collection. i have found information that i could have used with...

Seattle Chapter News

Seattle Chapter IPMS-USAJanuary 2002

PREZNOTES

In This Issue

NWSM Display 3Club News 3Annum Horribilis! 4Never Volunteer 5Dust in the Wind 5Revell Mini Cooper 6101st Spaceborne Figure 7MIM 2001 Moonbus 8High Planes Update 9MGD Gladiator decals 10Academy M10 Achilles 10Contrail Fairey IIIF 12Renewal Form 16

Best of wishes to all of you in the new yearof 2002. I’d like to start off the new yearwith a quote attributed to a 24th Centurystarship Captain; “Someone once told methat time was a predator that stalked us allour lives. But I rather believe that time is acompanion who goes with us on thejourney, and reminds us to cherish everymoment because they’ll never comeagain.”

It is truly amazing what one can accom-plish without the Internet. I had taken thelast two weeks of the year as vacation, tojust relax and unwind at home. The onlydefinite plans I had were to try to wrap upa few of the unfinished models on theworkbench, and maybe try some Christmasshopping from the comfort of our com-puter. Just at the start of my vacation thecomputer “bit the big one”. As I write this,our computer guru still has not been ableto raise it from the dead. The witch doctorcouldn’t even help. It’s dead. Definitelydeceased. Bleeding demised. Passed on.No more. Ceased to be. Expired and goneto meet its maker. Late. Stiff. Bereft of life.Resting in peace. Pushing up the daisies.Rung down the curtain and joined thechoir invisible. Pinin’ for the fjords (?).

We have since purchased a new system,but it will not be ready for use for severalmore days. If you have been wonderingwhy I have not responded to any emailyou may have sent in the last few weeksnow you know why. Anyway, it’s late atnight (during the aforementioned vaca-tion), there’s no surfing the net - no e-Bay,no busty redheads, no information on447th BG colors and markings, no InternetModeler. What else is there to do? Thepaint is still drying on the two models onthe workbench and I’d rather not startsomething new. Ta-Da! I’ve finally foundthe incentive to edit my 30+ year magazinecollection. I have started ripping themapart - to save only the articles of interestto me, and about what I have in my kit

collection. I have found information that Icould have used with several projects inthe last year or so and information onprojects planned for the near future. I havegained a considerable amount of space onmy bookshelves and when finished, wewill have room for all of our books (Jill’sand mine) in a new entertainment center wehope to build later this year in our family

Continued on page 3

IPMS Seattle 2002 Meetings(all second Saturday)

January 12February 9March 9 (Spring Show)April 13May 11June 8July 13August 10September 14October 12November 9December 14

SEATTLE CHAPTER CONTACTS

President: Vice President: Treasurer: Editor:Terry Moore Keith Laird Norm Filer Robert Allen3612 - 201st Pl. S.W. 528 South 2nd Ave. 16510 N.E. 99th 12534 NE 128th Way #E3Lynnwood, WA 98036 Kent, WA 98032 Redmond, WA 98052 Kirkland, WA 98034Ph: 425-774-6343 Ph: 253-854-9148 Ph: 425-885-7213 Ph: [email protected] [email protected] [email protected]

IPMS Seattle Web Site (Webmasters, Jon Fincher & Tracy White): http://www.ipms-seattle.org

Public Disclaimers, Information, and Appeals for Help

This is the official publication of the Seattle Chapter, IPMS-USA. As such, it serves as the voice for our Chapter, and depends largelyupon the generous contributions of our members for articles, comments, club news, and anything else involving plastic scale modeling andassociated subjects. Our meetings are generally held each month, (see below for actual meeting dates), at the North Bellevue Community/Senior Center, 4063-148th Ave NE, in Bellevue. See the back page for a map. Our meetings begin at 10:00 AM, except as noted, and usuallylast for two to three hours. Our meetings are very informal, and are open to any interested plastic modeler, regardless of interests. Modelers areencouraged to bring their models to the meetings. Subscriptions to the newsletter are included with the Chapter dues. Dues are $24 a year, andmay be paid to Norm Filer, our Treasurer. (See address above). We also highly recommend our members join and support IPMS-USA, thenational organization. See below for form. Any of the members listed above will gladly assist you with further information about the Chapter orSociety.

The views and opinions expressed in this newsletter are those of the individual writers, and do not constitute the official position of theChapter or IPMS-USA. You are encouraged to submit any material for this newsletter to the editor. He will gladly work with you and see thatyour material is put into print and included in the newsletter, no matter your level of writing experience or computer expertise. The newsletter iscurrently being edited using a PC, and PageMaker 6.5. Any Word or WordPerfect document for the PC would be suitable for publication. Articlescan also be submitted via e-mail, to the editor’s address above. Deadline for submission of articles is generally twelve days prior to the nextmeeting - earlier would be appreciated! Please call me at 425-823-4658 if you have any questions.

If you use or reprint the material contained in the newsletter, we would appreciate attribution both to the author and the sourcedocument. Our newsletter is prepared with one thing in mind; this is information for our members, and all fellow modelers, and is prepared andprinted in the newsletter in order to expand the skills and knowledge of those fellow modelers.

Upcoming Meeting DatesThe IPMS Seattle 2002 meeting schedule is as follows. All meetings are from 10 AM to 1 PM, except for the March Spring Show. Toavoid conflicts with other groups using our new meeting facility, we must NOT be in the building before our scheduled start times,and MUST be finished and have the room restored to its proper layout by our scheduled finish time. We suggest that you keepthis information in a readily accessable place.

January 12, 2002 February 9, 2002March 9, 2002 (Spring Show) April 13, 2002

IPMS Seattle Chapter Newsletter


Preznotes from page 1

room. I expect to fill only one or two three-drawer file cabinets with my newlyorganized files. I am about 50-60% throughmy collection, including Air Enthusiast,Air International, FineScale Modeler,Military Model Preview, Airfix Magazine,and Air Classics. I am about to start onWings, Airpower, and several others. Ihave created quite a stack of partialmagazines and if anyone is interested inwhat I have left give me a call or talk to meat the next meeting. I also used some of mytime off to finish off a few of the moredifficult models including the CollectAireX-15 and F2G Corsair. I actually finishedabout 13 models in 2001, down from theyear 2000 primarily because of the SeattleMariners (I gotta blame somebody!). Noaward winners, but I made sure that everymodel I worked on had some aspect of funto it.

