September 2020 - a very full table

 In celebration of the new normal, there was a very full table at the club for this meeting. Mind you, if John had been held up...

Anyway, here we go. Yet again, it was good to be able to get together for a real meeting. One sad note was in memory of Nick. His wife had given Arthur all of his modelling gear and asked him to dispose of it all at the club. Although we all took some mementos, it was nevertheless very sad.

First off is Feature Model of the month. I am not starting a competition or anything like that. I am just choosing one interesting model to make a little video on my turntable - as a feature. This month, I have chosen Geoff Woods Napoleonic bust from Nuts Planet. (Next time, I will ensure that I have good enough lighting - sorry Geoff!)

It seems that everyone brought more than one model so the table was impressive. First off, I brought my Airfix Sea Fury in 1/48th scale. I found this to be a very satisfying and clean build. I was especially impressed with the wing fold.

I also brought along a 90mm Alexandros white metal figurine of a Japanese Ninja Troll - One-Ni-Kanobo!  In demonstrating how heavy it was, I managed to damage it - maybe I should mess about in future.

Next up was Peter with four (yes four) Lockheed F104-G Starfighters. These were a mix of Italeri/Esci and Revell. Peter seemed to think that the very old Esci models were the best out of this bunch. Peter made the point that the Italeri/Esci kits came with 7 sets of decals and two bang seats whilst the Revell kits came only with 2 sets of decals and 1 seat! I had to be quite careful in getting the details right because there are some big similarities here.

Spanish Airforce

Norwegian Airforce

Belgian Airforce

Danish Airforce

Peter filled us in on some of the background to these planes. They seem to have been handed around once any force had no further use for them!

Arthur entertained us with a story about a Harrier GR3 that came under his care when at RAF Wittering. The full story is on the web site HERE - A Personal Memory of XZ133.

He also brought along on of his very nice Airfix 1/72nd  Lightnings - an F6.

Bill Banks also had a Harrier on display but this time it was a 1/48th scale Airfix version and is currently work-in-progress. We look forward to seeing the finished article soon.

John Ovendon showed us a trio of Wermacht 251 half-tracks. It seems he bought a box for, what he thought was a single AFVClub 251 at a show which turned out to have three complete models inside - bargain! Not content with showing three, he added another to make a nice little quartet.

SdKfz 251-2 Ausf D with 75mm Pak 40.

SdKfz 251-7 Pioneerpanzerwagon

SdKfz 251-1 Ausf D Troop Carrier

SdKfz 251-1 Ausf D Schutzenpanzerwagon (Rocket Carrier)

Geoff Woods held forth about the problem with resin kits when it comes to things like gun barrels. Ths is something that most of us have had to deal with. Resin makes for a very nice model but most manufacturers make little effort to stop banana barrels.

Nuts Planet 1/10th bust

Troop S4 54mm Napoleonic Old Guard 1809

To get a real taste of Geoff's skills, double click on the above image to see a larger version and revel in the detail that Geoff gets into something that is just over 2 inches high! Geoff also had a 1/10th bust of a German soldier but I missed taking a photo so I will have to get him to bring it in again.

Finally John filled the table with five 1/32nd scale aircraft and three 1/20th scale Tamiya F1 cars.

Here goes!

Fujimi Focke-Wulf 190D

Revell Messershmitt bf109K

Hasegawa Supermarine Spitfire VIII

Hobby Boss Supermarine Spitfire Vb

Matchbox/Revell Supermarie Spitfire 22/24

Tamiya Lotus 25

Tamiya Williams Ford FW-07

Tamiya Williams Honda FW11 

Well, that's it for the month. Don't forget to check out the web site at IPMS Clacton

August 2020 - Back to normal, ish

 We finally got together again at the beginning of August. There was a good showing of 20 models on the table with our usual great spread of interest. The full details of each model  are on the club website. I must apologise  as I have lost my notes so the descriptions are a bit bland. This also accounts for the late showing of the blog entry for this month!

