scaleaction · without which we dont have a scalea t. a big thanks to all those that put in time...

Photo: ScaleACT 2018’s Best of Show winner – Ben Winter-Giles’ “Kshatriya NZ-667” 4Q18

President’s Report

Welcome to our post ScaleACT Newsletter. And what an event it was. 503 entries saw us achieve another record!

After a great deal of planning it all came together with some great displays, happy vendors, and it seems a small

growth in visitor numbers. So, congratulations to all. Before I provide some feedback, some well and truly

deserved thanks and mention in dispatches.

First big thanks is to all Club members who

helped make the weekend the success it was

from set up, rostered duties to the tear down.

Next the Committee, both elected and non-

elected members whose great planning helped

make sure that the weekend went off without

too many hitches.

To all competitors, vendors and UC High School

without which we don’t have a ScaleACT.

A big thanks to all those that put in time and effort, including other Canberra-based clubs, to provide some great

dioramas, displays and special awards.

As you can see, I am not in the habit of mentioning names in fear of missing someone out, but I do have a couple

of special mentions. First up, the Lions club. Without whom the responsibility of catering would fall to the club.

This year Lions raised $2005 which is a record amount. Money raised will go towards Pegasus Riding School,

Cranleigh School, Karinya House, Lions Youth Haven and Down Syndrome Association.

Next, I’d like to acknowledge Dan Sellers and Chkye Tracz. The recital of the ode and the playing of the Last Post

were both amazing – you could hear a pin drop once the lights when down.

ScaleACTION

President’s Report P1-2

From the Editorial Team P2

Treasurer’s Waffle P3

Chief Judge’s Spotlight P3

ACTSMS Calendar of Events 2019 P4

ScaleACT 2018 – Swap & Sell Report P5

ScaleACT – A Very Special Recognition P5

ScaleACT 2018 – Statistics and Results P6-19

Summary Statistics P6

Competition Entries by Category P6

Category Winners P8-18

Special Awards P19

Royal Air Force 100 / Op Centenary Display P20

ScaleACT 2018 – Wrap-Up P21

ACTSMS Exclusive: Best of Show P22-25

September R U OK Build Night P26-28

Platypus Publications: Book Review P29

Committee Contact Details P30

ACTSMS

So, onto the lessons from 2018. First up the feedback comments we received either through emails, Facebook, or

feedback forms were overwhelmingly positive, but there were some areas that we identified that we can still

improve on.

Firstly, registration of entries particularly on the Saturday morning. We identified at the Committee Meeting that

with some revised practices we could speed up the administration required to get models onto the competition

tables. Eliminating some double handling will also mean creating a second order effect of making the judging

process more streamlined.

Next, the judging itself. We acknowledge that it is not perfect and with a further refinement or two, together with

the time savings we have identified in the registration process, we believe that we will get closer to making the

whole process more robust. The reality is that we need to plan to have a system in place whereby we can cope

with a large number of entries.

There are more details and information in the newsletter that wrap up the event quite nicely. Other than

reviewing the feedback, the Committee's thoughts will start turning towards planning for ScaleACT 19 later in the

new year. We are planning to set up a ScaleACT sub-committee to help Mike organise next year – we all agree

that as a lone ranger he has done a magnificent job over the years. So, next year's event is a great opportunity for

other Club members to get involved in the planning process and help carry some of the load.

And finally, I have started on my ScaleACT 19 models...

President ACTSMS Tony Allocca

From the Editorial Team

Once again, we are at the tail end of the year. And a VERY big year it has been! The Society has been going from

strength to strength with fascinating talks by guest speakers and demonstrations at our monthly meetings, all

these culminating in a truly massive ScaleACT just last month.

You may have noticed that the previous edition of the newsletter was marked ‘Q2’ (for the second quarter of

2018, which was published at the very end of August), and this is the Q4 newsletter. I apologise that we will only

have 3 of our planned publications this year, due in large part to the sheer number of events in 2018.

To make up for this, this Q4 edition will be a supersized effort covering ScaleACT 2018, an article on September’s

R U OK Build Night, and an exclusive behind-the-scenes look at Ben Winter-Giles’ award-winning Kshatriya NZ-667

build. If you think the previous edition of the newsletter was big at 19 pages, take a look at this one!

Last but not least, I wish to convey the Society’s gratitude to Tim Floyd for providing his services as official

photographer for ScaleACT 2018. The photos you see here and on the official event website are all thanks to Tim.

Editor Min Hwang

ACTSMS

Treasurer’s Waffle

With the dust settling from ScaleACT 18, the Society continues to have a healthy financial position with our total

income from the weekend increasing – but our expenses also increased.

Overall, the Society had more people entering from both the general public and competitor entrants. The largest expense compared to last year, aside from venue and table hire, was the introduction of a ScaleACT booklet – an excellent promotional tool and well worth the expense.

The society now has 89 financial members – down by 16 compared to the same time last year. It’s never too late to become financial though and you can still pay direct to the Society’s account or come and see me at the monthly meeting. As always, if you are interested in seeing ‘the books’ come and see me.

