OCTOBER - Romsey Modellers · Airfix had test shots of their 1/24 Mosquito on show ( with very few...
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Transcript of OCTOBER - Romsey Modellers · Airfix had test shots of their 1/24 Mosquito on show ( with very few...
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OCTOBER 2009
THIS MONTH
Welcome to the eighth edition of The Romsey Modeller. This edition has been a bit of a struggle due to the fact that I am currently simultaneously moving house and moving jobs, which is taking up lots of my time. Still it hasn’t turned out too bad.
There seems to have been lots to write about this month with model shows at Farnborough and Yeovilton and our trip to the Bovington Tank Museum all of which are documented in these pages.
We have another fine figure painting article from Pat Camp, while Russell and Paul complete their write ups of their Skyline and Yamaha YZR500 builds respectively. We have a couple of technical tips from Richard Stewart and Carleton Thurston Sr, a keen US reader of this publication who also has generously contributed a box review of Revells 17cm Kanone.
Actually Carleton’s contribution has reminded me that our web site is a year old this month, so it’s worth having a look at the stats.
Unique visitors: 8114 from 97 countries (Top 5 : UK , USA, France, Germany, Canada)
Page views: 44009, 30% of visitors return (which is pretty good)
Top pages : Builds , shows, photos, tips
Magazine: Average number downloaded: 130
Finally I now am going to shamelessly ask for sponsorship for the 10 mile run I am going to undertake next Sunday in aid of Simon Says (see last months magazine for details) . To make a donation please go to www.justgiving.com/AntAdams
Thank you
Tony…
This is the newsletter of Romsey Modellers a multitalented group of plastic modellers based in Southern Hampshire. We cater for all modelling genres and skill levels from beginners to well seasoned gurus.
We meet on the 3rd Wednesday of the month from 8pm to 10pm in Ampfield, Hampshire, where we often run workshops and club competitions but more importantly have a good chat about our hobby. We also attend most of the local model shows, where we exhibit our member’s completed projects.
We have an open door policy so if you want to sample how we can help you get more out of your hobby or just come and have a friendly discussion (tea and biscuits provided) please feel free to turn up – see the last page for details or visit our web site
www.romseymodellers.co.uk
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CONTENTS
October 2009 .......................................................................................................................................................... 2
This Month ......................................................................................................................................................... 2
Contents ............................................................................................................................................................. 3
Club News ........................................................................................................................................................... 3
2009 Annual Competition by Paul Adams .......................................................................................................... 8
Build a Model in a Day Competition ................................................................................................................... 9
In box Review: Revell "17cm Kanone 18" by Carleton Thurston Sr .................................................................. 11
Back on the USS Hornet by Richard Stewart .................................................................................................... 12
Andrea 54mm “Buccaneer 1650”. by Pat Camp .............................................................................................. 13
1979 Yamaha YZR500...the home straight by Paul Adams .............................................................................. 16
And now for something completely different (Part3)….by Russell Eden .......................................................... 19
Technical Tip: Spraying large brass fret By Richard Stewart ............................................................................ 21
A Tip from America by Carleton Thurston Sr .................................................................................................... 22
In Next Months Romsey Modeller ................................................................................................................... 22
Readers Wives .................................................................................................................................................. 23
Club Diary ......................................................................................................................................................... 24
Contact Info ...................................................................................................................................................... 24
CLUB NEWS
MODEL SHOWS
IPMS FARNBOROUGH SHOW BY TONY ADAMS
Paul, Russell, Dale and myself took the 40 mile trip up the M3 to display at IPMS Farnborough's annual show.
Once again we were impressed by the quality of models on show and number of bargains available from the traders. In particular the quality of the tombola which for a sum of £1 you could have five goes of wining a model from an impressive selection. Dale was first to try, winning a Revell 1/32 Stuka, then Russell won a Revell Cessna. Dale was desperate for the top prize of a 1/350 Hasegawa IJN Nagato and was gutted when I returned with it under his arm (my daughter Caitlin having picked out the winning ticket) well over a £100 of model! I also managed to bag a 1/72nd Revell Tornado GR1. Paul wasn't quite so lucky and was the only one of us to come away empty handed.
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Russell and his armour Our stand A disappointed Dale
More photos are available on our website.
YEOVILTON AUTUMN SHOW BY TONY ADAMS
The Fleet Air Arm Museum (Yeovilton) autumn show was well attended by club members with Vic, Russell, Dale, Mark , myself (and daughter) along with our old friend Les manning the stand.
As always the museum provided an very interesting backdrop for the show which was well attended by exhibitors , vendors and the public.