At our meeting Saturday, I plan to discusspossible changes in direction for ourmonthly meetings. Would you like to seemore speakers, less show and tell, moreseminars and how to demonstrations?Think about it and we’ll talk on Saturday.

See you at the meeting,

Terry

North West Scale ModelersModel Display and

Workshop

North West Scale Modelers are sponsoringa model display and workshop at theMuseum of Flight in Seattle on Saturdayand Sunday, February 9 and 10. This is nota contest, but an opportunity for allinterested modelers to display theirhandiwork. All subjects in all scales –aircraft, armor, autos, ships, figures, etc. –are welcome. The display will be from 10AM to 4:30 PM both days. NWSM invitesall modelers to take part.

The display will feature the public unveil-ing of the Champlin Collection in 1/48th

Scale (hopefully – see page 5!) This is acollection of 1/48th scale models of all 28airplanes in the MOF’s newly acquiredChamplin Fighter Collection. The actualairplanes will not be on display in Seattlefor a few more years, so this is your chanceto get a preview.

Admission to the display is included withregular Museum admission. The Museumof Flight is on the west side of BoeingField, at 9404 East Marginal Way.

IPMS Seattle Web SiteBack Up

After being down for a short time, theIPMS Seattle web site is back up andrunning. The web site went down in earlyDecember when the server that had beenhosting the site went out of business. Wehave changed servers, and the web site isback up, though not all pages of the siteare yet operational. Special thanks are dueto Tracy White and Jon Fincher forhelping to find a new home.

The IPMS Seattle web site can beaccessed at http://www.ipms-seattle.org

Volunteers Needed forSpring Show

The IPMS Seattle Spring Show is fastapproaching – March 9 is not as far awayas it may seem! As always, we will needyour help to put on a good show. Ourmove to the Bellevue Community/SeniorCenter means that this year we cannot setup the contest room until the morning ofthe show, so we need as many volunteersas possible to help with setting up theroom on Saturday morning, and then withtaking down the room after the show isover later that day.

We also may need help with registration,and helping to direct traffic in the modelroom. If you can help with any of theseduties, even for an hour, we’d love to haveyou. Please see show coordinators TracyWhite and Jon Fincher, or any club officer,for more information or to sign up.

IPMS Seattle Decides Notto Bid for 2004 Convention

At our December meeting, a vote was heldamong the membership on whether tosubmit a bid to host the 2004 IPMS-USANational Convention. The vote wasoverwhelmingly against submitting a bidfor the 2004 convention, but the possibilityof submitting a bid for a later conventionat an appropriate time was held open.

Terry’s AVG Book Is Out

IPMS Seattle member Terry Clements’ bookAmerican Volunteer Group Colours andMarkings has just been published byOsprey. A full review will appear in nextmonth’s issue.


Annum Horribilis! (WithApologies to Her Majesty

The Queen of England,And Subtitled ‘On

Snatching Defeat From theJaws of Victory’)

by Jacob Russell

Murphy and I came to terms recently onhis subletting my apartment since he hastaken up more or less permanent residence.We agreed that there was no need for himto augment the grocery budget as hederives all necessary nourishment from mycontinued modeling misfortune. A dutifulhost, I seem destined to keep him fat andhappy! I hope the arrangement is shortterm because Murphy and his Law are notwelcome members of the Russell house-hold. Sort of like distant relations whocame for a visit and never left. With this inmind I thought I’d share with you mythoughts on 2001, the year in which I failedto complete a single model.

I started the year with the best of inten-tions. I had finally shed the idea that Ididn’t deserve the best quality kits I couldafford. I thank my good friends ChrisCowx, Jim Schubert, and Ted Holowchukfor disabusing me of the notion that I wasforever destined to build second-tier kits. Iimmediately ran into problems with theHasegawa 1/48th scale Nakajima Ki-84Hayate (Frank) that I chose for my first topquality project. I solicited advice onpainting this model and received so muchcontradictory advice that the end resultwas an example of “Modeling By Commit-tee.” I also tried mixing enamel paints withPPG acrylic lacquer thinner which I’d heardgave a smoother finish, and I used theDuracryl clear acrylic gloss of which Tedhad spoken so highly. I had applied thedecals when I first showed Ted the model.After looking at it for several minutes heasked me to hold out my hands and thenproceeded to rap my knuckles with a ruler,pointing out the many problems with the

model’s basic construction. The paint wasalso far too thick and the Duracryl glosshad attacked both the enamel paint and thedecals. I genuinely want to improve myskills, and I’ve found that one of the bestways to do this is to show in-progressmodels to more experienced builders. Aftertalking to Ted I stripped the model of alldecals and paint and started all over. Idecided to put the Frank back in the boxand work on it again in the fall. I’d cer-tainly have completed several models bythen and would therefore have some “free”time to repaint it.

For my next project I decided to turn toGod’s Scale, otherwise known as 1/72nd.After vacillating between Spitfire kits fromboth Italeri and Hasegawa I chose thelatter’s excellent Mk.VIII. I decided on asingle color RAAF camouflage scheme foran easy paint job. I figured that a topquality 1/72nd scale kit would be some-thing that I could finish quickly. It washigh time to finish something. I have ahabit of trying something new with eachproject - a habit that perhaps I should getout of. For this model I decided to try outthe Flexi-Files that Ted had recommended.The Flexi-Files are excellent tools-but notin my hands. Not yet. I put a flat ridge allalong the fuselage top, which should berounded. Then Jim Schubert pointed outthat I’d put another “crease” in the portwing leading edge. Rather than puttingthat model in a box for “future work” I’veleft it on my worktable in the hope that,faced with a daily reminder of misappliedzeal, I won’t repeat the same mistakes.Another project to “get back to later.”Much later.