ACTSMS Treasurer Paul D'Orival

Chief Judge’s Spotlight

Well that’s another ScaleACT dusted! It was a successful competition on many levels including, I think, in judging

results. Competition judging of models can be fraught, and no system is perfect – including the modified IPMS

one we use at ScaleACT. That said, our experience has shown it delivers the right results most of the time. I

thought I’d quickly run through how we approach judging at ScaleACT, before touching on some tweaks we will

make to the process in the future.

Judging is done on the competition’s Saturday afternoon by a smallish group of volunteers. The members of this

group change from year to year, but one thing remains the same: they do a great job of judging an increasingly

large number of excellent models.

Our judging is a knockout system focused squarely on the quality of a

model’s build and finish. Entrants are not required to provide

references – this speeds up the judging process considerably and rarely

(in our experience) detracts from the results.

Judges work in twos (we pair newcomers with those who have done it

before) and only on categories in which they don’t have an entry. Once

a pair has agreed on the results in a category, they explain their decision

to the Chief Judge who then signs off on the decisions. Sometimes the

placings change as a result of this discussion, but most of the time they don’t.

One change we introduced in 2015 at the recommendation of the outgoing Chief Judge (thanks Chris!) was to do

a quick revalidation of the results early on Sunday morning, while it’s still quiet and before the doors open to the

public. This has proven to be an invaluable exercise every year, and so it was in 2018. The Chief Judge identified

several issues with results – positive and negative – that had been missed on Saturday, and these were factored

into the final rankings.

In 2019, we will be making some adjustments to judging and assessment at our ACTSMS monthly meetings.

While retaining our popular People’s Choice competition, we will be bringing back the more comprehensive

individual assessments that were dropped in 2014-15. This has been requested by a number of members and is

something with which I strongly agree. We will use this revitalized assessment process as the basis for training up

a pool of qualified judges ahead of ScaleACT 19, which I’m sure will be bigger and better than ever. Stay tuned for

more news!

Chief Judge Brad Fallen

ACTSMS

ACTSMS Calendar of Events 2019

Month Opening Break Main Break Closing Other

January 16 (Venue TBC)

Admin Build Night – a night for big & little kids to enjoy some plastic therapy

• People’s Choice Draw • People’s Choice

• Build table (for big & little kids)

• Raffle

February 13 (Venue TBC)

Admin Presentation – WW2, last heavy air-raids on London Presentation on aircraft involved on both sides

• People’s Choice Draw

• Judging / Assessments session

• People’s Choice

• Raffle

March 13 (Venue TBC)

Admin Presentation –Rusting/Weathering, the worse it looks the better


• Build table

• Raffle

April 10 (Venue TBC)



• Build table

• Raffle

May 8 (Venue TBC)

Admin Swap & Sell • Swap & Sell •

June 12 (Venue TBC)

Admin Presentation – 75th anniversary of D-Day for the Normandy landings




• Raffle

July 10 (Venue TBC)

Swap & Sell

Presentation – 50 year anniversary of moon landing Speaker from space program


• What’s on your shelf – Completed kits (regardless of when they were done) – Space/Sci-Fi – 50th anniversary of moon landing


• Raffle

August 14 (Venue TBC)

Admin AGM • Annual winners Awards

• Raffle

September 11 (Venue TBC)





• Raffle

October 9 (Venue TBC)

Admin Presentation – Getting technical, difference between a good model and a great model




• Build table

• Raffle

November 6 (Venue TBC)

Admin ScaleACT 19 Preparations



• Raffle

December 11 (Venue TBC)

Admin Presentation – Replicating water, let it flow, let it flow

• Special members-only competition

• Raffle

Vice-President Mario Marangoni

ACTSMS

ScaleACT 2018 – Swap & Sell Report

A big thank you to all the folks who volunteered to help out at the Swap & Sell desk and also to those who pitched

in to help with our delayed setup on Saturday morning. A special thanks to Karen Tan, Elaine Jones and my very

capable partner in (S&S) crime Ray Bromwich – all of whom assistance above and beyond, during the Saturday

morning chaos and the Sunday afternoon reconciliation, and to Ray’s predecessor (the Prez), for volunteering to

work the Saturday morning chaos shifts.

Though we didn’t surpass last year’s record sales total (over $18 500), we did register our 2nd highest figure of

nearly $16,500 (spread across 38 sellers). Swap & Sell returned over $450 in seller’s commissions to the Treasurer

(down approximately $100 from last year).

Customer numbers were pretty good across the weekend, even though there didn’t seem to be as many in the

initial opening crush. The second outing of the docket checkout system, coupled with the ‘new’ segregated

checkout queue area, seemed to keep the customers under control for the opening rush (though there were a

few teething issues with herding the customers to the queue entrance). We will try a shorter queue, with a more

‘natural’ entrance and better ‘queue here’ signage as we continue to refine the Swap & Sell experience.

Swap & Sell OIC Len Partridge

ScaleACT – A Very Special Recognition

The Society and its members have come to see Michael Grieve as the driving force behind the organisation, smooth running and growth of our premier modelling event and expo – ScaleACT, which we host on an annual basis. To a greater or lesser extent, Michael has been on the job for the past 20 years as Chief Organiser and Coordinator. Our records show that in 2008, ScaleACT saw 205 total entries, which has since grown to an event record of 503 entries at ScaleACT 2018.

