Iron Modeler

The IAI Nesher

Howdy, all!

Here's a model I completed not too long ago.  It got started during one of the Saturday build days at the hobby shop before they moved across town, and had been sitting in a state of suspended animation until I got it back in work towards the end of our Project RIPCORD diorama.  This article previously appeared in the September 2020 issue of the IPMS/Mid-Carolina Newsflash.

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The Israeli Defense Force Air Force had employed the Dassault Mirage IIICJ to good effect during their 1967 war with the surrounding nations.  Due to wartime losses and attrition, the Israelis needed to add aircraft to their inventory not only to fill the gaps caused by the lost airplanes, but to also upgrade their fleet.  The Mirage III was a great air-to-air interceptor, but couldn’t do much in the way of ground attack.  Also, its short range made keeping an airborne combat air patrol aloft a challenge.

Enter the Mirage 5.

In the mid-1960’s, the IDF/AF began working with Dassault to develop a new fighter suitable for their needs.  The IDF decided that the Cyrano radar in the Mirage III was good, but not needed, as most combat in the region was withing visual range.  Also, the IDF asked for more fuel to increase the aircraft’s endurance.  So, Dassault started with a Mirage IIIE (a strike version of the Mirage III with additional avionics and fuel in an extended fuselage behind the cockpit), relocated the avionics behind the pilot to a new extended nose, and deleted the radar.  The new aircraft was called the Mirage 5, and the IDF placed an order for 50 of them in 1966.

In 1967, the French government, in a bit of a snit (de Gaulle wasn’t happy that the Israelis started what we call the Six Day War over his objections), enacted an arms embargo against all arms destined for Israel—including the new Mirage 5’s, which were built and ready for delivery in 1968.

At the same time, the French began selling arms to the various Arab forces in the region.  Never one to play favorites, de Gaulle believed all money coming into the country was “good” money.

Here’s where the story gets cloudy, depending on whom you listen to or what you believe.

The common tale among “those in the know” (and the story Israel tells to this day) is that the Israelis tried several times to “reallocate” the airplanes (the Israeli government asked for them to be re-positioned to Corsica so they could continue to train with the airplanes), but the French saw the ploy and took action to stop the effort.  Eventually, the French kept the airplanes, called them Mirage 5F’s, and integrated them into their Armée de l'Air (AdA).  They were said to have kept the Israeli money, to boot.  Because of this, Israel resorted to industrial espionage, obtained the plans for the airplane, and set up shop with Israel Aircraft Industries (IAI) to build the airplanes.  The rest, as they say, is history…or is it?

As Paul Harvey would say, here’s “the rest of the story”…

The real story isn’t quite so wrapped up in intrigue.  The French actually refunded the money Israel paid for the Mirage 5’s in 1972.  The airplanes were indeed kept and introduced into French service.

But that’s where the truth in the original story ends, if you believe the other stories. 

In 1968, Rockwell International (probably at the request of the U.S. State Department) approached Dassault with an order for Mirage 5’s for Israel.  The French agreed, but to camouflage the effort, the airplane components supplied to this order were instructed to be those built by subcontractors (Aerospatiale made fuselages, Reims-Cessna built the wings, and SABCA, a Belgian subsidiary of Dassault, built the ATAR 9C engines), crated, and shipped to Israel in crates aboard USAF C-141’s.  The crates were delivered to IAI, and the airplanes were reassembled by Rockwell technicians masquerading as IAI employees.  Israeli avionics were fitted. 

How do we know this?  Gene Salvay, a Rockwell engineer, was there.  He was there assisting the Israelis in fitting the General Electric J79 engine into the Mirage airframe, and became one of the lead engineers to assist in the development of the IAI Kfir.  But that's another story for another time.

Some point to the oft-shown photo from Nesher 01 in the IDF/AF Museum that shows “Mirage 5J” and names of the subcontractors on the various components “clearly only apply to that one single example, and that the others were entirely IAI products.”  But all of Israel’s Neshers were later sold to Argentina, and the parts all had French part numbers and data plates—why would IAI spoof these or use Dassault part numbers on parts supposedly made in Israel?

As an aside, if you’re a fan of the Mirage III/V/IAI Kfir/Atlas Cheetah series, a lot of Kfir and Cheetah components were likewise built in France.

The truth is out there…

In 1/48^th scale, the Mirage 5 was previously represented by kits from ESCI, later re-boxed by Italeri.  Typical ESCI kits, they weren’t too bad for their day.  The type got a big boost when Kinetic Models produced their Mirage IIIE/Mirage 5 kit (Kinetic kit 48052).  Wingman Models, a German group, helped the cause when they bought bagged shots of the Kinetic plastic, added Isra Cast resin, Isra Decals markings, photoetch, and Master Brass parts and sold it as a limited run, full meal deal Super Kit (WMK48013).  It is this last kit we’ll discuss…

First, I will say this—if you have not developed your basic modeling skills, this kit might be difficult to build.  This is certainly not a Tamiya quality model kit, but it is nicely molded and the shapes are pretty much spot-on.  It is certainly a kit that needs you to employ those Model Building 101 skills that I cover in my seminar of the same name.  You will spend a lot of time sanding, fitting, filing, fitting, fettling, and fitting before you even open the glue bottle.  Trust me.  Just trust me…

The kit is full of options.  You can build the Nesher or the Argentinian Dagger/Finger/Mara from the kit—there are resin noses for the Nesher and Dagger/Finger, and the plastic nose is good for the Mara (Argentinean Mirage 5 acquired from Peru).  There is a neat resin cockpit, instrument panel, choice of ejection seats (Martin-Baker Mk.  4 or Mk. 6), and a bit of under wing things (missile rails, Rafael Shafrir 2 missiles), and decals galore—you can pretty do any Nesher you fancy, as the sheet gives you numbers in several styles and the two styles of orange/black ID triangles applied to the Nesher if your airplane carried them.  Oddly, the kit provides two resin 1300 liter under wing ferry tanks, but does not provide the supersonic 500 liter under wing tanks and the 800 liter centerline tank that the Nesher usually sported.  Never fear—if you find you really need them, Wingman offers resin wing tanks in their “FixIT!” line (WMF48014).

I started by test fitting the wings.  No surprise, there was a nice step where the halves came together.  The bottom of the wing is inset into the top, and this step will be a royal bear to remove after assembly—maintaining the proper shape and contour will not be easy.  (And since this was one of those hobby shop build days, I didn't get photos.  You'll just have to trust me...)

You will need to sand the inside of both upper and lower wing halves as well as some of the inner structure to make them fit flush.  There will be a seam to fill on the underside of the wing no matter what you do; just do your best to get everything lined up flush across the outer surface.  I installed the speed brakes in the closed position—not many photos show them open on the ground without a hydraulic mule and someone in the cockpit, although a Mirage fixer has said they do tend to droop.  No matter, I glued mine in the closed position.  You will have to fit, sand, and fit again—this will be the main lesson from this kit.  The wells are beveled, as are the brake panels—but the bevels are different angles!  The brake panels tend to stand proud of the surface if you don’t do some of that test fit-sand-fit again stuff.  However, take a close look at what’s happening—the bevel on the brake panels themselves are what holds the part proud of the wing, so rather than sanding the edges of the brakes, increase the angle of the bevel on their underside.  The former will cause them to be too small, the latter will do a Goldilocks on them—they’ll be “Just Right”…

Likewise, the large aft center section panel needs to be fit and can be added, along with the proper inserts on either side of it.  Hold off on adding the trailing edge control surfaces until the wing is installed on the model.  It may help to add some Evergreen tabs inside the lower wing to help align the insert, too.

Begin the fuselage by cleaning up all the inlet trunk parts.  Kinetic give you inlet trunks all the way back to the engine compressor facing—99% of this is invisible, but you will want to hit the trunks with white paint.  Test fit, sand, and test fit again until the inlet assembly fits into the fuselage, but don’t secure it at this time.

Now, turn your attention to making sure the fuselage halves fit together.  You got it—fit, sand, fit again, repeat until it fits.

Next up: the cockpit.  Remove the parts from the pour stubs.  Be careful—the cockpit tub floor is thin; you don’t want to break through!  I did, but the small area will be hidden under the seat.  Likewise, clean up the nose gear well.  The well will be attached to the underside of the tub, just so you know…and it will need to be fit and sanded in order to properly fit inside the fuselage halves.

As you can see, I indeed cut a hole in the cockpit floor while removing the cockpit from the pour block.  You can also see the resin glareshield in place.

You will need to remove the molded-in plastic glareshield.  I used a combination of saws, files, and a rotary tool.  Try not to remove too much.  Test fit the windscreen to help guide you on the amount you need to remove.  The windscreen will tend to hide some gaps around the edges, but you still want to be careful and not remove too much plastic. 

As you assemble the cockpit tub to the nose gear well, test fit the lot into the fuselage.  I found that the waste side of each could take some sanding to make it fit.  I tacked the tub and well together with a single drop of CA while I did the test fit.  Make sure you fit the lower nose panel at this time, too—if the cockpit is marginally too wide, it can throw the nose off!  Once you are satisfied that it all goes together, secure the tub/well to one half of the fuselage with CA or epoxy.

Assemble the tailpipe.  You can install it at this point.  This is probably the simplest assembly in the kit-a resin tube and a plastic flame holder.  Leave the exhaust nozzle off until the model is finished.

Okay, now the fun begins.  Position the inlet trunk in one fuselage half.  Now, you’ll need to do some sleight of hand to get the other fuselage half into position—it isn’t difficult, but pay attention to where the inlets line up on the outside of the fuselage.  Test fit, adjust, and test fit again until the lot comes together without having to force the issue—I found I had to trim a little bit from the tabs on the inlet trunk assembly at the top as well as trim and sand the sides of the tub/well assembly to get the fuselage to close.  I tacked the fuselage halves with CA and, once I was satisfied with how they were positioned, applied Tamiya Extra Thin to the seam—this “double whammy” locks the fuselage halves in the proper alignment with the CA and welds the seam with the liquid cement.  I added the top fuselage insert at this time after carefully fitting it in place—the fit was less than exact, so get the fit as close as you can and expect to do some sanding/filling/scribing later.  The same goes with the dorsal fin extension, by the way…

You can address the fuselage seams now or wait until the wing is installed.  I decided to wait and tackle all the seams at the same time.  With that established, offer up the wing to the fuselage and check the fit.  I had to install a couple of spreaders in the fuselage to make the wing root seam tight—I chopped lengths off of the kit sprue and cut them to length so they were a push-fit into the fuselage and spread them just a slight bit.  Test fit the wing again, and if the fit is tight, reduce the length of the spreaders until it is a sliding fit—not too tight, not too loose…you know, just another Goldilocks situation.

I had to open up one of the slots on the fuselage wing root face that is supposed to interlock with the tabs molded on the root end of the upper wing.  You will also find out that you’ll need to be thorough in removing the parting lines from the aft section of the lower wing that meets up with the aft fuselage.  You know the drill by now—test fit, adjust fit, repeat as necessary.  Once the wing fits, time for cement—I used a few small tacks of CA, then applied Tamiya Extra Thin along the rest of the seams and allowed it to dry overnight.

The upper inlet parts are next.  Test the fit and trim as needed.  Then offer them up, one at a time, and cement only the aft end.  Let the cement dry completely, then cement the top edge and let that dry.  The final step is to maneuver the inlet into place where it meets the wing, then cement and let dry.  Done in this manner, you shouldn’t have too many fit issues.  I did find where the upper half meets the lower half wasn’t as precise as it could be, but we’ll take care of that when we fill and sand the seams.  I also had some gaps between the upper inlets and the splitter on the trunks; I simply filled these with white glue after everything was assembled.

Once all the cement is dry, let’s look after the seams and gaps.  The fuselage seam isn’t too bad—if you did your fitting correctly, the only thing you should need are a few swipes with sandpaper.  The insert on the upper fuselage aft of the cockpit, however, will need some filler.  I used to use all varieties of putty, but these days I use CA almost exclusively.   I have a length of .015” brass wire shoved into the eraser end of a pencil, and I use this to apply small amounts of thin or medium CA to any gaps and seams.  Work small areas at a time.  Apply the CA, let it cure, then sand.  If the defect is small, I use thin CA; any more than about 1mm gets medium CA.  The ONLY time I use an accelerator is when I have a wide gap that opens into a hollow space—the accelerator arrests the travel of the first application of CA so that you won’t wind up filling the hollow space behind the gap.  Otherwise, I let the CA cure naturally.  The important thing to remember about using CA is to sand it as soon as it is hard enough to sand.  Don’t layer on tons of CA and let it sit overnight—CA gets harder as it cures, and becomes a real bear to sand.   Speaking of sanding, I am not prissy—I started with 220 grit sanding film (3M makes some dandy sanding films and sponges) and worked the bulk of the filler down.  Then I switched to 400 grit Tri-M-Ite wet/dry sandpaper (wet) and removed the 220 grit scratches.  I then used 600 grit wet/dry to further smooth and remove the heavy scratches.  The final polishing was done with a Scotchbrite pad (Squadron markets them as “Finishing Pads” if you can’t find gray Scotchbrite pads at Lowe’s or The Home Depot).  Examine the surface for scratches—if there are any deep scratches; repeat the 400/600/Scotchbrite processes until the surface is smooth.  It you really want to go off the deep end, you can polish the plastic to a mirror shine with a nail buffer—but since we’re using paint (as opposed to an NMF), all you really need is a smooth surface without heavy scratches.

Note the gaps that were filled with CA.  Also note the aggressive sanding—with gaps like this, start with 320 grit!

Now, I can tell you this—you WILL lose some of the panel line detailing.  You can handle it one of three ways: 

•  Ignore it.  Under a coat of paint, it isn’t that noticeable.
• Restore it with a scribing tool—I use a sewing needle chucked into a knife handle and my JLC razor saw.  It isn’t too difficult, just work slowly and carefully.  One tip is to flow some Extra Thin into the restored lines to “soften” them—this helps to blend your work into what Kinetic molded.
• After the paint and decals are on, draw them on with a pencil.

With the wing installed and all the seams addressed and panel detail replaced, you can assemble the control surfaces.  Take care here—the holes are larger than the pins on the hinge fairings, so they tend to float a bit both on the wing and on the control surface.  I tried to get everything assembled with a consistent gap, but had to resort to adding a few .015” shims to several of the surfaces to eliminate a “gap-toothed” look and maintain somewhat even gaps between them. 

Note that the trailing edge doesn’t need to be precisely aligned, i.e., the control surfaces don’t need to describe a straight line—the flaperons and elevons moved independently of each other, and could deflect either direction.  You have the option to depict them in the lowered position, but 99% of the photos I looked at of Mirages and Neshers on the ground showed them in the neutral position, so that’s how I built the model.

The resin nose needs to be test fit carefully—resin can shrink unevenly while curing, so make sure it fits before you commit the glue.  I found that mine fit best if I left it to sit high on top and flush around the rest of the perimeter.  I later sanded the top to match the fuselage contour.

The nose in place and the junction sanded smooth

Mask the canopy and windscreen inside and out.  Paint the frames black (I used Vallejo Panzer Gray Surface Primer in the cockpit—it is a nice scale black).  Trust me on this—you should always paint the inside and out of the cockpit glazing if you intend to pose it open—it looks more realistic.

The time to attach the windscreen has arrived.  As you might suspect, test fitting is a must.  I found that I needed to add a .010” shim under the sides to get it to sit relatively flush up front.  Remove the masking from the inside of the windscreen (I left it on during the test fitting to keep from damaging it), then use CA to attach the windscreen along the sides.  Sand the sides flush, then work your way to the front.  I had to add some filler—another reason to paint the frames first, otherwise the filler shows through the clear parts, a colorful reminder to be more careful next time.  For this, I used Perfect Plastic Putty, primarily because I could apply it and smooth it with a wet finger.  I got it roughly shaped, let it dry, and then gave it a light sanding to do the final shaping.

After that, it was all downhill.  I made one last check to make sure all of the items were in position—I left off the clear lenses, antennas, pitot, exhaust, and ordnance, but all the rest of the doo-dads were installed at this point.  A wipe down with a lint-free paper towel moistened with Isopropyl Alcohol, and the model was ready for paint.

I’ve been playing around with the “black basing” technique lately.  Accordingly, the model was primed using Vallejo’s Panzer Grey Surface Primer.  I allowed this to sit for a few days to fully and completely cure (24 hours is usually sufficient).  Then I applied the camouflage using the appropriate Vallejo Model Air colors.  I carefully applied the colors so they were more concentrated in the centers of individual panels and less so on panel lines and structural landmarks—by doing so, the black “peeks through” and creates a shadow effect.  If the shadow looks too harsh, simply apply another thin—the key to this technique is to build color in thin layers—coat of paint.   As a final step, I will thin the paint into a tint and then mist an even coat over the whole area to “homogenize” the finish.  I repeated this process with each color.  After all four colors were applied; I gave the model a close inspection to see if I needed to make any corrections.  I had to touch a few things up, and then left the paint to cure.


The fuselage, primed and ready for color

With the paint fully cured, it was time for decals.  Now, there is a small (but very vocal) faction of modelers who insist that you do not require a clear coat under decals.  And while this is indeed true, if you plan on doing any sort of weathering you really should use a clear coat.  I use Future, or whatever they’re calling the product named Future these days (at last count, it is going by “Pledge Revive It Multisurface Floor Finish”)-- although I am led to understand the Alclad Aqua Gloss is a great product, too.

The key to using Future as a gloss is to apply it and allow it to fully cure—this takes anywhere between 24 and 36 hours.  Once it is fully cured, you can apply your decals.  The first thing to pay attention to is the water you use—if you know, or even suspect, that your water has a high mineral content, simply use distilled water. 

With modern decals, the easiest way to proceed is to apply one decal, no setting solutions or solvents, and let It sit, face-up, for an hour to see how it behaves.  Modern decal adhesives do a good job of pulling the film down into panel lines, but sometimes you will need to employ a solvent—I start with Solvaset, diluted a bit with distilled water.  If that won’t do it, I’ll reduce the amount of water until I’m using it full-strength—usually, that isn’t necessary with modern decals, but older decals might require repeated applications of full-strength Solvaset.  I divide my decals into four sessions—top, bottom, left, and right, and I will support the model so the decals in question can sit face-up while they do their thing—let gravity help when you can, right?

Another important, yet often overlooked, aspect of decals is this: after they’ve dried overnight, you need to gently remove the residual adhesive from the surface of the model.  If you don’t, you run the risk of having brown spots appear after a few years.  Using a lint-free towel (a microfiber towel is good) and some warm distilled water, carefully clean the model—look at the model after you dampen it, the spots of decal residue will appear as spots on a washed dish.  Gentle scrubbing will remove it.  Allow the model to dry…


Decals on, residue removed, and clear coat applied, ready for weathering.