I learned in March that the AircraftResource Center website had announced aBf 109 Contest and decided to enter theOOB category using a Hobbycraft G-5/6 kitthat I’d received from a modeler in Ireland.I figured that this would be an easy build(yes, another one) and a needed breakfrom the Ki-84 and Spitfire fiascos. I alsodecided to try acrylic paints on this model.At the time I modeled in my bedroom and

didn’t want to expose my family to thetoxic lacquers and enamels that I’d usedexclusively. I brought the model to theMarch IPMS meeting. Perhaps I shouldhave known better by now but I showedTed the model after I’d already startedpainting it. Again I held out my hands andhad my knuckles rapped. Ted pointed outproblem areas critical to having a decentlyfinished model, and once again I strippedoff the paint and started again. Can yousee a pattern emerging here? BetweenMarch and October (where I showed themodel again) I moved twice and the modeltook a back seat to those concerns. Afterthe October meeting I finished applyingthe decals and moved to the finishingstages. Murphy was leaning over myshoulder when I applied the oil washesbecause disaster struck: I left the excesswash on for too long and ruined the paint.I did the exact same thing to the 1/72ndscale Italeri Bf 109F that I built andreviewed for the newsletter two years ago,so I clearly should have known better! Tedhas pointed out that almost every modelcan be salvaged from such disastersalthough lately he has been wringing hishands at my continued problems andmistakes. I came very close to giving themodel an unscheduled high speed “testflight” into the nearest wall - or perhapsout the window - but a cooler headprevailed. The following day I stripped offthe decals and paint, and started all overagain.

There certainly is a pattern emerging here.In each unfinished project I tried aprocess, technique, or tool that I hadn’tused before. And in each instance Iexperienced problems. I was very discour-aged and although I did cease modelingfor isolated periods at no point did Iconsider stopping altogether. There is areason that experienced modelers recom-mend finding a system that works for youand sticking to it. What works for othersmay not work for me, and vice-versa. After

Continued on page 9


Never Volunteer

by Bill Osborn

You would think that by the time I’dreached my age I would have learned notto volunteer for anything, but I haven’t.Way back when I went into the Army, Iwas told, “Don’t volunteer.” This advicestuck with me for a long time. Then as timeslipped by, and my memory started to go, Iseemed to forget to never volunteer. I’vebeen asked a few times over the years tobuild models as retirement gifts for some ofthe people I’ve worked with. A couple ofthem came out OK, but some were so badthat I wouldn’t even give them to theneighborhood kids to blow up withfirecrackers.

Now I’ve gone and done it again. This timeI didn’t really volunteer, it was more like,“Bill, we would really like to have a modelbuilt for the Museum of Flight, for theChamplin Fighter Collection they aregetting.”

Well, being the kind and generous guy Iam (?), could I let the club and my friendsdown? Perhaps it would have been betterto tell them that there are a lot of otherguys who would make better models than Ido, but I think that by the time Will gotaround to me most of the members hadeither accepted the job or turned himdown, and he was scraping the bottom ofthe barrel.

Well, volunteer, I did. Will was very kind,and furnished me with a Blue Max kit ofthe subject, an SE.5. As most of you knowby now, most of the aircraft that are beingmodeled for this project are not even closeto any of the kits that are available. Willgave me a Blue Max SE.5a, which is alimited run kit and rather expensive, or soI’ve been told. After cleaning up all theparts and checking them out, I thought itmight be a good idea to try and find theold Monogram kit. Well my luck changed;the Monogram kit is an SE.5. True, it’sshowing its age, but at least it’s the rightmodel.

The kit may be old, but it’s not that bad.Two things I’ve found that will need to befixed are the wing struts and the interior.The wing struts are really crude and fit (?)

into a slot molded into thelower surface of the upperwing. No big problem, just fillin the slot and make newstruts. The cockpit is adifferent story – the onlything you get is a crude seat.

Since this is going to themuseum, it should havesomething to fill the gapinghole in the top of the body.Thanks to the kind folks inMesa, I have some very nice

shots of the cockpit. These photos show awhole lot more detail than I really wantedto put in. However, in for a penny, in for apound. I’ve never been one to put muchinterior into a model, unless it’s a goodresin set or one that comes with the kit. Bythe time the model is finished most of theeffort will have gone into the cockpit. Atleast I hope so. The rigging is the onlything that still has me concerned. Theflying wires are not wires, but flat tensionrods. Once upon a time I made tensionrods for a 1/32nd scale P-26 out of flattenedmonell tubing. However my supply haslong since dried up – I retired. If I don’tsay anything, who’ll know?

This would be a good kit for my collectionif I just built it out of the box and put thepilot figure in the cockpit to hide theotherwise empty hole. Needless to say,this has been a real and ongoing chal-lenge. I hope I remember not to volunteeragain.

Dust in the Wind

via IPMS/Mississippi Modelers-Tupelo

Models of military soft-skins and somecars can gain a great deal of realism byadding a layer of dust to their windowsand windshields. During the final weather-ing stages, simply use an airbrush tolightly mist the “glass” with a thinned mixof light sand-colored paint. Acrylic paintwill work very well in this role, as thedrying time is very quick. Thin the paintwith isopropyl alcohol to further speed thedrying.

While this will look tremendous, you cango a step further. Before spraying anypaint, consider adding windshield wiperswipes. This is easily done by cuttingtemplates out of low-tack clear scotchtape. Determine the width of the kit’s wiperblades and lay out an appropriate patternon the tape with a ballpoint pen. Cut thispattern out and apply to the windshield.Now you are ready to spray on the dust!Do this in layers and don’t overdo it. Oncedry, peel the masks away and ...voila!Personally, I continue one more step andspray a final dusting after the masks areoff. This looks a bit more realistic as theglass would be sure to get dirty from bothsides and no wipers can remove all that!

As always, experiment on an old kit first,both for fun and to avoid ruining yourwork.


Revell 1/24th Scale MiniCooper (R53)

by Jon Fincher

BMW has released a new version of theMini Cooper, a car with an almost cultstatus for Euro car fans. The new MiniCooper keeps in touch with its roots, butadds new technology and distinctive 21stcentury styling to an old Euro favorite.

The late John Cooper started building F3,F2, and F1 racing cars in the BMC garagein Surbinton, England, from the 1940sthrough 1960, winning championshipsalong the way. With the blessings of SirAlec Issigonis, the original Mini was builtfor rally and saloon car racing. The carproved as worthy as its F1 cousins,winning the European Rally Champion-ships as well as the Monte Carlo Rallythree times. During this time, the produc-tion Minis were also selling like mad, in theprocess becoming a symbol of theswinging ‘60s in England. 150,000 units ofthe quirky little car were produced through1971, and used models can still be seenand bought in Europe and the UnitedStates.

