My most productive year, quite a surprise considering.

[MRMRL]

Hello all, so 2021 has been pretty bumper for me, the highest tally of completed builds I've ever managed, which considering the mid-year interuption I had, I'm extrememly pleased with. I very much doubt I'll hit these lofty numbers again for a while, but never say never.

I'll apologise in advance for the photo quality in most cases here, I haven't had a chance to properly photograph most of my models yet, but I'll try and get around to that over the next year or so. But enough waffle, on to the builds, 24 in total so a nice even 2 per month average, with a good mixture of subjects to boot.

So we started the year finishing the Trumpeter 1/35 AS-90, quite early in January (started in December, so just painting and the rest to finish off).

 

Then onwards to the Trumpy 1/32 F-14D, I've had this in the stash for a while, but wanted to do a good job of it so I'd been putting it off, but this year I decided what the heck and just got on with it

 

Alongside the big cat, I was working on these two dinky Triumph 3HW motorcycles from Bronco (1/35 again), the detail on these was pretty painstaking, but got there in the end.

 

And rounding off a fast start to the year in January, we had the Takom 1/35 V-2 Rocket Meillerwagen Hanomag SS100 kit, which I really enjoyed putting together and looks pretty spectacular finished.

 

The next job was to finish a shelf of doom project. I started this Trumpy 1/350 HMS Hood in 2020, then put it away to do some DIY and couldn't bring myself to get started again. But I was in the mood for finishing things so got it back down and forced myself to get back into it. I'm glad I did because I love the end result. I have built this kit before, but with no detail and the difference is incredible.

 

After wrestling with the ship, I went simpler and completed the Trumpeter 1/32 Vought F-4U Corsair, which was a compromise between the old Revell kit and the respected Tamiya kit, I found the kit went together pretty well, and I'm not enough of a Corsair expert to know the flaws.

 

Fortified by a quick completion I was ready for another ship, this one from start to finish. The Aoshima 1/350 Takao with Flyhawk PE, very enjoyable other than the lack of PE instructions, still I figured most of it out. This took a bit over a month to get completed, but by mid April we were done.

 

Then we went for a couple of "quick" finish builds, starting with the Trumpeter 1/35 M1117 Guardian, very easy, but also pretty enjoyable...

 

and then the Trumpeter 1/35 M1083 FMTV (with the armoured Cab), also good fun.

 

Since the Tomcat went so well, I decided I'd take on another kit that had been sitting in the stash for a while while I gathered the courage to do it justice, Trumpeter's 1/32 English Electric Lightning. This has always been one of my favourite planes, and I am really pleased with how it came out, one of my best ever aircraft builds (and paint jobs).

 

So we've nearly reached June now, nearly half way and making good progress. Time to finish the other model on my shelf of doom. Trumpy again, the 1/350 USS Saratoga. This went on the shelf for two reasons, one - the deck didn't stick properly and that annoyed me, the second I needed to wait for the paint to come back in stock in the UK (I blame Brexit - because why not). Finally paint arrived, so I got this one finished (although the deck is still bumpy, I stopped caring about it).

 

So this one went a lot faster than I thought, I decided to do the 1/35 BR-52 Kreigslocomotive I had in my stash. My nephew loves trains, so I thought I'd build this before he lost the obsession, despite the complexity (and the missing piece I had to scratchbuild) it went together quickly and I think the result was pretty striking, all together I had this completed in 2-3 weeks, which surprised me.

 

Then another quicky, the Tamiya 1/35 Universal Carrier MkII - a full four days to complete this one...

 

And another Tamiya, the 1/35 US 2.5 ton 6x6 truck, 6 days this time

 

Then, about half way into the next big project, the Trumpy 1/350 Richelieu, our baby arrived a full 6 weeks early. While there were thankfully no dramas there on the happy and healthy mum and baby front, not being quite ready has it's own challenges. Thankfully we got into a bit of a rythym fairly early on and I was able to finish this one off by mid August, mostly at night with the baby in the sling in front of me (a theme which continued to allow the next few builds).

 

With a (first) newborn in the house and not knowing what to expect, I switched back to "easier" projects for a while (i.e. no fiddly photo etch), so next up - Tamiya 1/35 T-72

 

Then up came the Trumpeter 1/32 A-10, this kit was a bit of a wrestle, and the decals were a nightmare, end result was ok though

 

Into October and the armoured vehicles continue with the Tamiya 1/35 M113A2 (I enjoyed this one - not just becuase it has a dog on top)

 

Then I went big again, albeit mostly straightforward (apart from fitting the front cabs on properly), the Trumpy 1/35 9P117M1 Launcher (Scud

 

And then a continuation of the Russian theme with the Tamiya 1/35 T-55A

 

Next the first part of an IJN triple build (WIP thread here, which I need to update), the Tamiya 1/350 I-400

 

Home stretch now, into November. A quick putting together of the Revell 1/32 Spitfire MkII, I know this kit is basic and not without flaws, but it still builds into a pretty good looking model.

 

I wasn't expecting to finish this one this year, but did manage it (partly because baby started going to sleep in bed), this is part II of my triple build, the Aoshima 1/350 Isuzu - finished this week and not yet had time for a decent photo.

