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Seattle Chapter IPMS-USAMay 2000

PREZNOTES

In This Issue

Visits to Two IPMSers 3Upcoming Model Shows 3DH.2 in Action 5Case Ad #1 5RECON 7 Preview 6One a Month 74th NZ Armoured Brigade 8Academy Me 163B/S 9So You Want to Fly a PBY? 10Williams Bros. Gallery 10Case Ad #2 10Ferrarin Rises Again! 11NWSM Show Preview 13Golden Age Stars of IPMS 13

As I write this it is a beautiful spring day.A day to drive around town with thewindows down, if you know what I mean.Not that this has anything to do withmodeling. It doesn’t. It just partiallyexplains why this is such a shortPreznotes. I could actually even stop hereand have Robert, our esteemed editor, runmy picture with a big smile on my face atthe controls of a B-17, but that wouldn’tserve our modelers well (not enough detailin the photo to enhance anybody’s modelB-17 cockpit). Besides, who would want afull page picture of your President for Lifestaring back at you while you are trying torelax after work with a bit of light reading.Things like that could lead to memberscancelling memberships. Ewww.

Well, I’ve finally done it. I have startedcutting up my magazine collection. Istarted with Air Enthusiast, cutting photosand articles of interest to me, and usefulinformation for models in my collection.The enormity of the task ahead is justhitting me, as in the course of two days,I’ve only cut about three years of the onemagazine and have already created over100 files. Add to this the rest of themagazines I’ve collected over the years:Wings, Airpower, Air Classics, FlyPast,Aeroplane Monthly, FineScale Modelerand many others, it would appear that Ihave my work “cut out” for me. One thingthat should keep me going is that I’vefound information on two subjects that Icurrently have on my workbench. Prettyexciting, considering I’ve only cut a fewmagazines. I also found stuff on a fewprojects for which I was previouslylooking for information, but had alreadycompleted! One thing that this will gain forme is a lot of information on an individualsubject in only one place. No more timewasted scouring magazines looking forthat one article I vaguely remember from afew years ago...

Another thing, it’ll clear up space on mybookshelves. Mmm, more books. Ofcourse, the downside is that it may taketime away from my modeling. Then again,it usually rains around here a lot, prevent-ing the lawn from being mowed on aregular basis. That’s it, my lawn mowingtime will go to editing my magazinecollection. If you come visiting later thissummer, my house will be the one with thewaist high grass in the front yard and thesearch party in the back yard looking forthe dogs.

See you at the meeting,

��

[Model of Ferrari, above, by SteveHolmes, not by our esteemed President - Ijust really liked the model! - ED]

SEATTLE CHAPTER CONTACTSPresident: 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 Washington National Guard Armory,off 15th Ave. NW, just to the west side of Queen Anne Hill in Seattle. See the back page for a map. Our meetings begin at 10:00 AM, 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, the nationalorganization. See below for form. Any of the members listed above will gladly assist you with further information about the Chapter or Society.

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. 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 2000 meeting schedule is as follows. To avoid conflicts with previously scheduled IPMS events and NationalGuard activities at the Armory, please note that some of our meeting days fall on the third Saturday of the month, not the traditionalsecond Saturday. We suggest that you keep this information in a readily accessable place. All meetings begin at 10:00 AM.

May 13, 2000 (2nd Saturday) June 10, 2000 (2nd Saturday)July 15, 2000 (3rd Saturday) August 15, 2000 (3rd Saturday)

Seattle Chapter IPMS-USA Newsletter


Upcoming Model Shows

May 20: Spring Model Contest and Show at Hobbytown USA, 18500 - 33rd Ave W.,Lynnwood. Registration starts at 10am. All categories and scales. Specialtrophy: “Armed Forces Day” - for “best modern (post-1990) USmilitary subject”. All models in store 20% off day of show. Info: 425-774-0819.

June 3: Northwest Scale Modelers Show, Museum of Flight, Seattle. See page 16.

June 17: RECON 7, 2000, presented by IPMS Aces Wild. German American SocietyHall, 25 W. 3rd Avenue, Spokane, Washington. See page 6. Theme: Pioneers ofthe 20th Century. Contest chairman, Mike Tsoumpas at [email protected] site: www.users.uswest.net/~clarkmonster/Recon2000.htm

July 8: Scale Model Show & Contest sponsored by IPMS/Yakima Model Makers, SelahCivic Center, 216 South 1st St., Selah, WA. Registration starts at 9am. All modelsentered into the contest will be awarded Gold, Silver, or Bronze ribbons. MakeIt/Take It event for young model builders, sponsored by Revell-Monogram.Info: Stu Alvord, 509-697-7914

July 19-22: IPMS-USA National Convention, Dallas, TX.Web site: ipmsnct.org/toc.html

Visits to Two IPMSers

by Paul Ludwig

Back at the time of the National Conven-tion in either Columbus or Albuquerque Isaw a collection of 1/48th scale models ofevery version of the AD Skyraider, andasked to meet their maker. Ed Barthelmes ofthe Tri-City Modelers (a chapter based inWarren, PA) had made them, and he toldme he was to be the author of an Aerofaxbook on the AD. I gave him some photos,and in exchange he agreed to build a 1/48th

scale Collect-Aire Douglas F3D Skyknightfor me. It took him a while because resinparts tend to have an orange-peel surface,and sanding resin uncovers bubbles thatrequire further filling and sanding. Edrecently finished the model, and I was inneed of a vacation. We agreed to meet on aweekend in March when the Tri-CityModelers were to have a model show.