We were once again located under the corsair and had Bens model of the actual aircraft proudly on show. Russell and Mark supplied the armour content of our table, with Dale bringing along his ships and Vic and myself the Aircraft (I had only got my Fait CR42 to a mostly competed state last night). Les
brought along his eye catching set of 1/72 bare metal finished aircraft which received a lot of interest. Along with Ben Shorts new Airfix Meteor which is featured in this months SAMI we had a high quality display.
Vic went Hobby Boss Lynx mad, purchasing four of them , while the rest of us came away with plenty of full carriers.
We had plenty of time to browse the show unfortunately there was no lottery, but I did find some raffle tickets to stick on my purchases “honest love I won them – again”, it seems to have worked.
Airfix had test shots of their 1/24 Mosquito on show ( with very few gaps) it did look impressive and apparently will go on sale in December or January or ….. They also had their new 1/350 HMS illustrious which again looked ve ry good.
My daughter and I watched the prize giving for the junior model competition , which had some very impressive entries, unfortunately there were few entrants so some of winners were coming away with stacks of Airfix kits after winning 4 or 5 categories.
Once again an excellent show, we will be back again next year for the Spring show.
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MIDDLE WALLOP SHOW
We have yet to be invited to the Museum of Army Flying Model Show at Middle Wallop on 22nd November so It doesn’t look like we will be attending as a club , however according to the museum’s web site it is still on and may be worth a casual visit.
A VISIT TO BOVINGTON TANK MUSEUM BY TONY ADAMS
Romsey Modellers at Bovington Tank Museum October 2009
Left to Right: Dale Koppi, Mark Metters, Tony Adams, Karel Wicinski, Paul Adams, Richard Stewart (and sons)
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Although the attendance was lower than expected, those that attended our visit to the Tank Museum at Bovington had an excellent day. After making our 50 mile trip to Dorset we met up for a group shot (above) expertly taken by Richard’s wife. Then without ado it was into the museum. The main exhibition area is brand new having received a substantial lottery grant and according to those of us who have been before is a massive improvement. The tanks are well spaced out with lots of audio visual material on hand telling the story of the tanks
development from WW1 to the present day. The hall starts with “Little Willy” (left) the prototype armoured fighting vehicle and continues with the MkII tank and other WWI vehicles. The interwar models come next followed by early WWII types like the Panzer II and the Matilda.
Soon we were standing in front of the awe inspiring Tiger, watching a video of the story of how it was captured intact in the North African desert after a Matilda round had jammed its turret. Many of these tanks are still operational and used on the museums track days, a fact made evident by the oil stains
underneath them.
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We continued through the hall passing the mightily Panther and German armour’s nemesis the T‐32 on to post war makes, the Centurion , Chieftain , T‐52, M42 before getting to one of the prototype Challenger IIs.
We entered the new WW1 trench “experience”, which models what living in the trenches was like for the poor Tommy’s and concluded with a diorama (life size) of a Mk4 tank storming over the German lines.
The next hall had a number of different marks of “lozenge” tank, one of the later marks you can clamber inside and sit by the massive (and noisy) engine. We had just made it into the third hall when over the Tannoy came
the call “would members of the Romsey Modellers please come to reception – what had we done?”. Apparently my request for a tour had filtered through and we were ushered back into the first hall to get a very detailed and interesting talk by a couple of the “friends of the museum”. The only downside was that we
had to retread our steps through the first hall. However we did learn much more about the history of the exhibits and the working of the museum. At the end of the tour we were invited to become “friends” for the sum of £25 per year. This actually sounds quite a good deal as in exchange for pushing a broom and showing bored school kids around you actual get to play with the tanks, it is definitely something I will consider when I’m not quite so busy.
By the time we finished the tour time was getting on , so it was off to hall 3 to take in the rest of the extensive collection. Of particular interest was some Iraqi T‐62as straight off the battlefield and exhibiting some wonderful weathering.
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I took well over 300 photos , Paul around 100 and Richard’s son reeled off more than both of us , mainly of the toy tanks in the kids area (on no Paul these weren’t my photos). I have included a small selection here and have plenty in reserve for reference purposes if anybody needs any.
As we left the museum we had to inspect the shop , and although there were a considerable numbers of models available (No Tamiya for some reason) all of us did resist the temptation (which must be a first)
By 5pm we were thoroughly “tanked out” , but what a day – the Bovington tank Museum certain gets the
Romsey Modellers seal of approval.
2009 ANNUAL COMPETITION BY PAUL ADAMS
It’s hard to believe nearly twelve months have passed since Russell walked off with the coveted John Cox Memorial Trophy for his excellent German armour diorama and it’s been another busy year with club competitions despite a reduction in the amount of them. Our annual event kicks off with the ‘in‐house’ part of the competition during the November meeting, at which club members will be invited to judge models covering ten categories to find ‘Best in Class’.
