Hub Hobby Shop

Mauretania ~ ~
Robert MacNamara built this Airfix 1/600 model of the Mauretania. Mauretania was owned and operated by Cunard. She was a sister ship to Lusitania. She served as a hospital ship in WWI. After the war she became a cruise ship and retired in 1934. Robert used Tamiya paint – white primer, deck tan, desert yellow and dull red.

After a few storm-delayed days, Fed Ex finally made it through. . . .

Wildcat ~ ~

Shane Trosclair built this 1/48 F3F3 Wildcat. He painted it with Taimya dark sea gray and light gray and finished it with Tamiya Flat Clear. The plane depicted is that of John Thach of VF3, who flew off the USS Yorktown at the Battle of Midway.

Thach also developed a maneuver known as the Thach weave, a tactical formation maneuver in which two or more allied planes wove in regularly intersecting flight paths to lure an enemy into focusing on one plane, while the targeted pilot's wingman would come into position to attack the pursuer.

EX-S Gundam ~ ~

Colin Catchings built this 1/100 Master Grade Extraordinary-Superior gundam. He cleaned up the seam lines, pained it using mostrly Tamiya lacquer paint, and added a set of after-market decals from G-rework. He also used the Tamiya panel liner.

He said that this was a two month project - taking between 50 and 60 hours – there was a lot of painting involved. It took about ten hours on masking and decaling.

G5 Motor Torpedo Boat ~ ~

Charlie Walker built this I Luv Kit Russian Motor Torpedo Boat. He used Tamiya light gunship grey, hull red, light sea gray, red, and black. The props were painted with Vallejo brass.

Inquiring Minds ~ ~

Two weeks ago we posted about finding an unopened pack of Sea Monkeys from the 1960s. We’ve have numerous comments - - OK, it was three comments - - saying we should see if they could still grow after all these years. So we’re going to give it a shot.

Day 1: August 20 . . . After carefully reading the directions, making sure that the temperature would not fall below 50 degrees (which is the point where they will not hatch), we mixed the sea salt with the water and added the sea monkey eggs. The instructions say it should take a little over 3 days before they hatch.

Day 3: August 22 . . . Nothing’s happening. . . Checking youtube we find a video that says we can buy a submersible water heater – chargeable via USB cable – to keep the water at a constant temperature. . . The video further said we can buy a water aerator – chargeable via USB cable - - to oxygenate the water. . . . We can also buy a grow light - - chargeable via USB cable - - to simulate ocean light conditions.

Day 5: August 24 . . . Reading up on Sea Monkeys. . .Did you know that the babies are actually nauplius larva!

Delivery Sedan ~ ~

Robert MacNamara built this Revell 1/24 Chevy Delivery Sedan. The body is painted with Tamiya Metallic Orange and Pearl White; the bottom, black and red. The engine is also Metallic Orange.

Some of the stuff we got this week . . .

Sopwith Camel ~ ~

Shane Trosclair built this Eduard 1/48 Sopwith 2F1 Camel. He used Model Masters paint: Olive Drab, Tan, Insignia Red, and Aircraft Gray.

Arado AR 234 ~ ~

Robert MacNamara built this Hasegawa 1/48 Ar234 C-3. He primed it in white and then sprayed AK Interactive RLM81 green. The underside is painted with AKI RLM 76.

Sea Monkeys ~ ~

Found this classic item while going through some boxes. In the late 60s – early 70s, Hub Hobby had a science section: test tubes, chemicals, and Sea Monkeys!

Note the price of $1.25.

Tanks and Planes this week . . .

Red Gundam ~ ~

Long Nguyen built this Bandai Gundam painting it with a combination of paints including Gaia Notes, Mr Color and Tamiya, then top-coating with Alclad Light Sheen.

Canon ~ ~

Charlie Walker built this I Luv Kits 1/16 105mm K18 canon. He used Tamiya paint throughout.

We received an eclectic mix of models this week. . . . I've always wanted to use the word "eclectic" in a sentence!

T34/76 ~ ~

David Clarke built this Trumpeter 1/16 scale T34/76. He base coated it with Humbrol paint, then used lots of ABTEILUNG 502 Weathering Oil Paint. He finished it off with AKI weathering pencils and went over everything with an AMMO by Mig Oilbrusher set.

Fed Ex delivers in the rain!

Sailing the Seven Seas ~ ~

Hawk ~ ~

Robert MacNamara built this Special Hobby 1/48 P36A Hawk. He primed it with a black basecoat and then sprayed multiple light coats of Alclad Airframe Aluminum on it.

The plane depicted is that of Phillip Rasmussen, who flew the Hawk in his pajamas as he was awakened by the Japanese bombing Pearl Harbor. He scored one victory.

Gotta Catch 'Em All!

Mini-tanks ~ ~

Ray Rogers built these two tiny tanks – an M26 Pershing and a Panther G. They are in 1/100 scale and are from Warlord Games.

Desert Defense ~ ~

By Mike Smolek

My simple diorama shows a German Sd.Kfz.223 Leichter Panzerspähwagen (Fu) on a patrol stop somewhere in the desert of North Africa during WW2. The model is a vintage Tamiya model (no. 62) in 1/35 scale with a dismounted driver figure. Two sets of Afrikakorps figures in tropical uniforms (Tamiya 35037) were used to represent troops taking cover behind sandbags (Tamiya 35025) after a British long range desert patrol was sighted.

The base is made from 3M styrofoam with Woodland Scenic fine ballast applied in a random pattern. Paints used were AK and Tamiya flat acrylics, with vintage Testor’s Model Master paint used for skin tones. Helmet decals and other uniform embellishments were done with the Tamiya 1/35 Afrikakorps decal set.

We'll have fun, fun, fun, till daddy takes the T-bird away! . . . or until the dinosaurs catch you!

Dauntless ~ ~

Shane Trosclair built this Hasegawa 1/48 SBD-3 Dauntless. He painted the top with Tamiya Gunship Gray and the bottom with Tamiya Light Gray.

The markings are those of Richard Best, considered one of the finest dive-bomb pilots in the Pacific. During the battle of Midway, he dropped the bomb that went through the flight deck of the Akagi. The bomb set off a chain reaction that exploded the fully-refueled and re-armed Japanese planes.