Last October I went nuts over the beautyof the Curtiss BFC-2 Goshawk, and begancollecting research material. The BFC-2wasn’t new to me. My obsession was.

Somehow, at least in my case, an obses-sion crops up at the darndest time and itneeds resolution immediately. Soon after, itgoes away as fast as does the sun inSeattle. But soon after this obsession hit, astory, with photos, came out in theJournal about Arlo Schroeder. His BFC-2was in the photo, and I wanted to see it. Ihad to see it. Nothing would stop me fromseeing it. After I had agreed to meet withEd Barthelmes in Erie, PA, on March 24, Itacked on a chance to meet Arlo Schroederat his home in Wichita, KS, a few dayslater. I sent Arlo an offering of one of mybooks, and gave him time to contemplatemy arrival should he agree. After a decentinterval I phoned him, and Arlo invited meto visit. I hate to travel alone, but JoAnneteaches school and couldn’t take time off,so I packed up and flew out.

Making airline connections on a space-available basis is trying, but I made it toErie the day before the model show. It wasto be held in Youngsville, just miles westof the New York state border, in extremenorthwestern Pennsylvania. While wewere driving there, Ed told me that Aerofaxhad been bought by Ian Allan, and that

Ian Allan had declined to publish theAerofax book on the AD that Ed hadsuggested. Squadron/Signal has decidedto do a Walk Around on the AD, number23, which should be available in the fall.Perhaps my photos may yet put my oldsquadron on the map. The green lightningflash coming rearward from the cowl isstriking…

At the fire hall where the show was beingheld I rushed to the vendors room, whereEd had a friend reserve a kit I wanted. Bynoon the 260 models were in place, andlots of modelers from Pittsburgh, Cleve-land, Buffalo, and especially Erie mixedwith wives and kids, and people like mewho came to visit. After lunch in an inn inthe Pennsylvania hills we returned to awaitjudging, which took far longer than isnecessary. The rather great number of1/48th scale aircraft and the lack of judgingexpertise tended to cause confusion, andrepeated trips to worthwhile models wereneeded to sort out those models to beawarded a prize.

I had paid for the Collect-Aire kit that Edbuilt, and both it and his A-6E won firsts,and one won best aircraft. His two otherentries won a second and a third. The1/12th scale Bleriot that I thought wouldwin all the big trophies won nothing. Ajudge told me that glue appeared at joints.The Bleriot of that early era was made ofwood, and had no fabric on the fuselage.The builder had made and bent and joinedand glued and used wire with real turn-buckles, and had machined the engine ofmetal, and made rubber tires. None of thatmattered, because the judge had seen glue.The Bleriot won nothing. I was disap-pointed. Beauty is in the eye of thebeholder, while judges look for glue.

Modelers in the hills of northwesternPennsylvania tend to model cars they own,or would like to own, and car modelspredominated. Very near to dinnertime thejudging and awards ceremony werecompleted, and Ed and I rushed back toErie, where I treated the family to dinnerout. We passed through a town whereGeorge Washington had slept, and I gotout to take photos of plaques. Sunday


evening rolled around, and Ed boxed theF3D, and I went to the motel and packedmy bag. On Monday I flew out to Wichitawith my bag gone into luggage-cyberspace and me holding the F3D sovery carefully, trying to avoid passengersrushing to their seats on the three flightsconnecting Pennsylvania and Kansas.

Arlo Schroeder and I have a few things incommon. We were in the Navy, we flew inattack-type aircraft, and we love 1/16th

scale models. It is my assumption that theMuseum of Flight is holding its corporatebreath waiting for some 1/16th scalemodels. But that’s just me. How could Iknow?

Arlo picked me up at the airport and gotme checked into a motel in Valley City, andwe went to his house. The house is next toa grass strip, with a hangar containing hishomebuilt, his Aeronca, and a Link Trainer,stored for the day a museum wants it. Arlocan drive, but walks with a cane if thesurface is level, and he has his scooter toget him on long trips, such as at conven-tions. He led me to his basement modelroom, which also houses his wifeKathryn’s miniature dollhouses. Kathrynwas a Marine Link Trainer instructorduring World War Two; the two met in aroller rink and now share in our world ofscale modeling.

I headed for the BFC-2 model behind glass,and felt at home worshipping 1/16th scaleaircraft models. Surrounding the BFC-2were large-scale, and some small-scale,models (some made from kits). There wasan entire squadron of 1/72nd scale BoeingF4B-4s, painted exactly as a squadron’saircraft were painted, from the Skipper’sdown to the sort of position I flew as lastman. Arlo’s TBD Devastator is going to beat the Dallas show, and since beauty is inthe eye of the beholder and judges look forglue, the TBD may not satisfy everyone.By that, I mean that I saw no glue, but I’mnot a judge. I think the TBD is great, butI’m biased. I thought his F6F was great.How silly of me!

Extreme southern Kansas does not have amodeling club, and Arlo misses thecamaraderie that we in Seattle take forgranted. My visit may have lifted hisspirits, and if it did – which was part of myhomage to a Navy hero and combatveteran and his models – why, then mysort-of-vacation was not in vain.

I got homesick, and after 36 hours in ValleyCity I told Arlo and Kathryn I had todepart, and I came home. I threaded myway through the herd of passengers ontwo more connecting flights carrying theboxed F3D, and arrived home with a modeland some wonderful memories of visitingtwo IPMSers.

