Sea

ttle

Ch

apte

r N

ews

Seattle Chapter IPMS/USAJune 2003

PREZNOTES

In This Issue

Old Bill’s Report 3Hasegawa F-8E Crusader 4Hasegawa JAS Boeing 777 6Luftwaffe Tropical Colors 8IPMS/USA Membership 8Ostmodels Odessa Tank 9Lightning Modeller’s Datafile

10Limited Run Companies 11Victory Prod. Spitfire Decal 12Pavla Bf 109G/K Upgrade 13Meeting Etiquette 14Upcoming Shows 15Golden Age Stars of IPMS 16

Continued on page 15

Welcome to our June issue. I was readingthe “Maritime Casualty” section of MarineDigest, a monthly publication relating tothe shipping industry. The writer of thecolumn included the following:

4/1/03 - The Iraqi presidential yacht alMansur was extensively damaged andbarely afloat after being hit by fallingobjects in the Shatt-al-Arab waterway nearBasra.

I had a whole host of other things to writeabout, some of them even about modeling.But my allotted time to write this month’scolumn has been taken by a short durationtrip to exotic locales (Fort Bragg, CA). Itwould appear that you might have toendure one of my “airline” Preznotes nextmonth. Consider yourself warned. Ourhighly esteemed editor has graciouslyvolunteered to fill my space this month.Take it away Robert…

�����

In the words of Rodney King, “Can’t we allget along?”

I’ve noticed a bit of disturbing trendregarding certain people insulting othermodelers’ interests – not inside IPMSSeattle, I might add. It’s fine to have a

sense of humor about other modelers’passions, and if say, tank guys want togood-naturedly mock aircraft guys, or viceversa, I’m all for that. But I recentlyreceived an e-mail from a fellow modelerforwarding an article, which he disliked asmuch as I did, that suggested that a certaingenre of builders were the only realmodelers and that all other modelers werepsychotic losers. And no, I’m not exagger-ating – it really was that nasty, and not at

all funny. I build mainlyaircraft models, but I lovelooking at models of all kinds.Some of the best and mostinteresting models I’ve seenat IPMS Seattle meetingshave been ship and figuremodels. I have a tremendousrespect for modelers who canbring out realistic skin toneson a figure, or put hundredsof feet (scale wise) of tinybrass railings on a 1/700th

scale ship. IPMS Vancouveroften has judges do catego-ries outside of their area ofinterest at their yearly show,so that they can concentrate

on the construction and finish of themodel itself, and not play color police withwhatever their specialty may be. I think

SEATTLE CHAPTER CONTACTS

President: Vice President: Treasurer: Editor:Terry Moore Keith Laird Norm Filer Robert Allen3612 - 201st Pl. S.W. 528 South 2nd Ave. 16510 N.E. 99th 12534 NE 128th Way #E3Lynnwood, WA 98036 Kent, WA 98032 Redmond, WA 98052 Kirkland, WA 98034Ph: 425-774-6343 Ph: 253-735-9060 Ph: 425-885-7213 Ph: 425-823-4658moorethan4@worldnet.att.net n.sfiler@GTE.net baclightning@yahoo.com

IPMS Seattle Web Site (Webmasters, Jon Fincher & Tracy White): http://www.ipms-seattle.org

Public Disclaimers, Information, and Appeals for Help

This is the official publication of the Seattle Chapter, IPMS-USA. As such, it serves as the voice for our Chapter, and depends largelyupon the generous contributions of our members for articles, comments, club news, and anything else involving plastic scale modeling andassociated subjects. Our meetings are generally held on the second Saturday of each month, (see below for actual meeting dates), at the NorthBellevue Community/Senior Center, 4063-148th Ave NE, in Bellevue. See the back page for a map. Our meetings begin at 10:00 AM, exceptas noted, and usually last for two to three hours. Our meetings are very informal, and are open to any interested plastic modeler, regardless ofinterests. Modelers are encouraged to bring their models to the meetings. Subscriptions to the newsletter are included with the Chapter dues.Dues are $24 a year, and may be paid to Norm Filer, our Treasurer. (See address above). We also highly recommend our members join andsupport IPMS-USA, the national organization. See below for form. Any of the members listed above will gladly assist you with further informa-tion about the Chapter or Society.

The views and opinions expressed in this newsletter are those of the individual writers, and do not constitute the official position of theChapter or IPMS-USA. You are encouraged to submit any material for this newsletter to the editor. He will gladly work with you and see thatyour material is put into print and included in the newsletter, no matter your level of writing experience or computer expertise. The newsletter iscurrently being edited using a PC, and PageMaker 6.5. Any Word or WordPerfect document for the PC would be suitable for publication. Articlescan also be submitted via e-mail, to the editor’s address above. Deadline for submission of articles is generally twelve days prior to the nextmeeting - earlier would be appreciated! Please call me at 425-823-4658 if you have any questions.

If you use or reprint the material contained in the newsletter, we would appreciate attribution both to the author and the sourcedocument. Our newsletter is prepared with one thing in mind; this is information for our members, and all fellow modelers, and is prepared andprinted in the newsletter in order to expand the skills and knowledge of those fellow modelers.

IPMS Seattle Chapter Newsletter Page 2

Upcoming Meeting DatesThe IPMS Seattle 2003 meeting schedule is as follows. All meetings are from 10 AM to 1 PM, except as indicated. To avoidconflicts with other groups using our meeting facility, we must NOT be in the building before our scheduled start times, andMUST be finished and have the room restored to its proper layout by our scheduled finish time. We suggest that you keep thisinformation in a readily accessable place.

June 14 July 12August 9 September 13

IPMS Seattle Chapter Newsletter Page 3

Old Bill and CompanyReport to the Members

by Private Jim Schubert

My squad, comprising Captain Norm Filer,Lieutenant John Frazier, Sergeant BillJohnson, and I were assigned to disposeof all the UXS (UneXploded modelingStuff) in the collection of our late brotherin modeling, Ted Holowchuk. This is ourreport on that activity to date.

Shortly before his death Ted and Lorimoved from Snohomish to LaConner. OurUXS squad made several trips to LaConnerto survey and inventory his cache. Itquickly became apparent that we werespending far too much time enroute to andfrom LaConner from points as far away asEnumclaw and as close as Everett. To easethis problem we moved the cache in fivefull loads from LaConner to Kingston in astandard civilian 2 x 4 Chevrolet Suburbantruck. After we had deposited all of theUXS in my garage we resumed the surveyand inventory work.

Volunteer Andrew Birkbeck disposed of alot of material for us at McMinnville lastSeptember. He also moved some items one-Bay. Norm Filer moved a lot of high valuestuff on e-Bay. Volunteer Scott Taylor hasmoved a lot of material by direct sale to hismodel railroading buddies. VolunteersStephen Tontoni and Brian Cahill helped ininventorying and organizing the material.We had a large sale at an IPMS meetingearlier this year and an even bigger sale,on two vendor tables, at the Spring Show. Iextended an open invitation to membersand others to come inspect the materialand buy anything that caught their fancy.Many came and bought a lot.

The bottom line from all of this activity isthat as of June 2, 2003 we have a net totalof cash, checks, and I.O.U.s, in hand, ofover $8,600. Except for e-Bay and atMcMinnville, we have been selling the

material for a bit less than current whole-sale. Before we started, we agreed withLori that IPMS-Seattle would get acommission of 10% of the net proceeds.My personal goal for this undertaking is tohave that net total be at least $10,000. Weare close and closing in on it. If we miss, itwill be by very little.

