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Seattle Chapter IPMS-USADecember 2000

In This Issue

Scale Modelworld 2000 3Japanese Paint Colors 6Why I Can’t Finish a Model 7ICM Spitfire Mk.IX 8Academy WW2 Vehicle Set 9Antenna Problems 9The Russian AF Museum 10Using a Food Dehydrator 13A Waste of a Good Tree 13More Tips and Tricks 13Toko LaGG-3 14Tamiya Spitfire Mk.I 152001 Renewal Form 16

Continued on page 15

It’s been a few weeks since the election,and in a few more we may all have a newPresident. It was a tough choice this timearound. Whenever there was a dearth ofviable candidates, my dad would alwaysthreaten to vote for Gus Hall, CommunistParty. I don’t know if he ever did but healways made the threat, loud and clear. (Ifhe did, I think it’s why Nixon won in ’68).Unfortunately, Mr. Hall passed away a fewweeks prior to the election so that optionwas taken away and I could not carry onmy dad’s legacy...

The thing I miss least are the negative adcampaigns: “When is someone going tochange the Senator’s diapers. Wah, Wah,Wah...”

I got to be pretty good with the mutebutton for the TV and when the phonerang: “Hi, this is Tipper Gor...” I was damnfast at hanging up, although once thephone nearly ended up in the pot on thestove with the spaghetti. At least it’s overnow. The recorded phone messages for thepoliticos at the dinner hour have ceased,only to be replaced with solicitations forcarpet cleaning and window replacements!But enough about politics (much morethan I have ever commented on in a publicvenue - sorry).

Something I’ve been fiddling about withlately are complete resin kits. Currently on,or near, my bench are the Reheat Focke-Wulf Triebflugel and the Arba Bv 155.Both are late war subjects, the Triebflugelbeing only a paper project whilst the Bv155 actually flew. What you get are ahandful of parts, cast in resin, withvacuform canopies, no decals, and barebones instructions. Some kits I’ve seeninclude photo etch, decals and more, but inmy two examples, none. They are more of achallenge than a standard injection moldedkit but are somewhat easier than a vacformkit, depending on the vacform manufac-turer. Basically, once you have removedthe pouring gates you are ready forassembly. In some cases the manufacturer

has taken care of this step. The primaryadhesive is CA, or superglue, although 5-minute epoxy will work as well. I havefound that parts adhere better if matingsurfaces are sanded slightly. Some partsneed to be pinned for added strength.Some kits come with white metal fiddlybits, such as landing gear, prop blades andso on, but the model still needs to behandled much more gingerly than aninjection molded kit. The parts are muchmore susceptible to breakage than thestandard plastic kit. The examples Imention were both devoid of any airbubbles that needed filling and in each kitthere were no serious mold seams thatneeded attention. I am somewhat con-cerned that the long and heavy wings ofthe Bv 155 will sag over time or that theouter wing attachment to the centersection of the wing will fail eventually, butthat may be quite some time in the future(I’m hoping). The most difficult aspect ofthese kits is the assembly when you areusing CA. You definitely have to have theparts perfectly aligned when applying theadhesive. At least that’s my biggestproblem with all-resin kits.

One thing I like about them is of course,the subject matter. Tamiya or Revellogram

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: 253-854-9148 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 each month, (see below for actual meeting dates), at the Washington National Guard Armory,off 15th Ave. NW, just to the west side of Queen Anne Hill in Seattle. See the back page for a map. Our meetings begin at 10:00 AM, and usuallylast for two to three hours. Our meetings are very informal, and are open to any interested plastic modeler, regardless of interests. Modelers areencouraged to bring their models to the meetings. Subscriptions to the newsletter are included with the Chapter dues. Dues are $24 a year, andmay be paid to Norm Filer, our Treasurer. (See address above). We also highly recommend our members join and support IPMS-USA, thenational organization. See below for form. Any of the members listed above will gladly assist you with further information about the Chapter orSociety.

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. 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.

Upcoming Meeting DatesThe IPMS/Seattle 2000/2001 meeting schedule is as follows. To avoid conflicts with previously scheduled IPMS events and NationalGuard activities at the Armory, please note that some of our meeting days fall on the third Saturday of the month, not the traditionalsecond Saturday (though all currently listed are second Saturdays). We suggest that you keep this information in a readilyaccessable place. All meetings begin at 10:00 AM.

December 9, 2000 January 13, 2001February 10, 2001 February 10, 2001

IPMS Seattle Chapter Newsletter Page 2

Remember tobring goodies toeat and drink tothe December

meeting!

IPMS Seattle Chapter Newsletter Page 3

Two Looks at ScaleModelworld 2000:

The Telford Caper

by John Alcorn

During October, about 40 Colonialsinvaded Blighty to attend the ScaleModelworld 2000 World Championships.Thirty-seven of us were on a tour con-ducted by Twin Horizons Travel, of Dublin(!), Ohio, and led by Roger Coe. The basictour departed from O’Hare, Chicago on the17th, returning on the 24th, via Virgin Air.Curious name, Virgin Air, but better, Isuppose, than Fille de Joie Journeys,Hooker Holidays, Soiled Dove Destina-tions, or Ladies of the Night Flights.However, I managed to go directly fromSeaTac to Heathrow - and return - aboardBritish Airways, leaving on the 16th. TheConvention took place in Telford, justnorth of Birmingham, on Saturday andSunday (the 21st & 22nd), the rest of thetime being spent in London, and en routeby coach.

Now, if you haven’t heard of Telford, andcan’t find it on the map, it’s because, so faras we know, it consists only of theConvention Centre and its parking lot, plusa few nearby inns and pubs to serve it.And, if you can’t find reference to it inyour history books, that’s because it wasonly created in 1968, evidently for theprimary purpose of hosting IPMS/UKNationals. Incidentally, we shared theConvention Centre complex with theSnookers World Championships -snookers, I’m told, being some aberrantEnglish form of billiards. (They pridethemselves on aberrance, you know: forexample, by driving on the wrong side ofthe road, and speaking a corrupted form ofAmerican.) The local inns having evidentlybeen previously booked by snookers, wewere obliged to put up in an 1865-vintagemanor house in Wolverhampton, 20 milesdistant.

While I had been led to understand thatthis was the first of an ongoing, annualIPMS/International Contest/Convention,I’m really not sure just exactly what we didattend! I’ve heard it described also as aone-time IPMS/UK Nats, in celebration ofthe new Millenium. But, the locals told methat the Continentals always show upanyhow, and it’s gotten worse since theChunnel opened.

Anyhow, no matter what else it was, it wasa hoot! It attracted by far the largestvendor presence that I’ve ever seen. Onecurious, but interesting aspect of thevendor area was the intermingled profu-sion of Special Interest Group (SIG)displays, put on by various IPMS/UKchapters. Many and varied were the topicscovered, from impressive dioramas to anacre (or so it seemed) of Spitfires. In fact,large though the hall was, the vendor areaput the squeeze on the contest entries.

I felt that the general level of modelingcompetence was quite high - I saw few, ifany, “turkeys”, although I admit that I hadeyes (and time) only for the aircraft. Notsurprisingly, 1/48th scale was well repre-sented, with many fine models in evidence,by craftsmen (sorry, -persons) from France,Italy, Spain, Scandanavia, Malta (yes,Malta - they have a very active groupthere), Austria, Poland, the Czech Repub-lic, and Germany, as well as Britain. Oh yes,and there were a few Colonials too,including Canadians and Yankees.