On the way to the Wichita airport, Arloand Kathryn expressed concern over thevalue of gifts of models to museums interms of tax deductions, and I stated that amodel of his should be worth at leastfifteen thousand; he said he’d donate themfive days before he dies. Bill Johnson hassome knowledge of gift model value, and Ilearned from Bill.

Some of you might know that Arlo was aturret gunner on a TBF. He and his crew ofthree sank the IJN Light Cruiser Yahagi,and were on the scene when the Yamatowas sunk. VT-10 was known as the

Buzzard Brigade, and Arlo was awardedthe DFC, and his pilot the Navy Cross, forsinking the Yahagi.

Few of you probably know Ed Barthelmes,who works full time as the internationalsales and marketing manager for a firm inErie. Constant travel limits his modelingtime. The demise of Aerofax, and the

change of mind of the people at Ian Allan,have cost the world the best book aboutthe AD that might have been. I saw thedraft and nitpickers, myself included, havelost a source for the Skyraider. What withthe recent errors in the Walk Aroundpublications on the F-86 and the Me 210/410, I don’t expect any great sense ofauthority coming from the Squadron/Signal book.

My vacation went well, and I had apreview of a magnificent model to beentered in the scratchbuilt category comeJuly. The corrugations in the wings of theTBD alone are worth attention. The TBDwas a large aircraft; the model is huge, andit is in the wonderful colors of the Navy’s1930s schemes.

Lastly, the model show in Youngsville thatI attended is apparently known as the OilCity show. Oil City is nearby, and is thehome of Francis Gabreski. ‘Nuff said.

The sinking of the Yahagi, April 7, 1945


Book Review: de HavillandDH.2 in Action by Peter

Cooksley

review by Robert Allen

The Squadron/Signal In Action series is sowell-known that it seems superfluous todescribe the particulars - 50 pages inlandscape format giving a technical andoperational history of the aircraft, filledwith photos and drawings that explaindetail differences, and illustrated with threecolor paintings by Don Greer and a centerspread of color profiles. De HavillandDH.2 in Action is number 171 in the series,and is the fifth on British WW1 aircraft tohave been written by Peter Cooksley.

What must be mentioned about thisvolume is a distinct improvement inSquadron/Signal’s previous glaringweakness - atrocious editing and proof-reading. Compared with others in theseries, and especially Cooksley’s ownBristol Fighter in Action, which seemed tosuffer from a typo per page, this isremarkably free of obvious productionerrors. The text is concise and quite wellwritten, a refreshing change from some ofthe other writers in the series, such the

insufferable Larry Davis, whose habits ofusing unnecessary exclamation points andCAPITALS for emphasis make anything hewrites virtually unreadable.

De Havilland DH.2 in Action begins witha short section on Geoffrey de Havilland’searly designs, followed by a nice eight-page treatment on the DH.1, a two-placepusher biplane that led directly to theDH.2. The rest of the book concentrateson the DH.2, the first viable British single-seat fighter aircraft. The last two pagescover a flying DH.2 replica that hasappeared in recent years.

Due to the lack of a British-built interruptergear, the pusher format was the only realoption for a fighter to fight the “Fokkerscourge” of 1916. The DH.2 served

admirably in that role, though it soonbecame obsolete once the Germansintroduced the Albatros fighters. Myfavorite fact about the DH.2 is that theGermans captured one before it went intosquadron usage; the prototype was sentto France for trials, and in August 1915,just two weeks after arriving there, wasforced down and captured, several monthsbefore any production examples enteredservice!

A nice feature of the book is that thephotos are reproduced as large as pos-sible, often just one or two to a page. Thislets considerable detail be seen, althoughthe photos are often not of the highestquality. That’s understandable; virtually allof them are over 80 years old, and the fieldconditions of WW1 were hardly condu-cive to taking studio quality photos. Weshould be grateful for what we have. Oneespecially grainy photo shows a poormechanic starting the engine by twirlingthe prop, after which he was required todeftly escape by ducking under the tailbooms. The caption apologizes for thesubstandard quality of the photo, and thennotes that it is the only one known to existshowing this procedure.

Windsock Datafiles still remain theindustry standard for info on WW1aircraft, but books like this are certainlywelcome. It is considerably cheaper (under$10) and much more easy to find than aWindsock monograph, yet it still gives youpretty much all the historical informationyou could want on the DH.2.

We are rapidly approaching the time whenall new material on WW1 aircraft must, outof necessity, be second-hand accounts.Few can be alive today who flew or workedon the DH.2, and those who are must be atleast 100 years old. Books like this keepalive the memory of the aircraft and menfrom the first great air war.

All-Glass Display Case forSale

by Andrew Bertschi

For Sale: Glass display case with glass topDimensions: 77" W x 30" D x 28" H.Beveled front [approx. 28" D at top]Rear loading, no shelves included, overallgood condition, four castoring wheels -easily moveable, includes built-in fluores-cent lighting unit.Price: $80Contact: [email protected]


IPMS/USA Aces WildRECON 7, 2000

Saturday, June 17, 2000

Directions and Area Map

This year’s RECON 7 will be held at theGerman American Society Hall, 25 W. 3rdAvenue, Spokane, Washington. The Hall iseasy to find from Interstate 90. Traveling

either east or west, just take the DivisionStreet exit (if exiting from the west turn left(north) under I-90). Travel one block northto 2nd Avenue, turn left (west), go oneblock to Brown St and turn left again(south), go one more block and turn left(east) once more onto 3rd Avenue. TheGerman American Society will be just a fewhundred feet to the right side of the street.You won’t be able to miss our club banneron the front of the hall. There is tons of

free parking in thelot adjacent to andbehind theGerman AmericanHall, under I-90.

