PREZNOTES Seattle Chapter News

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Seattle Chapter IPMS-USAOctober 2001

In This Issue

AeroMaster Is Back 3Captured Italian Aircraft 3Matchbox Kits Axed 3CTAPTEP 4The Bill Osborn Page 8Luftwaffe Reisen 9Is the Hobby Dying? 10Vancouver Show Photos 12Mike Grant Decals 14Vancouver Show Report 15Upcoming Shows 15Soviet Pilots in China 15Are You a Master Modeler? 16

PREZNOTES

Continued on page 3

As I sit in the terminal awaiting my nextflight, I have plenty of time to reflect onthe events of September 11. I am notparticularly eager to fly this day andhopefully writing this column will help.The United States was dealt a severe blowa few weeks ago and 6,000 people lost theirlives. The images will probably haunt usforever. Some media pundits were quick toparaphrase Admiral Yamamoto: “I fear allwe have done is awaken a sleeping giantand fill him with a terrible resolve.” Thismay very well be the case, as it has unitedthe country in a way not seen since 1941.Remember however, that patience isimportant. Retribution will not happentomorrow or the next day. It may take timebut it will happen. Until then it is perfectlyfine to maintain that anger you have, but itshould not be directed at fellow Ameri-cans. Remember who we are: white, yellow,black, red, Christian, Muslim, and Jew. Weare all Americans and should be treatedwith respect and dignity. Instead, directyour anger at those who have twisted theirbeliefs to suit their own needs.

It is also important to remember those thatgave their lives to help save the lives offellow Americans. Make a contribution intheir name to your local blood bank or acash donation to the Red Cross, or anyother local or national relief agency. Everybit helps.

And we move on...

A few weeks ago a good contingent ofmodelers from IPMS Seattle traveled southto McMinnville, to attend the OregonHistorical Modelers Society contest andshow at the museum housing the HughesHercules. What a spectacular venue!There were well over 400 models in thecontest and on display and when onewould tire of looking at models, one couldperuse the large vendor space or look atsome spectacular 1/1 scale flying machines(and vehicles...I’d still like to model thatCletrac!). Most of the contest took placeunder the starboard wing of the gigantic

Hughes flying boat. The models were builtto the usual high standards of modelers inthe Northwest, and there was a good crosssection of aircraft, armor, and vehicles.Among the standouts were a beautiful1/32nd scale Spitfire Mk.I, a 1/48thDynavector TSR.2 [Oooh! - ED], and a2065 Corvette (hover version) by a modelerwho traveled to the show from SanFrancisco. The model that drew the mostattention, however, was a 1/35th scaleGerman tank that was electronicallycontrolled to turn its turret, fire its gun(with appropriate recoil of the tank andsmoke from the muzzle), fire the machinegun, and rev its engine. Smoke also came

Newmeeting

place - Seeback page!

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: [email protected] [email protected] [email protected]

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 North Bellevue Community/SeniorCenter, 4063-148th Ave Ne, in Bellevue. See the back page for a map. Our meetings begin at 10:00 AM, except as noted, and usually last for twoto three hours. Our meetings are very informal, and are open to any interested plastic modeler, regardless of interests. Modelers are encouraged tobring their models to the meetings. Subscriptions to the newsletter are included with the Chapter dues. Dues are $24 a year, and may be paid toNorm Filer, our Treasurer. (See address above). We also highly recommend our members join and support IPMS-USA, the national organization.See below for form. Any of the members listed above will gladly assist you with further information about the Chapter or Society.

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

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

Upcoming Meeting DatesThe rest of the IPMS/Seattle 2001 meeting schedule is as follows. To avoid conflicts with previously scheduled IPMS events, andother events, please note that some of our meeting days fall on the third Saturday of the month, not the traditional second Saturday.We suggest that you keep this information in a readily accessable place. All meetings begin at 10:00 AM, except for the Decembermeeting, which starts at 9am.

October 20 (3rd Saturday, and the editor’s birthday) November 10 (2nd Saturday)December 15 (3rd Saturday)

IPMS Seattle Chapter Newsletter Page 2


Preznotes from page 1

from the exhausts when the engine started.The sound included the tank crew, whosecommands were tied in to what the tankwas doing at the time! Amazing. There wasalways a crowd around it and the modelerdemonstrated it all day. The hand-madeawards were well done and a number ofawards came home to Seattle. The crewsfrom Portland and Salem put on anexcellent show and I can hardly wait untilnext year.

Our October meeting and meetingsthrough the end of the year will take placeat the North Bellevue Community/SeniorCenter, 4063-148th NE, in Bellevue. Itlooks like a nice new venue and a goodplace to meet. A map and driver directionsare located elsewhere in this issue. I urgeall members to attend, to check out thenew digs - we may consider it as a perma-nent new home. The cost is slightly higherthan the cost at the Guard, and we mayhave to do some sort of fundraiser(auction?), perhaps once a year to maintainour treasury, if we are to remain there.

As somewhat of a theme for our Octobermeeting, I would like to ask that memberswho won awards with their models atMcMinnville, Vancouver BC, or the GalaxyHobbies Sci-Fi contest bring their awardwinning models to this next meeting.

