may - romsey modellers · 2017. 5. 8. · 2 may 2010 this month there is plenty of diverse models...
TRANSCRIPT
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MAY 2010
THIS MONTH
There is plenty of diverse models in this months Romsey Modeller, from Planes, Ships, Automobiles to Orks! Thanks once again to everybody who has contributed.
We also have a show report from Poole and a description of our thoroughly enjoyable trip to Tangmere Museum which has already got us thinking of locations for our next trip out.
See you on Wednesday for the club Revell competition.
Tony…
CONTENTS
May 2010 ................................................................................................................................................................ 2
This Month ......................................................................................................................................................... 2
Contents ............................................................................................................................................................. 2
Tangmere Museum Visit 8th May by Paul Adams .............................................................................................. 3
Cold War Russian Aircraft for Tangmere Completion ........................................................................................ 5
Hendon Show 23RD May 2010 ............................................................................................................................ 5
Revell Competition ............................................................................................................................................. 6
Romsey Modellers Photo Evening ...................................................................................................................... 7
Poole Vikings Show by Paul Adams .................................................................................................................... 8
Revell 1/48 Heinkel 111 H3 H6 by Tony Adams ............................................................................................... 10
HMAS Vampire by Nigel DenchField & PeterFrench ....................................................................................... 14
USS Hornet Build By Richard Stewart ............................................................................................................... 17
1/35 Willy’s Jeep by Malcolm Grant ................................................................................................................ 19
Box Review: Tamiya 1/32 Spitfire Mk IX by Tony Adams ................................................................................. 21
WAAARRGH!!! The Orks! – part 1 – Initial review by Russell Eden .................................................................. 23
In Next Month’s Modeller ................................................................................................................................ 24
Club Diary ......................................................................................................................................................... 25
Contact Info ...................................................................................................................................................... 25
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TANGMERE MUSEUM VISIT 8TH MAY BY PAUL ADAMS
Romsey Modellers gather outside Tangmere Museum, May 2010. From left to right Tony Adams, Dale Koppi, Mark Metters, Keith Hawkins, Steve Edwards, Brian Sampson, Peter Lloyd and Paul Adams
Grey sky’s greeted a motley gathering of 8 Romsey Modellers at the Military Aviation Museum, Tangmere and once I’d got the group photo in the bag (at the first attempt too!!) we had a good look around at the external exhibits which affords an excellent chance to view paint tones and weathering in natural daylight. The Phantom seen in the group shot (described by Tony as the Cadillac of fighter aircraft!) was particularly impressive. The exhibit comprises of two Westland choppers, a Phantom, Harrier FRS2, Sea Vixen and Vampire, a Lockheed T33 (another great weathering reference) and a Meteor F8 among others.
We quickly assembled inside and once monies were exchanged we were warmly welcome and ushered into a side room for a short information dvd on the Museum. The exit of this room leads you neatly into the Merston Hall which houses the main aircraft display. Immediately you are overwhelmed with the huge amount of items to see, particularly in such a confined space, and this lead to some inventive photography techniques in an attempt to capture the large aircraft on display. The hall houses two speed record aircraft, a Meteor F4 and a very glossy finished Hunter. In addition there is the Supermarine Swift, a glorious K5054 replica Spitfire
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alongside a MkV, and an early Hurricane. Being an Eastleigh lad, seeing K5054 up close was worth the visit alone. Scattered amongst the aircraft were hundreds of items and information boards and you couldn’t walk far before your eyes were diverted to something of interest.
The walkway meanders around and before we got to the Meryl Hansed hall which covers the cold war era, we saw a small display which will eventually be home to the cold war models we are building. Peter informed us that the museum plan to upgrade the display. The hall manages to squeeze in another Hunter and the huge EE lightening. Aside from K5054, this for me was the most extraordinary of the exhibits and sets an imposing sight indeed.
