AN INTERNATIONAL PLASTICMODELERS’ SOCIETY CHARTER

CHAPTER.

Mold LinesMold LinesJULY 2017

2

IN THIS ISSUE…IN THIS ISSUE…

F-86D “Sabre Dog”

PLUS…

The Scorpions Gallery - showcases the amazing work of our club members.

F-86D “Sabre Dog”

Club News brings us all the coverage of past and upcoming events from the Sonoran Desert Model Builders.

In Tips & Tricks - Dave Diaz shows how to make aluminum cans for your dioramas.

We meet at the Northwest corner of Alvernon and 22nd from 6:30 to 8:30 P.M.

1100 South Alvernon Way Tucson, AZ

WHERE CAN I

FIND THEM?

Mold Lines is the officialpublication of the SonoranDesert Model Builders Modelingclub. We publish it on a monthlybasis and it is your source forClub news, interviews, modelreviews, photos or our member’smodeling work as well as articleson modeling techniques andother articles of interest to our

members.

WHO ARE THEY?The Sonoran Desert Model Builders is achartered IPMS model club in Tucson,Arizona dedicated to advancing each othersskills through tip sharing, encouragementand, most importantly, hands-on building.Our members enjoy a deep camaraderie andlevel of respect for each other as well as apassion for model building. We build it all...cars, airplanes, armor, ships, figures, sci-fi...

Our mission is simple… LET’S BUILD!MEETING DATES 2017

JANUARY ……………… 5

FEBRUARY ……………… 2

MARCH ……………… 2

APRIL ……………… 6

MAY ……………… 4

JUNE ……………… 1

JULY ……………… 6

AUGUST ……………… 3

SEPTEMBER ….………… 7

OCTOBER ….….……… 5

NOVEMBER ..…….…… 2

DECEMBER ……..…… 7

3

For our TIP this month we bring you a methodto make aluminum cans in 1/25. It was a bitfrustrating when I couldn’t find any availablesets of cans out there so I had to go throughthe trial and error process until I ended up withsomething that resembled a can.

Steve Barlow sent us some photos of hisrecently completed Bandai TIE fighter. The TIE(Twin Ion Engines) fighter is one of my favoriteStar War spacecrafts simply because I love the“clunkiness” of the design. Oddly enough thereare plenty of interesting facts about it, like theoriginal color for the TIE fighter was blue, buthad to be changed to gray because gray worksbetter for filming against a bluescreen. Theywere later changed to a muted blue color forthe Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedifilms.

Another thing that I always like has to do withthe now iconic screech of the TIE fighters.Sound designer Ben Burtt created thedistinctive TIE fighter sound effect by combiningan elephant call with a car driving on wetpavement. Quite amusing if you ask me. I hopeyou enjoy this edition and as always commentsand suggestions are welcome.

Until next time.

Model on!!

Editor’s Workbench

Hello fellow modelers and dear friends.

As I write this, the IPMS Nationals model showis going on in Nebraska. It was quite a bummerthat distance prevented many of fromattending. The good news is that next year theIMPS Nationals will be held close to home fieldin Phoenix. This month we have a some greatarticles for you to get inspired and get youworking on your 2018 Nationals entries.

Dick Smith, the man who vowed to finish everymodel he has started, brings us another greatlooking model. This time an F-86D in 1/72nd

scale.

4

Man! This keepsgetting better and better!

CLUB NEWS

Support our Monthlyraffle! In addition to ourregular raffle, we will behaving a special raffle atour August meeting. Thenew Tamiya F-14 in 1/48will can be yours. Ticketswill be sold at the meetingfor $2 a ticket or 3 for $5.

• Make and Take at the Pima Air and Space Museum - This event is designed tointroduce children to the hobby of model building and the math and historicalresearch used to build accurate scale models. It will be held on August 5th , 2017from 1:00 PM to 2:30 PM.

RECENT EVENTS

5

CLUB NEWS

RECENT EVENTS

6

Bill O’Malley’s 1/35 AFV Club German Bussing NAG truck with crane.

Sig Smitt talks about his recent 1/48th F-22 model.

• Monthly Club Meeting – The SDMB held their monthly meeting on July 6th , 2017 from 6:30pm to 8:30 pm. We had a great time this month with plenty of nice looking models on display.

CLUB NEWS

RECENT EVENTS

7Ron Schlorff’s trio of WWI Albatross recon bi-planes all of them scratch built of course.

Howard Eldridge gives a demo on figure painting.

CLUB NEWS

RECENT EVENTS

8

See more awesome

model photos from our

meeting at:

www.sdmb.yolasite.com

Bob Duke’s 1/24 Revell Kentworthtrailer with UH1

9

By: Dick Smith

In the early to mid-70s, Airfix was perhaps the leading manufacturer of1/72 scale plastic aircraft kits. They were followed closely by theJapanese manufacturer, Hasegawa. Revell and Monogram were also inthe market with a variety of fighters and bombers but they weremainly in the business of 1/48 scale kits.

