1944, one of the very few

occasions when any sub-

stantial numbers of Sher-

mans fought German ar-

mour in any numbers. The

book is interesting be-

cause it spends some

considerable space de-

bunking the myth that all

German armour was bet-

ter than that of the Allies.

In terms of one on one

quality maybe, but the

battles around Arracourt

certainly resulted in a far

different result than, for

example, “it takes five

Shermans to kill one Pan-

ther”. Highly recommend-

ed.

Happy New Year every-

body!

Siiiggghhh—it’s that time

of year/month again. That

time of year when I look

back at 2016 and wonder

what I achieved modelling

-wise during the year and

that time of month when I

try and figure what to write

in this column.

Prowling around my dis-

play t’other day I was

shocked to find that I had

12 Shermans in the cup-

board, and there are 11

more in the stash. This, in

addition to the one cur-

rently on the bench,

makes me wonder just

how much of an influence

was our very own Sher-

man king, Andy Reid?

That leads me to the other

of my birthday purchases,

which was “Patton vs the

Panzers—The Battle of

Arracourt” by Steve Zalo-

ga. Anybody who does

not know who Steve is

should go and stick their

head back in the sand.

Suffice to say that there

are very few other people

with as great a knowledge

of US WW2 armour.

The book describes the

various armoured battles

which occurred in and

around Arracourt in late

Editorial (aka Rob’s Rantings)

7 January 2017

Volume 13, Issue 1

AMMS Brisbane News

Inside this issue:

From the Cupola 2-3

Book Review 4-5

AMMS Sydney Andy reid Competition

5-6

Odds & Sods 7

Above—what a good looking bunch. I don’t think that there is any other club in Queensland which can boast this

many members (there’s 37—I’ll save you the trouble) for so long. Note Andy’s vacant seat in front of Bill Burke.

Page 2

AMMS Brisbane News Volume 13, Issue 1

HAPPY PLASTIC-FILLED NEW YEAR

A very Happy New Year to all members and their families and best wishes for a happy, healthy, prosperous and

plastic-filled 2017.

This time last year, I made a few predictions for 2016 and so in keeping with tradition I will stare into my crystal ball

again and come up with predictions for 2017. Just give me a moment to warm up the ol’ crystal ball and while we

are waiting I’ll do a quick recap to see how my predictions went last year………..

2016 - There will be…….. a bounty of beautiful new kits to stimulate our hobby interests. Oh yes there were and aplenty

for everyone – a bit hard to get that prediction wrong though unless our hobby suffers a major health issue! And

increasing kit costs? Well in my opinion they seem to have settled down for the moment and hopefully they will

stay that way for the foreseeable future!

Unfortunately there was no Dragon 1:35 AT – AT – I guess I’ll have to admit to being totally fooled on that one, but

there was a Zvezda 1:2700 Imperial Star Destroyer released in December! That’s a 60cm x 35cm x 20cm hunk of

iconic Star Wars plastic right there folks – yeah!

2016 - There will be…….. more models in our model competition this year. Umm, no, wrong unfortunately. Damn crystal

ball! Only 7 entries in 2016 compared to 11 entries in 2015. Better luck this year perhaps?

2016 - There will be…….. a finished model from me! Okay, well that didn’t eventuate either – a few built but nothing

finished. That prediction was a bit far-fetched anyway don’t you think?

2016 - There will be…….. another great display for AMMS at QMHE. That’s a big yes! We did a great job with that

prediction didn’t we. And again we were fortunate enough to be awarded The John Stockley Award – Best Club

Display for another year!

2016 - There will be…….. some pain to achieve gain. AMMS transitioned to a fixed membership fee arrangement

from July which seems to have gone smoothly and relatively painlessly. Unfortunately by the look of it, we lost one

or two long term members in the process but excitedly and encouragingly we gained a few new members as well

(welcome aboard and I hope you are enjoying your time with us!).

Okay the crystal ball is ready, so here we go for 2017!