Proud to be an American. See you at themeeting,

��

AeroMaster Is Back!

relayed via Walt Fink

After a long pause in operations,AeroMaster Products have joined EagleStrike/Aries. The acquisition was finalizedearly in September 2001. The decal lineswill continue to be distributed by ESP,throughout their established distributor/importer network. As previously an-nounced, the AMD team had joined theESP crew back in June.

“It is like being back home again,” saidANA, the head artist.

“We will continue offering the modelfraternity the best products available at themost competitive prices, with more excitingand steady flow of new products”, saidGaston, the product development/production manager of the new emergingcompany.

The three companies have moved into anew design office/warehouse in SouthFlorida, across from the Tamiami RegionalAirport. The new address is:

Eagle Strike/AeroMaster12982 SW 132nd AvenueMiami, Florida 33186

“Our service will improve considerably outof our new 3,500 sq. ft. facility”, said Karl,the Operations Manager.

The new owners, Gaston and Karl, want tothank their thousands of loyal customersworldwide for their past, present andfuture support. “But it is time to stoptalking and get back to work”, they bothsaid.

Regular AMD items will be shipping out todistributors and dealers by the end ofSeptember, and new products are sched-uled for late October. Stay tuned to thewww.eaglestrike.com website for moreinformation.

Until then, Happy Modeling!

Captured Italian Aircraft inLuftwaffe Service

by Mike R. Murphy, IPMS-USA#39856

I am currently working to compile informa-tion about all Italian aircraft that wereevaluated and/or operated by theLuftwaffe. I have posted a list of over 60different types at the Luftwaffe Expertenwebsite and have referenced books,magazine articles and websites thatprovide text or photos documentingLuftwaffe use of each aircraft:

http://pub73.ezboard.com/fluftwaffeexperten71774frm38.showMessage?topicID=24.topic

[Note: the last part of the URL,“fluftwaffe...topic” is continuous- ED.]

I would appreciate it very much if youcould advise your members of this list.They are cordially invited to providecorrections, additions or other comments.Soon there will be over 30 photos ofcaptured Italian aircraft in Luftwaffemarkings posted at the board (as soon asthe webmaster returns from holiday).

Thanks very much for your help. I can bereached at [email protected].

All Matchbox KitsDiscontinued

by Todd Englund, IPMS OregonHistorical Modelers Society

When Revell bought Matchbox, years ago,the agreement was that they could use theMatchbox name until December 31, 2000.Revell can no longer use the Matchboxname, and this is why all Matchbox kits arediscontinued. Many will probably appearas Revell kits in the future. Many willprobably never be made again.


CTAPTEP!

by James D. Gray

A few years ago I became interested in theVVS (the Soviet Air Force, that is) and Istarted reading everything I could find onthat subject. There was surprisingly little.Still, I dug into what I could find, and Ibegan to notice the frequent appearance ofwhat we in the West would call a “Huck’sstarter truck.” This vehicle is a GAZ truck,a license-made version of the Ford ModelAA truck, modified to have a powertakeoff which comes up the back of thecab and then out over the front. Thisengaged a fitting or “dog” on the propellerboss, and it was used to spin-start aircraftengines. Early Soviet aircraft lacked self-starters, and so the starter truck was a verycommon feature in the early part of the war.You see them with I-153 and I-16 fighters,and sometimes even with later aircraft likethe Il-2 Shturmovik. I started to really wantone of these as an accessory to my Sovietaircraft, and it would also be a reallydifferent model in-and-of itself.

There were only a few problems. One wasthat there was no kit in 1/72nd available fora GAZ truck, even of other versionssuitable for a conversion. Sure, there weresome crude white metal miniatures forwargamers, but my experience with thissort of “model” was that they were tooprimitive to serve even as a starting point.

The other problem was that there were noplans available. I just had an ill-assortedset of photos from various publications,mostly of the uniquely Soviet “fuzzyphoto” variety. Then too, none of themshowed the whole starter truck; they werealways on the edge of a photo of anairplane, or so distant that no detail wasvisible. Starter trucks were not apparentlyof any interest to Soviet wartime photogra-phers unless they were behind an airplane.

I really thought it was unlikely that I wouldever be able to satisfy this particularambition. Then there was a little light at theend of the tunnel; I heard over the Internet

that a new model of a GAZ-AA truck wasavailable from a new Russian companycalled, of all things, Komintern Models.They said it was a really nice kit. Ofcourse, Komintern Models didn’t sud-denly sprout on the shelves of my local K-Mart, but I managed to get several fromEarl at NKR Models in Australia. Six, to beexact. Hey, you never know when you’llneed a GAZ truck. They were indeed verynice little kits; no shaking the box here, butwith a little use of common modeling skills,the first kit I built turned out very nicely.That was for practice, before I turned tothe Main Event.

Once the first, practice, kit was complete, Icouldn’t avoid the second problem anymore. I knew it was coming, but I keptputting it off. Now there was no longer anyexcuse; I had to draw my own plans. Imade copies of every photo of a startertruck in my various books, no matter howfuzzy or dim or incomplete, and I sat downand studied them. I traced a drawing of thetruck from the instructions, and messedwith it, and fiddled, and redrew it, untilafter several different versions I wassatisfied. Perhaps I should say, not toodissatisfied. There were a lot of points Istill didn’t understand, but I fudged those;I had no expectations of ever getting anybetter information, so I had to go withwhat I had. It didn’t help that there seemedto be several different versions of thestarter truck in use.