Agenda

8:00am Doorsopen for vendorset-up.9:00am Registra-tion begins.12:30pm Registra-tion closes.2:00pm ContestHall closes forjudging.3:30pm ContestHall re-opened.4:00pm Best Ofsand SpecialAwards an-nounced.5:00pm Thanksfor coming!

Theme:Pioneers of

the 20thCentury

Six theme awardswill be handedout; one each forthe model thatbest represents afirst of its kind:Aircraft, Auto,Figure, Space,Armor, Naval.Entrants willneed to indicate

on their entry forms if his or her model is tobe considered for a theme award.

Examples: First type of operational jetfighter, first man on the moon, first aircraftcarrier, etc. Essentially, anything thatrepresents a pioneering first, man ormachine. But be prepared to explain andjustify your “pioneer” on your entry form.Don’t be afraid to be creative.

Here’s what the basic awards will look like.(See photo in lower left-hand corner ofpage). The award is a 6"x 6"x 1/2" ceramicflooring tile with silk screened logo. Theaward text will be blue on first place tiles,red on second place tiles and white onthird place awards.

Vendors: Tables are available on a firstcome, first serve basis, at a cost of $15 pertable. Contact the contest chairman, MikeTsoumpas, at [email protected]

Awards and Categories

Aces Wild will be using modified, con-densed IPMS National Conventioncategories. In addition to Best of Showand Peoples Choice, Best Of categoryawards will also be issued; Best Junior,Aircraft, Car, Diorama, Armor, Ship, etc.The list of Special Awards follows:

Pioneers of the 20th Century awardsSam Greshio Memorial Award - Best US WWII Pacific Theater FighterBest Vietnam War SubjectBest WWII Axis ArmorBest WWII Allied ArmorBest MoparBest British Aircraft

For more information, see the RECON 7web page, from which this information wastaken:

http://www.users.uswest.net/~clarkmonster/Recon2000.htm


Simply One Man’s View:One a Month

by Andrew Birkbeck

I started the New Millennium with thefollowing New Year’s Resolution: that Iwould model for at least one full hour eachand every day. It is now May 1st, and so farI have kept to my resolution.

The need for this particular resolution wassimple: it was obvious that despite all mytalk about “intending to build every modelI own,” my actions were not consistentwith my words. In 1999, I finished sixmodels. My best year ever, ahead of 1998,which had seen five models completed.Problem was, with close to 350 unbuiltmodels in my current collection, that is abuilding rate requiring 58 years to com-plete the task. And this doesn’t factor inmy buying habit that averages these daysabout six new models per year.

A few years back, in a fit of bravado, Iboasted that my building goal was twomodels per month. This fell flat fairlyquickly when I soon realized that havingfirst one, then a second, child really ateinto one’s spare time. I also lacked thediscipline required to give up one thing toconcentrate on another. There are 24 hoursin a day, and you can’t do everything.

However, by the end of 1999, things fellinto place. I felt I had the disciplinerequired to stick to a more realistic programof modeling, I had also cleared the timeschedule with my wife. Our eldest wouldbe in bed by 8:45pm, and the youngestwould spend the time period between8:45pm and around 9:30pm going throughthe process of getting ready for bed, andfalling asleep with Mom. I chose, therefore,the time period 9pm until 10pm for my“Modeling Hour”.

At the same time as these decisions weremade, I canceled our cable televisionsubscription. As mentioned above, thereare 24 hours in a day, and that isn’tenough time to do everything one mightwant to achieve. The biggest distraction/

time waster in our household was theDemon Tube. I would find myself attractedto watching television, simply because itwas “easy”. It didn’t require muchthought, just switch it on, and dial throughthe 75+ channels until you found some-thing “interesting”. It was very relaxing. Italso used up much of my spare time. Withcable gone, I also became very selectiveabout what I watched. I actually startedchoosing my shows days in advance.Today, I watch television for two hours onaverage per week.

I now get my news via the radio, whilebuilding my models. The BBC News fromLondon comes in over the airwaves locallyfrom 9pm until 9:30pm, covering worldnews, sports, and finance. And in betterdetail than much of what you see ontelevision, I have found. No more “if itbleeds, it leads” coverage, but you have totake the good with the bad...

As for the modeling itself, at first it wastough going, “forcing” oneself down tomodel at a set time, for a set amount oftime. I ended up starting a modeling“journal”, both to note my progress, andas a way of saving time. Initially, I wouldgo down and spend much of my hourworking out what I was going to do. I soonclicked to the idea of spending the lastcouple of minutes of each hour writingdown what I was doing, and what I neededto do the next day. That way the moment Istepped into my modeling room for the“Modeling Hour”, I would pick up myjournal, give the notes a brief read, andstart productive work. And after the“Modeling Hour” was established for amonth or so, it became part of everydaylife, and didn’t seem in any way “forced.” Ilooked forward to it each night, after a hardday.