I will have books and kits for sale at theJune 14 meeting and I plan to have a one-lot auction of a 1/48th scale P-40E package.This package comprises:• The Mauve kit about three fourthsfinished. The fuselage is joined and thelower wing half is installed. The cockpitand partially uncowled engine are finished,painted, wired and plumbed. The wheelwells are finished and painted. The flapwells are partially completed. It appearsthat Ted bought every after-market resinand PE set available for the P-40,• A Monogram P-40B parts donor kit,• A three-ring binder full of P-40 referencematerial,• Aircam #6; Kittyhawk I-IV; UK, Com-monwealth and NEIAF,• Squadron Signal’s P-40 In Action,• Squadron Signal’s Flying Scoreboards,• Air Enthusiast Quarterly #72,• MBI’s P-40 Monograph,• Squadron Signal’s 49th Fighter Group,• Airplane Magazine, Part 43,• Kalmbach’s Building the P-40, and• Pilot’s Flight Operations Manual.There will be a $50 reserve on this one lotand it is worth many times that.

I will bring all of the heavy-duty industrialstrength tools, etc. to a future meeting forsale. These are things such as a squirrel-cage blower and motor, detail componentsfor an air compressor installation, heat-gun, electric heat-chisel, ultrasonic cleaner,engraving tool, a home-made “TrueSander”, a couple of Dremel motor tools,etc.

When it’s all gone, I’ll make a closingsummary report to the chapter.

IPMS Seattle Chapter Newsletter Page 4

Hasegawa 1/48th ScaleVought F-8E Crusader

by Bob LaBouy

When Emil Minerich told me “I got ‘em” afew weeks ago, I could hardly wait to getmy very own Hasegawa F-8E Crusader kit.I’ll never forget seeing the first Crusader atNAS Norfolk and a few hours later at NASOceana. It was unbelievably “fast” lookingand easily demonstrated a quantum leapfrom the few other Navy jets of the day(e.g. the Cougar, Panther, Cutlass, andFury; I had yet to actually see a Demon orTiger at that point).

I should mention up front, I have yet tocomplete this kit and am about two to threeweeks away from that objective; I have itabout 80% complete at this point. I thinkthis kit can be summarized as some “goodnews and some bad news.”

Like many other modelers interested inNavy and USMC aircraft, the F-8 Crusaderis one of those aircraft which will probablyalways hold a great deal of interest for me.It’s very essence, even when sitting stillon the ramp, invokes “speed” and“beauty.” And it will probably be the lastaircraft purchased by the Navy to serveprimarily one purpose, that of being adedicated fighter aircraft (with apologies tothose who felt it was also a large, fastdigital camera).

(a) Box art: When one looks at the box,especially Koike Shigeo‘s artwork, you getthe initial buzz about the kit. As usual, Mr.Shigeo’s artwork, depicting two of thefurnished decals, will be a big selling pointfor this Hasegawa kit.

(b) Scale: This is a quarter-scale kit and assuch takes a bit of room and for those whoare still building the “godly scale” it’s a bitlarge. It’s almost 14 inches long andapproximately 9 inches wide. In 1/48thscale (in which one inch equals four feet inscale), the kit appears to be almost perfectwith the kit’s dimensions coming accu-rately to the aircraft’s 45’ 3” length, 15’ 9”height, and 35’ 2” wingspan.

(c) Outline accuracy: From my standpointand observations, it certainly looks right,sits right and will provide a good kit. Ihaven’t noticed anything of an outlinenature that appears incorrect.

(d) Ease of assembly: Reasonably straight-forward and appears to be well outlined inthe kit’s instruction sheet. The kit containsapproximately 104 pieces on 12 trees. Theclear tree includes 13 separate parts,including the small navigation lights and atwo-piece canopy. Before you get yourhopes up, you need to recognize thatthough the canopy has both pieces, it isn’tintended that it be raised or opened, whichis a bit of a disappointment. There is alsoone minor modification needed, in which

the radar warning bumps (at least I believethese are RVAW antennas?) on the verticaltail top must be removed from the kit. Thekit instructions show these being cut offwith a modeling knife, which is one way ofdoing it. Care needs to be taken in order topreserve the surrounding surface detail,especially the small formation light on thetail immediately adjacent to this antenna. Ialso found this kit needed a fair amount offilling, sanding, and finish rework to coverthe uneven joints. This is also the case atthe engine intake opening. In my judg-ment, the skills and complexity of theconstruction are of moderate difficulty.

(e) Instruction sheet: Hasegawa hascertainly provided sufficient instructionsand all the numbers or parts called outappear to be included in these instruc-

tions. A couple of omissions appear: theanhedral and dihedral of the aircraft’sflying surfaces and the expected position-ing of the Zuni rocket pods. Simple profiledrawings would eliminate either questionand it still amazes me that most kit instruc-tions do nothing for modelers in thisregard.

(f) Gimmicks: The only items I continue toquestion are the small washer-like rubberconnectors included and expected to beused to attach such parts as the horizontalstabilizers, main gear, and wing (in part atleast). I see these as another waste ofengineering and rubber. I opt for qualityadhesive or plastic cement to join myparts.

(g) Quality of kitfit/parts: This iswhere I had mymost objections. Ifeel there is muchimprovementneeded in this kit. Ialso recognize Imay be splittinghairs and havealready read onereview on theInternet in whichthe author ravesabout this aspectof this kit. That is

not my impression. I am not saying the kitis sloppy or inaccurate; it isn’t great and Ihad hopped for much more from Hasegawaat this point in our modeling travels. Thereare ejector marks on a few places that haveto be eradicated, notably on the main gearlegs. There is also a very small amount of“flash” evident on a few parts. In eithercase though, these issues are small innumber and significance. I may also bespeaking of issues that particularly “bugme,” but I felt there was more thannecessary amount of filling required tofinish my model.

(h) Decals: The decal sheet provides ahigh point for this kit. We are providedsufficient decals for four separate andsomewhat colorful Crusaders. The colorsare bright, accurate (I believe), and have a

IPMS Seattle Chapter Newsletter Page 5

very minimal amount of decal film showingaround the colored area. All four aircraftmarkings are from the carrier USSTiconderoga. Frankly, I was hoping formore diversity. Having seen many of thefinal operational markings for this verycolorful aircraft, I suspect we’ll see manyadditional aftermarket decals in the monthsto come.

(i) Crew figures: There is a single pilotfigure provided, with the head (encased inthe helmet with face shield and oxygenmask in place) and right arm as separatepieces. I seem to recognize this same figurefrom a few other Hasegawa kits and don’tuse them myself, but he appears to beadequate.

(j) Packaging: This kit comes in a reason-ably large box that provides sufficientprotection for all the parts and decals. Thecurrent issue is kit number PT 25. I suspectthere will be at least one or more F-8 kitsthat will follow (as we’ve seen with manyother Hasegawa kits, i.e., A-4, F-104, A-7).

(k) Price: Local retail price is approximately$38.98

(l) Summary: I suspect you picked up onsome of my disappointments. Maybe I(and many other modelers) can’t be madehappy, though I don’t think that’s true.Over the last couple of years I have foundmany models to be absolutely great andbelieve this kit would fit into that categoryhad it been for just a few more finishingand engineering touches. It is a very nicekit though, and I urge you to consider itwhen building models to represent theNavy’s fighters of the late ‘50s andthrough the Viet Nam conflict.

There are some aspects of this kit thatdisappoint me. This is especially bother-some when you’ve laid out $39 for thebasic kit, $18 for the Cutting Edge detailedcockpit set, and at least $9 for a decalsheet, all of which is edging $70 with thetaxes. That’s a sizeable chunk of change inmy hobby. I will let you see my results at afuture Chapter meeting and allow you tojudge for yourselves.