Now, if you are not going to do any additional “weathering”, apply a clear satin or flat coat.  If, however, you’re planning on a panel line wash, apply a coat of clear gloss over the decals.  You can use a satin finish; however, understand that the washing process will stain the paint.  A glossy surface limits the staining and gives you a bit more control.

I added an oil wash.  I will be the first to tell you that I’m not 100% happy with it, and this is partially due to the colors I used.  My tones leaned towards the red end of the color wheel, and it is a touch too red for my liking.  Now, I left well enough alone, but if you find yourself in a similar predicament, the fix is to overlay the original wash with one more to your liking.  Oils are very forgiving that way—sure, whatever you add will mix with what is already down, but you can always mix oils to accommodate the colors already on the model.  You don’t need to rush; they will stay workable for at least six hours, probably longer if you use odorless turpentine.  If, on the other hand, you use something like Naphtha, they will dry quicker.  I’ve never used anything but odorless thinners, so I have never had to worry about it.

Once the wash does dry, you can apply a clear flat or semi-gloss finish.  Unmask the clear bits, and proceed with final assembly…

Oil wash applied.  Ready for final clear matte or sating and final assembly.

The details were added—the landing gear was installed along with the doors.  The exhaust nozzle was painted in various shades of black and Vallejo Metal Color paints to depict the typical scorched metal colors found on these items.  It was added to the model.

The various antennas were painted and added.  The Angle of Attack sensor, one of those turned brass goodies, was installed.  I used the tip of a new #11 blade to locate the hole, and then drilled the hole with a #76 drill.  A small dab of Canopy Glue secured the AOA sensor in place.  The pitot probe was also installed at this time in the same manner.  I used Vallejo Metal Color to paint the probes after they were installed.

The resin missiles and pylon adapters were painted and installed.  Nothing difficult about this step, although you might want to add some brass wire pins to obtain a more secure bond.  I did not, but hindsight may call my bluff on that one…

Last to go on were the seat and the canopy.  I painted the seat following the color photos included in the instruction sheet, added the photoetch details, and detail painted the lot.  The canopy was cleaned up, the interior frame painted with Vallejo Panzer Gray primer, and the photoetch mirrors were added with Canopy Glue.  I added a rod to the hinge tab of the canopy as a positive means of attachment, and the canopy was installed.

Once everything was added to the model, I made a final inspection and touched up any paint glitches and shiny glue spots. 

I have yet to fashion a base for the model.  I know what I want to do, and I am still planning what the final display will be.  Eventually, I want this to be part of an “Israeli Deltas” display, featuring two Mirage III Shahaks (1967 bare metal and 1973 camouflage), the Nesher, and three Kfirs—a C1, C2, and C7.  Six airplanes—you figure out what the base *might* look like… 

But the model itself is complete.  It took some work, but the modeling skills required are all basics—parts clean-up, test fitting, alignment, and careful construction.

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Speaking of the RIPCORD diorama, the FSB RIPCORD Veteran's Association has posted the article from the AMPS Boresight to their website.  I know I've teased with tidbits and photos, so you may as well see the story behind the diorama, too.  Click through it--it runs for about 55 pages on their site. 

Thanks for reading.  Please be safe and stay healthy in this time of COVID.  Be good to one another, and, as always, I bid you Peace.

Tales From the Hangar

Howdy, all…

My Facebook feed is mostly pictures of cats and models, links to music videos, and history tidbits.  A few months ago, I noted the celebration of the first flight of the Cessna Citation.  In my narrative, I said “Cessna’s first jet flies”, and was taken to task by someone who corrected me—Cessna’s first jet was their Model 318, aka the XT-37 trainer. 

The Cessna T-37, designed as an economical basic jet trainer for the U.S. Air Force, featured side-by-side seating for the instructor pilot and student and was powered by a pair of Teledyne-Continental Aviation and Engineering (CAE) J69-T-9 or (T-37B) -25 single-spool centrifugal flow turbojet engines (license-built copies of the French Turbomeca Marboré).  Between the engine design and the inlet design, the airplane had a rather recognizable sound.  Because of the bulbous canopy and the high-pitched engine sounds, it was alternately called “Tweety Bird” (usually shortened to “Tweet”), “Screamin’ Mimi”, “Kerosene Converter” (it converted JP4, aka Jet fuel—which is basically highly refined kerosene—to noise), and “6,000-Pound Flying Dog Whistle”. 

Scanning the feed a day or so ago, I noted that it was the anniversary of the mighty Cessna Tweet’s first flight, which reminded me of something I experienced in my early days as a spark chaser.  Let’s get in the Wayback Machine and travel to 1989…or maybe it was 1990…

We got a phone call from the owner of a 1947 Beechcraft “Bonanza” (aka the “Fork-Tailed Doctor Killer”).  The gentleman told us he was having some problems with his COM radio, and asked us if we had time that day to take a look at it.  We told him to bring it on, and after he arrived we started to debrief him as to the nature of the problem.  He was an older man, jolly and friendly—he reminded me a lot of Burl Ives as Santa Claus riding a Norelco razor head as it slid down a snow-covered hill.

He said his transmitter was noisy—according to him, the actual symptom varied from “hash” (a low rush of static) to a low whistle any time he keyed the microphone.  Some further prodding yielded more of the story—it was a new radio, recently installed by a shop that had a monthly two-page center spread advertisement in “Trade-A-Plane” and “Aero Trader”.  These guys were sort of the “Crazy Eddie” of the avionics world, promising to turn lead to gold in an hour at a discount price.  He told us that they did the job while he waited, which raised all sorts of alarms—on an airplane that old, there were a lot of tripwires that could delay completion of even a simple job.  Anyway, he filled out a Work Order and we got to work.

When this airplane was built, it was built with no radios—that’s simply how they did it back then.  As time wore on, and more air traffic filled the skies, the need for radio communications arose.  Then came a need for some sort of aerial navigation system, then a secondary radar (aka an ATC Transponder), and pretty soon, avionics became a thing.  This airplane previously had an older NAV/COM and transponder installed (probably sometime in the late 1960’s), and they were both recently replaced with new radios, as noted above.  The transponder was working fine, the customer said, as was the NAV.  Only the COM transmitter was giving him problems.  Or so he said…

A quick visual inspection of the airplane indicated that the antennas were older types.  They weren’t the best antennas to use with a modern (well, “modern” for the late 1980’s) radio, but a quick consultation with the installation manuals and a quick phone call to the radio manufacturer in Fort Washington, Pennsylvania (you old time airplane guys know what that means!) allowed that yes, they could be used—they weren’t optimal, but they were allowable.  We checked them for good ground plane and electrical bonding, and they looked as good as 20-something year old antennas could. 

The airplane had only a COM and a NAV for audio sources.  The microphone wires were connected directly to the microphone jack, and the NAV and COM headphone audio—did I mention that this airplane didn’t have a cockpit speaker?—was controlled through an unlabeled toggle switch.  In the UP position, the COM audio went to the headphones, DOWN and the NAV audio was heard.  Not ideal, but workable.  We made a label for the switch functions, stuck it on the instrument panel, and continued.

We checked the airplane’s battery—a low battery level can cause some problems, even though modern radios were more tolerant of low voltage conditions.  The battery checked out, so we did some radio checks sitting on the ramp apron outside the hangar.  Calling the shop wasn’t bad, but a call to Ft. Lauderdale Ground resulted in a reply of “garbled”.  So, the problem varied with distance.  We decided to do some checks with the engine running.  Again, calling a hundred yards to the hangar was okay, but a call to Ground resulted in another “garbled” reply.  We varied the engine RPMs to see if the problem varied with power (indicating a possible generator/alternator issue), but it remained more or less consistent—the transmission was low level audio surrounded by hash.  Every now and then we’d note a low-level whine, too, but the hash was the main issue.

We also noted that the NAV indicator needle tended to “windshield wiper” at times, and the NAV audio had some noise in it, too.  These signs—the weak audio, the weak transmitter at distance, and the erratic navigation needle swings--pointed to bad shielding on the antenna cables and signal wires, and possibly defective antennas and antenna cables.   

We taxied back to the hangar and removed the radio for a bench check—as my boss hammered into my young head many times, “You have to know what you know”.  In other words, we weren’t to assume just because it was a new radio that the radio wasn’t at fault.  We handed the radio off to our bench guy, and he ran it through a functional check.  Everything looked good.

With the radio out, we examined the installation.  The hole in the panel had been enlarged with what appeared to be a chain saw.  The radio mounting rack (“can”) wasn’t very secure, and the forward end wasn’t supported.  We removed the can to get to the wiring.  The wiring—well, let’s say the wiring wasn’t tidy (“mouse nest” more aptly describes what we found).  The wires were stretched tightly behind the instrument panel, and the bundle—if you could call it that—was poorly tied and secured.

Audio lines are shielded wires—the conductors that carry the signals are surrounded by a metallic braid.  This braid acts as a sort of antenna that receives potential noise to keep it off of the signal lines.  The braid would be connected to an airframe ground at one end to shunt the noise to ground (these days, the shield is grounded at all ends, because radio technology has changed and requires stricter High Intensity Radiated Fields, or HIRF, protection).  The antenna feeds are coaxial cables--in this time period, it was RG-58A/U 50-ohm impedance cable with a single braid (more modern radios have low-loss cables with multiple braids and foil shields, again to combat HIRF).  We reasoned that the old cables were probably re-used with the old antennas, because aging cables could have multiple problems, from corrosion to deteriorating shield and/or dielectric insulator.   

The audio wiring in this installation may as well have had no shielding at all.  The audio pairs from the COM and NAV to the switch were unshielded twisted pairs.  The one audio wire that was shielded was the twisted triple conductor for the microphone audio.  The installer didn’t do a good job in terminating the shield—through chance or by sheer luck, he managed to get a few strands of one end of the shield tied to the radio’s power ground.  The audio selector switch was a low-quality switch of the type you might find at Radio Shack (or, as it was also known, “Tandy Avionics”).  The wires were also too short, and it was under tension as routed.  The first thing we thought was that we might as well have the whole mess removed and replaced with a proper harness and new antennas, but that would take quite a while to accomplish.  We showed the customer what we found, and explained just how poor this job was, and that it really needed to be re-accomplished from the beginning.  He wasn’t going for it.  His jolly nature was beginning to recede…

We were told to do what we could with what was there.  After untying the harness (such as it was), we found places where we could get a bit of slack in the harness.  The unshielded audio wires were replaced with properly shielded wires.  We extended the power and ground wires to further alleviate the banjo string tension of the harness.  Finally, we inspected the wires to the NAV indicator, and they looked acceptable.  Our senior installer had a look and gave his seal of approval.

After the wiring was addressed, we looked at the antenna cables.  As we feared, the cables were in bad shape.  The connectors were poorly installed (and these were new connectors installed on the old cables), so they were removed.  We noted some green corrosion between the braid and the dielectric, the jacket was hard and brittle, and the dielectric was crumbling, so we got approval to run a new antenna cables.  We reasoned that while we had everything open, now was the time to make it right. 

We finished our work and called for an inspection.  The shop inspector gave us a thumbs-up, and we closed up the work areas and taxied out for a final check.  The radio checked out good on the ground, all that was needed was an in-flight check.  We told the customer that he really needed to get those antennas replaced.  He said he would do that when he got to his home airport, he paid the bill (grousing about every last nickel we charged him, too!), and prepared to leave.  His jolliness had by now turned to grumpiness.

“What does all this have to do with the T-37?” you’re asking.

I’m getting to that. 

As our customer started up and taxied across the ramp, a T-37A was sitting at our FBO—we had the military fuel contract at Ft. Lauderdale, and this guy was on a cross country training flight and needed fuel.  As we headed out to the ramp to watch our customer depart, we heard the Tweet fire up its engines—an event difficult to miss, since even a deaf man could hear the banshee-like wail of the J69s.  As the Tweet pilot went through his preflight checks, the airplane sat there, whistling away.

We also watched as our customer taxied away from the hangar, rolled up directly alongside the jet, set his parking brake, and attempted to call the tower for his departure clearance.  After a few minutes, the customer turned back to the hangar.  We didn’t know what was going on, but we had an idea as to why.  Our bench guy confirmed our thoughts.  He had been monitoring the radio in the shop, and when the customer keyed his microphone, the only sound transmitted was the ear-piercing screech of two J69s at idle.  The controllers in the tower never heard his voice, only the sound of the jets.  Our bench guy came out of the shop and told us what was going on as the customer taxied up.

The customer shut the airplane down and climbed out—and boy, was he hot!  “You have no clue what you’re doing!  The problem is worse than it was before!  I want my money back!”  Frankly, I was worried that he would have a stroke or massive coronary right there on the ramp, he was shouting so loud.

The boss pointed to the diminutive jet trainer, by now taxiing out to the runway.  The noise was still ear-splitting—even more so with the increased power settings needed for the airplane to taxi.  “You were sitting right next to that when you tried to call the tower.  Try again!” the boss shouted to him.

Red-faced, the customer got into his airplane, started up, and departed without further incident.

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I’m in the middle of a belated annual sports let-down.  COVID-19, I don’t think I have to tell you, threw a large wrench into the sprockets of the major sports series.  Since my annual yardstick tends to be measured by the various sporting events and seasons, this year a lot got bunched up in the past six weeks.  So, instead of having a few months between events, they all came or are coming up in the space of about eight weeks.  The Stanley Cup, the U.S. Open (tennis), the French Open, The Masters, Sebring, World Series, NBA Championships, they’ll all be back to back this year.

Also, several events I like to watch were cancelled:  Wimbledon, the races at Watkins Glen and Pocono, some of the NHRA drag races…

After all this is over, I am hoping we can get a handle on COVID-19 and next year can reset to whatever the new normal will be.

                                              *     *     *     *    *     *     * 

Other events effected by COVID-19, and I’ve mentioned this in passing, have been scale model shows.  We were on the calendar for the Third Annual South Carolina Scale Model Mega Show in June.  In April, we decided to postpone until August, and in July we finally pulled the plug.  Most other local and regional shows were postponed or cancelled.  The two big shows in the U.S., the IPMS/USA National Convention and the AMPS International convention were also cancelled, the latter after being initially moved from Harrisburg, PA to Danbury CT and postponed.  Scale Modelworld in Telford as well as the Shizouka Hobby Show were also cancelled.

                                              *     *     *     *    *     *     * 

So, with all this time on my hands, I should be a model building fool, right?  Not so much.  As noted previously, I have managed to winnow my long-term project drawers (some may call it a Shelf of Doom) to one—the Aeroclub 1/48^th scale Gloster Gamecock.  I also have embarked on a few 1/72^nd scale F-4 projects.  But what has really eaten into my time has been research and writing—I’ve been working on four articles in association with the Phantom projects, as well as trying to put something together for our club newsletter and this blog. 

                                              *     *     *     *    *     *     * 

Needless to say, my gripes are quite minor in comparison to folks who have been directly affected by this disease.  In my own extended family, my cousin’s husband died in February from what was most likely COVID-19—remember, in February, 99.9% of Americans hadn’t even heard of COVID, so there is no 100% confirmation, but the symptoms he exhibited certainly sound familiar—high fever, cough, shortness of breath, and pneumonia-like symptoms. 

Several other friends of mine have been infected, too, and are in various stages of recovery. 

Bottom line:  Wear a mask, maintain social distancing, and practice good hygiene.  These are simple steps that, according to science, works.  If we all do our part, we can put COVID out of business. 

Game-Changing Moments

Howdy, all…

Set the Wayback Machine.  The date:  July, 1982.  The place:  Warrick Custom Hobbies, Ft. Lauderdale, Florida.

The summer was winding down.  I had graduated high school in early June, and we went north for a few weeks to celebrate and visit family.  This was my one and only (so far) visit to the Air and Space Museum in Washington, and I literally could have spent a week there alone--as it was, we went twice because one of the other places were wanted to visit was closed.  I must have taken a hundred pictures with my new 110 Instamatic.  Yeah, I have no idea where any of those photos went.  To this day, I haven’t been able to find any of them…

A week or so after we got home, I went to my recently-discovered hobby haven to look at the latest kits.  On my previous visit several months before, I had previously spied a few kits that I might want to bring home with me.  So, I grabbed the car keys and set out.

I strolled around—I was only beginning to discover the depth of merchandise housed within the store.  There wasn't anything in the stacks that grabbed me on that day (I know, right?), so I went to the magazine rack and started looking at the books.  The first to call to me was Sheperd Paine’s How to Build Dioramas.  Having pored over his diorama sheets from the Monogram kits for a few years, I decided that I probably should pick this up.  Back in the day, it was only about 9 dollars American, about the same as one of the Otaki kits of the day.  Next to it was Hints and Tips for Plastic Modelers.  I flipped through it, and there was quite a lot of information packed into the book.  Four bucks—yeah, I can swing it.  Then, as I turned the rack, a magazine cover caught my attention:

Image:  Kalmbach Publishing

I gave the magazine a quick once-over, verified that I had the extra two and a quarter (plus the 4% for Governor Bob Graham), and took my finds to the counter.  The guy at the counter—who had previously saved me from buying a Nichimo Avenger, noting it was nothing more than a re-box of the Marusan 1/50 scale kit, itself a poor copy of the Monogram kit—told me he liked the new magazine, and thought I would, too.  I settled my tab--so much for that $20 bill--and drove home.

When I opened the magazine at the house, the following words greeted me:

 

Image:  Kalmbach Publishing

As I scanned the articles, I noticed the editorial in action.  Unlike the previous scale modeling magazines I had read in which the articles were text-driven with a few shots (mostly in black and white) of the completed models, the articles in this magazine actually took time to show me what the process looked like.  There were detail drawings.  Color references.  Notes about where to find the stuff they used to build the models.  Also unlike the other magazines, the history of the prototypes was mercifully brief—a paragraph or two, tops, but the meat of the article was the model and how the builder made it look that way.

At the time, I was still an airplane geek—sure, I built a few tanks and ships, and more than a few cars—but I found myself reading and re-reading all the articles in the issue.  The scratchbuilt 1/76th scale Abrams captivated me—I thought the Abrams was a neat-looking vehicle, and the MERDC color schemes (which I found quite attractive) were just coming into vogue, and were certainly more interesting that straight green.  But the color scheme was only the tip of the iceberg—the way Steve Zaloga wrote the article was almost begging me to try to do the same.  All along the way, he made it sound like any modeler could do this, and he did it without treating the lesser skilled modelers like imbeciles or idiots.  The tone was advanced, but the undertones were inviting everybody to give it a try. 

The only article of a subject in my area of interest was Ernie Pazmany’s Fw-190 conversion, and I certainly learned a great deal from his model.  The same holds for Richard Stazak’s vacuum-form kit article—I had only seen one vac kit to date back then, and I wondered how you built it.  Now I knew.  And, true to Bob Hayden’s word, I managed to take something away from every article in the issue, even though I didn’t build armor, or Navy jets, or space ships, or boxed dioramas.