And the results of all this? Well, prettyspectacular, really. I mean just think aboutit, a minimum of 30 hours of modeling amonth, wisely spent, produces a lot ofassembled and painted parts. I havefinished one 1/48th aircraft model, one 1/72nd armor model, and am coming close tofinishing two 1/35th armor models andanother 1/72nd armor model. About right forone finished model per month, I would

say! And because I am actually seeingresults on a consistent monthly basis, I amencouraged to spend even more time onthe hobby of building and finishingmodels. I had forgotten how much funactually finishing a model could be! I nowalso manage to scrape perhaps two, eventwo-and-a-half hours out of each weekendday for the hobby. I get up with thechildren at 7am, and by noon, I haveworked in the yard or around the house forat least three hours. Another four hours orso of constructive work in the afternoon,and one has built up plenty of browniepoints with the rest of the family to allow aguy extra time for modeling!

One important note: I had prior to all thisbeen working towards improving mymodeling techniques in all areas, fromimproved construction, to decals, painting,and final weathering. Over the past threeyears, this effort has shown great improve-ment in my work, to where I placed Secondwith an armor subject at the 1999 IPMS/USA Nationals in Orlando, and anotherSecond with a motorcycle subject at the1998 IPMS/USA Nationals in Santa Clara.This winning of awards will almostcertainly stop now. Simply put, when yourgoal is output, you must cut corners inoverall “quality”. No longer can I spendgreat amounts of time filling sink marksand ejection pin marks that only someonewith a pen light, dental mirror, and a desireto find flaws would see (aka a Judge). Mynew credo is “if sitting on its wheels/tracks, I can’t see it, then that will do.” Iwill no longer spend hour upon hourcutting, filing, and bending little bits ofetched brass parts in order to improve onthe quality of the base kit. I build out ofthe box now, with perhaps a few minorexceptions. No more spending hour uponhour scratch building little bits and piecesout of sheet plastic and stretched sprue.My overriding goal is to build all themodels I have purchased, or will purchasein the future. My end product, the finishedmodels, will be as good as I can get them,in the time I have allotted for their comple-tion. This will still be perfectly acceptableto me, but perhaps not to some others. Butthen this is my goal; they can create theirown goals for their models.


Book Review: 4th NewZealand Armoured Brigadein Italy by Jeffrey Plowman

and Malcolm Thomas

review by Andrew Birkbeck

A friend of mine spent WW2 in the BritishFleet Air Arm aboard carriersin the Pacific. Immediately afterthe cessation of hostilities, hefound himself in NewportNews, USA, where his shipunderwent some minor repairs.Ashore the first day in port, heand his friends ran into afriendly group of US sailors,and started chatting amiably.At one point in the conversa-tion, one of the US sailorscalled across the bar to afriend to come over and meet“some of our brave allies in thewar against the Japs.” Towhich the other sailor re-sponded with a look ofincredulity, “can’t be, we beatthe Japs all by ourselves.”Such was the ignorance ofmany.

It wouldn’t surprise me to findsome out there who believethat the US military singlehandedly defeated the Axisforces in Italy, and “what theheck is a NZ ArmouredBrigade in Italy?” Well, exist itdid, the 4th NZ Brigadeconsisting as it did of threearmored regiments. Themanpower for this Brigadecame from NZ units that hadfought in the Middle Eastwhere the Kiwis had provided strongsupport to the British 8th Army doing battlewith the Afrika Corps.

The Kiwis landed in Italy in October 1943,immediately moving to the Sangro front,where they joined up with the 2nd NZ

Infantry Division doing battle with theGermans. Following action here, the Kiwisnext found themselves helping out atCassino, along with the British, Americans,Canadians, and Poles. Then it was off tojoin in the battle for Rome, then Florenceand on to Trieste.

As one might imagine, books on NewZealand armored formations in WW2 arenot exactly thick on the ground. In fact,

this is the first to enter my referencecollection. It was a very pleasant surpriseto discover via the Internet that this bookhad been self-published by the twoauthors. The book consists of 44 A4 sizedpages, contained within a soft coveredcard cover. Packed within these pages is a

good potted history of the Brigade’sactivities in Italy. Also included is usefulinformation such as unit organizationalcharts, lots of fairly crisply reproducedblack and white pictures of the men andmachines that made up the Brigade, colorand markings information, and even a“Modelling NZ Armour” section, detailingkits to be used in making up a collection ofKiwi armored vehicles.

And what a great mixture ofvehicles the Kiwis used. ShermanIII’s (M4A2), Sherman VC Firefly,M10 Gun Motor Carriage, Stuart V(M3A3), M31 Armored RecoveryVehicle, M3 White Scout Car,Universal Carrier (aka Bren GunCarrier), Scammell Pioneer andDiamond T M20 tank transporters,etc. All of these vehicles areavailable in kit form from onesource or another.

All in all, a great book on aneglected chapter of the Alliedpush through Italy in WW2. Andone that allows the modeller totake well-known US militaryvehicles, and create something alittle different. When was the lasttime you saw a military vehicle inNZ markings? (NB: Italeri’s 1/35th

kit of the M3 White Scout Caractually comes with markings forNew Zealand vehicles in Italy).

Hopefully one or two of you mightbe interested in obtaining thisbook for your collection. If so,please contact me as the book iscurrently available only directlyfrom the authors. Cost is a veryreasonable NZ$27, which includesairmail shipping to the USA. Thisis US$17, and I can arrange forpayment to be made to the authors

in NZ funds, for this amount, saving youthe hassle and expense of having topurchase a foreign check from your bank.


