SNNNJ "Longhorn" -- 1/33 scale paper model

It's early 1942. As America enters World War II, the Navy desperately needs new pilots, but it lacks enough basic trainers and instructors to meet the demand. Enter North American Aviation Co. and good old American ingenuity. The SNNNJ "Longhorn" (Army version, AT-6½ "Texxxan") allows one airplane and one instructor to train three students simultaneously, helping to fill the needs of the Navy's new carrier flight groups.

I started with the 1/33-scale ANG Texan from Dave's Card Creations. I printed the canopy frames on full-page 8½x11 label stock, cut out the frames and applied them to thin clear plastic. I cut out the insides of the frames first, leaving a margin of about half an inch around the outside of each frame. That made it much easier to apply the frames to the plastic without distorting them. Once the label stock touches the plastic, it cannot be repositioned.

The glue I use (Aleene's Tacky Glue®) does not adhere well to plastic or metal. I applied a thin strip of label stock to the inside of each canopy frame along the bottom of the frame. The label stock sticks like glue to the plastic and the Tacky Glue sticks securely to the label stock.

The resulting aircraft would probably be underpowered and a bit tail-heavy, though it's not entirely unlike a Fairey "Battle" or Nakajima BN5 "Kate." Most of all, it is evidence that I don't have enough adult supervision.

"Space Laser" 1/72-Scale Paper Model

Rep. Green actually made this outlandish suggestion in a public speech in 2018. The extreme absurdity was too much to ignore, and DissentPins.com came up the "Secret Jewish Space Laser Corps" patch. I thought their effort deserved at least a prototype, so I built one. It's a joke; no offense intended.

DeHavilland Canada DHC2T Turbo Beaver "Raven" -- 1/48 scale paper model

This was a beta build of Design Group Alpha's (DGA) newest livery in their series of Turbo Beaver kits. Wingspan is just about twelve inches. I spent about 20 hours building the kit. I added toothpick spars in the horizontal and vertical tail and stripwood spars in the wings. And I added an extra layer of cardstock to the rudders--probably the most fragile parts of the model. Otherwise, it's "straight out of the box." The kit should be available soon here. Other liveries are available now in both turbo and recip versions.

The floats were much easier to build than I expected. DGA's design provides a sturdy and good-looking float with a minimum of fuss.

I found the instructions generally very good. They were a bit vague in a few areas, but photos of the finished kit made up for it. As with all of the DGA Turbo Beaver kits, those photos will be posted and downloadable with the kits. The artwork is excellent, fit of the parts is good to excellent, and the finished model is eye-catching. The kit includes parts for floats, skis, and conventional landing gear.

I think I'll pick one of the other liveries and scale it up to 1/32.

"Sakrison Supply" from Carolina Craftsman Kits -- HO Scale Laser-Cut Wood

 A few years ago, I drew up a plan for a mill that I wanted to scratchbuild for my HO-scale model RR. I based it loosely on a diorama I'd seen on the Internet, and I shared the drawings on this site. I didn't get around to building it, but someone out there in the Chronosynclastic Infindibulum saw it and built it. Someone else saw the drawings or the build or both and contacted Jeff Grove, owner of Carolina Craftsman Kits to say, "Please, please, please offer this as a kit!"

Jeff contacted me, and I said, "Hell, yes!" and sent him the original drawings. This morning, in my mailbox was a copy of the CCC's latest kit -- "Sakrison Supply." As Andy Warhol once said, "Everyone gets 15 minutes of fame." I could do a lot worse. Thank you, Jeff! Thank you, Scott Alvord for a beautiful and inspiring test build! And thank you to all of you who begged for the kit.

 Here is my original drawing. (Feel free to share it.)

Here is Scott Alvord's outstanding test build of Jeff Grove's pre-release kit. (Wow!):

And here is the kit:

I guess now I really ought to build it.

Ma.K. (S.F.3.D) "Jerry" 1/20th Scale Plastic Model (Nitto)

I have mostly sworn off plastic models. This is a "shake the box" build from several years ago. The "Jerry" model stands about six inches tall. I'm guessing that it's a scout, lightly armed and fast-moving.

The Ma.K. gear fascinates me, but the prices for the models have gone through the roof. I'm still looking for paper models of the S.F.3.D fighting suits. So far, aside from a few scratchbuilds (with no kit offered), the only one seems to be for the "Snowman" Super Heavy Fighting Suit. Some kitbashing might be in order. 

So many projects, so little time!

Martin Baker M7 Ejection Seat, 1/12th Scale Paper Model

This was a challenging build due in part to some fit issues and to the instructions, which were often vague and occasionally wrong. Still, the results were worth the effort, if not exactly contest quality. At 1/12 scale, the seat stands 4½ inches tall. The build took about a week of evenings. The kit is available at ecardmodels.com.

U-Boat Type VII-C - 1/72-Scale Paper Model

The kit is designed by "Kooklik." It is an excellent kit with detailed construction drawings. The finished model is just over three feet long. I built it several years ago, and at the Midwestern Model Ships & Boats Contest held 19-20 May 2023 at the Wisconsin Maritime Museum in Manitowoc, my U-Boat received a Gold Award.