The class winners will be announced at the December meeting and go forward, with the exception of Classes 9 and 10, for judging in the ‘public’ part of the event, when wives, girlfriends and passers‐by, along with club members, will judge ‘Best in Show’. All entries will need to be brought back for the December meeting.
If you haven’t judged models before, or perhaps are little unsure of what to look, for here’s a quick guide.
1. Construction – how well is the model put together? Does is sit correctly and have all of its wheels or tracks on the ground? Are there bits missing? Are there seams or glue marks? Has the modeller made more effort by adding detail and has that been done well?
2. Painting – how well has the model been painted and does it represent the full scale version? Are there paint runs, unintentional cracks or rough areas?
3. Finish – What is the quality or overall finish like? Have the decals been applied straight and true? Have some lifted? Is the model dusty or covered in fingerprints?
4. Presentation – is the model on a base? Has the modeller made it himself or bought it? Does it explain what the model is or about? How much effort has gone into the completed model?
These suggestions are only intended as a guide, you may of course just want to vote for your favourite!! The classes for 2009 will be as last year, with the continued inclusion of the ‘I ran out of’ class for unfinished projects. Classes 1‐8 will be eligible for the John Cox Memorial trophy. I have decided to exclude Class 9 because we are a model club, not a photography club. A photograph winning Best in Show wouldn’t say much about our modelling!
C1: Aircraft 1/72nd and below C2: Aircraft above 1/72nd (1/48th, 1/32nd etc) C3: Military Vehicles C4: Figures C5: Civilian Vehicles C6: Ships C7: Dioramas C8: Miscellaneous C9: Photographic C10: "I ran out of"
So, fancy dethroning the current champ and winner of three of the last four contests? You know what you need to do!
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BUILD A MODEL IN A DAY COMPETITION
Last months meeting saw the conclusion of the inaugural ‘Build a model in a day, event.
The successful first event was concluded by judging the models. The club managed a good number of entries from various members, some of which appeared to have just a little more done to them than when they were seen the previous Sunday! In order to avoid this in the future, the competition will take place on the day of the event.
Congratulations to the following on their ‘podium’ finishes and in particular Russell for pulling off yet another win! Careful with those blades now….
1st Fairlady 240Z Russell Eden
2nd Eduard 1/48 Hellcat Roger Doswell
3rd Hobby Boss 1/72 P‐39 Airacobra Tony Adams
While on the subject of the Model in a day competition I received this write up from Les just too late to be included in last month’s magazine, so as a reminder of how well the event went here is Les’s account of his day.
FEEDBACK ON THE DAY BY LES COOPER
My subject or should I say subjects for the Build a model in a day competition were, No 1 Hasegawa 1/72 Nakajima Ki44 Tojo. No2 Airfix 1/32 Hamilton Mclaren and No 3 Italeri 1/72 Valentine Mk 1 tank.
Why three, I have no idea just liked a challenge and on top of that to cover one in 90% Bare metal foil seemed a challenge on its own!
The Ki44 kit is a simple model the cockpit interior only has three parts ,the basic tub an instrument panel and decal that’s it. It was simple to paint these interior green and black for the instrument panel sides as the decal would cover the front.
While the tub was still drying I glued it to one side of the fuselage interior before adding the other half of the fuselage and sandwiching the tub into place. I also pre‐painted the wheels, propeller, spinner, engine fronts and the main undercarriage legs. These were set aside to dry while I attached the lower wing and the two halves of the top wings, it was only then that I noticed I had not glued the instrument panel into place. Out came the tweezers and the superglue and ping went the instrument panel to disappear into the now closed fuselage never to be seen again. At least its inside the fuselage somewhere!
I wanted the model to have a chance to dry before I got the paint out so out came the Airfix 1/32 Hamilton Mclaren. I know its cheeky as this is pre‐painted and only has four screws holding it together. Mind you it took me nearly twenty minuets to get this together. I needed another pair of hands to hold several parts together while trying to screw it tight. Well a least I would have something finished.
Back to the Ki44 to check for seams and any filling. Glad to say it needed no filling and only a small amount of rubbing down to make the seams disappear. Although this was going to be largely covered with foil there are large areas of white banding so I thought it would be wise to paint the whole fuselage white. This aircraft has a large antiglare panel also so this I masked off before giving the model a coat of Halfords white primer. While this was drying I took the chance to get some foil on the undercarriage doors and the tailplanes. I prefer to add the tailplanes later as it makes it easier to foil around the tail of the fuselage. This also gave me the opportunity to paint the hubs of the wheels and douse the engine in black Indian ink and
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gently rubbing the excess ink off with a damp cotton bud to give it some depth. The next job to be done was the black antiglare panel, luckily the poly bags this model come in lend themselves to be used as covers to assist in spraying. With a little help with the scalpel and some Tamiya masking tape it was out with the Halfords matt black paint. Two coats were put on in quick succession and a coat on the propeller as my earlier hand painting was rubbish.