I decided to bring the incomplete model tothe next IPMS Seattle meeting, mainlysince I’d never show anything if I had towait to finish it. During show-and-tell, Isaid a few words about the model, andabout making my own plans. I was reallyshocked to be asked to provide these forthe newsletter! I never thought they werethat good. Well, anyway, I said I’d do it,but there might be problems aboutcopyright, since I traced the basic truckfrom the instructions, and this drawingseemed to come in turn from the Russianmodeling magazine, M-Hobby.

I hunted around, and after a session or twoon the computer, I came up with an e-mail

address for M-Hobby, and I wrote them aletter and asked them for permission to usetheir GAZ-AA drawing. I hoped thatsomebody there spoke English! And I gotlucky; I got a reply from the artist himself,Mr. Nikolai Polikarpov. He said, sure, butwhy didn’t I use his drawings? Well, ofcourse I asked him if he could send mecopies over the Internet, and he did. I wascurious how they might differ from my owndrawings; I thought there might be somefairly minor discrepancies. Of course, I waswrong! My drawings were useless; I hadthe visible details down fairly well, but Ihad never realized that the takeoff shaftwas not centered behind the cab at all. Itcomes up well to the right, perhaps by asmuch as a foot. When I went back to thephotographs, I could see this, once I knewwhat to look for. I guess, if it isn’t obvious,we always assume that things like this arecentered. Of course, I had already startedmy model! I had to tear off all the modifica-tions I had done and start over! Aargh!Aargh! Oh well; I guess it could have beenworse; after all, I didn’t actually finish itbefore I turned up new material.

Mr. Polikarpov most generously agreedthat I could publish his plans in ournewsletter, so long as I gave him a copy.He also requested that I write an article forM-Hobby! Well, I’ll give him one, if I everfinish the truck. Perhaps, with luck, thisyear.

Mr. Boris Megorski, of St. Petersburg,Russia, assisted me in translating thecaptions. His technical English wasn’t toogood, and I have no Russian at all, buttogether we managed to sort out what thecaptions meant. Interestingly enough, inRussian the word for starter is…starter! Orin the Cyrillic alphabet, CTAPTEP.



(AS-2)



Grandkids Are Great!

My wife Audrey and I have four grandchil-dren, one girl age 12, and three boys whoare nine, seven, and four years old. Thetwo eldest ones live in Bonny Lake, andwe see them about once a month. The twoyoungest boys live about a mile-and-a-halffrom us, and Audrey sits with them on aregular basis. Sometimes we have themover to our house when their mother isworking, or is otherwise busy.

When we have them over here, theyusually want to watch TV, or play with thestock of Hot Wheels we laid in for just thatsort of thing. So while they play with smallcars, Grandpa escapes to the basement toplay with his small models. Now smallboys being the way they are, every sooften they want to see what Granddad isdoing. Down they come and crowd into mycave (it’s small and dark) to watch as I putglue or paint to a model.

A few months ago, Michael, the youngest,(he of the permanent baseball cap becauseof his red hair) wanted me to make him amodel. OK, I thought, this will be snap. Ipulled out a Matchbox Spitfire, and as hecut out the parts, I glued them together. Inabout an hour, we had a model painted anddecaled. Now this was not up to my usualstandards (which as you know are nothigh), but it made him happy and thatcounts for a lot around here.

Just a few words about Michael. This kidis smart (he takes after his Grandfather)and knows the names of all the dinosaursby heart. He also likes “Army Guys,” anddecided that I should have some to guardmy model collection. Last Christmas, hegave me a package of 50 green “ArmyGuys.” We had to go down and place themwhere they would cover all of the ap-proaches to my display cases. So Iwouldn’t advise anybody to try andinvade my models.

Well to make this story longer, and to fillup space for our editor, his older bother,Andrew, thought he should have a modelof his own. That seemed fair, so he pickedout a helicopter. Well, it was a V-22 Osprey,but it kind of looks like a chopper so whatthe hey, I’ll do what I can. This started thesame as I did with Michael, Andrewcutting parts and me gluing. Well, after afew minutes, I thought that Andrewshould learn how to glue the partstogether. I held, and he slathered liquidcement along the joints. As we went alongand parts needed to be set aside to dry,Andrew’s interest started to wane, and hewent upstairs to play cars with his brother.Grandpa stayed in the cave to finish themodel. The kit was from HobbyCraft, andis very basic. That doesn’t mean that it’san easy kit. Including the time we bothworked on it, I spent about three days toget it built, painted, and decaled. Thisdoesn’t include filling seams and sandingdown joints. After all, the boys are young,and boys will be boys. Seems to me thatsometime in the last Century I was aroundthat age myself, but it’s hard to say.

Michael still has Spitfire in one piece,however, so there is a good chance theOsprey will be around for some time too.