At this point, I can’t resist the ratherimmodest temptation to remark that my1/24th scale scratchbuilt DH.9A wasawarded Best of Show - which absolutelyblew me away, since it was totally unex-pected.

When I put the Ninak in Category 18,among all of those impressive scratchbuiltmodels, I thought, “Oh well, perhaps it willget a Commended.” Without even itsdiorama-like base (which was too big andawkward to take), it looked quite forlornamid such impressive entries as AlanClark’s just-completed Halifax and his

Blackburn Firecrest; a Heinkel 219 Uhu,and a very nicely rendered ShortSunderland (this actually from a vacuformkit). It just goes to show, once again, thatthere’s no accounting for judges.

The awards ceremony was a very low-keyaffair, conducted on Sunday afternoon - afar cry from our banquets, replete with theBill Devins/Aris Pappas Show. Englishunderstatement, I suppose.

And will it be held again next year? - Quiensabe?

A Seattle Yankee’sAdventures in Merrie Olde

England

by John Greer

It all started with an anniversary. Marianand I celebrated our 25th in June at SalishanLodge on the Oregon coast. (Hey, even oldmodel builders do something right once ina while.) Now you know, gentlemen, thatwe generally have it pretty easy. All wehave to do is buy one of those outra-geously expensive little sparkly things,and our wives are happy. They, on theother hand, have a much harder time of it.Usually, what we want, we a) have; b)can’t afford; or c) wouldn’t want them topick out for us anyway.

Marian came up with a very creativesolution. While we were at Salishan, andafter I had given her the little sparkly thing,she presented me with a beautiful hand-made gift certificate – with no limit. Thepossibilities were mind-boggling. At first Iconsidered a ride in a Mustang (P-51, thatis), but at $500 for a half hour, it just didn’tseem worth it.

Then I started seeing ads for the WorldCon. At about the same time, Marianfound out that she had to go to Hawaii tohelp care for her mother after surgery.

IPMS Seattle Chapter Newsletter Page 4

Don’t you just love it when a plan comestogether? While she was in Hawaii, Iwould take a week in the UK and attend“the big one.” So here I am at 7 pm Seattletime, Wednesday, October 18, on a BritishAirways 747-200 for nine hours plus, non-stop to London Heathrow. More later – thebeverage cart has arrived.

Remember the old carnivals and theshooting galleries where the little duckswent back and forth and back and forth?Translate that into the British Airwaysbeverage cart – back and forth, etc. I thinkI’m still at least semi-coherent, but after the“shooting gallery,” I’m not too sure. It’s9:30 Seattle time, and I need to get somesleep.

It’s now 1:30 am Seattle time, and 9:30 amLondon time. The sky here (and I’massuming that “here” is about an hour outof Heathrow) is clear blue. We caught agood jet stream that shortened the flightconsiderably. Breakfast is on the way. Mynext challenge is to find the quickest andcheapest way to get from Heathrow toWolverhampton. I know – the conventionis in Telford, but just try to get a roomthere! I have several possibilities as tohow to accomplish this…

It is now 8:30 pm, and I am in my room atthe Holiday Inn Garden Court Hotel inWolverhampton. A most interestingjourney from Heathrow to this room. Aswe were getting off the plane, I was askinganyone who looked like a native for thequickest way to Wolverhampton. An oldergentleman (probably ten years older thanme), who was with his son, said, “We’redriving to Birmingham. We’ll get you tothe train station there.”

For a share of the petrol cost, I savedseveral hours and about $50. Thegentleman’s son is a Bruce Lee/JimiHendrix fan, and they had been to Seattleto see “the Blob” a.k.a. the EMP. They alsospoke in highest praise of our transitsystem. Do they know something that wedon’t?

After they dropped me off in Birmingham, Icaught the train to Wolverhampton. Ifthere’s one thing the British understand,it’s light rail! Quiet, fast, inexpensive – it’slike a subway underground. I arrived inWolverhampton, took a cab to the hotel,crashed for three hours, and then haddinner. Tomorrow will be a shopping dayhere, and a day to adjust for jet lag.

It is now 3 am Saturday. That’s 7 pm Fridayin Seattle – I think. I’m wide-awake. Wheredid Friday go? Most of it was spent in bed– a 24-hour bug, I hope – but maybe it’spartly the jet lag, too. I did some shoppingin Wolverhampton, and I have come to oneconclusion. There are no square corners inEngland. Talk about lost! It makes sense tome that if you start walking and make threeright turns, you will come back to yourstarting point. Not bloody likely! Anotherinteresting feature is the combinationdepartment/grocery stores. ImagineNordstrom’s and QFC sharing anaisle. Remember the clear blue sky Imentioned? Forget it. The rainstarted at about noon on Friday,and hasn’t quit yet. Just like atypical western Washington drizzle,and just as depressing. In fivehours, I’ll be off to the Convention!

Good Lord, what chaos! Localclubs, Special Interest Groups,vendors, and competition modelsall mixed together in a space thatseemed the size of a football field.There were so many people thatthey had traffic control on all of theadjacent roads. This has got to be thebiggest model show on the planet.

I left Wolverhampton at 8:45 this morningfor the thirty-minute trip to Telford. I met agentleman from Brussels on the platform,and we talked models all the way. We hadabout a mile to walk from the Station to theTelford International Centre, and it justseemed that we walked faster and faster aswe got closer. My IPMS Seattle shirt gotme in free – thanks, Terry!

First, the vendors. As far as modeling isconcerned, if it’s out there, it was at

Telford today, and so were all the “bigdogs.” I had a nice chat with Alan Hall –Hall Park Books’ next special (like their P-47 extravaganza) will be the Bf 109. I spentsome time with Julian Edwards. He wasappalled that Terry is still playing “thosebloody pipes.” I met dozens of people –club members, vendors, visitors, - model-ers all. It was fantastic, and the IPMSSeattle shirt did it time and time again.Typical comment – “You’re a long wayfrom home.”

There were displays by local clubs from allover the UK, and national clubs from allover the world. This was something thatreally impressed me, and is something thatwe don’t seem to have here. One grouphad a display of Aircraft of the Aces in 1/48th scale. Another had 1/48th scaleSpitfires, from the prototype to the Seafire47 – nearly 60 models in all.

The SIGs (Special Interest Groups) wereanother eye opener for me. I’d heard andread about them, but had never seen themin action. Four – Norway, Sweden,Denmark, and Finland – were all in a row,with great displays. They were all kiddingeach other unmercifully!

You can imagine the competition models.The one that boggled my mind was a six-foot long model of the forward end of theTitanic sitting on the bottom of the ocean,built using the photos brought up by

A small part of the English Electric SIGdisplay. Your editor is speechless...

IPMS Seattle Chapter Newsletter Page 5

submersibles. The more you looked, thebetter it got. There were so many greatmodels that after a while I just went numb.Maybe tomorrow, I can be a bit moreobjective. I gave myself a pat on the backfor not spending so much that I have tomortgage the house or have my wife goback to work (fat chance of that).

Sunday morning. What did I say earlierabout British trains? Silly me! Yesterday,there was a train every 30 minutes toTelford. Today, no train until 11 am.Wonderful. Can you say “expensive cabride?” Still, I’m here, and I’m not going tomiss it.