Academy 1/72nd ScaleMesserschmitt Me 163B/S

by Greg Reynolds, IPMS SantaRosa

The first impression you have on openingthe box is that this is a beautifully done kit.There are 35 medium gray parts and 5 clearfor the aircraft itself with 18 more for theScheuschlepper, the Komet’s uniqueground handling tractor. This kit alsoincludes optional parts for the two-seatMe 163S as well as faired and unfaired tailwheels. All the parts are all crisply molded,totally free of flash and sink marks. Thesurface detail is finely scribed and gener-ally agrees with photos. The fabricsurfaces are nicely represented, although itis a little heavy handed on the upper sideof the ailerons for my taste. All the maincomponents fit together without gaps.

The engineering of the kit seems need-lessly complex. It is very similar to the 1/48th scale Tri-Master kit. The main fuselageis molded in upper and lower halves whilethe tail cone and vertical stabilizer are leftand right halves. The break for the tailcone is at a point well aft of the real joint.This means you can sand the seamwithout worry of re-scribing. The wingsare molded with the correct “wash out”(twist) and feature separate leading edgeslats.

The cockpit is nicely detailed with a tub,seat, instrument panel, stick, and rearbulkhead. There is an additional separate

lever, the flap hand pump, but as molded itappears to block the pilot’s left leg fromreaching the molded-in rudder pedals. Thedetailing in the cockpit is basically correct.

The rear quarter windows behind thecanopy are molded as a single-piece“arch”. This does simplify assembly, but Iwish Academy had gone a step further andeliminated the thin rib of gray plasticbetween the canopy and the rear windowsegment. Another flaw in Academy’sapproach is that this clear segment alsohas molded onto it the armored glassbehind the pilot. This means that thearmored glass is too far aft and creates anasty edge lighting effect on the quarterwindows. If this bothers you as well, it ispossible to cut and file the optionalwindscreen for the “S” to replace the “B”quarter light part and eliminate all theseproblems.

The front armored glass is molded as aseparate piece, although it is a little

undersizebecause ofthe thicknessof thecanopy.

The skid isnaturally aseparatepiece and the“well” for theretractionmechanism ismolded open.

This area begs for some additional detailsince the kit only (and incorrectly)provides two crude posts to support theskid.

The two-seat “S” option consists of awhole new upper fuselage half, a two-placebathtub, extra cockpits bits, secondcanopy and windscreen.

The Scheuschlepper is a vast improvementover the Heller kit, but it is still a littlesimplified, especially the tracked wheels.

Decals are provided for 1/JG 400 “Yellow26” (Baron Munchhausen), 2/JG400

“White 14” (Flying Flea), and a genericLuftwaffe marking for the “S”. It is a shamethat Academy did not include decals forthe “S” in Soviet markings since this ishow it appears in all known photographs.The decal sheet also includes a compre-hensive set of stencils and white a/cnumbers 0 to 9. There are no swastikas andthe colors of Baron Munchhausen are notcorrect. My sheet is a little out of registeron the unit badges, but otherwise thedecals look quite useable.

Pick of the Litter?

So, besides having fashionable scribedpanel lines, is there any reason to pick theAcademy ‘163 over the Heller or Airfix?Let’s compare.

The first thing you notice is that they areall different lengths! The differencebetween the Heller and the Airfix is about3/16”! The Academy falls in-between,slightly longer than the Airfix. This is notsurprising. I discovered the same thingwhen I dug into the library. Few booksagree, quoting lengths ranging from6000mm (19’- 8 1/4”) to 5700mm (18” – 8 3/8”). This is not an uncommon problem,which deserves a separate article.Draughtsmen and mold makers misusemany published dimensions because thereis no indication of what the numbers mean.“Span” is usually unambiguous, but“length” can mean many things. Is itmeasured to the end of the fuselage, endof the rudder or end of the elevator? Is itparallel to the fuselage axis or the ground?Does it include or exclude pitot tubes, gunbarrels, or antenna? Sometimes dimensionsrefer to engineering datum points thathave no physical reality.

Well, getting back to the Komet, I located apublished wartime Messerschmitt drawingof the Me 163B in Alexander Lippisch’sThe Delta Wing, History and Develop-ment. It clearly shows 5920mm (19'-5")between the tip of the generator hub andthe end of the rocket nozzle (parallel tofuselage). Although labeled as the “B”model, it is not clear that this drawing is of

continued on page 12


So You Want to Fly a PBY?

from Don Kile, Santa Ana, CA,via RUPANEWS,

via Walt Fink

I can see why you would want to fly aCatalina, but you wouldn’t care to do it fora living. I used to watch the PBYs (I don’tthink they were called Catalinas in 1939)making their stately circuits around NorthIsland over San Diego Bay. I thought therecould be nothing finer than flying one ofthem.

I was wrong.

I flew in them for a year in Hawaii onuneventful patrols far from the actual war.They were steady and comfortable, but nofun to fly. We had good hot meals from thegalley and the bunks were very comfort-

able. (Some of my airline colleagues willunderstand my appreciation of the bunks.)To me, the beautiful thing about it waslanding at night in Kaneohe Bay. As Irecall, the procedure was to steady on at68 knots with a 300 fpm rate of descent andjust hold it there until we heard the gentlelapping of the waves on that big hull.

It was not an agile plane by any means,but one of my college classmates didmanage to loop one. He said he was in asteep climb when he realized he had gonetoo far so he just kept going. It worked outfine—perfect [one] G forces. In fact, itworked out so well he decided to try itagain.

