Maddog Manufacturing Open for 2024

Wow... that's a huge assembly line Duke !!
So many cool builds to follow up !

Keep them coming , from Steam boats, chariots, big bombers, tanks... there's nothing you can't build

Grand opening for 24 Duke .
I now know which scale the the M103 is

Wow, thanks for the awesome comments guys! This is what I needed to keep going. Thank you all again!

I still don't know how you keep track of all these Duke!

Awesome work fella

And now for our tour of the Motor Pool. There's a lot going on here that also includes a couple of started models as well. So without further ado, let's visit this first bay here.



In this first bay we have the M103A2 Marine tank getting it's base coat:





After that dried, we added the decals and some detail painting. This one is very close to being done:





Speaking of almost done, in the next bay we have this Russian SCUD C that has been a bit of a challenge all this time. It finally got the correct launcher arms on it:





Then all of the new parts were painted up:





Later on we weathered the wheels and tires; put them together and installed them on this model. Some additional weathering was applied to the vehicle as well:





On this model, they had no call outs for decals, even though there was a full sheet of them included. Well, I had to add something, so this beastie now sports a Guards emblem on the doors:





Final weathering was added and the missile was sent out to be painted:





Yeah, that beastie is almost done too.


Moving on, in this next bay is the Stryker engineering vehicle. It's got it's basecoat of green, now we just need to find the decals so we can finish this one too:





In this next bay is a model we previously started, it's one of two GAZ AAA trucks that has been slowly worked on between other projects. Here we have the cab half built and the bed installed:





Only a few additional parts were added to this:





In the interest of working on something fast and easy, we pulled out this M109A7 from Foreart and got started on it. Hull was done first:





While that was drying, we completed the basic upper turret assembly by adding many of the detail parts to it. We had been having difficulty with the gun mount so that is why we went this route:





The hull was indeed fast and easy, we got wheels and tracks, detail parts and everything else installed that wouldn't break with handling:





Finally we got the gun mount sorted and were able to finish the turret almost completely:





Yes, that turned metal barrel and 3-D printed muzzle brake came in the kit, not aftermarket. It's coming togfether nicely:





Next we assembled the turret baskets and then added all the photo etch to this vehicle:





Moving on to the next bay, we have this long-term shelf queen. It's the Modelcollect 1/72 scale BMP-3 with full cage armor! It has to have been close to nine years since I picked this up again. First thing that we needed to do was to try and assemble the turret cage armor. This was the result of trying to get the main parts at least completed:





Here's our first attempt to mount it on the turret. I figured it would be easier putting the straight lengths of the rear cage on after the main parts had dried:





It got done, but still looks like crap! Even then something was off on it:





Our attempt to fix it resulted in the loss of a strut:





While that was drying, we went ahead and installed the tracks on the wheels and sprockets. These tracks will be covered in deep skirts so we only did the lower runs of track:





In testing this in the hull, we found numerous protrusions on the bottom of the cage armor that kept snagging on hull parts... and I hadn't even put in all the hatches and such:





Eventually, we attached all the hatches and other additional detail parts to the main hull. Some filing had been done on the bar armor, but it only helped a little:





I originally had hoped to paint this with the three tone camouflage, but that ain't gonna happen. Now that the turret is mostly completed, it got a coat of the base color that I'll be painting it:





After all that, we wanted to get back to a simple build, so out came this Academy 1/72 scale French Le Clerc tank. Upper and lower hull got assembled first:





Then the wheels and sprockets were added, later the tracks went on:





Finally, the turret was completed, the tracks added and the side skirts installed:





And that quickly, this was ready for paint:





Finally, in this last bay, I decided that the last Roden bus I needed to build should be done. Out it came and the main body and chassis were assembled:





We then added the interior and painted it:





The underside got the suspension installed afterward:





While that was drying, the pigeon loft was mostly built:





It made for a pretty good fit. This is only dry fit too, I want to keep it separate until everything was done before it gets cemented in place permanently:





After that,the lower part got painted, the wheels and fenders got installed and the main window covers went on:





Once that was sufficiently dry, the remaining headlights, steering wheel, and other detail parts were added:





The top pigeon loft was also painted and for fun, here it is dry fit again on the bus:





While that was drying, we went to work detailing the pigeon loft. Pigeons like to nest in straw, so we added some to the pigeon loft interior:





We used this rough twine cut into 1/8th to 1/16th inch lengths:





Then we slathered the floor with Gator Grip glue and poured the straw inside, pressed it down and then shook the loose straw out:


Now that the straw was in place, we started adding the screen material on all the sections we could before closing it up:





Once again the loft was dry fit in place, and the pigeons came home to roost:





I expect that in a day or so, we might have this bus finished!



And that concludes this latest tour of Maddog Manufacturing! I do hope you enjoyed the latest progress we've made here. As always, comments are welcome, thanks to all who came in to take this tour!

What a bunch of stuff. Awesome,Bro.

I love that paddle boat

Wow! Great things going on in here. First off, amazing work on the paddleboat----so impressive! And hats off on working with the PE on that BMP-3. You should be proud of the end result on that one. I am also impressed with the overall level of detail on that kit's turret and hull. And as Paul said, some bends in that armor looks totally realistic. I imagine that stuff stays squared up for all of five minutes when out in the field or in combat, especially on the new Eastern Front. That M-109 is a beauty, too. Round of applause for all projects in here, especially the Roden Mobile Aviary Tactical Deployment Unit. 