Addendum to MiG-31Update

Well, everything was going swimmingly[see Seattle Chapter News, August 2001 –ED] until it came time to install the canopy.As I said before, the canopy comes in fourparts. At least that’s the way it’s supposedto fit. The one in my kit came in six pieces.The aft canopy and the center sectionwere broken. This should not have been aproblem for a competent modeler. EnterMister Thumbs; I thought it would be bestto fit the broken parts together on the

model. I glued one half of the canopy tothe body, then the other half. At this point,things were looking good. Next came thecenter section, with the same procedure asbefore. Now the forward canopy; it’s on,now just the windscreen to go, and thecanopy is complete. Yecch! How could Ihave missed so badly?

I’ve seen rollover pictures that didn’t lookthis bad. I’m not sure if I can save thecanopy or not. Maybe if I cut the wholething apart and stick it back together (offthe model), then vacuform a whole newone the model can be saved. It would beshame to scrap the model for want of abotched part. This is going to take a while,however, so don’t look forward to seeingthe completed MiG for some time.

Continued on page 9

A Question

While reading the latest IPMS-USAJournal, an article about building a 1/72nd

Corsair [“Building a 1/72 F-4U-1D (sic)Corsair” by T. Garth Connelly and PeteL’Heureux, in the July/August 2001 issue– ED] caught my attention. As I read thearticle, a revelation leaped out and mademe ask, “Why?”

The author said that he wasn’t getting theflat finish that he wanted. OK, we have alllusted after the right flat finishes once ortwice ourselves, haven’t we? What got methinking was that after all that work to getthe perfect flat finish he wanted, hesprayed the whole model with gloss toapply the decals. Am I missing somethinghere?

I know I’m not the only one who paintsthis way, but why? For years you couldget only gloss paint. Then a trickle of flat

The Bill Osborn Page - Three Articles by Bill


Reisen in Luftwaffe Service

by Ernie Pazmany, via BobLaBouy

[While pouring over the “fantasy”category at the IPMS Nationals inChicago, I ran across a neat little modeland description of it by a friend, ErniePazmany. Clearly from the follow descrip-tion, Ernie has not only a fertile imagina-tion but also a good sense of humor. Ithought this might perk up the minds ofseveral of our builders as well. - Bob]

In August 1941, the Luftwaffe took chargeof four Mitsubishi A6M2 model 21airframes, along with six spare engines andassorted spares. These were delivered viathe Sanwa-Plamo Maru to the port ofBilbao, Spain. Two Japanese flighttechnicians, one Mitsubishi mechanic/representative, and an engineer/interpreteraccompanied the aircraft on the oceanvoyage, and subsequently traveled by rail[with the shipment] to a coastal airfield inoccupied France. Documents indicate thiswas in the area of Poix. With the aid of theJapanese contingent, the airframes wereassembled, ground tested, and were flownfor approximately six months. The aircraftwere attached to a special section of 6./JG26, a unit that had already converted tothe Fw 190A-I in July, and whose groundcrew had familiarity with radial enginemaintenance.

The Reisen began long-range flight testsin early October, with two machines over-flying England at high altitude. There wereseven flights, each taking the Reisen to themaximum range possible. It is believed thatthese sorties were carried out to determinecapabilities that would be useful for escortduties. The Luftwaffe was hoping toresume daylight bomber raids, specificallydeep penetration attacks by Do 217s andthe expected He 177. Oddly, there were nocombat engagements with the RAF duringthese lengthy flights. Pilots were enthusi-astic about the Reisen’s maximum range,

three times better than the Bf 109E/F.However, there were a number of annoyingproblems. First, the cabin oxygen systemhad to be converted to Luftwaffe stan-dards due to malfunctions, and the radioequipment was replaced on all aircraft dueto frequency incompatibility. The radioantenna masts were altered as well.Second, the gunsights were switched overto Revi variants, but the factory installedarmament was retained; this being done inorder to avoid wing and fuselage modifica-tions that could compromise performance.The latter created a unique maintenanceproblem, as the airfield armorers wereforced to set up a local ammunition-manufacturing unit just to supply theproper caliber rounds for the Reisen.Finally the cockpit was simply uncomfort-able to all but the shortest of pilots, aproblem also encountered by Allied pilotswho flew captured Reisen variants.

Luftwaffe test pilots also derided themodest top speed of 317 mph, predicatedon a finely tuned engine, made suitable forEuropean operations. Both the Fw 190 andBf 109 had far better pilot and fuel systemprotection and both could out dive theReisen. Only in maneuverability did theReisen come out on top. The final balancesheet was addressed by technical officerHans Offreiter’s rather pessimistic ap-praisal, when he commented, “We’ll needat least 200 hundred machines to make adifference ... how soon can we expectthem?”

Two aircraft were destroyed due tomechanical failure [a crash landing and anengine fire on the ground], with theremaining two airframes suffering mortaldamage during a surprise RAF bombingattack on the airfield, in March 1942.

Luftwaffe ground personnel were appalledto find perfectly painted ‘meatballs’[factory applied] in all six positions, on allfour airframes. One witness wrote that theolive-gray concealment paint was glaringlyoffset by, “the scarlet cockades beggingfor interception.” RLM 02/74/75/71 was

painted on all airframes, with large areas ofRLM 02 used to hide the Hinomarus. Withthe exception of the technical officer’sReisen [depicted on my model], the otherthree aircraft carried sequential numbers[1-3] in black with white outlines. Cowlingchin numbers that had been painted at thefactory were not removed. The only addedmarking was an octane triangle adjacent tothe fueling port.

