Quite a big turnout this month. Crispen turned up with a pile of boxes but, strangely, John Rose only brought one work in progress (W.I.P.). I brought along my Tamiya M10 Achilles of which I am quite proud only to find that Jeff Adams brought along his M10 so mine will obviously have some serious competition - not that we have any competitions in the Clacton Club. Anyway, let's get on. First off is the usual video which this month is --- you guessed it - Jeff's M10!
OK so let's now have a look at what everybody brought along.
John Rose
John normally brings along some nice finished armour but this time all we had was a W.I.P. This is a Hobby Boss kit in 1/35th which models a Panzer IV Tauch (extra armour) sporting a very high snorkel tube. It seems that the idea of this was to aid an invasion of Britain. The tank is supposed to run under water but, as the English Channel is over 20 metres deep (66 feet) this was never going to work. Fun to look at though.
John Ovendon
John usually has a nice line in WWII armour but this time he presented us with a British (Afghanistan) FV510 Warrior. This is a Meng kit that was given to him by a relative so he felt duty bound to make it although he says that he doesn't't enjoy making modern armour. Amazingly, it is all plastic, including the grill. He found the blue glass a bit odd!
Jeff Adams
Jeff brought along two models. One is the M10 shown above.
This is an Academy 1/35th scale kit with the following extras: Blast Models storage; a Tamiya figure; a metal barrel and ammo from Armourscale/RB Models. All in all, a very nice rendition.
His second model was an amazing 54mm Historex mountedHussar from Napoleon's 6th Regiment in 1814. Amazingly, Jeff found that the horse (which comes in 2 halves) was too narrow so he widened it with some 40 thou plastic card. This, of course, meant that he had to widen everything else - a major rebuild. Then he had to use a pyrogravure to re-texture the fur on the jacket. Historex kits come with things like straps and webbing just as a length of material and it all has to be cut and glued in place. Personally, I have tried to make Historex kits ( going back to 1972) but have always failed!
Try right clicking on the image and see it in another tab or window in full size.
Crispen Block
I am a bit embarrassed here because, although I got a picture of Crispen's pile of kits, I didn't understand the explanation so if anyone can fill me in, I will correct this post. here is the picture. Crispen looks bit fierce and Andrew a bit bemused but there we are.
Bill Banks
Bill brought along a North American P-51D Mustang built from an Airfix kit in 1/72nd scale. Bill always gives me a script about his models as he always does some investigation into them. He said:
"A good kit for an attractive aircraft.It went together well. Any difficulties were of my making.
This aircraft was designed to a specification provided by a British Equipment Procurement Division. Based on RAF requirements.The result was an excellent aircraft almost straight from the drawing board. The major drawback was the Allison engine.The introduction of the RR Merlin transformed it into a world beating fighter. It had massive fuel capacity with drop tanks enabling bomber escort to the target and back.
The Merlin was made under license by Packard. The Mustang saw service in many forces until 1979. Many are in private hands now. It was credited with 4950 kills. 15586 were constructed with many post war variants as well as constructed in Australia post war."
Gordon Fisher
Gordon, at my request, brought along a little diorama that I missed photographing last meeting. It is of a Spitfire and a Merlin engine supposedly on display in amuseum. The kit is from Airfix in 1/72 and the people and OO model railway figures.
David Pennington
I showed my Tamiya 1/35th scale British M10 Achilles which differed from the one shown by Jeff by having the fabulous 17pounder gun which could knock out pretty much anything the the German's had. Again, unlike Jeff's model, the Tamiya kit comes with storage, ammo, etc. Unfortunately, the 50 cal. machine gun got broken in transit so that will have to be refitted. The base was made from some spare 5mm foam core and three green scrubbing squares. Put together with a coat of Sculptamold and some scenic accessories like Lichen, it is a fair representation of the Bocage in Normandy. I have written at article for the club web site so check that out.
We had a discussion about the brass plaques that both Jeff and I had (mine hadn't arrived when I took this picture). Mine came from eBay and cost £1.98 whilst Jeff's came from Argyll Engraving Gifts and cost 99p - both of these including postage! Mine was 50mm x 25mm. I don't know the size of Jeff's plate.
John Teagle
John showed us two nice Tamiya W.I.P. in 1/35th scale. The first was a nice little Universal Carrier (or Bren Gun Carrier as you wish).
The second was Tamiya's Quad tractor and 25pdr. A universally loved kit topic.
We look forward to seeing these when they are finished.
Peter Carlo
Peter was given this kit of a Revel Mandalorian Razor Crest in 1/72nd scale(?). It turned out to be a big beast and now has lights in the cockpit etc so it looks very impressive. The base is the lid to a box that his wife donated! Peter has written a short article about this build. I will e-mail everyone when it is available.
Peter Terry
Last of all, Peter had built an Italeri Hellcat in his usual 1/72nd scale. It was made out of the box but has been weathered to match that in a series on the Smithsonian TV channel. The weathering was done with pastels. The base was very cheap and purchased at the Milton Keynes or Ely show (can't remember which) from Basic Bases - unfortunately, I cant find a web site so keep your eyes peeled at the next show.
Finale
That's it. lots to see and talk about. A very good night. We did discuss having an Annual General Meeting as we have missed them since Arthur Banyard hasn't been able to make it to the meetings. Next time, maybe.
Lastly, don't forget that the comment against Jeff's Historex figure applies to any image: "Try right clicking on the image and see it in another tab or window in full size."