Dioramas always impress me, because ofthe thought, creativity, and patienceshown by the modeler, in addition to thegreat skills. Several of the dioramas werefantastic! I’ve already mentioned theTitanic. There was also a roughly six-footlong German U-Boat moored at a dock,with sea walls, streets, buildings, andpeople – the whole works. Anotherimpressive model was of a German armoredtrain on the Eastern front, in 1/35th scale.In terms of single models, I saw the largescale Blackburn Firecrest that was featuredin one of the model mags last year. Not incompetition was a scratchbuilt 1/24th scaleSupermarine Sea Otter – you know, aWalrus with a tractor instead of a pusher. Ichatted with the builder for a while. It wasan eight-month project. He had a photo

scrapbook of the entire constructionprocess. Even the Bristol Mercury enginewas totally scratchbuilt. Incredible!

There were a number of both 1/72nd and 1/48th super-detailed aircraft. They hadeverything hanging, panels off, interiorsand engines exposed, and were beautifullydone. I know that I harp on the idea of

being able to “buy” a super model,what with all of the aftermarket stuffthat’s available, but these buildershave great skills to be able to put ittogether so beautifully.

All of the competition models wereoutstanding. I thought that theships and armor – especially 1/35th

scale armor – were remarkable. Asfar as aircraft, I believe that ourlocal builders could at least holdtheir own, and probably bring homeconsiderable hardware. [Not tobelabor the point, but one of themdid; John Alcorn’s DH.9A tookBest in Show – ED] It was hard tosee everything because it was so

jumbled up, and so crowded. There werecameras everywhere.

I left the convention at around 12:30pm,grabbed lunch, went back toWolverhampton for my luggage, andcaught the train to London. We wererolling merrily along, about one hour fromEuston Station, when the train suddenlyslowed and stopped in the middle of

nowhere. After the conductor mumbledsomething about a track problem ahead,we backed up for about fifteen miles sothat we could switch to another track. Wefinally got into London about an hour late.

I wasn’t about to haul my luggage on theTube, so I grabbed a taxi – and wepromptly got caught in the middle of a pro-Palestinian demonstration. I finally got tothe hotel. Bill Osborn, do you rememberthe London hotel in 1985? This one hasbeen remodeled and has a much bettershower, but is otherwise similar. Thelargest dimension of the room is its height.The room is so narrow that you have toget into bed by crawling over the end. Still,it does have a free Continental breakfast,and it’s close to a tube station. Tomorrowit’s off to Hannant’s and Motor Books,then I have to find something for Marian.

It’s now Tuesday afternoon. Yesterdaywas devoted to shopping. Hannant’s wasout of the way, but worthwhile. I foundsome great resin kits. Motor Books wasdisappointing. Maybe it’s just thateverybody else has the same stuff now.Shopping for Marian? Forget it! My feetare killing me and I didn’t find a thing.

I spent the morning at the ImperialWar Museum. It’s still wonderfullydone. Now I’m back in my cell,getting ready for tomorrow’s flighthome. I had to buy another bag formy dirty laundry, because all of thegood stuff I’ve bought filled up thesuitcase. Tomorrow, it’s off toHeathrow.

I guess it all comes down to this –Was it worth it? To quote the locals,“Bloody well right!” Will I do itagain? Probably not alone, andprobably not unless I win theLottery, but I sure hope I can pull itoff.

[Photos taken from Les Piper’s wonderfulweb site Royal Air Force Front LineAircraft since 1939 atwww.mousematsystems.com/modelling/model_site - ED]

R.M.S Titanic

The U-Boat diorama. I wish this photowas larger - the detail is fantastic!

IPMS Seattle Chapter Newsletter Page 6

Japanese Aviation PaintColors in WW2

by Andrew Birkbeck

I recently started work on Hasegawa’s1/48th scale Ki-84 Frank kit. At a recentchapter meeting member Ira Sheltonbrought for “Show and Tell” what Iconsidered a superb example of themodeling art, in the form of a 1/48th

Japanese WW2 fighter. If memory servesme it was a Ki-44 Tojo. He followed this upat the November meeting with an equallyfine Japanese J2M Jack fighter. The Ki-44inspired me to start my Ki-84, and the Jackkept the fire lit for me.

And as luck would have it, at the sameNovember meeting member Jacob Russellbrought in his Hasegawa Ki-84, albeit in anunfinished state. Also present was at leastone person who wished to tell me that thecockpit color Jacob had used was “incor-rect.” Personally, I try to steer clear fromsaying anything “negative” about a fellowmodeler’s work. I feel it is none of mybusiness how he/she builds, paints,decals, or weathers their model. It is afterall a hobby, where you are beholden to noone but yourself. You can paint yourmodel any color you feel like, be it histori-cally correct or not. The same goes for themarkings. Or the workmanship they putinto their project. To my mind, it is “theirs,”and hence none of my business. If theywant my opinion, I will let them ask for it. Ifthey don’t, then I will remain silent in such“personal” situations.

All this did however lead me to thoughtson my own Ki-84. For in discussing Ki-84swith Jacob, he stated that according to hisresearch, Ki-84s had their cockpits painteda gray hue. Mine however, sitting back atthe house, was painted Aotake, thegreenish/blue translucent lacquer used bythe Japanese as one form of protection formetal cockpit parts. Very interesting,thought I, who had taken Hasegawa’s kitinstructions for granted when they statedAotake as the correct color. [Just to throwanother spanner into the works, the

instruction sheet for Hasegawa’s 1/72nd

scale Ki-84 calls for the interior to bepainted light green! – ED]

Let me state up front that I am not usuallya color and markings fanatic. I tend to gowith what the kit or after market decalinstructions tell me are the correct colorsto paint my model, along with somerudimentary reading I have done over theyears on such matters. One assumes thatkit manufacturers base their judgments onsome sort of research, after all. And giventhe nationalistic zeal of the Japanese, Iwould expect a Japanese kit of a Japaneseaircraft to be fairly well researched.

But Jacob’s source was fairly adamantabout the gray for the Ki-84 cockpit, so offhome I went to check into the matter.

Jacob used articles taken from the AsahiJournal, the “magazine” of the IPMS/USASpecial Interest Group on WW2 Japaneseaircraft, as his reference. Within mycollection of references, I had a bookpublished by the IPMS/UK WW2 Japa-nese aircraft SIG on WW2 Japanese Armyaircraft. The Ki-84 was an Army aircraft.And within this book, the authors statethat indeed the Ki-84 could have itscockpit painted Aotake. I then turned toanother “authority” on WW2 Japaneseaircraft, Ian Baker of Australia. Mr. Bakerhas produced a number of monographs onthe colors and markings of Japanesemilitary aircraft. And he states that the Ki-84 could have its cockpit painted Aotake,among other colors. So there you have it,three different sources, contradictoryclaims. And so I read on……….

Let us admit up front that of the thousandsof aircraft produced by Japanese industryprior to and during WW2, virtually noneexist today. Far fewer Japanese aircraftexist today (in any form) than equivalentBritish, German, US, or Russian aircraft.The Allies shot them down, destroyedthem on the ground, or melted them downfollowing the end of hostilities. Many ofthose that do exist have been out in theelements unprotected, and so the colorsthey are painted have changed over the

years. And even if they haven’t changed,they are a few examples of thousandsproduced, and might not be representativeof every one of a particular type produced.

Secondly, I have seen very few periodcolor photographs of WW2 Japaneseaircraft, and one of those was taken in aboneyard immediately following the end ofhostilities. The Japanese took far fewerphotographs during WW2 than the Allies,let alone the photo-crazed Germans, andonly a few were in color. The one Imentioned above was taken by an Ameri-can. And being 1940s color, it isn’t thataccurate anyway. So color shots ofJapanese interiors from the era underdiscussion are virtually non-existent.

