Modeller

Subject

Manufacturer

Scale

Status

Peter Randall

Amagiri (sank PT109)

Tamiya

1/700

Complete

Shin Kang

Panzer IV, tower & drums (diorama)

Airfix

1/72

Complete

Andy Hoskin

Spitfire VI (converted from Vb)

Pro-Modeler

1/72

Complete

Spitfire PR 1c

Tamiya

1/72

Complete

Wantae Kim

Fell Beast (Lord of the Rings) & horses

Wantae Kim

WIP

Bruce Salmon

Panther

Tamiya

1/35

WIP

Panzer Mk IVd

Tamiya

1/35

WIP

Barry Flatman

Fairey Flycatcher

Lindberg

1/48

WIP

John Watkins

Gloster Gladiator

Matchbox

1/72

WIP

Lance Whitford

T34 with photo-etch

Dragon

1/35

WIP

Kevin Benson

Challenger II (photo-etch) diorama

Trumpeter/Accurate Amour

1/35

WIP

Colin Griffin

Sioux

Italeri

1/48

Complete

John Dryburgh

S-3 Viking

Italeri

1/48

Complete

13

Thanks to John Dryburgh for compiling the above table. 

Voucher for this month went to John Dryburgh for the most innovative use of a drinking straw (and the 1/48 S-3 Viking he used to convert it with).

Italeri 1/48 S-3B Viking
By John Dryburgh

Click on thumbnails below to open large image in new window

The S-3 Viking, is not for me at least, a model I would normally be inspired to buy, never mind build. However, on making an unscheduled sojourn to the local model shop (just happened to be passing by), Lo! An Italeri 1/48 Viking in the Bargain Bin - at ½ price!! The Scottish ancestry/accountant immediately kicked in and I bought it for ‘the stash’ with the intention of building it - eventually.

A couple of months later, trawling through Hyperscale, I stumbled across the CAM decal set for VS-35 Blue Wolves – Navy One. Wow! This is a decal set worth building the kit for! I immediately dashed off an order to Hannant’s for the decals and extracted the kit from the darkest recess of the stash cupboard.( Editor’s note; this is the aircraft that George W Bush flew onto the USS Abraham Lincoln in for all the photos/footage in connection with the so called “war on terror’, hence “Navy One”.)

I wanted to build the kit as quickly and simple as possible because, remember, I was building it for the decal set, so closed up the bomb doors, crew access hatch and avionics bay. Simple? Yeah Right! As everyone at IPMS knows, there’s no such thing as a simple kit! To do the decals justice, the model also has to look good.

I was impressed with the general quality of the kit, well detailed with fine recessed panel lines. Although branded Italeri, I believe that the moulds are ex-Esci. There were a few extractor-pin holes in the fuselage and engine nacelles but these were easily filled with superglue and sanded down. (I’ve discovered the virtues of superglue and have made it the filler of choice. It’s easy to work with, sets quickly and sands down to a fine finish).

I started the assembly with the engines. The turbines and exhaust were sprayed with Model Master metallic magnesium and buffed up when dry. To pick out the blades, the turbines were painted over with black, water-soluble Indian ink and allowed to dry after which excess ink was wiped off with a damp cotton bud. The front and rear fans were glued into one of the intake halves, which was then matched up to its partner. Similarly, the exhaust fan was glued into the rear of the engine nacelle and married up to the corresponding half. The seams on the air intakes presented a major problem. After hours of filling, filing and sanding and very unsatisfied with the result, I struck on the idea of using white card cut to the correct dimensions and fitting it inside the cowling with the seam tucked away out of sight at the top. Quite a simple and effective solution, I thought, but only arrived at after hours of unnecessary work. It also solved the problem of how I was going to paint the inside lip of the cowling ghost grey and achieve a clean cut off from the white interior.

Next was the cockpit. I read from various reviews that it was possible to fit the cockpit after joining the fuselage but I wasn’t going to risk it so followed the conventional build process of assembling and painting the cockpit and installing it in the fuselage prior to gluing the two halves together. The cockpit walls were painted light sea grey followed by a dark grey wash to pick out the detail and give it a weathered look. I used the instrument decals supplied with the kit due to the lack of raised detail on the instrument panels. Next, the seats were assembled to which I added belts fabricated from lead foil and buckles from fuse wire (a nifty trick I learned from Mark Davies).

The fuselage went together easily with little filling and sanding required. However, the air conditioning intake located at the base of the tail fin was rough as a goat’s knee and spoiled an otherwise attractive model. To try and neaten it up and make it look like an intake I inserted a MacDonald’s plastic drinking straw (they do have a saving grace after all) and faired it in with the indomitable super glue. When everything had dried, I trimmed the straw almost flush with the leading edge and sanded down the remainder so that it was level with the surface of the fin. I must say, I was impressed with my efforts and go so far to say that it’s the best part of the model.