There will be…….. more exciting plastic in all genres and in all scales! Including more variants

of prolific and popular subjects and the expansion of more obscure items. Never really a doubt

about that though right?

There will be…….. another A7V kit in 1:35 with the so-called Rochling armour (well here’s hoping anyway)!

There will be…….. more large scale kits released – in 1:16 and hopefully a rekindling of the good ol’ 1:25 kits.

This scale offers so much more in the way of detail but certainly nowhere near the space requirements as the co-

losal 1:16 scale kits. Seems like a realistic prediction to me. Continued on Page 2

There will be…….. more Korean and Vietnam War era vehicles, equipment and figures – just for you Bruce!

There will be…….. a steady rise in the availability of 3d printed items and reproductions and a corresponding

rise in consumers market preference for these aftermarket accessories, conversions, figures, AFV interiors and

pre-assembled workable tracks.

There will be…….. a Dragon 1:35 AT-AT !!!! Okay only kidding – just being cruel! (please can we have one?)

There will be…….. continuing workshops at AMMS with plenty to see and an interesting variety of tips and

tricks, although the crystal ball is starting to go cloudy and I can’t see exactly what workshop topics will be cov-

ered. Maybe you could make some suggestions?

There will be…….. more competition entries! Although the crystal ball is still a little cloudy and I could have

interpreted that information incorrectly. I guess we shall have to wait and see what happens……..

There will be…….. yet another great display at QMHE with the main focus centred on the continuation of the

commemoration of The Great War focusing on 1917 and the development and combat use of the Tank. Ma-

chines such as the British Mk IVs, and French Schneiders and St. Chamonds, and not forgetting the introduction

of the French Renault FT and development of the German A7V, although first combat use of these tanks respec-

tively occurred during May and March 1918. And a range of figures and equipment, and other vehicles of the

day are proudly displayed too.

So there you have it folks, some pretty exciting stuff about to happen in 2017. Should be yet another great year

for AMMS and for our hobby!

Until next time, take care, stay safe, and happy modelling to all!

Regards,

From the Cupola (cont’d from Page 2)

Page 3

Volume 13, Issue 1 AMMS Brisbane News

Did You Know ?

Somewhere this year I picked up and built the kit at right—I

suspect it may have been at QMHE. The interesting bit

about this kit was that, despite the DS tracks, there was a

sticker on the box to the effect that “Magic Tracks Inside!”

Yes, there were, and this, to the best of my knowledge, is

the first time that both types of track have been included

(and yes, there were sufficient Magic Track links—about 110

for each side).

Maybe there’s just a glimmer of hope that DML have finally

started to listen to the howls of outrage from modellers who

do not like DS tracks? We can but hope.

Book Review

Page 4

AMMS Brisbane News Volume 13, Issue 1

Shep Paine’s Armor Modeling Guide

My grandchildren gave me an Amazon voucher for my birthday, and this was one of the two books I bought with it.

The book was only published this year, and is the last book Shep wrote before his recent death.

Having read many similar publications, I believe that this book, if it is the only armour modelling guide you ever buy,

is the best you will get. The book is broken up into two main sections, The Basics, and Projects.

1 The Basics is written by Shep and edited by Aaron Skinner, containing the following sections:

2 Assembling Armor Kits deals with the basics, and covers all aspects very well.

3 Doing Research is about just that, and suggests a number of different methods and sources.

4 Detailing and Advanced Modeling deals with the minutiae that armour modellers love, and how best to achieve

desired effects.

5 Battle Damage and Equipment shows how to portray battle damage realistically, and debunks a few myths regard-

ing what is realistic battle damage. I believe a lot of armour kits are over-damaged, particularly given their short

lives. In the other book I bought “Patton vs the Panzers – the Battle of Arracourt”, it states that many of the panzers

used in this battle were produced in August 1944 and knocked out before the middle of September, meaning a ser-

vice life of, at the most, six weeks. One knocked out Panther had less than 100 kilometres on the odometer!

6 Weathering continues the theme of the previous chapter including methods and materials to achieve the best re-

sults.