We acknowledge that we owe Michael a debt of gratitude for his tireless efforts, unwavering commitment and contribution to the Society.

Michael has announced this past month that he has decided to take a step back as the Chief (sole) Organiser. ScaleACT 2019 will see him take on this role for the last time. He stresses that he is not washing his hands of the event and its organisation, rather he is making room for new ideas and new directions to be brought forward for the show. Michael will continue contributing as part of a ScaleACT sub-committee.

A call for volunteers to form the ScaleACT sub-committee will be issued shortly, in the meantime here’s a very special and heartfelt ‘Thank You Michael’, ScaleACT would not be what it is today without you!

ACTSMS

ScaleACT 2018 – Statistics and Results

ScaleACT 2018 represented a high-water mark for the Society’s annual event, achieving record numbers for just about every metric. And now, without further ado, we present the ScaleACT 2018 roundup of stats and results!

Summary Statistics of Competition Entries

• 118 Entrants

• 503 Competition Entries

• 44 ACTSMS Members entered 186 models

• 74 Non-ACTSMS visitors entered 317 models

• 6 Junior modellers entered 12 models

• 4 ‘Young Guns’ modellers entered 13 models

• Sentinel Shield: 4 entries

• Kittyhawk Cup: 6 entries

• The Grail: Rag Wing: 5 entries

Competition Entries by Category

ScaleACT 2018 saw a total of 503 competition entries across 56 categories (including our 3 special competitions).

Category Entries

Aircraft

Military Aircraft. 1/32 – Pre WW2 8

Military Aircraft. 1/32 – WW2 11

Military Aircraft. 1/32 – Post WW2, Non-US Built 8

Military Aircraft. 1/32 – Post WW2, US Built 11


Military Aircraft. 1/48 – WW2, Single Engine, Axis 9

Military Aircraft. 1/48 – WW2, Single Engine, Allied, Non-US Built 11

Military Aircraft. 1/48 – WW2, Single Engine, Allied, US Built 7

Military Aircraft. 1/48 – WW2, Multi Engine 4

Military Aircraft. 1/48 – Post WW2, Single Engine - Props 9

Military Aircraft. 1/48 – Post WW2, Single Engine - Jets 9

Military Aircraft. 1/48 – Post WW2, Multi Engine 11


Military Aircraft. 1/72 – WW2 – Single Engine – Axis 11

Military Aircraft. 1/72 – WW2 – Single Engine – Allied 10

Military Aircraft. 1/72 – WW2 – Multi Engine – Axis 5

Military Aircraft. 1/72 – WW2 – Multi Engine – Allied 9

Military Aircraft. 1/72 – Post WW2, Single Engine - Prop 10

Military Aircraft. 1/72 – Post WW2, Single Engine - Jets 9

Military Aircraft. 1/72 – Post WW2, Multi Engine 15

Civilian Aircraft. Single engine 4

Civilian Aircraft. Multi engine 8

Helicopters 9

Special Competitions. The Kittyhawk Cup 6

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018

To

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Year

Total Entries vs. Year

Total Entries

ACTSMS

Category Entries

Military Vehicles & Artillery

Military Vehicles. 1/35 – Pre WW2 3

Military Vehicles. 1/35 – WW2, Axis 4

Military Vehicles. 1/35 – WW2, Allied 10

Military Vehicles. 1/35 – Post WW2, Wheeled 5

Military Vehicles. 1/35 – Post WW2, Tracked 4

Military Vehicles. 1/48 9

Military Vehicles. 1/72 – WW2, Allied 7

Artillery 2

Special Competitions. The Sentinel Shield 4

Ships

Ships. 13

Submarines 5

Rail

Rail 9

Civilian Vehicles

Cars. Street. 1950 – 1980 7

Cars. Street. Post-1980 9

Cars. Competition. Pre-1950 – 1980 12

Cars. Competition. Post-1980 16

Civilian Vehicles. Motorcycles 13

Civilian Vehicles. Trucks 4

Dioramas

Dioramas. Class A 13

Dioramas. Class B 17

Figures & Busts

Figures & Busts – Historical. Large (76mm +) 9

Figures & Busts – Historical. Busts 8

Science Fiction & Fantasy, Gundam, Real Space

Space. Real. 2

Sci Fi, Fantasy, Movie. Figures 18

Sci Fi, Fantasy, Movie. Ground Vehicles 9

Sci Fi, Fantasy, Movie. Air / Space Vehicles 14

Gundam 15

What-If. Air 10

Scratch-built

Scratch-built / Open. All scales, all subjects 18

ACTSMS

Category Entries "The Grail" Special Competition

Rag Wing 5

Young Modellers

Juniors (under 13) 12

Young Guns (under 18) 13

Category Winners

Please note that higher-resolution photos are available on the Society’s ScaleACT-18 Results webpage (https://actsms.asn.au/scaleact/scaleact-18-results/).

