Lets all get involved in Tamiya Com 2007

Guys, Tamiya Competition is on again, 2nd year in a row, this time in Millenia Walk in August. Lets all get involved and bump up the entry numbers and make this a truly world class event that Singapore model makers are famous for in ebay. Lets put in our best foot forward to support the event and to inject new life into this once dying hobby!

My son Dominique is trying to outdo me, at 11, he has two prizes under his belt, two years ago with consolations in the Gundam Asian Cup Junior Category, which I gave him a budget of $22 to make. Then last year 2nd in Gundam Asian Cup again, now with a Budget of $50 and armed with the model kits that he won the previous competition, he summitted a diorama.

His old man won the Junior Overall Champion with a 1/32 scale F5E from Hasegawa, then, which took me 6 months to save up to buy. Back then in 1978, it was $33 bucks from Howah International in Serangoon Road. My pocket money at 13 was only $1 per day! Budget goes at $0.20 for bus round trip to school, forget the feeder, it didn't exist then, and a good 2 km walk was the lot for the day, everyday.

$0.50 is set aside for lunch and drinks, that left me with savings of 30cents per day, 100 days of hard savings and 1 week part time job stint at the biscuit factory, I was able to buy it and two air supply cans to spray my Microscale Decal loaded TOPGUN Aggressor model!

At least he had a coach, as for me, I just walked 6km over to Morgan Hobbycraft Centre in Katong and watch what others display there and work to imitate, then I also founded the Tanjong Katong Model Society amongst the students and I need to constantly trounce those chaps in order to command respect! Had 13 members on the first year, we met on Saturdays. Some of these guys are still at it brothers! Some 30 years on!

I am happy that his work is getting neater with practice. Now we see he took my work desk, didn't bother to clear my work, which is a figurine of SS Troop 1/16 scale in SS Oakleaf Spring Camouflage. This guy didn't even put news paper and spray all over my work. After this photo, I rushed to keep my work before it becomes mutilated.

This is one of the old models that we found and gave him as a present, since my brother and me have about 500 kits unbuilt between us, we decided to give him a go at it. His one tone, washing finish was less than desired at first, so he is now doing his toning, which he learnt for 3 months from me to complete his Gundam project last year, now he is working on the Stuart again, repainting the thing. This chap used to be lazy and lacks concentration in whatever he does, the hobby has helped in sharpening his focus. I am happy to watch him work.

With him on my work desk and my 600 bucks chiropractic chair, I have to now squad in low lighting on the living room coffee table to work on sculpting and modifying my SS truppen in Oakleaf spring camouflage reversible outfit.....I am looking forward to the MP44, a weapon I loved very much and way ahead of what the allies have back then.

After the photos are taken, I scurried in horror to keep my work! This guy is raining desert yellow all over my figure!

48th Scale Hetzer

I finally got the 48th Scale Hetzer that I have painted last year and gave it a good 3 hour rubbing with pastels. And the results are pretty good. Then I pin washed everything and repainted the tracks. Enjoy.

Rear End of the business, some dust kicked up with buff mixed with middle stone.

Just to show the scale of this model. The Tamiya kit is good quality with only the exception of the tracks not very sinc for us to have a nice joint. Do not make this one open as the track on top does not sack like the real one as the mounted them on stretches and not individual links.

Cheers Lads.

Jadgtiger Complete

Guys, its been two weeks, I have just completed the Jadgtiger given to me from Alex. This is semi hand painted model. Frustrated over the airbrush's behavior, I sprayed the model in the yellow tone, then hand painted the other two colours. Then I tone the colours with 15 sticks of different pastels and using the chalk to create post shading in the edges to give the feather edge look. Then I seal the whole model with water based sealants. Hope you guys like what you see.

Figure is taken from Dragon's Panther Crew 1944. The arm was resculpted and modified to sit nicely to the pose I wanted with Tamiya Epoxy, then the head was added from Verlinden German Character head set. Whole thing was primed with black Pylox ala Calvin Tan advice, Drybrushed in white and the story goes, 12 hours later....walla!

Tracks were painted flat brown, washed with pastel loaded grey and orange to get the look, then brushed with oily steel to get the wear to the top surfaces plus the steel road wheels, then washed again with pastel loaded burnt orchre to get the faded wear. Then the whole thing was dark earthed and buffed with a mist spray of Tamiya Acrylics.

Exhaust painted with black powder infiltrated flat brown to get crusty texture.

Pine leaves drying up are made from fern stolen from my neighbour! Shhhhh.

Chipes are done with sponge method and the trusty 3O from Escado with pastel loaded dark chocolate from Vallejo.

Cromwell and Jadgtiger

Okay, its been a 2 weeks, now I am back. The Cromwell has to be put on hold. There are a couple of things that needed to be done first. It has to have more reverse chips in green, brown and black. After all, it is going to be an abandoned tank at the end of hostilities. Secondarily, because the 4 children that I have ordered has not arrived yet! I need them to make it look nice. Well, no choice. For collectors out there, sorry....just give me some time.

Well, for waiting, I need to start something new. One chap passed me a semi done Jadgtiger, one which I have bought for a year and not seemed to have taken off into making it happen. Well, now Heaven has presented an opportunity here to make for the first time, a German Jadgtiger. I have also a King Tiger Porsche Turret coming onstream soon as well.