In 1975, Airfix issued what was probably the only F-86D, “Sabre Dog,”kit in 1/72nd scale. (The ”Dog” designation had nothing to do with theaircraft’s performance but rather from the old military phoneticalphabet; Able, Baker, Charlie, Dog, etc.) If you wanted an F-86D kit,Airfix was your only choice.

This Sabre is No Dog

10

I bought my kit in a hobbystore while working on anassignment in Toronto. NorthYork Hobbies was a plasticaircraft modeler’s dream.Kits were piled on theshelves from floor to ceiling.Browsing the supplies I cameupon Airfix’s “new” F-86D.

F-86D

By: Dick Smith

11

I had only a limited time tomake my purchase as I wason a lunch break. The kit was$6.95 Canadian. Since I hadno Canadian currency, Ioffered the shop keeperseven U.S. dollars. Iremember he looked a bitperplexed but decided thatthe American $7 was morethan the Canadian price andwe concluded our deal.

The kit has little cockpitdetails and raised panel lines.The ejection seat resembleda lounge chair. The real F-86D had a unique seatsurrounded by a web ofmetal tubing. (Monogram’s1/48th scale kit has a goodreplica of the seat.) I decidedto “scale down” Monogram’sseat with pieces of Evergreenplastic rod.

F-86D

By: Dick Smith

After a couple of attempts I got something that looked passable. I built

up some side consoles and applied scraps of instrument decals. All that

was needed now were some Eduard USAF early jet seat belts.

12

When I finished I had apretty decent cockpit.After white gluing a fewBBs for weight in thenose, I closed the fuselageparts. Rats! Almostnothing of my beautifulcockpit could be seen.(But I knew it was allthere!) With the fuselage

F-86D

By: Dick Smith

together, I assembled the top and bottom wing parts and glued them to thefuselage. Not a bad fit. The rest of the build went better than expected. EarlyUSAF jets were left natural metal finish and sported colorful squadronemblems. After several primer coats and wet sanding, I had a smooth basefor an overall spray of Alclad “duraluminum”. I had a couple of bad spots buta little Tamiya putty, light sanding, more primer and things looked prettygood. I checked the Internet for photos of “Dog Sabres” and found several

shots showingdifferent shadesof the aluminumskin. A littleAlclad “whitealuminum”, “darkaluminum,” and“aluminum” andthe model lookedlike a serving“canine.”

13

F-86D

By: Dick Smith

The 1975 Airfix kit decals were crinkled and yellow. I rummaged throughmy decal stores and found an old MicroScale sheet, 72-360. This sheetwas old and I sprayed on some MicroSol decal saver but to no avail. Thepieces shattered in water. The only thing the tail marking decal was goodfor was to use as a template for painting the yellow and black tailmarkings. The lettering and numbers came from Expert’s Choice decalsand a new SuperScale sheet.

The painting of this kit was by far the most difficult part of the build. Theyellow and black slashes on the tail took care and several maskingsessions. But the finished product proves that this Sabre is NO Dog!

14

Tips and TricksJuly 2017

By: Dave Diaz

I tried using aluminum foil and while it worked it was way too thin and

fragile. I then decided to use the aluminum from a baking pan; the ones you

find at supermarkets to bake your Thanksgiving turkey. This aluminum sheet

was .006 thick and that was enough to withstand the process of making the

cans.

Recently I’ve been working on a project that required an

urban scene, with trash and all. One of the most

common trash items you find in street corners are

always discarded aluminum cans, so it was a given I had

to include some in my vignette. I scoured the internet

for available resin kits with no luck. I found several

templates that you could print and roll but paper,

CAN IT!MAKING aluminum CANS IN 1/25

Well, looks like paper. I found

countless tutorials on how to

make cans for doll houses, but

none of them replicated the sharp

folds and bends you see on old

cans. For weeks I wondered how

could I replicate realistic

aluminum cans. The solution was

simple, I needed to use the same

material as the real ones. I

decided to make my own out of

aluminum.

Tips and TricksJULY 2017

1.1. The first step is to scale down a

real can. In my case a regular can

in 1/25 was .190 inches diameter

by .100 inches tall. I used a pair of

calipers to cut a .100 inches wide

strip of aluminum. The length at

this point is not critical but I cut a

piece about 2 inches long just so it

made handling the part easier.

15

2.

2. Next I needed to find a piece of metal tubbing that was close to the .190

diameter. I opted for piece of 3/16 in (.188) diameter copper tubbing. Start

to roll the aluminum strip around the tube. The loop has to be tight, if it is

loose it will not work. Overlap a small amount and secure it with a drop of

superglue. Make sure to use a very controlled method of applying the glue,

you don’t want the strip to be glued to the tube. Carefully cut away any

excess.

Tips and TricksJULY 2017

3.3. Using a round punch and die set I

punched a .157 (4 mm) diameter round

aluminum disc. This disc will be for the

bottom of the can.