Third: partly for strategic military reasons,always with revenge on their minds,American strategic planners bombed Japanback to the Stone Age during WW2. Thereare very few primary references from theJapanese air forces in existence today,giving operational orders on what colorsto paint which aircraft, specifics on paintmixes etc. They went up in the inferno thatwas late war Japan.

It also seems that Japanese manufacturerswere given leeway to concoct their ownrecipes for any given color. Consequently,there was “Mitsubishi Green”, “NakajimaGreen” etc. These had subtle, yet notice-able differences to their hues, yet ostensi-bly were for the same operational paintingorders. It is also apparent from reading thevarious research material that even withina given firm, different production plantsconcocted different hues for the samespecs. This could have been due to a mis-mixing of the ingredients, or a shortage ofparticular ingredients at any given time.The Japanese chemical industry wasnowhere near as advanced as that ofGermany, the USA, or Britain. And as thewar progressed, and American aircraftpounded the plants that produced thepaints and their ingredients, the quality ofthe paints deteriorated even further. It iswidely known that Japanese paint hadtrouble even sticking to the aircraft later inthe war. If they couldn’t get it to stick, why

IPMS Seattle Chapter Newsletter Page 7

not also assume they couldn’t mix thecolors exactly either? And even today, ifyou get a bottle of model paint, and thenget another bottle of the same color fromthe same paint manufacturer, but from adifferent batch, you can often see differ-ences in the hues between the two. Thiswith modern, computer-assisted mixingequipment.

Finally, what about shortages of entirecolors? It seems clear from my readings, aswell as those of Jacob Russell, that as thewar deteriorated for the Japanese, aircraftbegan to leave the factories either partially,or fully unpainted. With planes lastingsometimes just days at the front, whywaste time painting them, since they wouldbe destroyed in combat before they hadtime to deteriorate due to the elements?

You can also manufacture planes at afaster rate if you don’t spend time paintingthe components. And if due to paintshortages some aircraft went unpainted,why not make a logical assumption, andbelieve that some aircraft were painted innon-regulation colors, yet colors that werein existence for painting aircraft? So even ifKi-84s were usually painted a gray color inthe cockpit, couldn’t it be possible, evenlikely, that if this gray paint was in shortsupply, that another widely used cockpitcolor, Aotake, which might have beenplentiful for whatever reason, could havebeen substituted? Certainly makes senseto me. And since much of the evidence hasbeen destroyed, a logical assumption ishard to disprove. And that makes it goodenough for me.

So my Ki-84’s cockpit is Aotoke, JacobRussell’s is gray, and yours when youfinally get around to building it, can begreen perhaps? “Close enough is goodenough” when it is a hobby you arereferring to. Just my opinion, but we aren’tdealing with brain surgery here, or globalwarming. And in my opinion it isn’timportant enough to risk offendingsomeone by criticizing his or her efforts ina leisure time pursuit, is it?

Why I Can’t Finish a Model(Procrastination)

by Keith Laird

I attended a self-improvement class thatincluded an hour-long video on procrasti-nation. All of us in the club have a problemfinishing a modeling project. We all haveour reasons. See if what I have listedincludes your fears.

Fear of Failure

This usually equates to “I am not goodenough to build/paint and I might mess itup if I do.” What is the worst thing thatcan happen?.....Not much. We learn bydoing. If you make an error in constructionor painting learn from it. Find out what youdid wrong and either redo it, or if it is toofar gone, build another one. Most of ushave a mountain of kits. The kits that Itotally blow become conversions or sparessources.

The club members are resources andfriends who are here to help everyonelearn new techniques, and solve problemsthey encounter while modeling. Here’s onetip I got from a good friend: Look at the kitbefore you start and make plans either onpaper or in your head regarding how youare going to build the kit, what will be easyand what will be hard to do. Take babysteps if you feel over whelmed by the task.

Self Discipline

You have to want to build and completethe kit. If you do not allow yourselfmodeling time without a bunch of distrac-tions, you won’t get it done. You may noteven get started. The pile of kits keepsgrowing.........

Perfection Paralysis

As much as I would like to produce anexact replica of whatever subject I ambuilding at the time, (the Star Trek

replicator, as far as I know, is still sciencefiction), I am only going to build what I canafford, have room for, have the referencematerial for, and which match the currentlevel of skill that I possess. This is ahobby. It is for fun and relaxation. I buildfor my enjoyment and not to hunt trophies.When I first came to IPMS I was intimi-dated by the beautiful craftsmanship in themodels that I saw. I told myself I couldnever bring a model to show until I was asgood as those guys. It never occurred tome that we all do not start out producingmasterpieces. Some folks have a gift andthe skills come easier, but practice andpatience makes for a good job. No matterhow much time you devote to a model,there is a point where you need to stop. Ifyou don’t, you won’t ever finish a kit andyou may even ruin all the work you putinto it by going “A Bridge Too Far.”

Fear of Success

This happens when you have finallyachieved a certain level of excellence andstart winning ribbons, or receiving positivecomments from your fellow modelers onyour work. Be proud, but be humble, anddo not forget the path you traveled tocompleting great models. You do not needto be afraid to pass on tips and techniquesabout how you achieved your goal toproduce a nice model. As I see it, you cannow return the kindness you were shownby your fellow modelers who shared theirtechniques and ideas when you werestruggling.

Correction

Well, perhaps not a correction, more of aclarification. The excellent photos from theOctober meeting featured in the lastnewsletter were taken by Terry Moore.

Thanks to all the club members who wrotearticles for this issue. It’s much appreci-ated.

IPMS Seattle Chapter Newsletter Page 8

ICM 1/48th Scale SpitfireMk.IX

by Andrew Birkbeck

The Spitfire Mk.IX was built in largernumbers than any other variant except theMk.V. Despite this statement, those whomanufacture kits in 1/48th scale haveignored it, until recently that is. Last yearwe were given a Mk.IX from Occidental ofPortugal, later re-released by MPM (withadditional resin and etched bits I believe).Despite Occidental’s first kit (a T-6 Texan)being a very nice kit, the follow up Spitfirekit was universally panned as being verypoor in outline, simply not worth buildingif accuracy meant anything to you.

So this kit from ICM, when announced,caused quite a stir. After all, they hadalready produced a very nice 1/48th MiG-3,and a Yak-7/9 series, each release animprovement over the previous, and allbeing quite acceptable. So when theSpitfire Mk.IX finally hit the shelves, to achorus of “Tamiya quality in every way”from at least two reviewers I read, Icouldn’t wait for it to arrive here in Seattle.And I duly picked mine up at the Novem-ber IPMS Seattle meeting, along with aborrowed copy (thanks Ted) of Aero

Detail’s book covering the same aircraft.Herewith my initial findings.

Firstly, let me point out my philosophy onmodeling. Simply put, my aim is to find thebest quality kit of a given subject and, ifnecessary, add an aftermarket set toimprove the basic kit. Adding the aftermar-ket set must be “worth it.” By which Imean there must be a very noticeableimprovement in the look of the finishedmodel, for the extra work of adding the setto be worth my time. However, if theoriginal kit is not of high quality to beginwith, I won’t bother with the subject at all.My modeling interests are so wide that Ihave literally hundreds of superb kits towork with, and no subject is that importantto me to justify working with a poor qualitykit. Still with me?