It was becoming obvious that I would be lucky to finish two models let alone three. None the less I cracked on with my third model the Italeri 1/72 Valentine tank. It has a basic colour scheme of desert yellow. My initial intention was to build the model and then spray it all in one. In the end I used Tamiya desert yellow and gave the whole model a coat of paint while it was still on the sprue. I hoped I might at least get the turret together before we finished that was just wishful thinking as time was getting on and I had to get on with the Ki44.
I was happy the black and white paint had dried enough for me to handle the model. The next operation was to mask off the white bands so I had nice straight line to foil up to. The Tamiya tape made short work of that so it was now down to the foil.
I had not attached the engine cowling as the front of the fuselage curves into the cowling which would make foiling this area very difficult. I covered the cowling in about eight pieces of foil as there are some tight curves around the front, this was then put aside while I did the rest of the model. I was surprised how quickly I covered the rest of the airframe and it was complete in under the hour. I did cover some areas in one piece which made the job easier. The cowling was now glued to the fuselage covering the engine which had been glued into place. Time was racing by and there were to many fiddly things to do so I decided to add the basic decals to add some colour. Out came the Micro sol and some water and on went ten decals along with some panting to the leading edge of the wing and then we had to finish. I was disappointed not to finish as this is quite a colourful aircraft.
I am glad to say the model is now finished including the weathering and does not look to bad as long as you don't look to closely. At least the photo's look Ok, hopefully. Next year I will try a bit harder.
My thanks to Tony for getting this event together I had a thoroughly enjoyable day modelling and it was great to see you all again and to know Romsey Modellers is in such safe hands
Thank you and happy modelling
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IN BOX REVIEW: REVELL "17CM KANONE 18" BY CARLETON THURSTON SR
Carleton Thurston Sr is a magazine reader from Westbrook, Maine ‐USA
I bought this model about a month or two ago to go along with Trumpeters Famo half track. It is moulded in tan coloured plastic. There are 75 construction steps spread over 11 pages of assembly drawings. For being a 1/72nd scale kit it is extremely detailed. The highest part number I saw is 134 and there are 12 of them. With part duplication like that I would guess there must be about 200 pieces total, but that is only a guess. It can be assembled in either the towed position, or the firing set‐up.
The box says that the finished model is 20,9 CM long. In looking at the kit parts and the instruction sheet I think it best to lay out a planned building sequence and to really think through each step before you proceed. In my opinion this is NOT a shake and bake kit. It will demand the best you can put into it. But if you take it slow and careful you will have an unusual model that frankly I do not think that many modellers will take up. And that would be a crying shame because this model just yells out loud and clear BUILD ME.
References.
http://svsm.org/gallery/150mm_k18 has 20 thumbnail photo walkaround, pictures that you can enlarge to fit your computer screen.
http://airfixtributeforum.myfastforum.org has in their "Picture Gallery‐ Non Airfix Models" section under Revell 1/72 17cm Kanone 18 ( 03176 ) a link to 5 photos of the model built up. They give a photo‐bucket number for each photo. When I first came across them they showed the photos ,and if you are interested enough they are really worth looking up.
http://modellbauer.foren-city.de has 7 pictures in construction that shows some etched‐brass set pieces for the kit. (I personally think the combination if very CAREFULLY BUILT would result in a CONTEST WINNING MODEL.) On the site you go to " Bodenmilitar Bis 1945" and on page 4 scroll down to " 17cm Kanone Matterhorn in 1/72.
And lastly if you type in your search tool 17cm Kanone 18 you will find more W/A pictures at wikimedia commons that you can enlarge & print out to 8 1/2 X 11 inches. Please notice that is WIKIMEDIA COMMONS.
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BACK ON THE USS HORNET BY RICHARD STEWART
Well after theTSR2 and the build a model in a day together with some interesting work with a B29 & kitchen foil, it’s back to work on my major carrier project. The hull I have gouged out some plastic to replicate buckling of the steel plating as I will depict her in late war with lots of weathering. Gluing the hanger deck to the hull was a big task and it used up all my big clamps!