The last part of the museum consists of two halls, the Tangmere and Battle of Britain, with the former featuring a wealth of exhibits covering Tangmere’s operational activities from 1917 to the 70’s. Items from SOE agents were abound and provided a fascinating insight into the cloak and dagger methods of WWII. There were a host of other interesting things to see including a detailed analysis of how a WWII bombing raid was carried out using vintage bombing mechanisms and early plotting
computers. The last hall told the story of bombing raids on UK soil, life on the home front, early photo recon equipment, a display of recovered engine parts from downed German bombers and fighters, and with doubt the most special exhibit, the recovered remains of a crashed Hurricane, complete with personal effects of the ill fated pilot, the 20 year old Sgt Dennis Noble. There was even a brief case allegedly once belonging to Luftwaffe ace Adolf Galland! Once more the walls were covered with hundreds of items to see, some very personal. Sadly, the EE Lightening simulator was offline, so we could not have the planned go at it, hopefully next time. Flash photography is not permitted in the last two halls, so unfortunately we were unable to take any pictures.
The museum uses models to good effect throughout all of the halls, with well over 100 models of varying quality being displayed. We agreed that the way they were shown could be improved, and many are in need of an update. Our cold war contribution should go a long way to helping.
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With the tour over all that remained was to grab a coffee (the pilot’s name was Erich Hartmann!!), sign the visitor’s book and take a short walk to view the superbly kept memorial gardens, a poignant reminder of the cost of war.
The Tangmere Museum is without a doubt an excellent and worthwhile visit whether you’re an aircraft enthusiast or not. The curator and his staff have done an outstanding job of cramming in hundreds of things to see, read and be amazed at.
Highly recommended.
COLD WAR RUSSIAN AIRCRAFT FOR TANGMERE COMPLETION
As announced last month Peter Lloyd is generously sponsoring a completion to build cold war Russian Aircraft for the Tangmere museum (which after our visit is desperately needed), with a prize fund of £100 and free kits this is well worth entering.
The list so far of entrants and models is as follows:
Dale Mig 15
Steve Edwards Mil 8 and Ant 2
Vic Mig 29
Roger Doswell Su 15
Paul Guppy Mig 21
Tony Adams Su 25
Peter has obtained all the kits requested and will bring them along for collection at the May meeting.
It is not too late for further entries if you were unable to attend last month or were having second thoughts so please let Peter know and hopefully we can arrange for further models.
Other important types which would be good to have are Il 28 Beagle, Mig's 17,19,23 and 29, Su's 7, 11,17,24 & 27 and Tu16.
HENDON SHOW 23RD MAY 2010
Romsey Modellers are set to attend The Hendon Scale Model Show, held at the superb RAF Hendon museum, Harrow, North London. This affords another chance to have a look around at the museum as well as the model show. The club have 12ft of table space, hopefully once more located under the nose of the Beaufighter. We’re going mob handed, with 6 members booked in. Last years show was an excellent day, particularly with
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such superb models on show. Let’s hope we can repeat our competition success at Poole and come away with some trophies.
Admission is free, so if you fancy a day out why not pop along and see how we’re all getting along!
More details can be found here; http://www.rafmuseum.org.uk/
A report will appear in next month’s magazine.
REVELL COMPETITION
This months meeting will host the first of our 2010 competitions, and as the title suggests your theme is any model by Revell or Revell Monogram. I’m hoping with the one year lead in time, we’ll see a good show of new entries. I’m already aware of some ambitious projects. The normal rules
apply, any model, any genre, any scale, as long as its plastic/resin and not diecast! Please note I will be checking the validity of your entry post competition!! A one off trophy will be on offer as well as some supplies of scapel blades courtesy of www.scalpelsandblades.co.uk
…..AND FOR NEXT YEAR….TAMIYA COMPETITION
It was difficult to ignore this manufacturer for much longer and with some superb releases in the last 6 months or so, the time is right to announce next year’s theme. Tamiya’s catalogue is extensive to say the least and covers virtually every genre of modelling and in nearly every popular scale available. I’m sure everyone in the club has a Tamiya kit in their collection, so perhaps we’ll see amongst Tony’s 1/32nd Spitfire, Vic’s 1/32nd F16 and Dale may even have his 1/350th battleship completed in time for next May’s contest. Conversions are permitted, so long as the
model is based on a Tamiya kit.
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ROMSEY MODELLERS PHOTO EVENING
A big thank you to everyone that brought a model along for our photo session at last months meeting, I managed to get some great shots for our on line gallery. Tony will announce when these have been uploaded, in the meantime here’s a few to whet your appetite.