But what really has me steamed is the lackof high quality in the kit itself. For almost$40, I expect to get kits of the quality we’rebecoming used to, and spoiled by, fromTamiya, with high quality engineering andcrisp detail. What Hasegawa passed to usin the kit is sloppy machining in theirmolds, allowing some engraving detail tocontinue beyond the panel lines, smallscraps and scratches on the finishedsurface area, and parts which don’t alwaysfit together very well (requiring sandingand more filling than I would like). Someother examples include the lack of anopening speed brake (molded into thefuselage), scribed panel lines at varyingdepths, and gun ports that do not open.To top it all off, my wing doesn’t even fitthe fuselage opening (both too narrow andtoo long) and required a considerableamount of filing and sanding to set in itslocation atop the fuselage. It would havebeen nice to also have the folding wingsections separate. The decals appear to bequite nice, though I suspect I’ll not usethem anyway. And why did this companywaste the time and effort to supply thesheet of plastic painted to look like acarrier deck section? This “bonus item!”leaves a lot to question about Hasegawa’sperception of a modern Navy carrier deck,and I suspect it will only be used byyounger modelers.

I am also a bit put off by Hasegawa’scontinued lack of basic ordnance loads forthis kit. I know, they expect us to purchasetheir separate ordinance sets (and I have,

honest), but I still feel they are selling themodeler short. There was certainly roomon several of the parts trees to haveincluded a few Sidewinders. The oneexception is the inclusion of four rocketlaunchers (presumably the LAU-10D/A)and eight small points that are supposedto imitate the Mk 34 Zuni rockets thatoften armed the Crusader for a variety ofuses. While the Zuni is still stocked andwas used for numerous ground supportand naval surface warfare missions, itsmost infamous act was the initiation of theJanuary 14, 1969 conflagration aboard theUSS Enterprise that threatened the carrier.The eventual toll included over 27 deaths,344 injuries, the loss of 15 aircraft, and theneed to rebuild an entire deck section ofthe “Big E” while serving off the coast ofViet Nam.

In comparison to Tamiya’s recentlyreleased P-47 (at about the same price),this kit is a sad example of the state of theart of plastic scale modeling, in myopinion. Should you buy one? Yep, it isstill a clear step up from the older Mono-gram. But I suspect you will have some ofthe same nagging questions I do, after youlay out your hard earned dollars and put ittogether.

All of these “rants” aside, I’ve alreadybought two of these kits and will certainlymake do. Remember, we’re “modelers” andcan make pretty decent displays of somehorrible kits. Can you say “Airfix” or“Frog?” Enjoy.

IPMS Seattle Chapter Newsletter Page 6

Hasegawa 1/200th ScaleJapan Air Systems Boeing

777

by Tim Nelson

The 777 is Boeing’s latest all-new airliner.Let’s hope it’s not the last! The 777evolved out of “767-X” studies for a 767replacement in the late 1980s. An unprec-edented degree of customer discussionsled to a significantly larger airplane, whichwas launched as the 777 in October 1990.The 777 design took advantage of ad-vances in aerodynamics, structures,materials, avionics, and flight controltechnology. First flight of the initial 777-200 took place out of Paine Field in Everett,on June 12, 1994. Since initial delivery toUnited in May 1995, the extended range777-200ER, and the stretched 777-300 havebeen introduced. The longer range 777-300ER is currently in flight test, and theultra-long range 777-200LR is in develop-ment.

Japan Air Systems is not well known in theU.S., but it is a major player in the Japa-nese domestic market. Formerly known asToa Domestic Airlines, the carrier wasformed in May 1971 by the merger of JapanDomestic Airlines and Toa Airways. In2002, the merger of JAS with the largerJapan Air Lines (JAL) was announced.JAS had a large McDonnell-Douglas MD-80 series fleet, but wished to expand theirability to carry large passenger loads ontheir major routes in the mid-1990s. Theybecame one of the launch customers forthe 777 and took their first delivery of thetype in 1996. The JAS 777s bear a spec-tacular “Rainbow” livery, which resultedfrom a competition for children.

The Hasegawa 1/200th scale 777-200 kit wasfirst released in Japan Air Lines (JAL)markings in 1997, with Pratt & Whitneyengines. Other major 777 customers andengine types followed. My favorite 777livery is the JAS “Rainbow 777”, a decalsheet for which has only been offered byHasegawa in a kit for the Japanese homemarket. I found one at HobbyLink Japan.

The Hasegawa kit comes in six sprues, notincluding the clear canopy window partand the display stand. Two of the spruesare carbon copies of each other, providingthe necessary duplicate engine nacelle,landing gear, and flap track fairing parts.Overall accuracy and detail is decent forthis scale – for example, the right side ofthe rudder replicates the three rudder tabrod fairings that were missing from themediocre (and very expensive) Doyusha1/144th scale 777.

The model has recessed panel lines, buttheir quality is not up to usual Hasegawastandards. The fuselage panel lines go softin places. The wing surfaces have a fewodd, extraneous line segments – they lookmuch like what you might achieve yourselfif you daydream while scribing your ownlines.

Assembly is pretty straightforward, withbugaboos in two areas. The fuselage join(don’t forget to install the included screwas nose ballast!) is uneven and requires afair amount of scraping, filling, andsanding to make smooth. Care is neededhere to avoid flat spotting parts of theupper fuselage. The other, traditional,problem area is the joining of the enginenacelle halves. Anyone who has built jetairliners is familiar with the problem ofdealing with the internal seams in the inlet.Minicraft solves this problem by thedesign of the nacelle parts in their 1/144th

scale 777 kit. My ‘solution’ was to finishthe fan blade disk (paint, gloss, wash, drybrush, apply spinner decal, then semi-gloss), then cover it with liquid mask. Afterassembly of the nacelle, I then did my bestto address the seams and paint the nacellebefore removing the fan blade mask. Agood idea, but removing the fan blademask proved more difficult than expected,and caused some rework due to ham-handedness. The final result was OK fanblades and still a hint of seam lines in theinlet. Oh, well!

The landing gear lacks much detail, acommon trait of kits in this scale. Wheelsand tires are acceptable, but the mainlanding gear wheel hub detail is crisper onsome wheels than others. The wheel wellshave no detail, again expected for airlinersin this scale. Wing trailing edges are thick,and I did my best to thin them to some-thing close to a scale look.

The fuselage is all white, and I tend to useTestors Model Master flat white for allwork in white. After sanding smooth, I hitit with Duracryl automotive gloss lacquer.The wings were done in light gull gray,with a darker neutral gray applied betweenthe spars. Horizontal tail is light gull gray.Nothing too fancy here.

I used Alclad II “Polished Aluminum” onthe engine inlets, and Bare Metal Foil“Matte Aluminum” on the leading edgeslats, and horizontal and vertical tail

IPMS Seattle Chapter Newsletter Page 7

leading edges. I goofed on the vertical tail– the polished metal leading edge is a verysmall percentage of the chord. I didn’teven consider the leading edge treatmentuntil after application of the tricky decals(described below). At that point, I wasonly willing to risk trimming the foil in thenearest panel line, which is well aft of theleading edge. My vertical fin bare metaltreatment is therefore at least twice as largeas it should be. I gave the engine tailcones a spray of Testors burnt ironlightened with silver.

Airliners are often represented as pristine,factory fresh vehicles. Cursory inspectionof these working birds at an airport revealsthey do collect dirt. They are not coveredin filth, of course, but they do show signsof being used! With this in mind, after theDuracryl treatment, I applied a mediumgray wash to the flight control surfacesand flaps, and a light gray treatment to thepanel lines. The landing gear was alsosubjected to a light gray/brown wash. Iprobably overdid it, but I do think somedegree of light weathering is appropriatefor airliners. I used Kristal Kleer to dressup the various light lenses.