By the 1980s, John Cooper Garages wereproviding aftermarket conversion kits tothe U.S. and Japanese markets. Thesuccess of these kits led Cooper toredesign the engine and relaunch the Miniin the 1980s, again with immediate success.Further enhancements and redesigns ledto no fewer than nine different MiniCooper variants being sold worldwidethrough 2000. In July 2001, BMW startedproducing the latest variant of the MiniCooper, but John Cooper Works continuesto sell aftermarket parts and conversionkits for classic Mini Coopers.

In 2001, BMW undertook a redesign of theclassic Mini Cooper, introducing moderntechnology while retaining the distinctivestyle and flavor of the European favorite.Under the hood, a new 1.6 liter 16 valvemotor powers the 3.5 m car with up to 115

hp, and the car itself features air condition-ing, ABS, electronic stability control, aswell as modern safety features such asfront and side airbags, crumple zones, andside impact protection.

The Revell 1:24 Mini Cooper reflects theBMW redesign of the Mini, and is moldedby Revell AG. Four white plastic spruesand one clear sprue are separately bagged,with two sprues of chromed pieces leftloose in the box. Four rubber tires are alsobagged when the box is open. The kit is acurbside, and the detail on the chassis islimited due to the modern covered natureof German motors, as in the new Audi andVW engines.

The molding is very good, thoroughlymodern and typical of Revell and RevellAG standards. The body of the carconsists of six parts – the aforementionedchassis, the interior floor pan, the bodyitself, front grill, the clear windows (frontand rear windshields and side windows aremolded as one part), and a separate roof.While the separation of the roof from thebody of the car is unusual and may seemto complicate the fitting of the roofproperly, the dry fit is very nice and seemsto present no immediate problems. Thecolor scheme depicted on the box front ofa red body with white roof is very easilyhandled using this engineering (i.e. nomasking).

The interior floor pan is very simple, withpositive locators for the front seats andmolded in rear seats. There are also

positive locators to attach the floor pan tothe chassis. The chassis includes partialmolded front suspension and a moldedexhaust system. The exhaust system isseparated in places from the chassis itself,so while painting the exhaust is madeeasier, painting the underside of the floorpan before assembly is necessary. Sepa-rate interior door panels are also provided,as is a detailed five-piece dash assembly.

The front suspension is partially moldedinto the chassis, but a three-piece suspen-sion assembly is provided for both frontand rear suspensions. There is no brakedetail given, with a three-piece wheelassembly consisting of an inner wheel, theouter chrome rim, and rubber tire complet-ing that assembly. The chrome pieces onmy kit were hit and miss – one sprue wasfine, while the second sprue (consisting ofthe dash and wheel rims) were spotty andunsatisfactory. Stripping the chrome andreplating those pieces will be the mostdifficult part of this assembly.

The eight page instructions are rathercomplete and well done for a kit of this lowcomplexity. A small decal sheet is alsoprovided with dash and body decals, aswell as two sets of Euro-style licenseplates reading “Mini Cooper”.

The kit is a must-have for Mini Cooperfans, as well as for car modelers looking forsomething different and relatively quick toadd to their collections. Estimates of anout of the box build-up of this kit rangefrom 10 to 20 hours, dependant mostly onbody prep and paint cure times. The simplechassis and interior designs help speedthe build time without compromising detailor quality. The chrome plating leavessomething to be desired, but isn’tunfixable. This cute and quirky car is sureto attain cult status just as its predecessordid, and the model is sure to attractattention and second-glances as fre-quently as the real car does.

[Thanks to Chris Banyai-Riepl atwww.internetmodeler.com for permissionto use Jon, Terry, and Gordon’s articles -ED]


101st Spaceborne, 2010Ft Duquesne Military

Miniatures #602, 150mmScale

Sculpted by Paul Keefe

by Terry D. Moore

I first saw this figure at the 2000 IPMS-USA national convention in Dallas. Therewere three in the contest and one in thevendors’ room. I could not leave withoutit.

The model is a very nice sculpt with a veryanimated pose. It represents a fullyoutfitted 101st Spaceborne GI with thecomposite graphite/ceramic/boron semi-powered armor suit (SPAS) that is thehighly favored system for the unit. He isalso equipped with the reticule sightequipped helmet with HUD, Colt M92A3pulse laser with back mounted laser powerpack, and Remington M38 17mm auto-matic.

Very minimal cleanup was required - I thinkI spent about an hour cleaning up the half-dozen parts. One reason I like this figureso much is that it gave me an opportunityto use several painting techniquesincluding airbrush, wash/dry brush, andoils.

I started by airbrushing the SPASsuit in standard class R camou-flage (R= whatever color of paint Icould Reach). After the patternwas applied I sprayed the figurewith multiple coats of Duracrylgloss automotive lacquer. I thenapplied an oil wash to bring outrecesses, panel lines, and shadowareas. After the wash had dried Isprayed the model with dullcoat,then, when dry, I drybrushed thefigure with an off-white oil paint tobring out the highlights. Whenthat was dry, I applied anothercoat of dullcoat.

I then painted the cloth portions ofhis uniform using enamel for abase coat and then paintinghighlights and shadows using oilpaints. The trick with oils is to useas little paint as possible to coverthe area you want to paint - myrule of thumb is that if you think you don’thave enough paint on the brush, youprobably have too much paint on thebrush. Always keep a paint rag handy towipe off the excess paint. I saved the headfor last, as I could paint and attach it afterit was finished.

I had primed the face with flat white primer.I use Grumbacher and Winsor & Newtonoils. For flesh tones I use titanium white,burnt sienna and yellow ochre. I mix thepaint on a hard pallet (ceramic tile)although I know some modelers that usecard stock to leach out excess oil. BasicallyI mix three levels of color: one to representhighlight areas (using more white), one forbasic skin tones and one for shadow areas(using more sienna). I usually apply thehighlight color first to the forehead, bridgeof the nose, top of the cheeks, above theupper lip and so on. I then apply theshadow colors under the chin, any folds inthe skin, and above the eyes. After that Iapply the base skin color to those areasnot painted with highlight or shadowcolors. I try not to make the base colortouch the highlight or shadow areas. Oneimportant thing to remember is to not clean

your brush with thinner between thesecolors, otherwise you will dilute the paint. Ijust clean the brush with a clean dry ragbetween colors.

