JB’s Model Zone

US Navy WW2 Wildcat assigned to the USS Ranger. It was the older Tamiya kit and is in 1/48 as all my aircraft are. I debated about the weathering but this was my first chance to test multilayered chipping so it was a bit of a guinea pig for me. After much deliberation I decided not to dial back the weathering and leave as is. This was my first serious attempt at building a plane model since the Stuka build, which was my first in 40+ years. If any anything this Wildcat build taught what NOT to do in my next aircraft build.

The United States’s MQ-9 Reaper serving with the RAF. This model was done in acrylics with multi light layers airbrushed for a slight contrast mimic slight weathering from the sun while flying at altitude. I used resin for the laser guided bomb optics and a DVD cut and stripped of its multi-hued layer and inserted that in the forward optics gathering pod. Remove before flight flags were added with scale wiring. The kit came with the bottom delineation lines missing for the lower rudder assembly and luckily I caught this as all other kits builds I’ve seen have neglected to catch the error so that was scribed in and then filled to pronounce the shadow with Tamiya black panel liner. The instructions were atrocious on this Kinetic build. Many top markings were airbrushed instead of using the kit supplied decals.

 Ukrainian Navy’s small drone done in acrylics. The model is by Clear Prop in 1/48 scale. The real deal is produced by Bayraktar and is used by several countries and has seen extensive use in the current Ukrainian War.