Aircraft

Military Aircraft. 1/32 – Pre WW2 Brad Cancian, Wingnut Wings Albatross D.Va

Military Aircraft. 1/32 – WW2 Edward Clark, De. Havilland. Mosquito FB.MK.VI

Military Aircraft. 1/32 – Post WW2, Non-US Built Eric Galliers, Aero L-39 Albatross

Military Aircraft. 1/32 – Post WW2, US Built Andrew Perren, F/A-18C Hornet

https://actsms.asn.au/scaleact/scaleact-18-results/

ACTSMS

Military Aircraft. 1/48 – Pre WW2 Brad Cancian, Roden Nieuport 28

Military Aircraft. 1/48 – WW2, Single Engine, Axis Chris Evenden, Me-109E4

Military Aircraft. 1/48 – WW2, Single Engine, Allied, Non-US Built Casson Hill, Yak-3

Military Aircraft. 1/48 – WW2, Single Engine, Allied, US Built Andrew Crozier, P-40C

Military Aircraft. 1/48 – WW2, Multi Engine Andrew Perren, Heinkel He-280

Military Aircraft. 1/48 – Post WW2, Single Engine – Props Andrew Doppel, CAC CA-15 Kangaroo

ACTSMS

Military Aircraft. 1/48 – Post WW2, Single Engine – Jets Calum Gibson, A-4K Skyhawk

Military Aircraft. 1/48 – Post WW2, Multi Engine Calum Gibson, F-14A VF-41 Black Aces

Military Aircraft. 1/72 – Pre WW2 Jiri Kure, Avia B.35

Military Aircraft. 1/72 – WW2 – Single Engine – Axis Brad Cancian, Messerschmitt Bf-109E-7 Trop

Military Aircraft. 1/72 – WW2 – Single Engine – Allied John Booth, Commonwealth CA-5 Wirraway

Military Aircraft. 1/72 – WW2 – Multi Engine – Axis John Booth, Messerschmitt Bf 110G-4

Military Aircraft. 1/72 – WW2 – Multi Engine – Allied John Booth, Martin PBM-3R Mariner

ACTSMS

Military Aircraft. 1/72 – Post WW2, Single Engine – Prop Brad Cancian, DeHavilland DH.82a Tiger Moth

Military Aircraft. 1/72 – Post WW2, Single Engine – Jets Min Hwang, J-35O Draken

Military Aircraft. 1/72 – Post WW2, Multi Engine Min Hwang, F-15E Strike Eagle – 333rd Squadron

Civilian Aircraft. Single engine Eric Galliers, Piaggio Pc.7 Pegna

Civilian Aircraft. Multi engine Laurence Maftei, Boeing 747-8F Cargolux

Helicopters Jiri Kure, Bell AH-1G Cobra

ACTSMS

Special Competitions. The Kittyhawk Cup Ben Frohling, Apache

Military Vehicles & Artillery

Military Vehicles. 1/35 – Pre WW2 Matt Hampton, St. Chamond

Military Vehicles. 1/35 – WW2, Axis Chris Leeman, SWS halftrack with 3.7cm Flak 43

Military Vehicles. 1/35 – WW2, Allied Peter Farrugia, Matilda Mk.III/IV

Military Vehicles. 1/35 – Post WW2, Wheeled Andrew Judson, M911 transporter with Abrams Tank

ACTSMS

Military Vehicles. 1/35 – Post WW2, Tracked Ron Puttee, Merkava Mk.1 (Early)

Military Vehicles. 1/48 Rod Martin, M4 Sherman Early Production

Military Vehicles. 1/72 – WW2, Allied Leslie Applebee, M4A2 Sherman

Artillery Jerry Cashman, Ordnance QF 2-pounder

Special Competitions. The Sentinel Shield Peter Davis, Type 10

Ships

Ships Andrew Evans, USN LCAC

ACTSMS

Submarines David Stevens, U-251

Rail

Rail Trevor Stohr, German Schwerer Plattformwagen Type SSyms 88

Civilian Vehicles

Cars. Street. 1950 – 1980 Dennis Singh, Ferrari 250 Testarossa Road Version

Cars. Street. Post-1980 Scott Rapmund, Mazda MX-5

Cars. Competition. Pre-1950 – 1980 Jason Woollett, Lotus 25

Cars. Competition. Post-1980 Paul D’Orival, Ferrari 550 Maranello GT

ACTSMS

Civilian Vehicles. Motorcycles Jason Woollett, Kawasaki H2R Ninja

Civilian Vehicles. Trucks Jason Woollett, Bedford Tanker

Dioramas

Dioramas. Class A Brad Cancian, “Struck Off Charge” – Eduard 1:48 Albatros DV

Dioramas. Class B Andrew Judson, Nasty Surprise

Figures & Busts

Figures & Busts – Historical. Large (76mm +) Andrew Judson, Viking Berserker

ACTSMS

Figures & Busts – Historical. Busts Ian Fainges, Jim

Science Fiction & Fantasy, Gundam, Real Space

Space. Real. Eric Galliers, Mercury Atlas

Sci Fi, Fantasy, Movie. Figures Lee Adams, Hulk

Sci Fi, Fantasy, Movie. Ground Vehicles Casson Hill, Pak. KROTE mk.039

ACTSMS

Sci Fi, Fantasy, Movie. Air / Space Vehicles Chris Leeman, TIE Fighter repair dock

Gundam Ben Winter-Giles, Kshatriya NZ-667

What-If. Air Leslie Applebee, RAAF F5E

Scratch-built

Scratch-built / Open. All scales, all subjects Mario Marangoni, AT-AT 23rd Reich

"The Grail" Special Competition

ACTSMS

Rag Wing Jerry Cashman, Nieuport 11

Young Modellers

Juniors (under 13) Joseph P, General Grievous

Young Guns (under 18) Oscar D, Off Road

ACTSMS

Special Awards

In addition to the competition categories above, we also have a set of special awards at ScaleACT with sponsored prizes generously contributed by participating vendors or by the Society itself.