16

4. The bottom of aluminum cans have a

concave curvature that is very distinctive

and it is one of the most distinguishable

features of the can. This was one feature

that none of the tutorials I saw replicated

and having a can with a flat bottom just

doesn’t do it. To make the concave curve I

used a sculpting tool and pressed on the

disc to shape it.

MODELING TIPPRESS THE PART ON A SOFTSURFACE LIKE A CUTTING MAT, SOIT WILL GIVE WAY BENEATH THEPART, ALLOWING IT TO BE SHAPED.

4.

Tips and TricksJULY 2017

5.

3. Glue the concave end to the rolled aluminum. For this I used 5

minute epoxy. The first few tries I used Super Glue but it did not work

because I had to sand the edges of the bottom to even the diameter and

the super glue would not hold. Make sure you slide the roll off the tube

just enough to prevent the parts end up glued to the tube itself.

17

4. Using the punch & die set I made two discs. One disc of the same

diameter as before, the other slightly smaller. This time however they

were made out of .020 in styrene. I glued them so the hole will be

covered.

6.

Tips and TricksJULY 2017

7.

18

8. Using the same sculpting tool I started to bend the cans. The aluminum

bent beautifully and the realistic look was unbeatable. At this point the

cans were ready to be painted. Now granted that it took me 4 days and

over a dozen failed attempts to finally get the right cans I made sure that

if I ever need more cans in a future build I would not go through all this

work. It was time to make a mold.

8.

7. Again using 5 minute epoxy, I glued

plastic discs to the open end of the can.

The plastic disc was a little larger so I

needed to sand it to the correct diameter.

At this point the can was finished but I

wanted to add the element that makes

discarded cans interesting, folds and

bends.

Tips and TricksJULY 2017

9. The cans were mounted on styrene tabs and in turn onto larger square

strips. I made the mold using Smooth-On’s moldstar silicone and once the

mold was cured, I was able to get as many cans as I wanted. So if anybody

out there is working on a 1/25 scale diorama, needs some cans, and cant

find any, feel free to contact me and I will send some your way.

19

9.

Tips and TricksJULY 2017

10.

10. The cans were cleaned

and given a coat of Model

Master Metalizer –

aluminum Plate. Then the

sides were painted using

various metallic colors. I had

some left over decals that

looked like drink logos so I

used them. The cans were

weathered to look dirty

using oils and MIG

Pigments. After that they

were ready to go into the

vignette. The end result was

very pleasing and all the

effort was well worth it.

20

21

Scorpion’s Gallery

This beautiful 1/72 scale Tie Fighter byBandai was built by Steve Barlow.

It was built out of the box, paintedwith acrylics and weathered with oils.

Star Wars Imperial Tie Fighter

22

Scorpion’s Gallery

Studio Scale TIE Fighter models

Perhaps one of the most iconicspacecraft of the Star Warsuniverse the TIE fighter is a fast,agile, yet fragile spacecraft.

The models were created byIndustrial Light and Magic for the1977 Star Wars film.

Over the past 4 decades the International Plastic

Model Society has become a 5,000 member, all-

volunteer organization dedicated to promoting the

modeling hobby while providing a venue for modelers

to share their skills in a social setting, along with

friendly but spirited competition in the form of local,

regional, and national contests and conventions.

As a long time member, I highly recommend joining

the IPMS. There is no better environment to learn and

share our passion for the small world. Other benefits

include six issues of the IPMS Journal per year and

being able to participate in the IPMS National Contest.

Go check out their webpage at WWW.IPMSUSA.ORG!

23

24

SDMB Club Officers

& Contacts

HOW CAN I JOIN THE SDMB?

Test the water before you join!

Here's how: Drop by and say "hello" at one of our monthly meetings (see our Next Meeting pagefor date and location details). If you like what you see and hear then drop by again the next month

and be sure to bring your questions and we'll help you get started! The first two meetings arefree so drop on by! After your second meeting we would appreciate you joining our club. Our club dues

pay for various things such as community programs and sponsorships of trophies in contests. We arehappy to have visitors but even happier when you join our club of award winning modelers.

Damon Blair ec130crewchief@yahoo.com (VICE PRESIDENT)

Kent Weeks newt27@cox.net(TREASURER)

Derek Campbell 4nagato1@gmail.com(PRESIDENT)

Mike Bilcik mbilcik1@cox.net(CLUB IPMS POINT OF CONTACT)

Dave Diaz EDITOR_SDMB@Yahoo.com(NEWSLETTER EDITOR)

Steve Barlow redsteve921@gmail.com(CLUB WEBMASTER)

Visit our website at www.sdmb.yolasite.comYou can also find us on Facebook.

SDMB is an affiliated club of the InternationalPlastic Modeler’s Societywww.IPMSUSA.org

Mike Scotto quickfixer@yahoo.com (SECRETARY)