Jake Moon Posted February 10, 2016 Share Posted February 10, 2016 (edited) Hi everyone, here's something slightly different. I work at a hobby shop on my days off from school and we often buy collections of model kits. A few weeks ago, we bought a bunch of kits from the family of a modeller that had recently passed away. In his collection was this Tamiya Wildcat that he had nearly finished. As the kit had been started, we could not sell the kit in-store. Therefore I took the kit home with me to finish what he started. I don't know anything about the modeller, his name, age, occupation, etc. All I know is that he was male and that he must've been a very good modeller. I'd really like to finish up this kit not only as a tribute to him, but to the many friends in this community that we've lost over the years. We may not have known anything about them apart from a username and their models, but they were family to us. Here's what I've inherited: some nicely done subassemblies. My portion of this build will be mostly assembly, plus painting and attaching smaller bits like pitot tubes, gunsight etc. He did a particularly nice job on the cockpit: And here's what I've managed today. I glued in the cockpit and the rear control surfaces. The rudder needed some touch ups and the stab had to sanded (carefully not to lose his finish) to get it to fit snugly. More to come. Edited February 10, 2016 by Jake Moon 32 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gremlin56 Posted February 10, 2016 Share Posted February 10, 2016 A very nice idea, this was certainly underway to being a beautiful build, (1/72 scale isn't it?). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woody37 Posted February 10, 2016 Share Posted February 10, 2016 What a great tribute Jake, as you say, he's made a great start ....who ever he was Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greif Posted February 10, 2016 Share Posted February 10, 2016 (edited) I love the idea! This person would be proud to see you finish his job. I'm doing nearly the same with my Bf109. I will follow your Wildcat to see how it comes. Cheers Erik Edited February 10, 2016 by Greif Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ex-FAAWAFU Posted February 10, 2016 Share Posted February 10, 2016 Great idea! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wyverns4 Posted February 10, 2016 Share Posted February 10, 2016 & Christian, exiled to africa Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stringbag Posted February 10, 2016 Share Posted February 10, 2016 Lovely idea Jake. Might be appreciated if you could discover the fellow's name and address and present it to his relatives as a memento of his modelling life. Chris. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogsbody Posted February 10, 2016 Share Posted February 10, 2016 A very nice idea, this was certainly underway to being a beautiful build, (1/72 scale isn't it?). Jake Moon stated that it's a Tamiya kit, so I'm guessing it's 1/48 scale. Chris 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Séan Pádraig Posted February 10, 2016 Share Posted February 10, 2016 In the same kind of circumstances our club for time to time will get started kits donated to us which some of our members will take on and finish... never thought of them in terms of the 'unknown Modeller' Great Idea Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duncan B Posted February 10, 2016 Share Posted February 10, 2016 Great sentiment and as you said the unknown modeller had made a wonderful start to it, someone with a lot of talent obviously. Duncan B Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Low flyer Posted February 10, 2016 Share Posted February 10, 2016 That's going to end up really nice, what a great tribute Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martian Posted February 10, 2016 Share Posted February 10, 2016 What a lovely thought! Martin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andy wood Posted February 10, 2016 Share Posted February 10, 2016 One of the nicest gestures I have seen on this site Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phildagreek Posted February 10, 2016 Share Posted February 10, 2016 Good effort, would have been so easy to just throw in the bin. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jake Moon Posted February 10, 2016 Author Share Posted February 10, 2016 Thank you all for the kind comments, I'm sure our friend would have been happy to hear them. For clarification, this is Tamiya's lovely 1/48 Wildcat from about 20 years ago. Looks like a very lovely kit, and I'm fairly certain I won't have to put any putty over our friend's very nice paintwork. (that I have not the skills to replicate!) Tonight I'm hoping to get the wings and nose assembly together - pictures to follow soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Booty003 Posted February 10, 2016 Share Posted February 10, 2016 You sir seem like a fine young man and it is a tremendous tribute to a fellow modeller who is now no longer with us. I, along with the rest of us on here, look forward to seeing the Wildcat finished. Best wishes, Phil 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Artie Posted February 10, 2016 Share Posted February 10, 2016 Some years ago, I inherited a bunch of both models and accesories from the president of our local club......He gave me the kits some months before he passed away....he knew he was fading like a candle, and wanted his kits to be kept by someone who really cared about them. Now, I really enjoy building them, and I'm pretty sure that Eduardo is still by mi side everytime I work on them....I can fell him by my side, telling fun stories and saying "bad words" every time a part falls to the floor.... That unknwn modeller is proudly enjoying his kit being built by some loving hands.....it's he best tribute anyone can take.... 