I am now hard at work on the hanger deck trying to get rid of seams along where the hanger sides meet the main hull and at the same time detailing the internal structure. This is achieved using plastic strut and La’arsenal’s interior ship structure sets 1 and 2. I am also trying to match the exterior hatches and doors on the inside with Brass etch ones from GMM
Once the hanger deck is completed and after weathering and highlighting interior detail, I will ‘inject’ some of my airwing in with some ‘individual dioramas’ then close the top with structural girders and light up the whole interior with LED’s. I did try to get some electrical circuit board for the girders as the scale was right but to separate them was a bit of a nightmare so I may just use it as a drill guide into plastic card! The stern looks a complicated affair, but with a little patience and brass etch it looks like it may turn out O/K. Either way I’ll include it in the next write‐up, well back to work!!
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ANDREA 54MM “BUCCANEER 1650”. BY PAT CAMP
Sorry to disappoint, but this is not a Buccaneer of the Hawker Siddeley variety. Rather, it is of a vaguely familiar character cutting a bold, heroic stance atop a masthead spar [1]. He is holding onto something which I have not seen before: perhaps it is literally a “crow’s nest”, since there is no space for a person to stand within it. Alternatively, it could be a flower basket, but I suspect not.
All parts are cast in white metal [2], those for the figure itself being of good quality, but those for the base were not so good and needed a lot of fettling and fitting. I prepared the castings for painting as described for The Four Musketeers in July’s newsletter, using a scalpel to remove mould marks, a pointy dental tool to sharpen up the detail and finishing with a glass fibre scratch pen to clean up the surfaces (wearing disposable polythene gloves and working outside to avoid problems with bits of fibre which can be highly irritating if they stick in your skin).
Captain Jack’s wrist was very swollen and so I pared it down to the right side.
Then I realized that it may be the cuff of a shirt, so added one using Duro (supplied courtesy of Kevin Peart – cheers Kev!) by means of two small strips, one wider than the other. The narrow one was wrapped around the wrist first of all, then the wider one – this produced a nice representation of a ruffled cuff after some pleat detail was added by use of a chisel edged cocktail stick.
Some of the detailed parts were broken. A small tufted beard was okay, fortunately, and this was glued to Jack’s head before painting. I also glued the tail of the frock coat into place [3].
All parts were put on a holder for painting.
My first attempt at painting was not satisfactory, so all paint was stripped back to metal for another try by dunking into cellulose thinners. Cellulose thinners is also good at undoing glued joints – so I discovered – so these had to be redone.
Surfaces were given an aerosol coat of Mr Metal Primer – which, being unexpectedly transparent – led me to put too much on and left one or two bubble marks from the propellant. Next time I’ll be prepared!
As is usual for me, paints used are Humbrol enamel for undercoating and Winsor & Newton oils for finishing coat unless stated otherwise.
[1] Andrea’s “Buccaneer 1650’s”: but we know who it really is, don’t we!
[2] The white metal parts of the kit.
[3] Tail of frock coat epoxied into place. A ball of Blu‐Tack keeps it in position whilst the glue sets.
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UNDERCOATING.
The figure was undercoated in one airbrush session, using Silly Putty [4] to mask after each coat was sufficiently dry:
Face and hands: Flesh 61 + white.
Shirt: Tamiya white + spot of dessert yellow.
Boots: white + yellow 225 + brown 63.
Frock Coat: painted from dark to light sing HF5 Gris bleu foncé + 173 Track Colour for deep shade and 176 Neutral Grey for medium shade.
Inner coat HF5.
Trousers : Blue Grey 79 for trousers & directing highlight over the coats from above.
Completed figure is [5].
FINISH COAT:
Face & hands:
base: chrome orange deep + Rembrandt gold ochre + ultramarine.
First shade: base + burnt sienna.
Deep shade: first shade + burnt umber.
Highlight: base + titanium white + Rembrandt permanent red light
Inside of frock coat: Paynes grey + burnt umber + titanium white.
Trousers: violet permanent blue + Paynes grey + raw sienna + zinc white. These turned out too violet, I should have added more sienna to get neutral grey.
Waistcoat: cobalt blue + raw sienna + Paynes grey + zinc white.
Frock coat: Paynes grey + burnt umber + blue violet + raw sienna + zinc white + cobalt blue (also used for shading the nacelles on my Canberra build – don’t want to waste paint!).
DETAILS:
Waist sash: undercoated grey 28.
Head scarf: Revell 38 dark red undercoat, Permanent red light + Paynes grey + zinc white for shading.
Eyes: whites blocked in light grey. Iris: Van Dyke brown with lower arc of yellow ochre light. Pupil: dark grey. Tiny spot of white added top left of pupils.
[4] Looking like a creature from The Fantastic Four, our hero is buried in Silly Putty whilst his clothing gets airbrushed.
[5] Completion of airbrushing session. Undercoats are in place. The boots were a bit light, though.