At this stage switch to a clean dry brushto blend the highlights, base color andshadows together, but that’s not anecessity, you can use the original brush.If you missed the part about too muchpaint on the brush you will end uppushing a lot of paint around until youhave a solid color on your figure. Remem-ber, with oils a little bit of paint will go avery long way.

I finished the base by applying a thin oilwash over it, without primer. The brownishpaint over the tan resin gave it a somewhat“otherworldly” look. The last thing I didwas to achieve a snow blown look byapplying microballoons, which give a goodsnow effect.

A delightful model to assemble and paint.It took only three or four evenings tofinish and I think what I enjoyed most wasthe fact that I was only limited by myimagination in the colors I used.


Monsters In Motion 1/35thScale Moonbus from 2001:

A Space Odyssey

by Gordon Erickson

As a lad of 13 the glory of the nextmillennium unfolded before me in a darkEverett movie theatre. I was enraptured bythe technological marvels flying throughdeep space before my eyes, enamored withthe way the future was to be!

In the waning months ofthe first year of that newmillennium we now knowthat the space programwas never anythingmore to Americanpoliticians than a big“up yours” to theSoviets. Today there areno manned space probemissions to the outerplanets or the giantspace ships to take themthere. There is nocommercial shuttleservice to bases on themoon or to space stations in earth orbit.There isn’t even a Pan American Airlinesanymore.

And since the 1969 Aurora kit there hasbeen no model available of 2001’sMoonbus – until now. In development forthe better part of a year, SouthernCalifornia’s Monsters In Motion recentlyreleased an all-resin 1/35th scale kit of thisunique lunar transit vehicle.

In Arthur C. Clarke’s novel, the Moonbusis a tracked ground vehicle that has theability to “hop” over small obstacles on itsunderside rocket motors. For the motionpicture it was apparently decided that itwould be much more dynamic and visuallyinteresting, albeit improbable, if it flew overthe lunar surface instead. As far as I cantell, all they did to reflect this new mode oftravel was to take the caterpillar treads off

of the running gear and call them landinglegs.

My MIM Moonbus arrived in a sturdywhite box jam-packed with peanuts andbubble wrap to good effect – no parts werebroken or damaged in shipping. The kitconsists of approximately 55 pieces ofmint-green resin (an interesting departurefrom MIM’s usual Pepto-Bismol Pinkblend). The centerpiece of this kit is thetwo huge castings that form the top andbottom of the fuselage. The top weighs inat nearly a pound and the bottom a

whopping three lbs. plus (they areobviously not hollow-cast). In fact, I hadsome initial concern over whether the resinlanding gear could support the weight ofthe finished model but upon furtherinspection it looks like they will do justfine. There are virtually no air bubble holesin the top and bottom and very fewthroughout the rest of the kit.

There are two small sheets of decals,aluminum rods for the landing gear shockabsorbers, and a sheet of clear plastic forthe windows. My kit came with “interim”assembly instructions with a promise fromMIM to send the “final” instructions freeof charge as soon as they become avail-able.

MIM appears to have done (most) of theirhomework on this kit. Compared topictures captured from a DVD of the movie

the kit’s details closely match the onesseen in the film. You will be able to createan impressive replica of the Moonbus fromthis kit.

There are virtually no air bubble holes inthe top and bottom and very few through-out the rest of the kit.

Some highlights of the kit:

The size – at 1/35th scale it’s 16 incheslong.

The main instrument panel is a well-detailed match for the original as is the restof the interior.

There are two resin parts to represent thecargo being carried in the passengercompartment and they feature great detail– the one for the left side even has theastronaut’s life support backpacks (youwill have to add your own tie-down ringsand white nylon rope to secure the cargoto the floor).

The five astronaut figures (two pilots andthree passengers) are individually sculptedand well posed although I would haveliked one of the pilots to have his hand onthe joystick. The passengers are re-enacting the “chicken sandwich” scenefrom the movie (they even include thelunch box!)

The interim instructions are adequate forassembling the Moonbus but the colorscalled out for the interior are questionable.In fact, they don’t even match the colorsused in the build-up on the web site. Thepassenger cabin was filmed in a weirdblue-green light and makes color identifica-tion difficult. I plan to do my interior inmedium and dark grays. A copy of the filmon VHS or DVD will be very useful in fine-tuning the details.

There is one perplexing question inregards to the kit – how to properlydisplay it. The Moonbus has very smallwindows and the large resin fuselagecastings do not lend themselves well to


the wiring that would be needed to light it.I am probably going to display mine withthe top removed.

The decals include markings for the spacesuits and backpacks as well as some videoscreen decals although they are the wrongsize and shape to fit the screens on the

main instrument panel. The decal sheetalso includes the spurious USAA decals(United States Astronautics Administra-tion) that appeared in the AuroraMoonbus kit but never on the movieminiature. There are even a couple of HAL

9000 eye decals for no reason I candetermine.

The one big problem in this kit is that MIMappears to have used the old AuroraMoonbus for their dimensions and that kitwas slightly too long in the nose whichmeans the MIM Moonbus is about ¾” too

long – youwould have toremove almostall of the areabetween theback of thecockpit seatsand the forwardbulkhead to getit right. Unfortu-nately, thatwould be a veryimpractical thingto do on thismodel.

It would bewonderful tohave a com-pletely accurate

kit of the Moonbus but on the whole I amvery happy with my purchase and Iconsider it a good value for the money. Annum Horribilis!

from page 4

many mistakes and problems (and askingmany questions of John Chilenski andothers) I now have good success withacrylic paints and I prefer to use them.Each component of my painting andfinishing system should reflect thispreference. Despite all my mistakes thisyear I feel that I have become a bettermodeler. I am implementing some of thethings that I’ve been taught. I’ve alsotaught myself some things, such as bettercontrol of my airbrush. Pity I can’t showyou! I will exercise greater caution withnew tools and techniques in the future. I’llhand Murphy his Eviction Notice, and Iwill finish something. Starting with thethree unfinished models either staring mein the face on the workbench, or beckon-ing to me from their boxes on the shelfabove it. How was your year?