The inconclusive and somewhat disap-pointing tests led to the abandonment ofLuftwaffe commitment to a Reisen pro-gram. Considering the situation in the FarEast around December 1941, it’s unlikelythe Japanese Government would havebeen able to deliver airframes to a specificschedule. When Japan attacked andinvaded Soviet Asia, on December 6, 1941,the notion of Reisens over Englandbecame a moot point. But that’s anotherstory...

A Question from page 8

paints started to show up in hobby shops.Great day in the morning, we could nowget the proper look to our creations. Butwait, those thick decals that came with thekits all turned silver when they dried. Wediscovered that decals need a smoothsurface to lie down correctly. So what didwe do?

We covered that great flat paint with gloss,applied the decals, and then layered downa coat of flat to get back to the finish wewanted in the first place. Talk aboutfrustration…

Maybe some day, the decal makers willdiscover how to make decals that will liedown on flat paint without silvering. Butuntil that time, it’s back to the same oldgrind.


Model Building: Is theHobby Dying?

(And What’s the Deal Withthe American Model Manu-

facturers?)

by Tony Wootson, IPMS Dela-ware Valley Scale Modelers Club

So, what’s happening to the Modelbuilding hobby and what’s the case withthe American model manufacturers? Is thehobby dying and are the American modelcompanies collectively giving up theghost? I mean, what’s the last release thatRevell/Monogram or Racing Champions/AMT/Ertl or Testors or Lindberg havecome out with? Other than one or two newor re-released automobile kits that havecome out here or there, they have all beendeathly quiet.

I’ve heard that Racing Champions will nolonger be releasing Star Trek or Star Warskits. This, despite the fact that AMT/Ertlpreviously purchased an exclusive licenseto do model kits for all three of the latestStar Wars movies, beginning with ThePhantom Menace. I also heard a rumorthat they are getting rid of their molds forthe existing ST and SW kits that have beenreleased.

Revell/Monogram was (or still is) up forsale by the owners who purchased themonly a few years ago. Their kit releaseshave also trickled down to practicallynothing. [Revell-Monogram has recentlybeen purchased by a US-based company,Alpha International, who reportedlyintend to keep the manufacturing in theUS, and also acquire new tooling – ED]

It seems that Revell/Monogram, RacingChampions, and Lindberg have decided togo more and more with pre-painted andsnap-tite kits and toys than with “tradi-tional” model kits. Their idea (I guess) is totry to make modeling easier for the newmodeler, by taking away the dreary,burdensome tasks of painting, gluing, andapplying traditional decals. (Hey, I thought

that was the whole point to modeling!) Notsurprisingly, it appears that they’ve hadvery little success with this strategy.

Testors have not released anything otherthan modeling paint and supplies for sometime now. (I don’t know what good paintand modeling supplies are if there arehardly any new models being released)? Iguess there still are numerous “old-head”modelers like myself who have a healthystock of unbuilt models that will requirepaint and glue. I know that Testorspartnered up with Italeri a number of yearsago, to be their distributor here in theStates. However, I have not seen manynew Italeri releases this year either.

It appears that Polar Lights is the onlyshining star in the US kit-manufacturinguniverse. Although their kit output hasgone down a bit, they nevertheless stillcontinue to release model kits. I think P.L.has actually discovered a niche that hadbeen completely missed or ignored by theother long-term US modeling companies.They have been releasing kits tailoredboth to the younger, new model builder,along with coming out with kits aimed atthe older sci-fi, fantasy, and horrormodeler. They’ve had some very goodsuccess re-releasing a number of oldAurora kits that many of us have built andloved as kids. In addition, they’ve hit themark with the new releases that many of uswould have loved to see as kids, but neverdid. Their recent C-57D spacecraft from theForbidden Planet movie is a primeexample of this. With the mention of six orseven new releases scheduled within thenext year or so, P.L. will most likelycontinue tapping into this secret tomodeling success that they’ve discovered.

With respect to the Japanese modelcompanies like Hasegawa and Tamiya,they have been equally quiet as well.They’ve maybe popped out a couple newreleases here and there. But, their outputhas dramatically dropped down from thepoint where it had been a short two orthree years ago.

Bandai seems to be the only Japanese kitmanufacturer who is doing a halfwaydecent job in model sales lately. Gundamkits have been filling up and emptying outof Toys-R-Us store shelves pretty regu-larly. These kits have even been poppingup in specialty shops, like electronic gameand video stores. Heck, some of the“better” hobby stores have startedstocking them as well.

I’m not really surprised with this, due toseveral reasons. The first is the fact thatCartoon Network since last year has beenairing the Gundam Wing and Endless Waltzseries. Also, they have just startedshowing two new Gundam series - (to us,at least): Mobile Suit Gundam andGundam: 08th MS Team. There’s nothingquite like exposure in a modeling subject tohelp generate interest in the associatedkits.

I heard or read somewhere that Toys-R-Usis going to expand the types of Gundamsthat they will be offering, probably to jiveup with the two new Gundam shows thathave been airing. My second reason is thefact that kids are really tuning into theGundam Universe. I’ve seen this with bothof my sons, along with other children aswell.