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Accessorize: Trinkets dangling from hair were blocked in with shade coloured enamels and highlighted with oils & printer’s ink where appropriate. Internet photos were used as a guide (there are plenty of them!). Ring on finger is silver with a blue crystal.
Pistol: dark red wood with steel fittings.
All buttons were blocked in with a silver printer’s ink + dark blue/black oil mix. Green and brown were added for the belt buckles.
Cutlass: undercoated dark grey 32. Finished with ####
ASSEMBLY:
Base: took a lot of filing to get a good fit & to get lined up square. The basket was a nightmare and needed lots of fettling and dry assembly runs to get right. Primed and undercoated with Alclad primer. Wood grain painted in with dark brown oil paint. A glaze of Van Dyke brown and Paynes grey along ropes, etc and used dry brush to feather edges – looked good. Ropes themselves undercoated with Citadel commando khaki.
Figure to base: all my attempts to line everything up were in vain. Captain Jack ended up leaning forward and looking down. Blast – no good at all! So now I need to angle the base work so the figure stands upright. So: see part 2! (unless it doesn’t work out, in which case there will be no Part Two!)
Anyway, to finish this instalment on a light note, here are a few bits of the script of POTC that I really like:
Jack Sparrow (to Tia Dalma): “You add an agreeable sense of the macabre to any delirium”.
“If I may lend a machete to your intellectual thicket”.
Jack Sparrow (to Weatherby Swann] “I think we've all arrived at a very special place. Spiritually, ecumenically, grammatically”.
[6] Sash added and undercoated. Detail painting of the head is nearly completed.
[7] Base assembled and ready for painting.
[8] Captain Jack Sparrow – attached at a jaunty angle to the base!
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1979 YAMAHA YZR500...THE HOME STRAIGHT BY PAUL ADAMS
First task this month was to complete the swingarm area. The rear wheel was ready to be added and due to the earlier trimming of the mounting boss it went in fairly easily. The rear caliper comes in two halves and the
instructions suggest gluing this together once the wheel is on. With the prospect of a visible seam I glue both parts and ran some more glue along the seam and hit it with Zip Kicker to dry it off quickly. This was a risky strategy as one slip of glue would have meant a repainting session for sure. I then carefully sanded the join, taking care not to sand anything surrounding it. After some repeat sessions the caliper looked like a one piece item. I hand painted the caliper with Humbrol Gunmetal Metalcote and gently drybrushed the paint with a brush to generate some natural highlights. [1]
I completed the forks by adding some chrome bare metal foil (BMF) to the fork tubes – while this effect will never match a nice pair of real polish tubes, it certainly looks the part when assembled with the yokes. Next time I attempt this era of bike, I might just try and replace the tubes with some aluminium tubing. I decided to add a new product to the calipers from Tuner Model Factory (T2m). They have released some beautifully machined brake parts that represent the hose fittings superbly. Each fitting requires three parts, a threaded fixing bolt, a ring fastener and flange fitting. All of these tiny items have internal and external threads and have to be screwed together! After some trial and error I eventually got one on each of the front callipers and one on the rear. I used some Top Studio heat shrink tubing for the brake lines. The parts add some serious realism to a much neglected area. T2m have also done fittings to replicate modern bikes too, so I look forward to using these again in the future. With the forks done I was able to assemble them with the front wheel, mudguard and yokes. [2]
With painted parts piling up, some more assembly was needed. I added the radiator and its water hosing using Tamiya’s soft black tubing and replicated the fasteners with BMF. The ignition coils were painted with Alclad and Humbrol paints and carefully glued in place. I could then add the HT leads to the plugs. The exhausts went on next and I must confess some confusion with their placement lead to me trimming some plastic away unnecessarily from one pipe. I realised my mistake after a coffee break – a quick shot of gunmetal from the airbrush and fortunately my error will go unnoticed on the completed model! Tamiya’s lack of experience with bikes shows here as the engineering isn’t as good a today’s kits. One of the pipes sits someway forward from the others but fouls the fairing. Further adjustment was need to the pipe that snakes through the frame as it
[1]
[2]
[3] [4]
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fouled the seat with the silencer on. The fit into the cylinder heads is nothing to clever either – something to look at on my Kenny Roberts version. I then glued on the footrests which were painted with Alclad Duraluminium and Steel finishes. A wash of Tamiya smoke enhanced the boltheads. [3]
A test fit of the forks showed that everything lined up nicely before final assembly. The fairing will need to be fitted first before the forks can be glued in place. [4]
My least favourite part of the build beckoned – painting the insides of the body parts. I painstakingly masked off the edges with thin Tamiya tape cut from an 18 mm piece and used Mig Productions excellent masking fluid to quickly cover the larger areas. Bluetak covered the larger holes and prevent any leakage from overspray. I airbrushed Zero Jet black on in two coats for a slightly scruffy look reminiscent of bikes of the period. Much to my relief after unmasking, the result was satisfactory. A quick polish up with Tamiya wax left the parts waiting to be fitted. [5]