 

And lastly, a quick tank to hit my 2 per month average, the Tamiya 1/35 Centurion which I finished on Christmas eve.

 

My only firm plans for 2022 are to do part III of my triple build (Shimakaze) and the other Thunderbolt (of  the P-47 variety) that is on my bench at the moment. I'd also like to finally build my Tamiya Bismarck, then I guess we'll see after that - I'll probably get sidetracked by something though. In my head I've targeted 5-10 models next year with the miniature human around, if I can get to 1 per month, I'll be super happy with that. Thanks for looking, I hope to see you all next year.

[Ratch]

Good output 

[bigbadbadge]

Good grief 24 models and large scale ones at that, with a newborn too, Wow, great work on all, they look superb and congratulations on the birth of your little one too.

Chris

[Lightningboy2000]

Wow, that is a productive year! Very varied & impressed with getting an aircraft carrier & four ships completed in one year! Getting one ship completed in a year would be an achievement for me!

 

Martin

[JeroenS]

I don't know how on earth you managed to build all of that in one year, whilst having a baby in the middle of it (congrats on that btw!). The ships, the motorcycles, the Electric Lightning... I'm amazed!

[Bertie McBoatface]

Astonishing. Lots of good quality work in spite of everything. 

[MRMRL]

Thanks everyone for the praise (and the baby congratulations as well).

10 hours ago, bigbadbadge said:

Good grief 24 models and large scale ones at that, with a newborn too, Wow, great work on all, they look superb and congratulations on the birth of your little one too.

Chris

Thanks Chris, it's probably daft to pick such large scales when I have limited space, but I can't help myself 😉

10 hours ago, Lightningboy2000 said:

Wow, that is a productive year! Very varied & impressed with getting an aircraft carrier & four ships completed in one year! Getting one ship completed in a year would be an achievement for me!

 

Martin

Thanks Martin, I have no idea how I got that many ships completed, I've normally only managed 1 or 2 bigger ships in a year, probably helped that two were part built the year before.

3 hours ago, JeroenS said:

I don't know how on earth you managed to build all of that in one year, whilst having a baby in the middle of it (congrats on that btw!). The ships, the motorcycles, the Electric Lightning... I'm amazed!

Thank you on both fronts, I'm somewhat amazed myself, I think my previous best was 18 without the baby, maybe it's focused the mind a little 😃

[JeroenS]

21 minutes ago, MRMRL said:

Thank you on both fronts, I'm somewhat amazed myself, I think my previous best was 18 without the baby, maybe it's focused the mind a little 😃

Maybe you're just not tired enough yet 😉 

[MRMRL]

2 hours ago, JeroenS said:

Maybe you're just not tired enough yet 😉 

You are probably right there 😉. To be honest, we've been really lucky with how well he sleeps. I'm expecting the productivity to nosedive when we get mobility. Nothing like having to put all your tools away all the time away from little fingers to slow things down.

[Muchmirth]

What a fantastic mixture of models, even with all those sleepless nights.

[MRMRL]

17 hours ago, Muchmirth said:

What a fantastic mixture of models, even with all those sleepless nights.

I can't help myself, while I mostly stick to specific scales, I get too bored doing just ships or armour etc. Need to mix it up to calm the shiny new thing monster in my head 😃

Edited December 28, 2021 by MRMRL
Typo

[bianfuxia]

Wow! I've had a kid for nearly 7 years and I'm not sure I've really exceeded this build count for that whole period! Well done!

[MRMRL]

7 hours ago, bianfuxia said:

Wow! I've had a kid for nearly 7 years and I'm not sure I've really exceeded this build count for that whole period! Well done!

I'm not expecting to for a while now, I had the luxury of being able to build while he was in a sling, so I couldn't be expected to do anything more 😉. Secretly my super ambitious goal for next year is 11 or more, that would get me to 100 completed models 

[Deano353]

Love the Tomcat, was it a good kit to build? I had it but sold it years ago because of a house move.

[exdraken]

Wow, all is scale stuff here!

Great output!!

[Wulfman]

A lovely varied collection !

 

Wulfman

[Alan P]

That's a brilliant year's work, varied and pristine builds 👏👏👏 couple of the pics have gone astray though 🤔 

 

I really like your neat style, I wish more modellers opted for the clean presentation style rather than mask the features of the subject behind fashionable layers of sludge 😔

[MRMRL]

Thanks everyone who I haven't said that to yet

 

On 1/1/2022 at 12:57 PM, Deano353 said:

Love the Tomcat, was it a good kit to build? I had it but sold it years ago because of a house move.

 

It was, went together really well, good detail OOD (for me anyway), up there with the best aircraft kits I've built. And nice and massive, who doesn't love a giant Tomcat.

 

1 hour ago, Alan P said:

That's a brilliant year's work, varied and pristine builds 👏👏👏 couple of the pics have gone astray though 🤔 

 

I really like your neat style, I wish more modellers opted for the clean presentation style rather than mask the features of the subject behind fashionable layers of sludge 😔

 

Hi Alan, thanks, I'll try and restore the missing pictures...

 

I've got to say that I'm moving towards adding a little sludge (a bit of mud on the tracks/wheels and some pigments to take a bit of sheen off), but I don't want to go too nuts, I want to see the model underneath, but get a bit more realism.