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This proved surprisingly difficult, even more so with the entries spread out through both rooms. Once again Romsey Modellers gained plenty of awards for their hard‐work and I was particularly pleased for Steve Edwards getting an award for his figures: The haul was as follows;
• Russell Eden, Gold, Jeep Diorama • Russell Eden, Silver, Stug B • Russell Eden, Commended, Itasha Skyline • Tony Adams, Bronze, Bristol F2B • Paul Adams, Gold, Aprilia RSV250 • Steve Edwards, Overall Bronze Rifleman/Coldstream Guard 1815
Well done everyone. Another good day out at a well organised show.
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REVELL 1/48 HEINKEL 111 H3 H6 BY TONY ADAMS
I finished last months write up just as I was closing the fuselage, at the time I was planning to model a H3 variant of the He111 as I wanted to depict a aircraft that was involved in the raid on Southampton on October 31st 1940. I spent quite a lot to time looking for decals for aircraft involved , and had anticipated having to make my own of a H3 from ### that I found in a book. However I eventually got hold of a AeroMaster decal set that included a H6 machine based in Lille, France in 1940, that would save ma a lot of work. Fortunately nothing I had done so far excluded my modelling a H6 so game on…
My first job was to clean up the join between fuselage halves. In places filler was required to fill gaps [1] , other area just required a little Mr Surfacer 500 before rubbing down , I had placed Tamiya tape either side of the join in order to protect most of the fuselage from over aggressive sanding [2].
The wing halves were cemented together alongside the elevators, I did consider cutting away the control surfaces but in the end I decided I had enough to do.
I had some etch to enhance the wheel wells that required removing some of the existing plastic from the front bulkhead, once done I decided to cover up the resulting rough surface with plasticard [3]. The landing gear doors are moulded integrally with the wheel well side panels which meant that had to be fitted at this stage, I decided that there was no way they would have got through the build undamaged so I cut them away to be fitted later[4]. The next job was to build the engine nacelles again with a number of photo etch parts representing radiators and grills.
[1] some areas needed more work than others [2] fuselage ready for sanding
[3]plasticard cover for the wheel well [4]wheel wells enhanced with etch
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The kit radiator flaps were cut away [5] and replaced with etch. A considerable amount to time was spent getting the join between the halves correct, it required a good deal of Mr Surfacer and sanding to get rid of the join, once done they didn’t look too shoddy [6].
When I offered up the nacelles to the wings the fit was terrible [7], it took a while before I realised that the wing was actually too thin at the point it joined to the engine. I managed to rectify this by making a shim out of thick plasticard to push the top wing surface against the wheel well and thus increase the wing thickness [8]. Once done the engine nacelles fitted perfectly.
It was now time to fix the wings to the fuselage , again dry fitting established that things were not going to be straight forward , A huge gap existed at the point the bottom surface of the wing met the fuselage, this was mainly due to the bomb bay walls bowing slightly inwards. I got around this by first gluing the top of the wing
[5]removing the radiator flap [6] nacelle ready to add to the wing
[7] The initial fit was terrible! [8] the solution , add a shim to push the wing apart
[9] More fit problems! [10] clamping the wings to remove the gap
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to the fuselage and once dry using a clamp to pull the area around the bomb bay toward the bottom of the wing [10].
The stabilisers went on next and the model then looked like a real aircraft, which is a stage I love. I must admit “zooming” the model around a bit making aircraft noises . I hope none of my neighbours were watching!
The etch bomb bay was inserted, I cut away the kit bomb bay doors ready for etch doors which will be fitted later in the build. After more cleaning up and plugging any holes giving access to painted surfaces the airframe [11] was given a coat of Tamiya fine primer via airbrush after decanting it from the can [12]. The primer did expose a few small gaps which needed rework, particularly along the lower fuselage join, I spent several evenings filling , sanding and adding primer and I must say I still am not totally happy with the result, still it will be difficult to see when the machine is on it’s pins.
Panel lines removed by sanding were restored using a scribe and some dyno tape as a guide, I only slipped once which made a change and the damage was easily repaired. I then had a small disaster, the cabin windows are in the exact place your fingers go to when you pick up the model and surprise surprise I managed to push one through [13]. I did manage to push it back using a cocktail stick inserted from the gondolier but in gluing it place manage to fog it badly, this is something I would have to fix later.