I must have read and re-read that copy a dozen times before I decided that I needed to subscribe.  I had to scrounge for the twelve bucks (introductory rate, IIRC—the ad in the first “real” issue said $15) for eight issues, or two years, but to me, it was well worth the price.  Twelve dollars would have bought a nice model kit and the paint it needed, but I could buy them any time.  As I matured (ha!), I reasoned that it was like the parable about men, fishing, and eating.  I could have bought a model that kept me busy for a few days—and yeah, I would have learned something, I’m sure—or I could buy the magazine that would teach me how to build better models for years to come.  I would still subscribe to that other magazine, but it paled in comparison to FSM. 

Of the early issues, I remember most of the articles, simply because I read them over and over, extracting as much knowledge as I could from each page and every image.  To this day, I can still remember the sense of amazement I experienced when I read Boh Boksanski's article on combining a vacuum formed and injection molded kit into a fabulous model of an airplane I had only read snippets about (the B-50D) that was painted with...dope?  Pactra Silvaire Aluminum dope?  Yep.  Dope.  Wow. 

Or Mike Dario's conversion of a vacuum-formed F-89D to the earlier cannon-nosed F-89C, painted with what to me seemed to be a strange concoction of Floquil's Crystal Cote, Dio-Sol, and Pactra Silver.  I would later rely on the recipe and alter it to come up with a home brewed acrylic metal finish paint many years later, a recipe I used until Vallejo's Metal Colors made their debut.

My all-time #1 modeling article of all time is still Bob Steinbrunn's cockpit detailing article from the October (Fall) 1983 issue.  My original copy of that issue became so shop-worn and dog-eared that when I found a mint condition copy in the late 1990's, I snapped it up. 

To give you an indication of how much I ate this stuff up, my first copy of Shep Paine's book on dioramas that I bought with that Test Issue of FSM was likewise (as they say around here) "slap wore out" by 1984 or 1985...I finally bought a new copy, as well as the Second Edition, in 2000.

I would go off to college shortly after I read that first “Test” issue, but I would look forward to reading the new issues when I would go home for the occasional weekend.  Since it was a quarterly back in the day, and since I wasn’t at the house but three or four times a semester, the wait wasn’t too horrible.  And once the new issue arrived, I was off to read it from cover to cover, several times.

Through FSM, I learned of IPMS, and of local clubs.  After I graduated and came home, I would spend more time at the hobby shop—doubtless looking to buy all those kits I had read about in FSM.    I started to meet fellow modelers who said I should start going to the IPMS/Flight 19 meetings.  I went to one in late 1989, and as the story goes, was a bit gun shy to bring anything, but I did—I had a Nichimo Ki-43 Oscar in 1/48^th scale that I built a few years earlier.  I had dipped my toes into weathering on that one—I used a Tamiya silver marker to check seams, and added a few patches here and there for good measure.  I would swab the paint on with the paint marker, and then wipe off the excess with toilet tissue.  When I applied my finish colors (Polly-S in those days), I let them dry for a few minutes, then used a tight roll of masking tape to pick off spots of color to reveal the silver underneath.  I thought it was merely okay, but by the number of questions I got from the other guys you would have thought I had invented beer. 

As I looked at the other models on display, I was impressed by the scope and quality of the work and it seemed like everybody was there to help each other.  That was my kind of group, and I was a member from that night in 1989 until I moved away in 2001.  For some odd reason, I got roped into serving as the club President from around 1993 until we moved. 

A funny story about that first meeting—I knew the guys from the shop, and as I was socializing and meeting the rest of the gang, I bumped into an old high school friend.  I hadn’t seen him in seven years, and had no idea he built models.  He had, like me, been building since he was a kid.  Without clubs, that’s pretty much what model building was in the day…a lone wolf hobby.

Between discovering FSM (and the Kalmbach books) and joining IPMS/Flight 19, I was on the way to being a better model builder.  What I learned back then has become the foundation of the skills I use to this day.  Further, and I’ve already discussed it, I met people who are friends to this day.  For what can be a solitary pastime, that speaks volumes.

*     *     *     *     *     *

One of the hobby manufacturers who was noted as introducing a line of paints matched to Federal Standards in Mr. Hayden’s editorial was none other than Testors, through their Model Master line.  In fact, the ad inside the cover of the next issue was for Model Master products.  In the nearly 40 years since then, the Model Master line was expanded to include the Metalizer products (bought from the originator), new colors, acrylic colors, brushes, blades, knives, tools, clear finishes, and a whole raft of modeling “stuff”.

Republic Powdered Metal (now RPM International) had acquired Testors a few years previous, along with Floquil/Polly-S, and were in the process of acquiring Pactra.  They also owed or would eventually own Zinser, Bondo, and Rust-Oleum. 

Testors got into the airbrush business in 1991 when they first marketed the Aztek airbrush as the “Model Master Airbrush”.  I bought one, sight unseen, as soon as Warrick Hobbies could get them in stock, and I used it until the early 2000s.  Aztek was a UK-based manufacturer of airbrushes and within a year of Testors marketing the Aztek, RPM (Testors parent company since the early 1980s) would buy Aztek and expand the line.

That 40-year run is coming to an end.

RPM has announced that all Pactra, Floquil, and Model Master Products have been discontinued.  Apparently, they are contracting the line back to where it was in 1978—square bottle enamels, their original tube and liquid cements and putties, and the inexpensive brushes.  It seems like several big steps backward, but apparently RPM had to answer to the shareholders, so they have moved the focus of their efforts to the craft scene.

There has been a lot of wailing and gnashing of teeth over this decision, but as I wrote on one of the online forums, there is nothing Testors made or marketed that you cannot obtain replacements for elsewhere.  The bite comes when you will have to order it, since the local stores might not carry it.

*     *     *     *     *     *
In related news, Revell has announced they will be marketing their paints and finishing materials in the U.S., including enamels, acrylics, and spray lacquers.  They should be hitting the stores before the end of the year.

*     *     *     *     *     *

The 2020 AMPS International Convention, initially planned for Harrisburg, PA in May and moved to Danbury, CT for late September, has been cancelled.   Given the resurgence of COVID-19 in some states, and the quarantine orders several of the Northeastern Governors have enacted for folks traveling to their states, it came as no surprise that it, too, has been shelved.

*     *     *     *     *     *
I have a few model-related research projects underway.  One is fairly straightforward and will probably become an article on the F-4J(UK), the surplus U.S. Navy Phantoms purchased for the Royal Air Force and put into service by No. 74(F) Squadron in 1984.

The second project is more complicated.  From the time I first saw one of the photographs of a 340^th Bombardment Group B-25 buried under ash after the 1944 eruption of Mount Vesuvius, I wanted to recreate it in miniature.  The sharper ones out there will see the problem right away: the lack of good, comprehensive documentation of the Twelfth and Fifteenth Air Forces in Italy.  It has been a bit of a hidden treasure hunt so far.  The books that are out in the world are either rather dated (Kenneth Rust’s books date back to 1975), limited in scope, or are nothing more than picture books.  The websites, too, are disjointed and scattered.  I even sent one of the webmasters an e-mail suggesting that the various sites join forces, like the old Web Rings. 

We’ll see how that pans out...

That's about all for now.  Thanks for reading!

Stay safe and healthy! 

Be good to one another, and, as always, I bid you Peace.

Old School Sea King

Howdy, all!

Last time we talked about Fujimi kits, and I promised you a rundown of the Sea King model I built not too long ago.  Well. here she be...

Building Fujimi’s 1/72 scale SH-3

In the 1950’s, the Soviet Union began fielding a larger and more potent force of submarines, both to conduct offensive strikes and to deal with enemy shipping.  In response, the Department of Defense—specifically, the U.S. Navy—began developing weapons to counter the threat. 

Among the equipment in development, Sikorsky began investigating the use of turboshaft engines on helicopters to replace the obsolescent piston engines then in use with the fleet.  The helicopter they designed, the Sea King, would serve the Navy until 2006.

Designed around a sealed amphibious hull and twin General Electric T58 turboshaft engines, the Sea King combined the missions of submarine hunting and submarine killing—previously, antisubmarine helicopters were either hunters or killers.  Initially designated HSS-2 (H=Helicopter, S=Antisubmarine, S= Sikorsky, 2=second subtype), it would be re-designated SH-3 in 1961.  Although the SH-3 had nothing in common with the HSS-1 Seabat—itself a variant of the S-58/H-34 family—other than the manufacturer, in the day, funding for an existing design was easier to obtain than for a clean-sheet design.  If they wanted to stick to the HSS nomenclature, it would have more accurately been HS2S-1…

The design would be stretched into the U.S. Air Force’s HH-3E with a rear loading ramp, and eventually Sikorsky would take the basic SH-3 design, stretch it, widen it, and introduce the CH/HH-53 series.  While not physically related, the family lineage is apparent.

Over the years, it was upgraded to the SH-3D, SH-3H, and SH-3G variants.  A civilian variant, the S-61, was produced and initially used to ferry passengers from downtown Ney Your City and Los Angeles to their respecting international airports, where the passengers could catch their flights—it saved time and trouble dealing with traffic.  S-61’s have also been used in aerial firefighting.

Fujimi’s 1/72 scale Sea King kits date back to 1981, and are quite nice, even now.  The kit was available in several boxings, depicting U.S. Navy SH-3’s, Japanese HSS-2B’s, and British Sea Kings (HAR.3 and Sea King Mk. 41).  Revell Germany also issued the kit as a Sea King Mk.41 (not to be mistaken for Revell’s own new-tool Sea King Mk.41 that appeared in 1998), and the kit also appeared in a Testors box.  Currently, Italeri has it in a box commemorating the Apollo 11 recovery featuring “Old 66”.  Options included in the box allow you to build it as an early or late Sea King—the short and long sponsons and stabilizers are included, along with a few different interior options.  This model was built from one of the JMSDF issues of the kit, a kit I picked up second-hand.  By the condition of the decals (and, as I would discover, the brittleness of the plastic), it probably lived most of its life in an unconditioned space.  The decals didn’t matter, but I would face several issues relating to the condition of the plastic all throughout the project.

Fujimi’s venerable Sea King kit dates to 1981, but is still pretty good for its age.

Initially, I was going to build one of the CH-3B’s that the United States Air Force used to service the Texas Tower radar platforms, and I began the project with that in mind.  I was going to delete the ASW gear in the cabin, so I installed the plugs for the SONAR well.  The more I started digging, the more I realized that I had a lot more information to gather for a CH-3B, and rather than let this kit languish, I decided to reverse course. 

I still wanted an early Engine Gray (aka Seaplane Gray, FS36081) aircraft.  I started digging in my decal stash, and located two sheets that had that as an option:  Microscale 72-391 and Cutting Edge Decals CED72008.  I opted for the latter, since it had a colorful ship for HS-5 “Night Dippers” off the USS Lake Champlain (CVS-39).  As it turns out, I would also use the Microscale sheet for the data—the Fujimi decals were worthless in that regard (remember, it was the JMSDF issue with appropriate Japanese data), and Cutting Edge does not provide it.

 

   Left: CED72008, supplies main scheme           Right: Microscale 72-391, supplies data

I took a look at what I had done to that point.  Removing the plug from the cabin floor was easy—the SONAR enclosure would hide any ugliness.  But the fuselage plug was another issue—when I attempted to remove it (I applied some Tamiya Extra Thin to weaken the earlier bond), part of the fuselage came out with it.  I was fully prepared to make the required repairs, but my wife (who also happens to be the Sea King Subject Matter Expert over on the Tailhook Topics website) offered me her Sea King spares box for anything I may need.  So, I selected a pair of fuselage halves that would work for me.  The port side came from a Sea King Mk. 41 issue, and is molded in green.  The starboard side was from one of the USN SH-3 issues, and was molded in white.  Parts from the original kit are almost an ivory color.  So, in the pictures you will notice that the model looks like Lou Antonio’s “Lokai” character from the “Let That Be Your Last Battlefield” episode of “Star Trek”—there’s the reason why.  I also would use sponson stub pylon parts and landing gear from her spares, since the originals were brittle and I managed to break them during construction.

I stuck pretty much to an out of the box build, but several items couldn’t be left alone: the cabin interior was flat and featureless (a quick look inside of a Sea King reveals structural members that are quite visible) other than the optional window cut lines and some ejector pin marks, the main landing gear wells opened up into the interiors of the sponsons, and I wanted to fold the main rotor to save on display space.

I revisited my earlier cabin work and added the ASW consoles and seats, as well as the “broom closet” and SONAR housing.  I left the aft web seat out for now.  In the cockpit, I added a second collective (the kit only has one), and assembled the rest per the instructions.

Now comes the fun.  I filled the window cut lines with a mixture of CA (super glue) and microballoons and sanded them flush once cured.  There are quite a few ejection pin marks and sink marks inside the cabin, too, and these also got addressed.  The good thing about the CA/microballoons mixture is that it cures fast but does not get as hard as straight CA—it sands and fathers easily.

Next, I took a pencil, and using the rivet lines on the exterior of the fuselage, I drew corresponding lines inside.  Using various sizes of Evergreen strip stock, I added the indications of frames and stringers inside the left half—the right side cannot be seen, so I didn’t waste the effort, time, or materials.  Simply cut the strip stock to length, and cement it in place with Tamiya Extra Thin.  You’ll need to hold the stock in place for a few minutes while the cement grabs.

I also fashioned a cabin overhead from Evergreen sheet.  I used the overhead from one of the new Airfix kits to cut a pattern from an index card.  I test fit the pattern and adjusted it until the fit was to my liking.  I transferred the pattern shape to some .015” sheet, cut the pattern out, and did some final fettling to get it “just right”.  I installed some .040” square stock as gluing tabs for the overhead.

Window cut lines filled and structure added—that’s the Airfix overhead I used as a template in the foreground

The widows were cleaned and installed at this time.  I used CA—sparingly—and allowed it to wick into the seam.  Done carefully, the windows will be installed securely and the seam between the window and fuselage should be sealed.  If you want the flush look, add more CA to the outside seam and then sand and polish the windows back to clarity.  Once that was done, I masked the windows and painted the interior areas FS36321 Dark Gull Gray.  The seat cushions were painted orange, and I added paper seat belts to all of the seats, and used a greenish tan shade for the web seat.  The interior was then added to the fuselage halves, and the fuselage was assembled (don't forget to un-mask the insides of the windows!).  The fit was quite good, I only needed to add some CA into the seam on the bottom.  A quick sanding, making sure to keep the keel sharp, and that was that.

The interior “pan” painted.  I didn’t go into a great deal of detail, since 99% of this won’t be seen.

The insides of the fuselage—note that I only added structure where you could see it

The engine inlet face needed to be fitted carefully—there isn’t a lot to positively locate it, so work carefully.  I still wound up with some gaps, and rather than use CA as filler, I used Vallejo putty.  It is workable with a wet brush, so I applied the putty and smoothed it out.  After it dried, a quick touch with sandpaper feathered in any errant edges.

The engine inlet face installed.

The early issues of this kit have an issue with the cockpit windows—the lower horizontal frames are far too wide.  My kit had the later corrected version, but forewarned is forearmed and all that.  I first cleaned up a rather large scratch with Micro Mesh pads and Novus Polish, and then gave the canopy a dip in Future.  Once the Future cured (overnight), I masked and sprayed the inside of the “greenhouse” windows—in the case of early Sea Kings, they were actually blue.  I used Tamiya’s Clear Blue for this.  Another curing period and the canopy panes were masked with Tamiya Tape, trimmed with a brand new #11 blade.  I masked my canopy before I installed it, but you can do it whenever suits your mood.

I used Pacer’s Formula 560 Canopy Glue to secure the canopy.  I had to use small tacks of CA in a few spots, since the top of the fuselage tended to bow more than the top of the canopy—gentle pressure on the fuselage, a tack of CA to lock it into position, and then some Canopy Glue to fill the small gaps, and you’re done. 

With most of the fuselage together, I dealt with the sponsons.  The halves were cleaned up, and then I sized a bit of Evergreen sheet to form the sides of the gear wells.  I installed it right over the sockets for the struts, and once the sides of the well were secure, I drilled matching holes.  I cut a bit of sheet to act as the well’s roof, and secured it to one side.  The sponsons were assembled—don’t forget to install the struts!--and the roof was attached to the other side wall to close it up.  I then sized bits of sheet to close off the fore and aft ends of the wells.  A bit of sanding to make the sides of the well flush with the bottom of the sponson, and we could check that off the list.

All you need is Evergreen and time.  Tell me, which looks better?

When you install the sponsons, do a test first to make sure the support strut will fit okay.  Note that there is a normal gap between the sponson’s stub wing and the fuselage on the actual aircraft, so don’t fill it.  You should, however clean up the fit of the struts where they meet the fairings.

You can see the gap that needs to be filled where the strut meets the fairing.

The horizontal stabilizer was added, and the gap was filled.  The basic carcass is now complete.

The tail rotor was cleaned up of flash, and the hub detail added.  I also cleaned up the main rotor parts, assembled and cleaned up the dipping SONAR unit, rescue hoist, pitot masts, main wheels, and the fuel dump.  Early Sea Kings didn’t have the ice shield or rotor cap, so those went to the spares box.  I ascertained that this helicopter had the split pitot probes—earlier aircraft had them both located on the right side in a vertically staggered arrangement.  I left them off for painting; however, since there would be some tight work needed around the engine doghouse, they would have been in the way had I installed them now.  I should have left the fuel dump off, too—I wound up breaking it several times.

Everything got a coat of Vallejo’s Panzer Gray Surface Primer.  It gives a uniform base of subsequent colors, and acts as a very nice scale black.  I masked the lower canopy frames that would remain black (the chin windows and lower windscreen frames) and the flame pads near the engine exhausts.  Next, I used Vallejo White Surface Primer on the nose and tail band area—fluorescent and Day-Glo paints don’t do well unless there is a white backing for them.  The areas were masked off in preparation for the main color.  I looked and looked, and swore I had a bottle of 36081—but all I had was the Testor Acryl modern Engine Gray.  I also needed the red-orange paint, so I placed a supplies order.  As usual, Sprue Brothers Models was quick to ship…

Primed and ready.

The Seaplane Gray went on without a hitch.  I unmasked the white areas and back-masked them for the red-orange.  Yes, I could have shot the red-orange on before the gray, but as it was I had two layers of paint—I wasn’t going to chance that the tape would lift any of the paint.  The red-orange is from Lifecolour, and I gotta say this—that was some really nice paint!  It only needed minimal thinning and it laid down very nicely.

We now have a gray and white model. 

      Red on the fuselage, Gull Gray on the blades.

The tail rotor tips were masked, and the white was sprayed on the tips.  When dry, the white areas were masked and the red added.  It was unmasked and set aside for later.