He should have quit when he was ahead.This time at the top of the loop, everythingthat wasn’t tied down bowed to the law ofgravity and dropped to the top of theplane. Believe me, we carried a lot ofunattached equipment in a PBY. There wasall the navigator’s equipment, theradioman’s typewriter, a galley full of potsand pans, manuals, and even a potty witha paper bag insert full of you-know-what.Not to mention a few years’ accumulationof dirt and detritus in the bilges. Tom nevertried it again.

The PBY was much loved by the Black CatSquadrons who sank many a ship on nightbombing runs, and as Dumbos they savedmany a downed flyer, but when attackedby Zeros they fared rather poorly; twofifties and two thirties was not veryimpressive armament. Believe me, we werehappy to accept the PB4Y as a replace-ment.

Attention Modelers: AnIdeal Display Case for Your

Models at Home

The following museum quality Plexiglascases are available at very, very reasonableprices.

8 X 12 X 8H $28.0018 X 33 X 14H $83.0018 X 22 X 16H $58.0022 X 40 X 24H $90.0026 X 40 X 24H $127.00

The above prices are nearly one-third ofpresent retail prices.

Please call or fax Mrs. Mieko Hayes at 360-779-9394.

Why the Case Ads AreBeing Repeated

You may have noticed that two ads forcases are being re-run in this issue, theone above, and Andrew Bertschi’s onpage 5. Both have been run in recentissues. However, there is both rhyme andreason behind repeating them. Andrew hasa new e-mail address in his ad, to replacethe incorrect one given last month, andMrs. Hayes’ telephone has been out oforder for some time, and she may havemissed any calls that came in. If you wereunable to contact either one of thembefore, why not try again?

Williams Brothers PhotoGallery

by Carlo Medina, GeneralManager, Williams Bros. Inc,

via Keith Laird

I have some exciting news for you and Ithought this would be of interest. Anumber of you have been sending medigital images of your Williams Brothers“built-up” models and they are fantastic!You will now be able to post all those greatpictures at our Web Site with full credits

given to yourself and contact info if youchoose. At the bottom of our Home Pageyou will find a “Visitor Photo Gallery”button. Complete, detailed instructions arethere in regards to uploading your images.All posts will appear immediately.

So come on! Lets get the gallery filled withall sorts of current and past WilliamsBrothers projects that you guys have beenworking on. Hope to hear from all of yousoon.

http://williamsbrosinc.com


Ferrarin Rises Again!

by Greg Reynolds

Not to flog a dead horse, but I just ran across a few more photos of our old pal, Arturo Ferrarin. [See Seattle Chapter News 12/99 and1/00 - ED]. These are from an old (probably c.1970) L&K. All were taken in Osaka. The one of Arturo in samurai garb is great!


a production version. It illustrates underwing cannon pods, which as far as I knowwere never developed. I needed a realitycheck.

I posted the question on RMS and got areply from IPMS member Caz Dalton,whose model appears on this page. Hequoted me a length of 5900mm (19’ - 4 1/4”)measured from the Canadian WarMuseum’s Me 163, which is now awaitingrestoration at the National AviationMuseum of Canada. That’s good enoughfor me. I consider the 5920mm to becorrect. This is the same figure that IanStair used in his fabulous scale drawings(MAP # 2907) which first appeared inScale Models June 1970. (I have also beenable to verify Ian’s depiction of the wingagainst original dimensioned drawings.Chords, span, and sweep are all correct.)

It turns out the Heller kit is the closest tothe correct length. It is about 0.05” toolong. The Academy is about 0.075” shortand the Airfix about 0.150” short.

On span, the Heller is again a little over,the Academy and Airfix are right on.However, the Academy kit has anotherproblem with the wing. Because thefuselage is a little scrunched, so is thewing root chord. This tip chord is fine, butat the root it’s about 0.03 shy on both theleading and trailing edges, about 0.06 onthe total chord. Although the Airfixfuselage is even shorter, its wing does notsuffer from this distortion.

If you are a real masochist, you could adda 0.075” plug to the Academy kit betweenthe fuselage and tail cone, raise the verticalstabilizer, scab on the Airfix wing and wingroots... But sacrificing all the surface detailwouldn’t be worth it for most modelers.

There are a couple of areas where theAcademy kit really shines. I think it is thefirst to correctly capture the contours ofthe upper fuselage. It is quite flattened, nota circular arc as previously kitted.

The ventral spine, which runs from theskid to the tail wheel, really has a constantwidth, as depicted, until it reached the tailwheel well. All of the taper occurs in thetail wheel fairing. I think the edges of thespine are too square and should berounded off a bit, but otherwise this areawith all its vents and bumps is superblydone.

Although not perfect, I think the Academyis the kit of choice, and one that most willbuild straight from the box with greatresults.

However, there are a few things worthcorrecting, some easy, some not. Curi-ously, the four support ribs for the slatsare not included. They are quite easilyseen from the underside of the wing. Thekit has a large bump at the base of the pitottube. This should be filed away. Althoughthe kit includes a panel under the rearquarter windows, so you can’t see into thefuselage, it omits the panels between thewindows so it is (incorrectly) possible tosee through the two windows sideways.Add the two little triangular wedges withlightening holes. The bottom edge of thetail wheel well is too high. Add a skirt ofstyrene sheet to lower it about 0.040”.Replace the crude skid supports. The realmechanism has three triangular leversmade of welded tubing. It will be a chal-lenge to model, but is a very distinctivefeature of the Komet. (This may be in oneof the photo-etch sets, but I’m not awareof it.)