The silencers require carbon decaling before that can be weathered and fitted. The kit does supply decals for this purpose, but they are incorrect in colour and weave according to my references. After trying two of the kit decals out, these were discarded in favour of carbon decal sheet from Modellers, now sadly no longer available. I trimmed out four pieces using the Tamiya decals as a guide. As the kit decals have the metal fasteners printed on them, I had to use photo‐etch items from Top Studio to replicate them. I applied some Johnsons Klear to even things out a little and did some
shading via the airbrush with Humbrol Gunmetal. The overall result was much improved over the out of the box option. [6]
With the bench clear of bike parts I painted up the last few pieces, including the clock pod which was finished simply with Tamiya dark grey and Zero black for the clock surrounds. After applying the decals some clear varnish was flowed over the top of them to replicate the glass. [7]
The fairing was attached and secured with white glue but not before I shaved a little off of the offending exhaust that fouled the insides. The forks could then be attached by simply screwing the top tree in place with a 25mm screw. No glue required! The brake lines were brought up from the calipers and fixed into place. This was a fiddly task made worse by the having the fairing on already. I then glued the upper fairing supports in place and slotted these into the corresponding holes on the fairing, thus providing a very secure fitment. The fuel tank could simply
be push onto the frame as the fit was tight. I added the fuel cap and ran an overflow tube from the tank to dangle just past the upper supports.
The rear seat was the last part to go on. I had previously broken the seat outriggers twice during assembly and even after pinning them, they broke once more. I decided to strengthen the arrangement by adding a small piece of plastic card across the frame in the hope that it would offer more support. It broke again, this time a little too late to do much about it. With a scruffy repair affected, I was glad to glue the seat into place. The seat
[5]
[6]
[7]
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pad was sprayed with Tamiya XF dark grey. Finally photo‐etch bolt‐heads were added to the fairing and various
areas on the frame and swingarm.
Tamiya’s first bike kit was a challenge and it’s clear that they have vastly improved the engineering on their bike kits since this release. With the exception of the incorrect frame tubing (it should be round, not square) it does however provide a great starting point for a detailed replica. I’ve two more of these to build, in Kenny Roberts and Barry Sheene paint schemes. This build will serve me well when I come to do them. [8, 9, 10]
[10]
[8] [9]
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AND NOW FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT (PART3)….BY RUSSELL EDEN
ITASHA NISSAN SKYLINE R32
Last month Paul had very kindly offered to 2‐pack lacquer the body shell, so I left that with him and got on with the other bits. This is where it all started to go a little pear shaped.
After Paul returned the Skyline body all lacquered & shiny, I polished it to get it “really” shiny. Not being used to polishing (tanks don’t normally need it!) I couldn’t get it anywhere near as good as the bits Paul did but it came out well, I think. Although you can see the outline of some of the decals where I didn’t polish it enough and I nearly went through the lacquer after too much polishing!
Putting this aside it was onto the windscreen, I decided to paint the rear windows black, as I wanted to decal them. This involved a lot of masking – not a problem. The spraying went well and all was fine until I removed the masking tape and… horror! The windscreen had a crack in it – rats, (putting it mildly)! Mass panic! Luckily after a bit of polishing the crack had pretty much disappeared – Phew, panic over, for now! I then painted the rear lights using Tamiya Clear Red and Orange – very nice. These were fitted with tin foil behind them as reflectors.
Paul managed to get me a rather nice machined exhaust at one of the shows he
attended so it was onto this next. I was trimming the parts off the original exhaust when disaster struck, again. Slipped and sliced my hand open – oops. See last month’s safety article for more gruesome details. (Ed ‐ so it was Paul’s fault!!!) This put the car on hold for nearly a month. I got on with my Humvee whilst recuperating.
After a month off , work on this car resumed. The window edges were masked with Paul’s helpful instruction – this nightmare re‐enforced why I stick to tanks! It was then sprayed satin black. This led to the second window disaster – the crack got worse when I took the masking tape off. I wasn’t going to buy a new kit just for the glass so I will have to hide it in some way. Ho hum.
I panel lined the car using 0.40 and 0.35mm drawing pens. The other way to do it is with black paint thinned down heavily – maybe next time as using the pens didn’t work out too well. The window rubbers were then hand painted
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matt black. They didn’t come out too badly, in my humble inexperienced opinion! –another thing to practice. I can see why car modellers are a rare breed – I think I will be sticking more to armour in future.