Tail rotor, ready to go.

The main rotors’ undersides were masked, and the tops given a coat of FS36440 Light Gull Gray (I used some of the last of my Acryl paint on this).  The yellow bands and tips were masked and painted.  Once they were dry, I assembled the blades to the rotor head.

The main rotor assembled in the unstowed position.

“But wait a minute—you were going to fold the rotor, right?”  Patience pays here.  It is easier to assemble the main rotor, and then cut four of the five blades off.  Using my JLC razor saw, I cut the blades from the hub just outside the main rotor head collars—this is a wee bit longer than the lap joint on the blades reaches, so I trued everything up with a sanding block.  Keep track of which blade goes where, too—I merely set them on my bench in the order they were removed around the head.

Four of the five blades cut from the head.

To replace the material lost in the cutting, I added pads of .010” Evergreen sheet stock to both the blades and the rotor head.  Now, comes the fun.  The rigid blade is #1, therefore I needed to fold the #2 and #5 blades aft.  I added a small section of Evergreen angle stock, sanded it until it was thinner and matched the angles I needed—I didn’t measure the angles, I merely eyeballed things until they looked like the reference photos I was using.  I used CA here, since it grabs fast and I can lock it if I need to with some accelerator.  Once they were secure, I filled the angle a bit with more CA, and sanded everything smooth.

Added the styrene pad, angle stock, and…done.  Now, one more of these…

For the #3 and #4 blades, they not only fold back, but also down and lie almost flat to the fuselage.   Again, I added angle stock and placed it to orient the blades where they needed to be.  Again, I assembled everything with CA to get a solid bond.  If you look closely, it won’t make sense, but it is the appearance that counts here.  I was satisfied with the look of the rotor, and that’s what matters.

Now, were folded.

I took care of the rotor while the decals went on the rest of the model.  As I said earlier, I used the Cutting Edge markings and the Microscale data.  Everything went on easily, although I did make a goof—I’ll let you guys and gals have a look and see if you can tell.  I’m not sayin’ a word…I can live with it.  Good thing, too—fixing it would require a ton of work (and another set of decals!) that I’d rather not do…

I apply decals over a model that’s had a clear gloss applied.  I use Future, thinned 50-50 with Isopropyl Alcohol, for this task.  You can apply it straight if you wish, I find that the alcohol yields a thinner coat and a smooth but not too shiny finish.

 

Decal time.  I do one side at a time, and let gravity help pull them tight.

By the bye, there is a small (but very vocal) faction of modelers online who claim you don’t need it, that as long as the paint is smooth, you’re good to go.  And largely, this is true—decals only need a smooth surface to adhere to without silvering.  But if you weather with washes, you will find that the untreated paint will stain differently than the paint protected by the decal film—the work-around(s):  Remove all the clear film from your decals OR paint on all your markings OR apply a clear gloss.  I’ve been doing the Microscale System for so long that it is ingrained in the way I build models, and it works, so I’ll stick to it.  If your mileage varies, that’s cool—far be it to me to tell you how to build your models.  The decals settled down nicely, for the most part, but around some of the rivets they needed some help—a bit of Solvaset did the trick.  Once dry, the model was wiped down with a moist (with distilled water--I use distilled water for all phases of the decal application) microfiber towel—this removes the excess decal glue and solvent residue and prevents these areas from turning brown months or years later.

Another coat of Future, again cut 50-50 with Isopropyl Alcohol, was applied.  I allowed it to dry, and then stripped off the masking from the clear parts.  A few licks of paint to color details—the antennas (Panzer Gray primer), the tips of the pitot tubes and landing lights (Molotov chrome marker—next time, I’ll use MV lenses for the landing lights), the engine inlet bullets (Vallejo Mediterranean Blue and White mixed to match the blue of the checkerboard decals), and the inlet rings (Panzer Gray primer) were brush painted in the relevant colors.  As the last paint operations, I masked off the wheel wells and painted them white, made a mask for the two oval antennas on the forward belly and painted them with Desert Tan Surface Primer, and masked the stainless panels around the exhausts and painted them Vallejo Metal Color Dark Aluminum.

Ready for final assembly.

A close shot of the front end.  You can see a lot in the photo—the exhausts and inlets are painted, the pitot masts are installed, the engine spinners are painted, and the position light on the sponson is complete.

I had sanded the tail beacon off during construction.  I made a new one from a drop of Canopy Glue.  I also removed the lower beacon (I sanded off of the chin fairing), and replaced it in the same manner.  I cut the molded position lights on the sponsons off, and small dabs of Canopy Glue replaced them.  When the glue drops were dry, the lights were painted in the relevant colors using Tamiya Clear Red and Clear Green.  A clear position light was added to the aft end of the tail.

The remaining parts were installed with Canopy Glue.  The benefit of using Canopy Glue is that the bond breaks before the part does, so if the model gets bumped, you can easily repair anything that pops loose.  Any shiny glue spots were addressed with either Future or Matt Varnish, as the situation warranted.

The main rotor still needed work.  As it was, the tips of the blades stuck straight out.  I used a small section of .040” square stock to raise the forward edge of the rotor head—this dropped the blades to where they looked like the reference photos I used.  As a final detail, I made the rotor tie-downs from paper and thread.  I slid the bags over the ends of the rotors and secured the “ropes” to the tail wheel as shown in photos.  This will put some tension on the blades and get them to curve down a bit.  There was no “one” way these were secured—look at your photos and build what you see.

A little stock to get the right “sit” on the rotor head, then some paper and thread will tie down the main rotor.

All models need a base—it is literally a frame for your model.  Simple bases for aircraft models are easy—they are usually a flat base covered with either turf, pavement, or, in the case of ships, a deck (either wood or steel).  I had a craft-store plaque lying around that I inherited from someone who simply left them at the hobby shop as freebies.  It wasn’t in the greatest shape—it had scratches and dings on it.  I sanded it as smooth as I could, filled the dings and divots, and gave it a few coats of Matt Black using a craft acrylic.  Once the paint was dry, I shot on a few coats of Future—I have an older bottle that was turning yellow, and I had added some food coloring to create a tint. 

I created the deck using a piece of mat board I bought as part of a package of off-cuts from the crafts store.  I measured the base, cut the mat board to size, and then used a pencil and a straightedge to simulate the deck planks.  I had a good photo of the Champ’s deck, and I followed it as closely as I could—Essex-class carrier decks were planks set side to side.  About every eight planks, there was a steel frame with tie-down cleats.  In the case of my base, I didn’t bother with the cleats, since the deck was so dark.  Once the planks were embossed, I painted the mat board with Vallejo Tire Black.  Once dry, I masked and painted the stripes and helipad location.  A coat of matt clear finished the job.

A simple base sets your model off.  This took about an hour and used common materials found in craft shops.

I glued small squares of felt to the corners of the bottom of the plaque, and attached the deck to the top side, all with Tacky Glue.  I whipped up a quick placard in PowerPoint and printed it on card stock, trimmed it to size, and attached it to the deck with Spray Mount.

The final step was to attach the helicopter to the deck with a few dabs of Canopy Glue.  With that, another model is ready for the display cabinet.

A dab or two of glue, a placard, and we’re done.

From the top.  The folded rotor adds some visual interest and saves on display space.

So there you have it.  All told, this took maybe 10 nights of work, about three hours per night--give or take.  You can plow a lot more work into one of these kits--detailing the cockpit, detailing the rotor heads, adding small details to the exterior--but I only added what I considered the bare minimum required to make it look good on the shelf. 

I'm happy with the end result, but not satisfied--the model is quite attractive, sure, but as the "father" of the finished model, I cannot help cringe when I see my boo-boos.  In the end, it gives me an excuse to build another...and another.  By doing, you learn.  By practicing, you become a master.  Isn't that what it is all about?

Thanks for stopping by.  Be good to one another, and, as always, I bid you Peace.

Fujimi, Fujimi, wherefore art thou, Fujimi? (With apologies to The Bard)

Howdy, all…

I’ve been reading a lot of back issues of modeling magazines lately—way, way back issues, from the early 1980’s.  I was reading FineScale Modeler, to be precise (and if you are a fan of the magazine and haven’t yet bought their 25 years, 1982-2007  and 10 years, 2008-2018 DVD’s, what are you waiting for?), especially the early issues between the initial Test Issue in 1982 until around 1987 just to look back and remember how it used to be.  Incidentally, a lot of tools and products that modelers today seem to think are “new” actually date back to pre-FSM days.  (I’ll cover the early days of FSM in a later post—I’ve been trying to write it for several weeks now, but always find something lacking.)

When the magazine first came out, I was a 1/48 scale WWII airplane modeler.  If it did not fit that collection, I wasn’t interested.  A few years later, my tastes changed—well, they didn’t change, per se, I just grew my areas of interest.  In the Fall of 1986, I embarked on a 1/48^th F-111 using the Monogram rework of the Aurora F-111A kit.  I had recently discovered the Detail and Scale series, too, and after reading the reviews, looking at the photos, and comparing them to the actual plastic, I saw nothing but a major fight with the kit.  I was at a crossroads.  While at one of the Daytona hobby shops (most likely Sky, Ltd.—HobbyCraft Junction had closed, and Ace RC had only a small selection), I spied the Monogram 1/72 F-105G.  Having been a fan of the Thud since I saw a picture in the family’s Collier’s Encyclopedia (again, this was when most families actually owned an encyclopedia set), and having built the Monogram 1/48^th scale kit in 1983, I was intrigued.  I bought the kit, and quickly liked the idea of jets in 1/72 scale.  (I gave the ‘Vark to a college friend, who finished it respectably, showing that it *could* be done—and if you wanted a 1/48^th scale F-111, this was the only way at the time.) 

I reasoned that a 1/48^th F-105 is almost the same length as a 1/48^th B-25, and I realized that doing jets in the smaller scale did two things: saved display space—well, it didn’t really “save” space, since there were now more kits to build, the smaller kits just allowed for more models to be shown in the same space—and opened up a vast variety of subjects to my collection. 

Sticking with the 1/72 scale theme, I would buy and build the Monogram EF-111A in the Spring of 1987, a Hasegawa F9F-2 Panther in the Fall of 1987, and a Monogram F-4D in the Spring of 1988, rounding out my years at “The Harvard of the Sky”.  Later, after I graduated and joined the real world, I would build Fujimi’s AH-1J, and ESCI’s F-104C and Mirage F.1.  As I started building for other people, I would build several copies of the Heller C-118, Hasegawa’s F-14, S-3, and F-16A+; Monogram’s F-4J and F-105G; and Revell’s F-89D.  My journey to the “Dark Side” was complete—almost.  I still build WWII fighters in 1/48^th scale.

At about the same time, I also started to shrink my WWII bombers to 1/72 scale, and for the same reasons.  I would find the Italeri B-25’s, Airfix A-26 and B-26, Revell’s A-20, B-24, and PBY, and Hasegawa’s B-17’s while I was in college… 

Of course, I had also begun dabbling in ships, cars, armor, and miniatures (“figures”) by then, too…

(I once had a fairly convoluted collection breakdown.  As I’ve progessed in years, I have started to re-think a lot of things, and am slowly going through a “fleet rationalization”.  But that’s another story for another time…)

Anyway, I need to steer us back on track…

In the early to mid-1980’s, Fujimi and Hasegawa were leading the pack in 1/72 scale with a new generation of kits.  Sure, the Italian firms of ESCI and Italeri had a few new goodies, and the Koreans were ramping up some kits of their own, but the folks from Shizuoka were standing head and shoulders above everyone else, including U.S. domestic stalwarts Revell and Monogram. 

Fujimi, in particular, began releasing “families” of kits based on a common tool with inserts and optional parts to get as much mileage (read: as many variants of the type) from a mold as possible.  Among this new series of 1/72^nd scale kit families, we had:

• A-4 Skyhawk (from the A4D-1 on, including the TA-4’s and some of the export versions)
• A-6 Intruder (including the KA-6D)
• A-7 Corsair II (all single-seat variants from A-7A to A-7E)
• F-4 Phantom II (eventually the F-4B through the F-4S, including the RF-4B and C and the Spey-powered British Phantoms)
• F-86 Sabre (the F-86F family, including the F-40 and RF-86)
• F7U “Cutlass”
• Ju-87 Stuka (D, G, and R variants)
• D3A “Val”
• B6N “Jill”
• D4Y “Judy”
• B7A “Grace”
• Ki-36 “Ida”
• Ki-15 “Babs”
• F1M “Pete”
• A5M “Claude”
• CH-46 Sea Knight
• H-60 Blackhawk

Later in the 1980’s and into the 1990’s, Fujimi continued with a 1/72 F-14A, F-16 series, MiG-21 series, and F/A-18 series that were on the same level as the contemporary releases of the same subjects from Hasegawa.   In addition, they offered a 1/72^nd scale Ki-43 Oscar series, the J1N1 “Irving”, some late marque Spitfires (they only managed to do the XIVc and FR.19, according to Scalemates), and also got into 1/144 scale with a series of B-29 kits.  Later, they would add Japanese WWII fighters to the 1/144 collection, and after Nitto went bankrupt, they would add some of their military vehicles to the Fujimi catalog.

If you built modern subjects, when you add to these their earlier SH-3 Sea King, E-2 Hawkeye, Kaman Seaspite, Bell UH-1N, Westland Lynx, CH/HH-53, and AH-1J Sea/Sand Cobras, there was a lot to choose from.  And, when you coupled Fujimi’s jets and helicopters to the Hasegawa kits of the day (F-14, F-15, F-16, S-2, S-3, etc.), you could amass quite a collection of modern airplanes.

The WWII guys had a lot to choose from, too, especially stuff that had either not been made before as an injection molded kit, or the only kits available were older, less accurate and less detailed kits, some of which were in odd scales.

Now, I had already purchased and perused (and stashed) the older Fujimi 1/48^th scale Bf-110C/D, late Bf-109G/K,  the Aichi D3A “Val”, the 1/50^th Fw-190D-9; and had actually built their 1/50^th Spitfire Vb in 1983.  The fact that some of their kits were in “odd” scales (1/50 and 1/70) for their earlier kits didn’t really bother me at the time, and by the time I was getting into the smaller scale, the kits that interested me were in the more common scales.  Even the older kits were nicely done from a molding quality standpoint, only the accuracy and detailing needed better execution.  Still, most were the only games in town at the time—for example, the Dora was “it” in anything near 1/48^th scale unless you converted the Monogram kit with Bill Koster’s excellent vac-form conversion.  We had to wait until 1987 for Trimaster to put a state-of-the-art injection molded 1/48^th scale Fw-190D-9 kit on the shelves.

Even in 1/48^th scale, they had a few older kits of modern subjects, including an F-14A, an F-15, the Mitsubishi F-1 and T-2, and a 1/50^th F-5B that also masqueraded as a “White Mosquito” T-38.

But these new tool kits in 1/72 scale were something else.  Petite recessed detail, good fit, fairly decent details, and they were not astronomically priced.  I believe Testors had the U.S. market distributorship agreement back then, which kept the pricing fairly low.  Some of these would also appear in Testors boxes along the way.

And then, they were gone.  It seemed as though Fujimi kits on hobby shop shelves had evaporated overnight.  When you could find them, the prices had soared.  What happened?

Apparently--and I’m going by what I know about the plastic model industry from my days working at hobby shops here, since most Japanese model manufacturers keep a close lid on their internal goings-on--is that when Testors’ importer agreement with Fujimi ended, for whatever reason, no other importer picked them up OR Fujimi decided not to replace Testors as their importer into the U.S.  Or, perhaps things weren’t as rosy as we had hoped—after all, with all these superb kits coming out, it was a virtual license to print money, right?  We couldn’t keep their kits on the shelves for a while.  Did the Testors re-boxings divert money?  Were they not hot sellers elsewhere in the world?  And it wasn’t as if all Fujimi had going for them were these airplane kits—they made cars in 1/24 (Porsches, the Ford GT-40 series, racing Ferraris), waterline series ships in 1/700 scale, military vehicles in 1/72 and 1/76, and recently, they produced some 1/350 scale ship kits, too.

Whatever happened, Fujimi is still around.  Their website shows 232 airplane kits in the aircraft line—most of which are marked as “sold out”.   Recently, they offered kits of the F-22A and the F-35B (VTOL version).  As you run through the line, you’ll see just how extensive the Fujimi catalog is.  The fact that there is no U.S. importer means that instead of going to the local shop, you need to go online.  Hobbylink Japan, Hobbylinc, PlazaJapan, and HobbySearch all carry the line.

If you’ve never had the pleasure, get a modern (post-1982) Fujimi kit and build it.  I’m sure you’ll enjoy the ride.  As I promised last time, I’ll document the construction of one of Fujimi’s Sea Kings in the next post.  The Fujimi Sea King kit pre-dates the others by a few years (it appeared in 1980), but it was marketed as a “family”, including the SH-3D/G/H, JSDF HSS-2B, and RAF Sea King HAR.3).  It was a good indication of what was to come from Fujimi Mokei.

*    *    *    *    *    *   *   *   *   *

Here in the Greater Upper Midlands Co-Prosperity Sphere, things are going as well as can be expected.  Both model clubs (AMPS and IPMS) have gone to Zoom meetings, since both clubs normally meet in county libraries that have been closed since March.  Zoom meetings work fairly well for those who join them, but some of the folks just don’t have the technical know-how and equipment to participate.  Several people have offered alternative meeting locations, but they aren’t big enough to practice social distancing, so we’ll stick with Zoom for now.  It isn’t a perfect solution, but it works well enough.

Of the model show “casualties” of COVID-19, our June show had been postponed until August, but last week the committee decided to cancel it.  There were many reasons, all of them valid, but the cherry on the sundae was the Governor’s Executive Order than limited the number of people allowed in any government facility to no more than 50.  Since that would barely accommodate the show staff and vendors, we were left with no other choice.

Of course, IPMS/USA cancelled their 2020 National Convention in San Marcos, Texas as the number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 spiked in that state.  The San Marcos crew was awarded the 2023 convention after IPMS/USA renegotiated the deal with the venue there.  It was the right thing to do, especially when it has come to light that a convention hall close to the venue has been opened as an overflow hospital.

The only show that is still “Go!” (for now, at least) is the rescheduled (from May) and moved (from Harrisburg, PA to Danbury, CT) AMPS International Convention, although given the traveler quarantines in place in the Northeast, I expect it to be cancelled in the upcoming weeks.

*    *    *    *    *    *    *

Speaking of AMPS, our Chapter’s long-term project for the South Carolina Confederate Relic Room and Military Museum was moved into place and completed in March.  The museum has an announcement, and the Facebook page we established has now been opened to the public.