The reference notes and pics indicated that the canopy colour was too light so I first sprayed the inner surface with Tamiya enamel gold to try to simulate the gold film on the windscreen of the real aircraft and then intended to darken it by spraying on a very light coat of black. Disaster! The paint pooled and blotched, and looked generally scrungy. Out with the oven cleaner (an essential component of my modelling tool-set) and back to basics – dunk in Johnson’s Klear and put to one side to dry.

Next was gluing the canopy to the fuselage and fairing in the seams with – you guessed it – superglue. The canopy was quickly masked off and the first coat of Aeromaster enamel ghost grey was applied. During painting, I managed to drop the damn thing – not enough to break anything but enough to start a worrying rattle from the interior of the masked canopy. What to do!? It was pointless peeling away the masking, as I was not prepared to cut the canopy open and repair whatever it was that was rattling. So, I pressed on in hope.

When the paint was dry, Johnson’s Klear was brushed on which promptly pooled in all the low-lying areas and recesses (Using Klear is not one of my best skill-sets and the jury is still out whether or not to persevere). I used Cloudy Ammonia (another essential item in my tool drawer) to take off the Klear, as it doesn’t affect the paint or plastic. It’s even effective on canopies. When all the Klear had been removed, I tried again but this time air brushing it on using very light coats – quite a time consuming process as it took at least 7 coats until I was satisfied with the finish.

The decals went on like a dream – my only criticism is that CAM skimped on the danger and warning signs that proliferate all US military aircraft. The wolf on the tail was applied in 2 parts – firstly the colour picture followed by the outline. I must admit, I was worried that I would fall at the final hurdle and stuff up matching the outline to the picture and was very relieved at how easy it was. Then I did stuff it up by using some of the warning decals supplied with the kit. They were thick and clunky compared to the CAM decals and silvered into the bargain. In the end, I took most of them off.

Once the decals were dry, the whole aircraft was sprayed with a couple of coats of Humbrol enamel matt. I decided not to weather the aircraft as the reference pics show it in a pretty clean state and besides, I didn’t want to spoil that beautiful wolf. The only weathering was to the underneath of the engine pods. Black Indian ink was dribbled onto the control surfaces, air brakes and wing folds to highlight the outlines and sealed with a further coat of matt.

Finally, the moment of truth! The canopy masking was peeled away and what a relief! One of the ejection seats had broken free in the fall but the confines of the cockpit kept it pretty much in place so it was an easy jiggling exercise to locate it back into its correct position.

I intend to build another Viking(s) as it was an easy and enjoyable kit and there are some interesting colour schemes available. It will also be a challenge to successfully achieve the heavy weathering shown on some aircraft. The Viking is a versatile and attractive aircraft (also know as the “Hoover” because of the noise of its GE TF-34 turbofan engines) - it’s a pity that they are due to be phased out of service be 2008. Incidentally, the engines are the same as those fitted to the A10 Warthog.

Hasegawa 1/72 Fw 190 A-5
by Mark Davies

Fw 190’s tend to appear in abundance on modelling web sites, but it is a hard aircraft to resist modelling, so here is mine.I kept this one simple, building more or less out of the box, save for home-made seat-belts, replacement cannon barrels from a hypodermic needle, and a gun-sight.  

The kit is, I think, an Fw 190A-8.I overlooked filling in various panels needed to make it an A-5, but it was a quick build and done for fun only as I liked the unusual 1/JG51 "Molders" Russia summer 1943 scheme that came with Aeromaster’s Butcher Birds Part IV sheet.

Model Category

Entry Number

(Write the number of the model you want to vote for in each category)

IPMS AUCKLAND REGIONALS COMPETITION

I)ELIGIBILITY

1.Any one may enter the IPMS Regional contest, be they an IPMS Auckland member or not. However, the IPMS Auckland Perpetual Trophies may only be awarded to current IPMS Auckland members.

2.Models that have won First, Second or Third places in any previous Nationals may NOT be entered in any Regionals.

3.The Contest Chairman or Head Judge may exclude any entries that they consider offensive to generally held standards of taste and acceptability.

4.Juniors: Junior entries are limited to modellers under 16. Junior members may, at their discretion, enter models in the Senior classes; however, any such models will become ineligible for Junior awards.

5. Models must be entered by 9pm Friday 6^th October (Auckland residents) or noon Saturday 7^th October (out of town modellers). Late entries will only be accepted at the discretion of the Contest Chairman or Head Judge.

II)CONTEST

(A) General

1.Judges: A head judge must be chosen and they must brief all judges prior to the contest judging. Judges may NOT judge any category in which they are personally entered.