Best of Show as chosen from the category 1st place

getters by the ACTSMS President, Chief Judge and

Frank Morgan, sponsored by ModelArt Australia

Ben Winter-Giles – Kshatriya NZ-667

People’s Choice as voted by show visitors, sponsored

by Boomerang Models Andrew Evans – F111 A8-111

Members’ Choice as voted by ACTSMS members,

sponsored by Platypus Publications Andrew Evans – Australian War Memorial

Best Model of an Australian Subject sponsored by

Red Roo Models & The Scale Modellers Supply Ray Seppala – Boeing 737-7DT (BBJ) 34 Sqn

Best Ferrari sponsored by the ACTSMS Committee Dennis Singh – Ferrari 250 Testarossa Road

Version

Best application of decals award sponsored by

Custom Hobby Decals Eric Galliers – Ansaldo A.1 Balilla

The Masochist’s Award for courage in the face of a

difficult project sponsored by Runway 13 Ben Winter-Giles – Kshatriya NZ-667

Best RAAF Model in Show sponsored by The RAAF

Association (ACT Branch) John Booth – Commonwealth CA-5 Wirraway

Best Painted Model as chosen by the ACTSMS

President and Chief Judge sponsored by The Scale

Modellers Supply

Dennis Singh – Ferrari 250 Testarossa Road

Version

The Commonwealth Cup sponsored by ACTSMS,

IPMS Ottawa & IPMS Farnborough

1st – Edward Clark – RAF De Havilland Mosquito

FB.Mk.VI. 2nd – Peter Farrugia – British Matilda

III/IV. 3rd – Paul D’Orival – David Brabham’s

Cooper Aces Ferrari 550

ACTSMS

Royal Air Force 100 / Op Centenary Display

The inaugural ACTSMS Life Members’ Recognition Award for best ScaleACT display goes this year to the RAF 100 / Op Centenary display as organised by Len Bowen. Len was instrumental in coordinating and pulling together this massively impressive display of RAF-related models and had this to say post-ScaleACT.

“I want to thank everyone who was involved in making the 'RAF 100 / OP CENTENARY' display at Scale ACT 18 possible. It was, as you would have gathered, a subject very dear to my heart. We tabled 106 aircraft models, and 21 vehicles on the airfield diorama (not counting Flying Officer Blogg's die-cast MG in the Air Traffic Control car park [VTIC]). I rather think that the ACTSMS did the Royal Air Force proud, and I know that as an ex-RAF member I couldn't have been happier with the result.

None of this would have been possible without:

• Matt Lyons as my valiant off-sider who must often have wondered what I was on about. Also, James and Greg who helped build the diorama baseboard;

• The dozen ACTSMS Members who provided outstanding models covering the whole 1918 – Present period (See below), and also Mike for the loan of the record player.

• The British High Commission Defence Staff who loaned us the banners and pennants, and in particular Flight Lieutenant Jonny who made it all possible - just sorry you and your RN Commander were elsewhere on Remembrance Day commitments - several ales await you when we catch up, Jonny;

• Geoff, my erstwhile boss out at Super Toyworld Fyshwick who allowed me the use of the company van for the weekend to move all the gear...... and Ross who helped me load and unload all said gear at my place.

• Pen-ultimately (nearly finished) to the ACTSMS Life Members who put up the $200 award for the Scale ACT 18 Best Display. An icing on the cake, and $50 of that will be over the bar at the Hellenic Club at our next meeting for all those who provided models.

• Finally, to my wife Penny who had to put up with me stressing out over the however many past weeks, trying to get everything together. Never, NEVER again.... and before anybody mentions somebody to run with 'RAAF 2021'.... forget it. Penny has managed to put up with me for 46 years; I'm not going to blow it now!”

Chief RAF 100 Display Wrangler Len Bowen

ACTSMS

ScaleACT 2018 – Wrap-Up

As mentioned above in the President’s Report, much time and not a little effort was put in preparing for, setting up, running and wrapping up ScaleACT 2018. Fortunately, it seems the number of volunteers willing to lend a helping hand grows each year leaving many to comment how quickly the venue got set up the night before, and how smoothly things ran during the event itself.

This is no small achievement considering our record numbers for the year and the fact that we took it all in our stride. Visitor feedback supports this assertion: vendors continue to tell us how they enjoy our willingness to help in the mad rush to set up their tables and wares, and how we’re considerate of their needs. Visitors from far and wide have travelled to our show and comment on how friendly and well-run the event is (especially the ever-popular Swap and Sell – thanks Lenny!).

Friday evening waiting on tables to arrive With many helping hands, everything was set-up and ready!