Black paint was the sprayed over all panel lines [14] as a preshade which has worked well in the past. I had originally planned to only preshade the bottom surfaces as in the past have not been successful with the technique when using dark colours similar to the upper surfaces, however I did get carried away and did the whole aircraft which actually proved to be a serendipitous event. Fine coats for Gunge Sanyo Light Blue(RLM65) were sprayed over the bottom surfaces [15]. This was then masked off. The aircraft I was depicting has while squadron leader’s flashes on the wing and tail. I did have decals for these but decide to
[11] Ready for painting [12] primed and ready
[13] BUM! [14] pre shade on the undersides
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paint them instead in order to reduce the chance of the underlying paint showing through. I sprayed a block of white on the wings and tail and then using the decals as a template cut and applied pieces of masking tape[16].
I then applied the RLM71 Dark Green to all of the top surfaces , once again in thin layers in order not to swamp the preshade. Once dry I used most of my stock of making tape in creating the camo pattern, at least the geometric pattern was easy to create.
After applying Gunge Sayno RML70 Dark Green, I added a little white to the mix along with plenty of thinner and sprayed the centre of most panels to provide a subtle shading effect [19].
[15] Light blue applied [16] white applied and masked for wing flashes
[17] RML71 applied to top surfaces , allowing the preshade to show through
[18] camouflage masking
[19] Shading using thinned RLM70 breaks up the wide expanses of colour
[20] masking removed – good job !
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is on her way to have damage incurred repaired. An athwart ships platform seems to exist aft of the funnel bearing a single quad machine gun mounting, on the port side. In the original picture, a pair of support stanchions can just be seen, so a rectangular platform is most likely.
This delightful picture (left) confirms some of the above. It was taken at Keppel. Peter got this confirmed by Bill Francis who served in HMS Exeter during this time. The pennant number looks like I68. I still cannot determine what is behind the after funnel. Peter is convinced that the quad platform is still there. With no screens and no weapons. Unfortunately, by the time this picture turned up, the model was complete!
This final picture (below) was taken during her time at Tandjong Priok. She is transferring
stores to/from an unknown ship.
In the bridge wings twin Lewis guns appear to be fitted, the dark grey looks to carry onto the superstructure and the funnels might have bands on them, maybe red. What is not clear is a crucial area just aft of the smaller after funnel. Is there any form of platform there, and if so, what shape and what is on it? The pennant number still looks like I68. Did she carry ‘D’ in the Med, then switch to I on leaving?] Why do the bridge wings only have twin Lewis guns, when it the Med she carried Oerlikons? One answer might concern the shortage of Oerlikons in the Med where they were desperately needed. It was common practice where possible to remove Oerlikons barrels from sinking ships if there was time so to do. So as Vampire was leaving the theatre for along refit in Singapore, it is probable that her Oerlikons were removed, as they were needed more in the Med than where she was going…but this was in mid 1941!
The pictures show the current state of the model, which I thought was finished, but now needs some alterations.
In the bridge wings I need to remove my Oerlikons and replace with twin Lewis guns. I think that the splinter mattresses shown in the final photograph would still have been in place when she was sunk with Hermes, so these need adding.
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The gundeck aft of the funnel will probably be altered to an unshielded rectangular platform carrying no weapons, but for now I am leaving it as it is just in case somebody else has information. The pennant number is also a problem that needs to be resolved, and maybe the funnel bands need adding. If any of you have any ideas regarding these aspects, please let me know.
Nigel is a regular contributor to this publication, having written articles about a number of his ship and aircraft models and of course his excellent descriptions of his fathers war time exploits. Peter French served with the RAF, after which he did a few jobs, but his trade is that of a draughtsman. He is passionate about military ships and has devoted many years to building up a collection of photographs and references with particular emphasis on colour schemes. He builds in brilliant models in 1/1200, generally producing his own plans from the photographs. He has developed a keen eye which accompanies a deep knowledge of ships to untangle fine detail from often quite indistinct photographs. His artwork runs into thousands of ships and rivals the best published experts for accuracy. He doesn’t own a computer, everything is done by hand. He also takes great delight in spotting mistakes made by some of the self labelled 'experts'!