High Planes Update

by Greg Meggs

via Keith Laird

The much delayed 1/72nd scale Sea Vixenfrom High Planes Models is now available.It can be built as either an FAW.1, FAW.2 ,or D.3, with separate boom tanks.

There are decals for six aircraft withdiagrams, and another one for which Icould not find my references come the timeto do the drawings (It now seems to beone included in the Frog kit). Additionaldecals for all three versions are stillavailable from Model Art Decal Systems inthe UK.

Due to the size and complexity of the kit (itwas a real task to get the patterns com-pleted) and the large decal sheet, it retailsfor Aus $48 (about US $25 and UK £18).


Mike Grant Decals – 1/72nd

Scale Foreign Gladiators

by Robert Allen

Over the past year or so, Mike Grant hasbuilt a solid reputation for his line ofALPS-printed aircraft decals. The artworkand printing on these decals has beenexcellent, and the subjects have beenwide-ranging, from Polish Albatros D.IIIsto Idaho ANG A-10s. With his latestsheets, Calgary-based Grant has taken thenext step – the 1/72nd and 1/48th scaleForeign Gladiator sheets are not ALPS-printed, but screen-printed decals printedby Fantasy Printshops. From a user’sstandpoint, the main advantage is thatunlike the ALPS decals, where the entiresheet is covered by decal film, these areindividual decals, making them much easierto apply.

The quality is excellent, with five GlosterGladiators included on the sheet. TheGladiator is an aircraft that lends itself toexotic schemes; it was used by at leastseventeen different air forces, and many ofthose are ones rarely covered by main-stream decal manufacturers. The choicesare an ex-RAF Egyptian Mk.II; a capturedLuftwaffe Mk.I, in squadron service; aLithuanian Mk.I; a Greek Mk.I; and aLatvian Mk.I.

Previous sheets from Blue Rider, AviationUSK/Tally Ho!, and the Encore reboxing ofthe Heller kit have included aircraft fromsome of these air forces, but Grant haswisely chosen different examples fromthose; for example, the Latvian example is“116” rather than the familiar “114,” and isone which was later used by the Soviets,giving another choice simply by replacingthe Latvian swastikas with Soviet redstars. The Lithuanian example is also adifferent aircraft in a different scheme thanother Lithuanian aircraft we’ve seen, beingbased on an operational Lithuanian

example rather than the Gloster-appliedmarkings.

Of special interest are the Egyptian andGreek aircraft, neither of which I’vepreviously seen offered; the Greek examplein the four-color RAF shadow-shadedscheme is especially appealing.The instruction sheet is brief but func-tional; we’re so used to FS or RLM colorsbeing provided that we forget not every-thing is meticulously documented, andthat we don’t have an exact match forLithuanian Olive Green. The instructionsprovided are in black and white, but a fullcolor PDF file of the instructions can befound atwww.cadvision.com/mikegrant/MikeGrantDecals/Gladiator.html.This is a great idea, and one that I’m surewe’ll see more often in the future.

This is an excellent choice for Grant’s firstscreen-printed sheet, and is executed tohis high standards. Mike Grant Decals canbe ordered from Grant’s web site atwww.cadvision.com/mikegrant/MikeGrantDecals/Page1.html.

Academy 1/35 Scale BritishTank Destroyer Achilles

by Cookie Sewell, courtesy AMPS

I had seen the preliminary review on thiskit from Peter Brown in the UK, and as adied-in-the-wool Sherman fan had to pickone up no matter what. I must prefacethings with saying that I may never build itas the Achilles, but the kit is one of thebest recent plastic kits I have personallyseen, and considering what’s in the box isa tremendous value for the money. I won’tsteal any of Peter’s thunder, as he hasbeen to the IWM and Public RecordsOfficer several times in recent weeks tocheck on vehicles such as this and has thelatest information on it. Suffice it to saythat M10 and Achilles were used assynonyms, but not on a regular basis.

The kit represents a 17-pounder conver-sion of the final production model of theM10 3" GMC with the “duckbill” counter-weights fitted to the turret, and therearward slanting turret rear to providemore room for the crew. It comes with aplethora of details, not all of which areaccurate for this particular version, but oneof the most appreciated will be a very niceset of vinyl “British style” steel chevrontracks. These are very nicely done, withthe three studs on the surface, and only asmall “teat” on the inner face of every 10thlink or so to clean up. Academy cut aspecial hull top and “E” sprue for this kit,and the rest of the layout bodes very wellfor Sherman or just US M4 series tankfans. Some are plainly marked “Shermanseries” so they would appear to have morekits planned beyond the current Achilles,M10, and M36 vehicles. The parts layoutin the kit suggests that the M10 and M36will share some sprues, as a separateengine deck with the M4A2 style louversindicative of diesel engines are includedon one of them. (Only the louvered doors,parts C19 and C20, are needed for theAchilles). Of note to engine fans is the fact


that the engine bay major components arealso provided, needing only engines andradiators to complete (Note: The TankWorkshop makes an M4A2 engine bay setwhich should fit this model, but I amwilling to bet that Model Valley, a Koreanresin company that appears to have somerelation to Academy, will soon have a“drop-in” engine assembly for this model).

A reasonably complete front-end interior,including the SCR-508/608 style radio set,is included with the kit. There are twodifferent transmission covers (“Rounded”and “Sharp-nose”). They also provide theoptional bogie component set which camewith the M12 155mm GMC kit, whichprovides for either cast or welded(“spoked”) wheels and early or late trackskids on the top of the bogies. The rest ofthe model is very nice with the glaringexception of the upper rear hull panel,which has “outlines” cast on it formounting the tool sets. This is pretty lameconsidering the rest of the kit, as theconcept went out of style in the early1960s, and someone at Academy needs toget his wrist slapped for letting it go outthe door on a kit of this quality. There are afew large knockout pin marks inside theturret that will have to go, but overall theyare at a minimum and kept out of sight.