ICM’s Spitfire appears to me to be aworthwhile kit, with one major reservation.More about this at the end of the review.For basing my opinion on informationprovided in Aero Detail’s new bookSpitfire Mk.VI-XVI, as well as discussionswith a friend of mine who knows a fair bitabout Spitfires, this kit is quite accurate inoutline. It therefore is the best SpitfireMk.IX now available. It is also very welldetailed, with a 30-part Merlin engine, awell-detailed cockpit interior, and optionalparts to build four different sub-variants of

the Mk.IX. The optional parts includethree different groupings of underwingarmament: rockets and two types ofbombs, with appropriate carrying racks.

In my opinion, there are some inaccuraciesin the kit parts. Firstly, the two outer wingmachine guns are “missing.” By which Imean there are no holes for the bullets toexit the wing! This is despite the openingsbeing correctly depicted on the box toppainting. The exhaust stubs are alsoincorrectly shaped; again, the box toppainting shows the shape correctly. Thespinner is too pointed according to photosin the Aero Detail book. And strangely, thespinner has a raised panel line, whereasthe rest of the kit’s parts are all engraved.My spinner tip also looked like someonehad taken a Dremel tool to it, being badlygouged. The control column has a squarehandgrip, where the photos show it to beoval. A little sandpaper to round this off,and you are set. The seat is also differentin outline versus the one in the Aero Detailpictures and drawings. The engine, whiledetailed, is underscale. This because of thetoolmaker’s need to make the fuselagepanels enveloping the engine area noteven close to scale thickness.

The decals, while commendably thin, areout of register on my example. There are sixdifferent schemes, one of them inevitablybeing a Wing Commander J. Johnson bird,along with one example each from a Polishand Czech RAF squadron, together withthree other RAF birds. All of these wereaircraft flown by aces. Instructions areadequate, no more. Which is a pity giventhe huge number of parts (130+) andoptions in this kit.

So where does this all leave us? Well,short of waiting for Hasegawa or Tamiya totry a Mk.IX, this is the kit you will have tobuild if you want a Mk.IX Spitfire in 1/48th

scale. In general outline, it appearsaccurate. You know there are bound to bemultiple firms about to produce aftermarketsets for this kit. Hopefully they will includea new spinner and exhaust stubs. Themissing wing machine guns are easily

Continued on page 15

IPMS Seattle Chapter Newsletter Page 9

Academy 1/72nd ScaleWW.II Ground Vehicle Set

by Glen Broman, IPMS QuadCities

This release from Academy includes aJeep, Kubelwagen, and Kettenkraftrad plus55 gallon fuel drums, large and small boxes,and American and German style jerry cans.The kit comes packaged in three bags. Onecontains the Jeep and Kubelwagen.Another contains the Kettenkraftrad, fuelcans and boxes plus clear parts. The thirdbag contains the decals. The parts arecleanly molded with no visible flaws in alight gray color. Academy provides a nicetouch for the detail crowd with engines foreach vehicle, allowing the modeler to openhoods and trunks and show off some

engine work. The engines are a bit basic,but there is ample opportunity for detailingthe engines, if you are so inclined.Academy also provides the option of clearhoods and engine covers so you can seethe engines once the models are built.Identical parts molded in gray are alsoprovided, so if you chose not to use theclear parts, they will make a welcomeaddition the spares box.

The instructions are clear, and I had noproblem following them. No history isprovided in the instructions on thesevehicles, only vehicle specifications.Oddly enough, the instructions refer to theJeep as an “Allied Light Utility Vehicle.” Istarted by assembling the Jeep. Parts cleanup was very easy and ejector pin marks aregenerally were they can’t be seen once the

model is assembled. I used Tenax-7R liquidglue, which reacted well with the plastic. Ihad very few problems with parts fit andplacement. A pair of tweezers does come inhandy, especially on the suspensioncomponents. I recommend a quick check ofalignment of the leaf springs before youput the chassis aside to dry. The Jeepbody assembles easily and is a press fitonto the chassis. The only visible ejectorpin mark on the Jeep was encounteredduring this stage; it’s on the uppercushion of the back bench seat. This ishighly visible and must be filled andsanded to look good. The only fit problemI had on the Jeep was the hood. I had todo some trimming to make it fit. Mine wastoo long and too wide. The only otherproblem I had was the windshield. Al-though fit isn’t the problem, appearance is.I’m not a rivet counter, but I do believe

that a modelshould looklike the realthing. In thiscase, thewindshieldlooks wrong.When Icompared thekit windshieldwith refer-ence photos,the lower part

of the windshield appears to be too highwhile the glass area is too short. It also hasa molded on rifle holder which looks justlike a molded on rifle holder. It can besanded off, or you can do what I did. Iplaced the hood down, and then covered itwith a tarp made of tissue paper treatedwith a solution of water and white glue.Canvas covers for the windshield glasswere fairly common in the field. In somecases, the windshield was removedaltogether. The .50 caliber machine gunand gas can were left off until painting wascomplete. I painted the Jeep using ModelMaster Olive Drab and completed the Jeepwith a little light weathering.

The molding on the Kubelwagen is evenbetter than the Jeep. There are no visibleejector pin marks anywhere. The fit of the

side body pieces is fair, but looks good ifcare is taken during assembly. I cleaned upall of the parts for the Kubel and built theentire kit in one sitting. There are a fewstages during construction where you willhave to make adjustments, primarilyaround the hood and trunk. You want alittle give left in the parts when you get tothis stage to get all of the body partsaligned. Overall the fit is even better thanthe Jeep. I painted my Kubelwagen in anAfrika Corps scheme using AeroMasterpaint.

The Kettenkraftrad has about fourteenparts and cleans up and assembles veryeasily. Once again you get a choice of clearor gray engine cover. The Kettenkraftradassembled with no problems at all. Theboxes provided in the kit clean up fast butthe drums have some unsightly moldseams on the sides along with a seam leftafter the sides are glued together that willrequire filling and sanding to remove. I putthe boxes and barrels in the spares box fora future project and did not paint them.The Kettenkraftrad was also finished in adesert scheme. Overall, these modelsassemble easily and look good straightfrom the box. They will also provide agood base for the detailer to work from.

Antenna Problems

by Scott Vomacka, IPMS CentralNew Jersey

Do you ever find yourself breaking offaircraft antennas and pitot tubes becauseyou forgot they were there, or you didn’tsee them during construction? Before youstart assembling the model, paint theantenna(s) or pitot tube(s) in a highlyvisible color. Use colors like yellow withred stripes, red with orange stripes, ororange with silver stripes. These highlyvisible colors will catch your eye, so thatyou will not accidentally break off thedelicate piece when assembling the model.When the model is finished, simply paintthese parts in the appropriate color.

IPMS Seattle Chapter Newsletter Page 10

The Russian Air ForceMuseum at Monino

by Tim Nelson

During August 2000, I was fortunate tohave the chance to visit Moscow on abusiness trip. My job as a Boeing flightoperations engineer involves working withcustomer airlines to keep ‘em flying. I wasrecently assigned the two major airlinesbased in Moscow, Aeroflot and Transaero.My first visit to these airlines was anadventure, highlighted by not one, but twovisits to the Russian Air Force Museum atMonino.

Monino is a small town about an hour’sdrive east of Moscow, past the dachas thatMuscovites flock to on the weekends. Inthe woods near the town lies the YuriGagarin Flight Academy, home of themuseum. It is not possible for a foreignerto drop in, but my airline friends had madeprior arrangements.