Now we get to the heart of the matter.What separates this 777-200 kit from theother Hasegawa 777 offerings is the JASdecal sheet. The rainbow stripe is repre-sented by several decal segments, whichmust conform to the complex curvature ofthe fuselage as it spirals from one end ofthe airplane to the other. The Hasegawainstruction sheet innocently states:

“When applying the rainbow strip decal,make sure you use warm water to make thedecal easy to handle, and take your time tomake sure it is in the proper location. Insome locations, the flat decal will formwrinkles on the aircraft’s fuselage. Pressthese flat using a soft cloth or tissue forthe best appearance.”

Allrighty then!

The rainbow stripes were a fiasco. I startedwith the tail to anchor the placement, andworked forward. Copious amounts ofMicrosol and/or Solvaset, X-Acto inci-

sions, and more Microsol and/or Solvasetwere ineffective at eliminating all thewrinkles. I resorted to spraying the modelwith Duracryl gloss, then lightly sandingaway the wrinkles. This approach naturallyrequires paint touchup to restore the colorthat was sanded away. If you have evertried mixing paints to match decal colors,you have my sympathy. My efforts weremostly successful for the darker shades ofthe rainbow, but poor for the yellow,

orange, and especially the “teal” shade.Most of this ugliness was confined to thelower fuselage, thankfully, but the verticaltail also suffers upon close inspection.

The remaining decals were completelyconventional and were applied with noproblem.

The Hasegawa 1/200th 777 is a decent kitand can be made into a fine representationof Boeing’s best. If you are interested indoing one for yourself, consider buyingtwo kits just to get a spare decal set. WithJAS merging with JAL, the future of theJAS rainbow livery may be in doubt. Ihope JAL sees fit to retain these spectacu-lar rainbow birds in their fleet.

Maybe Hasegawa can now move on totackle the new 777-300ER with the spec-tacular Boeing company scheme. Thosedecals should be no sweat!

References

Boeing 777, by Jim Upton, Airliner TechSeries Vol. 2, Specialty Press Publishersand Wholesalers

Boeing 777, Jetliner for a New Century,by Philip Birtles, Airliner Color History,MBI Publishing Company

Boeing 777, by Guy Norris & MarkWagner, Enthusiast Color Series,Motorbooks International

Twenty-First Century Jet, The Makingand Marketing of the Boeing 777, by KarlSabbagh, Scribner (Companion to the PBStelevision series of the same name, and thebest history of the 777 program.)

Airliners.net (Probably the best site on theweb for airliner photography)

IPMS Seattle Chapter Newsletter Page 8

Luftwaffe TropicalCamouflage

by Hal Marshman, Sr.

Since this “Dude” got his Dell, I’ve beenspending quite a bit of time exploring thenet, and check such sites as ModelingMadness, Hyperscale, etc. on a dailybasis. I’ve seen some really beautifulmodels of Luftwaffe Tropical subjects. Onething that has become glaringly apparentis that some really good modelers seem tohave a misunderstanding of what theGermanswere usingfor airplanecamouflagein the earlyNorth Afrikadays.According towhat thesefolks put intotheir narra-tive, itsometimesseems to bethe fault ofaftermarketdecal makers.The ten-dencyappears to bethe use of RLM shades 78, 79, and 80 onany tropical subject. These colors were notpromulgated until November 1941. Now,we all know that the Luftwaffe had been inaction in theater long before that date.Such being the case, they certainly couldnot have painted their aircraft in thosecolors.

Okay, you say, what indeed did they reallyuse? Basically, it has been long estab-lished that the Italian colors of sandyellow, mottled with olive green, wereused, with the mottling sometimes beingreplaced with Italian dark brown. For themost part, the undersides were left in RLM65, only occasionally being replaced withItalian sky gray. Often, the sand yellowwas sprayed in a random pattern over the

original RLM 70/71 finish, using the areasof 70/71 as blotches. This makeshiftscheme was predominant on early Ju 87Band R birds.

Careful research will reveal that Bf 109E, Ju87B and R, Ju 88, Hs 129B-1, and Hs 126aircraft were almost all painted as above,while Bf 109F, Fw 190A, Ju 87D, and otherlater arrivals came either from the factories,or replacement depots already painted inthe newly promulgated RLM 78, 79, and 80shades. It is my feeling that very little wasdone in theatre with these new colors, asthe supply situation between the conti-nent, and North Africa was tenuous

indeed, with fuel, ammo, necessary spares,replacement weapons, and personnelhaving top priority. I should think that inlight of the supply situation, camouflagepaints, no matter how newly promulgated,would be extremely low on the priority list.I’m sure that any enterprising individualcan find exceptions to the above, so it fallsinto the “no hard and fast rule” category,but as a rule of thumb, the modeler oftropical aircraft can feel pretty confidentusing the above info.

The Monogram Publication, The OfficialMonogram Painting Guide To GermanAircraft 1935-1945, is the source for mostof the above. Regretfully, this invaluablepainting tool is now out of print.

This amazing photo of a JG 27 Bf 109E over the desertshows how well the colors worked!

IPMS/USA NationalOrganization

by Keith Laird

Your officers have not made this pitch forsometime so we are probably overdue.Each chartered chapter of IPMS is requiredto have at least five members who belongto the national organization, in our caseIPMS/USA. Each officer is required to be anational member.

I would like to encourage as many mem-bers as possible to also belong to IPMS/USA. The current membership dues are$21 per year for an adult, $26 for a family,and $9 for juniors 17 and under. Yourmembership entitles you to four issues ofthe quarterly magazine. Many hobbyshops give discounts to members, you arecovered by insurance at IPMS events, andyou get to be part of a great network ofmodelers. The seat of power for IPMS/USA is now in Ohio, with a new crew onboard. The Journal has very muchimproved with more articles and lessdiscussion. The website has also beenmuch upgraded lately, and can be found athttp://www.ipmsusa.org

Some chapters have a requirement that alllocal members be a member of IPMS/USA.We have never done that and probablynever will. Look at the website discussionswith members who belong to IPMS/USAand make your own decision. I think youfind the benefits outweigh the negatives.

One final point - if you go to any IPMSNationals, either in the USA or worldwide,and plan to enter the contest, you arerequired to belong to a National IPMSorganization, and will be asked to showproof.

An IPMS/USA membership form can befound on page 2 of this newsletter.

IPMS Seattle Chapter Newsletter Page 9

Ostmodels 1/76th Scale NIOdessa Tank

by Will Perry

The NI (Na Ispug - Terror Tank) was animprovised design built in 1941, during thesiege of Odessa. The factory took Sovietagricultural tractors, added armored plateand a variety of armament, and rumbled offto fight the Romanians. The Tank Museumof the Red Army in Kubinka exhibits areplica of one of these oddities. There –that is about all we know about the NI, atleast from online sources. My paper librarycontained nothing at all regarding thisvehicle.

Despite the NI’s obscurity, Ostmodels ofAustralia produces a 1/76th scale resinmodel of the wee beastie. For about 10bucks, you get a small plastic bag contain-ing five light green parts – hull, turret, twosuspension/tracks, and a nice machine gunbarrel. My copy exhibited average castingquality. Small air bubbles were abundant,edges and planes were not quite exact, andboth suspension/track units were mildlywarped. The resin was reasonably smoothand homogenous. Not much to be saidabout accuracy. The kit does not resemblethe Kubinka replica very much, but it is amoot point since there were many NIvariants. The Ostmodels line is carried byMighty Military Miniatures.