With 503 competition entries this year, ScaleACT is now officially the third largest expo of its kind in Australia coming in behind the Australian Model Expo in Victoria, and the Queensland Model Hobbies Expo (QMHE). Nevertheless, our reputation for being extremely friendly and welcoming sets us apart and (we hope) will continue to draw visitors and attendance from far and wide in 2019!

Eric Galliers who travelled all the way from Brisbane: “Thanks for a great show guys, my favourite show of all the ones that I attended this year”

Andrew Doppel: “Thanks team for a great show again and your hospitality. Great to catch up with not only those locally but from all over Oz.”

Some photos of the breathtaking models on display at ScaleACT, including the intricate and amazingly creative HMS Hammersley.

ACTSMS

But wait…. THERE’S MORE!

Masochist, Best of Show winner and all-round nice guy Ben Winter-Giles (aka ‘Bny’) has written for us an exclusive account of his journey of creation in building his stunningly magnificent Gundam subject.

As Editor, I am proud to present to you (you read it here first!) Bny’s build article on his Kshatriya NZ-667. Enjoy!

ACTSMS Exclusive: the ScaleACT 2018 Best of Show Winner

The story that tells the model

The NZ667 is the first honest effort to revive and rebuild the Kshatriya into a

squadron capability of incredible battle advantage in space operations. The NZ-667

differs only slightly from the first prototype the NZ-666 Kyshatriya.

To enable lesser pilots than Merida Cruz with less psycho abilities, the mobile suit

was made lighter and with more advanced AI to assist the pilot in controlling this

massive quad-wing suit.

The designers did change the classic green to a more space suited blue and grey, yet

under the four binders, the main heat sink panels still retain that original green. An

Homage to the prototype, now fallen in battle.

Getting Started

This wonderful kit was given to me by my wife and three kids for my birthday a year ago and it took me about six

months to build up the confidence and the picture in my mind of what I wanted to do with it.

Looking through the Internet night after night at endless reference photos, videos and sketches.

My family, which has now begun to include my two sisters, and I started to formulate the colour scheme and the

back story. What I wrote above isn’t the whole deal, but if you examine carefully the details, you’ll find lots of

little treats:

• The pilots name on the collar

• The Zeon Alive fanatics tag on its back, that was

put there by the team responsible for the paint

and finishing

• Independent part and panel labelling on the

binders, so the engineers could easily swap parts

and ensure assembly ease for maintenance

• The abovementioned green paint under the

binders.

• Kill count on the right shin

ACTSMS

Some numbers

• 243 hours in the build from Go to Whoa!

• Base grey blue and blacks were air brushed, the rest is by hand.

• Paints used: Vallejo flat black surface primer, mecha blue grey, mecha

sky blue, mecha deep blue, model air grey black, London grey, neutral

grey, model grey black, Tamiya gloss red, Vallejo satin black, Vallejo

bronze, metal series chrome and gloss black surface primer.

• Mig Jimenez Ammo starship weathering set, Tamiya weathering set,

Vallejo engine grime, Mig Jimenez Ammo ‘for whites’ filters.

• Huge thanks also to the team at Toyworld Fyshwick, wife kids and

sisters for their help with colours. Being colour-blind, I needed some

assistance.

Build Report

Nothing, I mean nothing fit on this kit. Everything was out of line and

couldn’t hang together in a fit. The first dry build was filled with PVA

glue and blue tac. Absolutely riddled. Well, there were two pieces that

fit, the chest base and the left blaster / rocket / whatever they are set

on the chest there. That... is... it.

That’s where the first decisions were made about the pose, I’m yet to see

any other Kshatriya build that’s posed in anything other than the hero

standing pose. AKA: standing there with head down a little.

This is where the engineering started. I wanted it all, a natural and dynamic

position on all joints, as much possibility as one can get with a kit like this,

no supports or stands.

Almost all of the joints are either pinned, or CA glued in... hard. Most of the

joints don’t use the original materials they supplied for the kit, because

they were utterly useless, woefully under-sized, or utterly oversized.

I’m certain there’s more in there than this detail but this is what really

comes to mind.

Knees:

The knees are actually movable, mostly. There’s a three per knee 2mm brass pin set

up going on in there. Interlocking through hand cut guides inside the knee joint. All

of the joints and what not are covered with photo etch or otherwise concealed. This

work was probably the most difficult in terms of engineering changes.

ACTSMS

Head:

Still movable, thanks to a 3mm extension I made to the

double joint in the neck.

Ankles:

Shortened the dogbone joint by 5mm and reset the angles in

all the sockets. Reinforced with 3mm brass pin, going all the

way from the foot to the lower leg through the dogbone. Yes,

the pin takes two turns to achieve this.

Binders:

The binders… to get them to sit and hold without stands…

well there’s a trick to that. They still hinge, all of them, even

the flaps.

For the flaps on the top, I completely drilled out the hinge

joints. The outer flanges were over drilled 1mm, but the

centre flange was only over-drilled by about 0.5mm. What I

did was fit brass pin to the centre flange, then filled the gap

with silicone. Once it set, I pulled out the pin (coated the pin

with Vaseline) and it left a nice neat tight hole.

Then I fitted the hinge together, fit the pin again straight through the flanges, and filled the holes with a product

called Sikaflex. Then sand and paint... but you’ll love this... that was ALL done after I painted it! Because like an

idiot... I didn’t fit the hinge joints in the pre-build. It was like doing brain surgery!