The decal sheet is incomplete (doing onlyone and a half vehicles) and in my exampleone item was off register. One error severalpeople have spotted is that British crewsdid not store 17-pounder shells in card-board tubes as US crews did with theirammunition. The model comes with 32rounds stored in cardboard tubes, whichare wrong for a British vehicle with the big

gun. The projectiles that come with theturret sprue seem correct, and it only takesa few seconds to see that these rounds willnot fit in those tubes.

One of the best items in this kit is Sprue“H”. This is a really useful set of bits, andincludes the following items: a pair of fivelink “extenders”, similar to those found onthe old MP Models M4A4 hull, so thevinyl tracks can fit on an A4 chassis; sixspare T51 smooth non-reversible shoes,with a choice of either US or UK stylestowage racks; three whip antennamounts, including one which is angled at45 degrees; three jerry cans (one Germanand two US style), all with separate carrierbases provided and needing only straps tocomplete; two late production “dish” typeM4 VVSS series wheels; and the neatestbits of all, add-ons in styrene. Theseamount to 21 bolt heads, 7 rivet heads, 7

studs, 15 buckles in three different styles,10 tie-down brackets, five wing nuts, and acomplete alphabet plus two number sets of0-9 and casting marks for two foundries.(One unfortunate thing is after all thisAcademy doesn’t tell you what sort ofnumbers should go on the vehicle, orwhere they only indicate the manteletshould have a number attached to it.) Thekit also includes Academy’s Sprue “D”, ageneric Sherman sprue, which providesnice little bits, a good .50 caliber and .30caliber machine gun, and decent pioneertools. (If they sold this one separately, itwould permit rapid upgrades to all Italeriand DML kits out there suffering fromanemic tool set syndrome.)

Overall, the quality of this kit is astound-ing. The choice of the Achilles, until thehistory of the actual vehicles becomeswider known, may not be the best as it is avery small part of the US Tank Destroyerstory. But if nothing else, this kit is astandard setter, and one of the bestbargains on the market today.

British Tank Destroyer Achilles; 565 parts(562 in sand tan styrene, 2 in steel coloredvinyl, 1 nylon string).

Price $35

Advantages: Amazing kit with tremendouslevel of detail; “prepared” for after marketdetail additions; “H” sprue nearly worththe price of admission on its own.

Disadvantages: Choice of relativelyesoteric version of this vehicle may hurtsales.

Rating: Highly Recommended.

Recommendation: For all Commonwealtharmored fans and small postwar armyfollowers, as well as all “Shermaholics.”


Modeling the Fairey IIIFMk IIIM in 1/72nd Scale

by Hugh Beyts, IPMS-UK FAASIG

The basis of this model is the ContrailFairey IIIF kit. This was an early attempt atproducing a complete kit in vacuform andconsists of several vacuform sheetssufficient to produce three aircraft,injection molded detail parts, plastic strutmaterial, a decal sheet, drawings, instruc-tions, and a copy of Profile No.44, TheFairey IIIF. This latter item is probably themost useful part of the entire kit.

Unfortunately the quality andaccuracy of the moldings is nottoo good but I was determinedto add an example of thisfamous type to my collection.The IIIF was a workhorse ofboth the RAF and FAAbetween the wars, second onlyto the Hart family in terms ofproduction figures and itenabled both Fairey to survivethe lean post WWI years, andthe military to police the Empire.Typical then that the type has been totallyignored by the mainstream manufacturersand even the second division teamsworking in resin et-al. Until Aeroclub ortheir like see fit to add one to their outputyou can either scratch build or utilize theContrail offering. Actually there’s notmuch difference between the two!

I used the best wing and tail components,and the fuselage closest to the IIIM Icould and flogged the rest. As the three-cockpit IIIM is not a kit option it isnecessary to do a little conversion workalong the way but in the midst of all theother activity you barely notice. Early on itwas apparent that the kit floats were not aserious option as they are woefullyinaccurate but I decided to cross thisbridge at a later date, reasoning that,although I really wanted a float planeversion, if no suitable floats were available

I would put it on wheels and save myself aload of trouble!

Fuselage

Armed with the Aviation News drawings astart was made on the fuselage. Besidesaltering the cockpit layout the mostobvious problems are the incorrect noseprofile in both elevation and plan, thecoarse exterior detail, and the misalignmentof the fuselage halves when offered uptogether. Ignoring these tribulations forthe time being, a start was made on theinterior detail; top and bottom longeronswere added along with stringers andcockpit framing. Once the pilot andobserver’s seats are added, plus a floor for

the air gunner and his folding seat, littlecan actually be seen. Detail was limited tothe pilot’s instrument panel, gun breech,some side pouches in the observerscockpit for navigational equipment, and asliding hatch in the air gunners cockpitfloor along with Lewis gun magazineholders, camera and radio gear. As some ofthis could be added after construction itwas prepared and put to one side. Theinterior was painted silver and the framespicked out in semi-gloss black before thetwo sides were glued together and oncedry the area from the front of the pilotscockpit to the rear of the gunners cut awaydown to the top longeron. This allows thecockpits to be remodeled. I used lamina-tions of card at the time but if I were to doit again I would either plunge mould asuitable shape and cut out the cockpits, orbuild it up from thin Milliput before cuttingout the apertures. Coaming was added

later from thin plastic rod well soaked inglue to soften it before coaxing it aroundthe edge little by little.

Next task was to reshape the nose tocapture Fairey’s elegant lines, which aretotally missing from the kit offering. Usingthe drawing side elevation and plan, noseprofiles were cut in 15 thou card whichwere then used as gauges to shape thecontours which had previously be built upwith Milliput. With the new nose completethe exterior detail was sanded down andfilled as necessary before adding fuselagestringers from fine strip and re-engravingthe panel detail and drilling small recesses(0.3mm) to represent the fastenings. Stepsand handling holes needed tidying up too.An aperture was cut under the nose for theradiator, which is supplied as lump of blackplastic, so it was also cleaned up anddetailed. The rear fuselage was cut downand squared up to accept the tailplane. Apiece of 10 thou card was let in to form afirm base and ultimately it, the tailplaneand fin were drilled to accept a plastic rodto pin them all together.