My first visit was with two engineers fromAeroflot on a gray, rainy Wednesday. Wewere greeted by a retired Soviet Air Forcegeneral, who gave us a wonderful walkingtour of the museum. All of his narrationwas in Russian, translated by my Aeroflotfriends, who also translated my questionsfor the general. The general was an Il-2Stormovik pilot from the Great PatrioticWar (WW2), shot down three times, and arecipient of the highest Soviet honor, the

Hero of the Soviet Union. He fought on allfronts of the war in the east. I would haveloved to have more time to simply talk withthe general, but our time was limited andwe had a museum to see.

The first section of the museum weexplored was the indoor World War 2 hall.Several famous Soviet types are on displayhere, including the Il-2, Polikarpov I-16,MiG-3, Yak-9, and the La-7 (Fig. 1). The La-7 is claimed to be the last mount of thehighest scoring Soviet ace, IvanKozhedub.

The WW2 hall transitions into a Cold Wargallery with models and artifacts of the late1940s through the 1960s. Fragments fromFrancis Gary Powers’ U-2 were on display,as well as ejection seats and g-suits from

early jet fighters. One displaywas devoted to the Soviet AirForce contribution to the NorthKorean effort in the KoreanWar, which included flyingcombat missions.

We made our way from there tothe outdoor display area. I hadseen some photos of theMonino museum, but was stillunprepared to see the hugecollection of Soviet aircraft,many of which were formerlysecret, parked before me.Amidst the acres of wildflowersand weeds were machines such

as the giant Mil-V12 double rotor helicop-ter, the Myasishchyev M-50 “Bounder”(Fig. 2), and rows of MiGs (Fig. 3), Sukhois(Fig. 5), and Yaks.

Probably my favorite aircraft at Monino isthe incredible Sukhoi T-4/100 (Fig. 4). Thisaircraft was a Soviet response to theAmerican XB-70, and shares some designfeatures. The big Sukhoi has a droop nosefor low speed visibility. For the life of me, itappears there is no visibility at all (exceptmaybe straight up) when the nose is fairedfor high-speed flight. I was told this

aircraft was painted blackduring its flight test program inthe early 1970s, a sight thatmust have been menacingindeed.

Some civilian types are repre-sented at the museum, the mostfamous being the Tupolev Tu-144 supersonic transport. Thecivilian version of the Tu-95“Bear”, the Tu-114, is there withits eight counter-rotatingpropellers. The museum’sexample was supposedlyKhrushchev’s personaltransport. Adjacent to the Tu-144 “Concordeski” is the MiG-21I (Fig. 6), a MiG-21 modified

with delta wings for test purposes.

One-of-a-kind gems like this are commonthroughout Monino. A derelict Ekranoplanground effect vehicle sits on the perimeterof the museum grounds. The bizarreMyasishchyev M-17 Stratosphera highaltitude reconnaissance airplane, lookinglike a cross between a U-2 and a RB-57F,rests quietly in wacky Aeroflot markings.Record setting prototypes such as the Ye-152M (“MiG-21 on steroids”) sit side byside with exotic vehicles such as theSpaceplane (Fig. 7).

There is a hangar on the grounds withmore aircraft inside, including an IlyaMuromets replica, the gorgeous TupolevAn-25 that flew from Moscow to Californiain the 1930s, a Sopwith Triplane, an Il-10“Son of Sturmovik” used in the KoreanWar, and other types.

Fig. 1 - WW2 Hall, La-7 allegedly flown by top-scoring Soviet ace Ivan Kozhedub.

Fig. 2 – M-50 “Bounder”, the supersonic bomberthat traumatized the West after appearing in the

1961 May Day parade. Only 2 were built.

IPMS Seattle Chapter Newsletter Page 11

All of the big Soviet bombers appear atMonino with the exception of the “Black-jack” (unless it was hiding somewhere). Igrew up in dread of some of these ma-chines, so it was quite a thrill to be able tokick the tires of a Tu-22M “Backfire”bomber (Fig. 8), up close and personal.

The museum does not ignore Americancontributions to Soviet aviation. Among

Fig. 4 – The awesome, all-titanium, Mach 3 Su T-4/100, or “XB-70ski.”

U.S. types on display are a P-63Kingcobra, a B-25 Mitchell, an A-20Havoc, a Piasecki helicopter, and thefamous Tupolev Tu-4. Oh yeah, that lastone isn’t really American, but it’s as closeto a B-29 as the Soviets could make it!

Many of the airplanes at Monino are invarying states of disrepair. The museumdoesn’t have much money for facilities,

maintenance, or preservation, and theextremes of Russian seasons are not kind.It is sad to see the deterioration of some ofthese birds, sitting out amongst the weeds,a few wild dogs and cats roaming aroundthem. This only slightly dampens the thrillof seeing these exotic Soviet flyingmachines.

Having been once, three pilots fromTransaero took me back to Monino threedays later. This was on a sunny Saturday.It was great to have the opportunity torevisit some airplanes, take some betterphotos, and notice some things I missedthe first time. And to do so while remainingdry the whole time. One of these Transaerofriends, Victor, is a former Tu-16 “Badger”pilot.

It was amazing to me, an American workingfor a company responsible for much of theU.S. military arsenal, to stroll through thisplace and share a common love of aviationwith Russians whom I now considerfriends. A few years ago, it would not havebeen possible. I look forward to visitingMoscow, and hopefully the Moninomuseum, again.

If you have a chance to visit Russia, Ihighly recommend seeing the museum atMonino. It won’t be easy unless you have

Fig. 3 – MiG Row. Every significant MiG jet fighter, from MiG-9 at the far right to MiG-31 out of view to the left, is represented here.

IPMS Seattle Chapter Newsletter Page 12

some local connections, but it can be donewith some homework and preparation. TheMonino web site has information on howto apply for permission.

Resources for those interested in learningmore about the Monino museum includethe following:

-Me. Please ask if you have questions orwish to see my photos.

-The official web site of the museum,http://www.infoart.ru/avia/company/monino/e_monino/.It has lots of photos of the collection.

-A private web site, http://monino.8m.com,which contains many photos and links toother Monino web sites.

-Monino, The Russian Air Force Museum,by Colin W. Prentice, Airlife PublishingLtd. A decent book with good photos, butalready getting a little out of date.

-Schiffer Books also publishes a book onMonino, which I have not seen.

Fig. 5 – Su-7 variant on Sukhoi Row. Yes, it has skis. Runways?Who needs ‘em?

Fig. 6 – MiG-21I, a delta wing test bedused during Tu-144 development.

Fig. 7 – Ye-152M (“E-166”, left) and Spaceplane. E-166 set numerous time-to-climbrecords in the 1960’s. The Spaceplane, or Aircraft 105-11, was an unmanned reentryvehicle that served as a testbed for the Soviet space shuttle, Buran. By the way, the

actual Buran (which flew unmanned one time in 1988) is now an attraction at GorkyPark in Moscow. Developed as a sub-sonic analog to a larger orbital vehicle, Aircraft105-11 was designed to determine stability, controllability and aerodynamic charac-

teristics. The aircraft has a jet engine and could take off and land under its own power.It was also tested by releasing it from a Tu-95 bomber at around an altitude of 5,000m.

Aircraft 105-11 flew several times between 1975 and 1978.

Fig. 8 – Tu-22M “Backfire” mainlanding gear, with formerly

secret wide footprint bogeys foroperation on unimproved

runways. As this photo wastaken, my friend Sergei (a 737pilot at Transaero) was saying,

“Now that I have shown you this,I will have to kill you.”