Although basically correct, I find thecockpit very cramped. I’m sure this is theresult of the thickness of the plastic in thefuselage walls forcing everything inward.

With a little judicious thinning andtrimming you should be able to widen thetub by 0.040” and replace that ridiculouslynarrow seat. Another feature that can beeasily fixed is the shape of those lethal “T-stoff” tanks on either side of the cockpit.Those tanks have very large radii, notsharp corners. This is very obvious inphotographs. Eduard makes two PE setsfor detailing: 72099 for the Heller kit (itcontains mostly parts for theScheuschlepper) and “Zoom” set SS136for the Academy kit (mostly cockpit stuff).

References

Fortunately, Rob de Bie has created an Me163 “Home Page”:

http://www.kolibri.lr.tudelft.nl/people/students/fun/rob/model163.htm

Rob has listed just about every kit, decal,accessory, book and article ever publishedon the Komet. He also has links to otherKomet material on the web. You will find anamazing collection of close-up photos ofpreserved Komets from every imaginableangle.

I’ll just mention a few of my other favor-ites. Already mentioned is Ian Stair’s scaledrawings MAP # 2907. Although thesefirst appeared in Scale Models June 1970,I’m sure they have been re-publishedmany times since. They are worth lookingfor. I think these are the most accuratescale drawings available. There is a fine setof detail sketches by S. Nokara in KokuFan’s monthly feature “Modeling Manual”c. 1982. (Sorry, I don’t know the exactdate.) Unfortunately the scale drawings arebased on an incorrect overall length.Another fine collection of detail drawingscan be found in Model Art #348 “GermanJets in WWII,” c. 1980. If you really wantto build that two seater, try to get a hold ofthe German magazine Zlugzeug 6/91. Itcontains a dozen photos and drawings ofthe Me 163S undergoing evaluation by theSoviets. An English translation is in-cluded. Lastly, two highly recommendedclassics about the history of the Kometfrom the insider’s perspective: RocketFighter by Mano Ziegler and Top SecretBird by Wolfgang Spate.

Academy Me 163from page 9


Meeting Reminder Saturday, May 13 at 10am

National Guard Armory, Room 1141601 West Armory Way, Seattle

Directions: From North or Southbound I-5, take the 45th St. exit. Drivewest on 45th, crossing under Highway 99 (or Aurora Ave. North) towardN.W. Market Street in Ballard. Continue west on Market St. toward 15thAve N.W. Turn left (south) onto 15th Ave N.W. and drive across the BallardBridge until you reach Armory Way (just as you see the Animal Shelter.)Watch for signs. Park in the Metro Park & Ride lot.

If coming from the South, take Highway 99 onto the Alaskan Way viaductto Western Avenue. Follow Western Ave. north to Elliot Ave. until it turnsinto 15th Ave N.W., then to Armory Way itself.

NorthWest Scale ModelersModel Show 2000

NorthWest Scale Modelers will be holdingtheir annual Exhibition and Contest onSaturday, June 3, at the Seattle Museum ofFlight, 9404 East Marginal Way South, onthe west side of Boeing Field. Contestregistration starts at 10am, and runs until12 noon. Public viewing is from 10am to3pm; the room is closed for awards from3pm to 3:45 pm, and reopens at 3:45pm.Models may be removed at 4pm, and mustbe removed by 5pm, when the showcloses.

Contest or exhibition model entry isincluded with regular Museum of Flightadmission; Museum of Flight members donot need to pay to enter the show. There isno limit to the number of models you mayenter.

Contest categories are similar to those atthe IPMS Seattle Spring Show, with acouple of exceptions; there is no “Flightsof Fancy” category or Pentathlon competi-tion; and the Modelfying subject this yearis any 1/72nd scale Messerschmitt Me 262kit. At least one major base kit part must beapparent in the end result of a Modelfyingentry. There is also a separate Youthcategory for modelers age 10 and under, in

addition to the regular Junior categoriesfor ages 11 through 15. All Youth andJunior entrants will receive prizes andribbons. There will be door prizes for adultentrants.

There will also be a display-only exhibitionfor those not wishing to enter their modelsin the contest. Everyone is encouraged tobring as many models as he or she wants.

For more information, contact AndrewBirkbeck at 206-522-3539 or by e-mail [email protected] Bill Johnson at 425-257-3284.

Golden Age Stars of IPMS#5

Lupe Velez’ career was one of transitions;from Mexico City to Hollywood, from silentfilms to the talkies, from dramatic roles tocomedy. She and Dolores del Rio were thetwo great Hispanic female stars ofHollywood’s Golden Age. Lupe’s vitalityand talent were best shown in the series ofMexican Spitfire comedies that she madein the late ‘30s and early ‘40s.Unfortunately, she’s better rememberedtoday for her love affairs (a disastrousromance with Gary Cooper, and a failed

marriage to Johnny Wiessmuller) and thetragic-comic circumstances of her 1944suicide. She deserves better.

One way to memorialize her justly wouldbe a “what if” model. Think of hernickname, the Mexican Spitfire. Mexiconever flew the greatest fighter of WW2,but wouldn’t a Spit Mk.IX look great innatural metal, with those red, white, andgreen triangles, and Lupe’s name, orperhaps some nose art if you’re feelingambitious, across the lower cowling…

preznotes seattle chapter newsipms-seattle.org/newsletters/2000newsletters/2000may.pdfsuggested....

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