The front lights had the indicators painted with Tamiya Clear orange but they wouldn’t fit, as there was too much paint and lacquer on the body. After rubbing the glass down it fitted and I glued it using my glass glue,
which dries clear. These didn’t come out too bad but one has a gap on the indicator – bad moulding or too much rubbing down? Not sure.
The windscreen wipers were last. These needed bending into shape as they didn’t fit flush and were very carefully glued in place.
And finally the car is finished. My second model car project done, at last. It came out better than the leadsled but not as good as I hoped. I will be building a couple more car kits in the future and they are a constant learning curve for me. We’ll see how they turn out…
I will be recuperating from an operation in October (not due to my scalpel trauma) so I will be finishing my Humvee and building a 1/48 M10 tank destroyer – ah, familiar territory!
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TECHNICAL TIP: SPRAYING LARGE BRASS FRET BY RICHARD STEWART
With the TSR 2 in the now finished stable it was back with ‘gusto’ on the USS Hornet. My first problem is the brass fret, which I now have copious amounts, which need to be sprayed. This in itself is a problem as the sheets are so large it will be like blow‐drying a bed sheet!
My solution was to cut a frame for the brass sheets out of cardboard;
Then to stick it carefully down with masking tape around the edge so a picture is now forming!!
Needless to say the airbrushing was made easier with good results. Hope this may help any of you model makers out there if ever faced with this ‘dilemma’.
Happy modelling……..
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A TIP FROM AMERICA BY CARLETON THURSTON SR
Carleton Thurston Sr is a magazine reader from Westbrook, Maine ‐USA
A useful tool that is very good in tight places..It is called a Spot Sanding Pen The ones I use are put out by 3M. It is about the size of a fountain pen. The sanding part is about 1/2 the size of a pencil eraser & is pushed out like a lead is in a mechanical pencil. It is retractable when not in use. The sanding part is made up of very fine fiberglass rods. There is a refill in the body of the pen & refills are available. You should be able to get one at an auto parts store or an auto repair shop. Two caveats that are stated on the pen. Wear protective eyewear & gloves. The many uses I put it to are to sand in places where I cannot get my fingers into such as the gun tunnel on the bottom of a Gotha bomber. Also to sand down the ejector pin posts or to sand out the holes left from the ejector rods. One of the big and difficult jobs I used it for was to sand out the seams from the undersides of 12 wings from 4 Hasegawa Boeing P‐12/ F4B kits in about 45 minutes. To do it by hand would have taken a good many hours, with the loss of detail as well. It knocks down Squadron Green Stuff and similar fillers very easily and quickly. The sanded surface looks like 400 grit paper leaves. If you sand at an angle the tip will eventually adopt that angle. I am constantly finding new uses for the tool, and constantly experimenting with it. Here in the U S, I paid $ 6.95 for mine at Wal‐Mart in their automotive department. Believe me it is worth every penny. While it is not a tool you will use in every sanding job, when you have a very tight or small place to work in it more than fills the bill. Particularly with ejector post stubs & holes.
Ed: After Carleton’s glowing recommendation I finally tracked one of these down in the UK and purchased it for £5.45 including 10 refills from an EBay shop.
IN NEXT MONTHS ROMSEY MODELLER
It‘s Increasing difficult to predict but based on promised or hinted at articles from my faithful contributors
Part 4 of Pat’s Canberra build Review of Fine Moulds Star Wars Snowspeeder kit My Fiat CR42 and or Stuka The rest is up to you…
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READERS WIVES
Having got your attention this is not quite the same as other illustrious publications but a section of the magazine to showcase pictures of our readers beloved (models). First up here are some shots sent to me by Nicola Melluso of Italy of his stunning Tamiya 1/12scale Porsche 935.
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CLUB DIARY
October 21 Club Night
November 18 Annual Competition
November 22 Middle Wallop Model Show
December 16 Xmas Night and Prize Giving
January 20th Club Night
February 17th Club Night
March 17th Club Night
April 21st Club Night
May 19th Club Night
Next Meeting: Wednesday October 21th (8pm to 10pm)
Ampfield Village Hall Morleys Lane Romsey Hampshire SO51 9BJ
Thank you to this month’s contributors to this publication
Paul Adams Richard Stewart Russell Eden
Les Cooper Carleton Thurston Sr
Nicola Melluso
CONTACT INFO
Web Site wwww.romseymodellers.co.uk
Editor Tony Adams Tel: 01794 519153 email: [email protected] Competitions Paul Adams Tel: 02380 398858 Treasurer Vic Short Tel: 01794 511843