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ytareh Posted February 10, 2016 Share Posted February 10, 2016 Lovely idea , by the looks of it he's made your job of finishing straightforward enough .For every forum member that gets a glowing obituary and tribute there must be plenty that just fade away . This person has a nice send off here . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mancunian airman Posted February 10, 2016 Share Posted February 10, 2016 The kit looks to be of a great level of build quality by the 'unknown modeller' and I am confident you can complete it to the standard required to do him justice. I shall be looking in with interest . . . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darby Posted February 10, 2016 Share Posted February 10, 2016 I'm sure you'll do it justice. It's a nice kit and a fetching scheme to boot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gremlin56 Posted February 11, 2016 Share Posted February 11, 2016 Jake Moon stated that it's a Tamiya kit, so I'm guessing it's 1/48 scale. Chris On a closer inspection you are probably right. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jake Moon Posted February 11, 2016 Author Share Posted February 11, 2016 Some progress on the Wildcat. The airframe went together flawlessly, only a few dabs of Tamiya extra thin cement along the wing joint. There were a few chips in the paint, but Tamiya Medium Grey mixed with neutral grey covered the spots nicely. One of the exhausts on the bottom of the cowl is nowhere to be found, so I will do my best to paint and finish a spare as close to that of our friend's. By next time I hope to have the fiddly undercarriage fitted and the lower fuselage windows painted and installed. Thanks for taking a look! 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wyverns4 Posted February 11, 2016 Share Posted February 11, 2016 (edited) Since reading this remarkable and thoughtful post something has been bubbling away in the back of my head. I would say brain, but being an ex-Rock Ape that would leave me open to ridicule... Then, in the wee hours of this morn, whilst tending to my boarders who have a dose of food poisoning, ( yup, yup and :poo-poo: yup, well done the canteen, again... ), I remembered! When I was but a callow youth, (circa mid-late '70's), I was part of the Luton Club that used to meet at the home of a WW I SE5a pilots house; George Dicker was his name IIRC and his house was an amazing emporium of model everything. He passed away around the start of the 80's, about the time that I joined God's finest, (RAF Regiment). When I eventually went home on leave I found that George had left me a pair of figures. The pair were by Greenwood & Ball, (IIRC), and consisted of a seated Napoleonic French Dragoon having his boots eased off by a buxom serving wench, in about 90mm scale. Anybody remember these? They had been started, but his failing eyesight meant that it was not the usual smooth finish that George did but quite rough. Having drifted away from figures by then I packed them away for when the figure-bug returned. Well, for the last two years the only things that I have finished have been figures; WW I for my Dad and Napoleonic for me. So after passing on my rather wane and insipid boarders to the day nurse, (complete waste of rations and oxygen), I descended upon the stash and found the figures. At present they are sitting on my bench. There is a bit of lead rash present now so I will need to strip them down and inhibit any further oxidization products. But I think it is time to get them painted. Might even do a WIP if I can work out how to use the camera.. So, to end this longish missive, THANK YOU Jake for for your thread, for reminding me of George and this pair of figures and for the KUTA. Mods; perhaps there could be a Tribute to the Unknown Modeller, (TUM?), thread, topic, thingy?? Christian, exiled to africa Edited February 11, 2016 by wyverns4 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biggles87 Posted February 11, 2016 Share Posted February 11, 2016 A very thoughtful gesture Jake, I hope you enjoy finishing the build. Best wishes John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rob85 Posted February 11, 2016 Share Posted February 11, 2016 Very nice gesture indeed jake. He has started a fine model which you are finishing off brilliantly. Really very thoughtful Rob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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