IPMS Seattle Chapter Newsletter Page 13

Using a Food Dehydrator

by Chris Paris, IPMS GlueBrothers

Does your paint look a little foggy afterairbrushing? Latent solvents can causeyour otherwise perfect paint job dry to ahaze. The haze is caused when thesolvents you use to thin your paint forspraying remain trapped under the surfaceof your pigment. In a perfect world, thesesolvents escape and evaporate, leaving ahard and clear surface. When they remaintrapped, your paint can appear soft andfoggy.

One remedy to this situation is to use ahome appliance food dehydrator. Choose aunit that will meet the scale of model youlike to build, and be sure the unit operatesaround 110-115 degrees Fahrenheit.Modify the interior trays to hold yourvarious parts by cutting the bottom out ofsome of the trays. Leave at least one trayintact, as this will be your bottom traywhere you will place your parts.

Turn on your dehydrator when you areready to begin spraying your model. Whenyou are done spraying, the dehydratorshould have reached its optimum tempera-ture. Allow your model to air dry for about15 minutes before placing it in the dehy-drator. When placing your model in thedehydrator, be sure to leave space aroundthe pieces for adequate ventilation, and ofcourse, don’t let the fresh painted surfacestouch the side walls. Place the lid on yourdehydrator, and let your model “cook” forat least 3 hours. Curing times will varydepending on size and paint. It will benormal to smell the solvents and theenamel drying. When removing the pieces,allow them to cool before any handling.Once the curing process is complete, youcan usually sand, polish or paint thesurface of the model.

Scale Plans in Magazines -A Waste of a Good Tree

by Neil Scrimgeour, IPMSRutland, UK

Recently I’ve noticed a trend for modelmagazines to print an increasing number ofscale plans and I get the suspicion thatthey haven’t got enough articles to printso they use plans to pad out the publica-tion. From my point of view plans in modelmagazines are a complete waste of time.

Just how accurate is a set of plans? Unlessthey’re taken from manufacturers’ mastersthey’re going to contain errors. Appar-ently John Adams gave a talk recentlyexplaining how useless plans can be,especially if they’ve been made fromphotographs, and that’s common sensewhen you think about it. And whensomeone produces a set of plans, is themiddle of the pencil line the datum point oris it the left or right edge of the line? Ofcourse, plans are useful to show a conver-sion or modification of a subject, and canalso be used to show up glaring errors in amodel’s outline, but plans can only beused as a general guide at the best oftimes.

And if plans aren’t accurate how canmodels be? I read a review where it wasstated that the fuselage was 2mm toolong…according to plans. Is this a windup? Could you tell if a model had beenshortened by 2mm just by looking at it? Doyou see judges hover over models withvernier gauges and calipers? Let’s get realhere, if it looks right it is right. If you reallyfeel the need to shorten a fuselage by 2mmthen you’re going to have to take intoaccount how much difference paintthickness makes to the dimensions of asubject, both in real life and on a model.

Plans do have their place….in specialistbooks - Detail & Scale, Aerofax, Verlindenetc. If you buy a book on a subject thenyou expect to get plans and in fact youmight buy the book because of them, butshoving plans in magazines is pointless.

And what of magazines who slavishlypublish this stuff? I stopped subscribingto Scale Models (International) a fewyears ago because that’s what they endedup doing, month after month of plans, iteven got to the stage they were publishingSpitfire plans. I mean, just how many moreplans do we need on that subject? Andwhat happened to Scale Models?

More Tips and Tricks

by IPMS Kalamazoo ScaleModelers

Glue Residue on Clear Plastic - Use anautomotive car polish (for removingscratches), such as Novus, to remove theremaining glue residue.

Old Dry Transfer Lettering - Rub the backsurface of the transfers sheet with MineralSpirits. Seems to revitalize the glue.

Plastic gloves / Latex - Keeps fingerprintsoff the model, and paint off of fingers.

Well nut - (Plumbing - used to cap a pipe)can be used on a drill so tires can besanded.

Mixing paint - Pudding/jello cups, orangejuice can tops, old business cards, lidsfrom film cans...

Clogged paint lids - When the lids forbottles (ModelMaster, Aeromaster) getclogged with paint, they can be replacedwith tops from a 20 oz or 2 liter bottle.

Paint Brush Holders - Straws can be usedfor paint brush holders.

Bamboo skewers for shish kebobs can beused for mixing paint (it wipes off). It canbe used to scrape paint as it is soft and willnot scratch plastic.

What kind of paint did I use? - Write onthe model plans the type of paint used incase you wish to do touchups later.

IPMS Seattle Chapter Newsletter Page 14

Toko 1/72nd Scale LaGG-3Series 1, 5, & 11

by Clarence E. Wentzel, IPMSKalamazoo Scale Modelers

I was at the Old Guard hobby shop a yearor so when I found a kit of the LaGG-3, aRussian World War II fighter, produced byToko from the Ukraine. I have a couple oftheir kits of the Il-2 Stormovik and hadbeen favorably impressed. The LaGG-3was one of the most important Sovietaircraft of the war, but has never beenoffered in a good kit. Based on myfavorable impression of the Il-2, I readilypicked up the LaGG.

The LaGG-3 was an early offering from theLavochkin design bureau, being built from1940 through 1942. It was mostly woodand was only a marginal design but it didgive the Russians a modern fighter tothrow into the fray. The Russian pilotswere not too happy with the LaGG-3. Theydeciphered the abbreviation ‘LaGG’ as‘Lakirovanny Garantirovanny Grob’(‘Varnished Guaranteed Coffin’) due to itsinferiority to Luftwaffe’s Bf 109. Theairplane did, however, give the Lavochkingroup experience that would lead them intotheir next generation of fighters, their La-5and La-7 models which were much morecompetition to the Germans.

Upon opening the kit, I found that fivedifferent decal schemes were provided. Onlooking further, five different versions ofthe LaGG-3, series 1, 5, 11, 35, and 66, canbe built. The company included extra partsto accurately represent each version.There are two wing upper panels, threedifferent exhaust systems, three differentnoses, two spinners, three rudders, threehorizontal stabilizers, two radio antennas,two canopies, and alternative fixed andretractable tail wheels. What a great effortto ensure accurate models! Other compa-nies would have either ignored thedifferences or else told you to modifysome parts according to your needs. Inaddition, Toko have provided a fairlydetailed cockpit interior that eliminates theneed for aftermarket parts. Even theinstrument panel decal comes in three

different variations according to the modelthat you build.

The key questions were how accurate isthe kit and how well does it go together?Well, for the first part, I checked the kitagainst the references that I have on theairplane; LaGG Fighters in Action, Eaglesof the East - Fighting Lavochkin andSoviet Aces of World War 2, and the kitlooks and measures to be accurate. For thesecond part, I give the kit an acceptablerating but you need to take some care toget a good model.

I chose to build the series 1 model in themarkings of L. Galtchenko from theKarelian front. I found that the interior andthe basic fuselage went together well. I didnot encounter any warpage of the fuselageparts as has been reported elsewhere. Thewheel wells, parts 34 and 54, add a nicetouch but do need trimming to makefuselage and upper wing fit well. You needto sand the upper wing joint in order to geta good fit with fuselage. I found that somefiller was needed at the wing to fuselagejoint, the rear of the upper cowl, and thefront of the lower wing to fuselage joints.The design of the tail wheel opening is notclear. I assume from the pictures that part35 is for Series 1, 5, and 11 and parts 36 forseries 35 and 66. The instructions indicatethat the pitot tube is part 68 and it ismounted below the wing for series 35 and66 models and to the front of the wing forseries 1, 5, and 11 models. The part wouldhave to be modified to fit to the front ofthe wing and in any case looks to be toothick. I used brass rod for my pitot tube.Finally, the prominent wing root air intakesneed to be opened up. These could bepainted black I suppose, but it is an easymodification to make and really enhancesthe final look of the model.