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USS HORNET BUILD BY RICHARD STEWART
Well I left it last time with the flight deck painted and ready to be weathered and the application of arrestor wires to finish. The weathering was achieved by using pastels and differing grades of lead pencils. The arrestor wires are fine painted nylon thread which is passed through holes I drilled in the deck and covered with the GMM arrestor wire caps. For the crash barriers I gave the same idea a go but it looked rather ‘busy’ so I used a 0.3mm engineering pen and marked them in which provided very successful. Getting close to fitting the flight deck, but before that the whale boat station on the Port side was added as it would prove difficult to access with the deck on.
MOUNTED
With my little accident at Greenham Common still fresh in my mind where I dropped it and spent the next couple of hours repairing it! I have managed to find a piece of plywood large enough to fit it on. I now realise how big this whole thing is going to be (good thing I’m having the house extended!). The ship is off centre as it will be part of a diorama with a British destroyer transferring as rescued US Pilot.
ENTOMBMENT
It was now time to cover for good the hanger deck, but before I did that there was one more final test of the lights. The flight deck fitting was a workup as it was 0.5mm shorter in width than the hull! To overcome this, the hull was introduced to my shash clap, and some rather large paint tins which ensured that it set in the correct position. To also ensure the hull would not give way over time I also used metal rods to pin the flight deck to the hull. The electrics were soldered to the two metal rods masquerading as the hydraulic rams for the
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center elevator. I have also knocked up a cover for the whole thing which is not one of my best works as it was built from bits in my workshop but it keeps the dust (and cat) off.
BRIDGE
The last part of the build, I started with the two main halves of the bridge section, but because of the camouflage pattern I decided to leave off most of the main walkways and gun tubs as these would prove difficult to paint once fitted. As with the hull I decided to brush paint the bridge starting with the lightest working up. With the walkways I painted the decks (deck blue) when dry, masked and spayed with Tamiya primer which is almost a perfect match to Haze grey used in the camouflage pattern. This gives a very nice demarcation contrast.
To be continued……………………..
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1/35 WILLY’S JEEP BY MALCOLM GRANT
The 1/35th scale Italeri Willy’s MB Jeep with Trailer was only £10 Inc p&p from www.netmerchants.co.uk.
Moulded in Olive green plastic, the 95 pieces, plus transparent parts are fairly flash free. The jeep itself is a late production one, as the decal sheet has four different sets of markings to choose from – from June 1944 to February 1945. The three man crew supplied with the kit – a driver and two infantrymen, need to be silently placed in the bin as these are very badly moulded and look like something from the 1960’s, compared
with the very highly detailed figures you can buy today.
The M18 57mm recoilless rifle supplied with the kit is worth building. I will place this in the trailer along with the other spare parts that Russ gave me – “cheers Russ” – backpacks, ammunition boxes, etc.
To replace the crew I bought the US Jeep crew and MP set from MiniArt (no. 35047) for £7.75 from Just Add Imagination. The set consists of three crewmen and two MPs with a selection of small arms. They are very highly detailed, even showing moulded on sergeant stripes on the upper arms. With the driver as a base, I used the left leg from the other seated figure as a replacement, so as to appear the driver is resting with his foot up on the side of the jeep. His right hand is moulded to hold the gear stick but I needed him to be more relaxed as they are stationary. I cut a small wedge out of his right arm and slightly repositioned it so now his hand is resting on his knee. The other hand I added a cigar made from stretched sprue and I altered the angle of his head slightly too. Humbrol filler was used for slight imperfections, then Humbrol light grey (145) painted over this to seal the filler.
Onto the Jeep and the trailer. Consisting of 74 parts it all went together reasonably well. The only filler needed was on the trailer chassis where the ejector marks were showing by the towing hitch. The body of the Jeep also needed some filer and sanding with fine wet & dry where the sides meet the bonnet panel, just where the windscreen hinges forwards. The canvas tilt cover looked slightly wrong so after studying several reference photographs I added two pieces of plasticard, one each side, where the top meets the back, to give it a more curved shape to the canvas tilt.
The transparent parts that are supplied for the windscreen are much too thick and would represent 4inch thick bullet proof glass in this scale! I cut out new ones from acetate sheet using the old ones as templates. Locating them in the windscreen and tilt with superglue.