I have a question here: What was the lastserious attempt that the American modelmanufacturers made to first determine whatmodeling interests kids may have, andthen follow it up with actual kit releases? Isuspect that they have done very little ifanything in this area. Instead, they’veprobably gone with the (false?) assump-tion that kids nowadays will continue to beinterested in things that kids years agowere interested in, mainly military armorand aircraft, along with automobile models.

In addition to Bandai, it seems that P. L. isthe only other kit manufacturer who istrying to reach the younger and newmodeler. One can just look at their recentrelease of Aurora dinosaurs, Crash Banditkits, Speed Racer’s Mach 5, and theScooby Do Mystery Machine as examples.


Ok, I’ve gotten a bit off target here with mymodeling musings. With respect to one ofmy originally posed questions of whetheror not this model building hobby of ours isdying, I really don’t think so! There arestill far too many older, experienced modelbuilders (who have jobs and hence havesome money to spend), who are still verypassionate about this hobby. In addition,there is being established a pretty regular,consistent number of young, new modelbuilders who are being introduced to thejoys of model building through numerousMake-It-Take-It programs being conductedby various groups. Unfortunately, thispositive is probably being quickly negatedby the very limited choices, if any at all,that the young, new modeler has once heor she decides that this is something thatthey’d like to spend more time on.

We are definitely in a modeling recessionor rut. A lot of this probably has to do withthe economic recession or slowdown thatwe are experiencing. I really feel that this isa temporary condition, though, - (both theeconomic and modeling parts) - and withinthe next year or two we will start seeing anupturn in the hobby.

When all model kit manufacturers (includ-ing the Hasegawas, Tamiyas, and Bandais)start going belly up, then I will startbecoming concerned.

This modeling downturn seems to beaffecting American model manufacturersmore than any others. In addition, I thinkthat most of our modeling companies are indire straights. I have two reasons why Ifeel this way. The first has already beentouched upon. This is the fact that thesecompanies have not and are not targetingtheir kits to what kids may be interested inbuilding. It has often been argued that thereason American modeling companiescurrently are not releasing anything is dueto the lack of interest in model building bykids. However, it’s my contention that justabout no one has released a kit on figuresfrom the Digimon, Poke’mon, Rug-Rats, orPower Puff Girls cartoon series. You know,things that kids watch and know (andlove)? These programs that children have

been watching (and watching a lot of)have been thoroughly ignored by theAmerican model companies.

I’ve heard the additional argument of,“Why should a model company gothrough the expense of obtaining licensesto do kits on a subject that kids might beinterested in. They should not spend allthat money on the design, tooling,manufacturing and releasing of thesetypes of kits, when kids are just not intobuilding models anymore. Kids are moreinterested in numerous immediate-gratification ‘distractions’ that currentlyexist for them, than in a hobby that takesmuch longer in comparison (and mayrequire some work).”

I say that the current interest in thoseMITI programs do show that kids will buildmodels when given a chance to do so, andthat the flip side of the argument is if youdo not release kits that are targetedtowards children, they will not buy yourproducts. Sounds like a vicious circle here.

My second reason on why the Americanmodeling companies have been havingproblems and are in trouble is probablymore important than the first. Thesecompanies, (with the exception of Accu-rate Miniatures), have not released verygood model kits over the past 20 or 30years. They had been getting much betterup to a number of years ago, when thebottom of the industry seemed to drop off.However, it had taken them too long tocatch up to their Japanese counterparts.These fitting and accuracy problems tendnot to be all that important to the newmodel builder. However, ultimately mostnew modelers (if they stick with the hobbylong enough) will become more experi-enced model builders, to whom fit andaccuracy are indeed important!

This hit me one evening when I went to mymodeling room. I have close to 800 or 900model kits stashed away in my room. Mostof these kits are 1/72nd and 1/48th scaleHasegawa aircraft models, along with someTamiya aircraft, armor, and automobiles.Traditionally in the past, because of the

superior qualities both in fit and detail thatHasegawa and Tamiya offered over theAmerican model companies, along with thegreater variety in subject matter, I startedpaying more attention to and purchasedmore of these kits than any other type.From previous conversations I’ve had withfellow modeling club members, there aremany others who feel the same way.

How many bad things have you heardabout earlier releases by AMT/Ertl of StarTrek kits? I know just a few years agoRevell/Monogram received some flackfrom model builders about the poor fittingcharacteristics of their Starfuries alongwith their thick, non-sticking decals. (I wasone who was making them). It was goodthat they released the kits. However, Icould tell that they weren’t as concernedwith the fit of those kits as Bandai wouldhave been.

My feeling on the American modelcompanies’ slant on things is that theynever have viewed this hobby as seriouslyas Tamiya and Hasagawa do. They viewedthe hobby as something for kids andhence were not concerned with continuingto try to improve their products.

Accurate Miniatures, when they came onthe scene, really seemed to “finally get it.”However, they took things too much to theextreme, (in my opinion), spending way toomuch money and time on trying to releasethat ultimate B-25, for example. In addition,I really feel that their exclusive emphasison WWII aircraft [They did release a fewvery nice racecars - ED] and the lack ofgreater diversification is what helped to dothem in as well.