Geoff Woods turned up with five really great figurines. As ever, he treated us to a display of figures worthy of a gold medal in any competition.

        

Bill Banks, struggling as usual with an old Airfix kit, brought us a nice 1/72nd scale Walrus.

Colin had been very prolific with four models on the table. There was a little 1/72nd scale Royal Navy Corsair IV and a Bristol Blenheim that gave him some interesting moments.

He also spent some time on increasing his range of Cuban aircraft, which seems to be his 2020 theme,

  

I brought along three little 1/35th dioramas that got built during my time shielding.  I must say that the Flak 36 was one of the most complex kits that I have ever built. Also, I was very impressed with the Airfix Hetzer - a nice kit.

 Peter Carlo brought us two 1/48th scale aircraft. I must say that his efforts with the Swedish camouflage paid off. I heard his description of the masking process and didn't understand a word of it as it seemed to be very complex. Well done, Peter.

  

John Ovenden showed us three 1/35th armour. Again, I am amazed at the efforts and skills people in our club show as the Amusing Hobbies(!!) model was as large as you can get in my little photo booth and needed 10 images for stacking to get everything in focus!

  

Last but not least we come to Peter Terry who showed us three of his 1/72nd works over lockdown. There were two nice little Airfix classics - a DUKW and a (WIP) Buffalo.

  

To round off the collection there was Peter's Lavochkin LA7, from Peter's favourite KP manufacturer.

Once again, I would like to say how lucky we are to have such a great set of modellers in our little group. Lastly, I would like to thank Peter for making sure that we had a club room to come back to.

See you all at the next meeting - the day that War broke out!

.

Virtual Meeting July 2020

Well, the lockdown is just coming off but we still can't get together so we have yet another virtual meeting! This time, we have seven contributors (although we may have seen some of these before).

Peter made an announcement at the start of the meeting. "All things being equal, we hope to restart the physical meetings at the Brotherhood Hall on the usual day in August - 6th - usual time."

Added by the Webmaster - "Make sure that you all have a model to show - although any that have been on the virtual table will be welcome on the real one!"

In addition, there is an exciting new book from Colin covering camouflage schemes for the RAF throughout the war. I will shortly be putting that up for download so wait for my e-mail!

OK, so here we go. In alphabetical order and in their words:

Jeff Adams

Attached are 5 photos, for the Clacton IPMS virtual meeting later this week. I have been working on various models during the lockdown but here are images of two that are actually complete. 

The first model is a German armoured car Sdkfz 222 in 1/35th scale. It is the Tamiya kit which dates back to the 1970s, if I recall correctly. I made this example in the late 1980s and used etched brass for the anti-grenade screens - which was quite revolutionary for the time! The model was constructed but never painted, until I found it in a cardboard box some weeks ago. I used my airbrush and Tamiya acrylic paints to represent the look of a vehicle taking part in Operation Barbarossa - the invasion of Russia, 1941. 

The second model is a 54mm Napoleonic soldier made from a plastic Historex kit. The uniform shows an artilleryman of the Garde Imperiale, foot artillery 1809. I have a large collection of these Historex kits and spare parts in my stash and enjoyed re-visiting the art of constructing and painting figurines. This particular model was painted entirely using artist's oils and incorporates many techniques gleaned from a series of modelling tricks and tips published by Stanley Catchpol (Bryan Fosten) in Military Modelling magazine from many years ago.

Bill Banks - Mustang Mk. IV - RAF.

A David style haircut is not for me. Looking forward to shearing time.

This is a 1.72 Airfix kit by courtesy of John. He is off 1.72 and I am of that. mind at the moment.The kit went together well......any problems were down to me..Careless.All will be knowledgeable of this famous aircraft.

A request by GB Procurement Group at the beginning of the war to North American. to manufacture Curtis fighters for the RAF spurred them to produce their own design the Mustange.This was in production very quickly. However the performance was limited by the Allison engine fitted.A change to RR Merlin engine transformed the aircraft to as we know it.Taken up by RAF USAAF and many other countries. It was in use until 1984. Many are in private hands. Some 15000 were built The US aircraft were fitted with Merlins manufactured by Packard.