The directions of the kit call for the modelto be painted in a grass green and blackgreen color scheme with an aircraft blueundersurface and a white spinner. Thiscorresponded to the profile ofGaltchenko’s aircraft in the book SovietAces of World War 2 from Osprey AircraftPublications. There is, however, a web site,Russian VVS Modeler’s Resource Page atwww.oz.net/~xopowo/VVS/vvs.htm,devoted to Russian aircraft and markingsof the Second World War and they are notvery complementary to the Osprey book.They indicate that the aircraft should bepainted in a medium green and blackscheme and they suggest that the spinnercould be yellow. I used TestorsModelmaster Medium Field Green, F.S.34095, Floquil Engine Black, andAeromaster no. 9074, Russian Light Bluefor the exterior colors. The interior waspainted in Neutral Gray except for the reararmor plate which was painted Duck EggBlue.

I was impressed with the fact that themodel comes with the cooling outletpanels open. These are parts 33 and 23 or24. When have we seen a P-51 Mustangmodel with the cooling outlet panels open?They even provide a radiator to fill theopen space in the belly of the model but Imissed that part during assembly and hadto install a small piece of sponge to fill mymodel. In spite of the minor problems, I feelthat the final result is a very realisticlooking model of this significant aircraft. Iwill be buying more of the kits and makingmore of the series. Well recommended.

Note - Word out of the Ukraine is that theToko company is getting out of the plasticmodel business. Stock up on these kitswhile they are still available. [Since thisreview was written a few months ago, theToko molds have been picked up byEastern Express, and most, if not all, ofthe Toko WW1 kits are available againunder that imprint. Their WW2 kits,however, including the LaGG-3, have yetto reappear. The team that was respon-sible for the Toko molds continues torelease new kits under the name Rodin, inboxes identical in design to the old Tokoboxes. – ED]

IPMS Seattle Chapter Newsletter Page 15

Preznotes from page 1

will never release a kit of either of thesesubjects and so it comes down to the smallkit guy to do it in a medium that can beaccomplished in one’s own garage. Theyare hand made and no two are exactly alike.Depending on mold life, production run,and the interest in the subject matter, youmay not see too many of them at the nextmeeting or contest. Another thing is thatonce you have the parts cleaned up andready to go, assembly is relatively fast,since, in most cases, you have fewer partsto assemble. They are somewhat like theAmodel kits that Bill Osborn builds andbrings to every meeting: Interestingsubject matter, a challenge to build, andthey draw a lot of attention. Try one.

See you at the meeting,

�����

Tamiya 1/72nd Scale SpitfireMk.I

by Andrew Birkbeck

The Spitfire in 1/72nd has been well coveredby the kit manufacturers over the years.While long in the tooth, Airfix’s Mk.I andMk.V are both fairly accurate in outline,and Hasegawa’s Mk.VII thru IX are verynice indeed. Fujimi’s Mk.14, while expen-sive, is also very nice, while Academy did

a credible job with the Mk.14 at a lesserprice. And for the late Marks, as well asthe Seafires, you have the Ventura kits:limited run, expensive, on the difficult sideto build, but incredibly accurate in outline.

So along comes Tamiya with a state of theart Spitfire Mk.I to replace the Airfixversion (and the lesser Hasegawa one forthat matter). My initial impression is thatthe kit is very accurate in outline, being adownsized version of the same firm’sexcellent 1/48th kit. It is also a simple kit,with two fuselage halves, three wing parts,and a handful of smaller items. When cutfrom their sprues, these parts manage to fillabout 10% of an already small kit box. Allfor “only” $16.50. I think Tamiya Americais really pushing its luck with the newprices on these 1/72nd kits. Their new F4UCorsair is even more, at $22! The Spitfire

goes for $9.50 in Japan, which I would sayis fair for a kit of this quality and size. Still,five years ago, Fujimi came out with theirSpitfire Mk.14, and it was $30! Perhaps theTamiya kit is a bargain after all!

One final note. The kit comes with decalsfor an aircraft from “601 Squadron”; theexample depicted actually belonged to 610Squadron.

ICM Spitfire IX from page 8

fixed. And replacement decals won’t be aproblem. Just take your time test fitting theparts, as if ever there was an over-engineered kit, this is it. I will state for therecord that ICM’s toolmakers and design-ers, while trying very hard, simply don’thave the skills of their counterparts atTamiya. Therefore, with so many parts, onewill need to carefully test fit and trim oradd where necessary.

And now for my major reservation aboutthis kit: simply put, mine is a piece of crap,in terms of quality of molding. There aresink marks everywhere. Where a part has

detail on both sides, one side or the other(or both in some cases) has the detaildestroyed by huge sink marks. And wherethere is detail on an interior wall, such asthe fuselage halves around the cockpitarea, then the exterior has a huge sinkmark. And these problems seem to bewidespread, as checking on the Internetmodeling chat forums, scores of othershave reported similar problems or worse.ICM has had a major quality controlproblem with this kit, and so my advice isto buy your copy from a local retailer whois willing to let you open the kit to checkthe parts, before you plunk down yourmoney. I have written to ICM/USA withmy story, and they have promised to sendme a more cleanly molded copy. If they do,then I will happily sit down and build thiskit.

IPMS Seattle Chapter Newsletter Page 16

National Guard Armory, Room 1141601 West Armory Way, Seattle

Directions: From North or Southbound I-5, take the 45th St. exit. Drivewest on 45th, crossing under Highway 99 (or Aurora Ave. North) towardN.W. Market Street in Ballard. Continue west on Market St. toward 15thAve N.W. Turn left (south) onto 15th Ave N.W. and drive across theBallard Bridge until you reach Armory Way (just as you see the AnimalShelter.) Watch for signs. Park in the Metro Park & Ride lot.

If coming from the South, take Highway 99 onto the Alaskan Wayviaduct to Western Avenue. Follow Western Ave. north to Elliot Ave.until it turns into 15th Ave N.W., then to Armory Way itself.

Meeting Reminder Saturday, December 910 AM - Bring things to

eat and drink!

2001 IPMS Seattle Dues Renewal

After all the hoopla about 2000, it is about gone. It is time to remind you to pay your IPMS Seattle 2001 dues.

I will ask Robert to include this dues form in both the December and January newsletters.

As is our usual practice, everyone on the 2000 roster will receive the January issue. If you have not renewed by the February mailing,you will not receive that and subsequent issues.

You can renew by mailing the form and a check for $24, made out to “IPMS Seattle”, to Norm Filer at the address on page two of thisnewsletter. Or you can bring the form to either the December or January meetings. Please be very careful when filling out the form.Many of our returned newsletters are the result of my poor interpretation of handwritten address information.

IPMS Seattle 2001 Dues Form

Full Name _____________________________________________________________________

Mailing Address ________________________________________________________________

City _____________________ State ______ Zip Code ____________________________

Telephone (Area Code) ( ) ______________________________________________________

E-mail address (optional) _________________________________________________________