Modeler’sblock hitsmany of us,on occa-sion, and atime-testedremedy is todo a quick,low stressbuild of asimple kit.With fiveparts andvirtually noreferences,the NIseemed likea goodcandidatefor such a build.

The surface texture was first, with a thinlayer of white putty to fill in those airbubbles. It started out with a patch hereand there, but the bubbles were numerousenough that most of the hull and much ofthe turret ended up white. Sanding thisdown took care and delicacy – the resinwas very soft under file or sandpaper, andoversanding risked uncovering morebubbles. Great care was required to keepedges crisp – I did not want to end up witha model that looked like it had been carvedout of soap. Sanding or filing produced anasty organic solvent smell, and I kept thehobby room ventilation fan running forthis stage. A thick, hand-brushed layer of

ModelMaster Primer wasnext – carefully sandingthis produced parts thatwere ready for assembly– a quick task with thetraditional Superglue asthe adhesive.

Ostmodels provides fewdetails with the kit, butthe Kubinka replicaphotos show plenty.Using those photos as aguide, I added a hatch inthe hull, vision ports onthe front, lifting rings

and many wire grab handles. Gloppyapplications of Superglue were used toattach these parts, representing the crudewelding often visible on Soviet armor. Fora topcoat, I wanted a color that would lookat home on an agricultural tractor –ModelMaster RLM 82 was my pick. The sparesbox was raided for fuel cans and pioneertools, and a tissue paper tarp was con-structed. The model was finished off withrust and black washes, a spritzing of dust,and some graphite powder applied with acotton bud.

With its tall, boxy silhouette, the NI looksmore like a caricature than the hulkingSoviet armor we are used to. Nobodyknows what the thing is and everyonethinks it is cute. Once the parts werecleaned up and the many bubbles filled,the NI was an easy build, and its simpleshapes make it a good choice for a firstresin kit. The lack of references makes thisa bit of a design-it-yourself project - thosewho seek accuracy should look elsewhere.For me, these factors added up to a fast,easy and very fun project.

[Thanks to Chris Banyai-Riepl andwww.internetmodeler.com for permissionto use Will and Tim’s articles - ED]

IPMS Seattle Chapter Newsletter Page 10

The English ElectricLightning: A

Comprehensive Guide forthe Modeller by Richard J.

Caruana

reviewed by Robert Allen

Many non-Britons don’t realize theaffection that many British enthusiasts andmodelers have towards the English Electric(BAC) Lightning. Because the aircraft onlysaw service with three air forces, and wasnever used in combat (discounting aground attack sortie or two in SaudiArabian service), it tends to be over-looked. To the British, though, as the onlycompletely British supersonic fighter, onethat saw first-line service with the RAF for28 years, and one that was a spectacularperformer at air shows, the Lightning is anicon second only to the Spitfire amongBritish fighters. Although hampered bylimited armament and the short range thatis typical of British fighters, the Lightningwas the best interceptor in the world uponits service introduction, and for manyyears afterwards, with a performance,especially its incredible climb rate, thatcompared with fighters introduced aquarter-century later. Caruana recountshow surprised the USAF was to encountera fighter that could intercept its high-flyingU-2s.

It makes sense, then, that the Lightningwould be the first jet covered by ScaleAviation Modeller International in itsModeller’s Datafile series of aircraft booksdirected at the modeler. The title of thisbook is honest; although it does a decentjob of giving the aircraft’s history, there aremany other books on the Lightning thatcover the aircraft’s development in greaterdetail. While there’s nothing specificallywrong with the photos included, there arealso several other books that better coverthe Lightning pictorially, especially in color– Ian Black’s The Last of the Lightningsand Lightning come to mind. What thisbook does very well is provide the type of

information the modeler needs – thedifferences between various subtypes,detail shots and drawings, and color andmarkings information.

There’s a certain schizophrenic quality tothe book, due to the historical chaptersbeing written by Richard J. Caruana (whoalso provided the profiles and scale plans,all to a nice consistent 1/72nd scale), andthe chapters devoted to modeling beingwritten by Richard A. Franks – somethingthat only becomes clear if you read thesmall print.

After an 18-page potted history of theLightning, which explains the politicalincompetence that hindered the aircraft’sdevelopment, the meat of the book starts,with a chapter detailing all RAF units thatused the type. Fourteen pages of nicelydone color profiles follow, with 42 aircraftshowing the evolution of Lightningcamouflage from the silver finish of earlyexamples to the muted greys seen at theaircraft’s retirement. One of the bestfeatures of the book is the 28 drawingsshowing specific differences between sub-types, and how each can be modeled. Oneomission is in the caption to the drawingof the T.55, which fails to tell you thatMatchbox made a kit of that specificvariant!

The section that reviews the various kitsof the Lightning is useful, telling what iswrong (and right) with the specific kits, butit’s also one of the more flawed parts of thebook. A book called A ComprehensiveGuide for the Modeller really should tellyou not only what is wrong with each kit,but also how to fix them in detail, which itdoesn’t do. The most disappointing aspectof the modeling section is that Frankswasn’t able to get an example of several ofthe Lighting kits to give details of decaloptions etc., including the Airfix F.3 andMatchbox T.55. I find it impossible tobelieve that a British author, with theresources of SAMI behind him, would notbe easily able to find someone who had

The only Lightning on display in the Western USA is this ex-Saudi T.55 at theOlympic Flight Museum in Olympia, seen during its service life.

IPMS Seattle Chapter Newsletter Page 11

such common kits stashed away in theattic. We’re not talking some cottageindustry manufacturer here – I can think ofthree or four people in IPMS Seattle whowould be able to give him that information.Such sloppy research is inexcusable, andis, unfortunately, often all too typical ofScale Aviation Modeller International ingeneral.

The cockpit drawings are comprehensiveand extremely good, and the color detailshots are passable, although severalwalkarounds on the Internet have similarphotos reproduced in greater clarity andsize. One wonders why four pages werewasted on the Short S.B.5, despite it beingpart of the Lightning story, when no mass-produced injection-molded kit of it exists.

The section on camouflage and markingsis also useful, although the absence of adrawing showing the various demarcationlines on the later grey schemes is curious.One thing I did not realize is that modernRAF Dark Green is equivalent to FS 34064,rather than FS 34079, which WW2 RAFDark Green was equal to. A listing ofapplicable paints lists all the –4079 paintsas substitutes, so the difference can’t bethat great.

The last page of the book folds out toreveal 1/72nd scale plans of all versions ofthe Lightning.

The English Electric Lightning: AComprehensive Guide for the Modeller ishardly the definitive book on the type, butit is a very useful addition to the library,especially for the modeler. One drawback isthe price. Although listed at £14.99 inBritain, which seems reasonable for a bookwith high quality glossy paper, even if it isa softback, it seems to be selling for about$40 to $45 in the USA, which is exorbitant.My advice – if you can find it for about$30, go for it, but otherwise leave it on theshelf.

SAM Publications128 pages, softboundIBSN 0-9533465-7-9

The Lowdown on LimitedRun Companies

by Bill Osborn

As some of you may have noticed, Ihaven’t written any articles for a while. Ithought I should give you a break fromhearing me complain about the lousy kits Ibuild or the trouble I have painting. Well,with Terry’s and Jacob’s articles in lastmonth’s newsletter, the dam burst, thegates were thrown wide and the veil waslifted. As some of you may know, I seem tohave a corner on “limited run kits”. So, it iswith heavy heart, I tear into a few of myfavorite bad kit makers.