The intakes under the nose and themagneto access holes were opened upalong with the exhaust ports. My intendedversion had ejector ports rather than pipes,included in the kit are some rather flashridden pipes that might be usable. Thebulged panel over the pilot’s machine gunbreech is a bit ill-defined so a new item wasplunge molded from 10 thou. Gas andejector ports were cut into it.

Wings

With the fuselage looking quite promisingmy attention turned to the wings. Somemodelers advocate only using one surfacehere, but for my money not only is that toothin but it is too flexible, especially fortension rigging. I selected the best upperand lower wings and after cutting them outsmoothed the inner surfaces for a goodjoin. It was apparent that one lower wingwas going to be too thin so some 10 thoucard was cut to shape and sandwichedbetween the upper and lower pieces. Thesurface detail on the wings leaves a bit to


be desired and the rib tapes are engravedrather than raised so the wing surfaceswere tidied up and the trailing edgesthinned down before adding the tapesfrom stretched 20 thou strips. Then theflap and aileron detail was re-engraved.The tailplane and fin were similarly treated.After carefully checking that the lower andupper wings were matched for span theholes for the struts were carefully markedout and drilled as were the rigging holes,these latter with the smallest drill I hadwhich was 0.3mm. A hole was then drilledinto the wing roots to accept a suitablegauge wire, which slid into a brass tubeepoxied through the fuselage. Thisensured a strong joint and also preventsthe entire load from being carried by thethin fuselage walls. With resin cast floatsthis model is heavy when complete!

The lower wings were now epoxied inplace, ensuring they were square and hadthe correct dihedral and incidence. Thenext task was build a jig to hold the topwing in place while the struts were shapedfrom brass struts material. My currentmethod involves a jig built from Meccano(see Scale Models Vol 129, No.3. p50).Once I was happy with the wing struts Iturned my attention to the floats. Note thatContrail’s wing gap of 1-3/16” is a tad toomuch, 7/8” is nearer!

Floats

The kit floats bear little resemblance to thereal thing and attempts to alter them withMilliput proved futile. Eventually afterseveral false starts I found that a FrogSwordfish float was the right shape, onlytoo large, so a copy was made by coatingeach half of the float in alternate layers ofcopydex and sawdust and a few stiffeningwires. From these female molds two solidhalf-floats were molded in plastic padding.These were then cut to length and slimmeddown to the right size and cut outs madefor the front strut pick up point. From thetwo male moulds a silicon female was castwhich was then used to produce resincomponents. The ribbing was added afterthe halves were epoxied together as I was

uncertain if I could master such tech-niques. The central hatches are best addedafterwards to avoid unnecessary seams.Although such methods are initially quitedaunting the results were very pleasingand I am very grateful to those clubmembers who offered sound advice in thispart of the project.

Final Assembly

With the completion of the floats anothersmall jig was constructed to hold them andthe fuselage while the struts were cut. Theforward vee is soldered from brass; the aftoleos are Contrail airfoil section drilled totake wire at both ends. The necessaryholes in floats and fuselage were drilled.The main components were now preparedfor painting. Careful thought was appliedto the best sequence of masking, painting,marking, and assembling. I find that bywriting down a running order problems canbe foreseen, and the sequence altered untilthe best approach can be evaluated. Thefuselage was painted grey, followed by thered stripe, then silver, and the nose buffedto represent metal paneling before beingplaced in the wing jig to have the previ-ously painted top wing added. The wholewas then removed while the tailplane wasattached. It and the fin and rudder werecarefully masked to produce the checker-board markings. The diagram shows how.

The rigging was now added. I like totension rig with invisible mending thread.

It passes right through the wings and issuper glued in place. The ends are cut offwith a sharp blade as close as possible tothe wing surface. Once complete the paintis made good and the markings added topand bottom. The model was now placed inthe second jig to attach the floats. Allstruts were glued with slow setting epoxy

for strength; these floats areheavy! The details were nowadded. The navigation lampsand flare holders came fromAirfix Bulldog kits; other detailis from scratch. The propeller isan Aeroclub item suitablethinned and cleaned up. Theundernourished spinner wascovered with a new plunge-molded item. Finally thebeaching gear, made as in thediagram, was added. As themodel rests on six points it isimportant to ensure there is nodaylight under any of them. To

this end the two outer wheels were firstpinned and glued then the inners wereSuperglued in situ while the model restedon its base.

This model was started a few years agoand then suspended while I found outways to surmount various problems.Along the way I’ve learnt a lot so hope-fully if and when I start a Fairey Seal itwon’t be so difficult or take quite as long!

My thanks to all those modelers who haveassisted with this model by offering adviceand tips along the way. Don’t forgetContrail either - many of their kits havenever been duplicated despite the fact thatthey represent important types. While thequality is not up to current standards theycan be built into attractive models if thewill is there.

References

Aeroplane Monthly, Various but particu-larly March, May, and June 1994Fairey Aircraft Since 1915, H.R. TaylorThe British Bomber, F. MasonThe Fairey IIIF, Profile #44, F. Mason


Meeting Reminder Saturday, January 1210 AM - 1 PM

North Bellevue Community/Senior Center4063-148th Ave NE, Bellevue

Directions: From Seattle or from I-405, take 520 East tothe 148th Ave NE exit. Take the 148th Ave North exit(the second of the two 148th Ave. exits) and continuenorth on 148th until you reach the Senior Center. TheSenior Center will be on your left. The Center itself isnot easily visible from the road, but there is a signpostin the median.

IPMS Seattle 2002 Membership Renewal

2002 is here, and it is dues time again. As is our usual practice, a renewal form was included with the December newsletter and is againincluded in the January newsletter.

Everyone on the current (2001) mailing list will receive the January newsletter, but those who have not renewed will have a “Last Issue”note on the mailing envelope. If you do not renew prior to the mailing of the February newsletter, you will not receive that or subse-quent issues.

Dues are $24.00, make checks payable to IPMS Seattle, and mail it to;

IPMS Seattle16510 NE 99th St.

Redmond, WA 98052

IPMS SEATTLE 2002 MEMBERSHIP RENEWAL FORM

Full Name____________________________________________________________________

Mailing Address________________________________________________________________

City________________________ State_______ Zip Code_____________________

Telephone No. Area Code ( ) _______________________________

E-mail address (optional)__________________________________________________________

collection. i have found information that i could have used with...

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