta add a rear leg to that:





Finally a drill press and another desk, here shown with all the other previous pieces of equipment. We'll probably be tinkering with these between builds as well.



That concludes this tour. Thank you all for looking in, comments are welcome.

[Dukemaddog]

And now for another tour of Maddog Manufacturing. This will be a bit of a short one so I hope you enjoy the tour.

Starting in the Hangar first as always....


First we decided to try out the MCW(?) paints, the ones formulated from the old Testor's Model Master recipe. I had some dark green to shoot on my models and this was a good time to try it out. It was already thinned for airbrushing which was great. What wasn't great was the coverage. It was too thin, showing too much bare plastic. The humidity that night caused it to also splatter I believe. Here is the result on the Horten Ho-229, after the canopy was masked:



The results are disappointing, but I will try again if I can get ahold of other colors. The same paint was used on the Leopard 2A7, with better results but that will be seen in the Motor Pool section of the tour.

Meanwhile, further preparation for paint went on. The Pakistani FJ-17 (Ha! Got one right for once!) had the canopy masked off for paint; right after the Horten was masked:



Finally, I wanted simple and easy project so we got started on the Airfix British Sea King that was found in my sale pile. You can't have too many British helicopters so we went to work on the interior.





That completes the short tour of the Hangar. Next is the Motor Pool...

Here in the Motor Pool, the Pakwagen got a clear gloss coat and decals on it. Good old Roden! They made these tiny crosses in two part decals! You can also see where we fixed the bite marks somewhat:



Since the Pakwagen got a clear gloss and decals, we did the same for the Geschutzwagen. We had to 'wing it' with the decals, using spares from the spares stash because the original decal sheet went missing. Once it was found, the schematic showing where they were supposed to go disappeared. So this is what we did:



If I find the schematic later, we'll complete the decals on this...

As mentioned before, the Leopard got a coat of the MCW paint. While better than the Horten, it still did not cover this in a satisfactory manner. I also feel the color is off too:





That completes the tour of the Motor Pool, now we move on to the Shipyards where work continued on the Italian battleship.

Here in Slip Three the Vittorio Venetto got the decks painted. The main decks and superstructure decks got intermediate blue and the rear deck was painted wood:



The superstructure was then painted the light ghost grey called for and a seam on the forward part of the superstructure was filled and sanded smooth. Additional details were than painted afterward:



Photo etch was applied to the stacks as well as to the rear deck of the ship. I only shot pics of our work on the stacks:



While that was all drying, we completed the painting on the main and large secondary turrets:



While the turrets were drying, the hull was painted light ghost grey. Once that dried, the upper part was masked and the the boot stripe was painted. That was then masked after it dried and Tamiya Hull Red was shot over the bottom:



Once that dried, we completed the painting of the screws and shafts:





And that concludes this week's tour of Maddog Manufacturing. I hope you had a good tour, comments are welcome always and thanks for looking in!

[JCON]

I haven't found anyone yet who likes that new formulated paint. Nice production though!!!

[Dukemaddog]

Thank you Joe! I have actually heard good things about it, but did not get the results they did for some reason. It is supposed to be the very same recipe formerly used by Testor's for their Model Master line. I do like how it was pre-thinned for airbrushing. Still, I should be able to get this painted soon again.

[Dukemaddog]

Well, it has been a good long time since I posted anything here. Despite being super busy these past three weeks, I've kept production going at Maddog Manufacturing. In fact, I'm surprised we got this much done! 


Note: My camera has gone missing, it is somewhere in the house. I apologize in advance; these pics were all taken on my Iphone and are not up to the quality I'm used to. In a number of cases, you cannot see the variations in some of the camouflage patterns. 


This will be a long tour; I might even have to split it in two. So, all aboard the trams and remember to keep hands and feet inside at all times.


The first stop: the Hangar


On this Horten, I wanted a more deep green, especially since I didn't think we could replicate the splotchy look from before with the second camouflage color:





Next came the masking...





Then the painting of the second color. I know it is not the "correct" shade of grey, but it is a German grey and I'm making sure this gets finished instead of waiting for the right 'shade' of grey:





Off came the masking to see how well it looks:





It may not be 'accurate' but it's mine and I like it! 


Finally, we masked off the landing gear bays and the top to shoot the bottom color:





That will come later. I found a nice "Helblau" in my Model Master collection; this is the perfect time and model to use it.


Moving on to the next aircraft, we find that work as resumed on the Marine Harrier. It had been shot with two colors of grey on the topside already, so all that was needed was a shot of the final grey on the underside





All masking was then removed when it was dry and I am pleased with these results: 





I know it's tough to see in these pics, my phone camera doesn't pic them up as well, even after I have edited these. 


Nest we shot a gloss clear over it to prepare for the decals. All coating went on fine on the fuselage, but the upper wings wrinkled and peeled. It's a good thing we didn't cement the wings down on this, we got it masked and now the fix will be easier:






That's where this sits now. Lets move on to the next aircraft. 