Peter Carlo

SAAB JA-37 Viggen

 This is a ‘Tarangus’ kit: a Swedish kit manufacturer of all things. It’s a very good kit but needs careful assembly due to very close tolerances for fit. This means hardly any filler is needed. Good cockpit and engine detail. You need to note the thrust reverser is partially closed when on the ground and it needs painting before assembling the fuselage.

 After assembly – Painting!!!Maestro Models make a complete paint mask set – very complex. I started at the wing tips and worked inwards marking up which colours went where. This took me three days to avoid eyestrain. Keep the backing sheet as you need somewhere to hold the panels when you need to paint them a particular colour. It’s a case of, paint one colour, leave it a day to dry thoroughly, re-mask and paint the next, and so on. You start with a completely masked aircraft and finish with one set left over from the final paint colour, allow to dry then try to remember where all the masking is to remove it. The scheme comes out very well with only minor touch ups.

 Details settle very well with Micro Sol/Set and show up surprisingly well against the background. Remembering the 80’s Airshows it captures the look of the real thing.To quote the magazine advert ‘It satisfies the need for Sweed’, (and, yes, it is spelt like that!)

Colin Ovens

Please find attached four photos and a Modeller's Note/Article on the Revell 1/72nd Royal Navy Corsair IV.

I'm now returning to my new "Viva Fidel!" theme... unless I spot something in The Stash which I'd purchased enthusiastically at "the time" and always meant to build, but have put it off... in the pile are two Hasegawa 1/48th F-4 Phantoms (a USAF F-4G and an RAF FGR.2) which I've had for so long that I am ashamed to recall (the F-4G was bought at the 1982 Mildenhall Air Show for £8.95 and the FGR.2 was bought in 1990 for £12.00). Then there's a 1/72nd Revell PBY-5A Catalina which Robin had bought for me last Christmas... and then there's that Trimaster 1/48th FW190, not to mention several Eduard Spitfires in both 1/48 and 1/72...

No! I'll stick with Fidel Castro for the time being (next up is a trainer MiG-15UTI)... unless I change my mind...!

David Pennington

Airfix 1/48th scale Hawker Sea Hawk FBII.

My first Airfix aircraft for a long time but I ust say one of the best kits I have ever made. 

Apart from a bit of a faf around the nose cowl, the model went together prefectly. The instructions were great and, unlike other kits I could mention, the wing fold actually went together without fuss. I put some seatbelts in using Tamiya masking tape and chose my favourite FAA colour scheme, which has the Extra Dark Sea Grey come down the sides of the fuselage. All in all, a great model that I am proud to have made.

Jim Smetherham

We might have seen these before but, here goes...

First is a Meng 1/72 of a G91R/3 light fighter bomber in German airforce livery. “Bull’s Eye ‘79’. The G91R was the first combat aircraft designed and developed by Italy itself after WWII. It’s on the stand as I didn’t put quite enough weight in the nose 

The second is an F-102A with case x wings. Again a Meng 1/72 kit. This is in the livery if 327th fighter interceptor squadron 1958. I had a lot of trouble with the undercarriage. So much so that I abandoned it and tried something different. I used a piece of 10mm exterior ply covered it with blue for the sky. Used piano wire from my RC modelling supplies to create an inverted L shape which was glued into the ply and glued into a balsa fillet which was in turn glued to the turbine exhaust(?) at the rear of the plane. I then added some white cushion/ soft toy filler to create a cloud to try and give the illusion of it flying. 

Peter Terry

Sword Avenger kit number SW72114 1/72Scale

One of the latest Sword releases for a whole family of Avengers containing a number of foreign navy markings with more versions to come, These Sword kits are no shake and bake exercise's but adding a little time can get good results wing slots need filing out to get a sound fit and precise fitting and location of the undercarriage is needed but all in all a very enjoyable build I completed my kit in the markings of the Royal Canadian Navy .