On the arms that support the binders, there’s three brass pins through each axis, up into the binder, right through

the arm itself, and then a 25mm extension to the insertion point on the shoulder.

Balancing:

You can’t see them, but there are

actually iron counterweights all

through the kit, hidden and masked, in

the binders, in the arms in the base of

the legs. All placed to stabilise the kit.

That took forever to figure out how to

do.

So frustrating was it to get the pose I

wanted: without stands, on a kit that

weighs close to 3kg. It was so bad, I

was even examining places to put in a

steel or aluminium support post that

was visible.

ACTSMS

In Summary

This kit is a very special one for me, because so many of my loved ones and those that are near and dear to me

helped me so much. Particularly when I had to strip and repaint many parts, because I sprayed them the wrong

type of blue and didn’t notice.

Thank you ACTSMS, for doing an amazing job at the 2018 show, so much more and better than last year. I’m still

gobsmacked that the Kshatriya did as well as she did!

Cheers,

Ben Winter-Giles aka ‘Bny’

Well there you have it folks! The model looked impressive on the table,

but the finished product was only the tip of a monumental iceberg of

effort, persistence, commitment, and not to mention love.

Congratulations on a slew of well-deserved wins, Ben!

As a bonus, Ben’s made available his collection of photos in a public

Google Photos library.

Find it here: https://photos.app.goo.gl/VTR8377C6TmJafog7

In the meantime, as a preview and for your viewing pleasure….

https://photos.app.goo.gl/VTR8377C6TmJafog7

ACTSMS

September Special Event: R U OK Build Night

Hello fellow members of the ACT Scale Modellers Society, if you recall, our September meeting was a build night

celebrating “R U OK day”, an event intended to instigate discussions about mental health. I had the privilege of

addressing the club about that evening and have been asked to write a short article about what I said, as a

reminder of R U OK day.

To avoid writing a solid block of text, I am going to intersperse this article with pictures of what I brought to that

build night: the 1/350 IJN Yamato kit by Tamiya (old version). This edition, coupled with the Lion Roar Photo-Etch

detailing set, might not have been the best choice for someone with a tenuous grip on sanity, see the following

picture:

Yamato’s Triple AA guns, 5 PE pieces for each item,

about 5 folds for each part, and there are 32 of them.

Goody!

Please allow me to give you some background of who I am, my name is Chris Hennessey, and I am 46 years old. In

2005, I was diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, Depression and Anxiety. We can refer to this

collection of mental illnesses as “The Hamburger with the Lot”. I will not go into detail how these illnesses

manifest themselves, as it would not make for interesting reading.

Currently, I am Stupendously NOT OK. Not because I am building the old tooling Yamato with enough brass parts

to sink a ship (yes, the pun is intentional), but because of the nature of my mental illnesses.

Having said this, I can now lay down some guidelines as to how people can respond if

they get this answer to the “R U OK?” question. I will call it “the question” from now

on. But first another picture:

Yamato’s Bridge with some doors (I said doors to

intentionally antagonise those readers of

a naval persuasion) and other parts fitted.

Now some guidelines on how to respond when you get a negative answer to the

question. I will do this as a list of Do’s and Don’ts because I like turn of the century

corporate education videos. Don’t blame me, blame my window licking lunacy.

I will start off with the Don’ts (if you want to read the Do’s first, I recommend you turn this article upside down).

DON’T 1: PANIC! (Thanks Douglas Addams)

If you get a negative answer to the question and panic, things get awkward for all parties involved. The whole

affair could degenerate into a scene from a pre-centaury sit-com. Except less funny – you will not see your crazy

friend get chased down the street by men in white coats.

DON’T 2: Claim you understand

I have spent 13 years suffering from “The hamburger with the lot”, and I still don’t understand what is going on. I

get Terrified at the strangest things. There is NO way you can understand. But that is OK, you don’t have to

understand to care.

ACTSMS

DON’T 3: Give advice

Unfortunately, this is the thing that well-meaning people do the most, I have heard every piece of advice known

to man over the 13 years of being bat guano crazy, and none of it has helped. (Apart from not licking windows

that have bird poo on them, and not signing the finance papers to a Citroen with Red crayon – use blue instead).

Before we go on to the Do’s, another picture is in order.

Kit parts of Yamato’s crane, and the Lion Roar PE parts. (Yes I smoke, I

am doing it to prop up the economy, and to give future doctors a job. I

do it, so you don’t have to).

If you read the Do’s first, here is where you can turn the article the right way around. I have put the Do’s in order

of importance.

DO 1: Listen!

Unless you are Vincent van Gogh, you have two ears, and one mouth – use them in that proportion (my grandma

told me that). By being quiet and listening, you have less chance of doing the Don’ts. Which makes things easy for

you, and your mate.

DO 2: Ask relevant questions – You have already asked one very important question, why stop there?

• How concerned should you be?

• What can I do to help? (Note, you are helping by asking

the question in the first place)

• Do you need, or are getting any professional help?

• Do you need some crayons for the Citroen finance

paperwork?

• HOW will I be able to glue the railings to the 15.5cm

Turret on my Yamato model?

15.5 cm gun turrets, one detailed and the other stock.