7 Planning a Diorama is a very useful chapter showing not how to build a diorama (that’s in the next two chapters)

but how to plan a realistic diorama.

8 Bases and Scenery outlines how to build bases, materials to use, and how to create realistic terrain.

9 Building Structures is just that, but shows in detail how build structures from scratch as well as how to enhance

structures from the likes of Miniart.

10 Posing and Painting Figures is about the best 11 pages I have seen on this subject, and covers every aspect in

detail.

Projects consists of just that, projects. The projects are each built by a different modeller, all of whom have been

influenced by Shep and used his techniques.

1 A Leopard 1 build

2 A Tiger 1 build with interior

3 “The Hornets Nest” a Russian Front diorama including a T34

4 “Roadblock in the Ardennes” is another diorama including a Tamiya Jeep and DML Hummel.

5 “Retreat from the Gustav Line” is another diorama featuring a prototype Italian SPG broken down on a mountain

road.

6 “Downward Spiral” shows a Flak 36 and ruined tramcar in the ruins of a German city.

7 “No Man Left Behind” is a Vietnam diorama based on a DML M48A3. Continued on Page 5

8 Last but not least “Operation Protective Edge” is a diorama set in Gaza in 2014 and featuring a Meng IDF Merka-

va Baz with a mine roller system.

I would strongly recommend this book to anybody interested in armour modelling, particularly as it is a recent pub-

lication, and does not base its contents on many now unavailable kits such as are featured in my now sadly anti-

quated Osprey modelling guides.

Book Review (Cont’d from Page 4)

Page 5

Volume 13, Issue 1 AMMS Brisbane News

AMMS Sydney Andy Reid Competition (thanks Dave Scorer)

AMMS Sydney held its end of year function Friday 2nd December and as part of their celebrations they concluded a group build run in memory of our very own Andy "Jumbo" Reid as Andy was well known to the Sydney crew that make the yearly migration north for QMHE. Considering they cater for all facets of military modelling, including aircraft and naval subjects getting six entries is a considerable achievement. The winning entry, built by Dave McKinney was completed from items Dave sourced from Andie's junk pile of bits-n-pieces when he visited the AMMS Brisbane meeting prior to QMHE this year- the fact that he could complete a model to that standard in that short a time frame is worthy of award in itself. I shared the images and back story with Allyson recently and she was most humbled to know that Andy was that well thought of and re-membered in such a manner. Congratulations to all entrants your efforts are amazing, and thank you to Greg Neil as the AMMS Sydney coordina-tor for 2016 for providing the information and organising the event. Well done those men. Now- if we can get our heads together and organise a modelling State Of Origin that could prove quite interesting.....

AMMS Sydney Andy Reid Competition (Cont’d from Page 5)

Page 6

AMMS Brisbane News Volume 13, Issue 1

Right—surprise, surprise! Gee, I won-

der why DML have released this kit?

Could it be because Tamiya have also

recently released one?

Meets first Saturday of every month at

Loganlea Community Centre, Timms Street,

Loganlea, between 11:30am and 4:00pm

Contributions to the newsletter are always

welcome. Please email contributions to the

editor at gncw@bigpond.com

A M M S B R I S B A N E

Wanted

AMMS Brisbane is on

the Web at

www.ammsbrisbane.co

.

Shep is looking for a 1/15 Verlinden Panzer II kit. If anybody has one

unbuilt or knows of somebody who has, and would be happy to part

with it, please contact Dave Scorer.

Kits for Sale

Bill Burke will have the following kits for sale at the January meeting:

Trumpeter T 62 $40 B.T.R.-70 APC (Trumpeter?) $30 Meng FT 17 $30 Meng A7V $65 Dragon SdKfz 251/16 Ausf.C $35 Dragon Panzer IV Ausf.C. $35 Contact Bill Burke at the meeting.

Right and below—a couple of new re-

leases from DML. I wonder has Al Kelly

got his prder in yet for the Ke-Nu?

Below right—oh goodie—ANOTHER

Tiger. Sigh!