We kept things under wraps during construction, but since it is now on full display, here’s a thumbnail:

The 8’X12’X5’ diorama represents Fire Support Base RIPCORD circa mid- to late June, 1970.  RIPCORD was a pivotal battle during Operation TEXAS STAR, yet another attempt to shut down the movement of men and material down the Ho Chi Minh Trail.  It was for all intents and purposes under siege from 1 July 1970 until it was “closed” and evacuated on 23 July.  It was the last battle led and fought primarily by U.S. troops.

If you want to know more, check out the RIPCORD Association website.

We built the diorama in 1/72 scale, with a good 95% of it being bespoke—only a relative few items (helicopters, howitzers) were built from kits.  It is located in the atrium between the South Carolina State Museum’s ticket desk and the Relic Room; to view it costs nothing.  It is supposed to remain in place for at least two years.  If you are an AMPS national member, Part One of a three-part article appeared in the latest issue of the AMPS magazine “Boresight”.

*    *    *    *    *    *   * 

That’s all I have for now.  Thanks for reading.  Stay safe and stay well, and, as always, be good to one another.  I bid you Peace.

Interesting things you find online...

Howdy, all!

I trust this finds all of you well and healthy.  The COVID-19 pandemic has affected all of us in one form or another—family gatherings are on hold, all sorts of shows have been cancelled or postponed, meetings have been cancelled or gone online, stores have closed, and many are either working from home or not working…

Please be safe.  COVID-19 strikes in many forms, and it is a matter of chance if you get a mild or severe case, should you contract it.  Take precautions, follow the latest reliable news and directives, and we'll get through this together. 

Personally, I’m using the down time to work on models.  I have finished the Special Hobby Macchi C.200 (the article on the project was recently posted to Internet Modeler), our diorama project for the museum is completed and delivered (but not unveiled--the COVID-19 shut down meant the museum had to postpone the event), and I’ve done a little more work on the Aeroclub Gamecock.  I’ve also started work on what I hope is a quick project—converting Fujimi’s classic 1981-vinatge 1/72 scale HSS-2B/SH-3H to a U.S. Nave SH-3A from HS-5 using the Cutting Edge “Sea Kings #1” decals.

********************

In the “The More Things Change” files, I found this while searching online for some information on Challenge Publications' Scale Modeler magazine.  It was posted, with commentary, to one of the many modeling forums (sorry, I forgot which one!) on the internet these days.  I have removed the original poster’s comments and added my own—some things had changed since he initially posted it a few years ago. 

What is it?  In October 1966, the magazine printed a survey—you know, one of those “What kits do you want to see?” surveys.  They printed the results in the March 1967 issue, and I present them here.  I’ve left the original as it was, so the spelling, punctuation, and grammatical errors are not mine. 

I thought it might be interesting to see what was going on back then, and compare it to what we see online these days.

My comments are in [RED]:

The Readers Speak - Results Of Our Modeler’s Survey

The letters continue to pour in but out of the chaos that five thousand plus survey returns can produce, Scale Modeler [S/M] has been able to draw several significant and far reaching conclusions.

First and foremost, is the informed caliber of today’s modeler.   As we have pointed out before, he [It was, after all, 1966/1967—how many girls were building models back in the day?] is neither twelve years old nor is he gullible.  On the contrary, his knowledge of what he is modeling is usually extensive.  [And thus began the never ending quest for better, more accurate, more intricately detailed models.]

He is discriminating in his purchases and, if the kit warrants it, he is willing to spend quite a bit more to get something extra.  Quality impresses him and he is quick to spot the hackneyed and the inferior.  [Might this be the advent of “unbuildable” kits and “rivet counters”, maybe?]  For this reason, the manufacturing of scale model kits has become a very competitive as well as hazardous business.  Guess wrong or underestimate the modeler’s selectivity and a firm, even a big one, can go out of business fast. 

Although our survey is only some six weeks along as this is written and we still are receiving letters at the rate of five hundred per week, a consensus has been building and it has taken the following form.

Fully half of those who replied to our questionnaire opted to write letters, going far beyond our brief listing.  We appreciated this and we read them all. Preliminary among the comments after the perennial one that the survey was a good idea, was the thought expressed in many ways, that his was the first time the modeler had been asked about what he though and wanted and that it was hoped the manufactures would take heed.

We would like to reassure our readers that several companies, all of which well known, have already expressed interest in what they though and want to see the results of our survey as soon as it is completed.  Two have already begun tooling up their plants for the production of models which, heretofore, they never realized were so wanted by the modeling public.

In addition to getting their thoughts of their chests, many readers also took the time to both praise and criticize some of the features in Scale Modeler.  A few issues back, we told you that S/M was to be your magazine, and you lost no time making your opinions known.  We must add however, that the majority of your points were well taken and although you got us right in the ego, we will try to adopt as many of your ideas as possible.

Getting back to your kit selections . . . we found the following comments particularly noteworthy.  In fact they were voiced so often that we feel there is a definite trend to the thing of our readers.

1. Most modelers are tired of the same old standbys.  Unless the kits are superdetailed, much larger, or depict a different model previously unavailable, they would rather say bye bye to Mustangs and Zeros et. al.  [Where have we heard this?  Yep, on pretty much every modeling forum or Facebook modeling page when Company X decides to release a new kit of the Me109, P-51, or Spitfire.  However, many these days ignore the caveat listed--it isn't that modelers don't necessarily want these kits, it is that the new kit needs to be better--measurably better--then the extant examples.  And, with each new release, that goal becomes more difficult, given the talent of some of the modern kit manufacturers.]

2. Every modeler who wrote to us generally admitted that he would be willing to pay a little more to get a little more.  All would rather have one or two well done plane, car, ship or armor kits than a hose of inaccurate, poorly researched models.  [How much is too much?  People clamored for these better, more detailed, well-fitting kits, but when the price point became too much, the screaming began.  Hey, quality costs money, gang!]

3. Almost everyone evinced a keen interest in the neglected between-the-wars plastics which encompass the period 1920 to 1940, and include military, civilian and racing planes.  [Some of what the modelers are asking for already existed in 1966/1967-- this seems to be a repeating thread in this survey.  On the civil side, Pyro released a 1/32 Gee Bee in 1953; Williams Brothers would release their 1/32 racer kits in the late 1970’s and early 1980’s.  ITC’s 1/32 Staggerwing appeared in 1960; AMT graced us with a 1/48 kit in 1977.  So, there were kits available at the time—I will make the assumption that the respondents merely wanted more and better.]

4. Our readers also wanted to see a section devoted to readers’ submissions, a feature we begun with our sixth issue and intend to sustain.

Before going into the selections chosen by you, one more market reaction was noted, possibly the most important one.

Every reader took the survey seriously.  Many wrote us that they had tried repeatedly in the past to promote several kits that they wanted especially to see.  Some have even gone so far as organize clubs for the purpose.  Unfortunately, their requests have been ignored or turned down with a polite reply. That is until now.

We at Scale Modeler take great pleasure in announcing that many of your requests will soon be in the works.  The model industry is waking up. Competition from overseas has been a major spur [The emphasis is mine—Airfix, Revell Japan, Tamiya, Hasegawa, FROG, and other foreign kits were making an influx into the United States; this was also about the time frame when the West started seeing more and more kits from the likes of Czechoslovakia and other Eastern Bloc countries.], but the resounding response from readers like yourselves has made the big difference.

For too many years scale modeling was thought to be in the same category with “hobby toys”, particularly by the manufacturers themselves.  It is only now that many manufacturers have learned that scale modelers are serious people.  With the emphasis away from pleasing the kids and focused instead on building an authentic replica, we can expect to see great strides made in accuracy, quality and the range of models available.  [Indeed, it was around this time that Monogram started deleting the working features from their kits, and when Revell decided to get serious with 1/72 scale.]  If Scale Modeler has done anything to further this trend, it would be gratifying indeed. 

[For those not familiar, S/M was the best American modeling magazine we had—they started in 1965, and were all most of us had (Sure, there were a few European magazines, but out of reach for most kids back then!) until 1981/1982, when Kalmbach started FineScale Modeler.  S/M would hang on until the mid-1990’s before it ended publication, but it was many modelers’ first taste of seeing other people’s work.  I know what I saw on the pages of S/M certainly opened my eyes!  Putty?  Airbrush?  What is this Solvaset they keep talking about?  Microscale system?  Huh?  They were my source for what was going on in the model world, the place where I learned there was more than just Revell, Monogram, MPC, and AMT—in my early days, Airfix kits were exotic!]

[A few notes.  For those of you who have never heard the terms “quarter-inch scale”, “quarter scale”, or “1/4 inch scale”, they’re talking about what we know as 1/48 scale—1/4 inch to the foot.  Some people get torqued around the axle when you use “quarter scale” in conjunction with a 1/48 scale model—they say that “quarter scale” is one fourth the actual size, a common RC scale.  The term probably originated as a slurred version of “quarter inch scale”.  My answer to them is that they are just as lazy, claiming that ONE-quarter scale and “quarter scale” are the same thing.  It doesn’t just apply to scale models—“quarter scale” also comes from the dollhouse builders—1/48 scale is one-quarter the size of the standard 1/12 dollhouse scale.]

And now the results of the survey in order of preference:

AIRCRAFT

[Note the depth and detail--such as it is--that this portion of the survey gets in to.]

A Kingfisher by Monogram in ¼ inch will be reviewed in next issue of S/M [June 1967].

First Place: Tie between Vought Sikorsky Kingfisher and Douglas TBD Devestator.  The former will be out within a few months in 1/32 scale [A typo?], the model, an OS2U-3 type was made from a three-view drawing appearing in our sister publication Air Classics.  Meanwhile, preliminary work is underway on a model of the later.  [It appears both were close to market.  Monogram’s 1/48 kit was released in late 1966; Airfix produced their 1/72 OS2U in 1967.  Airfix’s 1/72 TBD would debut in 1968; Monogram’s 1/48 kit was released in 1974.]

Second Place: Martin B-10.  A fine aircraft ignored by manufacturers, no plans are in the works for its production, bet we have made contact with a forward looking firm which is giving the matter strong consideration. [Were they referring to Williams Brothers, perhaps?  So far, they’re the only game in 1/72 scale with their 1974-vintage kit.  In 1/48, Lone Star Models did a 1/48 kit originally produced in the late 1990’s/early 2000’s.  Special Hobby has made noise about a new tool kit in 1/72, nothing yet.]

Third Place: Savoia Marchetti 79.  We knew this one was in production [Artiplast of Italy was on the verge of releasing a 1/50 scale kit; Airfix would follow suit with their 1/72 kit around the same time] when we ran our survey and therefore omitted it.  However, we got so many requests for it, we thought we would include it to prove that not all manufacturers are stuck on the same kits.

Fourth Place: Seversky P-35, another of the forgotten classics of the thirties, which many wanted super-detailed in 1/4” scale.  [Williams Brothers would release their 1/32 kit in 1970;) fans of 1/48 scale would get a vacuum-form from Aeroform in the mid-1970’s, but had to wait until 1993 for Hobbycraft to release their injection molded kit.]

Fifth Place: Curtis C-46 Commando, virtually submerged by the Goony bird’s publicity, this World War II workhorse was the biggest non-combat vote getter. [Williams Brothers released their 1/72 scale kit in 1976.]

Sixth Place: Waco 10.  All respondents wanted a big, super-detailed model of this bird with moveable controls ala Monograms F3F and Gulfhawk. [The world still waits for this one.]

Seventh Place: Bell Airacuda, also in quarter inch scale, although collectors of many models complained that 1/72 was the only to keep models from taking over the entire house.  [RarePlanes released their 1/72 vacuum formed kit in 1971; Valom released their injection molded kit in 2006.  Other than limited run and obscure kits, nothing in any other scale.  Also note that in many surveys today, the pendulum has swung the other way, towards larger subjects and bigger kits.]

Eight Place: Tie among Mitsubishi Ki 21 Type 97 “Sally,” Mitsubishi G4M “Betty” and Kawanishi H3K1 flying boat “Emily.”  The first two will eventually be brought out by L/S, the Japanese firm which did the Peggy that appeared in the issue Number 6 [L/S’s Peggy kits were closer to 1/75 scale].  Since L/S and Nichimo are perhaps the two finest companies in Japan, these should be winners.  [Funnily enough, L/S didn’t release kits of either the Sally or Betty, and Nichimo didn’t kit any of them.  The 1/72 Sally was released first by Revell Japan in 1975; MPM released theirs initially in 2001 followed by an improved reissue the following year.  The Betty was released in 1/72 scale by Lindberg in 1970.  Still no injection molded 1/48 scale Sally, but Tamiya came through with a 1/48 scale G4M1 in 1996.  Hasegawa did a 1/72 Emily in 1967; L/S did one on 1/144 scale in 1980.]

Ninth Place: Heinkel He 177 Grief.  Aircraft will be out next year by Faller, a German Maker, but may be hard to come by.  [Scalemates doesn’t list a Faller He177 at all—most of their models were in 1/100 scale, anyway.  Oddly enough, Airfix released a 1/72 He 177 in 1967.  How S/M missed it is still a mystery.  Revell (Germany) released a superb 1/72 kit in 2000.]

Tenth Place: Curtis Shrike.  Again the call was for a super detailed model and readers called for extra parts to make model variations with, thus giving them a wider range of types, and were willing to pay more for same.  [The question in my mind is which “Curtiss Shrike”?  Curtiss used the “Shrike” name for different models of airplanes they built for the Army, from the A-8 to the A-25 (the USAAF version of the SB2C Helldiver—incidentally, the name “Helldiver” was also a common name Curtiss used on their airplanes delivered to the U.S. Navy).  RarePlanes gave us a 1/72 vacuum-formed A-8 in 1969 and an A-12 in 1987; Czech Models released 1/48 scale kits of the A-8 and A-12 in the early 2000’s.  Monogram’s original 1/48 scale SB2C kit came along in 1961; Airfix put out a 1/72 SB2C in 1967 and Matchbox released a 1/72 SB2C in 1973.  In more recent times, ProModeler (Revell-Monogram) made a new-toll SB2C in 1997; in 1/72 scale, Sword (2001) and Academy (2005) are the most recent.]

Eleventh Place: Tie among Boeing F4B, P-12, P-26 all in quarter inch scale.  It was felt the models now on the market of these ships were just too inadequate.  Again super-detailing and size was the big feature, with lots of accessory parts for variation and prime attention paid to exacting detail. It was also found that in conjunction with these inter-war ship types Monogram’s treatment of the Grumman F3F should be extended to these classics also.  [Aurora’s 1/48-ish scale kits were released in 1955 for the P-26, and 1958 for the F4B-4 and P-12E.  They were okay for their day, which is probably why the respondents to the survey wanted newer and better kits.  Again, sound familiar?  It wasn’t until the 1990’s that we saw modern kits of all three—Classic Airframes released their P-12/F4B series in 1999, and Hobbycraft’s P-26 came along in 1994.]

Twelfth Place: Lavochkin LA-5, included with these votes was the comment that most Russian WWII aircraft have been ignored by the manufacturers. [In the larger scales, this is still somewhat true.  Things are getting better with the new Ukrainian companies.  There were vacuum formed 1/48 scale kits of the La-5 by Falcon in 1980 followed in 1991 by Hobbycraft’s rather lukewarm injection molded kit.  In 1/72 scale, the Russian/Soviet types were gaining notice--Airfix released the Yak 9D in 1963, Ilyushin Il-2 in 1964, Petlyakov Pe-2 in 1968.  FROG released the Tupolev SB-2 in 1969, and had a Lavochkin La-7 planned for 1977, but the firm went insolvent before it could be released.  Italeri’s La-5 came along in 1971.]

ARMOR

[Note the general lack of detail when it came to armor kits.  Aircraft were then, I suspect, as much a "majority" subject as they are now.  Plus, reviewing scalemates.com, it became apparent that even though Revell, Adams, Aurora, and other domestic companies were making armor models, it wasn't until Monogram's 1/32 kits and the Tamiya 1/35 scale invasion a few years later that the field really got going.  The smaller scales were dominated by, at first, Airfix's HO/OO (1/76) kits until the Japanese firms started producing 1/72 armor.  By the time ESCI got into the 1/72 armor game, they were producing superb kits in the smaller scale.]

First Place:  General Stuart M3A1 light tank used by British in western desert and christened “Honey”. [Tamiya’s classic Stuart kit in 1/35 arrived in 1974.  Hasegawa’s Braille scale kit in 1/72 arrived the previous year.  Since then, we’ve had more modern kits.]

Second Place:  General Grant with 75 mm gun also mainstay in western desert, early phase.  [Tamiya’s 1/35 scale Grant and Lee kits came along in 1974; like the Stuart, Hasegawa issued 1/72 kits in 1973.  Better kits have come along in recent years.]

Third Place:  German half track armored personnel carrier . . . sd.Kfz 250/1. [How odd is this?  One of the most-used German half-tracks wasn’t kitted in 1/72 until ESCI’s 1974 kit; a 1/76 scale kit came from Eidai in 1972; and Nitto gave us the first 1/35 scale kit in 1968.]

Fourth Place:  American M-10 Tank destroyer with 76 mm gun.  [Academy had a 1/35 kit out in the 1970’s; the smaller scales seemed to have had nothing until the early 2000’s.]

Fifth Place:  British Mk.I “Mother,” variation which first appeared on the Somme in 1916.  [Airfix 1/72 scale in 1996; still nothing in 1/35.]

Sixth Place:  Renault FT tank WWI.  [Nothing until the mid-1990’s MB resin 1/35 kits and the early 2000’s 1/72 kits from RPM.]

Seventh Place:   Christie T3 Tank, pioneer of the early thirties and forerunner of Russian designs.  [Still not thick on the ground—conversions exist in 1/35 scale, and Kora did one in 1/72 scale—all in the 2000’s.]

Eight Place:  Russian T/34 76.  Only model of this type tank is T/34 85 mm gun model by Revell which is no longer in production. [Tamiya’s original 1/35 scale kit came out in 1965.]

Many requests for Japanese tanks were received but these are now available from Japan in any store that stocks Japanese kits.  [I wish they would have elaborated which Japanese tanks.  As an example, Tamiya did a 1/35 Chi-Ha in 1975, Aurora kitted a 1/48 Chi-Ha in 1964, Fujimi released a 1/72 kit in 1974, and Airfix did a 1/76 kit in ’74 as well.  Nothing I’ve seen in 1966/1967 time frame.]

SHIPS

[I'm sure there were more ship requests back in the day.  The Waterline Series wouldn't appear for a few years, but certainly there were holes.]

First Place: RMS Titanic.  The famous liner won by ratio of nearly three to one over its nearest competitor.  Rumor has it that the Cunard White Star Lines would take dim view of a model being produced, as it would revive unpleasant memories.  This seems a bit much when you consider the movies and bestselling books written about this historic steamship.  At any rate, two firms are definitely interested in this project, as a group of modelers who form the Titanic Enthusiasts of America (that’s the name) have collected all the photos etc. needed to do a comprehensive job.  Model would be made in the three ft. overall class. [G-Mark released a 1/350 scale kit in 1975; Revell did a box scale (1/570) kit in 1970.  In the 1990's, Academy released their kits in various scales.]]