Mach II comes to mind, as I have at-tempted no less than three (and finishedone) of the brand. These kits look as if themolds were made of soft clay and theplastic was pressed into them. To givethem their due, if you can finish one theydo look good in a collection and hardlyanyone else will have one. The surfacedetail is good but goes away when yourotary file down the trailing edges andmismatches. The clear parts aren’t, butthey are thick enough that with some 80grit a vague clearness may appear. I couldgo on but you get the idea.

Amodel comes to mind. These kits are nottoo bad; they are just on the crude side.This is not to say that a fair model can’t bemade from the kits. The parts have goodsurface detail but the smaller ones tend tobe a little vague. Some times it’s hard to tellwhere the part ends and the sprue begins.The decals are pretty good and are verythin; this is a good thing up to a point.God help you if one gets twisted or foldedover. Since there are very few aftermarketdecals (or anything else) for these kits, ifyou screw one up you’re out of luck.

Bilek is another outfit that needs help. Ihave built at least two models from them.The part fit is mostly good but I’ve got aMiG-19 that’s driving me nuts. Also, thereare two Su-22s that need whole new inner

wing sections. As with most other limitedrun kits the surface detail is good until youglue them together, fill the seams, and sandthem down. Then it all goes away.

I have a couple of kits that I can’t tell whoputs them out because everything isprinted in Russian. I bought these kitsbecause I wanted the models. The first kitis a La-176. The only thing that’s not inRussian is a beetle in a circle logo. Theother one is a Su-15TM. The name on thebox looks like "Moaea” but in cyrillic. Well,they looked good in the box but from thereon things went downhill. Both kits havemassive amounts of detail (raised abouttwo scale inches), which will go awaywhen the joints are sanded. They do havethe correct contours, but I haven’t thepatience to fight it.

Now lets talk about Azur. I don’t quiteknow why these models keep showing upin my collection. Maybe I can’t say no tothe model, and hope that things will getbetter. The moldings are fairly good withfine detail. The subject matter is usuallygreat with good decals. So what’s theproblem? I’ll tell you, it’s the engineering.Things just don’t fit, and the main partsare either oversize or not big enough. Theinstruction sheets are vague and leave alot to your own interpretation - and a lot ofguesswork.

O.K., I’ve trashed a few companies thatendeavor to bring us models that we’llnever see from the major houses. I know ofthese problems because I want to addthese models to my collection, so whatelse is a guy to do but suffer for thecause?

Most of the limited run kits suffer from thesame problems. They don’t have indexpins or tabs. Some have vacuform cano-pies and resin parts that may or may notfit. Decals are usually good and varied.Instructions can be good or not so good.But one thing they all have in common isthe great subject matter. Long live the“limited run” companies.

IPMS Seattle Chapter Newsletter Page 12

Victory Productions 1/48th

Scale Decals Spitfire – Acesof the Empire

by Andrew Birkbeck

Every so often a product comes along thatknocks your socks off and wakes you upfrom the haze of day-to-day living. This“set” of decals from Victory Productions isone of those products, containing as itdoes two 11 x 8 inch decal sheets coveringthe aircraft markings of no less than 39WW2 Spitfire Aces of the British Empire(41 aircraft in all). And when I mean themarkings, I mean all the markings. Unlikeother sheets I have purchased in the past,this set not only includes all the squadroncodes, aircraft serial numbers etc., for eachindividual aircraft, but also the tail IDmarkings for 11 aircraft, and approximately70 wing and fuselage roundels of varioustypes. Should a modeler wish to utilizemore than 11 of the schemes, he or she willneed to scrounge up some more roundelsand tail markings.

Along with the decals, which were inperfect register, come two large printedsheets depicting one color side profile foreach of the 41 aircraft, along with threelarge black and white, two-sided printedsheets depicting a black and white sideprofile, and a detailed written descriptionof the pilot and his aircraft. Included in thiswritten description is the aircraftsubvariant (such as Spitfire Mk.Vb orMk.IIa etc.), along with such extremelyuseful data on which spinner and prop wasused on the particular aircraft, along withthe type of canopy, mirrors, wheel hubs,antennas, ailerons, etc., used. Writtendetails on the color and markings of theparticular aircraft are also provided tocompliment the color profiles, pointing outwhich Type of roundels were used, and inwhich positions. Rounding off the printedinformation is a series of General Notes onSpitfires, Spitfire Modeling Notes, andSpitfire Camouflage Notes. Finally, there isa listing of 35 references, with each of the

41 profiles cross referenced to thesereference sources, so the modeler candouble check the information if they wish.

The “team” listed in the notes which putthis product together gives one furtherconfidence in its quality. Malcolm Laird ofVentura Productions in New Zealand is anoted author on Commonwealth SpitfireAces, as well as the producer of the

Ventura line of 1/72nd Spitfire kits, acknowl-edged to be extremely accurate in all thereviews I have read over the years. RexBarker is another New Zealand author onSpitfire subjects. Jonathan Strickland, BobSwaddling, Steve Westerby, and RobertBracken have all written and commentedon the Spitfire in various modeling andaviation history publications over theyears. And the artwork for this productionwas done by Jennings Heilig, a well-knownaviation decal artist. The decal sheets areprinted by Cartograph of Italy, makers ofsome of the finest decals available, goingback to the 1970’s. There is next to nocarrier film visible, and ultra thin. All in all,this is a first rate product.

In terms of the Aces covered, there are 18English Aces, one Scot, one Welsh, oneIrish, six New Zealand, seven Canadian,

three Australian and two American (stillpart of the Empire?). [I think the sheet titlerefers to all of the subjects being aircraftin British or Commonwealth service,rather than the country of origin of theindividual pilots – ED]. A couple of theAces have more than one of their aircraftcovered. I won’t name each Ace, thatwould take too much space, but suffice tosay this set covers both the well known,and the not so well known, a good crosssection. In terms of aircraft types, there arenumerous Mk.Is and Mk.Vbs, as onewould expect, but also Mk.II, Mk.Vc,Mk.VII, Mk.VIII, Mk.IXb, Mk.IXc, Mk.IXe,Mk.XII, and Mk.XIV Spitfires.

I feel this “set” offers very good value formoney at $24.95 for 41 different choices ofmarkings, plus all the tail and roundelmarkings. I bought my set directly from theproducer via the Internet at http://www.victorymodels.com/index.asp. Thissaid, I am only interested in the NewZealand pilot markings. If there is anyoneout there with a penchant for high qualityEmpire Spitfire Ace decals, contact me. Iwould be more than happy to cut my costsand save you money by selling you part orall of the remaining subjects.

IPMS Seattle Chapter Newsletter Page 13

Pavla Models 1/72nd ScaleBf 109G/K Upgrade Set

by Jacob Russell

My favorite plane is the Messerschmitt Bf109 and I am always looking for aftermarketaccessories to build more accurate models.I build aircraft models in both 1/72nd and1/48th scales, and there are far feweraccessories available in the smaller scale.For example, True Details offers no lessthan four different types of 109 wheels(from the 109B to the K) in 1/48th scale,but only two in 1/72nd. One pair coversthe B through E series and the other pair islate-war wide wheels (660 x 190mm, to beexact) for the 109G-14, G-10, and K-4. Thiscompletely misses the 660 x 160mm dischub wheels that equipped the vastmajority of mid and late-war 109s from theG-5 through the G-12 trainer, and G-14.Both G-14s and G-10s were produced withboth sizes of main wheels; the K serieswas only produced with 660 x 190mmwheels. To the best of my knowledge, onlyHawkeye and Ron’s Resin have produced660 x 160mm wheels, and in the case ofHawkeye these were only available as partof a very comprehensive - and expensive -109 upgrade set. Ron’s Resin 160 x 160wheels are available as part of their G-10/14AS conversion sets for the Heller K-4 andRevell G-10 kits, but are hard to find in theUS (try Aviation Usk Nebraska, and goodluck).