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Strangely the assembled model on the side of the box shows the windscreen wipers in the wrong position, located at the bottom of the windscreen as on modern cars! 1940s Jeep wiper hung downwards from the top of the windscreen. New wipers will be made from off‐cuts of brass etch.
The only other modification I did to the jeep was to drill a small 0.7mm hole in the front bumper. This represents the starting handle hole and is slightly offset to the centre line of the radiator grill, to the right, face on. The single round mirror located on the driver’s side was covered with aluminium foil and stuck down with PVA glue to
represent the curved reflective lens of the original.
Looking at the exhaust it just did not sit correctly. It was too high. So I added two smaller pieces of plasticard to make it lower, along the line of the jeep body. Also with a very small drill I drilled out the end of the exhaust.
There is an engine block in the kit consisting of six pieces. But with the bonnet lid firmly glued down I did not want to include it, as it cannot be seen anyway. But if you bought one of the many Jeep aftermarket photo‐etch sets, it might be worth super‐detailing it.
A homemade towrope will be added along with the shovel and axe that are located on the left side of the jeep.
The next stage is to prime the whole model then coat it in light Humbrol olive drab (86), and apply the decals. More on that in part 2.
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BOX REVIEW: TAMIYA 1/32 SPITFIRE MK IX BY TONY ADAMS
Following on from my review of the last two months I finally have calmed down enough to provide an objective review of this fantastic kit. Before I summarised it as follows:
WOW, WOW , WOW
Now to put a little more meat on the bones…
The box itself gives a good clue on the wonders within; luxurious gold lettering is printed below an attractive artwork of Johnnie Johnson’s “J for Johnnie” aircraft pictured in front of the white cliffs of Dover, which pretty well sums up the historic nature of the subject. Opening the box and you a greeted with a huge amount of plastic , metal and quality. All sprues are packed in separate plastic bags, while metal parts and the much talked about delicate cowls are contained in boxes. The quality of the plastic is supreme, without hint of flash or sink marks. Where parts are attached to sprues the minimum amount of plastic is used which will make cleanup very easy, in fact I will be painting most parts on the sprues as I expect minimal cleanup and fit issues.
The surface detail is superb , with very fine crisp panel lines and subtle rivet detail. The fuselage is in two parts along the centreline and continues to the engine firewall. Many optional parts are included , most of which are mentioned in the instructions , however I have read that there are a number that are not , including alternate style exhausts, lower cowl supercharger intakes and various blisters and intakes for sub versions. I am not enough of a Spitfire buff (yet) to say what machines these parts would cover, but I’m sure someone will inform me. Two versions of wingtips are supplied (standard and clipped), two versions of wing guns ( two gun and four gun C wing). And more options: early and last gunsights, three wheel patterns (5 spoke ,4 spoke and covered hubs) , two elevator forms (early and last) , and two rudders forms ( rounded and pointy) , with these
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options there will be very few aircraft of this mark that you can’t faithfully reproduce, it’s a rivet counter’s paradise!
All control surfaces are separate, ailerons, elevator and rudder have metal hinges and so will be movable. Flaps can be modelled open or closed. Alternative parts are available for modelling the aircraft with raised or lowered undercarriage which can be interchanged as your mood requires, a substantial display stand clips onto the bottom via the removal slipper tank allowing the aircraft to be modelled in flying trim.
The highlight is likely to be the delightfully detailed Merlin, with those innovative micro thin cowls held on my magnets allowing access . The kit does lack ignition leads but that’s about it, no doubt the aftermarket guys are already on the case.
The cockpit is perfectly detailed and includes decals for the instrument dials, (reverse printed and mounted on transparent parts in the same way as the 1/32 Mitsubishi Zero I built last year). A optional pilot is supplied which I am considering using ( I wonder if I can get Pat to paint it for me?) along with a standing figure. The clear parts are very thin and without moulding marks. Two sets of vinyl tyres are supplied ,one set for standing on the other which is half thickness, to go on the raised undercarriage parts. Self adhesive canopy masks are provided which you have to cut out with a sharp scalpel (oh what a hardship). Decals cover two sheets covering three aircraft
a) JE‐J belonging to Johnnie Johnson July 1943 in standard Ocean Grey / Dark Green b) ZX‐6 of the Polish 145 squadron in Tunisia 1943 in Middle Stone and Dark Earth c) “Dauphine” of the French Air Force in Indochina 1948 in standard Ocean Grey / Dark Green
I brief look at Hannants shows that many decal sets are about to come out covering numerous aircraft, I have yet to decide the subject of my build.