Since model manufacturing companies arestill businesses, they must adhere to thegeneral business model: Give the customera good quality product that they’reinterested in, at a reasonable price, andyou have a very good shot at not onlystaying in business, but in thriving. TheAmerican model manufacturers as a wholenever really did this. However, hopefullythey will start. One can always hope.


Photos From the IPMSVancouver BC Model Show

photos by Stephen Tontoni

Above: John Frazier’s stunning out-of-the-box1/72nd scale Hasegawa Brewster Buffalo won notonly its class, but the award for Best Prop Aircraft.The aircraft is done in the markings of Finnish ace

-of-aces Ilmari Juutilainen.

Above: Bill Osborn’s Sword Fairchild 91,which was the subject of an article in last

month’s Seattle Chapter News.

Right: George Stray’s Centaur tank.George won awards for best Allied, and

best Axis, armor.


Above left: Ted Holowchuk, Glenn Ryder,and Jim Schubert closely study some

autos.

Above right: A detail shot of the beautiful1/48th scale Hawker Hurricane that wonBest Canadian Subject. Unfortunately, I

don’t know the name of the builder.

Above and right: Two of Mike Millette’sarmor models, a Panzer IV, above, and his

SDKFZ 263, right.


Mike Grant Decals

by Bob Hester, IPMS New Jersey

Mike Grant makes decals for unusualaircraft subjects in 1/72nd, 1/48th, and 1/32nd scales. Because he is not in the mass-production market, Mike can offer subjectsthat might be considered uneconomical(and therefore unavailable to the modeler).Accordingly, the decals are short-run,much like a limited-edition resin set mightbe.

The decals are individually designed byMike himself, from computer-generatedartwork. Each sheet is printed to order(sometimes requiring 14 separate passeson the printer!) and is simply exquisite!The clarity and color is excellent, andinsignia, stencils and other markings areperfectly in register and quite crisp andclear. Each sheet comes with a colorinstruction guide, which includes applica-tion recommendations. Because the decalsare not mass-produced, updates andcorrections can be made immediately, ifneeded. For the same reason, scales can beup- or down- sized if needed - even to non-standard scales. Mike strives for accuracyand high quality and at first look, itappears he has succeeded admirably! Igive Mike’s decals five stars - highlyrecommended!

Because of the printing method, the carrierfilm covers the entire sheet - so each decal

must be carefully cut separately. Whilelight-fast, waterproof, and resistant tonormal handling, Mike recommends carewhen cutting them out of the sheets, asthey are not as scuff-resistant as the usualscreen-printed decals (for instance, whenusing a steel rule). The decals are appliednormally, and while usually compatiblewith setting solutions such as MicroSoland MicroSet, Mike suggests testing anysolution before application as a safeguard.

All of Mike’s decals can be seen at:

http://www.cadvision.com/mikegrant/MikeGrantDecals/

His website also includes additionalinformation about the decals, including agallery of models using his decals,ordering and price information, andendorsements from satisfied modelers.Mike is also happy to answer inquiries viaE-mail at: [email protected] is always interested in hearing

suggestions from modelers regardingfuture releases. Mike’s decals may also bepurchased through FlightDecs at:

http://www.tbaytel.net/fldecs/

Some of Mike’s decals are reviewed on theHyperscale website:1/72 B-24 “Delectable Doris” (also avail-able in 1/48)1/72 Canadair CF-5A/D (also available in 1/48)

Kits built using Mike’s decals, also onHyperscale:Albatros D III Oef by Cezary BartnickiRepublic F-105D Thunderchief by FredList

Other reviews of Mike’s decals may befound at:MG Decals1/32 Scale ModelingModeling Madness Review: 1/24 Airfix Bf109E


Upcoming Shows

Friday-Saturday, October 12-13

Sci-Fan 2001. Science Fiction and Fantasy Model Show. Contest entry and display; 12noon- 7 pm 10/12; 9 am- 12 noon 10/13. Judging 1:30-2:30 pm 10/13. Awards/Door Prizes 4pm 10/13. Airbrush demos both days. Fee: $5 for up to five models, $1 for each additionalmodel. Galaxy Hobby, 196th and Highway 99, Lynnwood, WA. Phone (425) 670-0454. E-mail: [email protected]

Saturday, October 20

Galaxy Hobby Fall Model Contest and Show. Special category: European Rally/Race Car.Age Groups: Adult; Junior (11-17); Youth (10 and under). Registration: Friday 3-7 pm;Saturday 10 am-12 noon. Entry Fees: $5 for up to five models; $1 for each additionalmodel; Ages 10 and under are free! Schedule: Judging: 1:30 - 2:30 pm; Awards: 3:30 pm;Pick Up Models: 4 pm. Galaxy Hobby, 196th and Highway 99, Lynnwood, WA. Phone(425) 670-0454. E-mail: [email protected]

Russian Volunteer Pilots inthe Chinese Air Force

by George Mellinger, IPMS TwinCities Aero Historians

If you were looking for materials aboutRussian aviators, you would not automati-cally think of checking the JapaneseAircraft Homepage. And so you’d bemissing out. For several months now, Ihave been translating a series of magazinearticles about the Russian volunteer pilotswho flew with the Chinese Air Forcebetween 1937 and 1940. Since this relatesdirectly to the Japanese war, Dave Pluthhas been posting my translations on hissite. To my surprise, these articles havegiven not only information about theJapanese, and the Russians, but also muchpreviously unknown information about theChinese air force, gathered by AnatoliiDemin, an outstanding Russian historian,who seems to have accessed the aviationarchives of both Chinese governments, aswell as Japanese and Russian sources. I’mreally proud to be making Mr. Demin’ssignificant work available to the non-Russian world. I have finished five of thesix articles in his series, and will finish thelast one, plus a separate article he wroteabout the Chinese Air Force 1941-1945during the coming months. Go to Dave’sweb site at

http://www.j-aircraft.com/

to find them.