Pavla Models of the Czech Republic hascome to the rescue of 1/72nd scaleenthusiasts with a 109G/K Upgrade set.The set, #7220, is cast resin, and is verywell cast. It is comprehensive and in-cludes:

1. Three prop blades.2. One spinner.3. One spinner backing plate.4. Two pairs of 600 x 160mm wheels.5. One pair of 600 x 190mm wheels.6. One pair of R6 (R=Rustsatz-modifications done either at the factory orin the field) underwing “gondola” cannonwith integrally molded cannon barrels.

7. One pair of R7 factory underwingrocket tubes with integrally moldedprojectiles in the tubes.8. One R3 drop-tank rack.9. Four different styles of 300 literauxiliary fuel tanks, with integral mountingstraps.10. One pair of exhausts.11. One D/F (Direction/Find) loop.12. One underwing “Morane”antenna mast.13. Two pairs of cowling machinegun barrels.14. A set of radiator faces-one forthe lower cowl-mounted oil cooler and twofor the wing radiators.15. One pair of landing gear doors.16. One ETC 50/Vllld bomb rack withfour 50 kg bombs.

I showed this set to John Frazier, and hewas impressed with the detail and castingquality of the individual pieces. This is avery comprehensive set, and most of theparts can be used to add detail to theHasegawa and Academy G-6/14 kits. Theywill also work with the Revell G-10, whichhas a poorly shaped propeller with threedifferent blades, none of them accurate! Itwill also benefit from the spinner andbacking plate- in this kit the spinner fitsover the backing plate and this is com-pletely inaccurate. The diameter of thebacking plate should be the same as therear of the spinner.

The exhausts are a cut above those foundin any of the kits mentioned. Althoughthey are not drilled out, this is a task leftfor you. The “Morane” mast is an unusualand welcome accessory but the D/F loop isoverscale (albeit closer to scale thicknessthan any of the kit D/F loops) and is bestreproduced with brass wire or flattenedbrass strip. The four different drop tanksare very useful. The cowling guns are verydistinct in their molding. Of the three pairsof wheels only one set is really useful andhappily it’s one of the narrow pairs. Theyhave good detail and would enhance all ofthe available kits. The Hasegawa kitwheels, for example, have exaggeratedtread detail and these wheels are anexcellent substitute. The other pair of

narrow wheels is copied from those of theAcademy kit and these are both toonarrow and inaccurate in detail. I wouldnot use these myself. The other pair ofwheels is wide and they are copied directlyfrom the Revell/Monogram Pro Modeler G-10 kit. This kit is in turn a smaller copy ofRevell’s ancient 1/48th scale G-10 kit, andthat kit features very inaccurate wheels-one of the reasons that True Detailsproduced two pairs of wide wheels in1/48th scale. Those wheels in turn are alsoinaccurate, but that’s another story!

I compared the parts to 1/72nd scale plansin John Beaman’s Last of the Eagles and aset of 1/72nd scale plans from Zlinekmagazine. The drop tanks, gondolacannons, and rocket tubes match both setsof plans almost exactly. The drop tank rackmatches the Zlinek plans and is 2-3%larger than the rack depicted on theBeaman plans. The 600 x 190mm wheelsmatch the Zlinek plans and the 600 x160mm wheels are slightly undersized. Thepropeller blades best resemble those of theVDM 9-12159, which was used on the G-10. These can be sanded to reduce thechord to depict narrower propellers usedon the G-5, G-6, etc.

This is a very useful set of accessoriesthat will enhance any 109 kit. The ETC 50/Vllld bomb rack in particular will be usefulto depict one of the 109E-4 or E-7 Jabos(fighter-bombers) that participated in theBattle of Britain and Operation Barbarossa,the invasion of the Soviet Union. I thinkthat the set is marred only by the absenceof instructions and the unfortunatedecision to copy some of the leastaccurate wheels on the market. It is a finevalue, and worth every penny. Watch thisspace for models that use many of theparts from this detail set. Pavla models aresold through Squadron, and their aftermar-ket accessories (which are quite extensiveand include ejection seats, resin interiorsand vac canopies) may be ordered directlyfrom Pavla via their website atwww.pavlamodels.cz.

Continued on page 15

IPMS Seattle Chapter Newsletter Page 14

Guest Editorial: IPMSSeattle Meeting Etiquette

101

by Andrew Birkbeck

“No man is an island.” So said 17thCentury poet John Donne. What thismeans in practice is that your actionsalmost always have some influence onsomeone else, often many people. This isvery true at an IPMS chapter meeting.Today I am putting forward some thoughtsthat I hope you will consider and which Ibelieve will make our meetings run moresmoothly, especially the Show and Tellpart of the event.

The meetings are currently divided intotwo main sections, the initial unstructuredtime that usually lasts about an hour,wherein you are free to roam the roomperusing the vendors, chat to your friends,and view the models displayed at the frontof the room.

I would like to propose that those whobring in their models for display at thefront of the room please place a small cardbeside your model so that the rest of usknow whose work it is. That way we canapproach you during the unstructured partof the meeting and chat at length with youabout your creation. This way much of thedetailed discussion about your model bythose interested can be gotten out of theway before the Show and Tell section ofthe meeting. Those with a deep interest inyour work can discuss it at length, andthus ensure that the Show and Tell sectionof the meeting flows smoothly and quickly.

With regard to the structure part of themeeting, involving firstly the Businesspart, followed by the Show and Tell, Iwould like to point out that a number ofyou are making it difficult for me andothers to hear what is being said by thespeakers. You seem to feel that it is yourright to chat in the audience, while thosewho hold the floor try to talk to themeeting. The situation is made worse when

a number of you decide to chat at the sametime. Herewith my personal thoughts onMeeting Etiquette 101.

The Audience

There is no point in having a speakerdeliver information to the group if every-one can’t hear what is being said. We havea large group that gathers each month atthe chapter meetings, and we have anumber of people with varying levels ofpublic speaking skills. We also have anumber of members who have hearingimpairments. I would therefore like tosuggest that those in the audience givethe floor over to one speaker, and that therest of us have the common courtesy tonot talk when someone else holds thefloor. If you don’t wish to listen to theBusiness or Show and Tell parts of themeeting, feel free leave the meeting. Thereare other parts of the building where youcan hold your conversations, surely.

I would also like to suggest to thosewhom, for whatever reason, have difficultyhearing what is said by the speakers, whynot sit at the front of the room? That wayyou have the optimum ability to hear, andthose doing the talking don’t have to yell.

The Speaker

For those of us who are going to bespeaking to the meeting, either during thebusiness part of it, or the Show and Tell,might I make the following suggestions?Firstly, remain near the front of the room,so that when it is your turn to speak, youdon’t have far to walk. And please be sureto face the audience when speaking, andspeak in a clear and adequately loud voice.You are simply wasting your time talking ifpeople can’t hear what you are saying. Ifor one value the Show and Tell in particu-lar, and want to hear what the builders ofthe models have to say.

Remember who your audience is, andremember how many others need to speakother than yourself. I for one realize when Ispeak that IPMS Seattle is first andforemost an aircraft modeling chapter. The

vast majority of the members is aircraft-centric, and often has little or no interest inany other subject matter. Therefore, when Iget up to talk about my WRC rally carmodels or my modern Soviet tank models, Ineed to be to the point, and be brief or Iwill lose my audience. I am wasting mytime and that of the audience if I drone onand on about something few others in theclub have much interest in hearing.

