Some of us are fairly new to
modeling and some of us have modeled for years. But at a recent IPMS
contest, I came across a gentleman who has been at the hobby for
"Centuries"! He goes by the moniker of "Frankie" and
is a man of few words, mostly grunts and snarls. After a few minutes of
conversation, I learned that he comes from a small town somewhere in Western
Europe and builds mostly the old Aurora monster kits when he can find them but
also has an interest in naval aircraft. After learning that his hobby room
consists of a dark, cold, dungeon-like atmosphere, I was amazed at the quality
of his modeling. His efforts did pay off, as he was awarded Best Diorama,
Best Naval Subject, Best of Show and Peoples Choice Award, etc. The judges
seemed to be more than willing to make sure Frankie had a memorable day and
wouldn't leave empty-handed.
Click on
images below to see larger images
Frankie started out as a
re-issue of the old Aurora kit. He was built mostly OOB except for
the following: I added bolt heads to his neck using plastic rod and small
gauge wire to represent the threads. A jewelry chain provided the
bracelet and I scratchbuilt the watch and wedding ring. I added
strip styrene to his Levi's to represent the seams, pockets, fly, belt
loops and belt. The belt buckle is a small bit of styrene and a Ford
decal. Strip styrene was used for his sweater neck and an IPMS decal was
applied to the sweater front. His shoes were detailed with strip
styrene for the lace holes and pull up straps, with the laces made from
sewing thread. After the boots were painted, I then applied fuzzy
fur to get the suede look.
The aircraft came from one of the
old Otaki 1/400 kits and I scratchbuilt the display base for it. Frankie's
display base consists of counter-top sample tiles (from Lowes) and craft store
wood base. All wood surfaces were varnished and I used Model Master paints
for all of the plastic parts.
Enjoy the pictures.
Terry Davis
Click on
images below to see larger images
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