Second Place:   German WW I sub (U-9), Kapitainleutnant Otto Weddigen commanding.  Early sub sank three British battlecruisers in first weeks of WWI.  Readers asked for clear plastic hull-half to reveal detailed interior.  One firm has already undertaken the project. [Nothing yet.]

Third Place:  Carrier Enterprise Big “E” a scratch built model of which appeared in previous issue of Modeler.  Kit will appear early next year.  [Assuming they’re talking about CV-6, Tamiya had a Waterline Series 1/700 scale kit out in 1974, and Aurora had their ~1/600 kit out in 1959.  If they mean CVN-65, Revell had a 1/720 kit out in 1969; Aurora’s 1/400 kit was out in 1961.]

AUTOMOBILES

[Once again, note the quick take that gets done with autos.  Perhaps it was (and is), as the article states, that cars were well catered for.  Perhaps, but why is the automotive world still waiting for some of the classic musclecars and cars of the 1950's and 1960's?]
 
Of the thousands of questionnaires received all but a handful checked Hitler’s Mercedes Touring Car which was the biggest single vote getter in any category.  Of all the models available the car manufacturers offer the widest range.  Therefore, many classics ignored in other fields are already available in the car category.  However, in addition to the Mercedes, numerous requests were made for Craig Breedlove’s “Spirit of America”.  [ICM did the Mercedes a few years ago in 1/35 scale.  Only a 1/43 Spirit of America from several manufacturers was ever released.  Part of the reason cars had a wide range in the States comes from the promos and annual kits being produced by AMT, SMT, Jo-Han, and MPC.]

In closing, we wish to thank all those who took the time to write to us.  Time and space do not allow us to reduce all your requests and it must be noted that particular aircraft such as the McDonnell Moonbat and Japan’s Rita, a four engine bomber, will probably never appear except as scratch built projects.  [Funny they said that, since a 1/72 G8N1 arrived later in 1967 from Hasegawa.  The XP-67 kits released in both 1/72 and 1/48 are vacuum form or resin, and came along much later.]

However, many fine models which are out were requested by readers who in all probably, did not know that they were available.  We are speaking of the Douglas A-20 Havoc, the Me. 410 (reviewed in last issue) [November 1966] and now the Arado 196. [How can this be?  How can fans of certain subjects not know kits exist of their favorites?  For starters, we only had magazines—monthly, bimonthly, or quarterly—and word of mouth, either through clubs or the guy at the local hobby shop to go by in the day.]  Others will be coming out shortly and if your local hobby store does not carry them, write to any of the specialist outfits which advertise in S/M; chances are they’ll have what you want.  [I love the shameless plug--Syd Chivers was never one to miss an opportunity, nor was Ed Schnepf.  These guys were the powers-that-be at Challenge.]

***************

So there you have it.  We've come a long way, for sure, since the late 1960's...

Thanks for reading.

Please stay safe.  Check up on your neighbors, won't you, especially elderly neighbors.

Be good to one another, and, as always, I bid you Peace. 

The Ideal Hobby Shop

“At Warrick Custom Hobbies in Fort Lauderdale, kids who peek in the window of a sidewalk display often will be surprised -- the staff inside will turn on the train shown there to amuse them.  ‘We have a lot of regulars who like to come in and have a cup of coffee and chew the rag,’ Warrick manager Bob Fivey says. ‘That's a very important part of a hobby -- it wouldn't be a hobby if you couldn't share it with someone.’” -- Ft. Lauderdale News and Sun Sentinel, 24 January 1987

Howdy, all, and Happy New Year!

The quote above was from a former manager of the hobby shop I would visit most often when I lived in Ft. Lauderdale, the shop I would later work for.  I never worked for Bob Fivey--he had retired or moved on by the time I went to work for Peter Warrick (not the football player!)--but I did meet him several times over the years.

I couldn’t have put it any better than Bob did.  As I’ve said time and again, the hobby shop of my youth was more than a place to satisfy my modeling needs—it was a place to meet other hobbyists, talk about what we were working on, and to show off our latest works.  I extend those sentiments to model clubs, too, for the same reasons—they are outlets for the same social aspects of what is otherwise a lone-wolf hobby.

Unfortunately, those days are well behind us now, but I remember my first visits to the local shops in Ft. Lauderdale.  None of them were very large—then again, that was true for almost every hobby shop in the day.  What I do recall:

Warrick Custom Hobbies had an enclosure out front of the store in the middle of the covered sidewalk—that was where the train the story talks about was located.  Inside, it was cramped—and crammed.  If memory serves, the shop was maybe 15’X30’.  As you walked in the door, to the right was the cash register and counter space, and to the left the models were stacked like cordwood—the area was partly next to a stairway up to the mezzanine that served as the office space for the store, but on the wall next to the stairs, there was always product on sale on pegs.  I distinctly recall seeing some 1/48 scale New Hope Designs metal figures among the pegs, but since they were expensive and lacked detail, I never bought any.  Later, I recall my friend Rick calling them "No Hope Designs", so I'm glad I passed on them...

As you ventured further into the store, the paint racks were next to the models.  Pactra, Testors, Polly-S, Floquil, Scalecoat, Humbrol, and the remnants of an IR paint rack—they were all there.  As you went further still towards the back of the store—past the book and magazine racks--you were firmly in the land of model railroading.  Trains and train accessories took up perhaps a good portion of the store.  As you reached the back of the store, there was the RC counter.  At times, the store actually filled part of the space in the next storefront to the right—the owner would sell car stereos, scooters, or other goods out of the front of the space next door, and the hobby shop would occupy the back half.  This was usually where the items such as doll houses were—in my years going to the store, I rarely ventured past the paint racks, but I do recall how packed that little store was!

My other part-time haunt (although less and less after I discovered Warrick) was Universal Hobbies in Plantation.  Much like Warrick, it was small and packed full of goods.  Universal had a showcase up front where they displayed people’s models, and I still remember seeing the Hawk U-2 in 1/48 scale, resplendent in the PAVE ONYX “Sabre” camouflage scheme, residing there.  Universal seemed to have less of a plastics selection than Warrick, and didn’t have as many paint lines.  But they were still a good stop every now and then, just to see what they might have.

One thing the two stores had in common (and I’ve waxed on about it before) is what I call “the hobby shop smell”.  Old school hobby shops had a peculiar smell, a mix of volatile organic chemicals—mostly paint thinner, glow fuel, dope, and Castor oil--and musty, moldy, mildewy wood and cardboard.  Once you smelled it, you never forgot it.

Over the years, Warrick would move “out West” from Davie Boulevard in Ft. Lauderdale to Griffin Road in Davie, and later to University Drive in Plantation.  With each move, the stock would change a bit—it would grow to fit the new (larger) store space, and would change with customers’ (or owner’s) tastes.  Over the years, in addition to model railroading, plastic models, and radio control, the store sold doll houses, cameras, and collectible ceramic villages.  In their final location, they added paintball, too.  The one thing they couldn’t move was the “hobby shop smell”.  Each move would diminish the smell until it was no longer a feature of any visit to the shop.

Universal, too, would see change.  They would eventually add the adjacent store front to their space before changing hands and moving to Lauderdale-By-The-Sea in the mid-1990’s.

Both would open second stores in the 1980’s, Warrick in Coconut Creek and Universal in Coral Springs.  Neither was particularly long-lived—if memory serves, they opened in 1984 or thereabouts, and by 1987 or 1988 both were closed and everything reverted to the “Mother Ships”.

There were other, smaller shops in Broward County, and when I was in the neighborhood, of course, I would visit them.  East Acre Hobbies (Plantation), Gateway Hobbies (Ft. Lauderdale), and, when it opened, RC Hobbies (Tamarac) would be on the rotation.  There were numerous smaller (if you can believe it) stores, too, whose names are long forgotten. 

Of course, once I graduated college and was back in the area on a full time basis, I would visit Orange Blossom Hobbies.  I shared my memories of “OB” a few years ago.

In those days, you could also buy models at Discount Stores and 5-and-10 stores (Woolco, Zayre, Ben Franklin, K-Mart, The Treasury), toy stores (Lionel Playworld, Toys R Us, Toy King in Daytona Beach), arts and crafts stores (Pearl Art and Craft, Zak’s, Michaels), convenience stores (7-11, U-Tote-Em, Little General), and a curious hobby store called The Hobby Box—these stores opened in Florida in the mid-1980’s and pretty much all of them same the Sunrise and Coral Springs locations were closed by 1989.  But none of those places offered the refuge a hobby shop did—they were retail establishments and nothing more.    

While I was in Daytona Beach for college, I had a few favorites there, too.  HobbyCraft Junction was an odd little store with an eclectic mix of stuff.  No trains or radio control to speak of; mostly models and crafts.  Ace RC was the radio control headquarters for the area—if Lou didn’t have it, it wasn’t made or you didn’t need it.  Dunn Toy and Hobby was the second floor of Dunn Hardware during my years in Daytona, and they tried to have the latest and greatest in stock.  The last shop, Sky Ltd., opened in ’83 or ’84 and carried a nice assortment of kits.

They’re all gone now.  Whether one sees them as victims of the Internet or of changing tastes, it is a shame.

I face the same issues here in South Carolina.  When I moved here nearly twenty years ago, there were several shops and we used to frequent most of them.  Now, there are really only one or two shops I would consider patronizing out of the shops that are within driving distance. 

A few months ago, a few modeling friends and I started to talk about the state of the local shops.  The HobbyTown that I used to work for has gone pretty much entirely to radio control cars and trucks—they share space with an indoor race track, so it follows they would do heavy business in that particular hobby.  However, they have all but ignored the scale modelers, model railroaders, and radio control flyers.  As the discussion progressed, the question was asked—“What would you do if you owned a hobby shop?”

My suggestions: 

Start with the employees:

• If you are the owner, your job is that business.  In other words, you need to be present at the store pretty much all the time.  When you aren't at the store, you need to be doing something to promote the store, whether it means you go to Chamber of Commerce meetings, hobby club events, or trade shows.
  
  You can't sit at home and wait for the bucks to roll in through the door.  I suppose I learned from one of the best.  Pete started several businesses, and he was ALWAYS involved with them.  When he wasn't at the hobby shop, he was at one of his other businesses, and, rest assured, he knew exactly what was going on at each of them.  He hired the right people, and he expected them to do their jobs. 
  
• Have a knowledgeable staff. When I went to work for Pete in the mid-1990’s, I was told I needed to know more than just plastic models (and more to the point, I needed to know more than just Monogram airplane kits).  My years of building scale models of all types, and a working knowledge of model railroading helped me get “in the door”.  The other guys in the shop, likewise, could converse in several different areas.
  
  When I first went to work at HobbyTown, the owner liked the fact that I knew how to solder, understood batteries and electronics, and was mechanically inclined.  He figured that I could figure out radio control items that would come in for repair.  While I never really enjoyed RC repairs (especially nitro-fueled stuff), I did it because I could.  I’d much rather have been building a model instead of tearing down a near-totaled RC truck.
  
  This brings up another point about tribal knowledge—make sure you have more than one person in the store that has similar knowledge.  Hearing, “Well, our only model guy is only here on Saturday” does the customer no good if they come in on Tuesday.
  
  Finally, having a staff that knows multiple hobbies saves you from having to send business to your competition.  That’s akin to throwing money out the window.
   
• Be friendly and greet everyone who walks into the store—acknowledge their presence and remind them that you are there to answer questions. The staff should also be paying attention to the customers instead of chatting among themselves, other customers, or constantly scanning their smart phones.  This is not to say the staff shouldn’t be involved, but they should have enough foresight to break off their conversation when another customer needs help.
  
  A word on the “Hard-Sell”.  Personally, I don’t like it when a salesman follows me around like a puppy, trying to sell me everything that I touch.  Greet me at the door, ask me what I’m looking for, point me to those items, and let me browse.  If I have questions, I will find you.  I have bought more stuff at a hobby shop by simply wandering the aisles without a salesman in tow.  In fact, if I feel that I’m being given the hard-sell, more times than not I will walk out and buy nothing.
  
  
• Be clean and well groomed. Nothing turns customers off more than a smelly and disheveled salesman.  Pete went so far as to have a personal appearance standard—he wouldn’t allow men to wear beards, and, truth be told, I think he really didn’t like facial hair at all. 
  
  Get shirts for your employees--there are several online shops that can work with you and produce custom shirts at great prices.  Make sure your employees keep them clean and wear them. 
  
  Have a dress code.  The standard uniform at Warrick was a store shirt (we had nice button-down oxfords embroidered with the store logo) and slacks (navy, black, or khaki) or clean blue jeans (with a preference for slacks). 
  
  At HobbyTown, we had polo shirts and were allowed to wear shorts on any day where the daily high temperature was forecast to be above 70 degrees.
  
  
• Your staff needs to be punctual. A good rule of thumb is to arrive 20 minutes prior to opening or start of shift.  In those 20 minutes before opening, the staff needs to go through the store and clean/straighten the merchandise.  This is an ongoing process, and needs to be done several times a day, every day. 
  
  Merchandise in general:
  
  
• Stock as many paint, tool, and finishing product lines as you can, and make sure they remain full. Nothing chases a potential customer away like half-filled paint, Evergreen, and K+S racks.  Likewise, keep the glues and chemicals—glues, dopes, oils, fuels, etc.—stocked.
  
  
• If you cater to model railroaders, have staple items in stock—sectional track, spikes, road bed, ballast, rail joiners, etc. are things all model railroaders will need at one time or another. Stick to the common scales/gauges—HO, N, and O—unless you have a large clientele who are active with G, Z, or S scale/gauge.
• A landscaping selection is also helpful, and to more than just the railroader. Scale modelers use the same products when they landscape a display base.
  
  
• The RC car and truck guys will want spare parts, wheels, tires, tools, and bodies, at the very least. Having the latest hop-up parts is a plus.
  
  
• If you have a magazine and book rack, keep it organized. Older issues get removed and returned for credit, not put on deep discount because someone “forgot” to fill out the form.  Make sure people understand to handle the books carefully—they aren’t cheap, and people generally don’t buy books with creased or torn pages and covers.  See item #4.
  
  
• Other items should be dictated by the local market. If you sell five paint-by-number sets in two days, perhaps you ought to stock more. If, however, you’re sitting on the same pair of gaming dice after a year, sell them at cost and find another line.   
  
  Now, for the scale modeling specific items:
  
  
• Keep up with the new kits, at the very least. You don’t need to buy a case of every new kit that comes out, but at least bring one or two into the store.
  
  If you know you can move it, keep up with the aftermarket, too. The same caveat listed in point #10 should dictate whether or not you do aftermarket as a regular stock item.
  
  If you need to open new accounts with new distributors to get merchandise, DO IT.
  
  
• Keep a good selection on hand of the older kits (staple items like Sherman and Panther/Tiger tanks, P-51 Mustangs, Corvettes, etc.), and don’t forget to have some of the simpler kits for newbies (snap and easy assembly kits).
  
  
• Unless it is a particularly odd item with limited appeal or a big bucks item that you’re not comfortable bringing into the store on speculation, refrain from telling your clientele that you are “happy to special order anything they want.” They can already do that from the comfort of their homes. Oddball and high priced items should be paid special order items, but if you’ve paid attention, much of the store inventory should be easy to order when you follow point #14 below.
  
  A good shop can always sell one or two of most anything.  We never gave a second thought to ordering a pair of the latest Tamiya, Academy, or Revell kits into the shop.  We would also get one each of the more expensive Trumpeter, Meng, and Eduard items in the store, unless customer demand dictated we order more.
  
  Dealing with your clientele:
  
  
• Maintain ties with the local clubs, and cultivate relationships with your regular customers, whether they are club members or not. In order to figure out what to bring in (see #11, #12, and #13), you need to hear from the people who are most likely to buy those products.
  
  If they have a show, sponsor it.
  
  
• Have a soda machine and a coffee pot. Let the customers hang out and, as Bob Fivey put it, “chew the rag”. However, remember point #2 listed above.
  
  
• Offer classes and seminars. In the scale model arena, airbrushing, working with photoetched brass or resin, basic scratch building, all are good subjects. Better still, allow the clubs to have a day in the shop where THEY can offer the classes.  This becomes a win-win—the club or group can use the event as a recruiting session, and the increased traffic should result in increased sales IF you have paid attention to keeping the shelves full.
  
  
• Get to know your customers—find out what they buy and why they buy it. Let them know that their input is appreciated. Ask them if there is anything they’d like to see in the store.  Tell them (better yet, show them—see #18) how much you appreciate their business. 
  
  
• Offer a discount to your regulars. It need not be huge (usually 10%, but I’ve seen some stores offer 15%). Within reason, this should negate the need to price match every item in the store.  Part of that comes with how you buy and price your merchandise, so you need to be vigilant.  Most people know that the online retailers also have wholesale operations, and we used to work the pricing so that someone could buy a kit in the store for about the same price as they could online.  The benefit of buying in the store is that the customer has the product in their hot little hands and doesn’t have to pay shipping or wait for the item.
  
  If you don’t at least try to match online prices, guess what?  They’ll buy online.
  
  
• If you say you will do something, DO IT!

People in the know have an additional suggestion.  They'll say, "Want to make a small fortune in the hobby business?  Start with a large one..."

In other words, it ain't easy to become a hobby tycoon.  But a conscientious person can make a go of a hobby shop IF they work hard and treat it like any other business venture.

Thanks for reading.  Be good to one another, and, as always, I bid you Peace.

Teen Debutantes

Howdy, everyone!

I've been spending time at the workbench lately.  Our AMPS Chapter is involved with a display for a museum, and that has eaten up quite a bit of our collective time over the past year.  We're still not finished, but every week gets us one step closer.  My part of the project was to handle the aerial assets (read: helicopters), where I painted four that were constructed by some of the other members of the club, and I built and painted another pair, one of which will remain in my collection.

In addition, I wanted to finish some of the half-completed models I had in the queue, including one that featured in my Model Building 101 seminar.  As a result, I managed three completions (two helicopters plus a Revell 1/72 F-101B) in the space of a few weeks.  I'll publish Voodoo pictures later, and the photos of the display will have to wait until it is officially unveiled at the museum sometime in the early parts of 2020.

While I was on a roll, I kept moving.  I had started a new-tool (2014) Airfix Spitfire Vb during our HobbyTown Saturday build days.  It got stalled, but I picked it up and am not too far from the finish line.  It is an interesting kit--I'm sure you can find in-depth reviews of it on the Interwebs--and for all the griping over some of the decisions Airfix made, it is a far shade better than their old 1977 kit, that's for sure.  Is it better than the 1993 Hasegawa or Tamiya kits?  I can't say--while I have copies of the Japanese kits in the stash, I have never built one.  I will go out on a limb and say that they all have their plusses and minuses, so there is a kit for everyone...