IPMS Vancouver Fall ShowReport

by Robert Allen

IPMS Vancouver, BC, held their annual FallShow, “2001: A Model Odyssey,” onOctober 6, at the now traditional BonsorRecreation Center. Although the mix ofswimmers, Seniors, and model builders inthe busy recreation center was the same aslast year, there was one major change inthe model room. Instead of the modeldisplays and the vendors being placed inthe same room, all of the models were inone room, and the vendors in another.Total model entry was about 450 modelsentered in the contest, and a further 70 onthe display-only tables, a very goodturnout. Activity in the vendor roomseemed brisk, with a favorable exchangerate being attractive to American buyers.

About 17 IPMS Seattle members made thetrek north, and although there wereconcerns about the time it might take tocross the border, this didn’t seem to be aproblem; in my case, it took about 20minutes to get into Canada, and onlyabout 40 minutes to get back into US, on abusy Saturday night. Local modelers came

away with several of the major awards.Andrew Bertschi won Best Auto; GeorgeStray won both Best Allied and Best Axisarmor; Ted Holowchuk took the award forBest Jet Aircraft (in addition to winningfour regular aviation categories); and JohnFrazier won Best Prop Aircraft. John’s winwas particularly noteworthy; his FinnishBrewster Buffalo was not only a 1/72nd

scale aircraft, but was built out-of-the-box!

Other models of note included a very nice1/48th scale Battle of Britain HawkerHurricane with many opened panels thatwon Best Canadian Subject; a 1/2100th

scale diorama of the drawing room of theTitanic’s designer, complete with blue-prints and an exquisite scratchbuilt modelof a model of the ship; and a large 1/35th

scale diorama built by two modelersdepicting the German retreat throughFrance, which won the Contestant’sChoice award. I also finally saw a builtexample of my all-time favorite kit, theMatchbox Supermarine Stranraer!

All in all, this was a very enjoyable show,firmly established as one of the best in theNorthwest.

[Stephen Tontoni’s photos from the showcan be seen on page 12-13.]


Meeting Reminder Saturday, October 2010 AM

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

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

Are You a Master Modeler?

by Joe Porter, Editor of the VLSMail Order Catalog

1. Score 100 points if you ever called insick to finish a model.

2. Score 50 points if you ever neededassistance getting unsuperglued.

3. Deduct 75 points if you own golf clubs.

4. Score 40 points if you ever helpedyourself to that cool sand in an uprighthotel ashtray.

5. Score 2 points for every bottle of painton your workbench. Add 50 bonus pointsif you own your own paint rack.

6. Score 200 points if a hobby tool incidenthas required stitches.

7. Score 75 points if, on arriving in astrange town, the first thing you look for ishobby shops in the phone book. Score 300bonus points if you ever planned a familyvacation to include a model show.

8. Score 25 points if you have somethingfrom the kitchen on your workbench. Score100 bonus points if your wife doesn’tknow it’s missing.

9. Score 50 points if you shop for hobbysupplies, unaccompanied, in a fabric orcosmetics store.

10. Score 50 points for each pack of GrandtLine bolts you ever bought.

11. Score 25 points for every kit you havepurchased in the last year. Score 250bonus points for every project you havecompleted.

12. Score 50 points if you’re left-handed.

13. Deduct 300 points if you ever soldsome of your unbuilt kits.

14. Score 30 points for every non-modelerwho has seen your models and said, “Oh, Iused to do that when I was a kid.”

15. Deduct 100 points for every unfinishedproject you’ve set aside.

16. Score 500 points if you ever purchaseda Mascot figure. Score 800 bonus points ifyou painted it. Deduct 1000 points if youdid anything weird after that.

17. Score 150 points if you ever ordered akit through the mail, and had it sent toyour office so your wife wouldn’t find out.Score 500 sympathy points if your hobbyhas cost you a relationship.

18. Score 600 points if the local libraryrefers inquiries to you.

19. Deduct 5000 points if you ever used apenlight while judging.

20. Score 50 points for every part youdropped - and found!

21. Score 75 points if you own Optivisors.

22. Score 425 points if someone elsesmashed their models when you showedup at a contest.

23. Score 350 points if, lacking reference,you ever “invented” a detail on a model,and passed it off as 100% accurate.

24. Score 75 points if you use different“mood music” for different modelingprojects.

25. Score 250 points if you ever foundsomeone else’s drool on one of yourmodels.

26. Deduct all your points if you actuallyscored yourself. You should be in therebuilding models, not using your valuabletime taking frivolous quizzes.

Take life seriously. Take your hobbyseriously. Just never take yourself tooseriously. Thanks for coming.