Now after all the effort to putting all my ground vehicles on parade for inspection, it's time to start a new tour. This one will mostly be in the Hangar and Shipyards as we've been focusing on projects in those departments. Now that we've reached that milestone, it's time to get some long time projects off the workbench and on to the shelf. So, without further ado, let's all board the trams and see what's happening at Maddog Manufacturing.


Starting in the Hangar, we have these projects going, most of which are quite large and been sitting idle for awhile. First, let's visit this first bay where we have a 1/72 scale MQ-9 Predator under construction:


Basic assembly of the body and wings happened first. They didn't say in the instruction sheet that weight was needed in the nose, so that was carefully added later:





Later the engine and landing gear were added, that's where the weight issue was discovered:





Weight was carefully added and then all the final detail parts were added, this bird is ready for paint:





Next it it, we also have another MQ-9 Predator. Two came in the kit with options for two other versions. I chose to build this for my RAF, and now this one is almost ready for paint as well:





Moving on to the next bay, we go back in time with this Airfix 1/72 scale Dogfight Doubles set. It was a gift for me from a friend and avid WWI aficionado. The first plane from it is this British Se-2C scout plane that went together fast:





Later the engine was assembled and installed in place:





The beauty of this kit is that Airfix included these strut alignment jigs so the struts line up perfectly so we thought we'd try them out:





The jigs worked, simplifying the top wing mounting:





Later we got all the painting done on this.







​

While that was drying, we started on the other half of the Dogfight Double set, the German Eindecker E.II. Basic fuselage assembly was fast:





The rest of the plane fell together perfectly so we starting painting it as well:








And now both of them are ready for final decals and rigging.


Moving on to the next bay, we have a 1/72 scale Super Model Italian Macchi C-205 that was sitting in a very broken up box. It was time to get that one done. Basic fuselage and wing assembly was quick as there weren't too many parts. What parts there were certainly had some pretty serious fit issues. The propeller is in a cowl that glues into the opening of the nose so the propeller will continue to turn. It'll be one of the last things I glue into place:





As you can see a lot of filling was needed for the gaps around the wing roots, under the plane and around select panels. You can also see how confident the pilot was in the abilities of his plane; he bailed out before it is done. Again, propeller assembly is dry fit into place:





Some judicious sanding and shaping and this is starting to look much better. The pilot is still MIA so we closed up the canopy and started preparing this for paint:





In the next bay, we finally got the fuselage halves together for the British Westland Sea King. It went together pretty well with only a little bit of persuasion:





There were some seam issues that got addressed and then the main landing gear sponsons got installed along with portions of the glass:





Now on to some of the Big Stuff. The B-66 Destroyer had been sanded smooth after the second coat of primer wrinkled up. Now a third coat was shot on it. Overall it looked fine, but there are a few small blemishes that will need attention again before a metal coat goes on this:





In the next bay is the Egyptian Tu-16 Badger, one of two we're building, here is a reminder:





The cockpits were painted, the cockpit modules were assembled and the engines were mounted on the fuselage halves of the Egyptian plane. You can see both cockpit modules here too:





We got one set of glass cockpit and nose masked and ready for paint:





To make things easier, we installed those parts to one of the cockpit modules; the fit is amazing:





Now we'll try to catch up on the Iraqi Badger so this is where this stands. Meanwhile in the next bay we installed the inside engine and landing gear nacelle to each wing of the Tu-142 Bear:





I decided we should dry fit this together to see what we're dealing with. Remember this is sitting on a standard TV tray:





Finally in this last bay, we have the British Airways Concorde, here it is with the cockpit module dry fit to the rest of it. This is alkso sitting on the same TV Tray:





Work was done on the flaps for this, all these ejector pin marks needed filling which we started after adding the actuator casing to them:





The tail feathers were attached after that:





Here's another shot showing how big this is again:





Later we got half of it inside the spray booth for another couple coats of white primer:





Yep, more paint will be needed for that.


That concludes the Hangar portion of this tour, now on to the Shipyards....






Here is the Shipyards, things have been slowly picking up. We even started this project here in this first slipway. This is the Revell 1/106 scale tugboat that I'd been gifted so it was time to lay the keel. Mind you the instructions are missing so everything done in this slipway is done sans instructions. Here's where this boat was after the the first few steps:





Yep, badly warped main railings. Glue was applied on the rear portions and then after it dried, we glued the remaining parts in with a bit of persuasion. That allowed us to get this far:





While that was all drying, we started on the main superstructure, again all sans instructions. It went together quite well:





A test fit shows how well this is gonna look:





That was about an hour's work. More projects were taking a lot longer. One of them that didn't was the main deck of the USS Enterprise; white paint was finally shot after the last of the masking was added:





Later we'll paint the yellow portions and then see how much cleanup I'll need to do before moving on.


Finally in this last slipway, the Robert E. Lee was slowly being built up. The outer railings were added to the two lower decks; Pyro did it right making them one piece that spans both decks. Even so, due to issues from earlier deck and bulkhead misalignment and some slight warpage these still took a lot persuasion:





Some of those issues, I am not sure how I'll address them.


Still, more progress was made building up the Texas skylights, Texas deck house, pilot house and other minor details. We had also re-sanded and re-shot the main stacks so I decided to dry fit them here for this picture. The Lee is starting to look like a steamboat:





Finally, as we drive by the Motor Pool on the way back to the main lobby, you can catch a glimpse of one of the newer projects to expand the land forces again; we started an Egyptian Su-100 for my Egyptian Army:





Work will commence on that and others after the crew gets a good rest from vehicles.



Thank you again for coming on this latest tour; comments are always welcome!