Scott Murphy

Gallery - Scott Murphy

Here are a few of my 1/32 "projects". The shortest was the Cobra, the longest (and most involved) the T-Bolt. The rest fell somewhere in between.

I have been building models for almost 40 years now. Up until about 10 years ago I built almost exclusively out of the box, spending little or no time on research. At some point I decided I wanted to take modeling to the next level and started detailing, researching, etc. Each model has been more involved than the one before it. For the last 6 years (except for a 14 month hiatus in Iraq) or so, I have concentrated on the older Revell 1/32 stuff, super-detailing them inside and out. My last completed "project" was Revell's 1/32 P-47D Thunderbolt in (then) LCOL Francis Gabreski's markings. I am currently bashing away on Hasegawa's 1/32 F6F-3 Hellcat.

I will use just about everything I can get my hands on to scratchbuild. Evergreen styrene is the primary source but copper, brass, steel, lead and aluminum foil, soda can aluminum, wire, solder, clear acrylic rod, etc, are all fair game. I found an ALPs about a year ago or so so I have started making all my own decals was well. I use Waldron instruments and seat belt hardware on everything and their cockpit placard sets whenever possible.

This is Revell's venerable AH-1G Cobra. I opened up the engine compartment. The kit already provided a decent engine and transmission, I built the mount and detailed the interior. The radio compartment was scratchbuilt, as was the SUU-11 gun pod and gun. I used Cobra's resin cockpit (which saved me a huge amount of scratchbuilding time but added quite a bit to it as well. The decals were hand made.

I pretty much opened up the entire starboard side of the model on this one. Everything, including the engine, is scratchbuilt. I used the kit cockpit, which was rather well done, but added a good bit of detailing to it.

The F4U Corsair is my favorite WWII aircraft. I completely rebuilt this one, using Lonestar's flaps, wheels and wheel wells and a lot of scratchbuilding. This one was the first of now three (including the Hellcat) to get a Teknics resin engine. A model unto itself. This aircraft was done in LTJG Ike Kepford's markings. The kit decals had deteriorated to the point that I would up having to paint the national insignia by hand and making the rest of the decals myself (before getting the ALPs, which would have made things a whole lot easier).

This is the Revell P-47D Thunderbolt, which is my most ambitious project to date. I used a total of 12 pieces from the kit and scratchbuilt everything else. Cockpit, wheel wells, droptank (carved from a piece of pine), guns, radio compartment, struts, firewall and everything forward of it. The prop is from Jerry Rutman's excellent collection of T-Bolt stuff. The decals were made on the ALPs by Fred Yarema.

Lastly, the Hellcat. It is still under construction and has a long way to go. Like the T-Bolt, everything is scratchbuilt, except the basic Teknics engine. Cockpit, guns and firewall/engine mount are completed so far.