TheRealMrEd's 2018 End-Of-Year Completions

[TheRealMrEd]

Well, once again it's time for the year-end ritual of tallying up the builds. I have more completed than actually built this year, as I dug in and finished a couple from the Shelf Of Doom along the way.   Some are unusual subjects or even conversions; some are almost out of the box. In some cases, I had to develop my own artwork, which I have included in the build threads for any who may be interested.

 

And now, the ledger:  First off, a Shelf of Doom completion, the Nostalgic Plastic resin rendition of Anigrand.'s 1/72 YF-102A prototype:

 

 

This was done for a Shelf Of Doom type group build over on ARC:  YF-102A Build

 

Next up is the 1/72 Matchbox RF-101A, with some much-needed refinements:

 

 

 

This was done on BritModeler for a Matchbox Group Build:  RF-101A Build

 

Next, the aged 1/72 Monogram P-36 kit, done up as a P-36A:

 

 

 

This was also a model started years ago, but completed only this year: P-36A RFI

 

Next we have the brand new (at the time) 1/72 Hasegawa F-35B in Marine Corps markings, with a couple of tweaks:

 

 

 

This was sort of a kit review, with a few small mods for realism: F-35B Build

 

Then the 1/72 Maintrack XF-88 vacuform kit done up as the rarely-seen XF-88B:

 

 

 

There were more than a few challenges with this one!  XF-88B Build

 

Now, as another years-old project,  we have the conversion of the Tamiya F-84G to an F-84E, this time in the most colorful livery of the several F-84E's flown by George E. Laven:

 

 

 

The actual mods to convert from a "G" to an "E" model are covered in the build thread. As you might imagine, the extensive decals were the hard part here!  F-84E RFI

 

It was about here that I realized that I had become a George Laven groupie, and that I'd just have to do all his major models!

 

Next up, the Muroc Models conversion of the Academy F-8E Crusader in 1/72, backdated to an F08A (F8U-1 in old Navy-speak):

 

 

 

The Build and RFI are combined here:  F8U-1 Build & RFI

 

Back to George Laven again, this time for his most colorful 1/72 Revell F-104C:

 

 

 

He had a couple of other renditions of the F-104, but I thought this one was the "bees knees": F-104C Build

 

Then, another Laven aircraft, this time his First P-38E #76, from the RS 1/72 P-38E kit:

 

 

 

 

Build thread for this one is here:  #76 P-38E Build

 

And now for the second less-known of Laven's aircraft, the F-84B, "Itsy-Bitsy III", this time a conversion of the Heller 1/72 F-84G:

 

 

 

There were several steps to the conversion, as well as the custom artwork. All are to be seen here:  F-84B Build

 

Another of Laven's birds, this time the 1/72 Hobby Boss P-38L-5-LO done up as "Itsy-Bitsy II":

 

 

 

 

The arrow  in the pic, and other mods are explained in the build thread, found here:  P-38L-5-LO Build

 

Next, the least-known of Laven's aircraft, this time a modified Trumpeter 1/72 F-100D kit done up as the aircraft which Laven flew, leading the first F-100 mission into the north, during the Vietnam War:

 

 

 

The tiny white stripes between the colored stripes probably did not exist in real life, but as the only known photo of this aircraft known to exist is terrible, I took the liberty.           Anyway, here's the build thread: F-100D Build

 

Now something a little different, this time Anigrands 1/72 resin XF-84H Thunderscreech:

 

 

 

This was another "Shelf Queen" and as such, not a lot of build to show, but here's the RFI:  XF-84H Done

 

And finally, to round up the year, an addition to my Wild Weasels collection, a 1/72 Monogram rendition of Thorenson's Medol-Of-Honor mission F-105F Thunderchief:

 

 

 

This was just about "out-of-the-box" with some aftermarket decals and weapons: F-105F WW Build

 

I hope you enjoy these models as much as I did researching and building them, and a Happy New Year for your modeling efforts!!!

 

Ed

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited January 1, 2019 by TheRealMrEd
bad photo links, again

[Reini78]

A lot of nice work there

[stevej60]

Some great build's on show Ed,and some rare bird's included too.

[Cookenbacher]

So many interesting subjects Ed, I really enjoy following your builds. Your Laven collection is very impressive and it's nice to see them all in the same post.

[TheRealMrEd]

Thanks guys,

 

Cookie, I'm actually working on the last one for Laven -- the F-110A build.

 

Ed

[Corsairfoxfouruncle]

Incredible collection