For this project, I used a new method of painting. I tried spraying free style and found that it geometry is not very friendly to spray painting. Thereby, after failing the rear section, I decided to hand paint the model. I spray the thing black, then I feathered in the yellow sand colours and highlights.

Next I drew in the lines with a pencil and started to fill them with brown and the light green. I sprayed on some FUTURE to facilitate decalling.

Next, I used the chalks to darken the edges where the colours meet to produce a soft look. Then i dabbed on various colours of chalk,about 12 in all. I sealed them in 5 coats of diluted Vallejo flat varnish with glaze medium and some flow enhancer to achieve a smooth matte surface.

Click on the images to zoom in to see clearly the feathered edges. I will update the model next week when I am done with the figure and also the camouflage in pine and some other shrubs.

More work on Cromwell Winter

Now, there is something going on. There was a lot of chips I put on with Bernard's favourite Escada brush....that cost me $16 *£@#....... then we burnish the thing, rain wash the rust, added in the white wash......now its 70% completed....not bad for 4 days of part time work.

The photos shows the pain.....er....paint....so enjoy, you better.

Cromwell Winter Chips

I took a 4 year old model from a friend and whack that ugly looking brownie. I first took out the decals with nails I borrowed from his fingers, then liquid cemented the armour plates to get the texture correct.

Sprayed the tank olive drab, next with Gunze 122 green. Next, I clouded the tank with white. Then I sponged and drybrushed the tank with German Luftwaffe Green and bit mapped glazed it with white Andreas paint as it has the most rough pigments when diluted, looked like white wash on the original tank.From the pics, you see I whack in the sponge method a black pigment loaded brownish green paint and then add in the chips by hand, now 30% completed on the model.....its already 1 am in the morning and time to hit the sack...... cover the precious pigmented concoction and update this page before I go to zong out!

The sand was added before I sprayed the model with resin primer, sand, putty and thinner. Its stuck for life, its a concoction I use on most of my models to get the dried mud tinge. Anyway, it can be mixed into a bottle, which I did and it saves you a lot of materials and is less toxic than the way Mig suggested, which is liquid cement and putty.....deadly stuff, but it works like a flint on dried leaves.....alas, I want to live to 120, the limit set by our creator God Himself....so...I choose to use the less toxic way.

My Favorite Plane Model

This is one of the most tedious air plane models I have every made. It was part of a 3 float plane package I bought from Tamiya distributor at a clearance sale. No one wanted it, so I decided to do something very different. Armed with an Eduard upgrade kit from M Workshop, I decided to have a go at it, making the weathered look of exposing the Chromium Oxide, Ferric Oxide and the aluminium from below the planes green painted surfaces.

Here are some of the pictures and I have written a long article on the build process which Marcus Nichols has accepted for publication on Tamiya Magazine. I hope it sees print soon so that you guys out there can do what I did.

You can click on the photos to view the larger pictures. Enjoy guys and gals.

Wolfsburg, Home of VW

After leaving VW Franchise as the Senior Brand Manager (GM in VW speak), I left my two cars, phone, fuel allowances for the deep blue of inventing liquid armour and stab resistance water repel treatments for Kevlar(tm of Dupont) and Twaron(tm of Tejin Twaron).

It is good to be back in head office with my two partners after 2 years being away.

Wolfsburg Power Station. This power station is part of the VW factory. It also contained the VW's own train system and station where the ore is brought, also the loading system for the cars that VW makes here, mainly Passats and Golfs. This place also has its own canal where its own ships brings parts, raw materials in and finished cars to nearby ports by the river Rhine. Here you see VW's own Ritz Carlton Hotel undergoing renovations....Imagine, this is a place where there are so many visitors, they have their own Ritz Carlton Hotel inside the car city, call AutoStadt in German. Click on the picture to view better.

My Partner David Choong, the founding CFO of multi billion contract manufacturer for 15 years, Venture Manufacturing, ranked 11th in the world.... standing in between twin towers. These are brand new car parks where a customer can see the cars from outside or at the basement being moved in and out of the display with a giant robotic arm.

in 2001 VW made some high price tag prototypes of the VW Coupe concept. However, after buying Lamborghini and at that time negotiating to buy Ferrari, conventional wisdom told the management to scrap this idea, one Phaeton is too upmarket to swallow. I will post some photos of Dresden glass factory where the Phaeton and the Bentleys are built.

The original post war beetle made under watchful eyes of the victors. Note the white ang moh is an US GI officer.

The Original Porsche 911 coupe in production from Stuttgart, the founder of VW was Dr. Ferdinand Porsche and Adolf Hitler.

The Original Benz, the first commercial car.

Wall of wing mirrors at the pavilion of SEAT, image of fiery passion.

Wolfsburg castle, where it all began, Hitler and his generals were holed up here for sometime and later it served as the Allied HQ for operations pushing towards Berlin. I am not sure if Patton, Eisenhower or Omar Bradley was one of those who stayed here during 1945.

The side house now a cafe and restaurant opened only during high seasons and for private parties. Castle is now owned privately.

Another view of my partner David, crossing the bridge into the huge 10 acre garden of Schloss Wolfsburg.

Me, at the patent office outside the Wolfsburg town on my way to Dresden from Berlin.

Nag Man 1 Completed Pictures

Oh Yes, The Nag Man 1 is finally completed and ready to ship. But Alamak!!!!! Kena May Day holidays man, cock up! Now have to delay.







Burnished track and wheels....my favourite part of any models!