2.Final placement of models in classes is the decision of the contest judges. Judges may also combine or split categories during judging.

3.ALL JUDGES' DECISIONS ARE FINAL.

(B) Composition and Definitions

1. Plastics: Entries must be largely composed of a plastic medium (i.e. styrene). However, the use of other materials are permitted (i.e. resin, etched, white metal), except models made in metal die-cast form, or not sold as kitsets.

2. Collections: A collection is any group of five or more related items (e.g. five WWII fighters would not be a collection, but five Me109 fighters would). Past National Contest winners (or place-getters) may be entered as part of a collection, but must not constitute more than 40% of the group. The collection may be the work of one or more modellers.

3.Figures: Category entries may be made of metal or plastic. Metal miniatures may be used in dioramas. The inclusion of accessories included in the figure kit will not cause the figure to be classed as a diorama.

4.Missiles: All REAL vehicle-carried missiles will be placed in the appropriate Military Vehicle class. Missiles in flight attitude or on landing gear will be entered in the appropriate Spacecraft/Sci-Fi category. Missiles used for space research will be placed in the Real Spacecraft class.

5.Bases: Bases are allowed in all categories, but will not be considered in the judging, except in the diorama classes, or where a decision is required between tied models for Best of Category. A base may simulate the natural surface on which the model would be found, however, nothing additional to that surface may be used.

Aircraft and vehicles may rest on simulated ground or paving, and aircraft, which need beaching gear or dollies, may be so equipped. Ships may be displayed in water (no dry-docks or wharves).

The base must not be the predominant feature of the entry, and must be of a size proportionate to the model.

The model may incorporate primary crew figures if included with the kit. The addition of any other figures or equipment outside or attached to the model (e.g. support equipment, foliage, shell splashes or buildings) will make the model a diorama, which must be entered in the proper diorama category.

III) AWARDS

1.Models will be judged for accuracy, realism, skill in construction, and finish. First, Second and Third awards WILL be given in each category. Highly commended awards may also be presented by the judges.

2.Best of Class awards will be given for each division, and from these a Best of Show award will be voted on by the full judging team.

3.A popular vote for best of show award should be held to encourage the viewing public to participate in the contest. Voting forms and a ballot box should be made available for this purpose.

CLASSES

Out Of The Box Award

An award for best out-of-the-box model MAY be made in each of the following overall categories:

• Aircraft

• Military vehicle

• Civilian vehicle

• Ship

• Space/sci-fi

• Junior model

The intention of this award is to recognize modellers who produce excellent models from the materials supplied in the box from the manufacturer. Models in this category may not have any features added that are not in the box:

• Aftermarket decals may be used.

• No alterations may be made to the plastic, such as thinning trailing edges, deflecting control surfaces, drilling out gun barrels, vents and intakes and exhausts etc.

• Antennas, aerial wires and seat belts may NOT be used unless supplied in the kit.

• Kits with recessed panel lines may have such lines repaired where they are damaged by the process of hiding seam lines.

• Kits with raised panel lines can also have damaged lines repaired, or the entire line may be removed in order to achieve a consistent appearance. General removal of panel lines or extensive rescribing is not permitted.

• The kit instructions must be supplied if the model is to be considered for this category.

Models in this category will be entered in their primary category (e.g. a T-34 in armoured vehicle) and identified on the entry form as “Out Of The Box”. It will be possible for an out of the box model to win (for example) both Best Aircraft Model and Best Out-Of-The-Box Aircraft.

I) AIRCRAFT
1. Aircraft 1:72
   a)Propeller
   b)Jet
   c)Helicopters  
2. Aircraft 1:48
   a)Propeller
   b)Jet
   c)Helicopters
3. Aircraft 1:32
4. Aircraft dioramas
Note: 1:72 covers all scales smaller than 1:71, 1:48 covers 1:71-1:33 and 1:32 covers 1:32 and larger.  

II) MILITARY VEHICLES
1. Armoured vehicles
2. Soft-skin vehicles
3. Artillery
4. Dioramas - more than 1 vehicle (or 1 vehicle with figures not included in the box)  

III) FIGURES
1. Busts
2. Dismounted
3. Mounted
4. Dioramas and vignettes  

IV) CIVILIAN VEHICLES
1. Cars  
2. Trucks/Commercials  
3. Motorcycles
4. Dioramas  

V) SHIPS
1. Ships  

VI) SPACE AND S/F
1. Real spacecraft and missiles
2. Fictional
3. Dioramas  

VII) JUNIOR
1. To be determined dependant on entries.

VIII) COLLECTIONS
Five or more closely related items built by one or more people – all scales, types and eras. See rule II (B) 2.  

IX) MISCELLANEOUS
Any subject not covered by any of the above classes.