Asking relevant questions has the added bonus of preventing doing the Don’ts. You do not have to be a

psychologist to ask relevant questions, particularly after you have done Do 1: Listen.

DO 3: Believe

Believe them, a mental illness in a real thing (unfortunately) and it is in their head – that is the whole idea of a

mental illness, is isn’t going to be anywhere else in the body.

DO 4: Be honest

Be honest with them – Once you have listened to them, and asked some relevant questions, you will get a fair

idea how not OK your friend is. If you think your mate is downplaying or is not being fully truthful about the

gravity of the situation tell them of your concerns. Feel free to let your friends know you will be in touch with

them regularly, just to be sure.

I think another picture is in order, and then I will conclude this article.

ACTSMS

This is the best was to attach brass PE parts to other brass PE

parts, a soldering station. This one has a hot air rework gun,

you put solder paste on the parts and hold them in place with

tweezers then heat the parts with the rework gun. When the

solder paste flows, remove the heat and let it cool.

This method is not recommended for attaching PE parts to

plastic.

Thank you for reading this article. I will conclude it by saying, although I am not OK at the moment, and I am not

entirely sure when I will be more OK, I have friends within, and without, the ACT Scale Modellers Society that care

about me. I am in contact with these friends regularly, I also have a treating psychiatrist whom I see monthly. I

take my medications as directed, and do not use alcohol as a self-mendicant. Alcohol and the medications I’m on

do not mix. My wife is also very supportive. If all this is not enough, I would be happy to admit myself into

hospital, which I have done so in the past.

Finally, if you are suffering from a mental illness and you have not yet got the hang of your brand of crazy, please

share and talk with your friends, go and get medical help, do something about it. The world is a better place with

you in it. The same thing goes for those friends of yours.

R U OK?

Chris Hennessey

ACTSMS

Platypus Publications

South Pacific Air War Volume 2 The Struggle for Moresby March-April 1942 Review by John Baxter

Usually when you start a book series you can be left with one of two

choices – 1) it’s a good series and you really want to collect the

remainder because of the subject matter and/or the information

and style of writing within; or 2) it’s not a bad book but do you really

want to continue and collect the remainder simply because you

purchased book 1?

Happily, this one falls into the first category simply because it’s

topical, it deals with Australian military history, it’s informative, it’s

very well-illustrated and well written. It’s also easily readable

despite the depth of data presented so well that the reader is never

overwhelmed by this wealth of information. It’s objective in its

approach and covers both sides of the antagonists in detail

reminiscent of Christopher Shores, Brian Cull and the like. It’s not

always a simple matter to provide such information and detail and

yet make it easily readable. Well, authors Michael Claringbould and

Peter Ingman have done just that.

This 232-page volume continues the struggle for New Guinea, leading up to the Battle of the Coral Sea and

covers the air war to secure the way for the invasion of Port Moresby. It introduces the famous Tainan Air Wing

(whose probably most recalled member was Japanese air ace Saburo Sakai) but prior to their arrival covers the

No 4 Kokutai (Imperial Japanese Navy air group) and its exploits from Lae to Port Moresby and the forces

committed against it.

Pictorial content is excellent with 22 colour CGI, 10 colour three-views, 63 colour profiles, 7 colour maps and

78 b&w photos (of which I’d only seen seven before). I was impressed with the CGI in the first volume – this

one’s content is even better! And it’s always refreshing to view photos never presented previously and have

full and informative captions. I recall a certain book on the Regia Aeronautica with photo captions saying simply

‘An Italian fighter getting airborne in the desert’. No identification of aircraft type, pilot, squadron, date nor site

location! That’s not acceptable. Not a problem with this series!

There are five appendices – Aircraft Losses and Fatalities (Allied and Japanese); Arrivals of US aircraft into

Australia by sea; aircraft three-views and specifications; Allied aircraft profiles; and Japanese Army and Navy

aircraft profiles. Finally, there are ‘sources and acknowledgments’ and an index.

This is a very desirable book to acquire if you have any interest in aviation history to our immediate north in

World War Two. I found these first two books enthralling and look forward to the third volume, perhaps later

next year.

It is certainly a great book for any WWII aviation enthusiast at a competitive price. It is available from Hyland’s

Bookshop in Melbourne [email protected] or 03 9654 7448 or from Avonmore Books in Kent Town,

South Australia www.avonmorebooks.com.au or [email protected] for rrp of $45.

Many thanks to Peter Ingman of Avonmore Books for the review copy. ISBN 9780994588975

mailto:[email protected]

http://www.avonmorebooks.com.au/


ACTSMS

Committee Contact Details

President Tony Allocca [email protected]

Vice-President Mario Marangoni [email protected]

Secretary Matt Jorgensen [email protected]

Treasurer Paul D’Orival [email protected]

Editors Phil Keene [email protected]

Min Hwang [email protected]

Events Coordinator Len Partridge [email protected]

Chief Judge Brad Fallen [email protected]

E Coordinator Jerry Cashman [email protected]

ACTSMS Post Box PO Box 600 Woden, ACT 2606

E: [email protected] W: www.actsms.asn.au

Justice of the Peace John D. Purcell Life Member ACTSMS











http://www.actsms.asn.au/

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