A Quiet meeting

 Well, we were making plans for 6 in a room with two rooms  but, in the end, it turned out that we could all meet in the usual room. There were only 8 of us for a quiet night.

Let's start with my feature video - this time it is one of  Peter's Starfighters.

(Use the [] full screen option)

Crispen was here with his usual eclectic choice of kits. This time, he had an RB Models Stuart M5A1 Late boxing to show us all. This is a 1/16th scale model so, as usual, Crispen is going for it - LARGE! - grin. We only have the box top for now.

Nearly everyone that had a model brought two along (except Bill who talked about the second one:-) so Crispen's second helping was a WIP Meng 1/9th scale Kawasaki Ninja H2R. This is a snap together, pre-painted kit which, according to Crispen, goes together very nicely.

Bill Banks has completed his Harrier GR3 in 1/48th scale.

His next target is an AIG Scammell Pioneer SV/2S in 1/72nd scale. This is one of Airfix's legacy kits so could be fun!

Peter Carlo brought along two 1/48th scale aircraft - a Kittyhawk Sukhoi 17/22, which was nicknamed "Jelly Legs" and a Revell BAe Tornado F3.

The Sukhoi fuselage is comprised of 6 pieces - no doubt to allow other versions - but with some care Peter got it all to fit very nicely. It also had a complete engine which is now in the 'I can't see it but I know it is there' category. The undercarriage is very finely moulded but see the following video for the effect of this and why it got its nickname.

Peter's other model was a more conventional Revell build.  

John Ovenden brought along a major work which started of easy but ended up a major task. He purchased a kit of a Russian truck being pushed by some troops. Seeing this and wondering what to do with it, he got hold of a Russian horse drawn gun with support team and put together a lovely diorama showing the oft-times forgotten benefit of horse-drawn when the going gets muddy!

Spring Thaw

Peter Terry treated us to yet another of his splendid collection of F104-G Starfighters. This one is a 1/72nd scale Revell boxing. Peter has made this as a Canadian AF aircraft by using some 40 year old decals.

He also brought along an Airfix 1/72nd scale North American B-25-2 Mitchell in RAF colours. He has used a standard Olive Drab overlaid with touches of faded Olive Drab and then some pastels to get a nice weathered effect.

I am a bit concerned about Colin as this is the 2nd month when has not brought a model. We are looking forward to the next interesting plane from your stable, Colin!

Lastly, then, are my two contributions - one was the only figurine on the table just for once!

The figurine is a Nuts Planet 1/12th but of yet another Japanese fictitious Ninja Troll. This is Onibi. She has a copper skin and a flame on the end of one arm!

My second item was an Eduard 1/48th scale Hawker Tempest Vb Series2. This would have been a great model to make if Eduard hadn't over engineered everything - using 5 parts where one would do. I had to do a major reconstruction of the cockpit as some of the structural parts were so thin that they broke very easily. I also managed to break the tail wheel off so I had to re-drill the hole - leave the plane sitting a bit low at the back. However, I was very pleased with it. BTW, I did NOT use all the tiny warning, etc. decals as there isn't enough time left in my life for activities such as that- grin.

That's about it for this month. Next month looks a bit suspect due to further lockdowns but here is hoping that we can all get together as usual.

David Pennington

Webmaster

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!

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