That said we don’t all build aircraft models,and those who don’t still deserve theirtime to talk without interruption. So as aspeaker, please remember your audience.Give them the basic facts: who was themanufacturer of the kit you used, whatscale is it, did you build it out of the box,and if not, briefly what did you add to thebasic kit, either scratch built, or aftermarket? Whose paint did you use to paintthe model? Was the kit a difficult or easybuild? Any important points you wouldlike to make about what you did?

If you have a poor memory or get a bitnervous chatting in public, jot the perti-nent points down on a card, and consultthis briefly during your presentation. Iwould like to suggest that even for apopular aircraft subject, two minutes ismore than enough time to devote to talkingabout a model. And if you don’t believeme on this matter, try this simple experi-ment. Take your watch, sit in a room byyourself, with no other sources of noise,and time two full minutes of silence.Believe me, it is quite a long time. And forthose who aren’t going to talk about apopular subject, reduce your speaking timeaccordingly.

The same goes for those who bringmultiple models to talk about. In oneminute I can cover the relevant details of atank or rally car model without in any wayrushing my presentation, realizing that thebasics is all most of you wish to hear. Ifsomeone has a question about what I havedone, they can ask me. Some of us arespending what seems an eternity talkingabout the minutest details of their projects,or about projects few in the room havemuch interest in. It is during these presen-

IPMS Seattle Chapter Newsletter Page 15

Upcoming Model Shows, Contests, and Swap Meets

Saturday, June 14Masterpiece Models Modeler’s Swap Meet, 150 vendors, admission $5. 17108 NE 10th Avenue, South of the Interstate 5 Clark CountyFairgrounds Exit, Ridgefield, Washington. Web site: www.masterpiecemodels.com

Wednesday, July 2 - Saturday, July 52003 IPMS/USA National Convention. Hosted by IPMS Metro Oklahoma City. Westin Hotel, Oklahoma City, OK. For more information,see the web site at http://www.ipmsmetrokc.org

Saturday, September 13Evergreen Aviation Museum Model Show & Contest. Sponsored by IPMS Portland & Evergreen Aviation Museum. Show theme:Record Breakers. All IPMS categories. Registration, 9 am - 12 noon, judging completed by 3:15 pm. Museum entrance fees: $9.50 adults;$8.50 seniors; $5.50 children. Contest entry fees: Adults, $5 for 1-4 models, each additional model $1; Juniors ages 11-17, $1 per model;Juniors 10 and under, free. For more information, contact Brian Yee at 503-309-6137, or by e-mail at byee1959@msn.com. Web site:http://www.geocities.com/oregonshow/

Saturday, October 1133rd Annual IPMS Vancouver Fall Model Show & Swap Meet. 9 AM - 4:30 PM. Entry fees: Adults, $5 (CDN); Juniors (16 and under),$2 (CDN); Spectators, $2 (CDN) for adults, free for 16 and under. Bonsor Recreation Complex, 6550 Bonsor, Burnaby, BC, Canada. Formore information, contact Warwick Wright at 604-274-5513, e-mail jawright@telus.net, or see the web site athttp://members.tripod.com/~ipms

References

1. Last of the Eagles, by JohnBeaman, self-published, 1976.2. Monogram Close-Up No. 7 -Gustav, Messerschmitt 109G Part II,Thomas H. Hitchcock, Monogram AviationPublications, 1977. ISBN: 0-914144-07-3.3. “Bf109G-10 - The Most AgileGustav”, Zlinek No.12 (No.4, Vol.III),Zlinek Publications, publication dateunknown.

tations that I look around the room and seeglazed eyes and the itch in people to startchatting to their neighbors.

As a speaker, you owe it to yourself andthe audience not to take too long withyour presentation. I feel that even with upto 30 models at a given meeting, Show andTell should take no longer than an hour. Atmost you should chat about your modelfor about two minutes, often times less. If Ibring in two rally cars and three tankmodels, in no way should I spend twominutes chatting about each one.

I believe that if followed what I haveproposed here will help our meetings runmore smoothly, and we can offer therespect and courtesy to one another thatwe all deserve. The speakers will feelappreciated, and the audience will not feelabused.

take a look at some of the categories thatyou might usually ignore. I can guaranteeyou’ll be impressed by something.

Somewhat in the same boat is the ribbingbetween 1/72nd and 1/48th scale aircraftmodelers. Exactly where the phrases“Divine Scale” and “Manly Scale” camefrom I’m not sure, but if I hear anyone elsesay, “Nice kit, but it’s in the wrong scale,”I’ll scream. Yet when a friend suggestedthat I switch to 1/48th to take advantage ofthe new Victory Productions Spitfire decalset, my first reaction was an involuntarypang of horror. It’s easy to say that mostBritish aircraft modelers build 1/72nd (theyhave small flats) and that most Americansbuild 1/48th (they have large apartments),but it’s obviously not that simple. I’m adedicated 1/72nd guy myself – after all, Iwas born across the pond. I can distinctlyremember building the 1/48th scale AuroraPfalz D.III and Monogram Zero when I wasa tyke back in the late ‘60s, but those weremy last forays into the scale. Yet I’ll freelyadmit that 1/48th is better for some subjects– WW1 fighters, for example. Hopefully1/48th scale modelers can agree that a B-36is more manageable in 1/72nd! So while I’ll

continue to build in 1/72nd, I promise not tosay anything negative about 1/48th – and ifanyone will write more 1/48th kit reviews,such as Bob LaBouy’s in this issue, I’dlove to publish them!

������

Pavla Bf 109 Upgrade Set from page 13

Preznotes from page 1

that’s a great idea, and at the next modelshow you attend, I’d encourage you to

IPMS Seattle Chapter Newsletter Page 16

Meeting Reminder June 1410 AM - 1 PM

North Bellevue Community/Senior Center4063-148th Ave NE, Bellevue

Directions: From Seattle or from I-405, take 520 East tothe 148th Ave NE exit. Take the 148th Ave North exit(the second of the two 148th Ave. exits) and continuenorth on 148th until you reach the Senior Center. TheSenior Center will be on your left. The Center itself isnot easily visible from the road, but there is a signpostin the median.

Golden Age Stars of IPMS#23

The recent hoopla over Bob Hope’s 100th

birthday has reminded people howimportant USO tours have been toAmerica’s servicemen and women. InWorld War Two especially, seeing afamous performer from back home oftengave a little lift to what was otherwise apretty miserable existence. Hope may bethe single performer most identified withthe USO, but many women stars were alsoregulars, one of them being Ann Sheridan,“the Oomph Girl”.

Born in Denton, Texas, as Clara LouSheridan, Ann Sheridan was a winner of aParamount beauty search who managed tograduate from cheesecake roles to betterparts because of her acting talent. Herbest-known roles were probably as RandyMonaghan in Kings Row, and as CaryGrant’s WAC wife in I Was a Male WarBride. Like many stars of her era, she madea successful transition to TV, but was only51 when she died of cancer in 1967.

Among her many USO trips was one toYangkai, China, in 1944. The 341st BG had

painted one of their B-25Js tohonor Sheridan (she is seenstanding in front of it, in themiddle) as The SheridanExpress, but unfortunatelywhen she visited the base, Annwas not in the greatest ofmoods, according to her driverfor the day, James White. Hey,it’s not easy to be glamorous allthe time, in the middle of China,during a war! Ann apparentlylaunched some fairly choicelanguage (in private, of course)to express her displeasure with

various things, althoughher reaction when Whitealmost managed to drivethem both over a cliff ona muddy mountain roadisn’t recorded. But hey,even movie stars arehuman, and anyone canhave a bad day, evenwhen you’re getting a B-25 named after you…