Here is the Pakistani, FC-1 Fierce Dragon. It had already been primed black, so the first of the two colors went on, top and bottom:





Since this color has wavy borders, we applied the Silly Putty to the top and bottom:








The second lighter grey was shot next:





Again, despite my best efforts on the editing software, this color doesn't look the correct shade.


Once dry, the masks were removed. It did need a bit of touch up, but this was a great application in my opinion:





Later it was glossed and then the decals went on. Most of the stencils did not go on as they were too small to apply and looked like specks or blemishes more than stencils:






Next we find the Russian Ka-29 is finally back on the production queue. This got a third basecoat of blue since I was not happy with the previous color again. Then we started masking the darker blue grey for the second, lighter color:





I had called a halt to the Silly Putty masking because anytime we turned this one on it's side, the Silly Putty would catch on something and peel off. So, the top, the bottom and one side were masked and shot with the lighter blue:





Later when this dries, we will continue the masking on this side and shot the color again:








That completes the tour of the Hangar, now we can move on to the Shipyards....


Recently I acquired an old Airfix 1/72 scale Vospers MBT and couldn't wait to get started. The hull was laid down already. This hull comes in three pieces, two sides and the bottom:





That's as far as we got with that. However, my other small boat got a lot of work completed. First, masking was added to the upper superstructure and the hull which had already been painted:





The deck was then painted, followed by the bottom of the hull. I didn't get pics of the bottom paint though:





It called for Navy Blue Grey and it just so happened I had that exact color in my Model Master collection, so that is what I used.


Masking came off and we had near perfect results, certainly better than I expected!





Later on after a gloss coat, the decals went on. That includes the boot stripe:





It's beginning to look like we'll be able to launch this one soon, time permitting!


Finally, we move on to see the USS Sacramento. We painted a wide boot stripe on top of the lower hull and then masked it to make a boot stripe the thickness I wanted:





Definitely pleasing to me:







That completes the tour of the Shipyards, now on to the Motor Pool.....


In the Motor Pool this week, we continued on with a commission build for a friend who asked for this some time ago after a PzII was completed for him. This is his 1/35th scale Polish TKS, complete with a full interior which has not been completely added at this time:





Later we completed the interior. And just to show you how tiny this beastie really is, I built the officer (sans binoculars) and stood him next to the lower hull:





I don't know that I would want to go into combat in that little thing!


Moving on to my own subjects, we stop at this bay where the Leopard 2A7 is being worked on. As you might remember; I wasn't happy with this shade of green, nor the inconsistency of coverage:





We then went with the Mission Models Dark Green instead and got a better result:





Later on the other two camouflage colors were added:





...followed by a coat of clear gloss:





And finally the markings went on:






While that was being painted, the same process was done on the HEMMT LHS which was still in pieces to facilitate things better, at least for me:


First the basecoat:





Then the second and third colors:





We didn't forget the lower front of the cab:





There was surprisingly little additional patches to paint on this. Maybe it was because of all the colors on the Leopard.


Gloss coat was sprayed on the dry-fit parts next: again, sorry for the poor photo:





Decals followed. This should be ready for full assembly very soon...








That completes the tour of the Motor Pool, you may disembark from the trams now and thank you all for coming in! Comments are always welcome.

[JCON]

Yup, you've been busy...

[Dukemaddog]

Yeah, too busy with so many preparations and activities for Christmas. That is why I am surprised I got that much done. Thank you for posting Joe!

[JED]

Great work Duke, loving them all but especially the Horten

[Dukemaddog]

Thank you Jed! That Horten has been a fun and easy build, no issues worth remembering! Now for the latest tour....

Well, it's been a couple weeks and I have enough for another tour. Feel free to board the trams again for this latest ride through the plant.


Starting in the Hangar again....


In this bay, the Horten got the bottom color sprayed on:





Here it is clear coated for decals:








Don't worry, the color isn't different on the bottom, it's my phone camera...


Decals next:












Speaking of decals, in this bay we had an issue with this one on the top wing of the JF-17 Thunder:





We used Navy Blue Grey on that and it matched so closely you can barely tell!


She got legs! Landing gear was installed next:





Later on they were painted:





In this final bay, We managed to get decals applied to the AH-1Z Cobra:





Some additional detail painting was done too. 


Time to load up now. Pylons got loaded with weapons, and the tail rotor and the landing skids were installed:





The next pics you see of this bird will be after my Marines take delivery of it. 



Moving on to the Shipyards, there wasn't much done except for one boat. The Swift Boat got the top of the cabin installed into place:





Later on, additional details were added:





Guns were mounted later, as well as a few other detail parts installed, but the next pics you dee will be after she launches.



Finally, there is one thing in the Motor Pool to see. We got the 20' container for the HEMMTT Load Handling System painted:





Yeah, that's it here. More will be shown later as things move forward. 


It was a bit of a short tour, so thank you for coming along. Comments are welcome.