The only issue I had with the Spitfire was finding markings.  I settled on an old Ministry of Small Aircraft Production set, 4814 "USAAF Spitfires" to decorate my model as "Lobo"/HL-M from the 308th Fighter Squadron, 31st Fighter Group based on Sicily in 1943.  The price tag on the sheet shows I bought it in early 2000, and I was curious to see how well they worked.  Well, the results were rather mixed--they looked good on the sheet, but didn't respond well to solvents.  I used Solvaset for most of them, and even diluted the solvent caused the blue in the insignia to run a little.  Eventually (and with a little help), they laid down into and around the details, but I had to babysit them in order to get them to behave.  I applied the clear gloss overcoat to them last night.  I noted some rough patches that I'll  polish out with a 3200 grit Micro Mesh pad, then do the toning/"weathering" before flat coat.  The only concerns I have from here on out are the landing gear leg attachments--a half-lap joint where the leg meets the knuckle that others have wailed loud and long about.  We'll see how it goes...

Again, pictures at 11...but here are a few from the first decal.  You can see how the blue ink ran a wee bit and the disc is slightly discolored.  I'm not going to worry about it, since it will look okay by the time I get through with the toning and shading.  You can also see how they are on the thick-ish side and didn't quite suck down all the way into the panel lines.  A sharp #11 blade persuaded them otherwise...

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While the Spitfire winds through the finishing phases, I have picked back up on the Wingman/Kinetic IAI Nesher in 1/48th scale, also started during the HobbyTown Saturday sessions.  These kits, while nice, are not for the faint of heart.  A lot if sanding, filing, trimming, test fitting, sanding, filing, trimming...

When it is complete, I'm sure it will be an impressive model.  The journey from kit to model will be fun, and will definitely exercise those Model Building 101 skills!

I also intend to get back to finishing the camouflage scheme and construction on the long-suffering Special Hobby Macchi C.200 that I've been chipping away at for ten (!) years now.  There's still that 1/700 scale USS Cowpens (CVL-25) in work.  The Aerolcub 1/48th Gloster Gamecock needs some love, too; and, since it is so close to the finish line, the 9-year StuG IV project might just get finished before the end of the year, too.  In the desire to clean out the backlog, I want to get all of these done before I tackle something else.

Wish me luck.

In the meantime, how about a piece I wrote on some older kits?

********************

At the recent IPMS/USA National Convention in Chattanooga, I picked up a couple of kits from my childhood—Revell’s 1/72 scale F-15A (kit H-257) from 1974 and F-16A (kit H-222) from 1976.  Why, with all the up to date kits of these airplanes available, would I buy these dinosaurs?

Nostalgia. 

There was a summer in the mid-1970’s—probably 1977—when my brother and the other neighborhood kids virtually emptied the shelves at the local SuperX Drug Store of plastic models.  One of the trips yielded the aforementioned kits.  I can’t recall who built what—I seem to recall building the F-16, but I could be mistaken.  Anyway, these were pretty nice kits for their day, and honestly, they still stand up today if you consider what they are and what they aren’t.

What they are:  Affordable, quality Revell kits from the mid-1970’s, they were based on early information from the USAF and manufacturers, and served as a few hours of fun time.  They were available in more stores than just hobby shops.

What they aren’t:  Expensive, super-detailed Uber kits with every nut, bolt, and rivet correctly portrayed, available only in a hobby shop.  However, they are good in outline, so they’re also not garbage, as some have labeled them. 

These kits are products of their time.  With a few hours’ work, maybe a little aftermarket, and you will have a couple of handsome models on the shelf. 

Why would anyone build one of these?  My answer—color.  We see tons of current configuration F-15’s and F-16’s in their multiple shades of gray, but very seldom seen are the early pre-production and prototypes in their colorful roll-out and test schemes, which brings me to the point of this article…

Let’s take a look at each—we’ll see what we need to do, we’ll take a look at what is available to do it, and we’ll take a look at photos.

Starting with the F-15A, here’s what we need to know:

1. The F-15, like the F-14, didn’t have any “true” prototypes that wore an XF- or YF- designation—from the first airframe to the last, they were all F-15’s.  The plan was that any changes could be made on the production line; therefore the first airframes would serve as the Flight Test articles; they are often designated as pre-production or Full Scale Development aircraft.
2. The early F-15A’s could be identified by their squared-off wingtips, un-notched horizontal stabilators, short speed brake, and the installation of the Douglas IC-7 ESCAPAC ejection seat.

Now, looking at the Revell kit, here’s what we have:

1. Fairly nicely done exterior with recessed panel lines, for the most part.
2. Simple interior, it lends opportunity to scratchbuilding some of the smaller details.  Actually, you could do a lot of good simply by installing an aftermarket Douglas IC-7 ESCAPAC ejection seat.
3. It represents the early aircraft with square wingtips, short speed brake, and the notch in the stabilators.

The first thing you must ascertain is whether or not the airplane you want to build had these features.  Early in testing, engineers noted a problem with wing buffeting, and their “fix” was simple—they (literally) cut the wingtips off at about a 30 degree angle from wing tip at the leading edge to the aileron break on the trailing edge, giving the production Eagles their characteristic raked wingtips. 

The short speed brake remained through the first 12 production Eagles.  It was extendable through a 66 degree angle, and this caused some rearward visibility issues for the pilots as well as some buffeting.  The cure was to extend the length of the speed brake, allowing the same braking action with a smaller extension angle.  The early “long” (aka production) speed brakes had an external stiffener that was later removed. 

Revell’s kit correctly depicts the short speed brake.  One important item of note:  There is no “well” into which the speed brake—either short or production—closes into.  There are streamlining plates that stand perhaps ¼” off the skin of the airplane, but the brake closes flat onto the skin of the upper fuselage.  The only well is for the actuator.  Most kits of the F-15 still depict a recessed well, however.  The fix?  Build the airplane with the brake closed…

The final item is the notch, or dogtooth, on the horizontal stabilizer.  Flight testing revealed a slight flutter problem, and adding the notch solved the problem (this was the opposite of the later F-18, where McAir engineers removed the dogtooth from the stabs on that airplane for the same reason).  Revell gives you stabs with the dogtooth, but the first Eagle flights were flown with stabilizers without the snag.  The fix?  Square off the notch, insert a piece of properly sized Evergreen, and sand to shape.

Add a test boom (brass or Evergreen rod) to the nose and the appropriate paint and markings, and there you go.  If it bothers you, source a set of early F-15A wheels, as they were different from the later F-15C versions. 

The early airplanes wore either Air Superiority Blue (FS15450/FS35450) or gloss white with various trim colors.  The first Eagle, Serial 71-0280, wore Day-Glo red panels over the ASB, while some others wore International Orange or Gloss Blue.   As for decals, you’re in luck—Caracal Decals has produced a decal sheet dedicated to the early F-15’s.

Incidentally, you can source Air Superiority Blue from Life Colour (UA 37), MRP (240), Hataka Red Line, Tru-Color (TCP-1229), Mr. Hobby (C074), K Color, and True North Precision Paint.  Many of these are gloss, which is fine—the scheme consisted of a mix of gloss (15450) and matte (35450) Air Superiority Blue.

Some other miscellaneous items—the main landing gear of the F-15A, when viewed from directly forward or aft, cants outward, so make sure you position yours accordingly.  The early flight test aircraft lacked the gun, so take note if your kit has the opening in the left wing leading edge glove.  If you feel the need to replace the exhaust cans, make sure you use one with the “Turkey Feathers” installed.

If you want to work with a more modern kit in any scale, you will have to backdate them on your own.  The easiest route to the early speed brake is to assemble the model with the brake closed, fill the seams with CA, and re-scribe the outline to depict the original speed brake.

To square off the wings, do what the engineers did in reverse—add a triangular piece of styrene sheet to the wingtip.  The wingtip is the reference point.

Add the ESCAPAC seat, eliminate the gun, fill the notches in the stabs (as described above), and get Caracal’s early F-15 decal sheet.  It is available in both 1/72^nd and 1/48^th scales.

In 1/32^nd scale, you’re on your own, but it is not difficult.  The hardest thing will be the markings since no decals exist. 

Some good photos of the first Eagle in flight show the original wingtips and stabilators (Photos: USAF).  They also show the lack of a gun, and that the main wheel doors remained open after the gear was extended (Photos: USAF):

Now, moving on to the F-16…

Unlike the Tomcat and Eagle, the F-16 program began with the General Dynamics Model 401 in a fly-off against the Northrop P-600 Cobra.  Accordingly, both manufacturers produced two flight test prototypes, the YF-16 (Serial Numbers 72-1567 and 72-1568) and YF-17 (72-1569 and 79-1570).  None of these airframes was considered a full-spec version of the eventual aircraft, they were merely test articles, hence the YF- designations.

The eventual winner was the YF-16.  Following the two YF’s, there were seven Full-Scale Development F-16A’s produced, five single-seaters (Serial Numbers 75-0745 through 75-0750) and two two-seaters (Serial Numbers 75-0751 and 75-0752).  For all intents and purposes for scale modeling, the FSD aircraft were virtually production airframes with the smaller horizontal stabilators.  They were fitted with the Stencel SIIIS ejection seats, too.

The Revell kit is a pretty good representation of the FSD F-16A.  A replacement seat might be worthwhile, and you’ll want to replace the forked pitot tube of the YF-16 with a straight one made from tube or Evergreen rod, otherwise you get a decent model of the FSD airplanes.  If you want to do some additional detailing, the main gear retraction jacks are missing, but are easily added with some scraps of Evergreen. 

The kit came with markings for the first FSD airplane in the “Bicentennial” red, white, and blue scheme also worn by the two YF-16’s, but for some reason they got the serial number wrong. 

At one time, Vingtour Decals offered a decal sheet for the early Vipers, but it seems to be out of print and hard to find.  If the decals in the Revell kit are in good condition, simply replace the kit-provided serial number with white numbers to depict “50745”.  Note that the “flag panel” was not always present, and sometimes included an Israeli or an Iranian flag, depending on who G-D was trying to sell the airplane to at the time.

The FSD F-16’s were a colorful bunch of airplanes.  Some wore overall single-color gray schemes, others wore experimental “Cloud” and two-tone grays, others were painted in the initial Compass Ghost Gray schemes.  One of the two-seat F-16B’s wore a “Lizard” scheme similar to the A-10’s Euro-1 scheme of two greens and dark gray.

These airplanes had multiple roles, as well.  They tested the extended tail housing, heavy ordnance carriage, special flight regimes (AFTI F-16), Wild Weasel systems, and alternate engines (in addition to the DFE, one of the two-seat F-16B’s was fitted with a General Electric J79 as used in the F-4, in hopes that smaller air forces would acquire the type without having to do the dance with the DoD to gain access to the F100-powered airplanes before President Reagan relaxed the export rules).  Two would be converted to F-16XL SCAMP configuration and used by NASA after the USAF was through with them.

75-0745 was the aircraft retrofitted with the General Electric F101 Derivative Fighter Engine (DFE), and when it received the new engine the tail logo read “F-16/101”.

To do this with a more up-to-date kit, start with an early F-16A with the small stabs.  In 1/72, try to find a Hasegawa F-16A+ kit and source some small stabs, or start with the Italeri kit—it ain’t great, but it is a good starting place.  In 1/48^th scale, Tamiya and Monogram both offered fairly decent kits of early F-16’s, you may want to try to find one.  There are some goofs you’ll want to fix—both have the early split nose gear doors, for instance—but a little work will yield a nice model.  Replace the ACES II seat with the Stencel type, delete the position lights on the inlets, rearrange the antennas, and apply the appropriate markings.  This should satisfy all but the most dedicated Viper fan.

Here are a few shots of the #1 FSD ship.  The second photo is after it received the DFE and is sitting next to a production-standard F-16A.  Note the longer test boom on the nose of the engine testbed, too (Photos: USAF)…

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That's all I have for this installment.  Thanks for reading!  As always, be good to one another, and I bid you Peace.

Another IPMS/USA National Convention

(Note:  I am publishing this more or less simultaneously on the Iron Modeler blog and in the IPMS/Mid-Carolina Newsflash.  The local guys may wonder why I add identifiers to folks they know well—there’s why!)

Howdy, All!

This year’s IPMS/USA National Convention is in the books, and all I can say is that the folks of the Chattanooga crew are to be congratulated on what was a superb event.  From the time I arrived at 1PM on Wednesday until I departed on Saturday around 5PM, I had a thoroughly enjoyable time.  The things to see, the people to meet…

If you’ve never been, you simply must go to at least one.  Why?  Well, here’s a recap of my extended weekend…

Wednesday, 7 August:

I arrived a bit after 1PM.  I went inside the huge Chattanooga Convention Center, and walked down to the Pre-Registration room.  Yes, they had a small room to handle the task, which worked a treat, since there were no long lines and crowding in the corridor.  From the time I said “Hello” to Ann Strandberg until I walked back out into the corridor took about 30 seconds.  Seriously.  This was the quickest I was ever in and out of Pre-Registration out of the five IPMS/USA Conventions I have attended.

By the way, Ann is a HUGE asset to these shows—she is a First Class organizer, and I learned from our experience in Columbia that she’s very good at what she does.  She and her husband Bill seem to be omnipresent at these shows.  Bill and I spent more than a few minutes sharing ideas and catching up during the show.  Bill and Ann, it was great seeing both of you!

After that, I went back to the car to retrieve my Display Only models.  I think I’ve told you all before that my competition days are behind me, but when someone offers display only space, I’m on it.  I had a few models that will be covered in their own right in a later installment, and I found a table and set the models out.  I took the containers back to the car, and then ventured back to the model room.  The display tables seemed to be filling up rather quickly—a good sign, to be sure!  IPMS/USA hasn’t been very big on Display Only up until maybe 10 years ago, and interest didn’t seem to be there.  I believe this year may change some minds—if future conventions continue this trend, it will be a good thing, indeed!  Mike Moore and the whole Chattanooga crew are to be commended for making this one of their focus items.

I checked out some of the Display Only tables.  Rich VanZant of Mississippi had four tables full of his 1/48 scale airplanes.  Mark Deliduka of SoCal had some 750 armor pieces on display.  Gil Hodges had several tables full of resin and vacuum-formed models.  Dave Maher, Bob Kerfonta, and the IPMS/Charlotte crew was setting up their Corsair display…

I took a quick sweep through the contest tables, and, as usual, was impressed by the quality of work on the tables.  Several collections caught my eye.  The IPMS/Race City Modelers had a group of 1/48 scale P-51’s built from the available kits, each one perched on a base featuring the box are for the kit from which the model was constructed.  Very nice, and from my standpoint it simply proved to me that “older” doesn’t automatically equal “unbuildable” or “obsolete”.  There was also a group of Afrika Corps armor, a chronology of 20mm weapons, a U-Boat pen in what I can describe as a semi-boxed scene, and more.

Since it was early days and the models were still rolling in, I stepped into the World’s Largest Mobile Hobby Shop, aka the vendor room.  As I walked the aisles, I was amazed by several new products…

Wingnut Wings had several of their 1/32 Lancaster proofs on display.  Wow.  Too big for me, but they have a solution in the works for those looking for a large Lancaster but don’t have the space—they will offer the forward fuselage (from the wing leading edge forward) as a separate kit at some point next year.  If you like Lanc Nose Art, this may be your ticket.  A Fokker Dr.I was being shown along with shots of their upcoming Handley-Page O/400 and O/100—the latter was a bit of a surprise.  They were already doing a brisk business, selling kits…

Tamiya were there with their display kits including the 1/24 Toyota TS-050 Hybrid (gotta get one of these!) and, of course, their new P-38F/G.  One of the benefits of Pre-Registration?  Tamiya provided 300 pre-release copies of the kit to the convention to do with as they wished with the proceeds going to the show.  The organizers decided to include a green ticket in the Goody Bag that worked as a sort of raffle—they would draw numbers throughout the event, and if your number was called, you had the opportunity to purchase one of the kits.

Eduard was at the show with around 400 of their new P-51D-5 “Chattanooga Choo-Choo” kits in 1/48^th scale.  I understand that the lines at the Eduard stand were out the door when the vendor room opened on Wednesday, people were so geeked up to get a copy or two of the kit!  I perused the parts trees, and this one looks to be a winner.  I already have a herd of Mustangs in the stash—Hasegawa, Tamiya, and one of the new Airfix kits—but I will probably buy the Eduard kit, too.  I just didn’t buy one at the show…

Speaking of Airfix, I spoke to the Hornby’s representatives at the Squadron table.  I got to run my hands over the new 1/25 F6F-5 Hellcat kit—rather large for my tastes, but it is a spectacular kit.  We talked a bit on upcoming releases.  I believe if they can tie down their financial woes, Airfix will continue to be a strong player in the hobby.

Thursday, 8 August:

I was up with the chickens, since I was going to present “Model Building 101” at 9 AM.  I went downstairs (I stayed at a Holiday Inn Express a few miles away—best cinnamon rolls around!), grabbed some eats, and headed out.  The seminar went well—I had 17 or 18 people in attendance, and I believe everybody learned something.  It wasn’t as well-attended as the same seminar at our show in Columbia, but it was also early in the show—I wasn’t worried.  I got the right 17 or 18 people—people who wanted to be there.

After the seminar, I stashed the laptop and laser pointer, and headed to the vendor room.  I made a few purchases—I had been waiting for the Special Hobby 1/72 scale SAAB Viggen for a while, and I was surprised to see that they not only had the JA-37 kit as a single, but also had a dual kit (Duo-Kit) with the AJ-37 and the SK-37 two-seater along with a reference book.  The single kit cost $30, the Duo cost $64—in effect, I either paid $2 more per kit and got a free book, or I got a great book for $4.  Win-win, either way.

I was also under orders to see the guys at the fündekals table, which I did.  Jonathan Strickland was there with some product, as well as some renderings of the stuff they are working on, and all I can say is you need to check them out if you haven’t yet:  http://www.fundekals.com/

As I wandered, I started to bump into people I know, or had met years ago and hadn’t seen since.  This continued throughout the weekend and I suppose I should thank all of them for saving me money by keeping me away from the vendor tables.  Seriously—by the time you’ve been to a few of these, it happens. 

In the words of Phil Collins and Genesis, “I can show you some of the people in my life”:

Paul Boyer and I first met at the 1999 convention in Orlando.  He was the Senior Editor for FineScale Modeler back then, and I attended a seminar he was leading.  We had corresponded a few times, and I’m a member of the 72^nd U.S. MilAir Yahoo group, but we seldom physically cross paths.  Well, I was under orders—he and my wife are working on a joint project, and when she couldn’t attend I was told I needed to go by and chat with Paul.  Paul, I loved your USN Jets display, and I enjoyed speaking with you.  I hope it isn’t another 10 or so years before we have the chance again.