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The 36 page instruction book is well detailed splitting the construction over 71 steps. A 16 page reference booklet provides walk around photos of museum aircraft.
That about wraps it up, I really can’t wait to get started , I just have to finish my bloody He111 first!
WAAARRGH!!! THE ORKS! – PART 1 – INITIAL REVIEW BY RUSSELL EDEN
After building several frustrating but worthwhile projects – itasha cars and super detailed tanks ‐ I needed a break – something I could really enjoy building with my brain in neutral. Something from Games Workshop I thought.
After a bit of thinking I was tempted to get a 1/35 armoured car and convert it into an Imperial Guard vehicle, but I’d already built and converted the VAB into one so I needed something different.
I had a browse through the Forge World site and discovered they’d released a load of new kits and conversions. These used to be very over priced but they now seem pretty reasonable – I think everything else has gone up and they haven’t.
Anyway, I was browsing the Ork section (big, green creatures with big teeth, nasty attitudes and a love of building vehicles out of scrap – for those who don’t know!) when I came across a rather cool truck – that’s it I thought – got to have it. With a week until payday it was time for a bit research and scavenging on EBay. There are numerous sellers who buy GW kits and sell them in parts. So I decided I wanted to up gun it with a couple of gunners from another Ork vehicle and add some accessories – I know; I can’t leave anything alone! With these bits ordered from the
states it was time to wait.
Original Ork Trukk
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Once payday arrived I ordered the truck – it was delivered next day – shockingly fast! It came in a rather large cardboard box containing one plastic kit of the original Ork trukk and a bag of resin parts for the conversion.
The plastic kit box contained 2 heavy‐duty well moulded sprues with minimal but comprehensive instructions and a sheet of decals – I’ve ordered more decals off eBay. I have been getting more and more impressed with GW plastic kits over the years and the trukk is no exception – it’s great, with loads of options of building and it should go together really easily. The only downside is that the mould lines can be bit on the heavy side, although these too are getting better with every new release.
Drilling out the gun barrels is a pain as they are cast in quite a soft plastic but these are designed for gaming first and model makers second.
The resin parts from Forge World have been getting better over the years too – I ordered a missile launcher many years go and it was terrible – it had distorted in the mould and got through their quality control – shocking! This bag of bits was well cast and very well detailed. The cab section is one block with most of the driver cast in place with separate carbs and exhausts. The rear deck can be made with the sides up or down – I have resisted buying the four barrelled flak gun which would go perfectly on the rear deck – just like a WWII German flak truck. After soaking in bleach for a couple of hours to remove the release agent I trimmed all the casting blocks off and gave the parts a rub down.
Initial impressions so far are very promising – I shall resist building it for the moment as I have a couple of projects to get out of the way and possibly a week or so off after some surgery – more I hear you cry – yep – more pain and time off – ho hum.
IN NEXT MONTH’S MODELLER
• Revell Heinkel 111 part 3
• Pat’s Airacobra part 4
• Revell competition report
• Hendon show report
• Plus much more…
Forge World Ork Trukk conversion
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CLUB DIARY
May 19th Club Night: Revell Competition May 8th May 23rd
Tangmere Trip (provisional)Hendon Show
June 16th Club Night: American Trophy June 5th Salisbury Show
July 21st Club Night
August 18th Club Night
September 15th Club Night
September 4th
September 18th
Build a Model in a day (provisional) Farnborough Show
October 20th Club Night October Yeovilton Autumn Show
November 17th Annual Competition
December 15th Xmas Night
Next Meeting: Wednesday May 19th (8pm to 10pm)
Ampfield Village Hall Morleys Lane Romsey Hampshire SO51 9BJ
Thank you to this month’s contributors to this publication
Russell Eden Paul Adams Nigel Denchfield
Malcolm Grant Richard Stewart Tony Adams
CONTACT INFO
Web Site wwww.romseymodellers.co.uk
Editor Tony Adams Tel: 01794 519153 email: [email protected] Competitions Paul Adams Tel: 02380 398858 Treasurer Vic Short Tel: 01794 511843