Bert Kinzey is the face behind Detail and Scale, and I have sent him a few model photos for the D&S Facebook page over the past year or so.  One of the photos I posted piqued his interest, so he told me to stop by the D&S table and see him.  We had a short but enjoyable conversation as he started to photograph the models in the display room.  I left him to conduct his business, and I would bump into Bert and Rock Roszak a few more times during the show.  Bert and Rock, it was a pleasure meeting you both.  I wish I could have met Haagen Klaus (he and I crossed paths in Columbia in 2016, but we were both rather busy at the time) and Chris Sakal as well, but sometimes there are more important things than models.

When I was the Seminars Coordinator for the 2016 Columbia Nationals, my wife asked me if I had approached Tommy Thomason to see if he wanted to present anything.  She’s his SH-3 Subject Matter Expert, so she asked and he agreed to present “Revolt of the Admirals”.  I found him this year in the vendor room with a table full of his Ginter Books titles.  Tommy does a great job with his research on U.S. Navy subjects, and I was glad to see him again.

Gil Hodges is someone who I bump into every now and then, but we never seem to talk for very long.  We have some mutual friends, and in this case it allowed a discussion that ran for longer than a minute or two.  For those who have no idea who Gil is, he used to write for the defunct Scale Modeler back in the day, and has written for FineScale Modeler and the late, lamented Aerospace Modeler Magazine.  Gil often builds large scale resin and vacuum-formed kits, and it seems that he fears naught in his approach to them.  Gil, I’m glad I could see some of your work up close again.

Jerry Wells and I met via a mutual friend in the run-up to the 1999 Convention in Orlando—in fact, we were roomies for that Convention.  He is a great modeler—he had reworked the Revell 1/72 80’ Elco PT Boat into (IIRC) PT-165 for the show.  It was a wee bit dusty and missing a rudder, and before I arrived in Orlando he had secured another kit, robbed the rudder, painted it, attached it, and was in the process of dusting it.  Now, one would seem to think that a dusty, broken model—regardless of the fact that it had been repaired and cleaned—wouldn’t stand a chance.  Even Jerry had misgivings, yet it did indeed win a First Place.  Jerry and I seldom communicate on a regular basis—nothing nefarious or anything, we just travel in different circles—and I enjoy catching up with him when I see him at the various Conventions.  Jerry, enjoy your retirement!  You need to come up to the Columbia show next June…

Bill Bosworth and I became acquaintances in the run-up to the 2016 Columbia show.  Like Tommy, he was a seminar presenter.  But the best thing about Bill is that he doesn’t just talk models.  He had some of his scratchbuilt aircraft on display, but as we were talking about them, he would tell stories from his life as an Ad Man.  Bill, like so many people I’ve met in the hobby, is good people and I enjoy the short time I spent chatting with him at these shows.

Gordon and Brandon Kwan were at the Sprue Brothers Models table.  I had an e-mail coupon to redeem—a spin of the wheel—and I won a Verlinden book on the Hawker Hurricane.  I chatted with Gordon about the Convention, how his business was doing, and basically caught up with what was going on between the Columbia show and now.  Gordon runs a great webstore, and if I have to buy online, his is the first site I check.  If you’ve never heard of them, what rock have you been living under?  Check them out at http://spruebrothers.com/.

Steve and Amanda Nelson and I finally found more than two seconds to chat on Friday.  I first “met” Mandie on the old ARC Forums through the AIM Chat.  We finally met face to face at the 2005 Atlanta Convention—by that time, she and Steve had married, and my wife and I had been together for almost six years.  I always like to spend time with them, because they are simply good people.  Guys, I’m sorry our time was short.  I told the wife that you were asking after her.  She was sad she had to miss the convention, and I think every time I told her, “Oh, by the way, so-and-so says ‘Hey!’”, she got sadder that work got in the way of this one…

Peter Frearson, Jeff East, Butch Bryant, and the whole IPMS/Flight 19 Gang and I bumped into each other several times.  Y’all are my old home boys from back in the SoFla, and I miss those meetings from back in the day.  Jeff, we’ll always be on the Presidents for Life rolls—and thanks for trying to slap me back into reality, but yeah, I’m a Chapter President again.  What can I say?  Talking with the guys, the club is in good hands, and I hope to get down there for your ModelFest one of these years.

Phil Perry and I met maybe 25 years ago, and I immediately learned that he was a great modeler and a fine human being.  We would chat from time to time until I moved to SC and we lost touch for a while.  But I still see him at the Conventions, and we usually chat for a bit at every one.  I feel a wee bit bad because at the NCC meeting Phil and I found ourselves on the opposite sides of an issue.  Phil, I meant no disrespect, and I hope there aren’t any bent feelings.  After all, we all share the common goal of building models, no matter how a group of judges looks at them or how an organization plans the awards…

Danny and Mindy Vazquez bumped into me at the Columbia show, and again in Chattanooga.  I know I’m getting old when I’m told their daughters are 28 and 31, with kids and the whole shebang.  It seems like it was not too long ago that they were wee little girls, talking about Beanie Babies.  Guys, I’m glad I got to spend some time with you.  It is always a pleasure to catch up and to look at Danny’s spectacular models. 

Ed Okun and I crossed paths for about five minutes.  I spied some 1/32 IDF airplane models that looked awful Okun-esque, and indeed they were Ed’s.   Ed, it was fun chatting with you.  Enjoy your retirement and the grandkids, and keep building those impeccable models!

Rick Geisler and I first met back in the early to mid-1980’s at the Twin Oaks location of the now defunct Warrick Custom Hobbies—he was my first Plastic Guru, offering inspiration with each model he would build and bring to the shop.  I saw Rick last at a show in Winston, NC some 10 years or so ago, so it was nice to be able to get together and talk about the “Old Days”, when Flight 19 was a much different group.  Rick, I’m sorry I got called away—but we’ll have to find a mutually agreeable show and meet again soon.  Oh, and I’m glad your phone finally charged!

Mike Idacavage is usually the Contest Coordinator for the conventions whenever it is in this area.  Mike met my wife long before he met me, but he’s been a great friend to both of us.  We couldn’t talk long—he had “convention stuff” to do (and I know that all too well!), but he did complement my Special Hobby ER-2.  Thanks, Mike, I’m glad you liked it.  I hope we will see you in a few weeks at the Atlanta Airliners Collectibles Show!

Patrick Cook, like Mike Idacavage, is another good friend in the Atlanta area.  Patrick was wandering the vendor room when we first bumped into each other, but we had a chance to chat for a while taking a load off in the comfy chairs in the hallway.  The same wish for Mike holds for you, Patrick—I hope you’ll be at the Museum in October…

Jim Kiker, aka Yoda, is from up the road in Charlotte, he’s a great model builder, and has probably the best outlook on the hobby f all my model building friends (I mean, he’s nicknamed Yoda for a reason).  Jim, we missed seeing you this year in Columbia, but we’re doing it again in June next year.  Head on down and have some fun with us!

My friends Trevor Edwards and Mike Roof arrived on Thursday afternoon—Mike was giving a seminar on Friday, so we wandered the model room, vendor room, and throughout the afternoon I continued to bump into people…

I made a few more purchases—I got a few Liveries Unlimited decal sheets from fündekals that my wife was looking for, along with their 1/48 scale Spitfire Part 2 sheet-- and later we got together with Tony Abbot and Rebecca Hettmansperger (they of HQ72 Resin Products) and had some supper upstairs at the Table South attached to the Marriott.  I don’t know about them, but my feet were sore, my friend Arthur Itis was showing himself, and I was tired…

Friday, 9 August:

Mike, Trevor, and I met downstairs for breakfast in the hotel (cinnamon rolls…mmmm), and then headed out to the Convention.  We spent the morning doing the convention thing.  We wandered the model room; we perused the vendor tables: and basically enjoyed the show.  I sat in on Dana Bell’s Cruiser and Battleship aviation units seminar, and then went to see Bob Steinbrunn’s talk on the Bluejacket PT boat.  Both of these guys have provided numerous hours of inspiration and guidance through their books and articles throughout the years, and I was grateful to see Dana again (he graciously presented a seminar for us in 2016), and to meet Bob.

I snuck into Mike’s Photoetch seminar that was by now in progress (what can I say—I really wanted to meet Bob and hear him speak on his PT Boat model), and the room was full.  I’ve seen this presentation a few times, so I spent my time gauging the folks who were seeing it live and in person for the first time.    It was interesting—every time Mike changed slides, the smart phones all went up in the air and everyone snapped a photo, almost in unison.  Mike has a certain analytical method to things, and I think once he can lay out the procedures for any task, the light bulb goes on with many people. 

Incidentally, Trevor is in his early 20’s, and is a great model builder in his own right—all that I said about Mike?  Yeah, Trevor is a student, and his quality has improved markedly under the tutelage of Mike and a few of the other local IPMS and AMPS members.  With Mike as one of your teachers, you are steps ahead.

Friday afternoon was when, if you have been at the show since it opened, you tend to start wandering on autopilot.  I had to check some raffle tickets, both my own and from a friend who had to leave early—I won a Tamiya 1/24 Mercedes AMG on Wednesday afternoon, but nothing else all weekend.  I then remembered I had a Green Ticket in my pocket.  What the hell—let’s go check…hey, there’s the number!  I go across the corridor to the table, present the ticket, and after handing over Fifty Dollars American, I am the proud owner of a pre-release Tamiya 1/48 P-38F/G kit!  After giving it a quick once over—I had already seen the sprues on Hyperscale, at the Tamiya table, and at the Sprue Brothers Models table—I believe this one may have to get bumped to the head of the line…

We all met again for supper, and packed it in for the night.

Saturday, 10 August:

We met at the hotel for breakfast—yep, more cinnamon rolls!  Mike’s and Trevor’s fun meters were pegged, so they left for home.  I wanted to hang around, since Rick would be getting there early in the day.  So, I made a sweep of the model room—judging took place the night before, and this was the earliest I could get a look at all the great work that was on the tables, both contest and display only.  Every time I come to a National Convention, I am awed by the models I see.  Lots and lots of great work was out for folks to marvel at this year.  I believe the count was over 2,500 contest models and a further 1,750 on the Display Only tables.

Then I made a final sweep of the vendor room.  One more check of the raffle tickets—skunked again!  Then Squadron started calling their raffle—you guessed it.  Nada.  But it was fun, and I finally nailed down Squadron’s Chief Modeler, Jef Verswyvel, and exchanged pleasantries.  Jef doesn’t recall that we met years ago, when he and Willy Peeters initially set up Kendall Model Corporation (KMC) back in the early 1990’s...

As I strolled by the Rare Plane Detective table, a few kits caught my eye—Revell’s 1974 and 1976 issues of their 1/72 F-15A and (as determined later) FSD F-16.  They take me back to one summer, probably 1977 or so, when my brother and I would ride our bicycles to the local SupeRx Drugs and buy model kits.  On one visit, we got these kits—I cannot remember who got what, but for some reason I think I got the F-16.  I recall the F-16 kit as being the epitome of cool, with all that ordnance, the engine dolly, and the tug included.  Of course, they cost a wee bit more than the buck and a half or so that we paid back then—but I bought them.  At some point, I will build them, too…

The rest of the day was eaten up by the NCC meeting I was asked to attend.  I was initially going to depart at noon or 1PM, but I decided to stick around.  About a half hour before the meeting, I retrieved my containers from the car and loaded up my models.  I returned them to the car—a covered parking garage is a great thing, coupled with a rather mild day in Chattanooga, so I wasn’t worried they would get damaged.  I found a cool drink, and walked to the meeting rooms.  Since it was an IPMS Committee meeting, I cannot comment on it other than it was a three and a half hour long meeting …

After the meeting, I made final rounds—everyone was packing up in the vendor room, and the Display Only folks were likewise packing their models.  Everyone was either leaving or getting ready for the dessert reception before the awards ceremony.

I found Rick sitting in one of the comfy chairs—his phone charger wasn’t working on his trip, so he borrowed mine, and needed a wall outlet.  We chatted for a few more minutes, and, since each of us had a five hour drive to look forward to, we headed to the exits. 

With that, another IPMS/USA Convention was over for me.

Now, I’m a bit biased—I think the Columbia convention, regardless of the numbers, was the best show ever.  But I gotta tell you, Chattanooga put on an awesome show!  Was it better than ours?  I dunno—by numbers, yes, I think it was.  The intangibles—Columbia was our show, so that sense of ownership will always color my feelings—might favor the Chattanooga crew, too.  Does it matter?

In the end, no, it doesn’t matter.  It was an awesome show.  I got to meet some super people, I got to catch up with other great people who I hadn’t seen in one, or three, or five, or ten years.  I got to look at a room full of spectacular models.  I got to talk with people from around the world who shared my hobby.  I shared ideas and information.  I had fun. 

I had a chance to turn a lone wolf hobby into a social event.  That, right there, makes it worth the trip.

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We took a vote last month, and yes, Virginia, there will be a 3rd Annual South Carolina Scale Model Mega Show.  Watch the show's website for details.

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With that, I'm done for this installment.  Thanks for reading.  As always, be good to one another, and I bid you Peace.

The Second Annual South Carolina Scale Model Mega Show: Postscript

Howdy...

The IPMS/Mid-Carolina Swamp Fox Modelers and the AMPS Central South Carolina Wildcats co-hosted the Second Annual South Carolina Scale Model Mega Show last weekend.

First, the stats:

• 109 entrants (AMPS and IPMS)
• 400 models (AMPS, IPMS, Display Only)
• 29 vendors on 61 tables
• 4 food trucks
• Approximately 300 walk-ins (we're still fine-tuning our methods used to track walk-ins)

The show went well.  We had 16 judges, and they managed to judge all 39 categories (38 plus one split) in a little over two hours.  The AMPS judging crew was hard at work from a little after 8 AM until the last models were evaluated around 2 PM.  The awards ceremonies went off without a hitch, and from the comments we've received, everyone had a good time.

So, what does it take to run a successful show?

First, realize that a model show consists of two entities--the EXHIBITION and the CONTEST.  There's the key--each part of the show should pay for itself.  For instance, we rely on vendor table sales and, to a lesser extent, our raffle sales to fund the exhibition portion--the venue, the required security, rental tables, and the administrative items (flyers, poster, postage, etc.).  We're fortunate in that our venue has tables and chairs available, but we still need to rent about 30 tables...if we had to rent all of the tables and chairs, it would add to the expense of the show, an expense that we would have to examine and come up with ways to cover.

Likewise, the contests (our show has both an IPMS and an AMPS contest) should support themselves.  We've seen so many contests charge $5 for unlimited models (or, as I put it, "Five bucks and all you can eat")--that doesn't even pay for one award!  We caught some grief this year for increasing the fees, but the math and logic dictated the change.  We charge $15 as a base fee, and that allows the entrant several options--they can enter three models into each contest (for a total of six models) and/or they can place, space available, as many models as they wish on the Display Only tables.  Why?  It cuts down on work required for judging--not such a big deal on the IPMS side, really, but a huge issue with AMPS.  We want to try to have our entrants self-evaluate and determine their best work, and place that into the contest.  The rest can be placed on display so they can show off their work--which really is the object of the exercise, isn't it?  As I have said to a few people, model shows should be about the models, not the medals. 

However, do we realize that some people won't come to a show unless they have a chance at winning a big shiny, so the contests are pretty much a fact of life.

The next step is to standardize.  Standardize awards.  Standardize forms.  Standardize procedures.

We see so many local shows that try to impress people with their Lucite monoliths, expensive plaques, and different awards every year, but we settled on medals.  Why medals?  Won't people be confused that you run a Gold-Silver-Bronze show?  How will they know what that medal means?  Trust me, we've heard all of that and more.  Here's the deal--medals are perennial.  They have no date on them, which means that they can be used from show to show.  With custom awards, you no doubt have put the theme and date on them, so the ones that aren't used become so much scrap--you can't re-use them for the next show, and the money you ponied up to the trophy shop is basically money you flushed down the toilet.  Using Gold, Silver, and Bronze medals correlates to the Olympics--first place earns Gold, second place earns Silver, third place earns Bronze.  It is a universal concept.  But, to allay any fears that people won't know what they mean, we make up labels for the back of the medal so they can record what model won the award.

The Class awards--Best Aircraft, etc.--are also a standard design.  We have come up with a basic design for each, and all that needs to be done is to change the theme and dates.  We'll print them as certificates, and we use acrylic plaque kits to make up some rather handsome awards.  Total costs of the awards for one show is around $250.  We can't even touch color sublimated plaques or Lucite spears for just the Class awards for that price.

The Registration Forms, likewise, are generic and can be used from year to year.  Why reinvent the wheel?  Keep it simple, and it will pay dividends.

Using the data from the past two shows, we've also carved up the category list.  In 2018, we had 61 categories.  This year, we had 38.  Based on Saturday's numbers, we'll probably cut back even further.

Hosting a show means you will catch some flak.  For instance, our fee structure is being seen as a way to "restrict numbers" at the show, when what we're really trying to do is show people that you can make the move from competition to exhibition and still achieve the same result, that of showing off their work to others.  We've been taken to task for allowing Sweeps when IPMS/USA does not.  We did not offer any armor categories in the IPMS contest this year, which some saw as a failure to "serve our base".  We don't charge GA, which some saw as "taking advantage" of the people entering the contest.  We broke Out of Box into a separate Class rather than as Categories in other Classes, which people did not like--which of all the comments, this one is funny since all we did was move the categories within Aircraft, Ship, etc., into a Class of their own complete with a Class award up for grabs.  In effect, we enhanced OOB by breaking it into a separate class.  

Remember, your organization is on the hook for the event, not theirs.  How YOU organize, fund, and execute YOUR show is YOUR business, not anyone else's  Stick to your plans.  At the end of the day, whatever comments you receive, take them to heart.  If change is warranted, then make the change based on data, rather than gut instincts.

Speaking of data, managing show data is important if you want to host an annual show.  We have filled the National Guard Armory in Columbia for three years running.  This year, we pretty much maxed out the space.  Sooner or later, we'll need a larger venue, and one of the first questions some places ask are How Many People and How Much Money.  If you can prove you attract X number of people, and they spend Y number of dollars, you have an advantage over groups that can only speculate on their demographics.

And, finally, don't forget to thank the folks who helped you run the show, as well as your patrons, sponsors, and vendors!

It sounds like a lot of work, and initially it can be.  But once you standardize the routine, it runs smoothly.  The most work we have from year to year is the set-up on Friday night, and the break-down and clean-up on Saturday after the show.  Both clubs have some great members who will show up and work both days.  All we need to do is ask and they are there...

Over the next week or so, we'll be updating the event website with show data and photos.  Check it out.

Thanks for reading.  Be good to one another, and I bid you Peace.